Home » Jazz Articles » Download Review » NIMBY by Amanda Addleman

2

NIMBY by Amanda Addleman

NIMBY by Amanda Addleman
By

View read count
Composer and pianist Amanda Addleman spent time working as an educator in her native Marin County, California so she is familiar with the problems minority students of that area have in dealing with racism and bullying from their peers. The irony of this is adults in that community vote for progressive causes and take a "not in my backyard" attitude toward the idea of such things happening where they live. She expresses all this musically through her composition "NIMBY."

Available as a download, "NIMBY" is a slinky r&b groove with Jayme Brown chanting "Not in my backyard, they say" with Addleman's strong piano and Kasey Knudsen's soulful alto sax preaching behind her. When Brown does not sing, young people from Marin County tell their personal stories of incidents where they were bullied or verbally abused because of their race. They talk about their white peers making fun of their appearance and ethnicity while using words like "gorilla," "monkey" and even the N-word. The sung "Not in my backyard" phrase floats through the space like a hypnotic mantra while the words of the victims of this behavior say "That's what you think." The piece is powerful and a reminder of how hollow "We aren't like that" rhetoric sounds when faced with the truth. The voices of these young people aligned with the haunting bluesy anger of the music make a powerful combination.

Tracks and Personnel

Track: nimby.

Personnel: Amanda Addleman: composer, keyboards; Jayme Brown: vocals; Kasey Knudsen: alto saxophone; Caroline Chung: upright bass; Jae Stix: drum set.

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Jazz article: NIMBY by Amanda Addleman
Download Review
NIMBY by Amanda Addleman
Jazz article: Oscar Peterson Tribute: Simply The Best

Popular

Read Take Five with Pianist Irving Flores
Read Jazz em Agosto 2025
Read Bob Schlesinger at Dazzle
Read SFJAZZ Spring Concerts
Read Sunday Best: A Netflix Documentary
Read Vivian Buczek at Ladies' Jazz Festival

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.