September 6, 2002

the beats

I went through this new-school-swing-jazz phase briefly while we lived in Santa Maria, CA. At the time we made frequent trips up to San Francisco. The movie Swingers had just come out and there was a magazine I found appealing, that you could only find in San Francisco - and even then with some difficulty. It was all the rage and I got swept up in it. For a few months I’d listen to Dean Martin while making dinner in my work pants and white T-shirt, glass of wine in one hand, wooden spoon stirring pasta in the other. Living the fantasy.

I was also getting back to “my roots”-which sounds incredibly stupid, but is the truth. I played saxophone in “regular” band and also in jazz band from sixth grade until eighth grade. Some of the songs that were becoming popular (again for the third time) I had played in band. Real jazz, not that watered down elevator music.

My mom used to listen to this smooth jazz station when she cleaned on Saturday mornings. I made fun of her for it. It was so bland. I really couldn’t believe that they were calling it jazz. No piano, no saxophone, no drums using the wispy deals (for lack of proper drummer term), just synthetic sounding keyboards with plastic sounding keyboard drums and cheesy vocals over the top. She swore up and down that it was “real” jazz, but she was mistaken.

I have also been tuning into iTunes radio stations. I tried out the Berlin station, but found Dr. Horner’s Classic Jazz Corner to be the one that stays on the longest. It’s great comfort music for those nights when you’re home all alone and there is no good TV on. Plus I’ve done a startling amount of writing while listening. Kids these days with their loud music… who needs it?

posted @ 12:19 PM

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