Improvisation doesn't have to come from a single tradition. I'm sure that Bach's improvisations were as transforming and transcending as Charlie Parker's. To sit down and listen to Bach play was probably just wonderful and expressed all the feelings you can imagine, and incorporated all the contemporary languages and things of his day. And he didn't know Stella By Starlight. All I'm saying is that to me it's about form and structure and tradition to some extent, but which one you choose is a question of whatever relates to you.
People find that one vehicle carries their emotions more than another.
At the workshop, we focus on the jazz tradition, that's all. You need to have a foundation to build on, a common ground. If you're Canadian, the Banff Jazz Workshop is the program in Canada. Certainly, if you want to have contact with the kind of faculty we have there, it's the place to do it. We were very fortunate to have some of Canada's finest young players come through there.