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John Koh

About Me

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because... first of all, Jazz, unlike other music, can give the player a chance to express their selves, and also their creativity. Jazz combines various techniques and styles and basically creates your own Jazz character while you play. I also find Jazz very fun to talk about, although not many people in my school actually listen to Jazz. Also, Jazz, especially Bebop, sounds amazing and also, it is perfection. It is amazing how everyone in the band is improvising, and the tune goes on very smoothly as they play. I was first exposed to jazz... when I was listening to an album by my dad's godfather, Eldee Young, and was influenced to play the bass. Although, I started liking Jazz through listening to Funk, then I slowly started to gain my interest in Jazz. I met [musician name]... Terrell Stafford, Dave Holland, Eldee Young, Kenny Barron, Luis Bonilla, and this October, I will meet Roy Hargrove, Chris Potter, and Ron Carter!! The best show I ever attended was... Terrell Stafford live at the Vanguard! The first jazz record I bought was... the first actual album I bought was Kind of Blue. Before that, I was listening to collections of various artists. My advice to new listeners... my advice to new listeners is to listen to the Jazz classics first, and all of the standard Jazz tunes, because as you finally know how all of the tunes go, then as you listen to various versions of the tune, you will start to understand Jazz better. I also recommend you to listen to John Coltrane or Cannonball Adderley. They are my personal favorites.