All That Jazz

Mr. Rollins, weapon in hand

It was in the mid-90's that I "discovered" jazz. I'd been ever so slightly aware of some jazz music prior to this but it was extremely casual listening, and I only had one recording... by one Dave Brubeck, who eventually became a favourite musician. 

It was around this time that I decided to attend for the first time the International Jazz Festival here in the city. This was an eye-opening experience for me, for not only did I suddenly have access to loads of music but I could also witness the strong and vital vibe that resonates at a live performance. I'd been to dozens of rock concerts, and while there was an electric ambience at those shows, the jazz gig attracted a very different audience, one that was seemingly more sedate, but actually more attentive and not a bit less engaged.

The musicians and the listeners are connected in a way that's almost indescribable, yet I will try to describe it: there is something cerebral about the technical intelligence of the artists, and even their ideas... song structures often startle in their oddity but once absorbed, they are understood to be something approaching genius. This may not apply to all jazz, but there are styles within the form that present themselves this way. And all of this stimulates the audience in a way rarely seen in rock, though progressive rock does often share this characteristic. 

The imaginative and spiritual components sink in at levels not always perceptible to the listener. While the playful or jarring challenge of some songs is immediate, there is often a subtext that rides just below the surface. The most adept jazz artists wrote music that worked on more than one plane. Sometimes without them even knowing it. And that's the beauty of the form - the organic and innate way that the musicians communicate with listeners. Then the spiritual side, which you might have to work for, resonates at a deeper level, once the listener has allowed the music entrance to more than his or her ears. I've found at concerts that once my visual "need" has been satisfied, if I close my eyes and not just hear but also feel the music, something else altogether takes over. I'll call that spiritual, even though I have never thought myself a spiritual person. But maybe I am?

I took a two-week summer "stay-cation" (a stay at home vacation) during that first jazz festival (and for summer jazz fests in subsequent years) so that I could take in as many shows as possible. I saw a minimum of one or two concerts per day over the ten day period, sometimes as many as four or five in a day and evening. That was so long ago, and so packed with shows, that I can't even recall who I saw that first time out. But I know I was impressed. 

I watched the free (often big band) afternoon shows at the park, I came for the two big bandshell concerts (major artists - both youngsters and veterans) in the evening, and then I took in the late evening "experimental" gigs (like free jazz) indoors at the arts centre. A wide variety of styles from all over the world, music from past and present. 

During my several years of attending the jazz festival, I saw greats young and old, like Dave Brubeck, the Marsalis family (I saw a show featuring the two sons plus their dad!), Tony Bennett, Michael Kaeshammer, Molly Johnson, Sonny Rollins, and many more. 

Buying up CDs at an astounding rate, I educated myself on the history of jazz in short order, developing an appreciation for established artists who soon became my favourite musicians... like Rollins, Miles Davis, Brubeck, Art Blakey, Monk, Guaraldi, and Charlie Parker. 

Krall - supermodel of jazz

When I discovered the young and talented Diana Krall, I felt complete. After checking out All For You, Krall's Nat King Cole Trio tribute, from the library, I proceeded to snap up all of her albums and then follow her career from then on. I caught Krall in concert in 1999, very shortly before she went huge.... international. I'm glad I saw her when I did because thereafter it was nearly impossible to get tickets to her quick-sell-out shows. Krall's warm, sultry voice was perfect for the material she played, both the standards and her original pieces. The best of her catalogue, in my opinion, were her earlier efforts, concentrating on small band accompaniment... the trio format worked amazingly well, complementing but not overpowering her vocals and accomplished work on the piano. And her interpretations of the jazz classics were wonderfully spun, respectful and creative in their own right.