As to your point about jazz teachers knowing more theory, you would be right in the majority of cases. I once sat down with a jazz guitarist — not a teacher per se, but a really good player — and I was shocked to discover how little theory he actually knew and applied. With him it was all about chord tones and guide tone lines. He was also a walking encyclopedia of jazz licks.

He said he treated jazz like folk music — not in the Bob Dylan sense — but as music for the enjoyment of people. He really set me thinking.
.-= Clinton Carnegie´s last blog ..In Search Of The Way Out — The Gibson Firebird =-.