Creativity Quote by Skitch Henderson

It is a line that sounds like easygoing optimism until you hear the professional discipline hiding inside it. Skitch Henderson - a bandleader and musical director who lived by rehearsal schedules, live broadcasts, and the ruthless now-ness of performance - frames joy not as a memory to curate but as a practice to execute. In a musician's life, "whatever I'm doing now" is rarely abstract. It's the downbeat, the cue, the room tone, the chemistry between players, the small high-wire act of making something land in real time.

The intent is disarmingly simple: stay present. The subtext is tougher: nostalgia is a trap, and so is chasing the next gig as if it will finally deliver fulfillment. Henderson sidesteps both by declaring allegiance to the current measure. That choice reads like a survival strategy for anyone whose career depends on constant adaptation - different ensembles, different audiences, different eras of taste. It is also a quiet flex. To claim the present as your favorite implies you've learned how to make the present good, or at least workable, regardless of circumstance.

Context matters: Henderson's longevity spanned big-band culture, television variety, and the slow rebranding of "show business" into modern entertainment. The quote is a rebuttal to the industry's obsession with peak moments and signature hits. He argues, with a performer's shrug, that the only experience you can actually play is the one in front of you.