Ian, that pretty well sums me up, too.

And you're not alone, Tony. I think that's true for a lot of us so-called 'jazzers'. Me, I like to say I LIKE jazz. Bird, Bud Powell, Coltrane, Miles; THEY were JAZZMEN, Jimmy Smith, Groove Holmes, Jack McDuff, not so much. Like my feeble attempts, what they played was a post-Wild Bill Davis kind of funk-jazz or soul-jazz, lumped under the heading of jazz organ. It was definitely more 'soul' than jazz, combining (usually) a walking bass line with a swing-shuffle beat. What those guys did (and what guys like Joey D. and Tony Monaco are still doing) was to create and popularize an exciting new easily accessible jazz-ish style with a (by then) jaded old instrument (Hammond organ). I still love it and always will, but I'll be the first to admit that it's not strictly 'jazz'. Jazz is on a higher plane and it's takes very special people with very special sensibilities to really play it. JMO, of course.

chas

At most of the joints I play, the patrons want to hear the melody...I can mess with the chords all I want(within reason) but, they don't seem to like too much wandering away from the melody.

Which is good thing, considering I only have a bunch of well practised(and well worn) licks that I generally use when "improvising"...occasionally I'll learn a new one, but I love having the old ones to fall back on, and work away from.

That doesn't mean I don't enjoy listening to well played improv...but, I guess even then I have my favorites...Bill Evans heads the list...Diana Krall is a relatively recent addition....a feast for the ears and the eyes.

I remember seeing her playing in a hotel lounge while I was on a Yamaha seminar, waaay back...I had said to one of the guys, that she was something else...she couldn't have been much over 20, maybe younger...and that she was probably going places with that talent.

She sure did...the "Live in Paris" DVD is my favorite concert.

There I go...digressing again.