Frogman, in response to: Juilliard was in reference to a musical institute of higher learning. We could have substituted your favorite school, there was no "subterfuge" in my post, it was direct.
Those three clips I posted was honoring "Pepper Adams", and Rok made the statement that "Night in Tunisia" sounded better than the original, since I knew what he meant, I agreed.
Conservatory trained is an absolute asset; musicians that were not, would have, if they could have; gone to a conservatory.
Those musicians did a marvelous job of "imitating" the original; Ronnie Cuber did an especially good job of imitating Pepper Adams; but having the ability for the original improvisation is what counts. That clip was my mistake, it should have been Mingus and Pepper Adams.
A large photograph of Pepper Adams appears in Baroness Pannonica De Koenigswarter's book. Commonly known as "Nica", she was a patron of jazz musicians of her era; that large photograph is a statement that speaks for itself.
Her book "Three Wishes", is a compilation of photographs of jazz legends, and their three wishes in life.
In response to your "encouragement", I have both feet plus body and soul in the past; "short timers" count every second, and I don't have any to waste.