Considering my dad owned and managed a radio station which fell under the "Middle of the Road" label, my childhood was filled with "Easy Listening" music. My first introduction to what I would consider Jazz was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Perhaps I was initially just fascinated by the lady dressed only in whipped cream on the cover of "Whipped Cream and Other Delights", but I grew to have a true appreciation for Alpert and his trumpet.
Teenage years came along and wooed me over to Rock & Roll, especially the “Progressive” or “Art” Rock groups such as Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP, etc. Jazz was pretty much forgotten until my 20s and 30s. None of my friends or relatives liked Jazz, but somehow, I learned of a few select Jazz artists and began a small CD collection which included performers like David Sanborn, Candy Dulfer, Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Joe Sample and Miles Davis to name a few.
The advent of XM Radio broadened my horizons and opened me up to many new artists...or at least new to me. While looking up specific songs I’ve heard on the radio I often spend time browsing, and occasionally downloading, other songs at iTunes. For that matter, I’ve even found a few by reading other blog posts!
My library has grown to include a wide variety: Acoustic Alchemy, Steve Laury, Stanley Jordan, Victor Wooten, Gato Barbiere, Down to the Bone, Bill Bruford and more. With a few exceptions (most notably George Benson) I prefer instrumental Jazz to that with vocals.
Here’s a clip of a song I heard earlier in the week on XM. The title is "Summer Madness" and can be found on Jerald Daemyon’s 1995 "Thinking About You album". Enjoy!
- Kelly
- Making my way through the ups and downs of life, holding fast to my favorite Bible verse: "For we walk by faith, not by sight." ~2 Corinthians 5:7. I began blogging in earnest at Yahoo360 on October 24, 2005. (briefly using LiveJournal and blog-city prior to that) In June 2008 I moved to Blogger. I'm now at WordPress where I hope to remain.
3 comments:
Kelly, I remember 'Yes' from high school. You, Rick Snell and Marian were the big fans. I tried, I really did, but I was so into the mellow stuff -- James Taylor, Carole King and (shutter) even John Denver! Far out!
I love Jazz too, especially Diana Krall.
I think I've told you this before, Bob, but one of the best concerts I ever saw was John Denver in Shreveport. You might have been at that concert... it was during college. Non-stop for 3 hours! Even when he gave his band a break he sat on a stool with his guitar and continued on.
Kelly -
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this post. The bit about Herb Alpert took me back to my own childhood and I had to write by own blogspot about it.
I have really eclectic music taste - we don't really cross on any artists but Sanborn and Miles Davis. My house had a lot of Al Hirt, Ray Charles and John Coltrane playing as we grew up... I got involved listening to Chuck Mangione (a native Rochesterian) while I lived in New York and binged on Arturo Sandoval while there, too. As I've aged, I've grown into the women of jazz...Krall and Eva Cassidy and have gone back to Nina Simone and Sarah.
Look for a cool old video I unearthed on Herb Alpert. Q
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