"Any jazz musicians here?"

We are studying Black American Music in our World Music class. Last Wednesday Professor Doug Perry looked up from his lecture notes and asked, "Any jazz musicians here?" Maybe it's an over-dramatization, but, for me, it was like a line in the sand. I had a half-dozen reasons to raise my hand in the affirmative. But I didn't.

Music-Based Production: Ear-Training Over Soldering Irons

Even though the emphasis in my degree program is audio and music production, WestConn requires all audio majors to first complete four semesters on a musical instrument before receiving private production lessons.

Multi-Instrumentalist in a Singer-Songwriter Kinda Way

I'm a songwriter who happens to play a few instruments. So when applying for school, I had to narrow down an instrument. Classical piano? No. Jazz piano? No. Classical voice? Maybe in the style of Adam Sandler's Opera Man. But, no.

Percussion? I considered it. Back in the 20th century, I started on drums in high school rock bands and simultaneously took drum lessons from Johnny Berarducci. Percussion was my applied instrument at Edinboro State College. It's what I played in all of the instrumental ensembles at school. I took three and a half semesters of applied lessons from Cosmo Barbero at ESC - mostly mallet instruments including marimba and xylophone. But I hadn't touched a mallet in decades so, percussion? No.

I looked at the audition expectations for jazz voice and thought, "I can do that!" So jazz voice is my declared instrument. (Fear not, Kurt Elling. Your job is safe.)

All that Jazz!

What started as a haphazard path choice, ended up being a game changer. Being (temporarily) in the jazz department gave me in-depth exposure and training in the genre. As a result, my WestConn transcript includes:

• two semesters of private jazz voice lessons with Atla DeChamplain

• three semesters in the Vocal Jazz Ensemble under Atla's direction

• a Jazz Theory course with Dr. Jimmy Greene

• vocalist in a chamber jazz ensemble that Dr. Greene coached

• a Studio Harmony and Arranging course with Ed Dzubak (jazz theory applied)

• two semesters of jazz piano class with Peter Tomlinson

• one independent study on African-American Gospel Piano with Professor Tomlinson (technically not jazz but a close cousin)

Given all that, one could argue that I should've raised my hand to Professor Perry's survey. But while I have grown to love jazz music and many of the jazz greats, it's not in my bones the way it is with the devoted jazz students in the department. They know Miles Davis's discography, who played on John Coltrane's records, and Charlie Mingus's life story. They know the story of jazz the way I soaked up the minutia of my rock heroes of the 1960s and 70s.

An "Improvising Musician"

But I will happily embrace the label that I've seen promoted by Pat Metheny - that of an improvising musician. If you play any kind of popular music including blues, hip hop, rock, r&b, country, etc., improvisation is a huge part of what you do. It is assumed and expected. The many hours of singing and playing jazz over the last four years have reaped countless benefits in my writing, arranging, and even in worship leading where the ability to improvise is an extremely useful skill.

Going forward, I intend to remain a student and a fan of jazz, even if I don't own the title jazz musician.

Your Riff

How about you? What is your relationship with jazz? Who are your faves? Please comment below.