Miles Davis - A man who's life personafies the idea of; "Surround yourself with great people, and you will become great yourself." All his life Miles sought the greatest musicians. And to do this Miles had to be great himself.
Louis Armstrong - In the face of hatred, bigitry and racism, Louis kept pushing to do the one thing he loved most. And there wasn't a person on earth who was going to stop him. But he pushed on in a way that of every life he touched, there wasn't a person on this earth who didn't love him.
Dizzy Gillespie - Another pioneer in music, he along with Bird brought virtuosity to jazz. Soon after a person had to become studious in music to fully comprehend the greatness of be-bop music.
Chet Baker - Personafies patience, and deliberateness, and most of all his ability to produce his own melody out of any song no matter what the pace. Each time Chet performs, the song becomes his own.
John Coltrane - Probably one of the most educated people in music you will ever come across. Trane studied musics from all over the world and the more he studied the more it came apparent in his music. Trane didn't confine himself the frame of western music for his musical paintings.
Charlie Parker - At one time Bird got on a stage and was boo'ed off. Not a single person understood what he was trying to do harmonically. They called it "Chinese music." Bird went a way for a few years, only to reappear as one of the most influential musicians in jazz music. Although the world was not yet ready for his thinking, he did not change for the world. He simply waited for the world to catch up.
Duke Ellington - He heard the world in a way different than anyone else. But his greatest accomplishment was learning to translate what he heard to music so that he could share it with others. Unique and extremely different than what anyone had heard before, Dukes music drew people in and never released them. Duke developed the natural voices of instruments and used their many timbers to translate the many voices in his head.
Harry Connick Jr. - There is not a single human being on this earth that is 100% completely brand new; "never been done before." Whether it be in life or performing arts, we are all in some way a copy of that which came before us. But it is the responsibility of each of us to discern our own voice among the mix of many voices in our head. Harry has done this over and over again.
To conclude i take all of these lessons with me in every day life, and apply them to the every day things i do.
1. Surround yourself with people who will motivate you to be the best you can be. Leave others who will bring you down behind.
2. Don't let anyones criticism stop you from doing what you love. If it makes your heart happy, then do it and people will love you for what you do best.
3. Learn to be the best at what you do. Seek more than common knowledge. Become profound in what you do. Have a strong understanding not only of what it is, but more importantly why it has come to be. Others will respect you for what you know and seek you for knowledge.
4. Think your actions through to the end. Be prepared for all that may come between you and the end result you are trying to achieve. Understand that there will will also be unforseen things you will have to remedy on the fly.
5. Seek the knowledge you need to keep growing. It is not important to know about irrelevant things, but it is important to understand that there will always be the need to gain more knowledge. Then, just as significant, apply what you know. To have knowledge and not use it is the same to be ignorant.
6. Not every one is going to share your vision, and there may be many reasons for that. But what ever the reason is you stay strong with what you feel is right. Whether it be they are in a different stage in their life, have a different view on the matter, or just simply not have the ability to comprehend you. The burdon does not lie on you converting them.
7. The burdon lies on you being able to translate the point you are trying to get across. Taking your thoughts and/or feelings and communicating them to the world.
8.Find your voice. The voice that you will use to speak to the world. There may have been many before you who have said basically the same thing, but it may be your voice people connect with, and not the voice of the others. It may be your translation that sparks their interest. Belive it or not, there are people out there who want to hear what you have to say, and want to understand why you said it.