Jazz Education!!

Next class, Wed July 20 at 11am, we'll start with another hour on jazz ed. JOHN, ALEX, Etc.--what were your questions/Topics?

Also, can anyone see what's on this blog without signing in? I don't think so. If so I'll tell you a bit more of what I know re Rutgers. Ask me!

ALSO, here are links for some videos of bands and sites from current jazz programs:
MIAMI
http://www.youtube.com/user/UnivMiamiJazz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PtxehQPK3g

RUTGERS--Mason Gross:
http://www.wbgo.org/ondemand

IASJ.com

UK—BART NOORMAN: http://www.virtualmusicschool.org/VMSwebdemo/VMS.html

ITALY—Siena:
http://www.sienajazz.it/23/?no_cache=1&L=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PtxehQPK3g

ISRAEL:
http://eng.rimonschool.co.il/

HOLLAND:
http://www.ahk.nl/en/conservatorium/study-programmes/jazz/
http://www.newyorkgroningen.com/
http://www.hanze.nl/home/International/Schools/Prins+Claus+Conservatorium/Programmes/Bachelor+Programmes/Jazz/

ALSO Sibelius Akademe in FInland, France (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, led by Fra), Norway (Trondheim), etc, etc, etc

JAPAN:
http://jazzinjapan.com/other-views/308-senzoku-university-of-jazz.html
Long known as a top classical and Japanese music school, Senzoku University opened its own jazz department five years ago. Though most universities have jazz circles and private jazz schools abound, the full-time, degree-bearing program in Japan is a rarity. With handpicked Tokyo musicians (Yosuke Yamashita, Kazumi Watanabe and Shigeharu Mukai, for starters) and a curriculum based on the famed Berklee College of Music

Lewis

Sookey Jumps...

Hello all---

After hearing Lewis say that there was a side of Leadbelly songs categorized as "sookey jumps" I decided to dig around some slang dictionaries to find the meaning of the word. Most of the comprehensive modern slang dictionaries in print form list "sookie" as being an Australian slang term for a puny and faint-hearted man, or a "mama's boy". Also, the smaller pop-culture dictionaries didn't really help any, and nearly all of the ones online, even in Temple's research databases, were generally unhelpful.

I decided to go to the Paley Library (the main library) at Temple, and found a more interesting definition in a slang dictionary that dates back to 1914. Check out the entire title:

Farmer, John S. and W.E. Henley. Slang and its Analogues, Past and Present: A dictionary historical and comparative of the heterodox speech of all classes of society for more than three hundred years, with synonyms in English, French, German, Italian, etc. Printed for subscribers only. 1914.

The dictionary is enormous--it includes 7 volumes. Volume 7, p.25 has the following entry:

Sukey, subs. (common). -- 1. A kettle. 2. A common name for a general servant or "slavey". Sukey-tawdry = a slatternly female in fine tawdry. [I think that this is the same term--"oo" is often interchangeable with "u" in slang, such as "jook joint" and "juke joint".]

The dictionary defines "tawdry" as a rustic equivalent of an elegant necklace or girdle.

The authors appear to be British, but depending on how old the term "sukey" is, it could very well have been in use in the American South, given that the majority of white folks in the Deep South are of Angl0-Saxon heritage.

There was no entry for "sukey jump", but knowing that a jump was a type of vernacular dance in the early 20th Century (think "One o'clock Jump", "Jumpin' at the Woodside", "Detroit Jump" etc.), and given other examples of sections of the African-American community wrestling ownership of derogatory terms (the n-word; referring to others as "man" instead of "boy", etc.), turning negative phrases into positive ones ("bad", "dope", etc.), and rebranding words completely for metaphorical effect ("juke" was Gullah for "wicked", but was turned into a term for a popular rural dance hall/watering hole), I would guess that "sookey jump" is a type of regional dance that is a play on words involving the above definition. (Sorry for the long sentence.)

Thoughts? Maybe this would be a good question for Elijah or Alan.

Jazz History July 11th Blues

I enjoyed listening to all the great recordings Lewis brought in yesterday and our discussion of the definition of Blues. As a jazz trumpeter I expect to perform a tune that is a blues or is blues"ish" every time I go out and play. Therefore I try and always work on it in practice and I try to explore blues sounds in "non blues" tunes. For my ears, the sound of the blues is the contrast of the tensions (altered tones) in the chord with the consonant chromatic neighbor tones. For example; alternately stressing the #9 and the Maj 3rd, or the b5 next to the natural 5, etc. I think real seasoned blues musicians are masters of the tension and release associated with these chromatic relationships. I thought the lyrics conversation was interesting, with the symbolism in the lyrics leaving a great deal open to interpretation (and the references being so outdated that its hard to figure out what the singer is even talking about). I think in some cases the sound of the words and the rhythm they make when spoken are probably half the reason they were chosen. Anyway, thanks John for setting up this blog. See you guys on Wednesday.

Thanks for the blog, John!--here's some info re BLUES

Here's some info I emailed to all of you:

Allen Lowe invites any of you to write him with questions (you might want to check out
AllenLowe.com first to get ideas of what to ask):
allenlowe5@gmail.com

AND below is more info from Elijah--also you can see him performing blues
etc on youtube.
Lewis

Below is more info from Elijah--also you can see him performing blues
etc on youtube.
Lewis

Below is more info from Elijah--also you can see him performing blues
etc on youtube.
Lewis

Dear Lewis,
I very much enjoyed talking with you and your grad students, and have
a couple of quick notes to pass on to your students:

--The chapter I recommended on the roots of African American as
opposed to Afro-Latin rhythms was from Ned Sublette: Cuba and Its
Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo. It's an amazing book for
many reasons, and that chapter is the best short summation I have
found of the influence of slave importation patterns on the music of
the Americas.

--When the student asked about slide guitar, I mentioned banjo, and he
asked if there was any slide banjo, I had a momentary lapse. Yes, Gus
Cannon recorded a slide banjo blues (or pre-blues), "Poor Boy, Long
Ways From Home," in 1927. But in general, no, in a large part because
slide guitar depends on the instrument's sustain and banjos have
notoriously fast sound decay.

All the best,
elijah
Elijahwald.com