Vintage

I never thought that a swing jazz band would appear on Canadian Idol, but we were on the show last night. Just over two years ago I hired a young singer named Carly Jepsen to sing with the Blue Morris 6. She gigged with us for two years at restaurants, bars and swing dances. All this while she had her own music projects on the side, writing songs and doing the occasional gig.

This is the first year that Carly has ever auditioned for Canadian Idol and last night her audition was aired on the show. They also featured some clips of Carly singing with the Blue Morris 6 on stage at a swing dance in Vancouver. The Idol crew wanted to show Carly in her home environment so they filmed her at home in Mission and on stage with us.

I often feel at a loss when trying to describe some aspects of music to non-musicians. Like the other day when I was listening to Benny Goodman's Sextet and Stephanie asked me, "So what makes this good?" At first I try not to gaffaw because to me I can't understand how someone would not simply hear and automatically understand just how great that band was. (She does actually like the band, she wanted my take on it.)

I know that non-musicians tend to enjoy a strong beat and a strong melody. Music that does not have a strong beat, but has a great melody can still be easily appreciated by non-musicians. And the vice-versa is true as well. Music without a strong melody but a strong beat can easily be appreciated by non-musicians. But for anything that's even just a little "outside"... well some may still "get it" but most non-musicians scratch their heads and wonder "why would anyone listen to this noise?"

Maybe it would help non-musicians if they could experience what it feels like to play an instrument in time, in harmony (or purposefully "out," as the case may be). Having experienced the particular physical sensations of your body or hands moving and producing sound in time and in tune helps you to feel connected to the music, even when you're not playing. When I'm listening to the music, I often think of how it feels to play the music. I imagine myself playing it. Even if there is no guitarist, I imagine what the trumpeter is doing, or how it might feel for the bassist to pluck the strings, or how it feels to brush a snare drum. I can imagine this because I have actually done all those things (albeit not that well, but no matter).

One of the latest podcasts from the All About Jazz website has an interview with Ahmad Jamal. The host asks Jamal if he ever tires of playing "those old songs," like his most famous songs "Poinciana" and "But Not for Me." Jamal says "There's no such thing as old music. It's either good or bad. And you never tire of good music."

Often it is the test of time that provides proof that a particular song is great, and not just in style today. I often ask myself when listening to new music: "Am I likely to want to listen to this 50 years from now?" If the answer is "probably not" then I usually pass. I'd rather spend my money on music that I will want to listen to over and over again.

This post is for the Canadian readers. CBC Radio has been making changes and I for one am looking forward to Katie Malloch's new weekday radio program featuring jazz. And it starts tonight at six. The sad thing is that After Hours has been cancelled. I have been listening to After Hours for many years, albeit sporadically. I liked Andy Sheppard's show, and of course Ross Porter before him, though I must admit I didn't listen to it regularly because it was on just a little too late for me.

The new show is called Tonic and it airs every weekday from 6 to 8 in the evening, starting tonight. Katie's excellent Sunday show, Jazz Beat, has also been cancelled to make way for the new one. Hopefully Katie will still include some of the live broadcasts from jazz festivals across Canada, as she did on Jazz Beat.