Month Four: Understand the World of Jazz
/
Full disclosure: I got so caught up in actually ENJOYING these projects that I didn’t make time to blog about them for nearly THREE months. Ahhh… whoops! But it’s all good, because I’m popping in today to catch up and summarize how freakin’ AWESOME these projects have been going!
So. Jazz month! That was… *checks calendar*… June. Holy moly. It’s mid-August now, and my month of crushing a month’s-worth of classic jazz albums seems like it just ended five minutes ago. My goal for jazz month was to do some deep listening – an album a day for a whole month, drawn from lists of the greatest albums of all-time, my own personal favourites, and the most celebrated artists performing today. In parallel, I would read several key texts about how jazz history and American Black history are deeply intertwined. I scheduled this month to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, and intended to use both the deep listening experience as well as my readings as part of my own ongoing anti-racism education.
Well, let me say, “humbled” does not begin to describe how moving I found this month to be. My first read was the seminal collection of James Baldwin’s essays, The Fire Next Time. It was as remarkable as everyone says it is, and my only wish was that I had read it a decade ago. I moved on to the two monumental works by Amiri Baraka (aka, LeRoi Jones): Black Music and Blues People. While I learned that Baraka is a problematic figure, particularly with regard to his treatment of women and a history of antisemitism, I found his writing not just moving, but gasp-inducing. Having studied jazz history as a 20-year-old white kid in an almost-all-white-kids-and-white-profs music school, I could not believe how tight my blinders had been on the subject. How incredibly biased, privileged, and, yes, racist, my views of jazz history had been, right from the get-go. To read what Baraka wrote while the greatest works of jazz were being created around him was absolutely astonishing. I cannot recommend both books highly enough. Finally, I read Wynton Marsalis’ wonderful Moving to Higher Ground. As a life-long Wynton fan who almost fainted when I sat front-row at one of his concerts when he turned and played a solo to me (yes, it actually happened!), I took such delight in immersing myself in his words and ideas.
Now, onto what I listened to. It was an incredible month of music – truly. While I love a well-curated jazz playlist (those from Blue Note Records are my favourite across streaming platforms), there is absolutely nothing like listening to an album all the way through. It’s a cohesive work of art. A journey. It’s a story from beginning to end. I soaked in old favourites (John Coltrane forever), and discovered new loves as well (hello, Charles Mingus!). It was a beautiful month, whose lessons and music I’ve carried forward into the rest of the summer. Ryan and I continue to listen to jazz with our toddler around the dinner table. I am following and enjoying the creativity of more and more jazz artists on social media. And, most importantly, I am continuing to seek out and listen to the voices of the people who are actually experiencing racism and marginalization, and I’m trying to figure out how to use my own privilege in this world as a force for good… and not just as a well-meaning white lady who has a lot of feelings and can, as my good friend likes to say, “share an infographic on Instagram now and again.”
Anyway… a bit of a ramble, but an amazing month. Here is the listening list, if you feel so inclined!
Time Out, Dave Brubeck Quartet
Blue Train, John Coltrane
The Sidewinder, Lee Morgan
The Turnaround!, Hank Mobley
Ella & Louis, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
Moanin’, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers
Everybody Digs Bill Evans, Bill Evans
Ellington Indigos, Duke Ellington
Be Good, Gregory Porter
Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown
Jazz at Massey Hall, The Quintet
Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
Return to Forever, Chick Corea
Chet Baker Sings, Chet Baker
Out to Lunch!, Eric Dolphy
Speak No Evil, Wayne Shorter
Brilliant Corners, Thelonious Monk
The Shape of Jazz to Come, Ornette Coleman
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Charles Mingus
Saxophone Collosus, Sonny Rollins
Lady in Satin, Billie Holiday
Getz/Gilberto, Stan Getz and João Gilberto
The Epic, Kamasi Washington
Somethin’ Else, Cannonball Adderley
The Window, Cécile McLorin Salvant
Night Train, Oscar Peterson
Radio Music Society, Esperanza Spalding
Head Hunters, Herbie Hancock
Black Codes, Wynton Marsalis
The Mosaic Project, Terri Lyne Carrington
