Question and Answer

Do you remember how or when you first "discovered" jazz?

as i was growing up, my parents were enthusiastic fans of music in general, and both of them were very good amateur musicians as well, my mom as a singer and my dad as a trumpet player. they had various records that were on the fringe of jazz, such as glen miller's big band music and artists like jonah jones or al hirt. there was a particularly strong interest in trumpet players as my older brother mike was something of a child prodigy on that horn. so records featuring trumpet players such as raphael mendez, doc severinsen (this was years before the "tonight show" leadership for him), clark terry and others were commonly on the turntable. one day mike brought home a record called "four and more", an at-that-time recent release by miles davis. i have often heard people describe how jazz is a kind of music that you have to gradually learn to appreciate and stuff like that. well, all i know is that within about 30 seconds of hearing that record, this particular 12 year kid (me) was hooked for life. everything about it, the mood, the vibe, the sound, the energy, and especially the idea that these guys were improvising this incredible music totally captured my imagination - and it hasn't let up since then.