So far this semester it has been challenging for me to stay committed to one book, but this book about the great bassist Ron Carter has proven to be very interesting to me. Ron Carter is one of the most recorded bassists in jazz history, and "Finding the Right Notes" is a story about his musical journey. I was inspired to buy the book after seeing him play at the Blue Note in New York city.
So far the author is discussing to the reader interviews with Ron about his solo career. Ron has been touring with a group (both trios and quintets) as the front man, making the groups "The Ron Carter Trio (or Quintet)". This is the first time he has ever done this in his career, which spans the length of several decades. Ron describes how hard this is considering the fact that he's a bassist, even though he was the go to bassist for several legendary acts such as Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. Although Ron may have thought it was hard, the show I saw at the Blue Note was absolutely packed, and the crowd loved Ron's performance.
Ron is portrayed to be such a good guy in this book, which is inspiring to me. When I talked to him in New York, he seemed to be very reserved in his speaking, but very aware of everything going on around him. His personality perfectly represents his playing, and the standard of jazz bass playing. He is a supportive person, and a supportive player. He supported me by wishing me luck on my audition, and he supported Miles Davis by giving him a comfortable foundation to solo, or play melodies over. I thought it was interesting how I knew Ron by his playing before I even met him. The author of the book would say the same thing, describing Ron as an extremely intelligent, relatively shy but assertive, and supportive overall. It inspires me to be this way as a person, and to have it reflect in my own personal playing.
I'm sure I will stay committed to this book because it interests me so much. It interests me as a writer because the author writes about my favorite topic, music, while interviewing one of my favorite bass players, Mr. Ron Carter. I mentioned in my previous blog on "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" that the writing of musicians and their stories is my favorite type of writing, and the sort of writing I would aspire to do in my own work.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Their Eyes Were Watching God
For my English 4 honors class we recently began reading Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God". From the perspective of a writer this book is absolutely amazing. The approach she takes in her writing is so creative, admirable, and straight up gutsy. Ill explain.
The book is written about southern living through the eyes of a black woman, named Janie, in the mid 20th century. Now, I'm not too far into this book so some details I'm unaware of, but there is a lot to be said already. Hurston wrote this book to take the reader through the thoughts of Janie, and although there are snippets of a narrator speaking in "normal" English, it's written in Janie's language, which includes a lot of slang, and a thick southern accent. This writing shows a crucial acknowledgement of the culture of the people Hurston is trying to focus on, which is rich with way more than we today might realize.
While reading this story I was assigned to focus on a certain aspect, and I chose to focus on the culture behind the writing of this book. The dialogue is so rich with the culture of African Americans. This culture spreads from language to activities like playing the blues, and shooting the dozens. Playing the dozens I learned was/is a way to blow off steam nonviolently if they had a bone to pick with one another. Playing the blues was so important because it was frowned upon for a black person to openly express themselves during this time. They sort of had to conform to a certain standard to be safe. The blues was so important because it became their form of expression, and the name "The blues" was given because this expression was unfortunately so sad due to the circumstances of the time. The blues are important to us today because it started a wave of musical expression. The blues turned into jazz, which turned into soul, and hip hop, and R & B, and even rock and roll which became the most expressive forms of music we know today.
The book is written about southern living through the eyes of a black woman, named Janie, in the mid 20th century. Now, I'm not too far into this book so some details I'm unaware of, but there is a lot to be said already. Hurston wrote this book to take the reader through the thoughts of Janie, and although there are snippets of a narrator speaking in "normal" English, it's written in Janie's language, which includes a lot of slang, and a thick southern accent. This writing shows a crucial acknowledgement of the culture of the people Hurston is trying to focus on, which is rich with way more than we today might realize.
While reading this story I was assigned to focus on a certain aspect, and I chose to focus on the culture behind the writing of this book. The dialogue is so rich with the culture of African Americans. This culture spreads from language to activities like playing the blues, and shooting the dozens. Playing the dozens I learned was/is a way to blow off steam nonviolently if they had a bone to pick with one another. Playing the blues was so important because it was frowned upon for a black person to openly express themselves during this time. They sort of had to conform to a certain standard to be safe. The blues was so important because it became their form of expression, and the name "The blues" was given because this expression was unfortunately so sad due to the circumstances of the time. The blues are important to us today because it started a wave of musical expression. The blues turned into jazz, which turned into soul, and hip hop, and R & B, and even rock and roll which became the most expressive forms of music we know today.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Standing In The Shadows of Motown- The Start
I have recently bought a new book that I was told is crucial for a bass player to have. It's called "Standing in The Shadows of Motown", a book about arguably the best electric bassist who ever lived, James Jamerson. This is the guy you hear on the majority of famous Motown tracks like Stevie Wonder's "Signed Sealed Delivered", or Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", both the song and the album. This guy was a genius, and as much as I'd like to go in depth about him and his playing, my real assignment is to talk about the writing.
The thing that interests me most about the writing of this book is that the author, Dr. Licks, isn't basing his information on internet research, or other books about Motown. He's basing his information and writing on the fact that he was there for a lot of the action. This man has met and talked with people like Jamerson's drummer, and the pianist who was a large part of the "Motown sound", Earl Vann Dyke. Dr. Licks interviews all of these world class musicians, as well as other family members and friends of Jamerson in order to piece together the story of his tragically ended life. Not only is this an amazing and interesting topic, but puzzling the pieces together to form a story of a musically famous, but personally forgotten person seems to be a fun process in itself.
If I were to ever write a book it's either be completely fiction, like a super imaginative weird scifi novel, or a biography about someone as inspiring and important as Mr. James Jamerson. This book stresses his importance in the musical world today. If every band needs a bass player, nine out of ten times that bass player has been hugely influenced by James Jamerson. If this isn't the case, then this strange bassist was influenced by a different bass player who was influenced by Jamerson. Jamerson is the epitome of modern bass playing, and hugely impacting on the world of music we live in today.
The thing that interests me most about the writing of this book is that the author, Dr. Licks, isn't basing his information on internet research, or other books about Motown. He's basing his information and writing on the fact that he was there for a lot of the action. This man has met and talked with people like Jamerson's drummer, and the pianist who was a large part of the "Motown sound", Earl Vann Dyke. Dr. Licks interviews all of these world class musicians, as well as other family members and friends of Jamerson in order to piece together the story of his tragically ended life. Not only is this an amazing and interesting topic, but puzzling the pieces together to form a story of a musically famous, but personally forgotten person seems to be a fun process in itself.
If I were to ever write a book it's either be completely fiction, like a super imaginative weird scifi novel, or a biography about someone as inspiring and important as Mr. James Jamerson. This book stresses his importance in the musical world today. If every band needs a bass player, nine out of ten times that bass player has been hugely influenced by James Jamerson. If this isn't the case, then this strange bassist was influenced by a different bass player who was influenced by Jamerson. Jamerson is the epitome of modern bass playing, and hugely impacting on the world of music we live in today.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
The House on Mango Street 2/5/15
I started re-reading “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros recently since I decided that when I read it sophomore year I really didn’t understand any of it. Like other books that have been assigned by my past teachers, I had fallen behind in reading it, and ended up cramming the meaningless words into my head to try and pass a test. No meaning behind the vignettes was ever absorbed, but I remembered loving the vignette style-- short little stories with deep meanings kept my attention and interest. As I read Cisneros’ book again I read it slowly. I love to absorb every little detail running through Esperanza’s (the main character) mind.
I love the point of view of the story. It’s told by a young Latino girl living in poverty. The interesting part of the point of view that ends up becoming so powerful is the fact that Esperanza is so used to living a life of poverty, so much so that my jaw will drop at things she mentions so casually. It’s like she’s ignorant when it comes to living in luxury, in the same way that people living in luxury are ignorant of other peoples’ living conditions. It’s so innocent the way she mentions her living situation, things like the way she mentioned her “stairs like crooked teeth” and rats and criminals lurking her street at night. The reader feels bad for the poor, sweet girl, but if we were to be able to tell her we feel bad, she’d ask “why?”.
I feel like I can relate to Esperanza in the sense that I also used to live in a less-than-desirable environment. I come from Rockford, Illinois and wasn’t fortunate enough to live in a very good neighborhood. There were robberies, muggings, and gang activity just a few blocks down my street. To me when I was a kid these things were normal since I had grown up with it. I feel that if I had written these things down the way I saw them, the future me would feel bad reading my old memoirs.
So far I’m only about 50 pages into “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I feel that there's a lot for me to relate to, and with this, as well as the vignette style, the book is very easy for me to read.
I love the point of view of the story. It’s told by a young Latino girl living in poverty. The interesting part of the point of view that ends up becoming so powerful is the fact that Esperanza is so used to living a life of poverty, so much so that my jaw will drop at things she mentions so casually. It’s like she’s ignorant when it comes to living in luxury, in the same way that people living in luxury are ignorant of other peoples’ living conditions. It’s so innocent the way she mentions her living situation, things like the way she mentioned her “stairs like crooked teeth” and rats and criminals lurking her street at night. The reader feels bad for the poor, sweet girl, but if we were to be able to tell her we feel bad, she’d ask “why?”.
I feel like I can relate to Esperanza in the sense that I also used to live in a less-than-desirable environment. I come from Rockford, Illinois and wasn’t fortunate enough to live in a very good neighborhood. There were robberies, muggings, and gang activity just a few blocks down my street. To me when I was a kid these things were normal since I had grown up with it. I feel that if I had written these things down the way I saw them, the future me would feel bad reading my old memoirs.
So far I’m only about 50 pages into “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I feel that there's a lot for me to relate to, and with this, as well as the vignette style, the book is very easy for me to read.
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