RB Piano Forte Chronicles

HAPPY SATURDAY…

I’m still woozed out from cold drugs while this upper respiratory something-or-other works it’s way through my system. Tend to have long bouts laying on the couch, listening to NPR.

I have to admit, I’m a conservative talk show junkie during the week – but NPR rules the weekend with programs such as Car Talk, From the Top, Wait, Wait – Don’t Tell Me, and, of course, the king of NPR weekend programming: Garrison Keillor.

NPR Stations vary widely – some play the NPR feed night and day, others – for whatever reason – play parts and then fill in with their own content. Typically, that’s some form of music. I remember in Orlando, some of the finest classical selections I heard were on the NPR station there.

Here in Yuma, the filler is jazz.

So, during a sickie-induced rest on the couch listening to the NPR programming, I let the radio continue with the local programming, which consisted of a female jazz singer doing rambling, melodiless selections, and then some piano, traps, and bass trio doing the improvisational jazz thing.

I have little appreciation for the former, and absolutely no appreciation for the later.

DON’T GET ME WRONG – I like jazz. But the term ‘jazz’ covers a broad spectrum of styles and approaches. Particularly impressive is Elmer Bernstein’s symphonic jazz approach in his score to The Man With the Golden Arm (written, interestingly enough, the same time he was scoring The Ten Commandments), the other Bernstein (Leonard)’s approach in West Side Story. It’s hard to argue with the Gershwin’s approach, or Cole Porter, or Glenn Miller or Count Basie, or any of the ‘Big Band’ jazz genre.

That stuff all graces my iPod collection, along with more modern artists like SpyroGyra, Earl Klugh, and a few others.

In my universe, music consists of melody, harmony, counterpoint, rhythm. All of that is present in the above-mentioned lists.

But, a piano, trapset, bass trio (or sometimes with a saxophone to make it a quartet) just running disjointed scales around (improvisationally, of course) does absolutely nothing for me. I’d just as soon listen to rap (which is another genre that I can’t classify as music.)

WHEN SINGING IN THE La Jolla Symphony Chorus, we had to do a lot of ‘modern’ pieces. Many of these were atonal, arhythmic, a-much else anything you would consider music. To give it a certain amount of credit – playing it or singing it makes you a better musician. I’ve thought adding some jazz training to my piano at some point will probably have the same effect.

But, it’s not something that would find its way into my iPod collection – no thanks.

And I turned off the radio. Wait for Garrison Keillor.