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"Bunny M." is a seventeen-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 
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Accent on Youth
by
Bunny M.
"Sound Terrain," by Darryl Daniels
The New Face(s) of Jazz
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If your musical diet has been jazz-deprived the past
few years, take heart: jazz, swing, and just about everything else retro
is gradually coming back into the mainstream. Even in contemporary popular
music, jazz, in whole or in part, can be heard in a number of artists new
and old. Compilations of old standards have been steadily entering the modern
musical current, including but not limited to such titles as "Mob Hits"
(featuring classic performances by Dean Martin, Vic Damone, and other Italian
recording artists), "Lady Sings the Blues" (jazz performances by women
vocalists), and the entire "Ultra Lounge" line, while older, non-jazz oriented
artists like Rod Stewart and Cindi Lauper have begun releasing their renditions
of old pop standards. Sinatra, of course, continues to dominate the "Popular
Standards" section of most music stores. And, in the midst of this "old folks"
rush in retrogradation, a slew of fresh, young artists have started to appear
on the popular scene, imbuing the music of mainstream youth with the sounds
of jazz and yesteryear. The list is growing longer all the time, far beyond
just Harry Connick, jr. and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. I believe Michael
Bublé, Norah Jones, and Joss Stone will become the new "Faces of Jazz"
for today's youth.
The Crooner
If any single new artist is responsible for reintroducing
the sounds of classic swing and big band to mainstream music, it's 28-year-old
Michael Bublé. Introduced to the classics by his grandfather, groomed
by such greats as Harry Connick and Paul Anka, and gifted with an astounding
voice that any crooner from the past would die to have, Bublé debuted
in mid-2002 to an audience thirsting for freshness and quality. I happened
upon him purely by chance, when a music store clerk introduced me to
Bublé's self-titled album. I was instantly in love with no end in
sight; Bublé's voice had me riveted from the first note, conjuring
up images of all sorts of greats -- Sinatra, Mel Tormé and Bobby Darin,
to name a few. Indeed, Bublé's voice impressed me as being quite mature
for his years, and with the finesse and skill of any of the great vocalists
of jazz past. Closing my eyes, I could almost swear that at times I was listening
to an old recording, rather than a newly-released CD by a young, modern vocalist.
He has remarkable vocal flexibility as well -- cozy and intimate one moment,
sassy and resounding the next.
| Over the months I have been delightfully surprised
to see that others are quickly jumping on the Bublé Bandwagon, heating
up the wires on the Internet and television with their words of praise for
this outstanding talent and effortlessly enjoyable music. The fact that
ever-increasing numbers of people -- young and old alike -- are developing
an insatiable appetite for Bublé, confirms my belief that, contrary
to the marketing tactics largely common in the music industry today, there
is an audience more than eager for quality music with more than a hint of
jazz and the past, and that this audience overwhelmingly young. Already
Bublé is being called the "Sinatra of our times," and, despite my
suspicions of such superlatives, I most adamantly agree. With such amazing
talent and class (and cute boyish looks to boot), Michael Bublé is
without a doubt jazz's new "Ambassador to Youth." |
Fever
Kissing
a Fool |
The Chameleon
photo by Clay Patrick McBride
Norah Jones
Don't Know Why
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Sunrise
In The Morning
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With her pop princess looks and double-duty talent
(she sings and plays piano), Norah Jones made waves with her refreshing
contempop-jazz hybrid music. Her debut, Come Away With Me, took home
five Grammys. Jones brings an inspirational breeze to old standards and originals
alike in a manner which is truly a mixed bag -- a little country, a little
blues, a little jazz, a little pop -- all coming together to create a sound
that is at once engaging. I really enjoy Jones' vocals -- thick and smoky
in the style of Billie Holiday or Peggy Lee -- a refreshing change of pace
from the nasal, helium-quality vocalizations of most pop stars today. After
all, when was the last time you heard such enchanting vocals since the days
of Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee? Her luscious vocals are accompanied by her
tasteful and well-polished piano playing, which come together in a poignant
and very lyrical manner (take a test drive on "Don't Know Why" and "Painter
Song").
It was the song
"Don't Know Why" that first got me hooked on Norah Jones; listening to the local
jazz station KNTU. I was quickly enchanted
by her soothing, unusual vocals, and the low key "dinner" music; the song
actually almost made me cry (and still does to this day). As I've come to
know more of her music, I realize that almost all of her work carries this
same quality, the same depth and emotional purity that seems to act directly
upon the part of the brain that senses things of beauty and sensitivity.
And people are clearly responding to such qualities -- one music web site
had over 1,100 submitted reviews of Come Away With Me, and virtually
all were overwhelmingly positive. While not entirely jazz, Norah Jones embraces
a variety of popular flavors intermingled with the essence of the standards
of the past in a way that makes the music appealing to a scope of listeners
-- even beyond the reach of the jazz crowd.
Her newly-released sophomore album, Feels Like Home,
disappointed me a bit, with its rather heavy leanings toward country and
sad indeficiencies of the jazz overtones and timelessness of her debut effort.
With all of the vibrant potential she has, one can hope this is only a detour,
not a departure, from her jazz-based musical road. She clearly has the
versatility and the chops to take on the role of the talented leader of a
new generation of "Ladies of Jazz." |
The Soul Songstress
At only sixteen years of age, Joss Stone has made quite
a splash in the popular music scene. Joss is not a straight-ahead jazz artist
-- she is technically categorized as rhythm and blues and soul -- but she
infuses the musical traditions of Motown with a bluesy, soulful, and downright
"gut" sound that makes it a close cousin to the jazz-blues tradition of the
early Southern/Creole style. Stone has no need for the vocal gymnastics of
most pop princesses today -- her voice is more than capable of standing on
its own. It is simply unbelievable, endowed with a maturity far beyond her
young age. An enlightened Amazon.com reviewer wrote, "Stone has a smoky voice
that reeks of a hard-lived life, which only shows that a great interpreter
need to not have experienced what she sings about to make you feel it all
the way down to your soul." Hearing her rendition of
"Fell In Love with a Boy ," it is hard to believe that such a gritty "down home"
and emotion-charged voice belongs to a sweet-faced, soft-spoken young girl.
| Her intuitive understanding and grasp of the underlying feeling
of a song is amazing by any standard. Stone has said she is tired of constantly
being asked how someone so young can really understand the kind of music
she sings. I think this is an important point,. However, in the face
of widespread focus on the negative aspects of the youth culture as seen
by the "elders," it is key that artists like Stone demonstrate how maturity
and youthful innocence can, and do, coexist -- and produce mind-blowing music
in the process. The only vocalist in her family, Stone proves that one does
not have to have a musical background, or, in her case, age, to be able to
translate emotion into song. One only needs to have lived and experienced
feelings (something every teen knows well).
The first time I heard a Joss Stone song I was instantly
impressed. I imagined her work to be that of a blues great from the past
-- images of Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, and Mahalia Jackson came to mind.
I nearly fell out of my chair when I happened to catch a television spot
about Joss Stone and discovered that the name was not that of a legend, but
of a dainty British "girl next door." (Indeed, with her fresh "all
American" looks, she could very well be the girl next door stateside, as
well). It's not hard to get into the groove; her voice, incongruous with
her physique in timbre and volume, grabs you instantly and draws you into
her finely-shaped musical world. |
Fell In Love with a Boy
Victim of a Foolish Heart |
I am especially delighted by the fact that her debut,
Soul Sessions, shies away from digging into the bag of rehashing out
well-known tunes, and instead highlights lesser-known artists and even
lesser-known songs. Joss reinvents these old tunes, however, with her compelling
energy and style, and makes them just as hot-off-the-press sounding as the
latest pop track. Because the music of Joss Stone is more pop/ rock aligned,
I feel that she will play an important role in reviving interest in the blues
and soul traditions of the past -- the children of jazz -- in today's young
people.
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Michael Bublé, Norah Jones, and Joss Stone are
only three of the new young artists peddling jazz wares to a ready and willing
audience. The number of new artists joining the jazz fold is ever increasing
and with it, the number of listeners gathering an interest in good, quality
music. Considering the increasing number of young people tuning into jazz,
music industry execs would do well to take note that the potential jazz audience
is there. We are young and waiting with open ears, ready to devour notes
of musical quality and talent that may come our way.
______________________________
Peace is the word,
Bunny
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"Bunny M." is a seventeen-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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Accent on Youth archive
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