The great Wynton Marsalis once said, “And that’s the soulful thing about playing: you offer something to somebody. You don’t know if they’ll like it, but you offer it.”

ICYMI, Wynton Marsalis is one of the greatest jazz musicians and trumpeters of all time ever. Strike that – one of the greatest musicians period.

As soon as I read this quote, I knew it was a Monday Mantra in the making. 😉

Because music is life. I know, I know…that sounds like an emo laptop sticker you’d see in the band hallway in high school. And I would know. Because I was in the jazz band since 7th grade playing piano, I was in every single chorus available under the high school sun, and I was a total musical theater girl the second I discovered that stage. So, something you might now know about me – this girl’s a music nerd. 🙂 I’ve played piano since I was five and have been singing since around that time, too, and I distinctly remember the days of playing + singing from the Les Miserables piano book on my keyboard in my parent’s kitchen, reaaaally getting into “Master of the House” before I knew swear words were a thing. Sorry, mom. 😉

“You don’t know if they’ll like it, but you offer it.”

Enter today’s Monday Mantra:

A totally true mantra for jazz music, yes. You play what you feel, you improvise to your heart’s content (ala La La Land), and you hope that your audience feels it as much as you do in your own little musical world.

But it’s also a totally true mantra for l-i-f-e.

You don’t know if the people around you will like you, or what you’re doing or creating. You don’t know HOW anything you do or create will truly be received, cos everyone and their mom has a different opinion and viewpoint. But quite frankly…it doesn’t matter.

Do it anyway.

Create anyway.

Make “music” in your life – something that you’re proud of and want to share – solely for the sake of making the world a more musical place. And fully believe that someone somewhere will hear the music you play (we’re still talkin’ in metaphors here, peeps) and lovelovelove it.

You won’t be everyone’s cuppa tea. But you’re somebody’s cuppa tea. And that counts for something.

Offer something to somebody.

Offer it because you believe in it.

Offer it because it *might* have the power to make someone else’s day better, more beautiful, more magical and musical.

Offer it because it’s worth sharing, and it can add to the crazy awesome harmonies in this really crazy world.

You write the music or sing the song – but you can’t control how others hear it or react to it. And even more, it can be “heard” so many different ways for different people at different times. But what kinda world would we live in if we all just became too scared to share our gifts, for fear of failure/rejection/whatever other scary things loom above us when we’re about to offer something awesome out there? If we live as slaves to our insecurities, we create a really lonely, quiet, downright unhappy place.

And that’d be one heckuvah boring world.

Stop being afraid to put yourself out there because of what other people might think, of it and/or of you. Stop letting the supposed “rules” of society dictate how you live your life, and how you go about pursuing your passions. You deserve to live a full, abundant life, full of joy and lovelovelove. And girlfriend, YOU are in charge of making that happen. No one else – you.

That’s why Wynton was onto something yuuuuuuuuuge. There’s something truly soulful about opening up and offering somebody something. Be it music, a story, a helping hand, a listening ear. There’s something powerful that happens when people see other people so fully immersed in what they lovelovelove, doing + sharing it so openly and vulnerably. Transformation happens. Even just by the seemingly simply thought that we have the power to choose to live like that and inspire others along the way. Music was ALWAYS that for me. My 100% cathartic escape. Whenever I felt like the world was too much to handle, music was that one thing that I could always go back to and find refuge. It was the perfect escape – that thing to just immerse within and feel alive and reborn. Jazz in particular was always so stinkin’ cool to me, because it has this constant predictable unpredictability to it.

Predictable, cos it’ll most likely stay in the intended key of the song, especially if you’re coordinating with other musicians. 😉

Unpredictable, cos anything can happen. In the world of jazz improvisation, it’s up to the individual musician to make it happen on the spot. They knew the key of the song, and they just go for it. Feeling the rhythms, playing off everyone else, just letting it all happen as it may, and admiring the perfectly imperfect result.

“And that’s the soulful thing about playing: you offer something to somebody. You don’t know if they’ll like it, but you offer it.”

SO, I’ve gotta let my Philly peeps know (and/or anyone and their mom looking to head to the City of Brotherly Love for a cheesesteak and a good time): the Philadelphia Jazz Festival is happening NOW! From April 23-30 (that’s all this week through the weekend!), one of the greatest jazz fests on the east coast is HERE. The *entire* week’s lineup is right here in one place:

I’ll be hanging out at the Nina Simone tribute this weekend (it’s the main shebang to end the jazz fest strong), which is going to be somuchstinkinfun. If you’re sitting there like Who the heck is Nina Simone??, first off, go away. HAHA JK. 😉 But really, you’ve heard “Feeling Good”, right? It’s not a Michael Buble original, FYI. This chick was the first ever recording of this classic (it was originally written for a musical, but who’s counting?). It’s the quintessential way to end a jazz fest if ya ask me.

The Jazz Fest is awesome, too, not just for the music, but for the intense passion to share + educate + give back.

Throughout the whole week, there’s everything from educational lunches, live performances, and meet and greets, to philanthropic events with groups like Big Brother Big Sisters, Food Connect, and Jazz Lives Philadelphia. Personally, I’m so in lovelovelove with the fact that this jazz festival is such a comprehensive thing. It’s not just fun performances + good cocktails for happy hour (although bless up for that) – it’s a total movement to make the world a better place, through music, starting right in our hometown.

Which is exactly how the world becomes a better place, FYI.

By offering something to somebody.

Not knowing if they’ll like it, but offering it anyway.

“And that’s the soulful thing about playing: you offer something to somebody. You don’t know if they’ll like it, but you offer it.”

You can hop around the city this whole week to all of the jazz fest festivities, which is *awesome*.

 

What can you offer to somebody this week?

What special piece of YOU can you share? I reaaaaaally wanna know. Mainly cos I just reaaaaaally wanna know YOU guys. You are interesting and talented and oh so special, and I’d lovelovelove to hear what element of yourself you’d be willing to offer to somebody this week, not sure if they’ll like it, but sure that it’s worthwhile anyways. Let me know in a comment below, wouldja?

And and and…have you ever been to a Jazz Fest before??? If you have, what was it like???

I’ve never been, so I’m SO STOKED for this week + for the weekend to get here; we’re gonna be making a double date of it and having the time of our lives, I’m sure. It’s like La La Land come to life, sans Ryan Gosling. 😉

For my Philly peeps, let me know if you plan on stopping by the Jazz Fest at any point – feel free to reach out if ya want/need the inside scoop on anything and everything else not mentioned here, and I’ll help ya out however I can!

Cheers to this week being the best of your life. Go make it happen.

*Thank you to the Philly Jazz Festival for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions and thoughts presented are entirely my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Coming Up Roses!