My Jazz Story
Jazz, when I first heard it, seemed like a mysterious and colorful exploration of what Cage would call 'organized sound'. It was to me, akin to abstract-expressionist
painting (before I ever knew anything about art). The jazz-listening experience, when what once seemed challenging, but
gradually
became more aesthetically accessible, felt like a cerebral jacuzzi. Oh, it really did! So warm, so comfortable.
This impression drew me in, and created a web in which I am entangled for a lifetime.
Because I was a rock-influenced guitar student, I started out listening to blues such as B.B. King and Robert Johnson ("RoJo"). When I was
about
nine or 10, I bought Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall with the Gil Evans Orchestra (Columbia 1961) on cassette tape. Once I got a CD player in
my
bedroom, I bought The
Essential Dizzy Gillespie (Verve 1964), The Best of John Coltrane (Atlantic 1970) and The Roots of Acid Jazz (Impulse 1996) and borrowed my half-brother's 'Acid Jazz':
After Hours: Vol. 1
(Instinct Records, '94).
I was originally introduced to jazz, as a musician, when my guitar teacher and childhood and teenage mentor, Tony Burnett of New Canaan,
Connecticut, had me playing Charlie 'Bird' Parker heads and chord progressions.
I have had the pleasure of meeting in-person: Jeff Coffin backstage at the Meadows Amphitheatre in Hartford, CT; Pat Metheny while
working as a
pro-audio salesman at Manny's Music, formerly in midtown
Manhattan; Bill Frisell after a show at the Village Vanguard; Peter Bernstein between sets at the bar at Smalls, NYC and an after show
interview
at
a table at the Iridium in Manhattan; Wynton Marsalis: walking alone near
Lincoln Center when I was a kid studying at the Manhattan School of Music summer jazz workshop; Phil Ramone (on a bevy of occasions):
producer and engineer for John Coltrane's Ole (Atlantic 1961), Getz/Gilberto (Verve 1964), Sinatra Duets (Capitol 1993); Ray Charles: Genius & Friends (Rhino, '05),
and more; Paul
Shaffer, at
Phil Ramone's. I've also met John Scofield and interviewed him, in-person, backstage before a show in Jerusalem; and I've even had a
masterclass
with Chris Rosenberg, a
one- time guitarist in Ornette Coleman's group. And, yes, even Tony Bennett at the Blue Note Cafe listening to the indefatigable Ron Carter. Max Weinberg too!
The best show I ever attended was the Newport Jazz Festival in the summer of 2012 (thanks Karen)!
My advice to new listeners is to treat your immersion in America's greatest art-form, jazz, like you would classic literature: even if the music
challenges
you
as a listener at first, remember: it's a classic for a reason! Learn an instrument, learn the language of jazz. Do your best as an esthete and
enjoy
the sweet sounds!
About Me
