We recently connected with Jon De Lucia and have shared our conversation below.
Jon, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
In my career as a musician and educator, I have constantly taken on more and more work, which at times threatens to overwhelm me. In the past I have faced burnout, which I got out of by going back to school and repositioning myself to find new work. Because of this, resilience has taken a central theme in my life. The dichotomy of success or rejection is everywhere: in college job applications; failed or successful press campaigns for new records; playing to a room of 1-2 people or 1,000; a student not understanding your teaching, or a student being enlightened by one thing you say. In order to keep going in your career you have to be able to face all of these ups and downs with equanimity. Did I get excited when a bunch of people bought my record the day it comes out? Of course! Did I get equally bummed out when I heard my web site had fatally crashed the next day? Yes! But as soon as I was determined not to let it take me down, I built a brand new site in a couple of days and was back to business as usual. The key moment was when I decided how I would deal with this setback emotionally. Overly relying on a good review or sale to put you in a good mood is just as dangerous as getting bummed out about a bad one. You have to focus on yourself, and preserve your independence from outside forces. In the past 10 years I’ve balanced about 10 careers: book author, musicology scholar, T’ai Chi instructor, wine seller, saxophonist, private music teacher, college professor, Youtube Channel producer…all of these things are an expression of one whole, but of course it can at times be a lot to handle. I find that keeping structure, even just a little bit of scheduling every week, really helps everything go a long smoothly. There are of times when one aspect will suffer, but the important thing is not to let yourself feel overwhelmingly guilty about that. You’ll get back to it, or you won’t. It is not a reflection of your value as a human. For me, remembering to walk away from it all and go fly fishing, or just take a walk, has a been a huge factor in my ability to cope. Family and pets helps too! You can manage anything if you remember to step back and take a breath.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I have been a jazz saxophonist for about 25 years, performing all around the world with my own projects and as a sideman. In NYC I play in a mix of scenes, from the traditional New Orleans jazz world to modern improvised music. I’m currently a full-time Lecturer at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, helping to run the Jazz and Popular Music department. It has been an extremely fullfilling job, where I have a direct hand in placing young musicians in amazing internships and performance opportunities. Our students performed backing Raye on SNL this year, and have played live on the radio, winning various awards.
On top of that, I’m in my second year as a PhD student in Musicology at the CUNY Graduate Center. My research is on the little known Dave Brubeck Octet, and through grants from CUNY I have been able to record an amazing album of the Octet’s music with Grammy winners Scott Robinson and Brandon Lee and a full cast of all star jazz musicians. We were able to premier the music at Birdland Jazz Club in July to a sold out room. I’ve recently won another grant to do a second album but in the mean time you can find the Brubeck Octet Project on my Bandcamp site. I’ve put out a series of books that I am proud of, the Bach Shapes series for all instruments. They take Johann Sebastian Bach’s music and apply them to jazz harmony and technical practice. I’ll have another book of jazz duets for saxophone coming out this fall, and more educational projects in the works!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1. Equanimity 2. Well roundedness 3. Care for others
I list these three things because they are some of the more difficult ones for me on a recurring basis, and ones I need to be constantly reminded to focus on. The empathy I gained from even having a dog for the first time as an adult was a huge growth experience for me. I meditate, though have difficulty building a steady practice, because I know it helps me face hardships with equanimity. I try to experience so many aspects of life, through all of my hobbies and interests, in attempt to bring all of that wisdom back to one well rounded point of view. I think for younger people, starting a meditation practice, finding a hobby or five, and learning to care about something besides yourself would help make the world a better place.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
This is when I turn to my hobbies or my family and friends. Reconnecting for coffee with a fellow musician, someone who understands the stresses of your career is invaluable, and great for managing overwhelm. Spending two days standing in a river where my only concern is what fly to tie on and not slipping on the rocks is a great way to reset for me. But even on a smaller scale, getting up from the desk, hugging my wife, petting my dog is a necessary breather in what can be a deluge of pressing emails and tasks.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://jondelucia.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/jondelucia
- Youtube: http://youtube.com/c/jondelucia
- Other: http://jondelucia.bandcamp.com
Image Credits
Jacob Blickenstaff, John Lake, Hoyeon Choi, Nicole Bertone
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
