Jazz: A Love Affair

A week or so ago, the New York Times printed a story titled “5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Classical Music.” Those participating in this casual survey of vaunted opinion were writers, performers, conductors and composers associated with the world of classical music.

Because I’ve been a lover of classical music for almost as many years as I’ve been alive, I didn’t need to be reminded in five-minute sound bites of the pleasures of listening to Beethoven, Strauss, Stravinsky, Berlioz and Ravel. I’ve been fortunate in that way. I was surprised at the exclusion of Bach, Mozart and Haydn, and oddly disappointed that neither Mahler nor Dvorak made the cut. There were, however, some unexpected, albeit welcome, inclusions of Messiaen, Janacek and Steve Reich.

My only significant, yet oddly pointless argument with the piece was the inclusion of John Cage’s 1952 composition “4’33”,” which is a staged performance piece in three movements that has no specified instrumentation (although for reasons that remain unclear a grand piano is most often used) and no sound, except for the ambient or environmental sounds produced in the theater, i.e., coughing, throat-clearing, flatulence, et cetera. Except to demonstrate that Cage had a sense of humor, the piece has about as much to do with music as a chalked outline of a hopscotch grid on an urban sidewalk has to do with art.

Besides, if we’re going to talk about the sounds of silence, I’m up for Simon and Garfunkel.

Anyway, the Times piece inspired me to find ways to make people fall in love jazz. This is the music that remains closest to my senses—a music that I devoted most of my career promoting.

My aim here is to reach out to Generic Joe, an insurance actuary (odds-maker) in the health-care industry, who would rather the climb the thirty-seven flights of stairs to his windowless office than chance hearing Herbie Mann on the elevator sound-mix.

What I’ve come up with is a list of recordings that are not only pleasant to hear, but important in the development of a 120-year-old music that, despite its obvious derivative elements, happens to be America’s original art form—a delicious and heady gumbo of flavors and spices from Africa, the Caribbean and the south’s cotton fields.

I have endeavored to create not a Top 10 list, although I believe that each of these recordings would be included in the Top 100 of any aficionado’s list, but a listener’s primer to jazz.

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was one of the world’s most beloved entertainers whose grasp and performance of the popular song was without precedent. But it was as a trumpeter that his most notable contributions to jazz as an emerging art form were made. In fact, it might have been made in a single recording of “West End Blues,” a tune written by his friend and mentor, King Oliver.

The recording was made in 1928 in Chicago (Earl Hines was the pianist) and Armstrong’s opening cadenza displayed a complexity of phrasing, stirring rhythmic feeling and musicality that served to define those early moments in jazz.

The tune has been re-issued countless times and can be found on most of the “Hot Seven” and “Hot Five” releases, such as Louis Armstrong ‎– The Genius of Louis Armstrong, Volume I: 1923-1933 (CBS ‎– S 66225). My friend and mentor, the jazz critic Leonard Feather, told me that hearing this song in a London record shop changed his life. I don’t doubt it for a minute.

By 1956 the Big Band Era had been relegated to history, though many of the bands continued in defiance of the seismic shifts of the evolving art form. Duke Ellington (1899-1974), formed his first band in 1924. Although a gifted pianist, it was his utilization of his band and its relatively stable personnel that became his instrument. He used that 16-plus instrument to create high musical art that allowed, if not actually demanded the tapping of one’s toes. In a way, this was the people’s music dressed in top hat and tails.

While Ellington’s catalog of recordings is impressive and varied, I’m suggesting that Ellington at Newport 1956 (Sony, 1999) as a most worthy acquisition that satisfies the criteria of being both listenable and as a contributor to the evolution of jazz.

The seismic shift in jazz to which I referred earlier was a little movement called “bebop,” which many saw as a rebellion to the jazz status quo. Its birth is given witness in this iconic live recording Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945 (Uptown Jazz, 2005). The recording, despite is not-too-serious technical flaws, clearly demonstrates the fluidity and spontaneity that came to be and define the “new” jazz, as well as the virtuosity of its musicianship.

Diz and Bird are joined on stage by pianist Al Haig, bassist Curley Russell and drummer Max Roach.

Next week…Miles, Monk, Coltrane and others. In the meantime:

Louisiana Gumbo

1/2 cup safflower oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 large onions, chopped
3 red bell peppers, seeded, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
8 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh thyme leaves
3 bay leaves
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
2 8-ounce bottles clam juice
2 cups chicken or fish stock
2 pounds andouille sausage, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 16-ounce packages sliced frozen okra

2 pounds peeled de-veined medium shrimp
Minced fresh Italian parsley
Steamed rice

Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until very hot. Add flour and stir constantly until a dark roux forms, about 5 minutes. Add chopped onions, bell peppers and celery; cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and brown, about 20 minutes. Add garlic and cayenne and stir for 2 minutes. Add wine, thyme, and bay leaves; bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes with juice, clam juice, broth, sausage, and chicken; simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add okra and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.

At this point, you might want to stop, allowing the flavors of the gumbo base to develop in the refrigerator. Bring base to simmer before continuing.

Add shrimp to hot base and cook shrimp until just opaque in center, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Season gumbo to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with minced parsley and serve over steamed rice. Serves eight.

Photography by Courtney A. Liska