Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I 9

Introduction 11

JD Allen: Just Keep Going 13

Jeremy Pelt: You Eventually Sound Like Yourself 20

Wayne Escoffery: We All Learn Lessons in Life 26

Victor Gould: A Challenge To Be Embraced 33

Ethan Iverson & Orrin Evans: In Two Notes I Could Tell 39

Jason Moran: How Do You Value Your Work? 49

Part II 55

Introduction 57

Vijay Iyer: On the Either-Or Side 60

Taylor Ho Bynum: Blurring Lines, Upending Expectations 68

Tomeka Reid & Nicole Mitchell: The Importance of Radical Imagination 74

Mary Halvorson: How Can I Create Something New? 83

Linda May Han Oh: Ebb and Flow 90

Tyshawn Sorey: Write It Down and Believe in It 97

Part III 105

Introduction 107

Shabaka Hutchings: I Guess He Can Play… 110

Yazz Ahmed: Becoming Whole 116

Nubya Garcia & Shirley Tetteh: We're Not Americans 122

Brandee Younger & Makaya McCraven: Making Connections, Shining a Light 130

Nduduzo Makhathini, Siya Makuzeni, Thandi Ntuli, Linda Sikhakhane & Ndabo Zulu: Recovering Indigenous Knowledge 137

Kamasi Washington, Ryan Porter, Cameron Graves, Miles Mosley, Thundercat & Dwight Trible: A Force to Be Reckoned With 147

Darius Jones: It's About Connections 158

Part IV 169

Introduction 171

Ambrose Akinmusire: Expressing Complexity 174

Christian Scott a Tunde Adjuah: Where the Power Rests 182

Keyon Harrold: You Gotta Kill It 190

Theo Croker: This is All Black Music 196

Marquis Hill: Reaching the People 203

Part V 209

Introduction 211

Jaimie Branch: Sometimes I Edit Myself 213

James Brandon Lewis: It Just Depends 221

Matana Roberts: Child of the Wind 228

Kassa Overall: Finding Something in Everything 235

Moor Mother & Luke Stewart: We All Come Together 241