He certainly is, but he didn't start out that way, and now plays jazz not because he has to but because he can....better than 95% of the jazz musicians out there.


Remember, he is the multiple year winner of a gospel instrumentalist of the year award.

Now, even on country oriented broadcasts, what you're hearing is often straight ahead jazz.

I believe that, in many instances, "all roads lead to jazz".
It's often not a choice of styles, but rather a natural progression as skills improve, structure and techniques are perfected and material becomes increasingly complex.

Sadly, as ability grows the audience becomes smaller, and many musicians (certainly not Rory) become very bitter, blaming the public for the lack of interest, alcohol sales (jazz listeners are not major drinkers), girls, money...etc...etc...etc.

We play ourselves out of a job. It can take as little as a few months to learn enough guitar to "pick and grin" and get paid (and laid) in the process.

A hard line jazzer is never done. Rory is twice as good an interpreter of jazz tunes today than he was two years ago. He'll continue to improve and contribute to the art form until he stops playing....hopefully, a long, long time from now.

With entertainers, the goals are different. Not easier or less noble, just different.

Look at the history of a lot of the jazz greats and you find
endless sad cases of alcoholism, mental illness, financial ruin; even crime and suicide.

Is it worth it? In my mind, the answer is a resounding "YES", but remember, I made my living doing lots of other things associated with music, but involving multiple other activities.

I don't think I was good enough, and starvation/doing without are not my favorite things.

Try to think of the issues within the context of the thoughts just laid out. That may help put things in prospective and also help appreciate the accomplishments and challenges of the superior, although often troubled folks who excel at this wonderful, frustrating art form.

And a personal thanks from me to Rory for being an excellent new "standard bearer". I'm proud to know him.

Be well, all,


Russ Lay

I'm gonna pull a Donny Pesce on ya Russ.

http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1013/rory-hoffman-self-made-man/25738

All the best,

Gary

Hi Russ........I wanted to add this.....hope it comes out right. On the TV show, he played 3-4 songs. I thought the first song was "good" but I was a little disappointed because of his reputation. But, as I listened, each song was twice as good as the one before it. On his last number, my eyes almost fell out of their sockets watching him play with notes flying all over the place. In all fairness, you can't appreciate him if you're just "hearing" and not "watching." He works that guitar (on his lap) without any effort at all which adds to the excitement of the performance. And, it seems to keep getting overlooked......he's a multi-instrumentalist. A really talented person for someone of his age.

I still have the show on my DVR. I want to watch it a few more times before I erase it. I'm going to record it with my "voice recorder" before I let it go. The recording won't be great, but if it's "listen-able," I'll post it here.

Mark