Journal from October eighth

Another "Write whatever you want" deal.

How I came to love jazz

An interesting topic, for it wasn’t as straightforward as it might have been had my parental units been jazz fans. My first real encounter would have taken place just before my birthday in 2005. I was dropping by a friend’s house, and her dad, Neill, had on this incredibly upbeat music. I was familiar with the sound, but I didn’t even know the name of the genre. I said, “I love this kind of music!” and borrowed the album.

On the morning of October eighteenth, my fourteenth birthday, my mother showed me an e-mail she’d received that she fancied to be quite comical, showcasing some ridiculous Halloween costumes. I, however, was quite un-amused, and elected to retire to the living room and listen to the album I’d borrowed; Misterioso by the Thelonious Monk Quartet. I had taken up the bass guitar two months previous, so my focus was primarily on the bass player, Ahmed Abdul Malik. The long, unaccompanied saxophone solos of Johnny Griffin also made an impression on me.

Now, I have no recollection why, but I returned the album soon after and didn’t ask to borrow any more jazz. It was not until sometime in mid-2006, when I began listening to Frank Zappa, that I became interested in jazz again. How this came about was simple; my mother decided that, since I was playing guitar, I should hear Zappa, and bought me a copy of Hot Rats. The thing that caught my ear more than anything else on the album was Ian Underwood’s sax solo on ‘The Gumbo Variations.’ Hearing this, combined with my discovery of the band King Crimson (whose early material features the sax prominently), made me think, ‘This is the instrument I have to learn.’

Around the same time, I was profusely studying music theory in The Guitar Handbook, which I had also borrowed from Neill. There was a short segment in the book describing everything a jazz guitarist has to know - virtually every imaginable chord and scale, and, importantly, he or she must be completely aware of what all the other members of the band are doing at any given time. (Of course, I didn’t know that this pretty much applies to jazz players on all instruments.) The very same day that I read this, I went to an opening at the Vancouver Art Gallery, where there was a live jazz trio playing - guitar, bass and drums. In retrospect, it was basically just ‘mingling’-type music, but I was still quite enthralled. I couldn’t fathom all the things happening in that guitarist’s nodding head.

I began listening to all the jazz that was available in my immediate sphere, mostly Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy. I began taking saxophone lessons in December, 2006 with Colin Maskell, and attended a gig he played at The Main on, you guessed it, Main Street. This gig was my first encounter with Joe Poole, whom I’ve mentioned before as my favourite drummer. My second favourite drummer is Shelly Manne, whom I’ve heard on Sonny Rollins’s Way out west album. His solo on ‘Wagon Wheels’ is one of my favourite moments in music.

I am still playing the saxophone, though Colin unfortunately is unable to teach privately anymore. As I’ve mentioned many times before, I attend live jazz nights every sunday at the End Café, and am reading The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine.