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Who Moved My Jazz?
| There's nothing like listening to a great jazz cd... or even better, a great jazz album - reading the cover notes of course. By now you know some of my favorites; Miles, Monk, Diz, Bird, Sarah, Cannonball, Ella. You get the picture! Vintage great jazz transports you to another place and time through the power of the imagination; the power of the music. However; there is an exhilaration one derives from listening to live jazz that is just shy of inexplicable. It's the difference between watching the NBA playoffs on television and sitting in the first row, center court. Both promise excitement but you’re much more likely to lose your voice watching the game in the stands with thousands of other fans. I started a live jazz show called Miles Jaye Jazz Cafe down in Orlando, Florida. I wanted a set where I could do what I do; Play! piano, upright bass, electric violin, flute, guitar and whatever else I felt like playing on any given night. Tracks are wack and I had been tired of that vibe for years. Track gigs are just a cheap out for promoters and nothing more. Well, perhaps a quick payday for R&B cats like me whose phones haven't been ringing off the hook. I've always been just as much jazz as R&B but that's way too complicated for a simplistic, cookie cutter industry under the siege of new technology and the weight of its own obesity. So; hungry for someplace for cats to bring their axes and blow, I started the MJ Jazz Cafe set. It quickly caught on to other locations such as South Beach, Tampa and Jacksonville, with lots of requests for other markets like Memphis, Atlanta, Dallas and Denver; even London, England. Well it didn't take long before it occurred to me that I might be on to something. "Something like this was long over due" people would tell me. "This town used to have something like this but it's been a while." Here's the deal! Live jazz is stimulating. Live jazz music is creating heat on the spot... raising the room temperature with lines, harmonies, rhythms and dynamics. I'm talking about making music on the spot. Not background music; not smooth - hot and in your face with attitude. Smooth can be like watching an NBA game with no fast breaks and reverse jam finishes - just jumpers. All the major cities used to be alive with venues that showcased entertainment featuring the baddest jazz cats around bringing the kind of heat that leaves you sweating like you've been sampling the jalapeno platter. Give me a tenor, trumpet, piano, bass, drums and maybe a good singer - a really good singer and I'll send you home humming. Add a great dinner menu and I expect to see you back every week. The question I'm left with is this: Who moved my jazz? Why is it so difficult to find live jazz anymore? Why have we starved jazz establishments out of business with the exception of the landmark venues with twenty or more years of history? E-mail me back on this one at jazzcafelive@milesjaye.com. Article also published in Black Men's Magazine Nov/Dec 2005 |
