Deep Dive: Jazz Night

• Uncategorized

November 5, 2021

Music impacts people. It changes trajectories of lives, and it translates into every language. Jazz is just one of many translations of this universal language of music but the depth, soul, heritage, and deep-rooted history that runs through it draws people in and captivates them.

When deciding how to approach this introduction to jazz as a genre for our students here at Liberty, I thought what better way to gain perspective on this incredible genre of music than through a former student! Scott Richardson graduated from Liberty University in May 2021 with a degree in business (I know this is kind of ironic so just track with me) and now works in youth and worship ministry at a church near Washington D.C. Although Scott was a business major, during his time at Liberty he developed a love for jazz. Scott is a guitarist who had always been in love with music, but while at Liberty he was introduced to artists who proved to him what he thought couldn’t be true, that guitar had a place in jazz music. His introduction to jazz came of out of nowhere, but with influences such as guitarists George Benson and Joe Pass, Scott was able to see the major role that guitar plays in this complex genre and how he could be a part of it.

Starting off my time talking Scott, I asked him if there was one song in the jazz genre that I should listen to, what would it be and why? After much internal conflict, he told me that the one song he would recommend would be “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)” by Thelonious Monk. This song is a solo piano piece that Scott heard soon after he had begun exploring the world of jazz. When explaining to me why he would recommend it he told me that for him it was the first song he had ever heard that displayed emotions without having lyrics. For him this impacted him as he was uncovering the many layers of the genre and allowed him to hear and experience harmony and music in a new way.

As music impacts all of us, this is no different for Scott as the jazz genre has played a significant role in his life. Scott described jazz as a sort of soundtrack for his life. We all have those moments in our lives where can almost hear a certain song playing, like the moments when you’re dancing in the rain, and you can just feel the tension of the song “Electric Love” by Borns. For Scott, this looks like moments with the building tension of different jazz artists playing in the background. Jazz opened the doors of the joy of music and discovery for Scott as he lived in these almost movie like moments where jazz just seemed to follow him. He explained how jazz kept him involved in music as he expressed that there’s always something new to learn in jazz. Scott said, “Jazz seems to be this endless reservoir of ideas” and in this endless reservoir he has found a joy that has outlast all other genres of music.

There are misconceptions about all things and jazz is not an exception to this, as many people have misconceptions of jazz that are founded in baseless opinions. Scott explained that many people believe that the genre is a dying genre, and some people believe that it is already dead. That is just simply not the case! Scott explained how many people view jazz today as just a recreation of the past, but there are plenty of new cats on the scene (cats are jazz musicians! You learn something new every day!) like Cory Henry, Julian Lage, and Robert Glasper. Scott also expressed how many people believe that jazz is boring when it is far from that! Many people have made opinions of jazz without ever experiencing a live show and to Scott that is where the problem lies. There are so many things about jazz that draws people in and it is impossible to find a live jazz performance boring because of this! Scott emphatically expressed that more people should go to live jazz performances as it will bring a whole new light and meaning to the genre.

Culture is largely impacted by music and to say jazz has played a role in the influence of American culture is a vast understatement. The first thing that comes to someone’s mind usually has a lot of significance to them and for Scott, when describing the impact of jazz on culture, his first thought was jazz taught people to dance! Since most jazz throughout history was largely founded and based in clubs, the alure of dancing is strongly attached to it. Jazz makes people want to move, the rhythm, the harmonies, the basic sound, all of it together gets people onto their feet and dancing in the street because they simply can’t help it! (if the rhyme is too much I DEEPLY apologize) Outside of just the simple idea that jazz brings people to life, we see how jazz brought African American culture into mainstream American culture. The melting pot that is this country accepted jazz and the African culture attached to it as jazz is heavily, and almost entirely, influenced by African polyrhythms. Scott expounded on this greatly during out interview as he told me about the acceptance of African American culture that was brought through jazz. He explained that the culture of African Americans was one that was largely suppressed or even viewed as illegitimate in the past but through jazz music, this incredible culture became a staple in pop culture. The influence of jazz on music and culture is obvious but the most significant influence is the fact that it gave African Americans a well-deserved voice in pop culture. This influence has in no way stopped today as without its influence, there wouldn’t be R&B or hip hop. These two genres were heavily influenced by jazz and without this genre they would simply cease to exist. Even outside of these specific genres that have been influenced, without the harmonies created in the 40s and 50s, music would not look the same today. Scott explained that although jazz isn’t considered to be “pop” anymore, artists like Frank Sinatra and Nat Cole set a standard for many different pop stars today and will continue to influence artists to come.

The last question that I asked Scott in our time together was just how has jazz changed over time and what does it look like in our generation? He answered that jazz doesn’t quite look the same as it once did with the past there were acoustic instruments and large bands and quartets. Today, jazz music no longer is primarily acoustic sets and quartets are a lot more uncommon as technology has changed and artists now can create a new sound. Scott explained that there is no point in trying to recreate old sounds or trying to replicate jazz bands of the past because new cats will generally not measure up to the old cats, but that is okay! There is the reinforcement of the idea that jazz is this endless reservoir that people can draw from to create and keep on creating! This is exciting as artists can develop new ideas and new styles in this unending genre of music.

As I finished up my interview with Scott, I found myself to be left in awe. Honestly walking into this interview with very minimal knowledge of jazz, I am now walking away with a deep respect and draw to this incredible genre that seems to have the depths of an ocean. I am excited beyond words that Liberty Student Activities gets to present our student body with such an incredible opportunity to experience something so lovely and worthy of our attention at Jazz Night.

---