Music is a funny thing. We can see it, hear it, or feel it, but in the end there's no way to pin it down. Something about the raw experience places it beyond the realm of description or category. Sure, we try to make sense of it--and we certainly do our very best in these pages--but in the end there is just no substitute.
So if you'll accept some personal thoughts on the matter, great jazz boils down to two main things. One is an inner vision--a sound, a feeling, and creative ideas. The second is a willingness to take risks. Music created in the moment can lead to wonderfully unexpected twists and turns... not to mention the bliss of shared resolution.
Because of all this, jazz musicians are rarely boring people. These folks have made a career out of taking risks and knowing that they have to be themselves to make it work. These people have personality. So while we enjoy listening to the music, we're also curious to hear from the people who make it.
Wayne Shorter, a musician of towering proportions, knows about risk and vision. Shorter lent his voice to Miles Davis's epochal hard bop quintet, went on to the high-voltage energy of Weather Report, and is still going strong. This month Fred Jung speaks candidly with Shorter about his music, his life, and his vision. You want to know why he made the switch to soprano saxophone?
Ironically, a primal sense of familiarity, dating back to his childhood years when he picked up his first instrument (a clarinet).
Somehow the stars were in alignment in this month's Art Exhibit. No shortage of personality there! Drawings, paintings, and photos of jazz catch the essence of creation through the prism of an eye. Ziga Koritnik uses photography as a medium to celebrate the emotion of jazz performance--check out Tito Puente awash in pure ecstasy! On the other hand, Nancy Ostrovsky employs a vivid improvisational style (and often paints along with the music), coloring her paintings with the immediacy of the here and now.
Painter Neal Barbosa, who loves to sing his art work before he finishes it, interprets musical energy through vivid, textured portraits. John Ballon, who shoots in black and white, captures the dynamic between the player and the music--check out Dr. Lonnie Smith, deeply pregnant with soul! And finally, Gil Gibli has a thing for the towering figures of classic jazz, imbuing his cross hatch drawings with nostalgic spirit. Elsewhere, Gibli has drawn portraits to help police nab suspects... just imagine: Duke Ellington, guilty of charm!
And while we're all really very boring people here at All About Jazz, somebody occasionally slips through the cracks. Jeff Fitzgerald, our resident genius and biggest nutcase, jumped on board some time last spring.
We haven't been able to get rid of him since. This month he waxes on about how to get people into jazz, and concludes (among other things) that "the best way to spread jazz is virally, from person to person." Hmmm. And there's no vaccine!
Speaking of person-to-person, the rails are greased there. Our newly-revamped discussion forums take advantage of hi-tech (TM) software to allow you to freely exchange ideas and opinions on any subject you desire. Check out what other readers have to share, and pipe in if you feel the itch.
(That's when the other guy starts scratching.)
Photo Credit: Chris Hovan
