And all that jazz
Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to find my way to a jazz performance by some fairly well-known musicians at the Oude Libertas in Stellenbosch. The show was called “Jazz Jol” – slightly uninspiring, but hey, whatever works for you.
Muso’s sharing the stage for the evening were renowned saxophonist Shannon Mowday, pianist Melissa van der Spuy and drummer Kevin Gibson. Bass was reserved for Schalk Joubert. Unfortunately Mr Joubert was off in Australia, touring with Michelle Shocked. Lucky for him, unfortunate for us. His stand-in (whose name off course has slipped my mind since the performance) did a great job in spite of the big shoes he had to fill.
As some of you might know, the Oude Libertas amphitheatre is probably one of the best outdoor venues for music when it comes to the setting and atmosphere. On an accoustic level I’ve never been able to find fault either, but I guess that also depends on the technical team. The only hinderance at the theatre still remains the picnic-goers – who by 18:30 when the show starts are already well on their way and in an extremely celebratory mood. Unfortunately this is always somewhat distracting especially if one is fairly new to jazz and still soaking up the unique sound.
I’ll be first to admit that I’m no jazz expert. I do suspect jazz is, much like whiskey and blues, an acquired taste. Both have been well acquired by now and I suspect jazz might be next on the list. Kind of ironic when, if you look back in history, it becomes apparent that jazz and blues are actually very closely related and were both born in the south in the early 1900’s.
Blues guru BB King had the following to say about their close development: “Jazz is the big brother of the blues. If a guy’s playing blues like we play, he’s in high school. When he starts playing jazz it’s like going on to college, to a school of higher learning.”
Not sure if I’m convinced about jazz’s “superiority” over blues, but I do agree that there might be a bit more skill involved when it comes to jazz. In my modest opinion jazz seems to be the most plyable, unfixed and experimental music style that exist (she says, stating the obvious …) and the various jazz styles alone are quite impressive.
If you want to know more about jazz, here’s a more thorough history from wikipedia.
