Saturday, April 11, 2015

JAZZ SUCKS

It doesn't seem that long ago that I dismissed jazz out of hand. I didn't want any part of it. Rock 'n' roll and all it's off shoots was enough. Hell, I wasn't going to a fancy dinner party on Saturday night, so why start in with all of the sophistifuck stuff? That's what I classified jazz as. Dinner party stuff. That's how little I knew. I was no better than those "punk sucks" folks, or the "disco sucks" punks, or the "I hate rap" crowd. One glance around these parts tells you how that's changed, and it wasn't overnight.  While my rock 'n' roll playlist is still expanding, as I got older I started listening to all sorts of stuff, and the one common denominator is authenticity. It can't be bandwagon hopping, kowtowing, or this weeks flavor, there has to be some sort of challenge in the act of listening. Just like anything, there's good stuff and bad stuff. Just don't play me for a fool. Musically speaking, there's nothing as enticing as throwing open the doors to a new genre that you previously considered off limits, and digging the shit out of a massive pool of stuff you've never bothered to listen to.

That's a long winded way of saying that you may not like jazz, but if you really truly love music, you will. Hell, I know most of you don't want to hear it. You're probably still dressing like your favorite band. Here's the Cannonball Adderly song that got me thinking. Eleven minutes of Adderly and Miles Davis getting slobber all over their mouthpieces. The other one is a live cut, Adderly covering a song that was in Black Orpheus. (Don't get me started on that movie. I still have to make dinner. If you haven't seen it, add it to your list.)

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:
Cannonball Adderly - Autumn Leaves mp3 at DK Presents With Miles Davis and Art Blakey
Cannonball Adderly - Manha de Carnaval (live) mp3
at Clayton Counts

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it took me a while to get into jazz also. But when I started, Cannonball Adderley was one of my gateway drugs. This version of Autumn Leaves is on my short list of all-time favorite jazz cuts.

Marc

Tom G. said...

Very cool. I like that association.