Jazz for Kulturbloggers – Part I
by Sam B
It’s an embarrassing story, but one that may help you understand why I’m starting this three-part Jazz for Kulturbloggers series like this.
In 7th grade, I started playing in my school’s jazz band. Growing up on my dad’s Beach Boys and Hank Williams, Jr. (he’d thrown away his Doors and Hendrix before I was born), I didn’t know what jazz was. As I became curious, I decided to ask my saxophone teacher for an introduction to jazz. You know, what I should listen to. His recommendation?
Kenny G and Spyro Gyra.
It took me some time, and a new teacher, to find out what jazz really is. San Diego’s “Smooth Jazz” station, 98.1 FM (please don’t follow this link, though), didn’t help, nor did the fact that none of my friends or family listened to jazz.
So that you aren’t subjected to the hell that is smooth jazz, and so that we’re on similar pages for the rest of the discussion, here are a couple good resources for reading and listening to:
Episode 10 of the Smithsonian Folkways podcasts discusses Folkways Records’ interaction with jazz. It’s situated mostly in the 40s and early 50s, and is more interested in Moses Ash (whose contribution to American folk is inestimable) than in the jazz, but it’s got some good stuff. (Even though it’s not really jazz, listen especially for the shoeshine who sings and accompanies himself only with his shoeshine rag.)
A good general history of jazz, and of various styles and movements, can be found here.
It wasn’t until I was in college that San Diego City College’s jazz station upgraded their broadcast equipment so that they could be heard in San Diego’s North County (which means it was too late to counteract the evils of 98.1), but I consider this the best jazz station I’ve ever heard, in my limited experience. It runs the gamut, from big band swing on Sunday mornings, to contemporary artists, even to non-jazz (it was my first exposure to the String Cheese Incident).
Also at 88.3 on the FM dial, an all-jazz (except for its Saturday morning Motown show) station based in Newark, NJ (the Listen Now button is in the upper right-hand corner).
And on radio.blog, four songs, which mostly don’t sound like what you’ll hear on the radio streams: The Bad Plus (a contemporary acoustic trio) covering Aphex Twin’s “Flim”; for those of you who enjoy grating noise music, the free jazz of Pat Metheny and Ornette Coleman’s “Song X”; “On the Sunny Side of the Street” performed by Dizzy Gillespie with Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt; and “Kentucky Girl” by the Omer Avital Group, performed at Smalls, generally considered one of the top jazz clubs in New York.
What jazz resources have I left out? And, if any of you know, what’s a decent jazz station in the DC metro area? (Please?)
Next up: why should you listen to jazz?
Posted on November 13, 2006, in Music, Radio.blog. Bookmark the permalink. 38 Comments.
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I don’t know about jazz stations in DC, but there’s a baptist (or maybe AME?) church in the area that has some pretty good jazz on weekend nights. It’s kind of hit and miss, so the few times that we went, we’d listen outside the door for a minute or two and we could generally tell if it was going to be a good night or not. I’ll try to dig up the address.
I don’t know if you’re in range of the Baltimore/Frederick NPR station, 88.1 WYPR, but they play jazz in the evenings. They definitely play it safe—it’s mostly big band and vocal stuff and when they do smaller ensemble stuff it’s nothing too edgy—but it’s quality.
I’ve looked through the internet radio stations that come through iTunes for some jazz stations and I seem to remember that there were a few. That’d probably be the best bet for some good variety.
JKC, Tom, thanks. I appreciate the recommendations. I don’t think I get 88.1 WYPR, but I’ll try. The NPR that I know I get–88.5 out of D.C.–has some big band jazz Saturday nights, and a great Sunday of bluegrass and old-timey music, but that’s the best I’ve found. I agree that internet radio (and let me plug the streams from the stations mentioned in the post again) are by far the best, but they don’t work as well when I’m driving.
There isnt any Jazz on the air in the DC metro area.
I am shamefully ignorant when it comes to jazz, so I’m excited about these posts. But it’s just not something I listen to. But I like the stuff you’ve posted. The crazy one sounds a lot like this group I’ve seen called the Chuck Dukowski Band. Chuck Dukowski is the former bassist of Black Flag. They do improv jazz, with his wife on vocals. It’s very hit or miss. Sometimes you’re thinking “this is brilliant” and other times you’re thinking “just shoot me now.”
Once someone played me a cd of old previously unreleased 70′s stuff from the Blue Note label, and I loved it. I’ve been wanting to get my hands on that for a long time. But they’ve released so many comps now it’s impossible for me to know which it was.
Susan,
Neither my wife nor my sisters like jazz, although my wife tolerates it. I hope, though, that I can at least give you an entre into jazz; I hear people say that you can only appreciate jazz if you play it, which I hope is not true. But it does take work to enjoy. I know a lot of the regular Kulturbloggers enjoy music that they have to work to enjoy.
So I can be helpful (and so I know what direction to go), is there something particular that bugs you about jazz? (For my sisters, it’s that they can’t sing along to it.) Or is it just general unfamiliarity?
I’m glad you like the free jazz stuff; Pat Metheny has an album called “Zeero Tolerance for Silence” which is just him overdubbing guitars with heavy distortion and lots of noise; I liked it, but lost the album somewhere between the West and East Coasts. (As a warning, though, Metheny’s music runs the gamut from lite jazz to the really out-there stuff.)
I think for the most part, jazz doesn’t fall into the category of music that really moves me. And since there’s so much other music that does move me, jazz gets pushed by the wayside. I think jazz is interesting, it just doesn’t have any emotional punch for me. Except for something like the pianist from the Peanuts tv specials, if he counts.
Vince Guaraldi (the guy who does the Peanuts music) definitely counts.
And I get the reason why jazz gets pushed to the wayside–there is a lot of it that sounds formulaic, like the players are going through the (incredibly complicated) motions.
I’m going to have to think about moving jazz; Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” is moving to me (especially the handclap section toward the middle), and I like blues-oriented hard bop. If you don’t mind my asking, what elements of what you like move you?
Matt Mullenweg, lead developer of WordPress, has quite a massive log of jazz quotes over at his blog.
Even if you don’t listen to jazz 24/7, the quotes are pretty good reading.
Growing up, smooth jazz was the background music of cheesy restaurants and shopping centers, and I couldn’t stand it. Still can’t. But seven or eight years ago, I bought John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and was blown away. I moved on to Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, and a few others. I’m no aficionado by any stretch, but there certainly is moving jazz.
I’m impressed that you went straight to Coltrane. After I got past Kenny G, et al., I went from Chick Corea to Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, to John Coltrane, to hard bop. For me, the most moving music is probably the stuff that Art Blakey and Horace Silver play.
I started with Coltrane, too – My Favorite Things. He’s still the coolest.
“Smooth jazz” is today’s “musack.” 25-30 years ago there was a big difference between the two.
There are many greats from the golden age of jazz but here are four that I consider to be the best of the best–
Art Tatum–piano.
Charlie Parker–sax.
Joe Pass–guitar.
Ella Fitzgerald–vocal.
All, IMO, are unsurpassed on their respective instruments in the classic-bop genre.
Of course, “My Favorite Things” itself is a song with music by Richard Rodgers. From The Sound of Music, a musical.
Jazz traditionally has relied on its audience already knowing the tune, which has to be crafted by somebody who knows how to craft tunes.
Ella Fitzgerald rarely sang anything that wasn’t written by white writers of musicals, like Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers, etc. She tried the blues only once (one album).
Just making a note of this.
Art Tatum is certainly unsurpassed, although he is usually considered more of a forerunner and influence on bebop, compared to someone like Bud Powell.
Here’s a fun short article showing the great esteem musicians, both classical and jazz, had for Tatum. It includes some Youtube performances by the blind pianist. More are probably available.
Maybe you should put some of his great recordings, such as “Tea for Two” or “Tiger Rag” on the Radio Blog.
Bill,
I’ll see where I put my Art Tatum.
D.,
You’re right, of course. Traditionally, all the great jazz musicians covered extensively the Great American Songbook of Broadway. And Dave Brubeck made Disney, especially “Someday My Prince Will Come,” a standard. I’ve got some recordings from the last ten or fifteen years that try to do that with contemporary popular music (and the Beatles) with varying success. Can you think of any current-ish Broadway that could be reinterpreted by jazz musicians?
Susan,
I’ve been thinking about music that moves a person–I have to say, you need to go to a club and hear some jazz live. A lot of jazz is the interaction between the performers and between the performers and the audience. And you don’t need to get big names–some of the best live jazz I’ve heard was at the 59th Street subway station in New York.
While at BYU I somehow came across a Duke Ellington cassette that I thought was extraordinarily good.
I’d like to learn more about jazz. It’s not the music I migrate most naturally too, but I feel I need to get into jazz for my own personal education.
danithew,
Do you like Middle Eastern food? Because the Upper West Side has a great jazz spot, Cleopatra’s Needle (http://www.cleopatrasneedleny.com/), at 92nd and Broadway. My wife and I used to go there regularly while we were in NY. The musicians who play there aren’t big-name, but they’re excellent. Admission is free, but there’s a $10 minimum per person. But, because it’s a restaurant, you can spend the $10 on food (and their food is pretty good) rather than having a drink minimum.
I think live is a good way to start to get your feet wet. (Also on the UWS, the Manhattan School of Music has free jazz concerts on a regular basis.)
LOL. Did Sam B. just ask me if I like Middle Eastern food?
I have a question … does Cleopatra’s Needle have good kanafi?
Thanks for the suggestion! I think my wife would like to go someplace like that. We’ll definitely check it out.
When I lived at 92nd and Broadway, there were a bunch of good clubs around there with live jazz performances. I moved in 1991, and I guess those places closed.
Jazz has become institutionalized, mostly performed in concerts and concert halls, these days (in addition to recording).
D.,
That’s one of the big problems with jazz today, which, if I remember, I’m going to address in the next post.
danithew,
I forgot to mention–Cleopatra’s Needle has the table and the stage on one side, and a bar with a big-screen TV tuned to sports on the other side. Except, being a NY-sized restaurant, there’s no real division. So if you sit in the right place, you can eat Middle Eastern food, listen to jazz, and watch the game.
I feel the same way about jazz that I do about opera. It seems like there is a whole world of stuff ought there that I ought to know about and that I would like to know about, but I have a feeling that I would require a year of intense study before I could really appreciate it. I have no way to distinguish good jazz from mediocre jazz, so I am reluctant to go out and spend money on stuff.
For instance, I love Ella Fitzgerald, but my love for her has more to do with the sound of her voice and with the songs she chooses than with her use of her voice as an instrument. I don’t have a clue how to judge good vocal instrumentation.
No reason to wait, HP. There’s plenty of jazz to love, and you don’t have to study it beforehand. And opera too: just watch some of those “Live from Lincoln Center” broadcasts and see if you like it.
The only jazz I’ve seen live is the Chuck Dukowski Band, and like I said, there were moments of brilliance and moments of disaster.
I can’t talk about what moves me in music right now, I’m sick and can’t be coherent enough about it. There’s some jazz I really like, but mostly there’s too much other music I like more and not enough time to listen to it all.
I went to a concert back in 78 (or there abouts) that ended all concerts.
There was a quartet with Oscar Peterson on the piano, Joe Pass on the guitar–can’t remember who was on the bass–I think it was Niels Pedersen. And I don’t remember the drummer.
These guys were a warm up act (a warm up act!) for the Duke! Duke Ellington.
And to top it off, Ella chimned in with both groups. It was awesome.
Someone asked about jazz and contemporary broadway–there ain’t nothin’ to pull from nowadays. Ah, but the good ol’ days when they had the likes of Jerome Kern to standardize.
OK, I finally tracked down this cd a friend played for me ages ago that I’ve been wanting to pick up forever, it’s this:
Blue Break Beats, Vol. 1
Can I mention a name that many will initially scoff at? Tony Bennet. Yeah most will think of his early stuff that is more like a want to be Rat Packer than serious Jazz. But his later stuff is fantastic. He has one album covering Billie Holliday that is simply fantastic. He also, just for fun, used to bring in most of the Jazz greats just to sing at his house.
Seriously, check out some of his stuff. One of the great underrated male Jazz vocalists.
BTW – no Cab Callaway? Carmen McRae? Jimmy Scott? Johnny Hartman? Sarah Vaughn?
So here’s a real controversial question. Are Sting or Norah Jones good Jazz singers? I know the purists hate both.
Clark,
I was hesitant to bring up jazz singers, because my interest in jazz vocals is relatively recent compared to my interest in jazz instrumentals. I almost included Carmen McRae on the radio.blog (she has an amazing album of Thelonious Monk songs), but her name escaped me when I was putting them up. Ditto for Johnny Hartman–I love his voice, but my collection only includes “My One and Only Love” with Coltrane.
And I do like Tony Bennet. Mario Cuomo tells of the time he said, on the radio, that he preferred Bennet to Frank Sinatra. He later ran into Bennet, who said something like, “I heard what you said on the radio. Thanks.” Then ominously added, “So did Frankie.” I own more Sinatra than Bennet, but a case can be made for Tony as a better singer (although if Frank were still alive, who knows).
I love Norah Jones and Tony Bennett.
I also LOVE Eva Cassidy. Would she be considered jazz? See here.
My problem with jazz (especially modern stuff) is that, as a non-musician myself, a lot of it seems like an inside joke that I’m not meant to get. It’s like a jazz musician can listen to the songs and go, “Dig that unconventional time pattern man! Grok those amazing counter-rhythmic melodies!” and I’m just hearing something that sounds repetitious and dull.
I understand that this is an argument from ignorance, and that the fault is probably mine, and not the music’s, but there it is.
I saw Winton Marsalis tour once with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, doing a set that was heavy on Duke Ellington, and it was pretty amazing and enjoyable.
We like Tony Bennett over at our house, too. He’s awesome.
It looks like she veered towards cheese & classical after this release, but Sarah Pillow’s Paper Cuts (1997) is definitely worth a listen. I saw her live & she had an amazering voice.
BTD Greg is saying what I was trying to say. When I hear jazz, I get the feeling that I would be enjoying it more if I better understood the technical aspects of music. I never feel comfortable just “jumping into” jazz (at least not in the way I am comfortable with other genres). I used to be the same way with classical, so I went out and got a lot of classical CD’s and listened to them until I had a feel for what I liked in classical. That said, I couldn’t figure out a way to separate the good from the mediocre in classical either. There is a level of technical expertise that appears to be necessary to play or appreciate good jazz/opera/classical that I don’t have. As a result, there is a barrier between me and these genres (albeit, it is now smaller with classical).
The thing with a lot of instrumental jazz is that there aren’t a lot of hooks, so to speak. I forget all the technical terms, but there’s often a straightforward melody up front, then guys take turns improvizing off of that melody/progression, then they return to the straightforward melody to end the song. There’s not a lot of catchiness or universal emotional expression like you have with vocal pop songs. In order to appreciate a lot of the instrumental stuff I think it’s true that you do have to have some sort of understanding of the technical aspects of what’s going on.
History is also part of it. I had a history of jazz class in college and knowing about the musicians and how their music fit into the context of the progression and invention of different styles went a long way to making the music itself more interesting and listenable.
That said, I think there is a lot of jazz that I would consider nearly universally appealing. I know of a few Ellington compositions, and even some Monk ones, that I think any lover of pop music could appreciate. And then there’s a lot of vocal jazz that does have those universal human elements that draw people to music: drama, emotion, expression.
Oops!
That wasn’t the Duke I saw at the concert (comment #25) it was Count Basie and his band-marvelous.
Part II will be forthcoming soon, but in the interim, check out this New York Times article on the emergent jazz blogosphere; it ties in (kind of) to why jazz died and why it didn’t actually die (and why you should listen to jazz which, again, will be the next post I write).
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