On a long thread last month regarding jazz recordings, I made a number of posts. Rather than try to recap my comments, let me quickly offer than I have been an avid jazz enthusiast since high school (late 1950's), and have taught a college course in jazz appreciate. Some of the remarks made on this thread either miss some important points about this extraordinary music, or are well-intentioned but misleading. For example, HiWaves commented that jazz musicians are imitators of the classical genre, and that jazz musicians do not really understand counterpoint. Nothing personal, HiWaves, but most GOOD jazz musicians go substantially beyond imitation by spontaneously creating music as they play. That, in essence, is what sets jazz apart from virtually all other major musical forms. Ken Burns' "Jazz" makes the valid point that jazz is an amalgam for forms: marches, late 1800's dances, blues, ragtime, negro work songs and chants, French operatic aria, etc. With regard to the comments about Bach: I also love Bach, as well as Mozart, Handel, Beethoven, and probably 100 or more great classical composers. But none of them combined extraordinary instrumental virtuousity with the ability to spontaneously created syncopated, polythmic music derived from a broad confluence of musical tradition. Listen to any good jazz drummer, for example, and you will hear 3-4 simultaneous rhythms. I have two references that I recommend to anyone interested in learning about jazz the music, not just the musicians who play the music. First, find the tape recording (or LP) titled "Jazz", which is a 1956 TV program from the Omnibus series, narrated by Leonard Bernstein. Lenny discusses the forms of jazz and the improvisational styles, with support from musicians such as Miles Davis. It's a great tape, and one that is always well received in my jazz appreciation class. The other reference source is the definitive college text on jazz: "Jazz Styles: History and Analysis", by Mark C. Gridley (published by Prentice-Hall). This book is easy to read, highly informative and interesting, and provides an excellent basis for really understanding America's only original art form.
You got to show me something more!
Okay, one thread has a group of folks dissin' the Ken Burns Jazz series on PBS. Another thread under Rock Systems has a writer that suggests Jazz merely "jerks around."
To each his/her own, but do you folks even have a clue what constitutes good music?
Rather than spending thousands of dollars on audio gear, perhaps many of you would do yourself a greater service by enrolling in a course in music appreciation. Doing so might actually enhance your appreciatiation of Jazz, and what is probably the most technically challenging, and soul revealing music ever created! Enjoy!
To each his/her own, but do you folks even have a clue what constitutes good music?
Rather than spending thousands of dollars on audio gear, perhaps many of you would do yourself a greater service by enrolling in a course in music appreciation. Doing so might actually enhance your appreciatiation of Jazz, and what is probably the most technically challenging, and soul revealing music ever created! Enjoy!