I love jazz because it swings! It also relaxes me and helps me communicate my thoughts on paper since i'm a writer and poet. It’s elements of improvisation is similar. When I hear jazz i'm thinking poetic thoughts and when i'm listening to poetry or reading it, jazz melody, meter and riffs come to mind! I was first exposed to jazz when i was a child listening to my parents play their albums for guests

I love jazz because it swings! It also relaxes me and helps me communicate my thoughts on paper since i'm a writer and poet. It’s elements of improvisation is similar. When I hear jazz i'm thinking poetic thoughts and when i'm listening to poetry or reading it, jazz melody, meter and riffs come to mind! I was first exposed to jazz when i was a child listening to my parents play their albums for guests....they ran a speakeasy in our basement and as I grew older i played the music on a stereo record player upstairs for them while they entertained. I read album covers and liner notes all the time. I met Arthur Prysock, Shirley Scott, Sonny Stitt at our house. Whenever Arthur Prysock was performing in the Philadelphia area and my parents walked in and if he happened to see them he would stop the band and break into “I Worry Bout You.” The best show I ever attended was Nancy Wilson at the Zellerbach Theater, Annenberg Center on U of P Campus in September 24,1999. (my wedding anniversary) The first jazz record I bought was Horace Silver “Blowin' The Blues Away.” My advice to new listeners is to keep an open mind, do not think the music is too intellectual or complicated and be prepared to swing.