Jazzophobia

[February 13th, 2008]

“I listen to everything but country.” In my small hometown of Florence, Ore., that statement was a tool used to separate oneself from the perceived redneck masses. Jazz music wasn’t an omnipresent radio force on the Oregon coast like pop country was, but it would have been safe to add the four-letter word to the no-country mantra: “…and jazz I just don’t get.”

I’m still learning to “get” jazz myself. My dad’s baby boom-ish generation loves the stuff, but that’s to be expected. They started with big-band music and watched it transform, over the course of decades, into ever more exciting and musically revolutionary incarnations. They not only grew up with jazz, jazz grew up with them. But, just as my dear old dad is befuddled by punk rock, my generation has largely ignored jazz. They consider it music for old people, the stuff of sit-down venues and wine intermissions.

In a way, they’re right. Even current fans usually admit the genre hasn’t been the same since Miles Davis tried his hand at pop, and many of today’s players treat jazz like an artifact, paying constant tribute to the old guard instead of finding their own unique voices. And yeah, most of the big names at this year’s Portland Jazz Festival are playing sit-down venues with wine intermissions (white wine, even). That said, this year’s fest is also a hell of an achievement, combining some of today’s great traditionalists with the most influential jazz radicals of their time.

None of which helps you, the unindoctrinated listener, figure out what this whole jazz thing is about—nor does it help you navigate the festival’s massive, 10-day-spanning lineup. To that end, I’ll pass on some of the best advice I’ve ever received about learning to love jazz. Thanks, Dad.

1. Learn the standards.

Jazz is interpretative music. A talented player can take your favorite song and make you hear it in a brand new way. The canon of jazz standards has expanded in recent years to include tunes by the Beatles, Elvis Costello and Radiohead. But the foundation is built from old musicals: the work of guys like Jerome Kern and Cole Porter (who penned songs like “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” and “Night and Day,” respectively). A late addition to the fest, Chicago-based jazz vocalist Kurt Elling (Friday, Feb. 22, Newmark Theatre) sings standards relatively straight. His tunes are a touch on the slick side, but he tackles his craft with a rich, emotive voice that can emulate a saxophone’s mournful wail, swinging trumpet blasts, or just a fragile, human cry.

2. Find what speaks to you.

Instrumental jazz—unlike vocal jazz, which can hook you with a narrative—isn’t going to be much fun unless it moves you. And if Maceo Parker (Sunday, Feb. 24, Crystal Ballroom), the legendary James Brown saxman who travels freely between the realms of jazz, funk and R&B, can’t move you, you best check that pulse. Parker is one funky motherfucker (in jazz talk that just means “dude”), and he’ll get the Crystal’s bouncy floor shaking hard.

3. Take some drugs. Get your mind blown.

All right, my dad never recommended drugs (in a jazz context, anyway). And weed certainly isn’t the only way to appreciate the endless lungs and crisp, adventurous stabs of Ornette Coleman’s sax (Friday, Feb. 15, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall) or pianist Cecil Taylor’s spacious, cartoon cat-and-mouse piano arrangements (Sunday, Feb. 17, Marriott Waterfront)—but if this is your first time out, it might just help. These are two legends of the art form who helped usher jazz into some of its most exciting years. They continue to challenge traditional structures today, though both are acutely aware, and respectful, of jazz’s rich history. Oh, and they’re more than a little eccentric. Coleman is obsessed with geodesic domes, and Taylor talks like James Lipton from Inside the Actor’s Studio. Which is another thing you ought to know about jazz: Almost all the greats are crazy. That’s what makes jazz awesome. It’s the music of the eccentric, the outcast and the underdog.