Academy Snippets: Is playing Jazz compatible with playing Classical music?

In a recent live workshop, one of the Chick Corea Academy students asked Chick, “Is playing Jazz music compatible with playing with Classical music?” Here was Chick’s response: “In my mind, the compatibility is in your own mind. To me, music is just a subject and a creation of all human beings on this planet. Music is sound that is pleasant. You create sound in various ways and if the effect of the creation of that sound is pleasant to somebody or yourself, or it creates an aesthetic or inspiring effect, or some positive effect, that’s music. You know the phrase, ’It’s music to my ears’. Well, it’s your ears, so it’s subjective. My ideal [scenario] is to have the ability to write my music, to play others’ written music, and to create my own music for others to play. I think there’s fun in all of it. In other words, the compatibility between Classical and Jazz is whatever you think. But where I draw the line, sort of, is ’improvisation’.” The Chick Corea Academy gives