WMV Music Web Log
Musical musings by Carl and guestsWednesday, January 23, 2008
Tonight is the first performance of the Weary Blues Project, at Busboys and Poets. I think it will be pretty amazing! (Check out these rehearsal clips: Bad Man, Morning After, Commercial Theatre, Ballad of the Fortune Teller, The Weary Blues)
For a classically trained pianist like me, this is a precious opportunity to sit in with a top-quality jazz band. The educational value is phenomenal.
As I try to share my enthusiasm about what I am learning, it seems that there are a lot of strong opinions out there about what jazz is and isn't, even from people who say they don't like jazz. Sometimes non-musicians feel more strongly than the jazz players themselves. My tentative analyses of issues like swing, syncopation, improvisation, rhythm, and (God forbid!) soul are not always met with much interest.
Charley Gerard has been the Virgil to my Dante. Which reminds me of a very funny passage in Dylan's autobiography in which he details an amazing musical discovery which (he says) transformed his approach to rhythm. I couldn't quite follow his thoughts, and it began to dawn on me that he might be pulling our legs. I gave Charley the book to look at - yes, sure enough, he agreed that the whole section is complete and utter bullshit. Just a little Dylan humor at our expense.
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