something I am grateful for today
Mar. 15th, 2012 12:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johncomicA nice remastered CD version of the first jazz album I ever heard or owned, Time Further Out -- I am currently wallowing in 1974 nostalgia!
In Grade 10 art class (1971), our teacher showed us the art-animation films of Norm McLaren, including Boogie-Doodle. The soundtrack of that film was the first time I was aware of ever hearing pure hardcore boogie-woogie piano, and my mind was blown before the first chorus was done -- I felt like the world had changed. Afterwards, I was asking my friends “What is that music?! What's it called? I have to get some!” (The music was uncredited -- at least, in our copy of the film.)
Every so often the art department would get access to McLaren films and re-acquaint us with them, and so I got to see Boogie-Doodle a few more times over the next couple of years, and every time reminded me of my strange and intense fascination with that music, whatever it was. Finally my friend McIntyre (one of the coolest guys I have ever known) mentioned that it sounded “kinda like jazz”. I asked him if he knew of any jazz piano players and Dave Brubeck was the only name that came to his mind.
A while after, I found myself in the local record store with some disposable income, and decided to take the plunge and investigate this “jazz” stuff -- with any luck recapturing the ecstasy of the Boogie-Doodle soundtrack. The jazz shelves had a Dave Brubeck section, and one of his albums listed a song called Bru's Boogie Woogie -- well hey, there's that same word “boogie” like from the film title! And the liner notes on this same album said something about all the songs on it being inspired by blues form. I knew nothing about blues except that McIntyre was into them -- so that was probably more cool points right there. That's how I decided this album was the one that would introduce me to jazz.
As you can imagine, I played it to death, till I had memorized every note. In the ensuing years, I bought much more, listened much more, read voraciously, and educated myself... and after a while Time Further Out was no longer my fave jazz album. But it was still, and will always be, my first.
BTW, eventually I learned how to identify boogie-woogie as a sub-category of jazz... and eventually heard the work of boogie-woogie grandmaster Albert Ammons... and eventually heard Ammons' recording of Boogie Woogie Stomp -- and was immediately struck by lightning as I realized that the real actual soundtrack of that film had found its way back into my life!
In Grade 10 art class (1971), our teacher showed us the art-animation films of Norm McLaren, including Boogie-Doodle. The soundtrack of that film was the first time I was aware of ever hearing pure hardcore boogie-woogie piano, and my mind was blown before the first chorus was done -- I felt like the world had changed. Afterwards, I was asking my friends “What is that music?! What's it called? I have to get some!” (The music was uncredited -- at least, in our copy of the film.)
Every so often the art department would get access to McLaren films and re-acquaint us with them, and so I got to see Boogie-Doodle a few more times over the next couple of years, and every time reminded me of my strange and intense fascination with that music, whatever it was. Finally my friend McIntyre (one of the coolest guys I have ever known) mentioned that it sounded “kinda like jazz”. I asked him if he knew of any jazz piano players and Dave Brubeck was the only name that came to his mind.
A while after, I found myself in the local record store with some disposable income, and decided to take the plunge and investigate this “jazz” stuff -- with any luck recapturing the ecstasy of the Boogie-Doodle soundtrack. The jazz shelves had a Dave Brubeck section, and one of his albums listed a song called Bru's Boogie Woogie -- well hey, there's that same word “boogie” like from the film title! And the liner notes on this same album said something about all the songs on it being inspired by blues form. I knew nothing about blues except that McIntyre was into them -- so that was probably more cool points right there. That's how I decided this album was the one that would introduce me to jazz.
As you can imagine, I played it to death, till I had memorized every note. In the ensuing years, I bought much more, listened much more, read voraciously, and educated myself... and after a while Time Further Out was no longer my fave jazz album. But it was still, and will always be, my first.
BTW, eventually I learned how to identify boogie-woogie as a sub-category of jazz... and eventually heard the work of boogie-woogie grandmaster Albert Ammons... and eventually heard Ammons' recording of Boogie Woogie Stomp -- and was immediately struck by lightning as I realized that the real actual soundtrack of that film had found its way back into my life!
