Why is jazz the ultimate foundation to play other styles?
Introduction
Why is jazz the ultimate foundation for playing other styles of music? Jazz, or Black American Music, is the only art form native to America. Out of the shadow of the blues, came jazz, which in turn blossomed from a combination of spirituals, European art music, and music that came across from the African, and Latin diasporas. Jazz, more than any other music, has influenced every genre from rock, R&B, metal, electronic styles and hip hop. Jazz is the ultimate form of music in that it absorbs everything, but maintains its core identity. This article will outline a few reasons why learning jazz can enhance playing other music styles. For the person playing jazz to be successful they must immerse themselves in other genres, jazz can at times be especially insular, the desire to only study what Charlie Parker or Thelonious Monk played, both of which could cover several lifetimes, can be a bit limiting when so much is out there.
As aforementioned in the above paragraph, jazz is the ultimate form of music. What exactly makes it the ultimate form? One reason is that the freedom of expression within the form is nearly limitless, and the song structures, and harmonies often are the building blocks of other genres. Also, learning jazz can greatly expand one’s vocabulary because it provides all the tools necessary to be a player in all styles of music. The jazz musician needs to learn how to create a melody fitting harmony and rhythm and during an improvisation which must to be done in real time. The form is daunting to many people, they’ll see songs with a ton of chords, chord symbols they don’t understand or metric modulations and freak out. The stereotypes of jazz snobs (honestly true in some cases) and encounters with musicians who are just learning can be quite intimidating but taking one of the many classes offered at the New York Jazz Workshop can make this learning fun and exiting. A few of the most important tools a musician can learn from studying jazz are the foundation of harmony, how chords progress from one to the next (chords are not just a random sequence) memorizing scales and chords, finding notes and rhythms that fit a specific situation and much more. The musicianship acquired by studying jazz is invaluable no matter what style of music you want to play.
Learning jazz standards is one of the many thing you will come across if you embark on this path.
Jazz Standards
Jazz Standards, are at the foundation of every jazz (and not only jazz) musician. The idea of playing “Autumn Leaves”, for the 20,000th time may seem unappealing but the jazz standards repertoire is vast and spans many genre from bossa to bebop, from polka to waltz, from funk to ballads, and there are many very valuable lessons to be learned from each of those tunes. Not only are standards, great tunes that musicians such as Miles Davis and Keith Jarrett have used for constant sources of reinvention, but the classic A-A-B-A song form and 32 bar structure are the basis for songs that can be created in other genres. These tunes share a common ground that make them instructive to learn from. Take for example how Davis plays “Stella by Starlight” on 1958 Miles and 7 years later in 1965 reinvents them, with his second great quintet featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams; how they follow the form but also depart and explore within it. The results are magical. The same can be said for the way Keith Jarrett turns the above mentioned “Autumn Leaves” into something magisterial over 26 minutes on Keith Jarrett At the Blue Note The Complete Recordings or again on Up For It.
Today’s musicians require a diverse skillset to play multiple genres. The New York Jazz Workshop offers many classes, intensives, private lessons in several boroughs: Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as Europe. Great musicianship knows no borders or genre.
I have been the staff writer for the New York Jazz Workshop School of Music blog in midtown Manhattan since 2014, and that has broadened my freelance writing skills considerably. In addition to writing artist bios, and articles of interest that pertain to the mission of the school, I have interviewed (in print on the site) legendary guitarist and NEA Jazz Master Pat Metheny, trumpeter Cuong Vu, and in 2015 embarked on producing a podcast for the school where I have achieved my dream and interviewed jazz giants such as Dave Liebman, Lenny White, rising talents like Thana Alexa, Logan Richardson, guitarist and bassist Brian Kastan, among others. I also work on SEO optimization for the blog. In 2015 I started my blog Jazz Views with CJ Shearn, and have written liner notes for 5 time Grammy winner and Oscar and Golden Globe nominee, Antonio Sanchez (for his latest recording “Channels of Energy”) and guitarist Gene Ess for his latest recording, scheduled to be released in November 2018.
My passion for jazz music is what drives me, which is an interest I’ve had since I can remember. I initially began writing about jazz at the age of 13 for my high school newspaper, and in my late teens contributed occasionally to jazzreview.com. In college I was member of the Harpur Jazz Project which brought jazz acts to campus. I’ve also contributed in the past to AllAboutJazz where I was mentored by John Kelman. I decided to focus on my passion for jazz music journalism after a job in the social services field as a caseworker went south, and as a person with a physical disability I work on going against the odds, living independently and having accomplished things people had said I’d never do.