GOODSOUND!GoodSound! "Editorial" Archives

May 1, 2005

 

Lessons from the Library

My local public library is a second home to my family. Because I’m usually there with my two kids, I spend much of my time in the library’s children’s room. Just a few days after submitting the editorial for last month, however, I was on a rare visit to the adult nonfiction section when a small poster caught my eye. It announced that April would be Jazz Appreciation Month (delightfully abbreviated to JAM), at least according to the Smithsonian Institution.

Jazz holds the distinction of being a homegrown art form that exemplifies many of the principles that are culturally important to the United States. It demands originality and individuality of its performers, but also a willingness to work within a group to make music that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is also a good quality for a hi-fi system: each component must do its part exemplarily, yet hopefully combine with the rest of the system to reproduce music in a way that is greater than each component’s individual contribution. Too bad, I thought, that I’d missed an opportunity to opine on jazz and hi-fi in an editorial during Jazz Appreciation Month itself.

When I reflected on it more, however, I began to think about the very nature of labeling certain months with kinds of appreciation. After all, at our house, every month is Jazz Appreciation Month. I worry that proclaiming one month Jazz Appreciation Month (or Women’s History Month, etc.) suggests that a single month is sufficient for the appreciation of such a rich subject. Does it signal to those unfamiliar with the topic that they could set aside a few nights in April and be able to appreciate the nature and breadth of jazz? If it does, then it may do more harm than good.

If you hadn’t known that April was Jazz Appreciation Month and you don’t usually listen to jazz, I hope you find some time this month to take a listen. Whatever your usual musical tastes, I’m sure there’s a type of jazz that will appeal to you -- contemporary electronica wouldn’t be what it is without people like Herbie Hancock; Duke Ellington’s large-scale pieces can be enjoyed by classical junkies; and I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t appreciate the great works of Charles Mingus or Louis Armstrong.

During that same visit to the library I saw another poster, this one for a local concert series featuring a large range of musical styles. The event that caught my eye read simply, "Bill Ware: Vibes." Ware, a jazz musician and composer best known for his work with the Jazz Passengers, grew up in the town I now live in, and was scheduled to perform in the library’s newly renovated basement on a Saturday night. I made a note of the time and date in hopes that I’d both remember and not be too tired. (Remember those two kids I mentioned? Very tiring.)

Much to my surprise, when the Saturday came I both remembered and wasn’t too tired, so off I went to the library. (I’m sure my 20-year-old self would be horrified at the apparent uncoolness of spending a Saturday night at a public library. Too bad for him.) The renovations had done wonders for the basement, but the instruments had been set up along a long wall of the rectangular room and, as I’d speculated beforehand, this was not good for the sound. The reverberations were at times overwhelming and, at my dead-center seat, the bass was sucked out in a way that left it at times almost inaudible. Luckily, beautiful live music trumps concerns about acoustics.

Bill Ware’s group consisted of himself on vibes, Brad Jones on bass, and Tommaso Cappellato, aka Fallou, on drums. Their fantastic two-set show consisted of original compositions, as well as covers of tunes by Hank Mobley and Marvin Gaye. Ware and Jones have played together since the late 1980s, and the longtime association shows in their playing. Fallou joined them only a few years ago, but his drumming was an essential ingredient to the great music I heard that night. After the show, Fallou directed me to his website, www.tommasocappellato.com, from which MP3s of his music can be downloaded; it’s well worth a visit.

The show reminded me of one aspect of live music that even the best hi-fi system can’t replicate: spontaneity. Often during the show, the musicians decided what to play on the spot, their choices no doubt dictated by their mood and the audience’s reactions. This element of surprise is necessarily lacking in recorded music -- no matter how many times you play your favorite album, you’ll never hear anything different from what you heard the first time. Recorded music is, in this sense, static; live music is fluid, taking shape as you listen.

Live music’s element of surprise can be key to its emotional impact. Ware’s choices of songs, such as Hank Mobley’s "Ultramarine," kept putting a smile on my face. I realized that I don’t have that same kind of emotional reaction to my favorite records. Recorded music does provide us with things that live music does not, such as a chance to revisit the music and come to know it intimately, but the energy and spontaneity of live music can’t be recaptured once you’ve heard it. It’s a good argument for attending live musical events whenever you can; if you can do yourself a favor and catch Ware, Jones, and Fallou, you won’t be disappointed.

This month’s lead review is also a product of spontaneity. One day at Costco, on a whim, I picked up Samsung’s DVD-HD841 universal A/V player. Packing so much into a player that lists for only $199.95 -- and which I bought for $99 -- hooked me. As you’ll see from the review, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Much of our lives demand planned, rational activity -- but spontaneity and trips to the library can be much more fun.

…Eric D. Hetherington


GOODSOUND!All Contents Copyright © 2005
Schneider Publishing Inc., All Rights Reserved.
Any reproduction of content on
this site without permission is strictly forbidden.