Tap – Tap – Tap  Is this mike turned on?  Fwooof (blowing into mike)

Hi, welcome to our first Froggy Bottom Lounge Friday Night Jazz Jam!

In the true spirit of jazz, you never know what’s going to happen or where we’re going to end up, until people show up and start playin’…

What’s that?  Some of you think you don’t like jazz?  Or think you don’t know enough about jazz and so are a bit timid?  No need to be!  Come on in, sit down a spell, and let the music wash over you.  Jazz is the musical embodiment of freedom and life itself – that’s why there’s no better kind of music for BMT froggies on a Friday night.

Sound kinda self-important for the music?  I’m not the first person to think this:

“Put it this way: Jazz is a good barometer of freedom… In its beginnings, the United States of America spawned certain ideals of freedom and independence through which, eventually, jazz was evolved, and the music is so free that man people say it is the only unhampered, unhindered expression of complete freedom yet produced in this country.”   – Duke Ellington

“As long as there is democracy, there will be people wanting to play jazz because nothing else will ever so perfectly capture the democratic process in sound. Jazz means working things out musically with other people. You have to listen to other musicians and play with them even if you don’t agree with what they’re playing. It teaches you the very opposite of racism and anti-Semitism. It teaches you that the world is big enough to accommodate us all.”   –  Wynton Marsalis

More below the fold…
BTW, I found those quotes here, to give credit where credit is due.

Still not convinced?  Then go to your local public library and check out some jazz CDs, tapes, or albums (does anyone still play albums?  The library seems to think so).  We’ll be happy to make recommendations to you.  In fact, one of the things I hope to see here each week is folks turnin’ each other on to great music.  We all need something to soothe our souls to get us through the next few years…

You live in rural Idaho and your library has no jazz?  Well, after you tell them to get with the program, use Google to find free jazz you can download!  I’m not talking about pirating here, I’m talking about little-known artists who are posting samples of their music on-line in the hopes of getting publicity for their group.  I did this a couple of summers ago when I lost my job and couldn’t afford to buy CDs for awhile, and ended up with 18 CDs worth of “various artists” music.

Are they all Miles Davis or Duke Ellington?  Of course not, but all bloggers aren’t Susanhu, either.  Doesn’t mean that someone else might not be worth listening to – and have something unique to say.

Do you know of a group that has something good on line worth listening to?  Post the link here so the rest of us and enjoy it, too. Maybe even result in some sales for that struggling artist you’ve enjoyed.

I Googled “free jazz mp3” this morning and got 2,050,000 hits.  So there seems to be a lotta good music out there for us to go through, even allowing that 95% of those sites may be duds.

Here are some free samples for you to try out, in the spirit of our hosts and hostesses at the wonderful Froggy Bottom Café (Cheers and Applause).  If you find something you like, report back to us next week so we can check it out too!

Then there are the 95 cent bins at your local CD store, or search on eBay for “jazz cent CD” to find jazz CDs you can bid on starting at one cent.  Will every CD you find this way thrill you?  No, but again, once you learn a little you will find what to look for, and your odds of finding something enjoyable go up.

Using myself as an example, I especially like smaller ensembles – trios through septets – and so I watch for those words.  I also especially like jazz from the mid-fifties through the early `70’s, or modern groups continuing in that style.

If you’re new to jazz, experiment:  try something labeled “Dixieland,” something “big band,” something “bebop,” something “bossa nova,” something “fusion.”  Somewhere along that spectrum you’ll likely find a sound that speaks to you.   And I haven’t even touched on vocal jazz; I’ll leave that for someone who is more “into” that…

Jazz has as much variety as classical music – someone who likes Bach might not like a Verdi opera, for example, and the experience of the music of Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Grieg are all very different things.

As you find music you like, make a mental note of the artists.  Jazz is very democratic in that often the names of all the musicians are listed on the paperwork, so if you especially enjoyed the pianist in a group, you can look for additional CDs on which she appears.  In fact, personally, I take it as a yellow-light warning if all the artists are not listed – I take that as kind of a violation of the spirit of the music.  You’ll find yourself exploring a web of music, enjoying more and learning more as you go, as jazz artists very frequently appear on each other’s CDs.

For those of you that are old timers, please add to the conversation here – what advice do you have for those who haven’t had your experiences?  Also, how did you come to find out about jazz?  Do you play?  Do you have a link to your group I can have? LOL

What are you listening to these days?  Any new finds you want to share with us?  This diary, like jazz, only works as a collaborative effort – so join in!