All That Jazz

I listened to a whole evening of jazz music the other night. It was a live band presentation by renowned singers, players, and performers. While I admired the skill of the musicians, I now have a renewed certainty that I don't like jazz. In my opinion it's far too loud and brassy. Besides that, any melodies that sneak out between the drumbeats and cymbal crashes and trumpet blasts and saxophone blares are not very pleasing and/or singable. Jazz bends the tones in ways that seem too much like trying and failing to hit the notes head on--or sliding lazily off them after they've managed a direct hit.

I recognized only one piece--testimony to my musically sheltered upbringing and to the inroads of my public high school music education. The song I recognized went like this (the parts I remember) :

What a day this has been
What a rare mood I'm in.
Why it's almost like being in love.

There's a smile on my face
For the whole human race.
Why it's almost like being in love.

I can think of a few people who might like letting those words roll off their tongue--if they could get the tune right, that is. I tried to sing it to Hiromi and it didn't sound nice. Those are words you really don't want to mess up on when you're singing them to your sweetheart.

When I learned that song I didn't know I was singing a jazz number. Or maybe it wasn't originally written in that style and this band and vocalist simply adapted it to fit their music preference.

The program I listened to was part of the Community Concert series we usually get tickets for. Hiromi, in fact, is the person to see if you want season tickets. He's one of the community workers who are active for several weeks only. The organization provides a free-ticket incentive for him if he signs up enough ticket purchasers. They are available only for several weeks around this time of year, and tickets can not be purchased later for individual concerts. HCC students can attend free, as can children under 5. Youth tickets, family tickets, individual tickets, and grandparent/grandchild tickets are all available, at varying prices. Five concerts are scheduled for the upcoming season. Concerts usually begin in the fall, with several concerts before the holidays, and the rest during the winter and early spring. One bonus for ticket purchasers is that they get to attend the last concert of the previous season free.

Despite my less-than-glowing report of the recent concert, I hope local people do consider buying tickets. Many of the performances are really stellar, and you'll find that hearing extremely well-done live music is often an amazing experience. It's hard for frugal Mennonites to decide to purchase tickets if they're not absolutely sure that every concert will be to their liking. The key to overcoming that objection is to recognize that even if you skip several concerts, the cost of the remaining performances is still a very reasonable cost when compared to other similar presentations.