Oliver Jones discusses his professional success

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Oliver Jones talks about teaching jazz

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Oliver Jones talks about playing and teaching while on tour

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Q: “Your teaching – it’s something that you do as a regular teacher, as a master class kind of thing or one on one. It’s not like ‘alright folks, here’s middle C’ kind of thing you do…”

A: “Well, that's been interesting because it's something, Ted. I've never considered myself an academic as far as playing jazz is concerned because I've never had any formal jazz training at all. But it definitely is the things that I have been able to work with kids have been the things that a whole era that they have missed. So I do kind of an analogy of jazz and I take it all the way back to the 20s and work my way up and I work primarily with classical musicians who were trying to make that transition. So what I have been able to do is help them with some of the technical things that I have studied when I was studying classical, and how I have been able to employ them in playing jazz. And it's a completely different world because most of them never get the opportunity to listen to jazz. And so I do recommend certain books that I have and then get them started on things and then I usually get back within six months if I can and see their progress and work on primarily improvisation.”