Hello, and thanks for visiting my web site. The following pages spotlight some of my various happenings and interests over the years, as well as some of the people who have had an impact in sparking those interests. To these good ladies and gentlemen, I am profoundly grateful.

This seems a good place to tell you a little about myself and what drives me — sort of a mission statement, guess you’d call it. I would say that at my aesthetic core is a profound fascination with all manner of the arts, in particular jazz. I’m fascinated with how it sounds and feels, with learning to play it, with writing and talking about it — always with the thought that someone might be interested enough to check it out. Good jazz, from its inception in the early 1900s to today, can deeply improve one’s sense of well-being; it’s an art form that makes listeners and players feel good. At least that’s how it’s been with me. So my thing is to keep on the case, work to become a better musician and writer, and to pass the word on — looking to get more people listening, and maybe going out, hearing it live, which can be quite special. Clearly, a passion for jazz has enriched my life. It’s been a privilege to have found this deep, provocative music and to have embraced it.

So again, thanks for dropping by. Hope you enjoy.

Be well,
Zan

“Listen”

– Jon Hendricks

“…If you are following your bliss, you are enjoying this refreshment, that lives within you, all the time.”

– Joseph Campbell

“If you can hear it, you can have it.”

– Dizzy Gillespie

“What is an artist? Someone who possesses a certain facility that he is destined to use for the service of others.”

– Henry Miller

“I try to play fast and clean and look for the pretty notes.”

– Charlie Parker

“You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.”

– Martha Graham

“A note can be small as a pin or as big as the world. It depends on your imagination.”

– Thelonious Monk

“To me, the true artist is one who lives completely, harmoniously, who does not divide his art from living, whose very life is that expression…”

– J. Krishnamurti

“Excellence is achieved. It is not stumbled upon in the course of amusing oneself. It is built upon discipline and tenacity of purpose.

– Winston Churchill

“Take care of the work, and the work will take care of you.”

– Z.S., among others

“You must be the change that you would like to see in the world.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

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