There are definitely many similarities between sports and music. The importance of teamwork is what first comes to mind. Musicians in Rock Camp, our music camp in Bridgehampton, New York, rehearse and learn the music together, and adjust in real time to what everyone is doing on stage.
Basketball legend, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, says it best.
"The whole idea of teamwork for a basketball team and a jazz group is basically the same. You have to work within a tight structure of time, space, and rules, and you have to find room for personal expression while supporting each member in time and reacting to what they do in time and space. Jazz shows how these constrictors can be liberating rather than confining."
Here is a short clip of the basketball legend, Kareem Abdul Jabbar talking about attending his first music concert, Duke Ellington and the jazz-like quality to his playing. Here is another clip of him speaking at Lincoln Center. So good!
