[Dixielandjazz] Jazz in the Classroom/memorzing solos, etc.

[Charles Suhor]

On Jan 8, 2007, at 1:42 AM, David Richoux wrote:
> Jazz is a very tricky thing to teach, but deep immersion is one very
> good method...
>
> Dave Richoux
>

Yes, indeed. As kids, we were constantly listening to records. To this 
day, I can hum along with innumerable jazz records, including the 
solos. (Not that you'd want to hear it.) Record-listening sessions were 
also common, and we talked a lot about how different artists played. I 
never subscribed to the idea that jazz musicians were in general 
inarticulate geniuses who "spoke through their music." From the taped 
interviews of early jazzmen at the Jazz Archive to conversations with 
musicians over the decades to books & articles that quote jazz artists 
to the entries in the DJML, it's clear that many, many jazzers are 
lucid and creative thinkers and writers.

More on immersion--At the LSU housing of several music students of my 
time, the jazzers put on LPs and kept them on as long as anyone was 
home. I guess they went to the library to study. (I, for one, have to 
either stop reading or turn off the music, if it's at all interesting.) 
This calls into question another widely accepted idea--that good music 
shouldn't be "reduced" to background music. Immersion can help to get 
the conception into your ears and blood and bone marrow.

Of course, you've got to play, above all, but learning can come through 
so many channels.

Charlie Suhor