Everything Jazz

I love jazz. I do love everything about jazz. Listening to it, reading about it, hearing people talk about it, every pictures of it, and mostly talking with someone about jazz. Every little thing that I do I would really love it when jazz would be the main source of it.

Latin jazz has two main varieties: Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz. Afro-Cuban jazz was played in the U.S. directly after the bebop period, while Brazilian jazz became more popular in the 1960s. Afro-Cuban jazz began as a movement in the mid-1950s as bebop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Taylor started Afro-Cuban bands influenced by such Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians as Xavier Cugat, Tito Puente, and Arturo Sandoval. Brazilian jazz such as bossa nova is derived from samba, with influences from jazz and other 20th century classical and popular music styles. Bossa is generally moderately paced, with melodies sung in Portuguese or English.

Free jazz uses implied or loose harmony and tempo, which was considered controversial when this approach was first developed. The bassist Charles Mingus is also frequently associated with the avant-garde in jazz, although his compositions draw off a myriad of styles and genres. The first major stirrings came in the 1950s, with the early work of Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. In the 1960s, performers included John Coltrane, Archie Shepp , Sun Ra , Albert Ayler , Pharoah Sanders , and others. Free jazz quickly found a foothold in Europe, also in part because musicians such as Ayler, Taylor, Steve Lacy and Eric Dolphy spent extended periods in Europe.

In jazz, the skilled performer will interpret a tune in very individual ways, never playing the same composition exactly the same way twice. Depending upon the performer’s mood and personal experience, interactions with fellow musicians, or even members of the audience, a jazz musician/performer may alter melodies, harmonies or time signature at will. European classical music has been said to be a composer’s medium. Jazz, however, is often characterized or described as the product of freethinking creativity, interaction and collaboration, placing equal value on the contributions of composer and performer, skillfully weighing the respective claims of the composer and the improviser.

While jazz may be difficult to define, improvisation is clearly one of its key elements. Early blues was commonly structured and designed around a repetitive call-and-response pattern, a common element in the African American oral tradition. A form of folk music which had emerged in part from work songs and field hollers of rural Blacks, early blues was also highly improvisational. These features are fundamental to the nature of jazz. While in European classical music elements of interpretation, ornamentation and accompaniment are usually remained to the performer’s discretion, the performer’s primary goal is to play a composition as it was written.

How does one appreciate true blue jazz music? Some might say that musical appreciation is relative to every person. And yes, it is. This just a general suggestion on how to appreciate music outside our comfort zones, how to explore and how to actually find what you find. Try to be open to every kind of music, and not just the mainstream ones. Listen to the song’s lyrics. No singer writes a song that’s so obscure, nobody can relate to it. Even the strangest ones hold something that a listener can see herself mirrored into against. Open yourself to new experiences, and who knows, the music world is your playground.

In the early 1980s, a less than heavy commercial kind of jazz fusion called pop fusion or “smooth jazz” became successful and garnered significant radio airplay, with smooth jazz saxophonists such as Grover Washington, Jr. and Najee. Smooth jazz received lots of airplay across the U.S., helping to push the careers of jazz vocalists. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of subgenres combined jazz with mainstream music, such as Acid jazz, nu jazz, and jazz rap. Acid jazz and nu jazz combined elements of jazz and modern forms of electronic dance music.

While I was browsing the internet for jazz artists, I came across an artist named Karen Benjey. This is the first time I heard about her. I really have no idea who she was but I got curious and listened to some of her songs online.

She has a beautiful voice but I can’t just ignore the accompaniment used in her songs. Even from the start, I knew that jazz music has a different edge. It’s really very distinct and Karen Benjey has proven it more. If you are interested to listen to her sample music, you can visit cdbaby.com or allaboutjazz.com for other jazz artists.

Image source: cdbaby.com

Jazz music? Well I am not really a fan of jazz music. All I know is that I know it is jazz when I hear one. Though I am not a regular listener of jazz music, I still have my favorite artist. I guess he is the only jazz artist I know. Anyway, I love the sound of Kenny G’s music. When I hear him play the saxophone, it’s like I just want to sit and relax all day. I must admit that it’s really relaxing to hear his music. It’s like the music is touching your soul. It’s a different feeling, really.

Image source: mattbrennan.ca

Ironic as it may seem but the first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the word jazz is a saxophone. This instrument has been very popular when jazz music began.

I’m not really familiar with this music and the only artist that I can think of when I hear such music is Kenny G. Little did I know that there are other artists such as Louis Armstrong, Peter Brotzmann and The King and Carter Jazzing Orchestra. I believe jazz music has a distinct sound that even a person who is not a music lover could easily relate to it.

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