{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/iiif/bz6154f994/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Cyrus Chestnut oral history, 2004 January 22"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/008/original/peabody-institute.logo.large.horizontal.blue.cropped.png?1549570058","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":[" Cyrus Chestnut is a jazz pianist. A Baltimore native, Chestnut began piano studies with his father, the pianist at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. At age nine, he began piano theory and musicianship classes at the Peabody Preparatory Division, where he studied for twelve years. He accompanied the choir at the Israel Baptist Church in East Baltimore. He attended Baltimore City and Harford County public schools, then Berklee College of Music, where he studied jazz composition and arranging. Graduating in 1985, he returned to Baltimore while establishing a national career with musicians such as Jon Hendricks, Donald Harrison, Wynton Marsalis, and Betty Carter. In this interview with Elizabeth Schaaf, Chestnut discusses his musical influences and his approach to improvisation. (Abstract)"," Low audio levels and intermittent mechanical noise on source media. (Physical Description)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":[" 2004-01-22 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":[" Chestnut, Cyrus, 1963- (Interviewee)"," Schaaf, Elizabeth M. (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":[" English (Primary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Format"]},"value":{"en":["audio/mp3"]}},{"label":{"en":["Publisher"]},"value":{"en":["Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["The collection is open for use. Contact peabodyarchives@lists.jhu.edu for more information."]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["https://aspace.library.jhu.edu/repositories/4/archival_objects/215342"]}}],"summary":{"en":[" Cyrus Chestnut is a jazz pianist. A Baltimore native, Chestnut began piano studies with his father, the pianist at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. At age nine, he began piano theory and musicianship classes at the Peabody Preparatory Division, where he studied for twelve years. He accompanied the choir at the Israel Baptist Church in East Baltimore. He attended Baltimore City and Harford County public schools, then Berklee College of Music, where he studied jazz composition and arranging. Graduating in 1985, he returned to Baltimore while establishing a national career with musicians such as Jon Hendricks, Donald Harrison, Wynton Marsalis, and Betty Carter. In this interview with Elizabeth Schaaf, Chestnut discusses his musical influences and his approach to improvisation."," Low audio levels and intermittent mechanical noise on source media."]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["The collection is open for use. Contact peabodyarchives@lists.jhu.edu for more information."]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/008/original/peabody-institute.logo.large.horizontal.blue.cropped.png?1549570058","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/117/389/small/chestnut.jpg?1649883398","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 2 - pims0091_ChestnutC_01.mp3"]},"duration":2932.03592,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/117/389/small/chestnut.jpg?1649883398","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-peabody.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/117/389/original/pims0091_ChestnutC_01.mp3?1624270786","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":2932.03592,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["ChestnutC_1_OHMS_20220607 [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ELIZABETH SCHAAF: --at the Peabody Conservatory. Interview with Cyrus Chestnut.\nThe interviewer is Elizabeth Schaaf.\n\n [INTERRUPTION]\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: You're somebody special. We wouldn't want to lose anything.\nThere we go.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Make sure you get everything.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: And just for good measure, we've even got a third one. These\nlittle things, they make these for teenagers, because if you don't have your\nglasses on, you can't half see them.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yeah, that's true.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: This one seems to be doing just fine.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I remember at some point, it'll be something when they come out\nwith a recordable MP3 player.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Oh, yeah. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=0.0,60.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I guess we're not all that far away.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: You know, I never realized, with the invention of these MP3\nplayers, the most signature one of the bunch being the Apple iPods, it has a lot\nof visibility. It's amazing. I find myself being able to carry with me\neverything from Stravinsky to Ray Charles. I mean, literally, in my iPod, I'm\ncarrying Pictures at an Exhibition, The Rite of Spring, and I'm also carrying a\ncollection of Michael Jackson records, in addition to Art Tatum, Miles Davis,\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=60.0,120.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Chucho Valdes, and a great kaleidoscope of music. And it gets me. If I was to\nactually carry all that amount of CDs, I would basically be walking around with\na trunk.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Yes.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Oh, yeah, Erik Satie. I just got some Erik Satie. I have to go\nback in my boxes and find my Glenn Gould recordings. I just always have them\nwith me. It's excellent. It's excellent when you're getting on a plane. It's a\ngreat study tool.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Tell me what you were listening to when you first started\nlistening to music. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=120.0,180.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Now, somebody probably had a collection of records at home.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Well, at home my father played in the church. He would always go\nto the record shop. He would have just album after album of the latest gospel\nartists. So, that was primarily what I heard in the house growing up. Either my\nfather playing some hymns, or, at the time you could go to the music store, you\ncould buy from the Roberta Martin library, they had sheet music and all these\ndays. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=180.0,240.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Nowadays nobody seems to care to read music, but I won't go into that.\n\nBut it was that. Also in the house in the cupboard I found some 45s from my\nmom's younger days. There was Jackie Wilson, there was Aretha Franklin, Little\nRichard, Sam Cooke, Little Anthony and the Imperials. I had to sneak into the\ncupboard and get those records and listen to them as well.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Yeah, I have to confess to being a secret Little Richard fan myself.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yes. I remember one of my favorite records. As long as I can\nremember, I've always had a special affinity towards instrumental music. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=240.0,300.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I won't\ntake anything away from the lyric. The lyric is important, but there was just\nsomething about hearing instrumental music that always got my attention. And\nspecifically this particular record was a King Curtis record, and I just loved\nit. I remember loving the sound of the saxophone. I really liked what was done.\n\nYou know, even at that time I would sit and practice Beethoven, Brahms, and\nMozart, and scales and arpeggios, that's what I had to do in preparing a weekly\nlesson. There was always a time where I would just sit down and simply play. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=300.0,360.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I\nwas about six or seven years old. I had no idea what bebop meant, improvisation,\nor whatever. All I knew was I just liked to play. I just made stuff up. I just\nalways did. And I guess that's why maybe when I was studying here at the Prep\n[Peabody Preparatory], I always loved the musicianship classes because I always\nliked getting into the understanding of composition. I always liked making\nthings up, you know, just writing, creating things.\n\nWe used to have harmony wars with a gentleman by the name of David Drucker. He\nwould sit and figure out how many ways we could get chords to go certain places.\nA two-six, or you could play this Neapolitan here, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=360.0,420.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"or whatever. We would spend\nhours in the practice room just making things up. I always liked creating music.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Now how old were you when you were doing this, when you\nstarted musicianship classes?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I think I was around ten or eleven. My mind is working today. My\nfirst music teacher, I forget his--I think it's Charles, I'm not sure. But I\nremember Mr. Snowden.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Oh, yes. Terry.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Terry Snowden? He was my first music theory teacher. I got into\nthe Prep at nine through a teacher, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=420.0,480.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Linda Lissi, and she was very instrumental\nin making sure that I got here to the Prep. She really felt that I could\nbenefit. I think it was a Wednesday evening I started learning all these things\nabout music. And it was just so much fun.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: And you got a great teacher. Terry was just...\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I always enjoyed the classes. It's funny now at this stage of my\nlife, and where I am musically, I'm finding myself going back to a lot of those\nlessons in one way, shape, or form. I may not remember them exactly, but there\nare a lot of things that I learned here at the Prep. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=480.0,540.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Some things I was able to\ntake advantage of right away. And other things took its time. Just took its\ntime. You know, as I just go on this journey of life, I come back and I find\nmyself thinking of the Prep and playing things--\"Yeah, okay.\" I'm very\nappreciative of it. Very appreciative of it.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Well, I love listening to your compositions and your\narrangements. Your last CD you did this just perfectly wonderful arrangement of\nDorsey's \"Precious Lord.\" And this is a piece that we all have listened to and\nlistened to.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: It's kind of like gospel 101, so to speak, yeah.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=540.0,600.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Yes, but you gave it a freshness and this elegant setting. It\nwas just wonderful.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I appreciate it. It all goes back to, I've always liked creating\nthings. I'll tell you a story. I guess I've always liked to go down a different\npath, rather than beat the drum the way everyone else [does]. I always seemed to\nhave this affinity to try to find something different. Back in the days of rep\nclass--I guess they still exist now.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: They sure do.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: My teacher at the time, his name was Jack Ergo. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=600.0,660.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"After a while he\nstarted to notice that I really wanted to investigate this jazz thing. He gave\nme this Scott Joplin Maple Leaf Rag to play, and so I took it home and I started\nto work on it. He played it for me, and I said okay. And as I was in the process\nof just learning, I decided one day I did not want to play the straight eighth\nnote. I wanted to mess around with swinging the eighth note, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=660.0,720.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"doing it kind of\nlike a swing feel, being when you basically have triplets and take the second\ntriplet out, so you got [sings swing rhythm] and so forth. Basically kind of an\nexplanation of the swing feel [sings swing rhythm]. So I started playing, and\nrather than playing--[sings Maple Leaf Rag with straight eighths], I turned it\naround and went--[sings with swing rhythm]. And I liked it. I just liked it.\n\nSo, one day in the rep class, I sat down and played this piece. I started\nplaying, and when I got to the final shout, rather than keep that eighth note\nstraight, I turned it around and I put the swing feel to it. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=720.0,780.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"It felt great, and\nI was having a great time. I finish, and I leave the piano and I go sit down,\nand then there became this twenty­-minute discussion on my interpretation of\nthe eighth note. It was like, \"How was that done?\" At that time I had no idea\nabout the swing feel. It just felt good to me. And that's what I did.\n\nApproaching \"Precious Lord\"--maybe just to briefly sidetrack. My experiences\nhave always put me in a situation of where I was always challenged to not do the\nnorm, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=780.0,840.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"but to try to find something different. Every musical opportunity I've\nbeen in, there's been some way or form of where I was challenged to think. Come\nup with something different. That could even go back to my days at the Prep.\nBasically you were given a chord and you had to write. You had to write ideas.\nMost of my life I've been composing, trying to think of different ways of how to\ndo things. Sometimes I'd butt heads with instructors because they would expect\nme to do it in their logic, but one way or another, I always seemed to find a\nlittle different logic.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=840.0,900.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"But getting to \"Precious Lord,\" which was, like I said, gospel 101. It's been\ndone time and time again. It started out much slower, as more of a kind of a\ndirge, and one night I just started playing a little bit of it. And the band\nmembers looked and they caught onto it really quick. I would say a lot of times\nwhen I'm operating on the bandstand and in performance, there's great structure\nto what I do, but then I thrive on spontaneity. So, my demand of the people who\nwork with me is to be self-assured in what they do. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=900.0,960.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"They have to be very\nconfident in what they do because there are going to be times when I'm going to\nput them in situations that they're not used to. They have not expected. You\nknow, you put down a piece of music in front of a musician, and then one sits\ndown and reads the notes. Okay. And that's fine. So, what I can do is, I can put\nthe same piece of paper down, and then maybe after about the fourth or fifth\nsystem, I'll tell them, \"Change the key.\" You know? Or maybe holler, like,\n\"Let's go back and repeat this other section.\" On a split-second notice, they\nhave to be ready and willing to turn just that quick. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=960.0,1020.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"All the experiences I've\nbeen in, that's what happened.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: I had this wonderful conversation with Ellis Larkins. I had\nactually stopped in to see Crystal and got to talking with him. He got to\ntalking about how he grew up studying classical music and learning music theory,\nand he said, \"Yeah, it's great. You've got all these tools and then you can just\ngo and take off.\" And I thought about his saying that when I was listening to\nsome of your music some time ago. It was long after I had talked to Ellis\nLarkins. And I was listening and I thought, \"That's just what he was talking\nabout.\" You have this wonderful musical vocabulary that you bring to your work.\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1020.0,1080.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"It's so polished and it's so fresh. It's really exciting.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I believe the music should be for the moment. I've always felt\nthe music should be for the moment. And you're absolutely right. I do everything\nI can to learn a vocabulary, and my vocabulary I like to think of as not\nnecessarily being primarily a jazz vocabulary, but more or less a music\nvocabulary that encompasses everything that I've heard throughout my whole life.\nAnd rather than being in a situation limiting the vocabulary, saying, \"Okay,\nthis portion of my vocabulary will only be used in this situation,\" I like to\nkeep everything open. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1080.0,1140.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"And so my studying of the Neapolitans and various Phrygian\nmodes, or hearing various motifs from all the greatest composers that have ever\nlived, regardless of what idiom of music, if I'm influenced by that--I like to\nkeep everything open. I have the opportunity to be able to explore that.\n\nWhen I sit down in a performance, it is an original performance, it's a\nperformance for that time. By choice, I'm not a repertory performer. That is,\nyou will not hear me do the same arrangement with the exact phrasings ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1140.0,1200.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"and\neverything. I could do it, but if I'm supposed to be someone who's always into\ncreation, and if composition is always about creation, and if I'm in this\nposition of improvisation, which I like to think of as real fast composition, I\nfeel the challenge is for me to always try to think of something different. If I\nwas to sit down to the piano now and play a piece of music, it would sound a\ncertain way.\n\nFive minutes later there may be some similarities but it won't be the same.\n\nI have a performance coming up, and the performance is unique to that time of\nday. So, five years from now, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1200.0,1260.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I may play some music which I did before or\nwhatever, but it won't be the same. It won't be the same because the time won't\nbe the same. My life won't be the same. I sincerely believe in playing music for\nthe moment of time, reacting to what's going on in the atmosphere at that\nspecific time.\n\nThat way, I'm always challenged. See, I don't ever want to be bored sitting at a\npiano. It drives me crazy if I'm playing something and I feel as if I've done\nthis before and this is not going anywhere. It drives me crazy. And so it's an\nongoing challenge. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1260.0,1320.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I always try to keep thinking of something new. I mean, yeah,\nyou go from C to C, but within those notes, there are so many combinations and\nthere are so many ways of how you can communicate musically with people.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: But it takes a courageous musician to do that. And if you\ndon't have that willingness to go out to the edge and take the risks--\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yeah. I think you said it best.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: And it's what I love about your playing.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: When I'm playing, I kind of live on the edge. I do live on the\nedge. It's interesting. A lot of people will look at my demeanor and say--you\nknow, I'm sitting here talking with you. \"Oh, you're very subdued and you're\nvery quiet, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1320.0,1380.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"but when you sit down at the piano, it's like, 'Oh, my gosh!'\"\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: But that's why your performances are always so exciting. You\nknow you're going to go to a new place and see a different world. It's so exciting.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I look forward to it. I feel it important to create a basic\nexcitement between myself and the piano.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Well, you know how to do that.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: And if I'm having fun with that exchange, then hopefully all of\nthat is getting to--if I'm playing by myself, hopefully the audience can feel\nthat energy and hopefully they will be drawn into it. Or even if I was playing\nwith a band, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1380.0,1440.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"then my first thought--you create an environment that keeps the\nother musicians on their toes. Therefore, with the whole high-powered energy on\nthe stage, hopefully, whoever's listening will say, \"Oh, wow.\" They see and they\nfeel a whole different thing, versus just, \"Okay, come on, let's just do this\nhere.\" You can sit and play and you can be thinking about, you know, \"Okay,\nwhat's on television tomorrow?\" I don't think music should be that way. Music\nshould move people.\n\nAnd it takes one to really put one's full mind, body, and soul into whatever\nwork it is. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1440.0,1500.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"If you can first off just create a pleasant experience between--it's\na little different, I guess, if one was singing, per se--an instrument. Between\nthe instrument and the person. If there can be a great, hopefully a seamless\nmarriage between the connection of the mind and soul and the instrument, then I\nbelieve that will create a very beautiful environment.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Oh, it does. It really does.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: And then, with that being stated, one cannot help from listening\nand saying, \"Wow, that's really something neat.\" And then when it's all done,\neveryone goes away feeling satisfied.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Oh, more than satisfied. You walk out with this euphoria and\nit's just so wonderful to have the privilege ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1500.0,1560.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"of listening to someone who not\nonly can do it but has the nerve to go and do it. It's just so exciting. You do\nit very well, just very well. And the thing that impresses me so is--having\ngrown up here, too--there's nothing quite as exciting as a live performance, but\nthat sense even comes through your recordings.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: That's a great challenge. I think that's one of the greatest\nchallenges for any performer, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1560.0,1620.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"to be able to really create such an energy that\nwill bring the listener right into the environment. Sometimes with all of the\ngreat technology that is available today, one can get taken into getting\noverzealous, maybe I could say, to the pursuit of the perfect recording. \"Okay,\nwe cut this out and cut this, and add this and then take from this.\"\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Been through the washing machine too many times.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: We are human beings. We're not perfect people. We're not perfect\nentities. We make mistakes. Or else maybe we intend things a certain way, but\nactually the way it comes out is probably the way it's supposed to. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1620.0,1680.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sometimes\nthere have been cracked notes that have brought tears to people's eyes. And it's\nnot necessarily, \"Oh, my gosh, I cracked a note.\" But it was just the whole\nattitude, just what was going on, what the person was trying to get to. You feel\nthe energy, and it just brings you--you just hear it.\n\nI tell you, I did a Charlie Brown recording, and the trumpeter, Wallace Roney,\nhe was playing this solo and he played this one passage, and it was just so\nincredible. He listened back to it and said, \"Oh, man, that was horrible.\" He\nsaid, \"My valves were stuck in.\" I said it didn't matter. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1680.0,1740.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"It had just a certain\npersonality. The phrase had a certain kind of personality. He insisted on going\nback and trying it, and he got it the way how he felt it was supposed to be. But\nfor that particular moment, that phrase was supposed to be uttered that way.\nIt's hard to explain. Maybe I'm going more from a philosophical--but it had such\na presence to it that it's like saying, \"Oh. Oh.\" Once again I have to go back\nto the spirit of the moment.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: I think that is a wonderful way to approach music, though.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: And I'm not trying give any excuses ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1740.0,1800.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"for--\"Well, you just play\nwhatever way you want.\" Of course you want to--I aspire for perfection. You want\nyour ideas to come across with clarity and precision. You really do. But what's\nintended here, sometimes I guess it's like a modem operating at about 28.8 or\nmaybe 56K. Like a radio wave, you know.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: That's a great analogy.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Sometimes the connection is just perfect, and you got perfect\ndata transmission. And then sometimes there's a drop in the line.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: I've got those days.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Sometimes the line drops and the data gets a little bit garbled.\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1800.0,1860.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I imagine a painter having the intention for a stroke to go a certain way, but\nthen for a second he hears a sound that turns his head, just turns his attention\noff for just a second, and--\"Oh!\" The painter says, \"Oh, man.\" Or even a\nsculptor, they say, \"Oh, man.\" But someone looks at it and says--[gasps]. You\nknow? That's what happened for that time. That's what happened for that\nparticular time. A phrase happens for that time. That mark happened at that time.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Part of its history.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yeah. That's what it was right then. We do want to go for the\nperfect thing, but sometimes ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1860.0,1920.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"it just really is what it is. And sometimes music\nis meant to be delivered a certain way, I believe. And all that you can do is\nthe absolute best that you possibly can. It would be different if you were just\nmessing around and you knew it. But in recordings, I don't like to do a lot of\nediting because I believe a take of music is done for that time. That happened\nat 1:30 on January 18. That's where it happened. That's what happened for that\nmoment. Turning back around. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1920.0,1980.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I hope I'm not going all over the place here.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: No, no, no. No, I'm really glad to hear you talking about\nthis, because I've always wondered about your recordings because they do have\nthis freshness and spontaneity. All too often you take a CD and you put it on\nand then you go about your business, and it's sort of there but you're not\nreally connected to it. But when I put one of your CDs in, I'm going to stop and\nlisten because I want to be there.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I have this one story about Robert Altman. It was my first time\nactually being in a motion picture. It was Kansas City. I have a great respect\nfor cinematographers. That whole process is just amazing. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=1980.0,2040.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"The interesting thing\nwas, they were recording the music live as they were doing each of the scenes.\nAnd so we're going on and playing. It would always seem to happen one way. There\nwould be a great feeling on the performance. Everybody's just whooping and\nhollering, and Mr. Altman says, \"Oh, the music was great. It was fine. Can you\njust do it the same way again?\" And I remember the whole band looked at him and\nsaid, \"It don't operate that way.\" Or we'll go and play music in the scene, and\nin a couple of guys' eyes it was like, \"Oh, man, what did I do that for?\" ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2040.0,2100.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"He\nsays, \"Perfect! It was just great!\" It was like, \"Okay--\"\n\nI have to go back and say, things have to be for the moment. I think all moments\nare special. And sometimes what we may see as imperfect, somehow it becomes\nperfect in one's ear or heart. I think more importantly, if the performance is\ndone honestly. And that's what I try to do every time I sit down to play is to\ngive an honest performance. To be able just to try to share myself.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2100.0,2160.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"It shows. You can feel it. It's wonderful. I'm curious, how\ndid you get involved with Altman and Kansas City?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Mr. Altman wanted to do this movie reminiscent of his time\ngrowing up in Kansas City. I guess he got the script together. The word went out\nin the jazz community that there was a movie coming out, a jazz movie so to\nspeak, and they needed people to assume roles. And so my role was kind of like a\nhybrid. It was supposed to be like Count Basie, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2160.0,2220.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"but it wasn't. It was kind of\nCount Basie, but there were other people factored in. I wasn't really limited to\njust Count Basie. It was kind of like a Count Basie, maybe Fats Waller. And so I\nwent to talk to a person about it, sat down, and we just talked. He said, \"Can\nyou play like Basie? Do you like Basie?\" I said, \"Yeah, I love Basie. Which\nperiod of Basie are you talking about?\" Because there's the economical period of\nBasie. In his later years he played less but yet spoke very profound with what\nhe did. And then there's his earlier period where he was a very prolific stride\npianist. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2220.0,2280.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"In his earlier days, he was no joke with stride. You could talk about\nNat King Cole in the same way. Everyone thinks of his singing and his velvet\nvoice, but he was a heck of a pianist. Those early recordings of the King Cole\nTrio, you're like, \"Ooh!\"\n\nMy job was just to be mindful of the various different periods and just react.\nThat was a lot of fun, doing that movie. It was a lot of fun.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: How long did it take? I mean, that must have been quite a process.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2280.0,2340.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"They had one set of musicians recording for a week, and then I\nwas there for maybe about nine days. I would say about nine days.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Were you able to control the repertoire that you did?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: No, they had the repertoire preselected. But how it was played\nwas up to us. It wasn't a thing where, \"Well, you have to play it this way.\" Sit\ndown and play it. You know, I was mindful to the style. I had to operate within\nthe style. There were certain parameters, but within the parameters I had to\nfind a way to still be me.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Well, how exciting. It sounds like great fun.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: That was a lot of fun. That was a lot of fun.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: So, was this your acting debut? Had you done any acting before?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2340.0,2400.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"No.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: And starting out in an Altman film, that's not bad.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yeah. That was it. [Laughs]\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: That's just great. I wanted to ask you, you do all these\nwonderful arrangements, drawing on all these familiar hymns, and then you just\npresent them in a whole different light. It's just great. You do that like\nyou've had a long familiarity with that tradition.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yeah, all my life. All my life. I've been playing hymns and\ngospel songs all my life. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2400.0,2460.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"It's the first thing I heard. My mom tells me that\neven when she was carrying me she would sing and my father would play.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Preprogrammed. Was this at Mount Calvary?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yes. Mount Calvary Star Baptist Church here in Baltimore. I try\nto operate with the premise of theme and variations. I start to think about the\nsonata form, and I think about--it's sometimes a challenge. It can get very\nredundant. If you have a certain composition that is maybe anywhere between\neight to thirty-two [bars], whatever it was, and it continues--a better way to\nsay ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2460.0,2520.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"is to use maybe a twelve-bar blues form, just basically twelve­ bars that\ncycle around and around and around. You can easily get lost into basically just\nimprovising over the said chord changes around and around and around and around.\n\nBut I think it's important that there should be a theme. Even if that cycle goes\naround and around and around, there should be a theme, and you should embellish\non your theme, and develop it until your body brings it to the high point, and\nthen close it. So you have a complete statement. Even though you still have this\nexisting format which circles around and around, the challenge, I believe, is to\nstill take it and move it forward. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2520.0,2580.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"So, I say all that to say, we have to hear\nmore [than] anything that I play. I have to start in one place and end up--I\nhave to feel as if I'm going on a journey. It isn't just enough just to simply\nplay the sixteen or thirty-two bars. Within that format, I give very reverent\nrespect to trying to execute melodies that the composer intended, as best as\npossible, to really state the theme how it's supposed to be. Once that's been\nstated, then the rest of it belongs to me.\n\nI like to take bits of the theme and maybe reconstruct something else. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2580.0,2640.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"To move\nit. Like, okay, we're here on Mount Vernon Place. Do we stay on Mt. Vernon\nPlace? No, let's go up to Charles Street. Let's go down a little while. Go over\nto Madison and run around. And maybe we find our way back over to Calvert\nStreet. Let's come on back down St. Paul and then we'll end up again on Mount\nVernon Place. And so what happens is, when you start from there, in all of the\njourneys that you make, things happen. You feel as if you've gone somewhere,\nversus just sitting on Mount Vernon Place and staying on Mount Vernon Place.\n\nEverything that I play--see, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2640.0,2700.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"the greatest thing about--I think about the earlier\ncomposers, especially Beethoven and Mozart, when they wrote, there was a theme\nand then they moved the music. The music moved somewhere. They changed the\nharmony. They went into a different tonal center. Maybe introduced a different\nmotif. And it took you somewhere. And they worked it and it went around and\naround, and it took its journey, and then when it came to the theme, the theme\nmay have been restated the same or maybe it's in a different way. But you know\nthe theme is there. And when it ended, when the piece ended, it's like, \"Yeah.\"\nIt's a statement versus just, you know, a song. A great person like Jelly Roll\nMorton, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2700.0,2760.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"if you listen to a lot of his music, it's all about that form. There's\nan opening theme, and then it goes on a journey. And then here comes the theme\nagain. So, by the time you finish, it's a completed work. And so I like to try\nto aspire to using that particular type of form regardless of what I'm playing.\nA lot of times my writing now has become a little less of, \"Okay, I'll just\nwrite eight bars here and we'll just go to eight bars.\" It has to be more of a\ncomplete statement now. So when the listener hears, you take them on a beautiful\njourney and then when they return back, they felt as if they've gone somewhere.\nVersus, just, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2760.0,2820.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"\"Okay, here we go round and round.\" Now, maybe there's a purpose\nfor going round and round, but--\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: But sometimes you like to journey farther. Well, it sounds\nlike you have a path developing there.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Working at it.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Good, good. Is it okay to ask where you think that path is leading?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I don't know. I don't know. It's going somewhere. I'm saying I\ndon't know because I really don't. Because of the fact that I am in many ways so\nspontaneous, I may say, okay, it's going to go here, but it doesn't.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2820.0,2880.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389/transcript/38408/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Well, that's okay. That's more than okay. That's wonderful.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Wherever the path takes me, I'm willing to go.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Going to change the subject just a little bit. I wanted to ask\nyou--you have a small one.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yes.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Jazzmin. How old is Jazzmin now?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: She's six now.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Six? My gosh.\n\n[END PART 1]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117389#t=2880.0,2940.0"}]}]},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 2 of 2 - pims0091_ChestnutC_02.mp3"]},"duration":1418.03102,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/117/390/small/chestnut.jpg?1649883410","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/content/2/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-peabody.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/117/390/original/pims0091_ChestnutC_02.mp3?1624270788","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":1418.03102,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["ChestnutC_2_OHMS_20220607 [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"ELIZABETH SCHAAF: --started down the road?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: She has an incredible ear for music. It's interesting. She has\nthis box, and it has these various different squares on it. When you place them\nin a certain combination, it plays a certain type of music. Every morning she\ngets up and she pushes it and it goes through it. So one day I heard her doing\nit and I was sitting there and I was singing a little bit of the melody. And I\nstarted going through it. She says, \"Daddy, that's wrong. The first one you got\nright, but the rest of them are wrong.\" And she proceeded to go back and push it\nand said, \"That's how it's supposed to go.\" And I say, \"Okay.\"\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=0.0,60.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Right now she's into dance. She loves to sing. My wife really wants her to play\nthe piano. I guess we always butt heads. I want her to play, too, but I don't\nwant her to be strangled into playing the piano. I was exposed to a lot of\nvarious different things. I studied guitar for a little bit. I played alto\nsaxophone, I played flute, you know, in elementary school. But I always played\nthe piano.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Where were you in elementary school?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Northwood Elementary.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Oh. They had a good music program.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yeah. Once a semester they would take us to see the orchestra ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=60.0,120.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"or\nsomething like that. It was so much fun.\n\nI had parental influence in keeping me focusing on practicing. Of course, any\nkid would have that. But there was never a time in my life when I did not want\nto play. I always enjoyed playing piano. And I've heard too many stories of\npeople saying, \"Oh, I wish I would play, but my mom dragged me, my dad dragged\nme, and he made me do it.\" And it just created a resentment. See, my thing for\nmy daughter is that if she wants to play, I'm going to help her do all she\nwants, but she's going to do it because she wants to do it. If she wants to be a\ndancer, I'll do anything I can to facilitate her becoming the best dancer\npossible. Or a singer, pianist, whatever. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=120.0,180.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"But one thing I'm not going to do is\nsay, \"You're going to sit down and you're going to play this piano.\"\n\nI'm very sensitive to that. She's going to do something great, and I believe\nshe's going to do something incredibly musical. I'll give her time to expose her\nto various different things and let her just--\n\nI always remember hearing a conversation--my mom told me she talked to one lady\nwho was playing for churches. She said, \"Don't worry. He'll play. Don't you\nworry about it. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=180.0,240.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Don't push him. He's going to play. When he gets to it, and when\nit kicks in, you won't have to worry about it.\" So here I am, some thirty-seven\nyears later, still playing.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: And playing well, very well. That is really exciting. Six\nyears old. Just really coming into her own.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: She has an exceptional ear. She loves watching this Barbie as\nThe Nutcracker. And she'll sit there and sing every part. She'll sing not only\nthe melody part but the various intricate parts in the inside. I have to look at\nher sometimes ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=240.0,300.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"and say, \"You really hear that?\" At this age she knows a lot of\nwhat's going on. She can hear not only the dominant part, but she hears all of\nthe other little intricate parts that go in.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: So it's just a part of her world.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yeah.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: That's great.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: She knows.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: I'll have to see where that goes.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yeah, you will.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Now, it sounds like your parents were certainly wise enough to\ngive you your head and let you find your own path.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yes. Our father seems to tell the story best. He says when I was\nthree, I got up to the piano and I sat down and played it like I was meant to\nplay it. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=300.0,360.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"[Laughs] I don't know.\n\nI've always enjoyed playing the piano. Sometimes it can be like my best\ntherapist. There are times when I feel as if there are certain things that I\ncannot say in words and I can sit down and be very clear just by sitting down\nand playing. I don't know. That may not be a good thing.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Well, I don't know, I think it's one of those blessings of\nbeing a musician. I've always felt bad for kids ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=360.0,420.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"who grow up without either art\nor music in their lives.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I think it's important.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Sometimes you need that because it's the only way to express things.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: That are so locked up inside. Sometimes the spoken word just\ndoesn't cut it. I guess that could be a subject of great debate.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: I think you're right. It can, on the right day, pull you out\nof a bad mood.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: There have been many times that I've been extremely disgusted,\njust in general, and I sit down and play, and after, like--\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Pulls you right up.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=420.0,480.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I have a disagreement with my wife. She's like--[growls]. I sit\ndown and play. She's looking at me, \"Hey, what's going on?\" It's all gone.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: It's a great gift, isn't it?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: It's all gone. I am so grateful. I really am.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: And the nicest thing about it is that it's a great gift that\nyou have, but everyone else gets to share it, too, which is just a wonderful gift.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I'm grateful for that. I think I could pretty much say my\nassignment on this earth was to play music, was to sit down and play piano. It's\nnot an easy assignment. It's not easy at all.\n\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=480.0,540.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I could do many other things--you know, we could all do other things--but I'm\nvery fortunate because I know there are many people who spend their whole lives\nrunning around just trying to figure out what is their spot. Where do they\nreally fit in? What is their divine assignment? What are they supposed to do in\nthis world? I feel very fortunate because I believe I'm in the position where\nI'm supposed to be.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Finding your vocation, in the true sense of the word, is just,\nI think, the most wonderful thing that can happen to you, to feel like you're\nwhere you need to be and where you want to be. To have the freedom to develop it\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=540.0,600.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"and nourish it and let it shine. It's a great, great thing.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yeah, very grateful for that.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: We're always so grateful that you get back to Baltimore with\nsome frequency. And it's great for all of us who get to see you here. Well, you\nstill have family in the area.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Yes, I do. Yes, I do.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: We're grateful for them for drawing you back. It's just a\nwonderful thing. It's good to have that sense of place.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I think it's important. In this day and age ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=600.0,660.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"when there's so much\nemphasis on the negative, or what isn't, it's important that there is some voice\nof hope that still cries out against all of this dismal-- There should be\nsomething, someone, somebody who will say, you know, it's a little challenging\nright now, but that's all right. Let's look for better. We don't have to be\ndoomed. We can change this. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=660.0,720.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"We can change our surroundings. It won't be easy,\nbut we can work for it. Show us a little faith, a little hope. Show a little\nlove. If I'm sitting here thinking about it and not trying to do anything about\nit, I'm just blowing purple smoke, so to speak. I'm not saying that I'm walking\naround with a big major--\"It's time to love!\" If I can just do a little bit, if\nI can just make a difference in one person's life, that's all I ask. Give a\nperson a different outlook. I don't know. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=720.0,780.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"If someone comes to a\nperformance--I've had people come and say, \"I've been really out of it. Thank\nyou for playing because you really lifted my spirits.\" That's my pay.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: And we hope you keep on doing it for at least another\nthirty-seven years.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I look forward to it. I look forward to it. The question always\npresented to me is, are you at the pinnacle of--are you at the top of where you\nwant to be? I say no. How long do you think it will take? I say ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=780.0,840.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I want to get to\nthe top five minutes before I leave this world. Anytime earlier--because I\nrealize that this musical journey is a lifelong journey.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: And the joy of that reaching a little farther.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: And there's always a different way to turn a melody. There's\nanother way to play a chord. There's so much you can do with staccato and\nlegato, so much you can do with a trill. There's fortissimo, there's mezzo\npiano. There's largo, there's andante, there's allegro. And so much in between.\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=840.0,900.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"And every day that I live, and I start to think about it now, I realize that the\nspace between beats one and two can be very infinite, that time. You can spend\nthe rest of your life figuring out ways to be able to share yourself, be able to\ncommunicate with those who will listen, either by record or by live performance.\nAs I said before, it's my wish just to be able to present myself with clarity,\nprecision, and power. And that's something I'm willing to take the long haul on.\nLet me get to five minutes before I leave this world, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=900.0,960.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I'll be fine. Two minutes\nis fine, but I always say five. [Laughs]\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Let's all just hope it's a long, long, long reach. I just\ncan't wait to see where it's going.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: I look forward to it as well. Because these days my challenge is\nto be able to take all my influences and bring them to the table, bring them to\na round table so to speak, and rather than use them separately, use them\ncollectively. Then, hopefully over the course of time, all of my collective\nexperiences will start to define who I am.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Now, I have to ask you a question. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=960.0,1020.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"When I hear you say that,\nit makes me wonder, have you thought about following Leon Fleisher's footsteps\nand doing some teaching somewhere farther down the line?\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Well, actually, I'm starting to do that at this point a little\nbit. And I think these days I'm becoming a little more friendly to teaching now\nthan I'd been in years before. I think now I have some experiences, a little\nexperience, under my belt. I'd like to share them. And even more importantly, I\nthink it's important that those studying now must embrace the technical and the\nphilosophical points of whatever genre. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=1020.0,1080.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Because you can have a technical\nfacility but yet say nothing.\n\nI look forward to the day where I'll be able to just help people just to look\ninside oneself. If there's anything I can do to help one to get in touch with\none's own feelings and really see themselves for who they are and embrace and\nbuild. Then I think what can happen is there will be more individual\npresentations, rather than just, you know--\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: The cut and the paste.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: [Laughs] Yes. Yeah. You know, the interesting thing about the\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=1080.0,1140.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"piano--over three hundred years old. Basically its invention has been tweaked on\na little bit, but really it's been pretty much in its same state. But you can\nsit Glenn Gould, Duke Ellington, Liberace, Thomas Dorsey, Jerry Lee Lewis, sit\nthem down at the same piano, and that piano will take the personality of each\nperson. I think these days what's important is that we can't forget that. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=1140.0,1200.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"The\nstudents can't forget that.\n\nIn the process of study, there are certain things that you have to discipline\nyourself to [do], but in the process of discipline, hopefully one can still\ndevelop. Get the wings and not be afraid to just jump off and fly. And\nhopefully, what should happen is, all of the technique and all of the theory\nthat one has learned over a certain amount of years, when you jump off, it's not\nlike you're leaving all of that on the branch, on the cliff. You want to have it\nright there with you. So, as you start to navigate and you see something coming,\nyou can say, \"Oh, okay, ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=1200.0,1260.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"let me pull this here and navigate through it.\" Any time\nI sit down and play--anything I've learned about in theory, rhythm, melody, and\nharmony, I want to have it operating right then and there. If I intend to change\na key and I play and I get to a certain point and it's like, \"Uh-oh, where do I\ngo?\" I need to have that harmonic knowledge that's going to instantly say,\n\"Okay, you can go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Where to go? Oh, over here.\nBang.\" And if I make that move, it's like, \"Uh-oh, what do I do?\" I can still\ndraw on that information that I've accumulated.\n\nNow, I'm not saying that that has to be left. Rather than it imprisoning you, it\nshould basically be something where you have control of it to do whatever it is\nthat you want. ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=1260.0,1320.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Let me throw this--I always love to say the word Neapolitan. Let\nme throw this Neapolitan here, let me throw this Picardy here. Get me this way.\nI know coming up I should play a major passage, but let me play a minor passage\nhere. Or let me play a dominant passage. Ah! It's still knowledge, but rather\nthan you being imprisoned by certain theories that have been handed down, that\nsay you must do it--it's like, okay, I know how that way goes, but let's try it\nthis way. See what happens. If that didn't happen, then we would still be\nsinging Gregorian chants.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: [Laughs] Right. Well, that is good. I just can't imagine ","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=1320.0,1380.0"},{"id":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390/transcript/38409/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"what\nfun it would be to have you for a teacher.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: You know, I guess at some point.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: Pass on the treasures. That's great. Well, I cannot thank you\nenough for taking the time to come down. It was really good of you to do that.\n\nCYRUS CHESTNUT: Oh, any time. [Unclear]. Glad to be able to make it.\n\nELIZABETH SCHAAF: I've been bothering you for a long time, haven't I?\n\n[END OF INTERVIEW]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://streaming.peabody.jhu.edu/collections/1178/collection_resources/44118/file/117390#t=1380.0,1440.0"}]}]}]}