TERRY EXPLAINS JAZZ (to those who hate jazz)
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Step one:
We all know annoying people. You may even be one of them! There are too many reasons to cite. Suffice to say, we all know annoying people.
We don't become a hermit because of a few annoying people. We simply avoid THOSE people if we can.
Yes, JAZZ is like that. Only SOME Jazz is annoying. Avoid THOSE.
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Step two:
Some people are quick about saying something clever. It just pops out! Others seem to take way too long to say nothing worth hearing.
JAZZ is like that.
Good Jazz is like somebody clever saying something they've thought up at the very instant of conception--and it comes out surprising and thoughtful.
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Step three:
If you stand next to Foreigners and listen to them converse--doesn't it sound like gibberish? Sure! Is the unintelligible part THEIR fault or yours?
Just asking. For a reason I bring this up: Jazz is a language. Its vocabulary has to be absorbed. Once taken in both intellectually and emotionally--WOW!
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Step four:
Are you a cat person or a dog person? Maybe both?
Jazz is like that. If you are a cat person trying to listen to dog Jazz--you will NOT like it. Vice-verse.
If you're lucky, you're both and have a jump on a wider range of enjoyment.
Knowing yourself is important. How do you use music in your life?
1. Do you listen to music to relax?
2. Do you listen to music to help you do other things with energy?
3. Do you listen to music to challenge yourself and your imagination?
4. Do you just have music on in the background for 'company'?
JAZZ is like that.
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Step five:
What if you could magically add another room to your house? What if you could miraculously have another and completely different car or wardrobe?
By adding another category of LISTENING music, you have done yourself a huge favor. You've made your world MORE INTERESTING!
HOWEVER--you become more interesting as a person by being interested.
Learning begins with personal curiosity!
If you take a class or a lesson and you're NOT INTERESTED--you're wasting your time, money and energy.
JAZZ requires your interest and curiosity. ARE YOU WILLING?
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Step six:
What Jazz is like. . .
1. Some people can tell a joke and make you laugh. Jazz is like that.
2. Some people cannot tell a joke. Jazz is like that, too.
What's the difference between the two?
Personality, character, intelligence?
JAZZ is a joke you don't laugh at because you either don't 'get it' or the person playing it 'can't tell the joke funny.'
What's the difference between the two?
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Step seven:
I'm going to challenge you to listen to a piece of music and have curiosity about what you're hearing. I want you to ASK questions about what SPECIFIC things you LIKE and DON'T like about it.
Okay?
Here is your lesson for the day. Listen and ask questions.
BILL EVANS trio "Gloria's Step take 2"
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Fans who want to appreciate the artistry of Bill Evans must start with the great live Village Vanguard session from June 25, 1961. Evans never led a better band, and this ensemble never performed at a higher level than on this date. It is no exaggeration to claim that the essence of the piano trio in jazz was permanently altered by this seminal event. The idea that bass and drums should support the piano is replaced here by a different conception—one in which each instrument enters into a musical conversation with the others. The trio also adopts what Evans called the "internalized beat" in which each musician feels the rhythm, but doesn't always emphasize it in his playing. As a result the music floats over the bar lines in a way that no previous jazz ensemble had attempted.
But these are more than conceptual breakthroughs. What sets this music apart is how brilliantly these concepts are realized in practice. This music doesn't sound like anyone is out to prove anything. Its innovations are subservient to the intense emotional experience of the music itself.
Musicians: Bill Evans (piano), Scott LaFaro (bass), Paul Motian (drums).