Successful religious prophets view themselves not as the deity, but as its agent, and jazz luminaries are no exception. As drummer Billy Higgins put it, "Music doesn't come from you, it comes through you." Singer Abbey Lincoln agreed, "Sometimes I hear the sound coming from me and I know I'm not controlling it. It's like being a medium. It uses me" (Leonard 41).
The idea that musicians were vessels through with the gods communicated was often reinforced by the "otherworldliness" of the musicians. "Perhaps the best example is Bix Beiderbecke, whose young face had the look of a consumptive Romantic poet...and who often seemed totally preoccupied with transcendent concerns. 'Everybody loved Bix,' said fellow bandsman Russ Morgan. 'The guy didn't have an enemy in the world but he was out of this world most of the time'" (Leonard 39).
Jazz musicians could also be considered shamans. The musical communication from a performer to an audience can expose the audience to new ideas, emotions, and modes of thinking. "The shaman transported listeners to upper and lower worlds where they visited gods or consorted with the dead, and jazzman [sic], like other performing artists transported their audience to heights and depths inaccessible through ordinary experience" (Leonard 36). The feeling of ecstasy which often accompanies this transcendence or transportation further intensifies the experience. "As with his shamanistic forebear, the jazz prophet's chief characteristic is his power to evoke ecstasy, the source of his charisma or magic attraction, giving him the power to legitimize his message with the sanction of a higher authority" (Leonard 36).