The Christmas tree is lit early this morning and Nat King Cole is on the stereo! My 7 yr old is waking up to Nat and a big smile is on his face. The last day of school for him so he is in a good mood this morning… he knows Santa Claus is on the way. I have been trying to sell him on the whole “Black Santa” idea over the past 2 weeks and it’s just not working… I can see it in his eyes when I show him the books and the advertisements with the Black Santa image and it’s not working… how depressing is it that a true ‘Jazz cat” LIKE ME CAN’T EVEN SELL HIS CHILD THE CONCEPT OF Black Santa!?
Well, I still have to find some James Brown Christmas music! I’m not going to give up on this! NO WAY.. in this day and age when kids still have a belief system why can’t BLACK SANTA be in the mix?
The kid is 7 years old so I would think he is still impressionable to be brainwashed… maybe I should take him to WalMart. I remember when you would see BLACK SANTA in front of stores asking for donations. This was in the 70’s when the whole “Black Conscious” movement was popular.
Was BLACK SANTA a con back then? BLACK SANTA would take your donations and say he was giving it to homeless people. BLACK SANTA always had a big smile on his face and seemed “jolly”… was he high? Was he drunk? This was in the early 70’s when I grew up in the Bronx and a lot of Vietnam Vets were coming home strung out on heroin… perhaps BLACK SANTA was a vet who was making money to fix his “jones”. I really liked BLACK SANTA in those days.
As a kid it was a special time. Christmas in the Bronx with the sound of James Brown singing “I’m Black and I’m Proud” coming from the cars…. The whole feeling was cold and special… holes in my socks and holes in my gloves… throwing snowballs at police cars and then running. Christmas was about causing trouble and not getting caught! I miss it. I will continue to try my brainwashing techniques on my son and see if it takes root. I have the Christmas tree with little instrument decorating it instead of Christmas ball decorations. I have Nat king Cole singing his tunes and I’m still looking for that James Brown Christmas cd. All is good!
(To all jazz pianists) How did you learn to play? How old were you when you started learning jazz?
I have played the piano since I was 6. I am classically trained having taken lessons until I was 18. I am a little out of practice, but I have made a new goal to polish up my skills again. I LOVE jazz, and have always wanted to learn to play jazz piano. So, in doing so, what would you recommend as the best approach? Please tell me of your experiences and what I should do.
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What modes do I use to solo over what chords in Jazz?
In general, what modes do I use to solo over what chords in Jazz? Basically, what are some basic chords for each different mode that sound good when soloed over using that mode? And how do I tell what chords sound good with what mode? I am a guitarist.
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