I wasn’t surprised when a colleague of mine who studied piano for some years told me he never listened to jazz music. He didn’t have an opinion one way or the other, didn’t harbor a prejudice based on pop-culture caricatures that poke fun at it or anything like that. Jazz was a kind of music that he just said he was never exposed to, a whole world whose orbit never intersected his, an off-ramp on his study of music that he never took. It occurred to me that compared to him I was a Jazz aficionado, which is amusing because I certainly am not! I benefit from being longer in the tooth and I’ve made an effort to learn how to appreciate Jazz over the years. I know what I like, have a sense of what I don’t and why some iterations of Jazz may or may not appeal to others. It was this insight that made me realize that “Jazz” is a woefully small moniker that strains to describe a huge genre of music, the diversity of which can be intimidating and confusing to those on the outside looking in.
I am not a Jazz musician but I’m in the habit of supporting and sharing music that I like. I’m an enthusiastic cheerleader for Jazz in general because I’m proud of the place it has in our history, culture, and its very “American-ness”. I appreciate how it has been embraced by the world over and this near universal appeal is a testament to how diverse Jazz music is. I admitted that Jazz music may be an acquired taste, but I hate to say this because I don’t like the idea of any music being rarefied, exclusive, or highfalutin. While other forms of music were a constant in my home as a child, Jazz was not. I made a point to learn how to appreciate it and my way in was through my chosen instrument, the guitar. A high school music teacher told me to check out Wes Montgomery, so I did, and then some. Maybe a similar approach could work for someone else?
Piano studies already exposed my colleague to the fundamentals of music. I felt that he could already hit the ground running if he was just turned on to the right tune, the right song, the right artist. He needed to experience the right vibe and establish his own emotional connection because that’s what music is really about for those of us who can’t imagine life without it. Now this was a conversation with a student of music - a piano player - but what of the majority of people in our lives? I know far more people that don’t play an instrument than do. Is Jazz appreciation relegated to the minority of those who share a common connection as musicians and instrumentalists? Of course not! So it begs the question, what is at the root of appreciation of any music at all? Is it cultural, sociological, and how does a genre of music have relevance to us as individuals? Collectively music can speak for us, become social and cultural identifiers, anthems of our tribe or even generation. Music undeniably has meaning even for those who profess to not care for it. It enhances any medium, situation, or ceremony. The absence of music is almost always felt in social circumstances and occasions of significance, whether consciously or not.
As I write this, thinking about Jazz appreciation and my own decision to actively listen to it as a teenager, I realize that Jazz appreciation actually started way, way earlier for me and for many Americans of a certain age without even knowing it. My appreciation for Jazz and, probably yours too, crept in under the radar, tied up with childhood memories and the holiday season. When the producers of A Charlie Brown Christmas commissioned Vince Guaraldi to compose music for the 1965 TV special, Jazz music was brought into homes and lives of people who may have never listened to it before. It was, and has been, mainstreamed, an indelible part of the soundtrack of the holiday season. The unorthodox choice of Vince Guaraldi and other aspects of the production made this TV special, very special, indeed.
When I thought to ask, my colleague who never listened to Jazz confirmed he grew up watching A Charlie Brown Christmas every year, confirming my suspicion. As kids, we are indeed introduced to Jazz through Vince Guaraldi’s music. Now over fifty years since its original broadcast, when we make it a part of the magic of the season in our own family, we’re exposing a new generation to The Vince Guaraldi Trio and his music’s distinctive contribution to the modern American expression of the holiday season. “Linus and Lucy”, “Skating”, and the sublime interpretation of “Christmas Time Is Here” are now part of the American canon of holiday music. At least in this instance, Jazz is a perennial presence in the lives of Americans who never listen to it.
I realize that such a diverse genre with the added weight of cultural significance behind it can be intimidating. When associations with urban sophistication or literary intellectualism are considered, Jazz may just be too “far-out” and even foreign, despite its recognition as perhaps America’s most significant artistic contribution to the world. With this in mind, I know what I’m getting for my piano-playing colleague this holiday season. At the start of this writing, I would have considered introducing him to Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, a contemporary like Kenny Barron, or a host of other piano Jazz masters. Now I think it’s better to stay closer to shore and allow that voyage of discovery to happen on its own if meant to. The veritable ocean that is Jazz music is vast, so like all mariners who have to become familiar with the local waters before they venture into the deep, I think Vince Guaraldi’s Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus featuring the Grammy winning track Cast Your Fate to the Wind will do nicely. It’s the crossover hit that Jazz fan and television producer Lee Mendelson heard that got Vince the gig for A Charlie Brown Christmas. I have a feeling he’ll really appreciate it, and you will too!