St. Louis Blues Wednesday, June 15, 2005

A thought and a question. Now that I'm done with the NewsRadio commentaries (best gag: Learning that the secret title of Fear Factor is Joe Rogan Gets Paid; biggest question left hanging: NR's undeclared war with Suddenly Susan) I think I have a good analogy for the show: Third Rock From the Sun. A loopy ensemble, equally flaky storylines (but within very well-defined boundaries), smarter than it had any right to be. Discuss.

Question. One of the running themes in my irrelevant mental life is that I don't enjoy jazz enough. (This along with traffic patterns on the New Jersey Turnpike, the ascendancy of the Chinese com-cap empire and those Geico commercials with the cavemen.) In high school, as several faithful correspondents can attest, I was a music snob: I had a precocious crush on cool jazz, mostly thirdhand through Steely Dan, and even got through Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson a couple of times. But the roots didn't go deep. As soon as I got to college I stumbled onto the back-catalog of folk, indie rock and (yes) show tunes, and the jumpin' jive went out the window.

Now, mostly through exposure to Nat Hentoff columns and Steely Dan interviews, I feel guilty that I gave up on the One True American Art Form (apart from van-painting and First Person Shooters). To be honest, much of nonvocal jazz sounds tedious to me these days. I don't have the time and headspace to sit and actively listen. The best I can do is to use it as background, which isn't fair to the music; or I'll punt and go with pop standards, which give you the basic vibe of the genre but add a vocal line you can follow along.

So: Any suggestions for getting back on track with the hepcats?

@ 9:15:00 AM,

4 Comments:

At 1:54 PM, Blogger Pete said...

I heard this essay on NPR about jazz. It's either moving or gay. I'm not sure. Jazz is the Sound of God Laughing

 
At 9:25 PM, Blogger Tim said...

I made an impulse buy some time ago - the entire PBS series "Jazz" on DVD. If I can retrieve various parts of it from retrobate family and friends, it may rekindle and inspire your hepcat sensibilities.

 
At 7:35 PM, Blogger BeK said...

Well, what kind of jazz? Lyrical or instrumental? Standards or all-new? Free jazz or cool? New jazz or old?

 
At 11:44 PM, Blogger Rob L. said...

I donated money to Channel 13 & got the Jazz CD collection. It was good for someone like me who doesn't know jack about jazz. I still prefer murder ballads recorded in the 1930's on wax cylinders.

 

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