"When you’re improvising you need to be in three different time zones. The past to know how you got here, the present as you play, and the future to know where this is all headed."
Trombone players all know Jim as an elite jazz player, but what comes through clearly in this conversation is that he is truly a teacher with a fundamental understanding of the music and a passion for conveying that understanding.
Jim talks about being on the bandstand with Steely Dan to playing with Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd to range-building exercises for trombone players.