If you missed it, here’s the link to Part 1 - The Incident.

Quick recap: While he listened to my Donna Lee Variations, Joe took an opportunity to publicly expose what he thought was ignorance and inexperience.

The tradition has been known to encourage cutting. Was this Joe’s purpose?

Doubtful. Doesn’t cutting involve having instruments in hand and letting the music do the talking? I’m not (necessarily) talking about stride pianists trying to outplay each other, I’m talking about general improv battles and on-stage competitiveness. May the best player win!

No, this isn’t what Joe was doing. Otherwise he would have kept silent and waited until the concert to show how Donna Lee really should be played. Let the listeners decide! But maybe the tradition has since morphed into something different. You don’t cut on-stage, you cut off-stage. You don’t use your instrument, you use your mouth. It’s not about the music; it’s about your reputation. You don’t need mutual respect, just the best put-down.

So maybe Joe wanted to keep me on my toes; he wanted to throw me off my game! I hope this isn’t a growing trend. It would grossly ruin an honorable tradition.

Stay tuned for Part 6!