"Jazz Elevations"

An elevation is a rise or the raising of something.  Mountains and hills have elevations that get steeper and harder to climb based on their height. Life has elevations that range from success to trials. A person’s moods can vary or elevate from dismay to happy to angry.  Today’s jazz, (be it smooth, contemporary, funk, or fusion) incorporates many kinds of diverse musical elevations.  It is influenced by classical music, ragtime, bop, blues, gospel, improvisational, Latin, and popular music.  All of these jazz musical elevations can reflect, affect, and detect your status or elevation in life.  Jazz Times 2’s album “Jazz Elevations” explores some of the various elevations of jazz and life in this album.

 

"Conversations Of Jazz"

A conversation involves two or more parties and is an exchange of sentiments, observations, opinions, or ideas. Every song that you hear are instruments that speak with each other offering their opinion, sentiment, or idea. For instance in “Conversations of Jazz” (the title track of the album), you hear  keystrokes of various notes as the keyboard begins to speak, but, it alone delivers only a monologue or a one sided conversation. Then the drums speak by tapping out a beat setting the pace so that the keyboard doesn’t monopolize the conversation. The bass makes its entrance, speaking low, to keep the conversation rhythmic and flowing.  Sometimes a horn will, at intervals, blare in loudly.  The horn will quiet the conversation down so all the other instruments can listen to what is being said.  Yes, each and every instrument has something to contribute to the conversation.  Now, just like a married couple who know each other well, they usually, but not always, will come together during the conversation to say the exact same thing at the same time.  Together the instruments make for a well-rounded conversation of jazz. 

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Many times people say that a particular piece of music spoke to them.  It is our sincere hope that “Conversations of Jazz” will speak to many people.

 

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