[Dixielandjazz] Jazz Goes To College

[dingle at baldwin-net.com]

Charles Suhor wrote:

> As I groaned through these awful responses, I wondered--am I blaming 
> the victims? If I were the teacher, I'd think about making some 
> changes in the program, maybe even a change of profession.--Charlie Suhor
>
>
> On May 20, 2005, at 2:34 PM, Steve barbone wrote:
>
>> These are quotes from students in a college jazz history class. They are
>> extracted from the essay topic, "What I learned over this semester
>> in jazz history." These are all genuine responses, completely unaltered.
>> They are all 18+ year old students; not high school or middle school age
>> kids. None of them are music students. Ah, the Jazz Oblivious. :-) VBG
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Steve Barbone
>>
>> "Free Jazz is an era that I wished I had never learned about.”
>>
>> "Free Jazz. Wow; what a sound it makes. An awful, horrible sound. I 
>> don’t
>> see how that can actually be called a sound.  My 5 year old nephew could
>> pound on the piano and make the same sound! He may even make a better 
>> sound.
>> To be honest, that sound is one big mess.”
>>
>> "With swing, it’s kind of up in the air for me. I must say I tried 
>> like hell
>> to keep up with it.”
>>
>> "My favorite jazz has a bluesy, Mexican feel to it.”
>>
>> "Though Jazz started in New Orleans, it traveled all around the world
>> picking up and dropping off things along the way.”
>>
>> "One thing that confused me was Jelly Roll Morton. Did he play with 
>> the Red
>> Hot Chili Peppers? I didn’t think that they were around back then.”
>>
>> "Jelly Roll (Morton) bridged the gap between piano and ragtime.”
>>
>> "My grandpa likes it, but I think scat stinks.”
>>
>> "Chick Corea, Dizzie Gillespie, Bix Biderbeck, and the monk created the
>> first cool group.”
>>
>> "I wished Don Cherry would put his trumpet back in his pocket.”
>>
>> "There is not enough space in my head to fit all that I learned.”
>>
>> "This class taught me about a lot of things that I never knew about.”
>>
>> "Some of the big jazz musicians we learned about were: Lous 
>> Armstrong, Duke,
>> Charlie Parker, Dizzy Cillespic, T. Mark, Ken Barns, Buddy Baldwin,
>> Jellyroll Mortin, Sydney Bichai, Fats Waller, Earl Hines, and many many
>> more.”
>>
>> "Coming into class on the first day, I assumed there would be a boring
>> professor standing in front of the class droning on and on about jazz.
>> “Here’s where it started; this is who played it; and here we are today;
>> blah, blah, blah.” I now realize that my assumption wasn’t all that 
>> wrong.”
>>
>> "I assumed that jazz had started in the African-American community only
>> because it fulfilled a multi-cultural course that I was required to 
>> take.”
>>
>> "Jim Crow, in a way, was the first jazz musician.”
>>
>> "Jazz was put into effect by Jim Crow’s Law.”
>>
>> "I really enjoyed hearing the big band, “Frank Foster’s Arrangement””.
>>
>> "I learned in this class that, contrary to my mom’s opinion, Kenny G 
>> is a
>> joke. A really non-funny one.”
>>
>> "I fell in love with that tune, “Stablemates”. It really hits home.”
>>
>> "Jazz musicians don’t play for women any more.”
>>
>> "I learned that going to jazz concerts gets me in good with the 
>> girlfriend.”
>>
>> "I learned a lot about Be Bop, Swing, Drugs, and Fusion.”
>>
>> "I found new respect for Miles Davis. He was adamant about not using 
>> drugs
>> when everyone else was trying to get him to try some.”
>>
>> "I liked hearing the Original Dixieland (Jazz) Band, and how they 
>> were the
>> original Dixieland band.”
>>
>> "You might want to mention to future classes that jazz brings true 
>> romance
>> to a scene.”
>>
>> "I’m glad I took this class, because I feel more comfortable to talk 
>> about
>> jazz in its awesomeness.”
>>
>> "Drugs caused many artists their careers in many ways.”
>>
>> "Jazz is a style of music that is almost very sober.”
>>
>> "I figured jazz started in the 1960s, but to my surprise, it started 
>> back in
>> the late 18th century.”
>>
>> "Smooth jazz now just plain old angers me.”
>>
>> "A lot of the things that I learned were facts that I never new 
>> about, not
>> only in jazz, but in life as well.”
>>
>> "I got really excited by the tenor sax, soprano sax, baritone sax, 
>> but not
>> so much the alto sax.”
>>
>> “I can’t believe that blacks had time to invent jazz if they were 
>> hanging
>> out in the whorehouses with Jelly Roll Morton.”
>>
>> “A lot of black jazz musicians were very talented, which probably 
>> came from
>> them not having anything else to do.”
>>
>> “When blacks and whites finally decided to get together to make jazz, 
>> it was
>> a big hit.”
>>
>> “Lennie Tristano and Lee Konitz were two guys who would sit down and 
>> enjoy
>> cool jazz.”
>>
>> “Going to the club gave me jazz sensations.”
>>
>> “I hear the hard-bop jazz influence on bands today such as Matchbox 
>> Twenty
>> and Dave Matthews Band”
>>
>> “I’m now going to start this essay on jazz.”
>>
>> “James Crow worked to bring the slaves together with the creoles.”
>>
>> “Learning jazz has helped me beat my mom at Jeopardy. She had no idea 
>> who a
>> blind pianist from Toledo, OH was for $800.
>>
>> “I learned the definition of supreme technical virtuosity is to play 
>> like
>> Louie Armstrong.”
>>
>> "Charlie Parker was a famous jazz musician who played saxophonists.”
>>
>> “Getting 81% (on a test) is all well and good until you see that dumb 
>> guy
>> next to you who picks his nose getting 91%. I then started studying and
>> coming to class.”
>>
>> “I asked the drummer what the names of the names and styles of the tunes
>> that he played but he didn’t seem to know.”
>>
>> “TV has become more jazzy to me now.”
>>
>> “Studying jazz has been a coming out party for me.”
>>
>> “I loved the vibrational solos of Clifford Brown.”
>>
>> “When I think of tradition and instruments, I think of Fiddler of the 
>> Roof.”
>>
>> “I learned a lot from the different guest speakers in class, whether 
>> they
>> were an experienced piano player, a director of music at a major 
>> motel, or a
>> guitar player with an oddly placed hankercheif in his pocket.”
>>
>> “Jazz has the technique of classical music, the feeling of blues, and 
>> the
>> hope of children everywhere.”
>>
>> “I know what troubles musicians now when I watch and listen to them 
>> play.”
>>
>> “My ties to jazz were through Bleeding Gums Murphy, a character on a 
>> TV show
>> called the Simpsons. It comes on at 8pm on Sunday nights.”
>>
>> “I was surprised to find out about the different styles of jazz like 
>> hard,
>> be, and post bops.”
>>
>> “I thought that jazz was a certain amount of instruments that you 
>> played and
>> was composed for you(,) not believing that it was their improvisation 
>> and
>> the jazz musicians who made up the music on the spot doing what they 
>> wanted
>> to do with the tunes. I know this is hard to explain but it is true.”
>>
>> “When I try to play jazz, I mess around with the instruments pounding 
>> out
>> random notes that were just me making nonsense up and it sounding 
>> like a big
>> pile of crap.”
>>
>> “Jazz is more profound when it doesn’t help pay the bills.”
>>
>> “The first thing I learned in jazz history that happy birthday is the 
>> most
>> played jazz classic. You want to hear happy birthday in swing BAM! 
>> You got
>> it. You want to hear happy birthday in classic jazz BAM! You got it. You
>> want to hear happy birthday in be bop BAM! You go(t) it. It’s great. The
>> second thing I learned is free jazz is where its at. I think that I 
>> could be
>> a free jazz musician cause it all sounds like a drunk 7 year old jamming
>> down on some notes and making the sweet sweet music fly. Free jazz was
>> defiantly the best part of the class but unfortunately you didn’t 
>> play free
>> jazz enough. My one suggestion for your next class is that you start out
>> every class with a 5 minute free jazz intro. Over all and all, I 
>> defiantly
>> learned a lot in jazz history class.”
>>
>> “Hip hop and pop are fine, going out for fame and bling bling. Jazz 
>> has been
>> around for a while, is out of style, but can really sing.”
>>
>> “Jazz musicians sing and play music because they can’t contain their
>> passions. Their music starts in the soul radiates out in every 
>> direction.”
>>
>> “Jazz is a very dynamic kind of music. Loud and Soft.”
>>
>> “Swing makes you want to get up and dance and free jazz just makes 
>> you want
>> to get up.”
>>
>> “If any kind of music can calm a hectic day, its cool jazz. If you 
>> feel like
>> going out and dancing, however there is ragtime.”
>>
>> “In conclusion, jazz is music.”
>>
>> “Jazz has come from the fields of New Orleans to my 2pm class, and 
>> beyond.”
>>
>> “Unlike other forms of music, jazz is listened to by old people as 
>> well as
>> us.”
>>
>> “I learned what intros and outros were in this class. Now I look for 
>> them
>> when I go searching for good music.”
>>
>> “I went to do my (jazz) listening report at the house of blues.”
>>
>> “Jazz has taught me a lot about the Civil War, World War I, and World 
>> War
>> II.”
>>
>> “I thought of jazz as a thing of the past, something old African 
>> American
>> men listened to on old record players while sitting on their front 
>> porches
>> smoking cigars.”
>>
>> “Steve Turre has taught me that sea shells should be left on the ground
>> instead of his mouth.”
>>
>> “Over the course of the semester my knowledge of jazz has gone from 
>> nothing
>> to practically nothing.”
>>
>> “Even though I probably won’t listen to jazz after this semester, it has
>> given me a greater appreciation of movies.”
>>
>> “My favorite person to study was Sonny Rollins. He knew that he had 
>> to throw
>> his saxaphone off the bridge when he heard how good Charlie Parker was.”
>>
>> “Jazz to me was the “shoo opps” from groups in streets downtown in the
>> olden, golden days.”
>>
>> “Happy birthday. That song is just amazing to me.”
>>
>> “My all-time favorite jazz artist to listen to was Buddy Baldwin, AKA 
>> “the
>> jazz king.” I think I’m going to go out and buy a couple of his CDs”
>>
>> “I was surprised to find musicians with such odd names such as Vilage 
>> Von
>> Guard.”
>>
>> “Jazz is not as popular with all of the adolescence going around.”
>>
>> “I like jazz more in books than on cds.”
>>
>> “I remember coming into class with no facts but a whole plate of 
>> bullshit to
>> dish out.”
>>
>> “I found myself learning about Blues, Early Jazz, Dixieland, Swing, 
>> Be Bop,
>> Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, Cool Jazz, Hard Bop, Free Jazz, Third Stream,
>> Japanese, Post Bop, Fusion, Smooth, Modern Jazz, and the list goes on.”
>>
>> “’Call and Respond’ is where one musician plays and the other one 
>> tries too
>> hard to figure out what he’s doing.”
>>
>> “The people in Dixie Land originated jazz music.”
>>
>> “Jazz is now a part of me from 2pm-3:15pm every Tuesday and Thursday.”
>>
>> “Jazz started in the fields where they used hand-me-down instruments and
>> wore hand-me-down clothes.”
>>
>> “If Wynton Marsalis said jazz was dead in the 1970’s, what was he 
>> playing at
>> the time?”
>>
>> “Weather Report was the final big band back in the day.”
>>
>> “My girlfriend and I both agreed the next morning that jazz-club food 
>> was
>> something we could’ve done without.”
>>
>> “Jazz agitates me.”
>>
>> “I like jazz, but I need something else besides rhythm, melody, and
>> harmony.”
>>
>> “I had no clue that so many (musicians) used drugs. Thinking about that,
>> there is no doubt that they are living the life I dream of. They are
>> spending money on things that they don’t really need or even want.”
>>
>> “I noticed that there weren’t many jazz women in our textbook until I 
>> looked
>> to see that the author was a guy. All guys are sexist, women bashers, 
>> who
>> don’t ever give us our credit.”
>>
>> “The part I most enjoyed was studying and appreciating slavery.”
>>
>> “Its hard to imagine where Winton Marsalis gets his ideas from.”
>>
>> “I’d like to see midgets getting bribed in every jazz club. Not just 
>> with
>> Birdland. I’m of course talking about the jazz club, not Charlie 
>> Parker.”
>>
>> “We’ve had our share of good times and bad times over the semester. 
>> By bad
>> times, I mean my tests.”
>>
>> “Count Bassie WAS the swing era”
>>
>> “This class increased my intelligence with aptitude.”
>>
>> “Duke Ellington had the ability to turn jazz compositions into pure 
>> magic.”
>>
>> “Swing died in World War II when the soloists took over.”
>>
>> “I could go on and on about jazz, but I won’t.”
>>
>> “Tony Williams was my favorite drummer because his group, Lifetime, 
>> is the
>> same name as my favorite channel that I watch.”
>>
>> “How do the musicians know what to play when their eyes were closed the
>> whole time? And what was with the piano player talking while he 
>> played his
>> solos. His musician friends must have been thought he was crazy.”
>>
>> “I technically wasn’t in your class but I was happy to be along for the
>> ride.”
>>
>> “I was in jazz band in high school but we didn’t play jazz music.”
>>
>> “Dizzie Gillespie was the one who jammed on the drums.”
>>
>> “I thought doing our listening report would be a painful sort of 
>> torture.”
>>
>> “I was bummed out at the beginning of the semester because I thought 
>> Louis
>> Armstrong was going to be one of the guest lecturers.
>>
>>
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Oh my gawd!! And this course was taught by someone paid with public dollars?
The disjointed array of answers indicated that whoever taught this 
course had no focus in his or her lesson plan that would pull things 
together. Now while a blind pig may sometimes find an acorn, it would 
seem that few found anything of a focused understanding of the subject.
It is getting hard enough to get any kind of music in many public 
schools, but here is an opportunity for thoughtful exposure to jazz  
that seemingly was a waste of time for both student and teacher. Better 
they hire a live band and let the music speaks for itself.  Then let the 
students ask questions of the live players, rather than rely on a lesson 
plan by someone who hadn't a clue about teaching the subject in a  
focussed manner.
No wonder rap remains popular -- it doesn't depend on music as much as 
words. So music becomes more and more irrellivent .
Don Ingle