Music or Musical Theatre
Like the Rising Sun
Although in conventional times and among younger people jazz music is disparaged as boring 'elevator music', true jazz music is anything but. I reached this conclusion after listening to some excellent concert jazz albums of live music. The work of jazz that I am largely basing the aforementioned thesis on is Charles Lloyd's Forest Flower, which was released in 1966 when jazz music was at the height of its popularity, and before it became diluted into the Kenny G, elevator music that it is largely known as today. Therefore, this paper will largely explain how true jazz music is raucous, "improvisational" (Baraka 262), even revolutionary music -- before it was tamed and delivered to the mass media for safe consumption. I will explore this theme by presenting a response to Forest Flower, as well as an interpretation and an evaluation of this musical recording. In doing so I aim to indicate how this work is exemplary of other works of jazz, which is a wild, party driven music that can become hauntingly melodious at times.
RESPONSE
The first time I ever heard Forest Flower was when my father played it for me during a Christmas vacation on his vinyl record player. I had never really listened to jazz before (although he had a sizeable collection), and I generally thought about it as most other young people do -- that it is tedious, safe music for old people. However, very early on in the recording (just a few notes into the first song on the first side) I quickly understood that this perception was incorrect about this particular selection. My father told me that he and my mother used to listen to this album over and over before they produced my sister and me. I could easily see why. The melodies of this piece were extremely gripping. It actually...
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