Creativity Quote by Jerome Richardson

Richardson is policing a boundary that only sounds fussy if you ignore how hard-won it is. In a few blunt sentences, he’s arguing against the ego move in jazz: treating every instrument as a neutral vehicle for your personal “concept,” regardless of its natural voice. The flute isn’t a skinny saxophone; the soprano isn’t a tenor in miniature. Each has its own register, attack, and emotional temperature, and forcing a heavyweight tenor vocabulary onto a lighter horn doesn’t read as bold - it reads as mismatched, even embarrassing. His “it sounds wrong” isn’t moral outrage; it’s the merciless ear calling out a category error.

The subtext is about craft and humility. Jazz mythology loves the idea of the singular stylist who can bend anything to their will. Richardson pushes back: your identity as a player should include respect for the instrument’s physics and history. The jab at “some guys” who think it’s OK hints at the mid-century moment when multi-instrumental doubling became common, and novelty (especially the flute in post-bop and soul-jazz settings) could tempt players to port over their sax habits rather than develop a flute language.

He’s also defending clarity in a culture that sometimes rewards swagger over suitability. The repetition of “concept” sounds like a critique of over-intellectualized playing: the kind that uses big ideas to excuse bad sound. Richardson’s point lands because it’s not abstract. It’s a practical aesthetic: if you want the instrument, you owe it the work of speaking in its accent.