Hi friends,
Lately, it feels like jazz is everywhere in Los Angeles again. New festivals, packed rooms, more visibility, and even a few high-profile misfires that show how much ambition and expectation now surround the music. If anything, the renewed attention makes one thing clear: jazz is speaking directly to this moment.
But as LeRoy Downs reminds us in this week’s Music Insider, jazz never really went away.
It has continued to evolve, challenge, comfort, provoke, and shape American culture in ways that are both obvious and deeply embedded. The musicians kept playing, the communities kept gathering, and the language of jazz kept moving forward.
That’s something KCRW has always believed in, and something LeRoy has championed for years on his Sunday night show, every week from 10 PM to midnight.
Below, LeRoy reflects on what jazz means now, why it continues to matter, and how deeply alive the scene remains across Los Angeles.
– Ale
Jazz music is a seed planted and created by brilliant artists of the past that has continued as a foundation for the blossoming of more intellectual tones and blends that shape the music of today.
We have a community of musicians who have dedicated their lives to discovering and composing new ways of expressing their ideas formulated around how the world feels to them individually and as a community. Jazz is music that reverberates happiness, devastation, pain, joy, and excitement, allowing its audience to have an understanding of the nature of different perspectives as well as the ability to learn about the vibrations that lie within oneself.
Now let’s talk about perspectives. This word “jazz” has been used, abused, and also hailed as the end-all, be-all of music. How can one word evoke so many different feelings? To many, it is a word that presents as a social construct displaying an air of “cool." This is a fallacy, a pretense that many would like to associate themselves with in order to be accepted as part of a special, desirable group. It can also be presented as a math problem, difficult to understand. This is also a fallacy. There is a fear that exists in not knowing. Pretending as if you do to please others is not authentic.
The simple answer to this dilemma is to be your authentic self and receive these blessings and vibrations as they are presented to you. You do not have to know the music, the time signature, or the origin of the melodies to know how it feels. Allow yourself to feel the music without all of the implications imposed by you or others, and let that be your guide to knowledge and experience.
How jazz music feels to you is what matters, and your love or disdain for it will be the way that you acquire your knowledge. The music itself is originally authentic and should be received as such. It can be hard, complicated, beautiful, angry, forceful, nostalgic, and appeal to so many feelings that you already possess. That is because the music is just as human as you are. Jazz was born with all of these expressions in mind to let you know the artist's feelings, or how the artist wants you to explore your own feelings. It is human art, and only you can make those determinations.
One good way to get closer to the music is to listen and research an artist. Read about what that artist has to say, their history, what they have endured, what they stand for, and your ears may hear the music in a different way. Insights and accolades given by journalists are one way to have ideas, but in this day and age, the only way to get to the truth is to investigate yourself. Ask yourself why this music moves you, and you will find that most of the answers lie within yourself.
Wherever you are in this great city or cities all over the country, there is a community of jazz artists who want to share their expressions with you. Some may tempt you by repeating and entertaining you with music of the past, creating a euphoric nostalgia, connecting you to earlier moments in your life. Others may challenge you and want you to explore your feelings, while others just want to give you a well-deserved break from thought and just want you to feel good. Whatever the intention, you need to connect.
Most people say, “I want to go and hear some jazz,” meaning they are looking for a brick-and-mortar place to physically go. We have those for sure. Places like the Blue Note Los Angeles, The World Stage, Sam First, Catalinas, The Town House, The Blue Whale (coming back soon), Birds of a Feather, Sound Dhaba, or the larger venues like The Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Music Center, LACMA, and others. There is a vibrant jazz scene here in Los Angeles(!), where members of our community are presenting things at venues all over town, from rock clubs and galleries to coffee houses and house concerts. Folks like Just Jazz, Minaret, and Jazz is Dead all have their flair and flavor for presenting some of the most brilliant and extraordinary jazz, elevating us all to higher heights.
Elevation is what we all aspire to: a higher evolution of understanding, feeling, and togetherness as humans that is loving and amiable. Of course, we all have differences. I’m more interested in how we can be together, live together, love each other, and how jazz music can be the conduit, the solution, the healing elixir that will direct us on the path of evolution and contemplation.
Move forth with strength and conviction! All we have is the journey and each other. Jazz can be the cinematography to our souls, our stories, and our lives.
Don’t miss these Awesome Jazz Festivals coming up!
- The Angel City Jazz Festival in October
- Jazz Refractions from October 9th through October 25th at various locations around Los Angeles
- LeRoy Downs
Just Jazz
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