A Jazz Babe Tells Us How to Get Started by Susan Dunn, Life Coach

in Entertainment / Music    (submitted 2007-07-16)

SD: I love all music (except acid rock and rap). I live for music, that's why I founded Club Vivo Per Lei. But my least favorite kind of music is jazz. I feel that's a deficit. You love jazz, Moreen. What can you tell me to get me started?
MM: Jazz has been called "the sound of surpise". So, like all surprises, it takes some getting used to. For me, I learned about jazz sort of by osmosis. My brother Colin, who plays bass trombone, started my interest when he was learning his instrument in the high school band. I couldn't help listening to the albums that were around. He started with rock bands like Chicago and Blood Sweat and Tears and also bands from the big band era--people like Glen Miller and Tommy Dorsey (trombone players and bandleaders, both). My parents had also been exposed to jazz in their youth through big bands which were really the popular music of the day.
SD: But all that squeaking and squawking...
MM: I've heard that before! To be honest there is that component to it, but so much of it is based around standards - beautiful and timeless melodies. As for the dissonant sounds...
SD: Thanks for reframing that for me. Actually I'm an opera buff and I hear that about screeching sopranos...
MM: You're welcome. Now as for those dissonant sounds, those can be from hard bop to free jazz--which can be an acquired taste. I myself like the bebop period which ranges from the mid forties into the fifties, the heyday of musicians such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Thelonius Monk. Remember, jazz encompasses a lot of eras and styles from trad jazz (think of New Orleans and Louis Armstrong) to swing (big band era) to bebop to cool, Latin and fusion (rock and jazz). A few players even went through several styles, Miles Davis, for instance.
SD: Well with the surprise and the dissonance, how do I dip my toe in?
MM: The easiest way for most people to ease into jazz is through vocalists. Modern day artists like Diana Krall and the wonderful Diane Reeves, Bobby McFerrin and my personal favourite, Kurt Elling. (Here is Kurt singing in Rio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z6VV3w1Pp8 ) Earlier vocalists include the inimitable Billie Holliday, fabulous Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Nat King Cole (yes, Nat started out as a jazz pianist), Frank Sinatra, and the list goes on.
SD: I think I'd like to approach it chronologically for some reason. Probably for the same reason I don't like the surprise.
MM: LOL. Well, Ken Burns' documentary on Jazz is a good place to start. It goes through jazz history chronologically - a course in jazz if you will. (Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITbuFIG4Xvc )
SD: What did you do to learn more and help spread the word?
MM: I love jazz so much I volunteer at Canada's Premier Jazz Station. I have had a proud affiliation with them as a volunteer. This past year I have had the opportunity of meeting, greeting and scheduling jazz music students from four schools: University of Toronto, Humber College, Mohawk College and York University - the next generation of jazz greats. I also have been volunteering with jazz festivals for a number of years and I go the Clubs.
SD: What kind of people generally like jazz?
MM: The demographics? Jazz listeners comprise about 3% of the population, a very select group. Generally older, male, well educated and affluent.
SD: Ah hah. So if you're a woman looking for a rich, older, well-educated guy you might want to hang out at jazz clubs?
MM: I've seen some there. Super nice guys, too. If possible, the best way to experience jazz is go out to hear it LIVE! In a club, at a festival, in a restaurant. Especially if you happen to live in a city like New York or Chicago or Toronto, where I live. There is a wealth of music out there every night!
SD: Can you recommend a CD to start my jazz collection?
MM: Sure, glad to. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. This is a must for any collection. It still sounds fresh more than 50 years after it was recorded. The band DID NOT REHEARSE - they recorded each track as they played it. Amazing!
SD: And now for the plug. What's that station you love to volunteer at?
MM: http://www.jazz.fm - you can listen online, 24/7.
SD: Well thanks for the tips.
MM: You're welcome. I hope this has intrigued you a little bit and that you will explore my favourite kind of music!
SD: One last thing. What's in that stuff? A random check on jazz news at Jazz91 FM's site mentioned Honest Ed Mirvish dying at 91; news of George Mely, 80, and that pianist Ahmad Jamal, 77, had received France's highest artistic award recently.
MM: Some of them did, it's true, but there were also tragically young deaths like ___________. That's probably true in any field.
SD: Still, such long-lived men. As a Life Coach, I know what music does for stress levels. Maybe there's something special about jazz that might be worth looking in to. Thanks Moreen for this helpful and informative introduction to jazz.
Moreen Murray lives in Toronto Canada and regularly volunteers at Canada's premier jazz station, Jazz 91 FM.
When you call to find out what's playing, she might be the one who answers the phone. Moreen is a frequent contributor to
Club Vivo Per Lei/I Live for Music.