Steve Giordano Home

My Philosophy

  • I have been a musician since the age of 6. My music has had many stages of development throughout my life but the thing that remains constant is my musical evolution. I often have to say to a frustrated student "there is no getting to the end of growing so you may as well enjoy the ride". Luckily I have naturally adopted this maxim in that music has always been fun for me. Even during periods of insecurities, growing pains, and humbling experiences, the actual playing, composing or teaching music always transported me to an egoless place of reverie. I believe in positive thinking and that art, especially one's own, should be more enjoyed than judged. Growing in music is a life long process that shouldn't stop and each stage has its own validity.
  • My artistic principles have always been of a purist nature in that I do not compromise any aspect of music. In playing, I won't play uncreative music to make more money. I turn down higher paying money jobs in music when I know I will be miserable playing uninspiring music with uninspiring musicians. In composing, I do not write a piece of music to please a particular audience. In the past, I have turned down several career opportunities asking me to compose music that would have more mass market appeal. In teaching, I will not give students quick fixes in the form of pre-set material that sounds good but rather show them how they can think about music thus generating their own creativity. This method is far more time consuming and more demanding of the student as well as myself. Teaching is not a business to me but a necessary undertaking on my part to preserve creative music as an art form as well as my own development as a growing musician. Consequently, this approach forces me to limit my private student number due to the vast amount of time and energy consumption. A non business like approach.
  • In closing this segment I want to say that trying to maintain artistic principals requires both luck, support and various monetary compromises. There will always be the struggle between art and business. An artist must be just as creative with how to provide and survive as in making the art itself. It's a constant balancing act. I consider myself privileged to be a musician and my strong desire to teach a gift.
  • My artistic goals will always be unrealistically greater than what I can possibly achieve in one lifetime. For instance, I would love to play in every jazz club and concert hall in the world, compose huge pieces for orchestra and have them played everythere, compose movie scores, get signed by a great record label who let's me do what I want and has great distribution and airplay, give master classes and workshops at every major university in the world, get my forthcomming book published. Now, realistically speaking, I will probablly write for orchestra using today's computer technology then get it all scored using computer, then get it played by some good rehearsal orchestras and go from there. New clubs and concert venues are always openning up so that is realistic especially as I play more in Europe. Movie scores could happen if I lived on the west coast or NYC which is not doable right now. Recording has taken on a whole new shape today. When I was signed with Muse in 1979, things were very different then. Now there is the young lion movement in jazz, reluctant large labels afraid to invest in anything non-traditional, radio stations playing little that sounds fresh. It seems like there are two accepted catagories in jazz - traditional and avant garde. Anything in beween seems undefined, therefore denied. I will develop my art regardless of this, and with positive attitudes and pure joy from the music itself. My book will reflect my teaching, my love for music and life. It will be a fun book in that it teaches musicians how to teach themself, how much can be learned by listening. It will show there is no need and no time for competition or even inflated or deflated egos.
  • My strongest hope is for musical evolution. That means letting go of some of the old, dead, been there-done that, and allowing the new, fresh, inspired in. That also means new teaching concepts involving interactive playing, getting students to rely on intuition more than thinking while creating. Getting more comfortable with that grey area in art like the power of influence over directness. Putting jazz history in it's place: the past. We have been regarding it long enough. In our current timeline, jazz history and all those great players live inside of us. They are part of who we are. Let's trust that and move on.