For jazz lovers, what makes jazz great for you?

Question

I don't get it. There is no vocals or word expression. It sounds like loung/elevator music. I really want to tap into it and know why it resonates so greatly with people.

I am claasically trained on the guitar. To me, classical music is intricate and sounds beautiful when put together. I hear fellow musicians say that jazz is "free," but to me it is just fiddling around within the scales while touching upon melody in a subtle way.

Why do you like it?

Answer 1

Hi, I love classical and I got my music degree in piano performance and composition. I also love jazz.

The reason why I love jazz is because it is a framework for "real time" or improvisatory composition. There are levels of enjoyment for me.

Level 1: The tune or the "head" - if it's a standard tune, I can enjoy the lyrical and harmonic beauty of the head. I love how jazz musicians have taken a Rogers and Hart song, or a Cole Porter song, Beatles song, etc and reharmonize it, thus wringing out new beauty from "something I thought I knew." I also like to hear beautiful composition from a jazz great like Miles, Monk or Herbie Hancock and hear how they create a lyrical phrase in the main tune.

Level 2: Arrangement and Form - listening how a small combo can create a big sound from the guitar playing in unison and an octave lower than the piano, plus the bass playing arco an octave lower than that is fun to hear! The possibilities of brass and wind arrangements is endlessly fascinating and hearing the texture change and balance itself out in relation to the phrase is subtle and awesome.

Also in form, there's always the "Head, solos, head" form that we all know so well (yawn, right?). Well, there are creative deviations from this basic form which really play beautifully and someone like George Sherring or Methany really knows how to surprise the listener by doing experiments in form. Of course Brubeck comes up with interesting forms and time signatures or polyrhythms to try to tap your foot to!

Level 3: Free improv. - What the soloists do with the basic "container" of the tune and its form and how they extend on it is what makes jazz jazz. How do the great players create tension and release that tension into the end of a phrase? What tricks do they use? How do they grab melodic fragments and create a phrase? How do they exploit the range of their instrument? How do they balance chromaticism and diatonicism? How do they use dissonance and effects? How long are their "thoughts"?

If you are a guitarist, check out Methany's improvisation and phrasing. When he plays, he tells a story with music. He takes melodic elements and writes a novel with his instrument right on the spot.

Charlie Hunter - have you seen this guy play? It's a guitar with some bass strings and he covers both parts. But it's more than a gimmick, he plays music and he is a beautiful phrase maker.

Level 4: Interplay - I love how the drummer picks up on what a soloist is doing rhythmically and plays off of it. As the soloist builds tension, the other members of the band adjust what they do inside the phrase.

By the way, in Mozart's time, it was expected that a musician deviate from the written part and improvise. Also in concerti, the cadenza was not always written out. This was a chance to hear the soloist's ability to improvise on the thematic elements. Only recently this "jazz" element was removed from classical music, but other legit players like Yo Yo Ma are reintroducing the art of improvisation back into concert music.

I hear what you're saying...It sounds all the same, and it's boring, etc. I would simply encourage you to keep your ears open and to try to play some jazz yourself. Maybe get a fake book and learn some standards and then listen to the greats and how they take the basic form and get creative with it.

As a musician, you will deepen your understanding of the world of Bach, Ponce, Vivaldi, Ernesco, Villa-Lobos, etc. if you learn about improvisation. Plus you might make some extra money playing with a little combo at Sunday Brunch at the hotel downtown! Who knows?

Answer 2

I think a lot of people would say they don't get classical music and believe it or not some people actually refer to rap as music. Now there are different types of jazz and you being a classically trained musician yourself are bound to find at least some of it appealing. For me it is just a deep feeling I get when listening to it, I can't really explain it.Try the Benwah / Freeman project( I know that is not how you spell Benwah) much of this CD gave me the vision of slow dancing in the moon light on a cruise ship with a very elegant looking woman.Hopefully it will give you a good vibe too, I believe the CD is called reunion or there is a song on it called reunion. Peace

Answer 3

I think, for me, jazz is about feeling. Its about emotion. Consider "Kind of Blue" by Miles Davis. I can actually feel some sort of sad emotion while listening to the song. Or consider "Take The A Train" popularized by Duke Ellington. You can feel the movement of the Train. Jazz for me is mood music. I love it but cannot listen to it all the time. Late at night or on a lazy Sunday morning its great!

Answer 4

It's the emotion. The great feeling of the unique rhythm. I love jazz because it is expressive, there are no rules and unlike my classical playing, there is no reason why I can't just start blasting on my trombone above the band in an awesome dorian scale.