Jazz music is an improvised, harmonically sophisticated musical genre and one of the most perfect American art forms. A broad musical style characterized by intricate harmony, syncopated rhythms and a heavy emphasis on improvisation are just some of its most powerful features. Considered one of the musical capitals of the United States, New Orleans supports a strong ragtime and blues tradition. Zach Brock discovered early jazz musicians such as Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong.

Thus, the creation of a cultural building block built on the blues and ragtime forms gave rise to a whole new genre of American music. Jazz music, which overlaps with almost every type of music from blues to rock and classical, creates a wide variety of jazz subgenres; embracing modal music, pop, rock, funk, and even true avant-garde compositions, it traps us.

During the period when jazz music was developed and widely performed, the violin emerged as a very, very important element of the Central European musical tradition on the European stages. The concept of "virtuoso," which was developed over the instrument, especially in the romantic period, formed the soloist identity of the violin in an individual sense, and now the violin has become an extension of the artist as if it were in flesh and blood.

Thanks to this journey of jazz music and violin from those days to these days, we can embroider the musical creations of an important jazz violinist like Zach Brock on our souls. This man masterfully manages to project a utopia full of ambition and strong emotions, along with the deepest thoughts, onto a small instrument. "I'm an improviser first, a jazz musician second, and a violinist third. I'm trying to create and refine my musical voice so that the listener recognizes that it's me from the first note. I hope that my style is an honest expression of my entire life's experience," he said.

Having an important place in the development of contemporary jazz music, Brock feels music for the first time in his mother's womb. Because he is the son of a mother who is a professional singer. In fact, his mother and father met while singing in a choir together. "I'm not sure exactly why I started on the violin but I suspect that it was because a lot of the younger mothers who were friends with my mom were enrolling their children in a local Suzuki program. It was a very nurturing community to be a part of.

"I grew up playing music with my parents, singing in a choir, and also participating in various community orchestra programs. I didn't know that I was going to pursue music professionally until I was about 16 years old. That's when I started to hone my focus," he explained

"I believe that every artist has a 'deep emotional philosophy' for the art they perform."

Most of the time, the theoretical part of the artists we watch on the stage impresses us as an unprecedented talent that overflows from his own soul and becomes flesh and bone thanks to the artist's virtuoso identity. Therefore, the art of music teaches the artist a lot about concentration and discipline, as well as how to direct and understand his emotions and values. And of course, for Brock, the success he has achieved in his music career is in great parallel with the character he bestowed on the violin. And it opens up the world to him in ways he couldn't even imagine experiencing.

''Music is its own language and (almost) everyone is born with the ability to feel it and speak it. We all have access to it regardless of where we are from or to whom we are born. I agree that it is a strange and miraculous energy,'' Brock shared.

Establishing the violin hold

Henryk Szeryng, who is among the violinists who best interpret Bach, is considered one of the best examples in music circles with his interpretation of Solo Sonata and Partitas. One of the favorite violinists for Brock, Szeryng was an artist who managed to express his own interpretation in a romantic style, taking into account Bach's original writing but still adding nuances, arcs and musical expressions to the edition.

"This list is actually quite long. Anne-Sophie Mutter has the widest palette of violinists I've ever heard. James Ehnes, on the other hand, finds beauty in even the most technically challenging material. When we say Maxim Vengerov, it comes to mind that his passion is irrepressible and invigorating. But Henryk Szerying is my favorite for everything he does," Brock explained.

Thoughts on art and aesthetics, when considered together with the general lines of music, lay the foundations of important philosophies. Schopenhauer said, "The world exists only in relation to something else, in relation to someone who grasps the design, which is himself." As in his statement, if there is no person who perceives, comprehends or knows, the object as a design does not exist. Therefore, every design that emerges with talent manifests itself in the conditions of space, time and sensation. As a result, the more the creations that come to life in an artist's mind are bound to conditions, the freer their will will be.

''Talent can make something that is very difficult easier to start. It can also be a huge help when you don't know how to study your craft. It can give you a kind of confidence. I believe that everyone is talented. Talent grows on trees. Great artists have all met the limits of their talent and then have worked with intense focus for thousands of hours to go beyond those limits. Theoretical knowledge can help you when you get stuck. It can give you lots of tools to use," Brock said, adding, "But theoretical knowledge is not necessarily connected to the purpose of music or art. One can get distracted and fascinated by it and end up being led away from the very reason that you needed it in the first place.''

It is remarkable that many violinists try to move their left ear closer to the violin in the heavy and sad song (kantilena) and move it away with a desire for control in the difficult parts of the piece. These are just a few of the things that are intriguing for newbies to the business. He explains that turning the head in any direction while playing the violin actually has no technical benefit and that exaggerated head positioning is more of a personal quirk or habit of the player. ''The physical function of the head is to apply weight at the end of an unbalanced lever. So sometimes if a violinist is playing in a very physical or emotive way then they might naturally feel like putting more of their head weight on the violin to stabilize it.

"Also, head position and balance really depend on the length of your neck and the height of your chinrest.’’

As a regular stimulation of the auditory senses, music not only triggers the senses in a lively and diverse way but also endows them with power because the art of music is the language of pure sensations. The sounds heard here are actually tones. And what colors are to sight, they are to listening.

In choosing the violin, an unsuitable size violin will bring many problems without paying attention to the physical characteristics of the student. "It's important to be paired with an appropriately sized violin when you are a beginner in order to minimize physical discomfort. The violin isn't necessarily a comfortable instrument to play. While it is relatively small and light it also requires a strange combination of balance and contrasting arm positions.’’

Brock is also a good trainer, apart from his identity as a musician. His trainer aspect feeds into his musicality quite a lot. And he addresses this subject expertly.

''The longer one plays music the more natural it is to identify as a teacher. I certainly didn't feel comfortable offering advice or instruction when I was a young professional because I felt that I hadn't accrued sufficient experience to have a truly helpful perspective for someone else. Now that I've been playing professionally for almost 30 years I'm realizing that I have a lot of hard-won information to pass on to other violinists and musicians if they're interested. Ten years ago I would have said that the performing side of my career was the more important one. Since the pandemic lockdown, I've been feeling that teaching and performing are more equal parts of my musical personality than ever before. I certainly feel that my educational side lights my performance side.''

Snarky Puppy, extraordinary creativity

In April 2007, Michael League emailed Brock to ask if I could recommend cool clubs and promoters in Chicago. He told her that he has a band called Snarky Puppy and that his band's drummer, Jon Deitemyer, performed with them while in college. And of course, my forefront begins here. ‘’I give all of the credit to Jon Deitemyer for introducing me to Mike. I sat in with the band when they came to town a few months later and I've been playing with them ever since. Playing with Snarky Puppy has given me a lot. They’re my second family. I get to travel the world with them playing music that inspires and challenges me," he said.

The concepts of talent and creativity, which are often used in the same sense, have quite different meanings from each other. Drawing the divergent boundaries of these concepts will pave the way for a better understanding of the concept. Talent is something innate and adaptive. That is when a person is something that is "given" or "possessed," whether he uses it or not, defines creativity as a concept that does not exist "spontaneously" that can only be seen in the act. From this point of view, I find that the first moment when the artist feels that he can create something is very valuable. It was a tremendous moment for Brock as well.

''It's one of the most thrilling feelings that I've ever experienced. In those moments, when you actually create something, there's a feeling of potency and of being one with the world. Those experiences don't happen every time I try to create but the peak experiences will always have me coming back for more.''

It should be admitted that the existing talent is a feature that can be developed by everyone, if the endless transformation of perspective, the pursuit of innovation and the support of curiosity, and the opportunity for original thought and solution proposals are given to people. Many people of science, thought, and art attributes the difference between animals and humans to their ability to use their creativity, that is, to make art. Marx sums it up perfectly: "We have to think of labor in a way specific to the human species. The spider does a job similar to that of a weaver. The bee, on the other hand, has the power to embarrass many architects with the skill he showed while building his cell. But what distinguishes even the most inept architect from the bee is that he set up the cell in his head before pouring it into the wax."

As Kierkegaard said, "The essence of the soul is activity."