School . . .

 . . . of jazz


Jazz originated in the late nineteenth century in the Southern United States combining some European harmony and forms with African musical elements such as blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms and syncopation.

As it spread many distinctive styles evolved such as  New Orleans jazz dating from the early 1910s, big band swing, Kansas City jazz and Gypsy jazz from the 1930s and 1940s, bebop from the mid-1940s, Afro-Cuban jazz, West Coast jazz, ska jazz, cool jazz, Indo jazz, avant-garde jazz, soul jazz, modal jazz, chamber jazz, free jazz, Latin jazz, smooth jazz, jazz fusion and jazz rock, jazz funk, loft jazz, punk jazz, acid jazz, ethno jazz, jazz rap, cyber jazz, M-Base and nu jazz.

Louis Armstrong said to Bing Crosby on the latter's radio show, "Ah, swing, well, we used to call it syncopation, then they called it ragtime, then blues, then jazz. Now, it's swing.  Armstrong also said, "If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know. In a 1988 interview, jazz musician J. J. Johnson said, "Jazz is restless. It won't stay put and it never will".  Ellington said, "By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with."

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Legend. . .

(from http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/102321329_Hidden_sound_of_Charm_City.html?page=all)

The Left Bank Jazz Society, launched in 1964 by jazz aficionado Benny Kearse, arrived at a time when Baltimore's jazz scene was in decline and its racial tensions were worsening. Against that background it was a progressive, integrationist group that, over the course of more than 30 years, brought most of the great names of jazz to its Sunday soirees: Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Maynard Ferguson and many others. - See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/102321329_Hidden_sound_of_Charm_City.html?page=all#sthash.clUxO6rD.dpuf

The Left Bank Jazz Society, launched in 1964 by jazz aficionado Benny Kearse, arrived at a time when Baltimore's jazz scene was in decline and its racial tensions were worsening. Against that background it was a progressive, integrationist group that, over the course of more than 30 years, brought most of the great names of jazz to its Sunday soirees: Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Maynard Ferguson and many others.

On May 17, 1967, concert-goers were unaware that they were listening to world-renowned saxophonist John Coltrane's last live performance, writes Cathleen Carris, in a profile of the Left Bank Jazz Society included in "Music At The Crossroads: Lives & Legacies of Baltimore Jazz."

Coltrane died two months later of liver cancer at 40.

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People. . .

. . . are like music. . .

"There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind. "    -Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington


Muhammad Robert Heft, a Muslim community leader in Toronto  said Muslims had helped the security services detain the suspects in an alleged "al Qaeda-supported" plot to blow up a U.S.-Canada rail line.

"We have to be on the front lines," Heft said. "To either nip it in the bud in the very beginning or co-operate with authorities so they can be brought to justice."

"In our community we may look a little different, but in our hearts we love Canada. It's our country. It's our tribe," he added. "We want safety for all Canadians regardless of their religion."

U.S. officials said the attack would have targeted a rail line between New York and Toronto, a route that travels along the Hudson Valley into New York wine country and enters Canada near Niagara Falls.

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Miles and Miles of quotes. . .

(Quotes from Miles Davis. . . )
"I've changed music four or five times. What have you done of any importance other than be white?"
Davis attended a reception in honor of Ray Charles at Ronald Reagan's White House in 1987. This was his reply to a Washington society lady seated next to him who had asked him what he had done to be invited.

"If somebody told me I only had an hour to live, I'd spend it choking a white man. I'd do it nice and slow."  During an interview, after growing aggravated about questions on the subject of race.

"A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I'm still doing it."  On being called a legend.

"Jazz is like blues with a shot of heroin"

"Who's that motherfucker? He can't play shit!"
on Cecil Taylor

"You a motherfucker."  a compliment to Chick Corea, who thought he was about to be fired.

"He plays like somebody is standing on his foot."  on Eric Dolphy

"He could very well be the Duke Ellington of Rock 'n' Roll."  on Prince

"Why'd you put that white bitch on there?"
To George Avakian after seeing the cover chosen by Columbia for Miles Ahead.

"You can't play anything on a horn that Louis hasn't played." and "I love Pops" (Louis' nickname)
on Louis Armstrong in a Playboy magazine interview.

"I’ll play it and tell you what it is later."   During a recording session for Prestige, on the album "Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet" (1956).

"Listen baby, when I say later, I mean it! Later!"  After being approached by a relentless interviewer.

"There are no wrong notes."  My ego only needs a good rhythm section.

On being asked what he looked for in musicians.  "When you are creating your own shit, man, even the sky ain't the limit."

"Try taking the fucking horn out of your mouth."  Davis was questioning the increasing length of John Coltrane solos, and Trane answered "I don't know how to stop."

"Don't play what's there, play what's not there.

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Talk about 'Gonzo'. . .

. . . sixty four years ago this month a little-known eccentric, introverted pianist walked into the young Blue Note record label's New York studios to make his first solo recordings.

Thelonious Monk may not have been officially or popularly described as 'Gonzo', but what better descriptive to convey the esoteric, cerebral, attractive and (some say) sexy music that he conceived and performed. Monk and Duke Ellington hold the distinction of being the 'most recorded' of jazz composers. Ellington's compositions numbered about 1,000. Monk wrote 70 tunes. Truly an original, even the beret and sunglasses of the beboppers' wardrobe were originated by Monk.

From Wikipedia. . . "At the time of his signing to Riverside, Monk was highly regarded by his peers and by some critics, but his records did not sell in significant numbers, and his music was still regarded as too "difficult" for mass-market acceptance. Indeed, with Monk's consent, Riverside had managed to buy out his previous Prestige contract for a mere $108.24. He willingly recorded two albums of jazz standards as a means of increasing his profile. The first of these, Thelonious Monk Plays the Music of Duke Ellington, featuring bass innovator Oscar Pettiford and drummer Kenny Clarke, included Ellington pieces "Caravan" and "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)".

On the 1956 LP Brilliant Corners, Monk recorded his own music. The complex title track, which featured tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, was so difficult to play that the final version had to be edited together from multiple takes. The album, however, was largely regarded as the first success for Monk; according to Orrin Keepnews, "It was the first that made a real splash.""

Monk was one of my original portals into bebop and jazz. The reason, I now think after many years of additional perspective, that his music compelled me so, was what I perceived to be its similarity to much of the progressive, 'art' rock in which I was so interested at the time, with it's unusual angles, unique accents, unbounded energy, incessant rhythm and sheer magnetism. Truly great music.




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