Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam)

You might ask yourself, "What am I talking about?" I'm talking about jazz. About two weeks ago I decided that I would listen only to jazz while driving to work and also when I was designing at home. The original reason was born from the urge to spend a good deal of time 'taking in' my various jazz cds. I certainly don't listen to them as much as I do my pop music cds. As I've spent the last week listening to Albert Ayler and Mildred Bailey (it's as far as I've got - my trip to work isn’t that long. Plus I have 10 Mildred Bailey cds) I found that I arrive to work and at home very relaxed. This is good in the morning because I’m in the right mood for taking on the hectic 8 hour days I am currently experiencing at work. And during the ride home it helps decompress from the day, at least helps more than some angst-ridden indie rock.

I don't mean to imply the jazz is inherently relaxing music. Albert Alyer is quite a fiery jazz man, as are the Tim Bern cds that are next in line. Rather, for me, jazz requires a different kind of listening. With rock/pop the guitars are usually cranked up or fuzzed out that it's hard to discern - say - the bass lines - from the rest of the rhythm. However, with jazz it seems easier to pick out the rhythm of the different instruments. For instance, in this one Mildred Bailey song, everything just peeled away to a xylophone and some brass. Very pretty, IMO.

I'm sure everyone approaches music differently. This is just me. Boring you.
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