This podcast of a conversation between Dr. Dennis Rebelo and the jazz saxophonist (actually a multi-instrumentalist) Daniel Bennett is a real treat!  These two met one another by chance 10 years ago or more when Rebelo showed up at one of Bennett’s shows.  They developed a friendship over the years and their camaraderie is apparent in the hour plus of their back and forth.  Bennett is a working (a lot!) musician, but his story, as Rebelo guides him with questions to tell it, is not so much a life in music as it is of ‘music in life’.  In describing his praxis, to keep in mind to ‘play a few pretty notes’ (an adage he ascribes to the legendary Charlie Parker) and that ‘it’s not about blowing fire through the horn’, he suggests that this applies both to working collaboratively with his bandmates as well as to navigating relationships, how one supports, encourages, and inspires others.  To paraphrase, Bennett repeats during the broadcast, “the less of me allows the more of others”.  The same spirit informs his teaching, an enterprise that he considers is an extension of his craft and, to hear him describe it, important and fulfilling in equal measure.  It’s a nice closing of the circle, since it was a high school music teacher who was such a formative presence at an impressionable age and manifestly continues to exert a powerful influence on his activities.  This teacher stands as a testimony to the enduring presence mentors have in our lives, and Dr. Rebelo is an example of how a chance meeting can blossom into a fruitful and substantive partnership.  There’s so much more, but discover for yourself.  I highly recommend giving this podcast a listen!