Jazz is the music of the body ~Anais Nin
I love that quote because this is what Jazz has always been to me. Music of the body. The term Jazz was actually a slang term used to describe sex. You weren't going home to make love to your lover, you were going home to give them some Jazz. The word Jazz was used to describe activities that were vigorous, and enthusiastic. Funny, that a word that was tied to all things deemed illicit in the society of that time, has come to represent sophistication and class. Why did Jazz clean up? When did Jazz cease to be about the basic need for the body to move?
When I first started to dig deeper into Jazz, I went back and found out about Ragtime. Jelly Roll Morton hit me hard. His rolling barrel style piano plaing, seduced me. It didn't surprise me that his name "Jelly Roll" was a slang term for sex, or that he started playing in brothels. These were places that were filled with raw heat and sexuality, and his music radiated that eternal rocking and rolling. This was music that begged to be felt with every inch of the body. It beckoned it's dancers to dance into each other rather than apart. That is what made Jazz so dangerous. It appealed to the natural basic need, for human touch and interaction.
So I jump ahead to Jazz today. Whenever I've gone to Jazz clubs and performances, I see people become statues when listening to Jazz, and I find that sad. It seems that since it's roots Jazz became more of a spectator's sport, rather than something that causes movemet. Audiences even seem to be afraid to move a foot or a finger for fear of upsetting the Jazz snobs who have be responsible for making most Jazz today, a bit of a bore. Jazz has become smooth, relaxed, and not open to questioning. Most Jazz today is the lover who lips stay stiff and tight, afraid to open and discover.
Every time I hear about a "new movement" in Jazz I always view it with a level of skepticism. Where is the movement in the Jazz movement? When did we decide that when we move to this music, it's a sign of not being a serious lover of Jazz?
I challenge all of those who have forgotten Jazz's original beginnings to pick up some old Ragtime, grab your lover and make some of your own Jazz this afternoon or evening.
I love that quote because this is what Jazz has always been to me. Music of the body. The term Jazz was actually a slang term used to describe sex. You weren't going home to make love to your lover, you were going home to give them some Jazz. The word Jazz was used to describe activities that were vigorous, and enthusiastic. Funny, that a word that was tied to all things deemed illicit in the society of that time, has come to represent sophistication and class. Why did Jazz clean up? When did Jazz cease to be about the basic need for the body to move?
When I first started to dig deeper into Jazz, I went back and found out about Ragtime. Jelly Roll Morton hit me hard. His rolling barrel style piano plaing, seduced me. It didn't surprise me that his name "Jelly Roll" was a slang term for sex, or that he started playing in brothels. These were places that were filled with raw heat and sexuality, and his music radiated that eternal rocking and rolling. This was music that begged to be felt with every inch of the body. It beckoned it's dancers to dance into each other rather than apart. That is what made Jazz so dangerous. It appealed to the natural basic need, for human touch and interaction.
So I jump ahead to Jazz today. Whenever I've gone to Jazz clubs and performances, I see people become statues when listening to Jazz, and I find that sad. It seems that since it's roots Jazz became more of a spectator's sport, rather than something that causes movemet. Audiences even seem to be afraid to move a foot or a finger for fear of upsetting the Jazz snobs who have be responsible for making most Jazz today, a bit of a bore. Jazz has become smooth, relaxed, and not open to questioning. Most Jazz today is the lover who lips stay stiff and tight, afraid to open and discover.
Every time I hear about a "new movement" in Jazz I always view it with a level of skepticism. Where is the movement in the Jazz movement? When did we decide that when we move to this music, it's a sign of not being a serious lover of Jazz?
I challenge all of those who have forgotten Jazz's original beginnings to pick up some old Ragtime, grab your lover and make some of your own Jazz this afternoon or evening.
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