How to Learn to Play Jazz? - Part I

People are always asking me that question.  They take lessons, they buy books, they study scales and theory and beat themselves over the head a lot. They look for the series of tasks that they should do that will get them there, not knowing exactly where "there" is.   They work through all manner of methods and pattern books. They look everywhere to become energized and driven to create.     But the question remains.     .....I suspect that the answers lie in another place.  And things are much easier in there, but it's a little hard to describe where that is  --- it's a place where things tend to take care of themselves and the process is natural and painless .....

Sound. You must play for how it sounds. Improvise or compose anything that sounds good, BECAUSE it sounds good. Play for the beauty of the music.  Observe the forces that make you want to play music for other reasons and watch them as they try to do their work.     Engagement. People. Projects. Listening. Inspiration. Play. Experimentation.  Emotional connection. Perform.  Listen for the love of it, practice for what it sounds like.  Discover and explore to inspire. Look outside yourself - forget yourself - create a science experiment to understand and be surprised by the results.
Play music but not from discipline, will-power, or perseverance , not to impress, not to succeed, not even to express, not to impress yourself. 
Be a musicologist, an historian and a scientist yet remain a child at play -- always explore and be curious about what's right there in front of you.  Investigate both to understand and to experience.
Connect with other musicians and play music - pick up the phone and make a call to make it happen  .  Be completely in the moment - observe thoughts that come and go as you go back to the moment.  Listen. Listen intently and listen a lot. Listen on a great sound system in a quiet environment and listen to observe, not to like or dislike, but just to hear. Explore and explore some more. Explore to discover and to be surprised and to understand more.  Listen to all kinds of music from all over the world.  Listen to singers and more singers. Create a tangible project - a recital, a house concert, a gig, a recording, a research paper, a youtube video, a composition, an arrangement. Create a project for the 21st century.   
Embrace positive psychology-  positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, achievement  and find your state of musical well-being. Play with, but don't fight, your limitations; observe what you do well and watch it evolve as you do more. Experiment with your strengths. 
Work to make your instrument sound great - touch, pedaling, balance, tone,  and do everything possible to make your instrument sound its best - tuning, voicing, regulating, climate control, room acoustics or just buying a new instrument.  When all is in place, playing music and growing musically takes care of itself.  Eliminate the word "practice" and replace it with "explore" and explore things that fascinate you.  Explore to find what fascinates you - search for and feed your inspiration - inspiration comes from outside ourselves not from within. Observe the styles and techniques that make the instrument sound great. Escape the printed page - play from minds ear, play in all keys.   Always find the groove, the feel, and dig down deep to find that, as it is elusive and deceptive.   Find something new, find something old. Always differentiate styles in a big way.  Create a new style.    Sound. You must play for how it sounds.