Swing, bebop, funky, phat, boppity, blues. These are all words used to describe the greatest music genre of the current age – Jazz.
So what is Jazz, and why is it so great?
Jazz is a prominent, but underappreciated form of music. You can hear it just about anywhere.
Vince Guaraldi is a perfect example of a popular but underappreciated Jazz musician. Guaraldi is known for creating the iconic music for “The Peanuts” series. The songs are often heard around Christmas time. The most popular piece that he composed is titled “Linus and Lucy.” Most people don’t think of it as Jazz, but rather “Christmas Music.” However, a masterpiece like “Linus and Lucy” is often considered superior to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
Jazz, a universal language, is very good at portraying emotions, feelings and personality, making it unique when compared to other pieces of music.
In comparison, what kind of personality does Rap have? Pop? Hip Hop? Those pieces were written by producers and sung by people with a slightly more flexible vocal cord.
Jazz, however, has soul put into it. Jazz can capture any mood and turn it into a song. Need something to sooth your nerves? Aaron Parks’ “Little River” has you covered. How about something to get you moving? “The Jazz Police” by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band.
On top of that, being a Jazz musician requires a much higher level of skill than being an artist who uses autotune.
Big Band Jazz, the most popular form of Jazz, has four different sections, each made up of multiple people. The Jazz Ensemble at Arrowhead High School is a Big Band, made up of four individual sections: Saxophones (Tenor and Alto), Trumpets, Rhythm (Piano, Drums, Bass and Guitar) and Trombone (Tenor and Bass).
The beauty of Jazz when compared to other forms of music is that the sounds of Jazz are only created when an entire group of musicians work together in perfect harmony. At higher levels of Jazz, musicians require extreme amounts of skill to play their instruments properly.
Take for example, Marshall Gilkes’ “Puddle Jumping.” The piece, written by Gilkes, features a trombone-heavy lead part that sounds incredibly impressive, especially when realizing that the notes on a trombone sometimes require the musician to move the slide, instead of pressing keys or valves like most instruments.
Marshall Gilkes is an extremely talented and skilled trombonist and composer who deserves more recognition for his work. In fact, the Jazz genre is full of artists like these, who lack proper recognition.
Jazz is the most underappreciated genre of music because people fail to recognize the talent and skill required for these musicians to perform their music the way that they do.
