Jazz

I am not much of a music guy.  Don’t get me wrong I like music and I can appreciate the role it plays in our society as well as history, I just never really paid much attention.    As far as I was concerned a conductor of an orchestra just waived a wand around and a group of people plucking strings, blowing horns, pushing buttons, and banging things did just that.  And somehow music was made.   For all I knew a C sharp was some type of cheese.  This was obviously my simple mind at work.

 

Music as it turns out is a mastery of complexity, discipline, & passion.  I grew up at the end of the Motown era South of Detroit in Toledo.  We listened to CKLW a radio station out of Winsor, Canada.  As I think back there is a stream of Motown classics that are always playing in the background of my memories.  I get a warm feeling in my heart when I hear an old Motown classic that conjures up a memory of a simpler time. Those times were not so simple, but the music makes it seem like they were.  I guess that is what music was to me, a tune playing in the background of life that marked time.

As it turns out the conductor of an orchestra is some kind of genius.  He understands a different language and that language is Music.  It has its own written code, there are no words only notes and to complicate things there is timing to the language.  Music has its own pace and tone that must be perfectly communicated by the musician to their audience.  The conductor tells the musician how to properly communicate the music in concert with the other musicians to create perfect harmony.  Good music is peaceful and without chaos.  Everyone does their part and the sum of each part creates a wonderful result-music

My wife and I went to see Chris Botti, a trumpet player, and his band play with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC recently.  The National Symphony Orchestra was conducted that night by Marvin Hamlisch.  Apparently he is a famous conductor with great accomplishments in his past, but it wasn’t his past I had come to hear.  He engaged the crowd and was a witty sort but when he turned and led the musicians in front of him it was silk.  The orchestra is a great representation of precision meeting discipline and performing it so we all can enjoy.  Passion flows through the notes and gains its identity as it is set free from the pages of sheet music through the fingers or mouth of the musician and released into the air for us to hear.  I cannot describe the calm I felt that night in my chair at the Kennedy Center but it felt good.

Although I grew up with Motown I seem to have a preference for Jazz.  Perhaps it is because it is more pleasing to me as a background for life or that Motown has long since died, at least in the form I once knew.  Jazz seems to allow you to interpret its mood and story.  The passion is ever present and there seems to be a maturity that I like.  Chris Botti and his band seem to have the ideal blend for my taste and matched with the National Symphony Orchestra the night was special.   The symphony played and its notes meshed like thousands of raindrops falling from the sky.  Sometimes stormy other times misty and still other times silent.  The music flowed like rain water down a tributary ending in wonderful calm lake nestled in a secluded frontier that was yours to discover.  Chris Botti’s band is made up of a world class pianist, a gregarious prankster lead guitarist, an obscure bassist, and an animated fireball drummer.  What they did in the foreground of this historic symphony was basically introduce them to fun.  It was a dichotomy of musical styles that made a pact to disregard their differences and just do what they do best, JAM.   Botti’s band is expressive and bold while the National Symphony Orchestra was uniform and precise and this was the “Pops” version of the National Symphony.  In orchestra speak Pops means “unplugged”.  Botti’s band added lightning and thunder to the raindrops of the National Symphony.  They added colorful bolts of lightning and loud cracks of thunder that were never the same and seemed to take your attention from the falling rain. It left you breathless wondering when the next crack of thunder or bolt of lightning was coming.   Botti also was very engaging and captivated the audience with his humble sophistication as he addressed the crowd and often stood off to the side watching the other musicians in admiration with his trumpet at his side.  Their music feels like life with enthusiasm and hope rapped in energy and promise.  This was a night shared with my wife I will remember for a long time.  We were immersed in a wonderful thunderstorm and together refreshed by its presence and all without the need of an umbrella.  

cmgartner