April is Jazz Appreciation Month and it’s fast coming to a close. Jazz is frequently described as “America’s Music”, the product of African and European ingredients simmered in the American experience for a few generations to form a musical tradition uniquely and proudly American. Jazz, like America, combines structure with creativity to constantly improvise – and improve – on what’s been done before.
I stumbled onto jazz in college. The Billy Taylor Trio used to play regularly at our school, with Dr. Taylor on piano, and bass and drums rounding out the trio. With apologies to the jazz greats primarily known for horn and sax, a jazz piano trio is all I’d need to get by on a desert island, and Billy would suit me fine. Warming up!, recorded by the Billy Taylor Trio in 1960-61 is a wonderful recording by this artist that’s available in Music, Art & Media (MAM).
Over the years I’ve come to enjoy listening to many kinds of jazz, but my “formal” education began with Ken Burns’ 19 hour documentary on the history of jazz in America, aptly titled Jazz, which is available in MAM on both DVD and VHS. Burns received some criticism for giving some artists and styles short shrift, but I found the series immensely informative and entertaining. Jazz consists of 10 episodes, structured chronologically to illustrate how this art form developed over the years.
Among the prominent jazz musicians and critics featured in this film is Wynton Marsalis. A gifted classical and jazz trumpet player from an extremely talented family, Marsalis is Artistic Director for Jazz at Lincoln Center and one of the most energetic advocates of jazz music today. To Marsalis, jazz goes far beyond a musical form. His recent book Moving to higher ground: how jazz can change your life (MAM 781.65 M) probes how jazz can lead to a deeper understanding of life and improve personal interrelationships. Wow.
Appearing around the same time was another work on the power of jazz. The Jazz ear: conversations over music by Ben Ratliff (MAM 781.65092 R), interviews 15 leading contemporary jazz musicians to reveal how jazz motivates them and directs their lives in profound ways. Of course jazz doesn’t hold a monopoly on making players and listeners feel good. See Daniel Levitin’s best-sellers This is your brain on music: the science of a human obsession (MAM 781.11 L) and The world in six songs: how the musical brain created human nature (MAM 781.11 L) for an in-depth look at how music shapes us.
The Nashua Public Library maintains a jazz CD collection of over 600 titles, featuring all the classic recordings we can find as well as a wide range of artists and styles from Sidney Bechet and early Dixieland to contemporary jazz. We’ve also collected a number of live performances on VHS and DVD for your listening AND viewing pleasure.
We also periodically host live jazz either in Music, Art and Media’s performance area or outside on the plaza in July or August. Subscribe to our Concerts@Your Library on our newsletter page to learn about upcoming events. So please peruse our catalog for your favorite artists, or stop by MAM and we’ll help you find some music to make your life a little better!
