"I have a philosophy that everything is vibration," says Grammy-winning saxophonist Jeff Coffin. "Literally everything. It comes from Superstring theory: sounds, color, and matter on a subquantum level are like a vibrating, oscillating string."

Uh huh. Quantum mechanics might not be quite what you'd expect to discuss with a jazz musician, but as Coffin points out, it actually does have a strong musical connection. "Music is also vibration," he continues. "So if everything is vibrating, then everything is producing sound-and therefore producing music. Being in touch with the possibility that everything is music at a subquantum level-a tree, for example-is pretty amazing." Changing a tree into music is par for the course for Coffin, who has a natural affinity with things that evolve. Transforming the home of the Grand Ole Opry into a town for great jazz is just one example. "I moved to Nashville in 1991, which might sound odd because I'm really not that fond of country music," laughs Coffin. "But there are some incredible jazz musicians here."

Coffin hooked up with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones five years after arriving in Nashville, and has been performing and touring with them ever since. According to Coffin, metamorphosis is the Flecktones' modus operandi. "When I started playing with the Flecktones, I realized you could have a band that could play anything you want," he says. "We were
playing everything. Tunes in 11 or 17 or 7 or 5, different combinations, all morphing into different things. I loved that."

The experience with the Flecktones led to-yes-another transformation four years ago, when Coffin's earlier group, the aptly named Vibration Arts Ensemble, evolved into its present, smaller form, the even more aptly named Mu'tet. The group performs several times a year during the Flecktones' breaks.

"Mu'tet is an ever-mutating body of work," he explains. "I write nearly all the music, pulling material from anything that interests me. Radiohead, New Orleans stuff, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, reggae, African music, what have you. It's a mutation of all these styles." The group isn't an offshoot of the Flecktones, however, because their approach is very different. "Mu'tet compositions are more organic, not through-composed like with the Flecktones. In the latter, we'll have very definite sections, alternating solos and blowing, set structures. With Mu'tet, some tunes won't have any soloing at all, being instead relatively short statements unto themselves."

Coffin says switching between the two groups is fairly easy since, having written most of the Mu'tet's music, he is completely familiar with it. Where the work comes is in the planning. He does most of the advance work for Mu'tet, road-managing the tours, booking hotel rooms, and coordinating schedules. "It's given me a pro-found new respect for our road manager in the Flecktones," he says. "It's been a great learning experience, if incredibly frustrating at times!"

It all adds up to a formidable amount of time spent on the road: some 140 dates a year with the Flecktones, and several tours a year with Mu'tet. Through it all, Coffin concentrates on staying in shape. He takes supplements and eats organic foods, mostly vegetables. It's also crucial to have an instrument that can stand up to the rigors of the road, and Coffin has good things to say about his Yamaha YTS-82Z custom tenor saxophone.

"It plays very easily and evenly, particularly at quiet volumes," he comments. "Pitch is terrific, and it has lots of character. It's also well made, and is standing up to the road pretty well so far." And just when you thought vibrations were out of the picture, he adds that the new instrument's warm sound was recently confirmed by an oscilloscope in the recording studio for the latest Flecktones album. "The Yamaha's vibrations were warmer than my other horns," he says. "We're still tweaking, but Yamaha has an openness to try new things. They want to develop a horn for the next generation of players, and they are willing to do what it takes to get there."

Openness is important to Coffin. He says it comes down to freedom, which he finds through composition. Coffin stresses composition whenever he takes on the role of educator. His Web site lists an enormous body of music that he cites as an influence, but he is quick to point out "the list is only partial, and constantly changing." While he believes recordings represent an incredible advantage for today's jazz students, he feels they can also be a detractor, presenting a hindrance as far as kids not being able to create their own real style.

"At every clinic, with every student, I emphasize that without a doubt the one thing that has helped me to define my own style is composition," he states. "I truly believe that it's a huge factor in continuing the tradition. Kids obviously have to do all the basics, learning transcriptions and technique. But once they can play, how are they going to develop their own voice? Unless they're absolute naturals, they won't do it by playing standards, rehashing what's been done for the last 45 years. If you want living, breathing music, you have to live and breathe into it."

He points out that with both the Flecktones and Mu'tet, it's all original music. "The compositional aspects of being able to try so many different things helps bring music alive. It gets recognized, and influences other musicians to try new things. Kids realize there are no rules, and the freedom comes from that knowledge."