http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/26/60minutes/main20072634.shtml
Confession time. I don't listen to Jazz. I have a lot of friends who loooooove Jazz. Most of them are older than me, (sorry guys), but a few of them are my age or younger. I just never got into it. I've wanted to for years, because I think people who listen to Jazz tend to be cooler than... well, people like me. I own a lot of CDs, but I think the only Jazz CD I own is Kenny G.'s Christmas CD, (I know - that doesn't count. Maybe a few of Sting's songs from the late 80's are the closest to Jazz that I own). It's not a matter of not liking Jazz, as it is a matter of not understanding it. In other words, I have a sneaking suspicion that if I understood Jazz, I might get into it (the same might be said for Algebra, tofu, and Christian Radio). Anyway, one of the segments on tonight's 60 Minutes focussed on Wynton Marsalis, and his Jazz band's efforts to keep Jazz, one of America's greatest inventions, alive and well. It was a great story.
Besides the story being good on the level intended, I couldn't help but pick up a few points on leadership as well. Here are a few leadership lessons from The Leader of the Band. Feel free to draw your own connections to the minstry, small group, Church/Corps, or movement for which you provide leadership.
1. Wynton Marsalis Plays 4th Trumpet. In the 60 Minutes piece, he mentions that he did try to actually lead the band he leads, but he knows his place is in the trumpet section. That's where he serves best.
2. Jazz Band Players Sometimes Sacrifice Solos. Even I know that in a typical Jazz club, several solos can be heard on any given night from each musician on the stage. However, in Wynton Marsalis' band, most of the musicians (many - the top players on their instrument of choice) will only get one solo per performance. And they're okay with that.
3. Music Fosters Community & Breaks Down Barriers. In addition to trumpeting (sorry) the virtues of Jazz Music, Wynton Marsalis and the band he "leads" travel the globe as unofficial American ambassadors. The 60 Minutes crew caught up with the band in Cuba where, for four straight days, musicians and listener/dancers alike celebrated the things they had in common instead of arguing about their differences. Turns out Stevie Wonder was right in his song Sir Duke, an homage to music, and Jazz great Duke Ellington; "Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand. With an equal opportunity for all to sing, dance and clap their hands".
4. Mistakes Are Integral To The Process. When asked by Morley Safer asked how important mistakes are in Jazz, Marsalis answered; (paraphrase) If you aren't making mistakes, you aren't trying anything new - you're not doing it right.
Play (and Lead) On!
IN CHRIST & OUTreach,
rob
One final note:
"A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn't like the tune." -Anon
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