What got you into jazz?

[K1969]

My dad listened to a lot of jazz but it wasn't hearing Kind of Blue emanating from his office that got me hooked. Oh no. I had to ease my way in. This LP had a lot do with it. I played (bad) electric bass in a local rock band. One day the keyboard player suggested we do an instrumental - covering a track from this LP. The rest was history. Even though today I hardly ever listen to it I could never let it go. It started a life long love affair that has run out and out ran several women. So what got you hooked?

[Jazz Kat]

My dad started me on Herb Alpert, and some jazz when I was real little. He then introduced me to Dave Brubeck, Ramsey Lewis, Chuck Mangione, Pete Jolly, and Vince Guaraldi. He wasn't a big jazz fan, but knew those artists from the radio when he was a kid. I then expanded my jazz listening from those artists. The music did all the rest.

Edited June 21, 2007 by Jazz Kat

[Van Basten II]

Started going to our jazz festival, listened to a few local band on the outside venue, started documenting myself about it, buying cds, developping a taste, learning about different styles et voilà.

I can't say that one artist turned my eye more than any other, i just enjoyed hearing the sound of the music produced by these ensembles. It sounded and still sounds exciting, intriguing and enjoyed the effort you have to make to get into it

Now, i can't stop... as i get older, i start enjoying more and more old time stuff, like pre second war music.

Edited June 21, 2007 by Van Basten II

[mikeweil]

a) I was strangely fascinated by the sounds of the Modern Jazz Quartet as listened to from an EP with their first Prestige session (La Ronde, Vendome etc.) I found in my sister-in-law's collection - I didn't get what they were doing, but I was heavily attracted to it

b) I became disgusted by the over-emotionalized trend rock music was taking - Hendrix, Joplin, Jim Morrison was to lascivious for me

(this is the ultra-short version .....)

[kh1958]

Listening to Frank Zappa and to John Mayall's Jazz Blues Fusion.

[Noj]

Rap.

[porcy62]

My dad despised jazz, he thought it was "a brothel's music" (his words), he loved Mozart and Rossini. He despised rock too. The main reason because I got into jazz was that I had to be "snob". Since I was an Art's student mainstream rock music (Pink Floyd, Dylan, ecc..) was too "easy listening". Ornette's Free Jazz or Coltrane's Ascension or Sun Ra, this were hip music for us. I even despised hard bop, too "mainstream".

After some years of psychoanalisys I came to an agreement with music.

Now I can enjoy Mozart, H. Silver and Deep Purple w/o any apparent problems.

BTW John Mayall's Jazz Blues Fusion is a great record.

[Chuck Nessa]

My dad despised jazz, he thought it was "a brothel's music" (his words), he loved Mozart and Rossini. He despised rock too. The main reason because I got into jazz was that I had to be "snob". Since I was an Art's student mainstream rock music (Pink Floyd, Dylan, ecc..) was too "easy listening". Ornette's Free Jazz or Coltrane's Ascension or Sun Ra, this were hip music for us. I even despised hard bop, too "mainstream".

After some years of psychoanalisys I came to an agreement with music.

Now I can enjoy Mozart, H. Silver and Deep Purple w/o any apparent problems.

BTW John Mayall's Jazz Blues Fusion is a great record.

If he's still alive, tell yo' daddy Rossini wrote "brothel's music" too.

[zen archer]

Prince got me into jazz went to see Sign o the times movie and they did snippets of Take the A train and jammed on Nows the time. Plus his Madhouse albums were jazz-funk that led me into all the rare groove blue note cds......and on and on it goes.

[porcy62]

My dad despised jazz, he thought it was "a brothel's music" (his words), he loved Mozart and Rossini. He despised rock too. The main reason because I got into jazz was that I had to be "snob". Since I was an Art's student mainstream rock music (Pink Floyd, Dylan, ecc..) was too "easy listening". Ornette's Free Jazz or Coltrane's Ascension or Sun Ra, this were hip music for us. I even despised hard bop, too "mainstream".

After some years of psychoanalisys I came to an agreement with music.

Now I can enjoy Mozart, H. Silver and Deep Purple w/o any apparent problems.

BTW John Mayall's Jazz Blues Fusion is a great record.

If he's still alive, tell yo' daddy Rossini wrote "brothel's music" too.

Sadly he is not. My dad was too clever for judging a music for it. He simply preferred Mozart, Rossini and classical music. I still have his records.

BTW he was a decent accordion player and he loved popular brass band and "a capella" choirs, not the worst dad, musically speaking. I still can sing the whole Barbiere di Siviglia w/o reading the libretto, though I'd reccomend it

Edited June 21, 2007 by porcy62

[RDK]

Don't recall exactly, though prior to my "getting into jazz" I was familiar with a few players due to my taking drum lessons as a kid (my teacher was a huge Buddy Rich fan) and growing up in Rochester, home to Chuck Mangione.

Really fell hard into it around 1980, and an early "inspiration" was, of all things, the Rolling Stone Album Guide that came out around then - not the later, yellow covered Jazz Guide, but the Red covered Guide that covered all genres of music and had a jazz section in back that had albums with lots of stars by them by artists that I had never heard before. I was a teenager experimenting with lots of different styles of music then and, using the RS Guide, I started picking up a few of their choice picks, which led me to a few of my first jazz LPs: Miles' In a Silent Way, Mingus' Ah Um, and that great BN Monk twofer. From there it was simply more "experimenting," picking up one five star album after another, checking out jazz LPs from the public library, and (once in college) scanning years' worth of Downbeats on microfiche.

[J.A.W.]

I did, almost 50 years ago.

[paul secor]

In 1962, I was looking for something that had more depth than rock 'n' roll. Started reading down beat and listening to records, and I was on my way.

[Christiern]

Almost 60 years ago, I was a Copenhagen teenager surfing the dial of my Philips radio (very similar to this one) when this voice penetrated the grill cloth and went straight for my sense of the beautiful. It was Bessie Smith and two minutes or so of her singing hooked me on the music.

[Chuck Nessa]

Vaseline.

[Joe G]

In 1962, I was looking for something that had more depth than rock 'n' roll. Started reading down beat and listening to records, and I was on my way.

Same here, albeit almost 30 years later.

[JSngry]

Shaddique (rhymes with "barbeque") Ferguson, the guy who took all those great tenor solos on all those great Rayford Jester 45s.

Edited June 22, 2007 by JSngry

[Chuck Nessa]

Shaddique (rhymes with "barbeque") Ferguson, the guy who took all those great tenor solos on all those great Rupert Jester 45s.

I think his friends called him Vaseline.

[JSngry]

But everyone knew her as Nancy.

[Dan Gould]

In 1962, I was looking for something that had more depth than rock 'n' roll. Started reading down beat and listening to records, and I was on my way.

Same here, albeit almost 30 years later.

26 years later for me, and I don't know if I was looking for more depth than rock 'n' roll, but I know I was bored by what was on the radio.

[rostasi]

• Audrey Farber

• Susan Underhill

• Betty Jo Bialowski

• Nancy

[Joe G]

Going back to when I was about 13, I heard a couple of jazz tunes on an Andy Stateman record called "Flatbush Waltz" (on Rounder) that put a hook in me. I thought the guitar solos were perfect.

[Lyin' Wolf]

So what got you hooked?

Mosaic Contemporary

[Bright Moments]

But everyone knew her as Nancy.

nick danger!!! dang!

[clifford_thornton]

In 1962, I was looking for something that had more depth than rock 'n' roll. Started reading down beat and listening to records, and I was on my way.

Same here, albeit almost 30 years later.

Same here, a few years after Joe.