Last night the Mike Wofford Trio gave an educational lecture demonstration at the San Diego Museum of Art. This was the first in a planned series where jazz musicians explain the art form and, in addition to playing, tell about what they are doing. I suspect that most musicians would rather just play than talk about their craft. However, Mike on piano along with Luther Hayes on bass and Duncan Moore on drums, did an admirable job talking about different facets of jazz and even taking questions from the audience.
The dilemma they faced is a little like the bricklayer who was asked to give a lecture about the art of bricklaying. Surveying the audience he thought about whether there were any advanced bricklayers present or whether most of them didn't know what mortar was. He thought about whether he should try to encapsulate the whole history of bricklaying, whether he should talk about the various styles and types of brick or whether he should talk about all the great brick buildings of the world. Finally he said, "I just try to lay 'em in a straight line," and sat down.
Mike and the trio offered much more in the way of explanation than that! They worked over the "I Got Rhythm" changes in various styles from simple to complex including a modal version, and gave Duke Ellington's "C Jam Blues" the same treatment with the final very impressive version played free. Questions from the audience brought out the interesting fact that there was, however, some premeditation to the music that sounded totally spontaneous and free. Also that the musicians' time sense was so advanced that they could drop all the basic elements of melody, harmony and rhythm and still stay together as long as everyone still knew where "one" was. And that "one" was not the first beat of each bar but the first beat of the entire form whether 32 bars or a 12 bar blues!
It makes sense that, as long as everyone knows where they are time-wise, the group sounds coherent and cohesive, but, once you lose that time coherence, you just have mass chaos. So time is the most fundamental musical value. However, even if you lose that time coherence, it can be gotten back just by the leader playing a few bars of melody or other reference points so that "one" can be reestablished. It won't be the same "one" as the original "one" but that is a matter only philosophers would fret about.
Mike and the group shared their other musical values with us as well such as tolerance of virtually any style from the Yellowjackets to Cecil Taylor. One got the impression that they had taken them all seriously and learned from all of them. There is a rich and diverse history and many colorful characters to learn from. Fortunately, today there is also a wealth of educational materials available from play-along records in every conceivable style to a voluminous libary of books on improvisation. Also recent technolgy advances in recording have made it possible for every musician to have their own recording studio and produce their own CDs. Musicians need not even record together as a group but instead can email their parts to a central location for the final mix-down and mastering. A lot of them are also marketing their own works on the internet.
Luther explained with a grin that he was the foundation of the band and rightfully so since he plays all the roots of the chords while the piano player plays the "pretty notes." Duncan explained how the bass player and the drummer "lock on" to each other to lay down a cohesive foundation. It would have been nice if they could have elaborated more, but there were time constraints.
It's always a problem in a limited amount of time to give an introductory lecture about jazz. Jazz history goes back over a hundred years now, most of it recorded, so there is a substantial legacy to talk about. One senses that Mike had some anxiety about fitting it all in. He said he didn't want to sound like a lecture for Jazz 101, and this is good because, while anyone could give a Jazz 101 lecture, what I wanted to hear was Mike's personal insight and relationship with jazz. Still I think he tried to cover too much. He could just as well have skipped "I Got Rhythm" and given the whole presentation on the blues which after all is the foundation for both jazz and rock and roll. Undoubtedly, more money has been made off the blues than any other musical form and it all started very simply in a field somewhere probably 200 years ago with an honest expression, a repeat and then the denouement: "Feelin' tomorrow like I feel today. I said feelin' tomorrow like I feel today. I'm gonna pack my things and make my getaway." The 12 bar blues form with 3 four bar sections and 3 chords arose from that or a similar lament and was based on the African- American experience. The development could proceed from Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey down to the harmonic dexterity and adventurousness of Art Tatum and to the chord-change-every-beat blues of Charlie Parker. It all comes from that original holler.
I would venture a guess that most in the audience were fairly sophisticated and knowledgeable jazz aficionados judging by the age group of most of the attendees. Why not ask the audience a few questions like 1) how long have you been listening to jazz?; 2) how many CDs or records in your jazz collection? That way the Museum will have a general idea of where to pitch future programs. For the presenting artist, here are a few tips:
1) Take a facet of jazz and deal with it in depth; don't spread yourself too thin.
2) Tell us your musical values (which the Mike Wofford Trio did very well).
3) Give us some insight into the art of improvisation which is what jazz is all about. (They did that also).
4) Help us to understand your motivation and your development as a jazz player and composer.
Finally, it can't be overstated that educational programs such as this are invaluable adjuncts to the concert or listening experience per se. Wynton Marsalis is doing a similar thing weekly on XM radio. Although as Mike emphasized "you can appreciate great music without understanding it technically," still the more the audience and the general public understand what's going on in the minds of the musicians, the more they will appreciate the music. Hopefully, this series will continue.