When last we saw our intrepid explorer…
So last week I talked about my favorite classical music (generic usage regarding music from a long time ago, as opposed to the specific music period known as Classical, being generally the years 1750-1820 CE). It will always be my first love, but there are a lot more genres of music out there, all with their own unique beauty and quirks.
As I grew in my skill as a musician, I also grew in my repertoire. My junior year of high school I took up tenor saxophone as an official second woodwind, and auditioned for the jazz band. In high school and college that equates to pretty much the standard big band format popularized by Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington during the swing era of the 1930’s. Much to my surprise (and the frustration of others) I landed lead tenor.
Now, let me explain some things about me and jazz. I’m a solid work-up musician, meaning hand me a piece of music a few days ahead of when you need it played and I’ll give you a professional rendition ready for performance or recording. But two things are my bane, and kept me from being a regular session musician. The first is my problem sight-reading. It’s not a technique issue – I’ve been told my technique is better than most. No, it’s largely a mental issue. And it’s probably the same reason I suck at chess and other strategy/tactics things – I just can’t pay attention far enough ahead to figure it out.
My second Achilles’ is my pure suckage at improvisation, AKA: ad libbing. When you mention jazz to most people, they envision a smoky club somewhere with a small combo backing a lone musician sending forth seemingly random walls of sound. Most of that sound isn’t actually written down anywhere. It’s using the chord structure of that particular tune to make up a new section within the piece, unique and original, yet somehow related. My little brain has a hard time with that. Again, because I can’t seem to think fast enough ahead of things to make my improvisation sound little better than a beginning student playing “Mary Had A Little Lamb.”
So me being lead tenor in the jazz band was a little weird because – you guessed it – lead tenor has a lot of improvisational moments in jazz. But I got away with it because we had weeks between performances, and that meant I could go home and figure out some cool riffs to play when it was my turn to stand up and wow the world. That worked at my first high school in Texas, where the jazz band was pretty average, and nobody really cared anyway because it wasn’t related to football. Not so much at my second high school in California.
I came to Eureka High in the middle of my junior year being a big fish from my big Texas pond, and found myself hitting a brick wall when it came to the jazz band. I wasn’t even allowed to audition to see if I could beat someone out of their seat. I was furious for weeks. And then I heard them play. And I knew why I couldn’t audition. And I became okay with that, because they were one of the hottest high school jazz bands in the nation. Their lead tenor was a guy named Sheldon Brown[1], who – as a senior in high school – could put most professionals to shame. Unlike some of us, he actually has made a successful musical career for himself, and I’m glad for him and hate him at the same time.
I did make it to lead tenor the next year, after Sheldon (and about 2/3 of the rest of the band) graduated. We weren’t as good as the previous batch, but we were still better than a lot of high school bands out there. And – most importantly – we had fun. The highlight of that experience was when we were invited to play at Humboldt State University as part of a weekend of jazz, which included “opening” for the college jazz band and their guest drummer, Buddy Rich. He had done a workshop there and was topping it off with a performance. Notorious in the industry for being difficult[2], he was nothing but cordial to us lowly high schoolers as we watched him rehearse. He was very particular about how his drums were tuned, and went through drumsticks like they were candy. And he was just mesmerizing to watch.
So I give you my first pick from jazz history, Buddy Rich and his big band at the 1982 Montreal Jazz Festival:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K91vjDcLA9o
The Year of Hellish Evil and Wanton Stupidity, AKA: 2016, cost us a bucket-load of talent from music, film, and television. Among the jazz casualties were clarinetist Pete Fountain[3], sax man Gato Barbieri[4], and consummate poet/vocalist Leonard Cohen[5]. All of them hurt, but a more recent loss really hit home.
Last week saw the passing of arguably one of the greatest artists of his generation, Al Jarreau. Known for his impressive vocalizations (a modernization of scat singing) and his versatile range, he came to the attention of most people when his album Breakin’ Away (1981) crossed into the pop charts for, like, the rest of the 1980’s. It was certified platinum and spawned the hits “We’re in This Love Together” and “Breakin’ Away.” He also sang the theme for the biggest TV show of the same decade, Moonlighting[6], starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Sheppard. His voice was so unique and versatile, and I was hooked for life. And while I followed him on and off through the years, always enjoying what he had to offer, my absolute favorite is his “Teach Me Tonight.” It never fails to give me a warm blush, even after all these listens.
So here’s Al Jarreau and band at the Leverkusener Jazztage 1996:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F4f7YUzxd4
Now, before you go thinking I’m stuck in the ’80’s musically (okay, I might be a little), let me move on to the next person who has constantly inspired me, and not just in jazz. Though born in New Orleans the same year I landed on this planet, and from a line of jazz musicians, he has crossed between jazz, classical, and avant-garde with equal ease. Let me introduce you to trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, probably the best brass player in the world today. He has nine Grammy’s covering both jazz and classical forms, a Peabody award for his PBS and NPR shows on music from the mid-‘90’s, and is the first jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize in Music, for his composition Blood on the Fields[7].
His brother Branford Marsalis[8] is also frequently on my playlist because of the ease in which he plays the saxophone. Plus I was able to see him play with Sting[9], live, when I lived in LA back in the day. Both of the brothers bring a transcendent tone and ability to their respective instruments, which makes it hard to pick between them. But I discovered Wynton first, so I’ll make him the top choice (for now…).
As such, let me present Wynton Marsalis and friends at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2005:
Finally, no jazz list would be complete without John Coltrane. Especially a list bandied about by a so-called saxophonist. Born in North Carolina in 1926, Coltrane’s life was sadly cut short at age 40 from liver cancer exacerbated by heroin use. But in that relatively brief period, he left an indelible mark on the jazz world. Playing along side the likes of Dizzy Gillespie[10], Miles Davis[11], and Thelonious Monk[12], he became known for his “sheets of sound” playing style. His seminal album Giant Steps[13] is essentially a master class in technique and improvisation for any musician worth their salt, and on my regular listening rotation. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve just sat and tried to absorb his music. To this day, I discover something new each time I listen.
So to send us out for this week, here’s John Coltrane live in Germany, 1960:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDhyJvKe88o
When next we meet, I’ll bring us back to the modern era with my favorites of rock/pop. Until then, happy listening!
[1] Here he is playing in the Silvestre Martinez Quintet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wrbsgPtsHU
[2] Though proved he had a sense of humor on the Muppet show, in what is the greatest drum-off ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJh9W3Gcpmo
[3] Where I was introduced to jazz clarinet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGV0DjYXBLk
[4] He won a Grammy for scoring Last Tango In Paris, and I loved his Latin fire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XHjGyNcbYs
[5] Everyone knows his Hallelujah, so how about this one instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuCpTi0EtbU
[6] Here’s a reminder for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZxLXuFfPvM
[7] The full composition is over three hours longs, so here’s just a taste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OH8qpvLDt4
[8] Here he is with his quartet in 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_X_1r1PojY
[9] The two of them at Sting’s 60th birthday concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLl3SSt-qoo
[10] With his trademark trumpet at the Lincoln Center in 1982: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nxthSkRT6g
[11] An audio excerpt from his 1959 album Kind of Blue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoPL7BExSQU
[12] The title cut from his ground-breaking 1956 album Brilliant Corners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zBhOrOQeFU
[13] Hang on to your hats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30FTr6G53VU
Musings of a Madwoman 