I'm not smart enough to like jazz, I've concluded. It's too intellectual for me, even though I do appreciate it. I really want to like it and have tried. But all the different chordings and time signatures go over my head. I just can't follow it enough to truly love it viscerally, like I do rock 'n' roll, reggae, or R&B.
But I keep trying. In this weekend's New York Times magazine, there was an interesting article about American jazz on European TV. I think I may have found a way to really appreciate jazz more. Interesting little read.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/maga ... an-tv.html
Interesting article - Jazz on European TV
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Interesting article - Jazz on European TV
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Re: Interesting article - Jazz on European TV
sloopjohnc wrote: I think I may have found a way to really appreciate jazz more. Interesting little read.
That's great, Sloop. I'm surprised it's taken you so long, in some ways. Even if you never get into the free or esoteric side of jazz, there are so many connections i think between some jazz and R&B, blues and soul, and sometimes all it takes is one or two things to click with you and then you've found your way into it. For me it was stuff like Billie H, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Chet Baker's vocal records. For you it might be watching some clips of an Art Blakey group or a Horace Silver group playing and 'seeing' it as well as hearing it.
Yeah, i think a lot of what he says is very true, especially in terms of the 'alternate universe' idea; a place where these musicians who were generally living on the fringes of accepted US mainstream society and given very little time in the broadcast medium, suddenly found themselves travelling through western Europe playing to live TV studio audiences from Stockholm to Marseilles. The same could be said of many Blues artists at the time as well.
Here's a classic, Cannonball Adderley's group doing 'Work Song' in Lugano, '63.
Cannonball Adderley, Nat Adderley, Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones, Louis Hayes.
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Re: Interesting article - Jazz on European TV
Nice article. I wish there was more film evidence available.
As far as enjoying jazz... There’s so much to enjoy, on so many levels, who cares if all the levels haven’t manifested themselves with clarity yet...
Even with albums I’ve been listening to for 20-odd years, I’m still discovering things. Same with modern classical.
That’s part of the appeal, I think. I’m not bored of them yet. Whereas, some of the really visceral stuff gets old pretty quickly. All their secrets are revealed early on...
As far as enjoying jazz... There’s so much to enjoy, on so many levels, who cares if all the levels haven’t manifested themselves with clarity yet...
Even with albums I’ve been listening to for 20-odd years, I’m still discovering things. Same with modern classical.
That’s part of the appeal, I think. I’m not bored of them yet. Whereas, some of the really visceral stuff gets old pretty quickly. All their secrets are revealed early on...
Heyyyy!
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