"The way that I got involved with microtonal music was, frankly, through jazz"

John Eaton's quote talks to the impact of jazz on his participation in microtonal music. Microtonal music is a kind of music that utilizes periods smaller sized than a semitone, which is the tiniest interval used in conventional Western music. Jazz is a category of music that has been heavily affected by microtonal music, especially in the use of "blue notes" which are notes that are a little lower than the standard notes of the scale. Eaton's quote recommends that his interest in microtonal music was triggered by his expedition of jazz. He likely found using microtonal periods in jazz to be appealing and decided to further check out the possibilities of microtonal music. Eaton's quote also speaks to the impact of jazz on the advancement of microtonal music. Jazz has actually been a major influence on the development of microtonal music, and Eaton's quote recommends that his own expedition of microtonal music was heavily affected by his exploration of jazz.