Not a drum post today but this one is for all my saxophone playing friends out there...well, and everybody, really!
There was also a bootleg of Potter performing a solo version of "All The Things You Are" similar to this making the rounds awhile ago. I'm impressed with Potter's ability to make complete music by himself and you never stop "hearing the tune" while he improvises a solo like this, even when he's really stretching with the time and harmony. While on the drums we aren't playing an instrument that is organized the same way melodically or harmonically, I think there is still a real lesson to be learned here. We should all be able to improvise and "play the tune" and execute our ideas with a certain clarity, organization and overall musicality that allows the listener to understand and hear the larger melodic/harmonic structures at play.