International Jazz Day?
A rerun post.
Today is “International Jazz Day” and even as an avid listener of what it called jazz, I didn’t know this day even existed. I know “International (Blank) Day” is a marketing scheme but I am seeing jazz make some sort of come back, whatever that means. More artists are being brought up in major publications and there seems to be a nice scene building here in LA with some tremendous players including Jeff Parker, Anna Butters, Billy Mohler, Jay Bellerose, a mix of new prodigies and veteran lifers, to name a few. As far as Int’l Jazz Day goes, I don’t mind some added awareness for 24 hours celebrating a type of music that conveys freedom, spirit and humanity more than others. Jazz is also a completely American made music and as such it’s also rife with contradictions, beauty, confusion, and as much as it’s hard to see at times, freedom.
The tug of war with freedom is music is something I am always thinking about, especially after having recently put out a record and, for me, finding ways to keep old songs fresh when played live. I love a tried and true structure of a song, but there is something liberating, specifically when performing live, about veering off the script, even if subtle, and that freedom is something that jazz taught me. In fact, jazz has taught me a lot. I’ve talked this exact thing here before, so lieu of writing a new post due to business, I want to share a post I wrote in early 2025 about jazz.
If you haven’t read the post below, please give it a peep. I hope to bring curiosity about jazz for those of you who may be lukewarm about it. And for what it’s worth, Happy I.J.D. to those who celebrate.
(For more jazz writing check out Jazz Is Dead )
ORIGINALLY POSTED JANUARY 25, 2025
I’ve always been fond of jazz music.
I feel it can be the most liberating and purest form of music. The scope and spectrum of the genre is so vast that it is in fact genre-less and what you can do with it is limitless when you get below that surface level understanding that many have of it.
As a player of jazz music, you could be the greatest musician or the worst musician and as long as you have something to say and can convey the spirit or the feeling that the music carries. Sure, that counts for any kind of music, but something about the freedom of jazz that reels me in. There are really incredible musicians who purposefully play discordant and unlistenable music just for sake of expression, or conversely those that play tight, focused and beautifully, and I find both to be liberating in so many ways. There is a courage to it that isn’t found in most other genres and it could also explain why I like punk rock music so much. I understand that both genres, all music genres really, have arbitrary rules or templates that many abide by, but I find that in their most raw and purest forms, both punk and jazz are kindred spirits. See below…
As a drummer and performer, I feel both genres have influenced me more than I may l admit. I am always compared to obvious inspirations like Keith Moon, or Tre Cool, which are monumental influences, but behind the showy, goofball rocking out, there is space in my heart for people like Tony Williams, or Topper Headon, both drummers who played in groups that already had preconceived notions of what a drummer or rhythm of that music was supposed to be and flipped it on it’s head. For example, when Tony Williams was playing with Miles Davis, he brought in a cool, funky and rocking back beat, which mixed with jazz basics, painted a really colorful sound that was new for jazz and pushed what jazz drumming could be moving forward. As the second drummer for The Clash, Topper Headon did the same thing, but in a punk context. He layered jazz, R&B, disco and grooves that broadened the band’s sound beyond the rocking and sometimes jah-irie punk sound. It’s the idea of the creator, in this case a drummer, opening a musical palate and breaking norms that appeals to me. A drummer can use all of their limbs and they have that open palate that, if collaborators are willing, can take a piece of music somewhere new. Jazz and punk encourage this, but lately I feel jazz welcomes it more for me.
I started listening to jazz in high school in a real serious way. My gateway was of course Miles Davis and the more accessible records like Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, or Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and a big early one for me, Blue Train by John Coltrane. Once you get into one record and follow the personnel, you fall into a worm-hole as every player is likely on hundreds of other records, so from there you learn who Lee Morgan is, then Cannonball Adderly and so on and so forth. They’re not “session musicians” they’re stars in an of themselves and with each new combo, they bring their flavor adding to an endlessly flavorful stew…. Or something.
When I was in community college for a couple of years, I took a jazz history and jazz appreciation class and I also played in the college big band, which was basically 15% college age players and 85% players over 50 years old. I learned a lot about how to read charts, but more importantly, how to be the engine of a 30 wheeled truck. The exacting nature of big band arrangement, mixed with the steadiness needed and the focus made me grow as a player exponentially. I liked being in the big band so much that I even showed up unenrolled for a couple of semesters. It was a nice way to spend a Monday night. During that time, the main guitarist and upright bassist from the big band, who were also my age, asked me to start a trio with them, and so I did. I’ll save a post and talk about them later, but from that trio, I learned even more about performance, listening and patience in my playing. We recorded an EP, so maybe I will dig it up and, embarrassing as it may be, share it with the next post.
I stopped actively and ravenously listening to Jazz for a long time, but the last few months I found myself being pulled in by its gravity again. It started with me going back to basics, like Miles Davis, who frankly is someone I’ve never stopped listening to, but I was also going back to my favorite Blue Note records produced by Rudy Van Gelder. People like Bobby Hutcherson, McCoy Tyner and Art Blakey are artists I never grew tired of because of their effortless cool and boundless spirit in their playing. New artists like Jeff Parker, Robert Glasper or Kamasi Washington have validated that there is still excitement in jazz and that it is still alive and ever evolving. The constant change and growth is refreshing in a time where most media feels stagnant, IP based or stuck in a box.
Lately, I have gotten sick of consumer culture, perhaps it’s because I see how Spotify cheapens recorded music and how Netflix seems to cheapen TV, so it’s possible my desire to consume art and media has lessened because of that. Chalk it up to busyness, but frankly there hasn’t been much that truly excites me out there. For a while, I resented music because I wasn’t where I wanted to be professionally as a musician, but I realized that’s not MUSIC’S fault… It’s no one’s fault. It’s just what it is, so with that obvious realization, I am slowly allowing myself to be vulnerable with music again. Sounds ridiculous for someone who has never STOPPED playing music, but opening the door to embracing music again as I did before is something that I have had to re adapt to. It’s been hard, but strangely, jazz music has been that door again. Thinking about it and listening to it lately have given me a little boost of inspiration or maybe dopamine to get me back into the game as it were and start FEELING music again.
I’m thankful that music is always there for me and it’s a friend that no matter how long I go without it, I will pick up right where I left off and there’s a lot of comfort there.
Lastly, it goes without saying, but music has that bonus additive that helps us cope with the world and man, is the world bleak right now. I’m grateful for artists who still create, especially now when it seems like a fool’s errand. If you like an artist, please find a way to directly support them beyond relying on algorithms or taking advantage of the “cheapness” of streaming. See ‘em live. Let weirdness continue. Let jazz and punk and singular voices remain.
Thanks for reading. I hope everyone is happy and healthy.
ETC:
The Pretty Flowers have four really great shows in May
Friday, May 8 - Netflix is a Joke Fest event with Ron Lynch. Mike Voila, Eddie Peppitone and Laura Kightlinger are also featured among many, many more!
Thursday, May 21 - The Hotel Cafe in Hollywood co-headline with Hembree
Sunday, May 24 - Free show at The Fable in Eagle Rock. Reunion for Downtown Union.
Saturday, May 30th - (Stoked for this) - Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown supporting Black Crystal Wolf Kids !
By this point, I’ll be veering off script enough to justify this post. ;)