jazz on friday

jazz music holds a special place in my heart.  it is not a favorite, it is like an old friend, of whom i dont get too see everyday but i would always give time, when around.  so when i saw chico's resto bar in rizal and their subtitle: jazz, samba... (there is one more word, but my hang-over headache seems to be preventing me to remember), i earnestly asked my friends to troop there. 

finally, last night, the gen txt event in rizal promenade prevented this humble smart user to enter luke mijares concert, thus pointing towards satisfying the yearning that has been going for a week already. 

my affinity to jazz seem to trace back when i was in third or fourth year high school.  i probably got tired of the alternative sound of grunge and other kinds of music that has alternative tagged on their skin.  i still like it though, even now, i'd still be swaying my head whenever i hear the likes of nirvana (kurt cobain, god bless his soul) or eraserheads and river maya for that matter. 

 

so i tried to look for a sound that is nearer to the heart.  an alternative to my favorite alternative music.  then i came across works of benoit, mike francis, patty austin, and the 105.9 crossover station manila.  and i think that i have found music that would help me rest the creative angst of alternative inclinations.  and it did not stop with that, i soon began to enjoy a wider range of jazz from the likes of bb king, louie armstrong to eddie katindig, to other renditions of diana krall to kevyn lettau, yani, norah jones, al jarreau and many many more.

 

i dont pretend to be an expert on jazz, maybe because it is something to be experienced rather than defined.  i wouldn't be surprised if one of the artists i mentioned are not jazz artists at all.  as far as i know, jazz has evovled from its vulgar meaning to the personal meaning that i have come to attach to it, as of  now. 

 

just as long as it touches in me and evokes a very special feeling, i somehow know that it is jazz.  the feeling is like closing my eyes, and swaying to the warm beat of percussions over extended bass guitar sounds and sharp ticks of the guitar, to the mellow voice of jazz artists.  working as if in an orchestra of sounds, unique on its own, yet very personal to the touch.  all in all, it is a positive feeling to experience over and over again.

 

jazz music on a friday, is experiencing a personal friday when the week ends... though the work is an entirely different matter.