Jason Moran on Broadway Boogie Woogie, by Piet Mondrian.
Dear Listeners,
I have been wanting to talk to you about jazz. As in music. I don't know about jazz, but I know what I like, and it often isn't jazz. But, that isn't talking about jazz at all. What I wanted to write you about is about what I do like about jazz. Trying to keep to the parts I like is really what the Dodo is all about.
Here are three, really stellar jazz songs that I love:
La Llorona, Charles Lloyd and the Marvels
Pedal Up, Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Waltz for Hal Willner, Bill Frisell
Great, you say, but, let's have some detail, some specificity, some something! Why do I like these three jazz songs? It came to me when listening to a jazz recording like this one; what I love about jazz is the moment, the light, the flash of recognition, and the perquisite ambiguity. It comes out of a (clear blue) fog: Aha! I know this!
It can be more indistinct even than that; it's the recognition of something, some note, some strain, of familiarity. A memory, a shape, a ghost, a form, a dried leaf skeleton. That's what I like about jazz music, the shadows and wisps.
PS
If you are like me, it might be a little tricky to love these songs on the first listen. Maybe come back to them again, a second and third time, and see if they don't grow on you a little.
