By Jess Szabo
As we struggle to adapt to the constantly changing situation around us today, many are torn between waiting it out by indulging in fun activities and using the time to learn something. Why not do both, by listening to and learning about the world’s most diverse musical genre, Jazz?
Utica musician Lou Santacroce is the Program Host of “Masters of Jazz” on Phoenix Radio. Santacroce explained that the genre’s diversity lies in its roots and the way the music evolved.
“The earliest forms of Jazz are known as Classic, or Dixieland Jazz,” he said. “This is the type of music played by artists such as Louis Armstrong. Swing music evolved from Classic Jazz. This was the whole ‘Big Band’ era, with artists such as Benny Goodman. This evolved into ‘Bop,’ which is the type of music played by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.”
Other forms of Jazz include “Straight Ahead” music and Free Jazz.
“Straight Ahead music is probably best known today through the work of Wynton Marsalis,” Santacroce explained. “Free Jazz is also known as Avant Garde Jazz. This form developed by the late 1950’s or early 1960’s, when some musicians decided to break down Jazz conventions like tempo, tones, and chord changes. They believed the music that had come before had become too limiting. Cecil Taylor, Evan Parker, and Milo Fine are some of the best Free Jazz artists.”
Those who typically listen to Pop and soft Rock music will likely find a Jazz vocalist they enjoy.
“Jazz vocalists are a whole category of Jazz unto itself,” Santacroce said. “Jazz vocals involve singers trying to make their voices into instruments. Classic artists include Billie Holiday, who used her voice as a horn, and of course, Ella Fitzgerald. Many modern Jazz vocalists, such as Diana Krall and Norah Jones, make use of the pop idiom. They fuse Pop with Jazz. If a Jazz singer sings a Pop tune, that song is no longer Pop, it’s Jazz, because the singer brings Jazz inflections to the song. They bring their whole knowledge of Jazz to the Pop song.”
Hip-Hop, Rap, and R&B fans are especially encouraged to listen to and learn about Jazz, because when they listen to Jazz, they are listening to the history of the music they love.
“Jazz was the original urban music,” Santacroce explained. “It came out of the Black community in New Orleans around the turn of the last century. Of course, now it is universal music, because the inventors of Jazz freely shared their music with the rest of the world.”
Although Jazz is a part of the music scene around the world today, there are a couple of misconceptions about the genre that may turn some listeners away from it. The first is that “Jazz” is the same thing as “Smooth Jazz.”
Santacroce suggests avoiding Smooth Jazz, and selecting Classic, Bop, or Swing music, or finding a favorite Jazz vocalist, to explore Jazz.
“Smooth Jazz to me is background music,” he explained. “It’s not music to sit down and listen to. It’s music to have on while you’re doing something else. People listen to it because it’s often the only Jazz they’ve been exposed to, as it is all you hear on a lot of Jazz radio today.”
Another misconception is that modern Jazz is defined by artists such as Harry Connick, Jr. and Michael Buble. But Jazz remains a diverse musical genre today.
“I hope people who start out listening to Harry Connick, Jr. and Michael Buble will look deeper into Jazz, and discover some of the real masters,” Santacroce said. “Their music is a starting point for people who have never listened to Jazz.”
One trend in contemporary Jazz is to fuse it heavily with club or techno music. This may appeal to those who enjoy that type of music, or discourage those who dislike it. Santacroce urged new music fans who stumble upon something that does not appeal to them or sound like what they expected to hear to keep learning about Jazz and listening to different forms and artists.
“Music has to progress,” he explained. “But on the other hand, there are musicians like Terence Blanchard and Nicholas Payton, whose playing harkens back to an earlier time whiel still keeping one foot firmly planted in the present.”
Jazz is even well-suited to the way we listen to music today. Streaming services offer music grouped by activity or mood rather than genre, and there is Jazz that will fit in to any of those categories as well.
“It doesn’t have to be loud, brassy, or fast tempo to be Jazz,” Santacroce explained. Charlie Parker is the king of Bop, but if you listen to a tune like ‘Lover Man,’ it’s soft and kind of melancholy. You can find Jazz in any genre, to match any kind of mood, any kind of feeling. If you listen to enough Jazz, you are bound to find something you like.”
To learn more about Jazz, and to hear some great Jazz in a variety of forms, tune in to Masters of Jazz every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The program is available exclusively on 95.5 The Heat, Phoenix Radio. (95.5 on your FM dial or via streaming at http://www.955theheat.com
