is more than the surface of it all, you know
yeah,
there's the quartets, quintets, big bands
trumpets, saxophones, drum sets
there's the standards
from Broadway, TV, movies
the bop tunes
those great Wayne Shorter songs
we all hum down the street
there's the legends
Bird
Dizzy
Pops
Duke
Trane
Ella
Billie
Prez
Hawk
Count
Miles
there's the informal formalness
jam sessions
cutting contests
hangs galore
there's the soloing
the going in
the complete release of inhibition
there's the directness of it
channeling the true self
channeling a higher being
channeling God
there's the history of it
the blues aren't from a textbook
this music was made from blood
this music was made from people
that had no other way to make it
than to live through it
this stuff, this jazz we all talk so much about
is real
is raw
is authentic
this stuff, jazz,
isn't made in a school, a book, in a recipe
you can't just buy two eggs, some flour
and sugar and wait for it to come out of the oven
you can't just buy a book of magic spells
or take a potion and start playing lines
this stuff - jazz -
is made out there
in real time
with real people
in real places
and to anyone that labels it as a music...
I'd dare you to go out there, close your eyes, feel the vibes and
experience the culture.
