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Grant Izmirlian

About Me

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because... it is the classical basis for all pop music it is the medium whereby sound, personal experience, group participation and creativity conjoin— it is the perfect balance of structure and freedom I was first exposed to jazz... when my cousin, a teenage piano student, came back from her lesson with her first "jazz" book. It had a picture of an older black gentleman wearing some kind of official hat — like a police hat or military hat or something— I think he was marching in a parade She explained in her own words what jazz meant to her— it sounded very exciting. Then later when I was a student of clarinet it 6th grade or so I brought home a bass clarinet to experiment with. I recorded "When the Saints Come Marching In" on our old cassette deck and add libbed fills with the Bb Clarient. The first time I was really rivetted with the jazz experience was listening to a tenor player, Paul Demarinis, who would become my teacher, with a piano,drums and bass combo, at a local community college The first jazz record I bought was... Bird Encores, Volume 2 My advice to new listeners... keep listening...try to become as active a listener as you can