Yogi Berra Explains Jazz

[Lois Gilbert]

YOGI BERRA EXPLAINS JAZZ

Interviewer: Can you explain jazz?

Yogi: I can't, but I will. 90% of all jazz is half improvisation. The other half is the part people play while others are playing something they
never played with anyone who played that part. So if you play the wrong part, its right. If you play the right part, it might be right if you play it wrong enough. But if you play it too right, it's wrong.

Interviewer: I don't understand.

Yogi: Anyone who understands jazz knows that you can't understand it. It's too complicated. That's what's so simple about it.

Interviewer: Do you understand it?

Yogi: No. That's why I can explain it. If I understood it, I wouldn't know anything about it.

Interviewer: Are there any great jazz player alive today?

Yogi: No. All the great jazz players alive today are dead. Except for the ones that are still alive. But so many of them are dead, that the ones that are still alive are dying to be like the ones that are dead.

Interviewer: What is syncopation?

Yogi: That's when the note that you should hear now happens either before or after you hear it. In jazz, you don't hear notes when they happen because
that would be some other type of music. Other types of music can be jazz, but only if they're the same as something different from those other kinds.

Interviewer: Now I really don't understand.

Yogi: I haven't taught you enough for you to not understand jazz that well.

[jazzy mary]

This is hysterical! Where did this come from??

[Enforcer]

Not to derail the thread too badly, but the Yogi Berra commercial for the insurance company (Aflac?) is the funniest thing I've seen on TV in a long time. The reaction shots of the other people in the barber shop are the real secret to the comedy.

[Richardo Caerleoni]

Looks a lot like Wynton to me... Just joking!

[Ron Thorne]

That's pretty damned clever. While I'd bet the farm that those words didn't actually come from Yogi, a man I'm proud to say I met in my youth, the author has studied Berra's mannerisms well.

[Mike Schwartz]

Lois,
What a laugh riot!!

[Gordon B]

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

That's pretty damned clever. While I'd bet the farm that those words didn't actually come from Yogi, a man I'm proud to say I met in my youth, the author has studied Berra's mannerisms well.

Did you meet him outside that restaurant that he said nobody ever went to because it was too crowded?

[Bluebrew]

Great interview.
I never met Yogi several times.

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by Gordon B

Did you meet him outside that restaurant that he said nobody ever went to because it was too crowded?

Not exactly, Gordon. I met Yogi in 1953 or '54 with my father at Miami Springs Country Club in Miami, Florida. I've told this story here before, so I'll try to be brief. My father knew a lot of ballplayers through golfing connections, and there was an annual benefit at Miami Springs for which Yogi and many other baseball greats attended. At one such tournament, my father approached Yogi after he'd finished the 18th hole and asked him if he'd mind giving me an autograph. They had met previously, but Yogi was extraordinarily cool and came right over to me, extending his hand. Then, he asked me if I played ball, to which I enthusiastically answered "yes". At that point he asked me if I'd like to play a little catch. Now you know "the rest of the story". We played catch for a half an hour or so, then we all went into the clubhouse for something to drink and he gave me an autographed ball and bat afterward. I'll never forget the thrill of meeting and playing catch with him, or his kindness and generosity.

[Gordon B]

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

Not exactly, Gordon. I met Yogi in 1953 or '54 with my father at Miami Springs Country Club in Miami, Florida. I've told this story here before, so I'll try to be brief. My father knew a lot of ballplayers through golfing connections, and there was an annual benefit at Miami Springs for which Yogi and many other baseball greats attended. At one such tournament, my father approached Yogi after he'd finished the 18th hole and asked him if he'd mind giving me an autograph. They had met previously, but Yogi was extraordinarily cool and came right over to me, extending his hand. Then, he asked me if I played ball, to which I enthusiastically answered "yes". At that point he asked me if I'd like to play a little catch. Now you know "the rest of the story". We played catch for a half an hour or so, then we all went into the clubhouse for something to drink and he gave me an autographed ball and bat afterward. I'll never forget the thrill of meeting and playing catch with him, or his kindness and generosity.

Ron, that must have been an incredible thrill for you. Yogi has always come across as a good natured guy.