Listening to Jazz 101
(Over-simplified and by no means definitive. Kinda long too)
Buy, download or steal a copy of Miles Davis “Kind of Blue.” This is the best selling jazz record of all time. The music is as brilliant as it is accessible. Many a jazz-phile was weaned on this record.
Pick one song, maybe Freddie Freeloader, and listen to it a few times in a row. Not so many as to burn yourself out on it. This song follows the standard 1-4-5 blues progression which is familiar to every ear in the western world.
Let’s start with the “head.” In this song it is a call and response between the saxes and trumpet:
baaah-baah > doop doop doo dooby do do repeated 4 times
followed by all the horns together
dhaat dhaaa, dhaat dhaaa, dhat baaah baah played once
As you get more familiar with this, pay attention to what the “rhythm section” (drums, bass, and piano) is playing behind the horns. You’ll hear how they subtly build, fall, and accent to enhance what the horns are playing.
You’ll probably get to the point where you can hear this in your head without listening to the recording. Awesome, you are well on the way to becoming a jazz fan.
After the head is played a couple times, the solos begin. Listening to solos can be as simple or challenging as you want to make it. Typically, the soloist is playing “on top” of what the rhythm section is “laying down,” with a whole bunch interaction between everyone.
If you want to focus only on the soloist, try echoing in your head every note he is playing. You can do it, although it may take a little practice. FF is a good song for this because it has a medium tempo and nobody is “blowing hot,” or fast and furious.
On FF the saxes, piano and trumpet each take a solo. After the solos the head is repeated, tagged, and the song ends. Simple in concept, sublime in execution.
Jazz is art. Art requires some effort from those who wish to reap its bounty. You can’t take a casual glance at the Mona Lisa and expect understand why it is considered a masterpiece.
If you want to dig the music get away from your computer, put away your book, no newspaper, no telephone, no texting. Pay attention only with your ears. Think of it as active listening.
You do not need to be a musician, musicologist or even musically inclined to appreciate jazz. Of course, someone with a PhD in theory from Julliard may grok a bit more than the neophyte. However, jazz is by no means beyond reach of the uninitiated. Put forth the effort and you will be rewarded. I guarantee it.
