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This is the Jazz Archive Page
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Archive for the 'Jazz' Category
Contents
Posts
Blog about Living in New Orleans
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009Check out the Toulouse Blog about life in New Orleans.
Here’s an excerpt of what he had to say approaching the Mardi Gras…
When one is called to Carnival, the first question will always be: what do I wear?
…You must simply find or make a mask, one that calls you to wear it, that dictates the costume that accompanies it, that leads you to surrender yourself to the spirit of the mask.
It need not even be a mask. My “mask” this year is a tri-corner, Asian-styled hat. I do not have the costume, but I already see the costume. When you can see the character in the object, when you can see yourself in the character, you will have found the one.
Without that mask, you can only be The Tourist. We see them at Carnival common as sparrows, and the camera is their mask. They come, take Carnival’s blurry picture and go home with fabulous hangovers… If you come do not choose to be The Tourist. Carnival is an occasion to be the spirit you know inside you. So take on your mask,… and enter through the gate The Tourists never pass, down the carriageway that opens into the courtyard at the heart of Carnival. It is filled with masks and spirits.
If reading the Toulouse blog gets you in the New Orleans mood, head on over to Home of the Groove to listen to some New Orleans music – (including some songs typically played in the Mardi Gras parade). You’ll feel like you’re in the heart of New Orleans. Bon voyage!
Mama Lisa
It’s Lovely Weather for a Sleigh Ride Together – Jazz Animation
Saturday, December 13th, 2008Elle Fitzgerald sings in this wonderful winter animation!
RIP Miriam Makeba – She Was a Wonderful South African Singer
Thursday, November 13th, 2008Miriam Makeba sadly passed away this month. She was 76 years old.
Makeba was a wonderful singer from South Africa. She was born in Johannesburg in 1932. She started singing in a choir as a child and by the age of 22 she was a professional singer.
In 1959, she appeared in the anti-apartheid film Come Back, Africa. That launched her career as an international singer.
Makeba sang many different types of songs. Some of her most interesting music focused on Xhosa and Zulu songs.
Here you can hear her singing one of her most popular songs called The Click Song. It’s traditionally sung in parts of South Africa when people get married.
(I don’t know how long the YouTube video will remain embedded, please let me know if you see the video as a broken link. If it is, go out and find a recording – it’s well worth it!)
-Mama Lisa
How Louis Armstrong Started Playing the Trumpet as Teen
Thursday, September 18th, 2008The story behind how Louis Armstrong starting playing the trumpet is interesting. When he was a teenager, one New Year’s Eve, he shot a gun off into the air. Because of that incident he was arrested and sent to reform school at the New Orleans Colored Waif’s Home. There he learnt to play the cornet and joined the school’s band. He went on to become one of the world’s best trumpet players. It’s interesting how an incident that’s so seemingly negative, could turn out to have such great consequences!
Radio Station on the Internet that plays Jazz
Friday, August 22nd, 2008I recently discovered KUVO Jazz 89 where you can hear great music right on the internet. Check it out if you like Jazz and the Blues!
Mama Lisa
Teaching Children Who Are Learning an Instrument about What Can Be Played on That Instrument
Wednesday, June 6th, 2007When I was in elementary band, way back when, I started on the clarinet. I was never truly happy with it and I always wanted to play the saxophone. I did end up switching to the sax within a couple of years of starting an instrument.
Now I’m older, and I’ve heard enough great music to know what the clarinet is capable of. I wish that my band teacher had devoted a lesson to teaching us about our particular instruments. If he had spent time playing Benny Goodman tunes and perhaps Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, I would have understood right away what beautiful music the clarinet was capable of – in both genres – Jazz and Classical music.
If a student is playing the trumpet, they should be exposed to the music of Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and perhaps some trumpet concertos early on.
In band we played When the Saints Go Marching In. I found the arrangement to be boring. If someone had played one of Louis Armstrong’s renditions of the same piece, it would have inspired me. I would have seen that the slow version I was playing could lead to something more lively and jazzier as I gained more experience.
I have a feeling that many young children who take band in schools can study an instrument for years without ever really hearing it played by the masters. Of course, kids have to start with the simpler stuff, but they should be exposed to the masterpieces so they know the payoff if they stick with it.
Just some food for thought for band teachers.
I ended up very happy with the saxophone. Now as an adult, I’m considering taking up clarinet lessons when both of my children are in school full time. So I’ll be making a full circle!
-Lisa
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