We are so excited to welcome you to our little corner of the internet! Before you check out our content and join in the discussion, please allow us a moment to introduce ourselves and the purpose of this site.
I’ll start, since I’m the one who started writing this – my name is Dan Jonas. I’ve made a life out of being a student, and a student of jazz.
I definitely took the long route through school, at times holding on for dear life. And like pretty much everybody who tries to learn jazz, I met with my share of frustration, over not being able to play the things I wanted to play or being told that playing certain things or certain ways was better than playing other things.
One of the main reasons I wanted to contribute to this site is to start a discussion about the future of jazz. For many of us, it’s mercurial at best. It’s an art form striving to move forward in an over-saturated music market, and an art form that has to somehow move forward while paying homage to the history and tradition. It’s a difficult path to find, much less follow. It’s my hope that through the kinds of discussions we’ll have on this site we can collectively develop a clearer picture of what jazz is, where it’s been and where it’s going. And also have some fun and nerd out about music.
Hello! I am Sam. Dan and I have wanted to start a blog for quite some time and we are now finally doing it. Here is a little about me. Like Dan, I am also a jazz doctor. Early on in my career, my love for jazz was nurtured by my friends, teachers and the Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey is where I call home!). After an intense undergraduate experience, my passion for jazz diminished. I was fortunate to spend 5 years living and studying jazz in New York, but was not ready for the competitive atmosphere nor the grind-it-out mindset required for carving out a living in the Big Apple. I explored other career options and began graduate school in a different field – Kiniesiology. After a year of study in this new field and after much soul-searching, my desire to resume performing and studying jazz was reignited.
Since then my journey has lead me through a few more degrees and countless time listening to, studying and generally “nerding” out over jazz music. While living in Colorado, I crossed paths with Dan and after several months we decided to work together on this blog about jazz. While there are resources available for the new jazz musician, it is important for jazz to begin shifting into the 21st century. This, in part, means creating new resources for the aspiring musician and revisiting old ones (such as recordings/books/resources) to evaluate their relevancy in the modern jazz world.
Thanks for joining us, and thanks for letting us share – now let’s talk about jazz!
Dizzyland 