We all have music in our collections that we can't live without. Music that reminds us of a certain time or place or albums that we hum along to or know every word. Essentials. Must-haves. Desert island picks. Collective will focus on those albums in my music collection.
First up is "Blue Train" by John Coltrane. I know, i know... i can hear some of you now... "but aren't you into Metal? What are you doing talking about jazz? Isn't that for nerds and dentist offices?" I used to feel the same way. I couldn't stand jazz and made fun of those who like it. "That's not music! That's just noise!" (so says the metal head) Anyway, my buddy Chris is a phenomenal musician and a great keyboard player. When we were in college, he was in all of the jazz /big bands. I, on the other hand, auditioned for the beginner jazz band (not knowing how to read music or even "jam" with other musicians) and failed horribly! That audition still haunts me to this very day. I walked in with my wanna-be Strat while every once else had Gibson 335's or other standard jazz guitars. I plugged into the amp and was ready to impress! The teacher set a lead sheet, probably from the Real Book, in front of me and asked if i was ready. I shrugged and he counted off the band. I froze. I had no clue what I was doing, or what the weird symbols on the page meant! Luckily there was chord notation so i could fake it... kind of. The instructor then said to solo. All i knew was a minor pentatonic so i preceded to "play the box". That's right, i just played the scale up and down, over and over again. Needless to say, i packed up my guitar and walked out. I was almost in tears. Stupid jazz!
Later on Chris gave me a copy of "Blue Train". Yes, this album is jazz, but most of the songs are blues based. Great songs with melodies that get stuck in your head. I've found myself humming the tune to the title track multiple times. I remember watching the movie "Singles" and hearing just a bit of the song in a transition between scenes and thought to myself, "hey, i know that song!". This album changed my perception of jazz from being all high and mighty to something which i could relate. From here i went on to discover Miles, Monk, Bill Evans, Dizzy... the list goes on and on. This album took me out of my comfort zone and opened my mind to the concept that there was other great music out there in other genres. Every time i hear these tunes, they remind me of that fateful day when i attempted to be in jazz band. I laugh and shake my head at the though even now!
If you don't own this album, haven't heard it or just hate jazz, i highly suggest you give it a listen and let me know what you think!
I remember you played this one morning while I was in Nashville, best ever to wake up to!
ReplyDeleteI've never known where to start with Coltrane. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI love my mom to death and she introduced me to a lot of music (classical and classic/psychedelic rock, mostly) but for some reason (perhaps her classical piano training and strict German mother), she HATED jazz and in turn I avoided it for a long time. I'd heard and liked some throughout the years, but have never really gotten INTO it. My current boss is big into big band and piano jazz, so I've gotten some good album tips from him and our buddy P.W., but I'm still learning.
Your jazz band audition story is delightfully painful, BTW. Ballsy.
Great post! Always been more of a fan of the Blues myself; in defense of your original perceptions, I kind of think that a lot of Jazz does kind of sound like elevator music, but then no genre is made of 100% awesome, right? Coltrane IS seriously good stuff.
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