Mark H. Schwartz (on Facebook page The Jazz World) We have a nice jazz scene here in Phoenix, made up of very talented players. Of course, there are few venues and even fewer fans. It is up to all of us in the community to support one another, however. Here is something I wrote this past spring. It is a good example of what I mean about supporting one another: Way back in 1931, a young, rather diminutive and bespectacled 16-year old was rebuffed by a young lady in his rather awkward attempt to ask her out on a date. Rather than lash out in anger, the rather nerdy and spindly young man poured his heart out in a song that he proceeded to work on for the next seven years. The effort did not end in a harsh unmelodic rant, punctuated with the typical angst-ridden expectoration of phlegmatic lyrics vomited on a page by some would-be, teenaged rocker. Instead, what emanated from this genius pen was one of the greatest ballads ever written. It is a song written by one of the most most gifted composer-arrangers to ever sit down at a piano. As some of you may have already guessed, the song was Lush Life and its jilted, would-be-suitor of a tunesmith was none other than Duke Ellingtons right hand and collaborator, Mr. Billy Strayhorn . Strays as the band affectionately called him, labored over the melody and lyric for the better part of six years - from 1933 to 1938, but delayed performing it in public until he unveiled it with the Dukes band along with singer, Kay Davis, in the late fall of 1948 - a decade later. The other night, I found myself sitting at Malees Thai Bistro on Main Street in Old Town Scottsdale. As I worked my way through one of the restaurants delicious signature dishes - Seafood Curry - I listened to one of my favorite local jazz duos, Judy Roberts and Renée Grant Patrick. Of all the tunes to choose, the first tune to gratify my ears was none other than Lush Life. Listening to Judy and Renée pour their hearts into those melancholy lyrics as they expounded on the melody with improvisatory flights to explore the expressed and hidden meanings that the lyricist intended is a sheer delight. Judys vocal is further clothed in the finery of her knowing piano accompaniment. Her playing behind the songs is not so much a matter of comping but rather caressing the vocals with a lyrical flair that manages to punctuate, underline and embolden the lyrics. In short, the two do not simply perform songs, as if part of some dusty lounge act. Instead, they portray stories and paint pictures. They are, in other words, artists - in the finest sense of that word. Their reassuring and heart-felt music prompted me once again to ponder why it is that jazz is supposed to be an endangered form. Why jazz, the pundits wonder. They - whoever they is - seem to ask how jazz still keeps and maintains a place in the music world, when the conventional wisdom would suggest life and the popular culture have somehow passed it by and moved on. Well, for me and for the artists, jazz lovers and aficionados that proliferate throughout the world, there is no mystery. Unlike the would-be pop divas and idols that compete on shows like American Idol, The Voice and Americas Got Talent that are exhorted to sell themselves and the music by over-embellishing tunes that neednt be sold or embellished, jazz lends a credible voice to the Great American Songbook and beyond. What it needs quite simply and profoundly is a knowing voice, blessed with a soul that has experienced life - paid its dues, as it is called in the lexicon of the jazz musician. When Judy and Renée sing together and even as Judy adds those marvelous flourishes that tease and thrill us with familiar licks quoted out of context, yet very much in the moment and feel, the experience leaves us breathless as the music suffuses our senses and lifts our spirits even as it burrows itself deep - right down to our very souls.No other music form can circumvent or supersede jazz, for it is an art form all of its own. It lives and breathes, cries its plaintive laments, raises the roof with jubilant celebration, fires our imaginations with an intensity unmatched by any other music style, because it is always fresh. It is fresh because it is spontaneous and the true expression of the artists that play it, based on what happens to be flowing through their minds in that moment of the performance. It is at once intimate and overwhelming. One cannot help but be mesmerized by its magic and pull. Why jazz, you ask? Nonsense! I exclaim. Why not jazz?!
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 01:43:39 +0000
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