I always want to write a “Dad Post” when it comes around to Father’s Day, or my father’s real birthday, or for no reason other than the fact that he shaped my music taste so much. And he did a damn good job. I feel the need to thank him for playing artists like these non-stop in our home and car: Sam Cooke, Bob Marley, Curtis Mayfield, The Impressions, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, James Brown, Sly & The Family Stone, Funkadelic, Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and my personal favorite of the dad-post-list, Gene Ammons. These records give me warm happy nostalgia now, like comfort food and The Simpsons. I’m pretty sure that I would be a very different person without the soundtrack backing my development since birth.
So today I’m wishing dad a Happy Birthday! Through the years, I’ve already posted “Song For My Father” and later, another jazz song I knew had some meaning for him: “Chelsea Bridge” by Ben Webster.
“Solar” – Miles Davis (from Walkin‘)
“Solar” by Miles Davis was how my dad formally introduced me to the world of jazz musicianship. For you jazz musicians out there, you know how “Solar” is one of those fun songs with very slow easy chord changes, a beginner’s song. It was 1997 or so, and I had recently traded in my clarinet for a tenor saxophone. My school music teacher requested this switch for me, because a) he was convinced I was another golden child like my genius sax-playing older brother, and b) he needed a sax in his marching band, which was very weak.
One night, my dad opened the Fake Book to “Solar” and played a simple bluesy lick on my horn. (It was his horn before he gave up. He gave up when my brother surpassed him in skill.) Encouraging me to try improvisation, he said, “just find something that works, and play around with it.” It was very simple advice, but it worked and it was the start of my whole experience playing jazz.
But it was not the start, nor the end, of my dad teaching me how to do basically everything.
One last thing in honor of my cool cool Dad’s birthday: Here’s one of my favorite things he’s ever published online. Imagine my reaction when you read #7. Manny’s Place / Weird Things
[[[ I expect some kind of punishment if mom doesn't get a plug too now. Here you are: My mom has a blog too! She wants you to Stumble Upon her, so do it! Stumble Upon Diary of a Heretic. She also contributed to my musicality with one word: Prince. That's for another post ]]]
Unsurprisingly I missed (or will miss) most of CMJ because it’s impossible to enjoy a show with a migraine, and I try to avoid agonizing pain when possible. But I did catch Reni Lane gracefully tackle an an early set, a tiny venue, and a boring, sober crowd Thurs night at The Delancey. Reni had a single on The L Word called “Place For Us”, which recently got even more love when RAC remixed it.
