The Day Before

One day until JazzFest begins! I have my program opened to the Event Schedule (near the centre of the brochure) and tacked to the bulletin board, right beside our schedules for school field trips and after-school sports. June is terribly busy for us, but we try to fit in as much of JazzFest as we can, and occasionally we prioritize the music over the June mayhem because it’s a once-in-a-year opportunity—sometimes, once-in-a-lifetime.

This year I’ve got a pass, and I intend to take full advantage of it! I’ll be slipping in late to concerts I’d miss otherwise because of a soccer or softball game, and leave early for the same reasons. There is a host of concerts I won’t have to miss entirely, thanks to having the pass. (And it gets me into every Jazz Society concert for the coming year! Is somebody kidding me?? This is almost too good to be true.)

As for Monday: This will be the first year I make it to the vintage-film event, and I’m really looking forward to it. Years ago in Vancouver, I sat through a late-late showing of a documentary on Chet Baker, the famous jazz trumpet player. I didn’t have the first clue about jazz music (still don’t, in any official sense). But it seemed like the thing to do. I was 21, living and working in the downtown of a big city, and the world of art, music, and film was wide open to this small-town girl in an exciting new way. This was around the same time that Oliver Stone’s movie tribute to The Doors came out, and I have always associated the two, as much for the bleary-eyed, late-night experiences as the commonality of the tales: soar-and-crash stories of musical brilliance accompanied by utter pathos. Both left indelible marks on my idealism about the arts, but left me with an even greater curiosity about music and musicians and an appreciation for seeing music in context, real or represented.

I suppose this is why I have come to love live music of all types and value opportunities like hearing Hal Miller present some of his vintage footage and (I hope) commentary. In the few years that I’ve been deliberately exploring the edges of jazz, I’ve learned that, like any genre, it has a unique culture—and learning about its characters and seminal historical moments can illuminate the music in unexpected ways. Never mind that listening to jazz aficionados talk and share about the music is highly entertaining. There is a great passion for life and for music in the jazz world that pulls you in.

So I look forward to Hal Miller’s presentation tomorrow night. With the Woody Allen flick at the Monarch, I can’t imagine a better way to launch a week of music! [CGS]