This past weekend was the dreaded “Spring Ahead,” and just as predictably as the time change itself were the anguished complaints of friends lamenting this ritual. But this time it’s different: the United States Senate just unanimously (by voice vote) passed a bill making Daylight Saving Time permanent. Will it become law? Time will tell (lame pun intended).
The way some of my friends talk, it’s a wonder humanity can survive this semi-annual trauma. They quote statistics about increased car crashes, strokes, heart attacks, etc. that occur after these changes. And parents with small children? It’s chaos for weeks as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives. Kids are waking up at all ridiculous hours and don’t get used to it until it’s almost time to change again. Some may not like this, but it’s never been a big deal to me. “Fall back” is always fun, but does anyone actually get more sleep? I usually just stay up an hour later…and each spring I too react with, “Oh no, that’s THIS weekend?” For “spring ahead,” I like to move my watch/clocks ahead around supper time, so I’m in the right frame of mind earlier. With our kids, we started transitioning gradually a few days early–maybe getting to bed 15 minutes earlier (later in the fall) each day as it approached. I don’t remember it being that big of a deal. Part of me wants to ask the complainers, “Don’t you ever have to get up an hour earlier for something?” or “Don’t you ever stay up an hour past your bedtime?” and “Is your life ruined for weeks after this happens?” If that’s the case, maybe you have some bigger issues you need to address… As far as daylight itself, therein lies the rub. The closer you live to the equator, the less variety there is in the length of your days. But where I live (only slightly north of the halfway point between equator and North Pole), there’s a relatively big change in light. It’s usually light about an hour before and after sunrise and sunset, respectively. With daylight saving time, it starts getting light by 5:00 a.m. around the first day of summer, and it doesn’t get dark until nearly 10:00 p.m. If we were to ditch daylight saving time, it would be light by 4:00 a.m.(!) and it would be getting dark by 9:00 p.m. How about the first day of winter? Around here, sunrise and sunset are approximately 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., respectively. If we stay on daylight saving time, it won’t start getting light until around 8:30 in the morning, ewell after most people are at work or school. On the plus side, the sun will be up till around suppertime, give or take. My dad, who was born in 1925, has never liked daylight saving time. To this day, he’ll sometimes say what time it “really” is, before lamenting how stupid all this is. Honestly, I don’t care that much either way. I’d prefer that it stay light later in the summer, and the winter…it’s dark and cold for months either way. I just take vitamin D and try to enjoy being cozy. Either way, no legislation can change the amount of daylight, or the hours in a day. But it’s also nice to argue about something as mundane as this for a change.
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Once upon a time, there was something called “rock ‘n’ roll.” It was new, radical music that scared the mainstream establishment. Over the course of roughly half a century, it shaped popular culture in America and beyond. Generations of kids grew up with it.
The whole rock ‘n; roll scene was, by nature, rebellious and dangerous. Parents disapproved, which meant teenagers were drawn to it. Those who performed it were seen as counter-cultural revolutionaries. At the very least, rock questioned the status quo, and at the most, completely rejected it. In 1965, The Animals set the tone when they sang, “It’s my life and I’ll do what I want.” Twenty Years later, Twisted Sister proclaimed, “We’re not gonna take it!” You don’t have to search far to find lyrics in any sub-genre of popular music about doing your own thing, etc. The name of the metal band Corrosion of Conformity seemed to embody the rock ‘n’ roll attitude. In the 2003 movie “School of Rock,” Jack Black’s character lectures his class, “There used to be a way to stick it to the man; it was called rock ‘n’ roll!” Are those in the modern music scene “sticking it to the man” today? One doesn’t have to search long to find that “sticking it to the man” today basically just means swearing a lot and being as vulgar as possible (look up the lyrics to any given rap song for evidence). Just when you thought the level of hedonism in popular music couldn’t possibly be outdone, a new rap or pop “artist” proves you wrong. Even Taylor Swift cusses like a sailor in some songs, and the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” uses words typically associated with the locker room, not the stage. But is any of this really going against the status quo? It’s not like this is the America of “Leave it to Beaver”--heck, it’s not even the America of “The Simpsons.” But today’s musical stars seem to still think they’re rebels. In 2021 the rock band Rise Against sang, “We are the nowhere generation/we are the kids that no one wants/we are a credible threat to the rules you set/a cause to be alarmed.” If you want to see Rise Against in concert, you need to be fully vaccinated, or provide proof of a negative Covid test within 72 hours of the show. Wow, they ARE a threat to the rules! Maybe they should change their name to “Bow Down To”... What about the classic rockers? Are they still sticking it to the man? Recently, 76-year-old Neil Young demanded that the music streaming service Spotify censor someone he doesn’t like (Joe Rogan’s podcast) or else! When they refused (who’s rebelling against whom here?), his music was removed from their platform. Those old hippies can no longer stream his music on Spotify, which I’m sure has them all in a quandary. Neil Young is well-known for writing the anti-establishment song “Ohio” about the Kent state shootings of war protesters in 1970. He also wrote, “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World,” which as a side note was used by the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. There’s so much I could say about all of this, but I’m sure you’re intelligent enough to appreciate the mountains of irony herein. But wait, there’s more! In late 2021, the popular rock band the Foo Fighters refused to play a show in Minneapolis. Why? Those rascals who run it refused to demand that everyone who attended get The Shot (or a negative Covid test). But obviously the Foo Fighters ARE indeed big rebels, because band leader Dave Grohl uses the F-word a LOT. As in basically every sentence he says. SO dangerous, so rebellious! The self-proclaimed punk rock band The Offspring fired their drummer in 2021. His offense? He didn’t receive the Covid shot. [Note: a vaccine is intended to prevent infection and transmission of an illness, and the Covid shot does neither, hence my terminology]. Why didn’t he get the shot? Did he want to kill people? No, it turns out his doctor told him not to because of a pre-existing medical condition. He also had Covid in 2020, giving him natural immunity. So obviously the Offspring are big fans of freedom and not letting anyone tell them what to do. I suppose you could say they encouraged rebellion–rebellion against a doctor’s advice! Way to be dangerous, boys. Actually, yes, forcing young people at little risk to Covid (but unusually high risk of adverse reaction to The Shot) to get The Shot is dangerous. So I guess they are being punk rock! And finally, the coup de grace: The rap-rock band Rage Against the Machine demands all of their concert attendees to get The Shot (or yet again a negative test). One of their lyrics reads, “F— you, I won’t do what you tell me!” Again, so much I could say… So, the rock ‘n’ rebels have become the very thing they made a lot of money singing against: pro-censorship authoritarians who will not tolerate dissent. Again I ask: are there any rebels left in rock? It could be argued that literally every Christian rock band ever has been rebellious, forsaking the popularity that could be theirs if only they wouldn’t sing about such non-rock ‘n’ roll topics as sin and forgiveness. Then there’s Eric Clapton. The guitar legend is now one part laughingstock, one part public enemy number one. Why? He’s spoken out against The Shot (which he received, by the way). Rolling Stone (wow, people still read that?!) also added the important–and I’m sure totally accurate–word “racist” to what Mr. Clapton’s been saying. I should add that Van Morrison (the guy who wrote “Brown-Eyed Girl”) has joined him in his criticism of The Machine. They even wrote an anti-lockdown song together. Maybe they could start a band called “Criticize the Machine”... At any rate, all of this makes them evil and racist, obviously. But I think I may have found the greatest rebel of them all. Johnny Rotten, the notorious frontman of the ground-breaking punk band The Sex Pistols, declared in 2020 that Donald Trump was the “only sensible choice” for president. You can’t get any more anti-establishment than that! So, while most rock bands have proven that they’ll do exactly what the authorities tell them (provided it’s authorities they like), there are still a few rockers who march to the beat of their own drums. Keep on rockin’ in the…free world? It was about a year ago when my supervisor was chatting with me and my co-worker. He said, “Did you hear they cancelled the NCAA [basketball] tournament?”
“March Madness? You’ve got to be kidding!” And thus, it began. You know the story, so I won’t put you through the torture. I’ll just share one recent anecdote: a couple weeks back, in the midst of a global dramatic drop in cases and deaths, a student of mine (I’m a full-time online teacher) asked how he was to complete an assignment. It required the student to go to a grocery store and answer several questions regarding where different types of food came from, how much they cost, how they were displayed in the store, etc. The student (a high school senior) said he wasn’t comfortable going to a grocery store, because he has young siblings “and we’re taking Covid really seriously.” Aside from shock and anger at those who have caused children like this to be afraid of going to the grocery store, it got me thinking: When will it end? At what point can we “go back to normal” and all that entails? From my observation, some people will NEVER go back. There are people who will ALWAYS wear masks, NEVER go to a concert/game/etc. again, and generally live out their days enslaved to FEAR. The media groomed us for this nearly from the beginning with the mantra, “The new normal.” That’s what this has been about from the very beginning: FEAR. I wrote a couple blogs about it nearly a year ago now. Aside from the obvious facts that told me that the vast majority of the population had nothing to fear from The Virus, I had recently experienced a miracle (truly a deliverance) from fear of sickness that plagued me from early in my childhood. That made the wanton barrage of FEAR that much more repugnant to me. So, we have an entire planet bound by FEAR. It’s been obvious to many for a long time that facts (“science and data”) actually have very little to do with public health policy. For example, here in Minnesota, the governor has decided that it’s safe to have outdoor gatherings of 150, but the ball stadiums can have 10,000. What data determined this? And why can’t I find scientific studies that prove cloth face masks are an effective tool against spreading this (or any other) virus? I could go on and on. While I think some politicians truly are drunk on the power they’ve gained through this, I think many (I don’t have any idea what fraction) simply have too much invested to go back now. Nobody wants to admit they’re wrong, so any steps toward loosening restrictions are done in tiny fits and starts. Have you ever heard a politician admit they were wrong? Me neither. So to say something like, “You can quit wearing masks, since they clearly have a negligible effect on the spread,” is unthinkable. Instead, they’ll do something like let kids start going back to school in person once in a while, but everyone has to take xyz precautions, because “experts” say we should (despite an appalling lack of that pesky “science and data” to back it up). Despite the best efforts of many in power, the statistics are leaking out about the collateral damage of the reaction to The Virus. The reaction (NOT The Virus) has killed far more teenagers through suicide than will ever die of the actual illness. Elderly people have been closed off from their families—how many have died of that, rather than The Virus? I just heard it reported that 2021 is expected to be a big year for divorces. Mental health issues have gone nuts across the board. I could go on and on. Faith comes by hearing, and when you daily ingest news reports that follow the template, “[Good news about The Virus] BUT [FEAR-filled worries of what might happen],” it’s no wonder that a nearly zero-risk kid is afraid to go to the grocery store. There are plenty of dangers out there, yet most people historically have lived their lives anyway: they ride in cars, fly in planes, eat foods with proven links to disease, etc. Why is this so different? By riding in a car, do you deny that car accidents are real? Yet in the past year, it seems that anyone who questions the talking points on The Virus is accused of pretending it’s not real, not loving their neighbor, killing Grandma, etc. I’ve heard that some people in the Twin Cities have yard signs that read, “In Fauci We Trust.” Aside from the obvious idolatry (there’s plenty to go around on all sides), the fact that these people will do whatever one man says is pretty scary to me. Apparently, until Fauci says it’s safe, these people will continue to hide away, stroking FEAR as if it’s a beloved pet. Nearly a year ago, someone in power at the time commented, “The cure can’t be worse than the disease.” Well…it was, it still is, and it will continue to be, as long as we allow it. What will it take? Apparently, the vaccine isn’t enough. Who holds the golden keys to freedom? Fauci? The CDC? The World Health Organization? CNN? If you’re waiting for them, I have bad news for you: It’s never coming. As long as you live your life by what the media, politicians, and “experts” tell you, you’re in for a miserable existence. A friend of mine is fond of the following story, and though it doesn’t mention FEAR specifically, it applies: One evening, an elderly Cherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealously, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. “The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one that you feed.” So, after my last series of blogs on jazz, I thought I should do two things: tell you why I like jazz, and give you a list of some jazz tunes to check to see if you like them.
In my last blog, I tried to answer the question, “Why don’t people like jazz?” So, why do I LIKE (love?) jazz? I could say a lot about this, but in a nutshell, I like jazz because it’s happy, energetic, interesting, beautiful, and cool. Here’s a list of FUN jazz tunes to get you started.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2oEmPP5dTM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AV6-qLjnvA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft8X0wXZOhY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIANyO3jdA8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqashW66D7o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtO651CqhGY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1OdKc5es5g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXq7eb_HJ7w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4rXEKtC8iY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8WAvTmJuKk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMTMp8EM1VI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EazJHMFvQ3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mJ4dpNal_k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFs7cyPmzxk PART V – Why Don’t People Like Jazz?
*The following was written while on vacation (when I write most of my blogs!), and is pretty much a stream-of-consciousness thing. Apologies for any inaccuracies. So...why isn’t jazz music more popular? Jazz is usually very fun and happy, and since most people like to have fun and enjoy being happy, it stands to reason that they should be able to enjoy this delightful art form as well. Jazz music from the intra-[world] war period actually bore a resemblance to what passes for pop music: the songs were simple and fun; jazz had a beat, and you could dance to it. Those are timeless qualities. And yet people just don’t like jazz—or at least, they don’t think they do. I’ve discussed a few ideas in previous posts, but simply put, the answer to why jazz isn’t more popular is: it’s not what the public wants right now. I guess that’s a “Duh” statement, but that’s the case. Tastes change; indeed, after ruling popular music for half a century, rock ‘n’ roll has lost its dominance. But, things tend to be cyclical, so there’s a reasonable chance that jazz, in some form, will make a resurgence (this actually happened for a year or two in the late ‘90s). In the meantime, there’s no shortage of wonderful jazz (both recorded and live) to listen to. Do you remember when, in my spine-tingling summary of jazz history (Part II), I mentioned how bebop saved jazz? It did, giving it an infinitely larger palette of harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic choices. It encouraged musicians to take risks; to avoid the same old, same old. That’s all important (and awesome), but as is so often the case, there’s a flip side: modern (post bebop) jazz tends to focus on what the player wants, not what the audience wants. Also, the complexity limits the number of players who can pull it off. It’s a lot easier to play rock, country, blues, etc., than jazz. And let’s be honest: most people don’t like bebop. This brings us to what is quite possibly the biggest reason jazz isn’t more popular: The average person doesn’t understand it. This doesn’t mean that people who don’t “get” jazz aren’t smart. But to go into a club and hear a band playing a hundred miles an hour with notes erupting with the ferocity of a nuclear explosion isn’t most people’s idea of a good time. It isn’t danceable, it’s hard to find a discernable melody, and it just sounds...weird. In fact, a style called “hard bop” developed in the ‘50s as a reaction to these very issues. Groups such as Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers slowed the music down, brought back a more bluesy feel, and emphasized a big beat (Art played his drums with a heavy feel, whacking his snare on the 2 & 4 beats, foreshadowing rock ‘n’ roll). People who don’t like jazz often complain, “It doesn’t make sense; it just seems like people are playing randomly.” Consider this: if someone speaks a language you don’t understand, it doesn’t make sense to you. It just seems like people are making random sounds (have you ever made fun of someone speaking a foreign language?). Why is this? It’s because you don’t understand the language. If you don’t understand the language (in this case, jazz), of course it won’t make sense to you. You have to learn it, which sounds like work. The good news is, the best way to learn jazz (as a listener, anyway) is to listen to it. Better yet, it’s fun and easy. Give it a try—you won’t regret it! PART IV – Of Venues and Attire
*The following was written while on vacation (when I write most of my blogs!), and is pretty much a stream-of-consciousness thing. Apologies for any inaccuracies. In Part III, I discussed what I call Academic Jazz, and its influence on the culture. In this part, I’ll look at the club circuit and concert hall jazz. Have they helped jazz or held it back? While getting to hear live jazz (whether in a club or auditorium) is awesome, there are some characteristics that are ensuring that they’ll stay that way. There aren’t a lot of jazz artists who can successfully tour concert venues, but there are a few. Of course, how many cities can draw a big enough audience for a show like this? Not many, obviously! Harry Connick, Jr. Isn't cheap (especially if he brings his big band). No, the club circuit is much more accessible, yet even then, do you live anywhere near a jazz club? Me neither. Most big cities have more than one jazz club, but the ones you hear about tend to be very swanky. Herein lies what I believe is a big reason why jazz isn’t more popular: it’s earned a reputation as being snooty. Whether it’s haughty musicians who look down their noses at other players (jazz is difficult to play well), or the rich, white listeners sipping their wine while enjoying the sophisticated life, most people consider jazz as something for...snooty, rich, white people. I have nothing against rich white people (though if they’re snooty, that’s a different story). But this perception has hurt it. And while I like the idea of dressing up out of respect for the music and its legacy, if jazz is ever to be appreciated by the common people (or hoi polloi if you’re snooty), I think some of this needs to change. Dressing up can be fun, but wearing costumes (fedoras and pinstripe suits or tuxes and evening gowns) makes jazz seem irrelevant. Remember, this music came out of Storyville (New Orlean’s red light district). On the other end of the spectrum, there are plenty of jazz clubs that are dives. For my money, those are way cooler. Most NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) clubs are dumps (Preservation Hall intentionally so). Jazz reflects all of life, so to keep it relegated to fancy venues just doesn’t work. The Essentially Ellington kids (see Part III) dress to the nines with suits and dresses; the Sant Andreu kids (usually) dress in T-shirts, jeans, and street shoes. If jazz were played by normal-looking people in normal, laid-back settings, I think that could go a long way toward making it more accessible. And by all means, it’s still fun to go the ritzy route, but ultimately that’s only a roadblock to wider acceptance. PART III – Jazz Goes to School
*The following was written while on vacation (when I write most of my blogs!), and is pretty much a stream-of-consciousness thing. Apologies for any inaccuracies. Jazz today tends to consist of what I’ll call “Academic Jazz” (high school jazz bands and college music programs), the club circuit, and concert hall jazz. Thank God for Academic Jazz. Most public high schools (and some middle schools) have a “jazz band.” This is probably the most effective means of exposing mass numbers of kids to music most would probably never hear otherwise. While most kids leave jazz behind with graduation, a few will fall in love with it and continue to play. Some of those will make it a career, with most who do going into teaching subsequent generations, and a tiny fragment will become working jazz musicians (some would say that term is an oxymoron!). As great as it is to have widespread jazz education, it is, for the most part, a cyclical institution, keeping enough interest to perpetuate itself, but having little effect on the music world as a whole. So, is there a way for Academic Jazz to have a broader impact? I don’t know, to be honest. But I have noticed some things of interest. In the U.S., there’s a wonderful program called “Essentially Ellington,” based out of Jazz at Lincoln Center. This program provides sheet music of (mostly) Duke Ellington music to music programs across the country (and even the world). The program also hosts an annual contest, attracting the best high school jazz bands from across the country. There are a bunch of videos of these bands on YouTube, and they’re very impressive. The bands perform entirely from memory, and they feature improvised solos that are often fantastic. It’s wonderful to see these kids playing jazz at such a high level. Another cool Academic Jazz program is the Big Friendly Jazz Orchestra, an all-girl jazz band from Japan. They too have some very impressive videos with precise ensemble playing (though the soloing lacks some originality). I need to note that the most recent videos I’ve seen posted from this group are at least five years old, so I don’t know if they’re still around. As great as these programs are, however, they pale in comparison to what I’m convinced is THE greatest jazz education program in the world: The Sant Andreu Jazz Band from Barcelona, Spain. The program was started in 2006 by Joan Chamorro, a professional jazz musician from Barcelona. Since its inception, Mr. Chamorro has deluged YouTube with a dearth of highly professional videos of his jazz kids (often accompanied by adult pros). While professional-quality videos don’t hurt, it’s these Catalan kids who have made Sant Andreu an international phenomenon. They range in age from kindergarten (seriously) to their early twenties, though most are teenagers. Many are multi-instrumentalists and several sing incredibly well. The ensemble playing is precise, but swinging and nuanced. And the solos…often times if I’m just listening (not watching), I can’t differentiate between the kids and the pros. The American kids (Essentially Ellington) play great, but they tend to take a more showy, competitive approach. It’s the “I can play higher, louder, and faster than you” mindset. In contrast, the Sant Andreu kids don’t play like they’re trying to show off. Yet, their solos are better, conveying the tone, phrasing, style, and overall musicality that better serves the music. This can be achieved only by completely immersing themselves in jazz. Okay, I’ve really digressed here! Let’s look at the club circuit and concert hall jazz next. PART II – The Jazz Revolution
*The following was written while on vacation (when I write most of my blogs!), and is pretty much a stream-of-consciousness thing. Apologies for any inaccuracies. During WWII, some big band musicians grew weary with the ensemble-centric, formalized organization that the big bands were. At one NYC dive, a revolution started. Minton’s Playhouse offered a jam session Monday nights (the union prohibited this, but the club’s owner protected the players), with the added incentive of free food. It was in these jam sessions that a core of rebellious jazz men found a new way to play jazz that came to be known as bebop. Thelonious Monk on piano, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Kenny Clarke on drums, and the tortured genius of the alto saxophone, Charlie “Bird” Parker, took solo improvisation to a new level. The music was fast, chaotic, and more aggressive than what had come before. After the war, this new approach rocked the jazz world. And it never recovered. I think this was jazz’s BC/AD moment. Almost overnight, big bands became passé, and a generation of brash hipsters replaced swing era icons as the new vanguard. Sixty-five years later, the aging founder of a big band I played in commented to the crowd between songs, “I never did like that bebop stuff. Good technicians, I guess.” While many believed (and some still do) that bebop killed jazz, I argue the opposite. If not for the limitless palette offered by the innovations of bop, jazz likely would’ve become little more than a pleasant bit of nostalgia; a footnote in musical history. On the negative side, one characteristic of be-bop was drug use (sound familiar?). young musicians idolized Charlie Parker, hoping to play like him, Sadly, they also emulated his drug use, as heroin became the drug of choice. It wasn’t until the clean-living trumpeter Clifford Brown proved that virtuosity was possible without drugs that it started to lose its grip. Jazz underwent several other innovations in the coming years, including “cool” jazz in the late ‘40s, hard bop, modal, and free jazz in the ‘50s, and finally fusion (of rock and jazz) in the ‘60s. Today, jazz musicians have over a century of styles to glean from in their approach to “American’s classical music,” as jazz is sometimes called. With so much to offer, one might think jazz would be more popular than it is, but it remains a fairly obscure genre. Why? I have some thoughts on this that I’ll share in my next installment. PART I – A Little Background
*The following was written while on vacation (when I write most of my blogs!), and is pretty much a stream-of-consciousness thing. Apologies for any inaccuracies. If you’ll excuse me, I need to start with a quick history lesson. In the early years of the twentieth century, New Orleans was a melting pot, not just for cultures, but for music. Orchestral music from Europe, and styles originating from Africa including field hollers/blues and gospel, percolated with the current American trends of marching bands and ragtime to form an exciting new concoction we know as jazz. The first recordings of this new music were made in 1917 by “The Original Dixieland Jazz Band.” The fact that a group of white men made the first recordings of music that was largely the creation of African Americans seems like another slap in the face to black people, until you learn that Freddie Keppard had the opportunity to record first, but declined, worried that other cornetists would steal his licks. The songs recorded by the ODJB sound downright corny today. Silly musical effects and simplicity reveal what jazz primarily was in the early years; a novelty. Few considered it legitimate music, and its association with saloons and brothels didn’t help its reputation rise above the scandalous. The musical genius of New Orleans native Louis Armstrong went a long way toward the maturation of jazz during its formative years during the 1920s. Although “Jelly Roll” Morton is often credited being the first to write down jazz in the 1910s, it wasn’t until ensembles started to grow in the late 20s that written arrangements became the norm. Then, in August, 1935, everything changed. That was when Benny Goodman and his orchestra premiered at the Palamor Ballroom in Los Angeles. The band had just completed a disastrous cross-country tour and were on the verge of hanging it up when everything exploded at the Palamor. Unbeknownst to Benny, West Coast teenagers had been electrified by his band’s hot sound on the “Let’s Dance” radio broadcasts on NBC radio. The band was on late night in New York, but with the time change, it was prime time out west, and the kids ate it up. Thus began the Swing Era, when big band jazz was THE popular music in America. Benny opened the door for Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller, The Dorsey Brothers, Woody Herman, and many more to make jazz the music of a generation. This is known as “The Greatest Generation,” and in my opinion they had the greatest music. Sadly, it all came to a sudden and unceremonious halt at the close of 1946. Most of those returning servicemen had married and got to work having kids and generally being grownups. No more time for dancing and buying big band records. People like Mitch Miller at Columbia Records helped ensure that the next decade of popular music would be an artistic wasteland, and jazz was left out in the cold. However, something had happened that ensured jazz would live forever. I grew up loving my country. I enjoyed reading books about the Founding Fathers and other great American heroes. How accurate they were, I don’t know. I’m sure there was a fair share of legend (i.e. George Washington and the cherry tree), but it was the spirit of them that I remember. Stories of brave men and women who faced daunting circumstances with courage and resolve, oblivious to their own safety and security, captured my imagination and made me feel proud to be an American.
In public school (where I checked many of those books out of the library) we sang patriotic songs in music class and recited the Pledge of Allegiance regularly. National holidays, such as Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, further stirred my patriotism. And now? It’s natural for people to grow pessimistic and cynical as they grow older, and despite any desire to not be a grumpy old guy, I find myself increasingly following that pattern. I’ve watched politicians let me down—nothing new about that! I’ve learned that those heroes of the past were, at best, flawed humans, and at worst, total losers. I’ve learned more sordid facts about our national past than I care to know. Yet through it all, we’ve been a country that has tried really hard to get it right. We fought our bloodiest war in part to put an end to the scourge of slavery. Those flawed leaders have struggled to right societal wrongs. Our system of government has yet to be improved upon by anyone this side of Heaven. And the American people have remained fundamentally decent. Willing to fight, sacrifice, and suffer for what we believe is right; always willing to lend a hand to those in need. The result has been a spectacular run of peace and prosperity, where even those in poverty are considered rich by the standards of much of the rest of the planet. But sadly, human nature makes it hard to maintain those high standards in the midst of comfort. There’s been an undeniable deterioration of our national character about which one could write volumes. But nothing has dramatized this as much as the early months of the year 2020. After vague reports of a mysterious illness in China, it’s as if one day the media moguls of America got together and said, “This is our new crisis. Whip the people into a frenzy of fear! Pound it into them around the clock.” Suddenly, we found ourselves inundated by ominous reports of a coming tsunami of destruction. How did we respond? We panicked. Running for cover as if a proverbial mass shooter was on the loose, we cowered in our homes, scared to death of The Virus. Without question and without hesitation, we surrendered our God-given rights. Freedom of Assembly? Naw, we don’t need it. Liberty? An unnecessary luxury. Despite relying on projections of deaths caused by The Virus that were so flawed as to be laughable, we continued to defer to the “experts,” happily surrendering the most prosperous economy in American history to the throes of a Depression in mere days. If anyone dare question this reaction, we were quick to pounce on them, accusing them of not caring about lives. “People are gonna die!” We screamed, red in the face. “If we save just one life, it’s worth it,” we chanted in monotonous repetition. Imagine if you will, if our forerunners acted like we are today. The Pilgrims, desiring a life where they were free to worship and live as they pleased, when confronted with the perils of a transatlantic voyage in the early 1600s, would declare, “It’s just too dangerous. People are gonna die if we do this!” If any suggested doing it anyway, they’d be shamed with, “How many dead pilgrims are you okay with?” John Adams, standing up before the Continental Congress, would’ve given a speech something like this: “Gentlemen, while the destruction of our liberties by the King are terrible, and we groan under this oppression, yearning to live free, many people will die if we oppose the British. They’ve already sent thousands of troops over here, and they have a whole fleet in New York Harbor! There may well be innocent civilians who lose their lives! And, were we so audacious as to declare independence, those of us in this very chamber would be wanted for treason and executed if caught. It’s just not worth it! In the interest of public safety and security, I must implore you to stay home, follow orders, and stay safe.” Harriet Tubman, after alighting on the idea of smuggling Southern slaves to freedom in the North, would suffer PTSD as a result of even entertaining the thought of what might happen were she, or those she helped, to be caught. “It’s just not worth it,” she’d cry. “People may suffer and even die if I go through with this!” At least slaves were safe and taken care of on the plantations, provided they mind their manners and do what the master says. Woodrow Wilson, when confronted with the sinking of the Lusitania and the discovery of the Zimmerman Telegram, would adjust his glasses and speak to the American People: “I know many of you are outraged by these German atrocities; much of France lies in ruins; and an entire generation of young men from our allies have perished; but at this time our troops need to stay on lockdown, because there’s a global pandemic! Were it not for the Spanish Flu, we’d rush to the aid of our friends, but it’s just too risky. We need to slow the spread, or people will die!” Franklin Delano Roosevelt, speaking to Congress the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, would grip the podium and declare: “Yesterday--December 7th, 1941--a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan….there’s no doubt that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. So with the input of qualified experts, I’m instituting a national plan to sandbag all our residences. We will be passing out sandbags, sand, and shovels. The military will be dispatched to help make your homes safe from enemy attacks. There are some who say we must fight the Japanese and Germans, but a lotof people would die, and that’s unacceptable. It’s better to run and save just one life, than fight back and have a bunch of our precious people die!” What would these and others who came before us think if they saw us now? |
AuthorI've included some old blogs along with the new. Should you ever find yourself suffering from insomnia, this is the place for you! That's as poetic as I get... Archives
March 2021
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