Last summer my iphone’s touch screen stopped working and was stuck on a jazz playlist in Spotify. Instead of buying an expensive new iphone, I decided to become a jazz fan. It’s alright, I guess.
I wouldn’t consider myself an aficionado or anything. I’m not one of those people that could tell you the names of obscure Jazz musicians, as I only know the really popular ones, like Miles Davis or… Miles Davis.
If I ever get stuck in a conversation about Jazz, I can definitely keep up though. Making up names for obscure jazz musicians is pretty easy.
“I’ve been getting into a lot of Howie Davis lately.”
“Oh, have you heard of Chloe Vines?”
“Sonny Hines – I like some of his older stuff”
It’s just a lot of “Sonnys, Bennys, Kings and Charlies” – easy. After all, it’s not like anyone is going to make it as a jazz musician with a name like “Ron Carter,” or something ordinary like that.
Reading your post made me realize the courage jazz musicians have. Based on the movies I’ve seen, they play the same club repeatedly. That forces them to improvise every night, before regular fans who have heard what they’ve done previously. How do they not go to work and worry, thinking I might not be able to play off of the others in the band at some point tonight and freeze instead? That is what your post made me think.
It's been 4 years, almost 5 - since this post was made. Any suggestions on good Jazz music? -Izzy