"Excerpts from an Interview"

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=51 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="29002330dvldtc.jpg"> <div> <B>"Excerpts from an Interview"</B></div> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="15c20770.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="119" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></I></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=269 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="8bd00c00dvldtc.jpg"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="611" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 ><NOBR><div> <B>Degroff, Pam </B>- <I><B><U>TG Forum </U></B></I><I><B> </B></I>(<B>October 7, 2002</B>) - "<I><B>Excerpts from an Interview "</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1935 WIDTH="605"><bR> <div> <I>What formal training have you had?</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><I> </I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>As far as formal training goes, I had 6 years of weekly private lessons with my first teacher. I still study to this day on </B></div> <div> <B>my own and with consultations. My travels take me to a lot of situations where I'm playing with symphony orchestras, I always find someone in the bass section willing to trade my knowledge of improvisation for some pointers on playing classical pieces. </B></div> <bR> <div> <I>Have You studied in college and/or have any music degrees? </I></div> <bR> <div> <B>No. I didn't feel that college was the right way to go at the time. I play left-handed, so symphony work wasn't a place where I'd have a future. My heart is in improvisation. Plus I've always made my living from music, taking time off to go to school just wasn't practical. I did work in a fast food joint and a car wash to buy my first instruments.I feel that the experience I've gained from actual playing experiences has been invaluable. I'm asked to give clinics at colleges based on that. A degree doesn't matter when Doc Severinsen, Woody Herman or Mel Torme' expects you to play their show with one rehearsal. A music school is not a bad choice, it just wasn't in the cards for me. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>My study has always been very personal. Music is a calling, a lifelong commitment, any musician who doesn't strive to better him/herself becomes stagnant. It always helps you move forward when there's a bit of frustration to drive you. </B></div> <bR> <div> <I>I've read on your site that you play both electric and acoustic upright bass. Which instrument did you first work with and what lead you to start working with the other as well? </I></div> <bR> <div> <B>I played electric bass first, when I stated studying I became interested in the acoustic. It took me about a year of practice before I started to play acoustic professionally. I'm still working on it. </B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <I>Any plans to reissue older projects under the name of Jennifer Leitham? Plans for new releases any time soon? </I></div> <div> <B>      </B></div> <div> <B>I have enough material laying around to do several new CDs. I have a small group Jazz version of "West Side Story" that I wrote about 4 years ago for the American Jazz Institute. I'd like to do a compilation of my already recorded original tunes and release it under my proper name but funds are short after producing my SRS. </B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <I>Your site also contained some great quotes about the state of artistic culture in our society. What do you feel, as a </I></div> <div> <I>musician, should or could be done about this lack of integrity? </I></div> <div> <B>      </B></div> <div> <B>We've lost our school music programs. We need music ed in early childhood through high school. We've let generations of kids become slaves to pop culture. </B></div> <bR> <div> <I>Also, what can trans people do about this same situation? </I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Don't make the "trans" issue your only passion. Strive to be absolutely the best at what you do. Make people admire you for your talents. Be a whole person first. Carry yourself with dignity and let your actions speak for you. If one becomes too angry, ugly, and publicly militant it devalues being taken for a human being. People will only relate to you as a "trans" person. We're more than that. Of course we have to stand up for our rights, but we'll only be taken seriously if we are judged as human beings first. </B></div> <bR> <div> <I>What advice would you give to a young musician just starting out?   </I><B>    </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Find a good teacher and learn to love to practice! </B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <I>Almost the same question, but what advice would you give to a young transgender person? </I></div> <div> <B>      </B></div> <div> <B>I was clueless when I was young. If you can find a sympathetic ear and get to counseling it would make things so much easier.  Just know that there is nothing wrong with you and it's not your fault or anyone else's. </B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <I>What are your own personal musical tastes? What are you listening to these days? </I></div> <div> <B>      </B></div> <div> <B>A wide range! I'm working on the Bach Cello Suites so I'm listening to various versions (Pablo Casals, Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer). I listen to singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra,(especially with Count Basie!), and Peggy Lee. I'm an old Tower of Power and Earth, Wind, and Fire fan. I like the new Steely Dan and Jon Mayer records. I listen to the Indigo Girls.  I think Joni Mitchell is a goddess! I'm crazy about Ravel, Debussey, Stravinsky, J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Gustav Holst, etc. I'm deeply enamoured with Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Cannonball Adderley, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Wes Montgomery, Ray Brown, Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, etc. </B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <I>Okay, I guess the last part of the interview is simply to say if there are any last words of wisdom, advice, shots in the </I></div> <div> <I>dark, recipes, whatever, you'd like to share at this point. Be creative here, if you wish. </I></div> <div> <B>      </B></div> <div> <B>I'm still working all of this out so maybe I'm not the best candidate for Trans-Oracle but here goes: </B></div> <div> <B>Don't be judgmental. There's a long way to go before gender variance is an accepted norm. Accept the fact that some people will always have a problem with it. Try and become happy with yourself. It's an everyday challenge. I certainly don't have all the answers, We all face challenges and pressures but as I stated before, your actions are what mean the most. </B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=160 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="29100a00dvldtc.jpg"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="926" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 52 ><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="39">  <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="HOME"><U><IMG SRC="25c26260.jpg" border=0 width="38" height="38" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>  <A HREF="goes_with_the_changes.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jazz Bassist Goes with the Changes"><U><IMG SRC="25d27270.jpg" border=0 width="39" height="39" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" 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