|
Bunny M." is a sixteen year old Dallas resident who plays drums, piano
and clarinet. Her passion for jazz and the challenges she faces as
a youthful fan of it is the focus of her Jerry Jazz Musician column, "Accent
on Youth."
Listen to Dinah Washington sing Accent On Youth 
___________________________
Accent on Youth
by
Bunny M.
*
Questions and Answers, Volume II
(Editors Note: The following conversation between Bunny M. and her friends
Michelle and Louis was transcribed by Bunny. Because the vernacular is so
essential to fully appreciate this conversation, only minor editing was
done).
In
Questions
and Answers Volume I, I interviewed fellow young fans of jazz in an attempt
to gain valuable insight into the ideas and opinions of other young people
involved with jazz, while sharing thought-provoking and enjoyable conversation.
This month, the tables have been turned. I present a transcribed, November
16, 2003 conversation with my two childhood friends, Michelle Doan and her
brother Louis -- nineteen and seventeen, respectively -- neither of whom
have had any experience with jazz. Michelle is a sophomore at the University
of Texas at Dallas, majoring in Business Administration. Louis is a high
school senior who plans on going into Pre-Med at the University of Texas
at Austin after graduating this year.
Bunny If you could tell me guys, what kind
of music do you guys listen to and enjoy?
Michelle Mostly I listen to, I guess --
what, pop and hip hop -- kind of like the popular stuff of today, you know,
stuff you'd hear in the clubs, like trance and stuff, yeah, that's me. Other
than tha t-- I mean, I'll listen to anything you know, but that's the stuff
I mostly listen to.
Bunny Do you have any favorite artists or
songs?
Michelle Favorite songs, I don't know, because
there's so many different types of music, it's hard to pick a favorite song.
I like that teenybopper stuff like Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Christina
Aguilera, you know, that's the kind of stuff I like.
Louis I like alternative I guess. Most of
the stuff -- like the dance and trance stuff that Michelle listens to, I
like too. And--
Michelle You're forced to-- in the car--
<<laughs>>
Louis Yeah -- and just pretty much anything
I guess.
Bunny What are your favorite artists?
Louis There's one I like -- I like Red Hot
Chili Peppers, they're good. And Seether, and Hoobastank --
Bunny Who?
Louis Seether, and Hoobastank
Bunny Oh -- I haven't heard of that one.
Michelle Me neither.
Bunny And what kind of music do your friends
listen to -- more of the same kind of thing, or a little bit different --
Michelle Yes my friends and I listen to
the same music. That is how we get along.
<<laughter>>
Bunny Yeah, that's a pretty good bond there.
Louis Alternative, yeah, but one of my friends
he's really interested in jazz -- he loves jazz. And that's pretty much all
he listens to.
Bunny What kind of jazz does he listen to?
Louis He likes blues mostly -- and classical
-- not really.
Bunny Yeah, there's a lot of different styles
-- well that's cool. And, growing up around the house, what kind of
music did you hear -- what kind of music do your parents listen to?
Michelle Well my parents don't listen to
music much like -- our house is pretty quiet, but they listen to, like old-people
Vietnamese music, you know. But when we're in the car with them, they listen
to what we listen to.
Bunny When you hear the word "jazz," what
comes to mind? What do you think of or associate with jazz?
Louis Well now I'd probably think about my
friend because he talks about it a lot. I guess the saxophone, because
he's in band and plays the saxophone, so, saxophone, blues, just like --
well jazz was really popular in the '20s right? So, probably around
that too.
Michelle Do I have to answer -- I don't
know! Nothing really comes to mind. Well I guess -- oh okay: when I think
of jazz, the thing I think about is like, you know in the movies how people
go to jazz -- like a bar or club, I don't know what to call it, you know
-- and they just sit and have a cocktail or something with their friends,
that's what I think of. I don't really listen to jazz or anything, so nothing
really comes to mind.
Bunny Okay, so now -- we'll listen to a few
pieces -- five to be exact -- and kind of get a little feel for the different
spectrum of jazz. Of course, there's just so many facets -- I mean, the history
of jazz goes back over one hundred years, and it's hard to cram that into
just five songs and get everything covered, so, you know, this isn't a "Best
of Jazz" or "Most Popular" or anything like that. It's just a couple of songs
that, I feel, demonstrate kind of what jazz is about.
| 1.
"Ole
Miss Blues" by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong is, basically, the Godfather of Jazz -- he did it all; he
wrote the book on it. This song depicts a bit of the early side of jazz --
the Dixieland period which took place around the '20s, associated with jazz,
speakeasies, etc.
Pretty wild stuff -- so what did you guys think about that? Did you like
that, or -- what did you think?
Louis I thought the bass was -- yeah, that
solo was pretty good. And, I'm pretty sure there's some story behind it?
Bunny Yeah, I'm not really sure of the story
-- who wrote it and all that -- I'm sure it sprang up around the river --
the Mississippi River, because jazz kind of sprung up around the river in
those days, and that's where Louis Armstrong and all those guys got their
start. How about you, Michelle, did you have any favorite element of the
song? |
Ole
Miss Blues |
Michelle Well favorite, I don't know about
that but -- well, 'cause I never listen to this kind of stuff, and I don't
play any instrument and I'm not very artsy, so I guess I have no appreciation
for that kind of stuff -- you know, just being honest. But, I was a little
surprised that there was a lot of drums -- I was kind of surprised, I didn't
know there was that much drumming in it.
Bunny Do you think you would consider listening
to more of that style of music, or would you just kind of "eh, whatever"?
Michelle No, not really, because -- like
I said, we go to the clubs a lot and we play music to dance and just have
fun, and so, it's not something that I would actually like, jam to in the
car. Like music -- I like to listen to music that I can sing, so I can sing
along you know, and I think lyrics also, kind of go with how you feel. Like
if you're having a bad day, you're gonna listen to some sad angry song, something
like that. But, no, I don't think I'm gonna be listening to that kind of
stuff on my own free will. <<laughs>>
Louis Well, I've listened to stuff like this
before, but that's when I had some relationship to it, back in band, so--
Bunny You were in band?
Louis Yeah, but not very long. I played the
trombone.
Bunny Cool!
Louis Yeah, and there was trombone in the
jazz, so --
Michelle There's some piano isn't there?
Bunny Yeah -- some piano in jazz. Traditional
jazz is, you know, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, that sort of thing... So
-- what do you think of that style in general?
Louis It's relaxing -- it's probably something
I'd put on like if I was having my in-laws over.
<<laughter>>
Bunny Oh that's beautiful! I love that.
Koko |
2.
"Koko"
by Charlie Parker
The Bop era, which started in the early 1940s, was headed by such big figures
as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Dizzy, a trumpet player of remarkable
skill, has inspired countless musicians in jazz and beyond. Charlie Parker
had similar far-reaching influence on the saxophone, and virtually
single-handedly gave birth to the Bop era with "Koko".
The song that started that whole era -- and it was an interesting phenomenon
because in that point in history there was a ban on recording music for a
couple of years, and so as a result musicians were coming up with all these
things but it had to stay underground and the mass public couldn't hear about
it.
Louis When was this?
Bunny Ah, around '41.
Louis So, this is about -- before World War
II. They didn't really switch too much, it was just mainly sax right? |
Bunny It was all sax, yeah -- what'd you think
about that sax?
Louis It sounds pretty hard to play -- I
wouldn't want to try that -- it would probably take me a while. It sounded
interesting. I tried to see if there was a pattern. Did he just make it up?
Bunny Yeah, that's the interesting thing about
bop is that -- of course you had some that composed their original tunes,
but, a lot of the big bop thing was, you take songs that were already popular
standards, and take the harmonic changes and improvise new songs on top of
them. So there was a lot of that harmonic invention, improvisation, that
sort of thing on popular songs.
Michelle Well compared to the first one,
I didn't really like it as much because -- I mean the saxophone playing was
good, but it didn't seem -- like to me, the whole song didn't really seem
to go together, like fit with one piece. I felt like the saxophone was doing
its own thing and then, in the background, just playing another thing, you
know.
Bunny So compared to the first song, do you
like one better?
Michelle I liked the first one better. I
mean, the first one, it just sounds like the whole song "goes", you know,
and the second one was, I felt like it was really -- not "choppy," but, it
didn't really flow like a song would.
3.
"Don't Be That Way " by Ella Fitzgerald.
Bunny Going into the interesting phase in
music history when jazz and pop music merged, giving us such great figures
as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, etc. Ella Fitzgerald was one of the four
great ladies in jazz vocals that are considered to be the "Final Word" on
how it's done: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, and Sarah Vaughan.
If Ella batted like she swings on "Don't Be That Way" -- a big band tune
originally made big by Benny Goodman back in the '30s -- she'd take the World
Series by storm.
That was actually the first song I learned -- to do the drumming on. [My
drumming lessons] are in a music store, and there's a lot of rock activity
going on, and we were blasting this thing on the CD player -- filled the
store -- and people coming down the hallway would later say, "hey what's
that music" you know -- these rock people digging this -- that's cool.
Michelle I think this song has made me realize
that, I'm not a big fan of just instrumental -- I need voice to kind of,
keep me awake in the song, you know. I think with a song with lyrics, it
just -- I can understand the song more, the feeling and what's going on.
I liked this song. I liked the singing -- I think -- I'm not like, "Oooh",
anything special about the words, but I guess -- |
Don't Be That Way |
Bunny It gets the job done.
Michelle Yeah. But it's always like, if
you think about lyrics, they're basically all the same subject -- some kind
of love or, you know, stuff like that. So, even back then --
Bunny Times haven't changed. The thing I really
like about these words is that, they're very simple --
Michelle Yeah.
Bunny But they manage to say a lot -- I mean,
"Don't cry, don't be that way" -- it's simple.
Michelle But it gets the point across.
Louis I can only think of the movie
Chicago. Last year when I was in Drama, we had to pick a song,
and sort of act it out -- it was a project. I thought Drama was a waste of
time, but you had to do it -- that or Art, and I'm not too good at drawing
stuff. We picked "All That Jazz" from Chicago -- it was either that
or The Sound of Music --
Bunny Yeah, ["All That Jazz"] would be the
better choice there.
<<laughter>>
Louis So yeah, ["Don't be That Way"] has
a lot more simple lyrics than "All That Jazz" -- I mean, "All That Jazz"
is a little -- I don't really know the lyrics to it but I can't really understand
it as well as this one.
Bunny I'm not too familiar with the lyrics
of that one either, but I thought it was pretty complex as well.
Charade
*
Little
Girl
|
4.
"Charade"
by Bobby Darin and
"Little
Girl" by Vic Damone
Bobby Darin, another jazz-pop figure of the Sinatra mold -- some say even
better than Sinatra in terms of sheer swinging energy -- was an adamant fan
of the Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer songwriting team. (They could write songs
for me every day of the week and twice on Sunday. I've never heard anything
that they've done that falls short of sensational). They produced,
among other classics, the haunting "Charade," the theme of the 1963 movie
of the same title starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. A lovely standard
featuring Mercer's enigmatic lyrics, "Charade" is normally done as a waltz,
very slow, very somber. Bobby Darin changed that a little...
Vic Damone, a pop singer who could be better known in consideration of his
incredible talents, who at 75 is still swingin' it, recorded "Little Girl"
in May of 1962 in the early days of his career as a Vegas lounge singer.
The song may be addressed to a "little girl" but in it Damone shows off an
enviably powerful (and decidedly un-little) set of pipes, coupled with tasteful
phrasing and voicing.
Bunny That was all crammed into less than
two minutes -- a minute and 40-some seconds-- pretty action-packed, big departure
from what you usually hear in one's rendition of "Charade."
Louis I like, and appreciate the bass. If
you go to a poetry club, you hear bass or some sort of drum. I listened to
the singing and the melody, but right after that I listened to the bass the
entire time. I just appreciate the bass more.
Bunny There's a lot of good bass stuff in
there -- if you listen to it on headphones you hear a lot of cool stuff in
the background -- the bass, even in the horns as well -- and -- I'm not sure
who the bass player is on that but kudos for him for putting all that down. |
Louis I really don't hate any type of music,
I can listen to anything -- well, almost anything.
Michelle There's an exception to every rule.
Overall, I liked it. Nothing really sticks out in my mind that's super great
or super bad about it. I don't really listen to jazz, so I don't really
know what to listen for, but I like it. I think the singing -- I actually
like it compared to the -- you know today's male singing that's either like
really angry and yelling or screaming or really "oh, I love you" -- I mean,
oh gosh, please, you know. I'm pretty surprised that, these people back then
had really good voices, you know -- not that people these days don't have
good voices but it's -- sometimes you're like "how did they get to sing?"
Bunny The quality is not necessarily consistent
these days --
Michelle Right. But, so far, [Ella Fitzgerald]
-- I think their voices are actually pretty good.
Bunny [After "Little Girl"] Two minutes on
the dot. That's one of my favorite songs of all time -- I listen to it all
the time. It's pretty unhealthy.
Michelle Out of all the songs that we've
listened to, I liked this song the best. It's just really simple, and the
music is simple too -- it's not too crazy and I'm all "what's going on here?"
This is gonna sound kind of weird, but this song reminds me of
me.
<<laughter>>
Bunny Yeah, I was thinking the same thing
about me too.
Michelle It's like, some guy singing it
to you, "awww, little girl . . . " you know.
Bunny It's cute -- I mean, the words are not
really serious, they're just fun, silly and cute.
Louis Yeah, it's a good song.
Michelle You can't really relate --
Bunny <<laughs>> Yeah really.
Louis Yeah, anyway . . . I'm wondering, about
how short it is -- like today's songs, three minutes is short, and four mnutes
is about average.
Bunny Songs are getting longer these days,
I think --
Louis Well, I think it's just repeating a
chorus over and over. He only repeats it once -- technically he repeates
it twice -- the second time he changes it --
Bunny It modulates up --
Louis I guess that really keeps it, you know,
fresh, rather than just repeating verse, chorus, verse, chorus three more
times.
Bunny The form is a little bit different in
music today. The popular song form is, you have two, you know, verses and
then a chorus and another verse -- AABA. These days it's a little bit different,
you have more repetition and different parts, and that would make for a longer
song.
Louis And it wouldn't necessarily be better,
it would just be longer.
Bunny Yeah. In my opinion, the older songs
did the same thing in less time, a little more efficient.
Michelle Yeah.
Bunny What'd you think of the singing?
Louis I usually like singing I can relate
to --
Bunny Yeah it would be hard [for you] to relate
to "little girl" --
<<laughter>>
Louis Yeah, so, it's good for someone else
<<laughs>>
Bunny Someone else. What do you think
of his voice -- his technique and this style?
Michelle I think if you listen to the songs
now and you listen to the songs back then, back then they keep their voice
simple, the notes. Now, if you listen to people like Christina Aguilera,
she tries to hit like every note in one song, and it's great that you have
skills and stuff, but it's just -- I think people like simple songs that
they can just sing to, you know.
Bunny We can't all sing like Christina Aguilera.
Michelle Yeah, so I like the way -- not
necessarily he sings but just the way, you listen to all the songs so far,
they just keep, the notes just seem really simple.
5.
"The Girl From Ipanema " by Stan Getz with Joaõ & Astrud Gilberto
Bunny Another milestone in music history,
"The Girl from Ipanema" sparked the bossa nova craze of the early 60's in
the United States. Inspired by Heloísa Menezes, a young Brazilian
girl affectionately known as "Helo" and locally renowned for her breathtaking
beauty, the song was written by the preeminent figure of bossa nova, Antonio
Carlos Jobim, and poet Vinícius de Moraes, who frequented the Veloso
bar which Helo passed on her way to the beach or around town. In addition
to boosting the careers of Stan Getz and Joaõ Gilberto, the song also
established Gilberto's wife Astrud as a talented (though untrained) singer
whose distinctive voice helped define how bossa nova should be sung.
Louis I think it's one of those elevator music
things, like you're just standing in the elevator going...<<hums opening
bars of "The Girl from Ipanema">>
<<laughter>>
Or one of those days where you're on a beach, you just --
Bunny Beach, yeah -- |
The Girl From Ipanema |
Michelle What? I don't get it --
Louis ...and you're just staring up at the
sky -- yeah.
Bunny There is definitely that beach feel
to it. I get a lot of --
Louis Not like spring break or anything --
Michelle Oh!
<<laughter>>
I just party so I don't know; relax -- what is that?
To me this was kind of like -- it was weird because we didn't understand
what they were saying [in Portuguese]. It's kind of like Starbucks music
where you're just chillin', and it seems -- it sounds a lot more calm than
everything else we've listened to.
Bunny It has that very, kind of
soothing-casual-laidback --
Michelle It kind of seems like a coffee
shop deal, not like a -- I mean, I'm sure people can dance to it, but the
other stuff you can visualize people dancing more than with this one.
Bunny Yeah that's kind of a hallmark of most
Brazilian music -- bossa nova was born out of the samba, which is basically
the same thing, just a little bit different. And, one of the hallmarks of
tha t-- it's just very laidback, very casual, very calm, it's not really
too wild. And of course you've got that syncopated thing going on -- the
beat is not just 1-2-3-4, it's kind of a -- kind of uneven, makes it kind
of interesting. It's amazing stuff, pretty interesting history when you read
about the bossa nova and how it got started, and all the figures behind it
-- it's a good history.
So, across the board, based on everything we've heard -- and of course it's
impossible to sample everything in jazz, I mean, I could play a million songs
and it wouldn't even touch the tip of everything in jazz. But based on what
you heard, what do you think about jazz in general?
Michelle I think-- you can't really say
that something's cool, there's so many definitions of "cool", but I think
it's good to have, just to like -- there's how many different types of music
out there, instead of just "oh, what's popular now." But personally,
I wouldn't listen to it or go out and buy a jazz CD or whatever, but, I mean,
I like it, it's just not -- I guess I'm too wild for that; I need music to
party to and sing to and whatever's popular now I guess. I'm that little
girl teenybopper...
Bunny It is kind of an interesting change
of pace though you know, with all sorts of stuff that we have today, it's
kind of a nice little refresher there. Louis, what did you think about it?
Louis I think we need it because there's
some music you need to play in waiting rooms and elevators.
<<laughter>>
Michelle That was good.
Bunny Yeah!
Louis I mean, you recognize it, you're in
a doctor's waiting room --
Michelle Actually when I go to the doctor's
office sometimes they play the radio.
Bunny Yeah.
Michelle Or like elevator --
Bunny The dentist where I go they play the
oldies station -- for years and years, it's the oldies.
Louis I think it's one of the types of music
where it can go, it can be really happy or really sad-- it can be anything.
I don't think a lot of music can be like that, like Michelle said, the screaming
people--
Michelle Like punk rock--
Bunny Punk rock is basically the same thing
across the board: people screaming
<<laughter>>
Michelle "I'm so angry aaaahhhh . . . "
Louis ...Like "leave me alone, I'm alone . . .
". That would be funny though, happy punk rock.
Michelle "The sun is so shiny!"
Louis Yeah, they scream out that.
<<laughter>>
So, it's a pretty diverse field of music.
Bunny The styles, there's a lot of styles,
and then within the styles there's a lot to express emotion-wise. Everybody
puts their own twist on it, you can hear the same song by two different people
and you get two totally different readings of it.
Michelle We probably don't know this either,
but like a lot of the songs now probably are influenced from jazz, that we
just don't know. Like we think, "Oh, this is popular now, jazz is not cool,"
but, you never know where the music of today really came from.
Bunny It's pretty interesting, and even some
musicians today, you know, you ask them who did they listen to growing up
or who are their influences and they'll bust out some, you know, "Louis
Armstrong!" or something like that, and, "But dude you play electric guitar
in a metal band," you know, so it's pretty surprising. I mean, you have Rod
Stewart, this rocker guy who's known for all that crazy stuff from the '70's
and he's in on it too. So there is a lot of mixing it up.
So in general -- do you think it's kind of "nerdy" or "square", anything
like that, to like jazz? Like, when you think of jazz, someone who likes
jazz, what is your impression of it, is this someone you would hang out with
and listen to some music with, chill, or would you kind of keep your distance?
You know, "This person's not too cool, I wouldn't want to be seen with
them"?
Michelle I think I'm kind of too old for
that stuff like "oh you're nerdy because you like jazz", you know. But, I
don't think any of my friends actually like jazz, but I'm sure that we're
all open enough to listen to it if it was like on the radio and we thought
it was cool. I mean, I don't think it's, "Oh you're weird, you listen to
jazz" -- people like different things, and some people...I like Britney Spears
and some people don't like Britney Spears and, I'm still not ashamed. I think
jazz is probably better to like than Britney Spears, but, I mean, if it's
there, someone has to like it you know. It doesn't really matter if you listen
to, like, Hanson <<laughs>>. If you still listen to Hanson,
that's great, you know, it doesn't really matter to me, I mean, it's just
whatever. But I think jazz, to me is kind of an acquired taste. You can't
really have someone just, "Oh, I'm gonna make you like jazz"--
Bunny Especially in these days, I mean there's
just so much different stuff out there, and,it is pretty different from all
that, you know, it does take some getting used to, especially I think with
the music today.
Michelle You probably have to grow up listening
to it to actually like it, because if you just grow up and go to school and
do your own thing with your friends, you're going to end up in all this,
you know, pop and alternative and rap and stuff, so it's kind of like, oldies
I think, it's gonna come from your parents.
Louis Well I already have a friend who likes
jazz -- I knew him long before he was in band and before he liked jazz at
all.
Bunny What did he like before that?
Louis I'm not really sure, he listened to
less music than I did. I'm not gonna hate him or anything for liking jazz.
He understands that not everyone likes jazz, but that some people like jazz,
and he likes to share that with other people. I respect that; I'm glad that
he found something he enjoys, that he can really get into, because before
he really didn't have any hobbies or interests at all, and now he found this
and he has something. I was afraid he was gonna go insane -- he wasn't talking
to anyone.
Bunny What do you think -- let's say that
you said you liked jazz. You started liking jazz, and your friends found
out about it -- either you told them or they're just saying, "Hey, uh, you
know, Michelle's acting pretty strange lately, she's getting into this jazz
business." What do you think your friends would say if they knew that
about you?
Michelle They would be kind of weirded out
because of the way I am -- I mean, I don't think it would be that big of
a deal I just think that, the way we are, like I would still be listening
to more trance or pop or alternative or something because that's just what
the majority of us listen to. But I don't think they would be like "oh, get
away from me" because -- even each person in our group is totally different,
you know. One thing that keeps us together, I guess, that we all have in
common is our music, but, if one person likes something else I don't think
it's going to be a big deal.
Louis If I liked it and they -- I don't
think they would be that confused because I like weird things.
Bunny <<laughs>>
Louis Okay, yeah, I'm a weirdo.
Bunny I'm going to transcribe that into the
interview.
Louis I get bizarre interests sometimes,
like out of nowhere. Not like things that would be wrong, but things that
are always changing. Like my friends will be talking about some TV show or
something and I'll bring up something completely different, and they're like,
"where'd this come from?" But I wouldn't try to force it on them or
make them try to listen to it. I mean, if I liked it and they knew I liked
it, I would probably just do it on my own time and they wouldn't have a problem
with it. I mean, it's a mature world today --
Bunny Yeah, be mature...Would you ever, assuming
you liked jazz, just kind of, maybe have your friends over and just casually
put on an album or something and say, "Hey why don't you check this out,
you know, what do you think about this," you know, and what kind of a response
would you hope for or expect?
Michelle Well, if I really liked jazz, I
mean, I guess I would probably do that at least every once in a while.
Bunny Probably incorporate it with some other
stuff --
Michelle Yeah. But, I know for a fact that
they'd be like, "Oh turn this off, I want to listen to. . . " you know. I
chill with a bunch of guys and they like to breakdance, you know, so -- they
can't breakdance to jazz and start raving and stuff --
<<laughter>>
So, I know that they would be like -- they wouldn't be like, "Oh, this stinks!"
or something, they'd just be like, "Can we listen to something else, 'cause
I want to do this" or whatever...
Louis We either watch TV or sports or something,
and like, "Turn it off I can't hear the announcer," or play some video game
or something. They probably would be wondering, "Why is this on?". I guess
the first time they probably wouldn't feel so bad with it -- they wouldn't
get sick of it, but they wouldn't really like listening to it.
Michelle I learned from 8th grade that --
this was when Hanson was becoming popular, and, if people don't like it,
then people aren't going to like it and so it's just like, you can't put
pressure on people, you can just defend what you like.
Bunny If you've made up your mind not to like
something you're not going to be convinced.
Michelle Yeah totally. So I mean, even if
I did put it on, I mean, I would hope they would respect it, but I don't
really have big expectations of my friends to have to like what I like because,
I don't always like what they like. It's a healthy thing.
Bunny So, I guess in closing -- after today
and after what we've heard, which isn't really much, in the grand scheme
of things, but just based on some of the things that you heard and maybe
some of the things that you liked, have your perceptions of jazz changed?
Have your impressions of it, and would you consider venturing into it a little
more, maybe listening to it, at least checking it out a little bit -- maybe
not getting totally hardcore into it but maybe just, you know, test the waters
a little bit?
Louis Maybe, if I had more time. There's
always something to do. If you're doing a project or a paper for school and
you feel like this would be -- because this can relate to a lot of things,
especially if you have English, because jazz can relate to a lot of literature
-- I guess. I mean, I'd hate to say that I'd get into it because I was forced
to, but it's just something you choose and I guess I could. I mean
only as far as my friend would go because I'd probably just mention this
to him and he'd tell me some things. But he'd probably know that I wouldn't
want to hear too much about it.
Bunny Do you ever listen to some of his jazz
stuff?
Louis He usually listens to his headphones,
so I can't hear any of it. <<laughs>>
Bunny So would you ever think of maybe asking
him, "Hey can I check out one of your CD's" or something like that?
Louis He brings his CD player everywhere,
so if I were to ask him or if he came over to my house, he'd probably bring
it. I don't know, if he really wanted to he could pop in the stereo, if he
wanted to.
Michelle What was the question again?
Bunny Have your perceptions changed at all
about jazz, and also, would you possibly consider checking it out a bit more?
Michelle No, not really, just straight up,
because, I'm not interested, you know, and I don't -- I mean, it's just there,
it's in the past for me. I'm living in the future, I'm the, this
generation, you know, I'm not that -- and I mean I know some kids who are
like that and I think that's great, but that's just not who I am. I'm more
of today, and today's fashion, more like that. I'm really girly, and, you
know, that's just not me. I think overall, this was a good experience to
expand my horizons, you know, but other than that I wouldn't try to go out
and figure out stuff.
Bunny Would you ever consider going to a jazz
concert, like if you heard of, "Oh, something's going on here" maybe, would
you ever consider going to that just for kicks or anything like that? Like
if someone invited you to one -- two questions here -- if someone invited
you to one, "Hey so-and-so's gonna be playing at such a place, wanna join
me?" What would you do?
Michelle Personally I wouldn't go, no, but
if someone invited me I'd just be like "Thanks but I'm just not really
interested." And, I don't think I'd have a good time if I went, even if it
was really good, you know, but I wouldn't know if it's really good because
I don't know what's good or bad, you know. So I just don't think I'd really
be interested, I'd be just kind of bored.
Louis If I heard it on the radio, and something
was up, I probably wouldn't go just for the sake of being lazy.
<<laughs>> But if someone invited me -- it'd depend on the person.
Like say my friend for example -- if it was his birthday or something and
he really wanted to do it, it would be really weird and, and all my other
friends were going, then --
Michelle But that's like that situation
where you're being forced into something, kind of.
Louis Yeah.
Bunny What if it was something that sounded
kind of interesting to you? Like -- you seem to be really big into the bass,
I notice. What if you heard that some famous bass player was doing a concert
or something? <<laughter>>
Louis Porbably not, because I'm not in band
anymore, and, well, back to who and what -- that could also enter, because
if it was some hot girl --
<<laughter>>
Bunny You'd go anywhere with her.
<<laughter>>
Bunny Is your friend still in band?
Louis Mmhmm. (Yes)
Bunny And what does he play again?
Louis The saxophone.
Bunny And, do you ever go to see him play?
Louis Like a football game or something --
Michelle That's the only time they really
play.
Louis Yeah.
Michelle But they don't really play jazz.
Louis Well, I'm not really sure.
Bunny Does he play jazz on the side? Maybe
not with the band, but maybe on his own?
Louis Probably, I don't know. I haven't asked
him about it.
Bunny What if he said, "Hey Louis, I've been
practicing to this jazz song on my sax, can you check this out?" Would you
be willing to listen to it?
Louis I guess, I mean, well, he doesn't talk
much so I don't think he'll ever say anything like that. He's like me, I
don't talk too much. If it really meant to him, then I guess.
Michelle I think overall for us, because
we didn't grow up listening to music a lot, you know, and our parents, our
parents like to sing when we go to weddings and stuff and my dad plays guitar,
but not really, you know -- he knows how to play but he doesn't really play,
play.
Bunny Everybody's dad plays guitar --
Michelle Yeah! So we were never really around
that stuff, our parents didn't care about that kind of stuff so, kind of
like sports, we were like, "Eh, whatever", so, I think that's kind of a big
influence on why we don't really have a lot of interest for it. We're just
kind of like, "Oh, it's just there".
______________________________
Michelle's email: vtbebemichelle@comcast.net
Louis's email: L4sDude@yahoo.com
*
Peace is the word,
Bunny
*
"Bunny M." is a sixteen year old Dallas resident who plays drums, piano and
clarinet. Her passion for jazz and the challenges she faces as a youthful
fan of it is the focus of her Jerry Jazz Musician column, "Accent
on Youth."
You can contact Bunny at: lotusflower1922@hotmail.com
*
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