Comments (5)

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   brittanybf says do you ever feel like music like this can only be appreciated by "musicians' musicians"? do you know what i mean? i would not be of that genre, but i just say that because i have a musical friend who is big into both of them.

   Permalink posted 01/11/2008
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   DLuebbert says I love this question. I don't think it can only be appreciated by "musicians' musicians", but I do think you do need an active relationship to the music to like it. We've been encouraged since we were kids to sit quietly in our seats when we listen to music. If you adhere to that attitude, 95% of what you hear in this kind of performance will blow by without attention or comprehension. When I was first listening to jazz, it didn't make sense to me until I started to dance along with it. Jazz is a music that mostly holds to African rhythm ideas, and all of the music from that family seems like noise unless you move to it. Here's the key that lead me to understanding: there are motions in the music that happen very slowly in these performances. There are others that can happen twice as fast as this slowest cycle, three times as fast, four times as fast, sometimes 6, 8, 12 or 16 times as fast. I think in African communities, they think of the slowest cycles as something the oldest and youngest members can dance to, and the faster as those that the more fit community members can handle. The idea is to leave no one isolated standing by themselves. When I dance to these, I might start out nodding my head once each time the beginning of the slowest cycle comes around. In "Everybody's Party", the slowest cycle is that repeated bass line. There are three main pitches that happen in the bass line, a low one that helds longer and two shorter ones that go up. I start to emulate that motion with my shoulders. I dip low with with my left shoulder and then follow the next two notes with my head as they head higher. When you moving with the music, you can shift you attention from fast to slow or slow to fast as you like. You move differently according to what you're noticing at that instant. Bill Stewart, the drummer here, is playing stuff that cuts that repeated bass line into four equal parts. I'm usually bobbing my head along with that beat he's keeping. He starts splashing his cymbals and doing drum rolls when he reacts to a cool idea that the soloist made up. I'l try to make up motions that go along with those interjections. You can mark the different time cycles from the performances with different parts of your body, and shift which part is keeping time with a particular time cycle that you're hearing. When Scofield and Metheny play their lines, I turn my head from side to side, shift my shoulders, and move my arms to match the gestures in their solos, while maintaining the pulse by rocking back and forth. With all that going on I can start to feel how the band members are sending out ideas that are answered by the others. I enjoy myself tremendously when I listen music like this. An active body leads to an active mind that can make sense of what its hearing. It's gotten to the point that I can sit stock still and still enjoy what I'm hearing. But I still have the feeling of dancing in mind as I listen.

   Permalink posted 01/11/2008
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   brittanybf says wow, cool breaking it down here for me again. thanks! and now that you mention it, maybe that is it: i don't know that i've danced too much to jazz music. the most interesting thing here is how you mention african communities and how the slow and fast cycles are each intended to cater to the specified audiences. you've made me all the wiser!

   Permalink posted 01/11/2008
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   RSchaut says There's not much I can add to Dave's response except to say that I draw a distinction between understanding and appreciating. There is a language to jazz, and it helps when you understand the language, but it's not necessary. You can appreciate a really beautiful song sung in Spanish without understanding a single word, but understanding the words adds to the appreciation. (The converse is also true. You can understand every word, and still not appreciate the song.) Having said that, I should point out that, as far as the language of jazz is concerned, I'm just an undergrad. Dave's got the PhD.

   Permalink posted 01/11/2008
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   DLuebbert says Rick, I may have a lot of experience now but I had the most fun listening back when I didn't understand a thing, or just had the tiniest glimmer of understanding. I envy folks who are making their first steps into rich musical territory, especially when they have a hint in hand that will eventually let them understand what they hear on their own terms.

   Permalink posted 01/11/2008

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