Education Quote by Jerome Richardson

Richardson is selling something rarer than “confidence”: a working musician’s permission slip to stop chasing other people’s shine. The line about “stars” isn’t starry-eyed at all; it’s a clear-eyed nod to hierarchy, hype, and the brutal math of any scene where a few names get the light and everyone else plays in the shadow. He concedes the reality up front - yes, there are people “much further along” - so the advice doesn’t read as motivational poster talk. It reads like survival strategy.

The phrase “play yourself” lands with extra force coming from a musician. In jazz and adjacent worlds Richardson moved through, identity isn’t an abstract self-help concept; it’s literally audible. Your tone, your phrasing, your time feel, the risks you take or refuse - they announce who you are before you ever speak. Imitation can get you hired, but it won’t get you heard. His intent is pragmatic: develop a voice, because a voice is the only thing that can’t be replaced.

There’s also a quiet warning embedded here: comparison is a career-killer. By naming “stars,” he exposes the trap of measuring yourself against the market’s current winners, then asks you to shift the scoreboard inward. “Be confident in that fact” isn’t bravado; it’s discipline. Confidence, in Richardson’s frame, is the commitment to your own sound even when the room applauds someone else’s. That’s how you last.