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welcome back to sort of sophisticated, Hey, um, I have an idea. Could we start doing fake advertisements at the beginning? To make it sound like this is a legit podcast. I mean, it already is a legit podcast. No, but like, if I just started by saying like, Hey everybody, uh, buy kitty litter. Kitty litter is really important. This episode comes to you by Cats For Less or what? Where like sort of makes it sound like it's legit. And then we go into welcome back sports. Just kidding. Does that make it sound like it's legit? I think so. I think more people would listen. Interesting. We're gonna start faking commercials. You might as well try it so it's more legit. Okay. What is sort of sophisticated Anyway, we always start with that. Uh, I have a funny one I thought about on the way over here. Are you ready for this one? Okay. Um, I dunno if I'm ever ready, but let's go. Have you ever read the New Yorker? Do you know what the New Yorker is magazine? The New Yorker? It's like, yeah, they do like cartoons. Yeah. No. Oh my God. You're just as bad as I am. Correct. But it's like an actual magazine that has like legit stuff in it. Okay. So here's what I thought of. I thought this was good. Right? Okay. The podcast that makes you sound like you read The New Yorker without actually reading the New Yorker. Huh, clever. I like that. There you go. Um, that's what we are, right? Is that pretty decent? I guess so. Okay. For those of you who don't know, I'm Pete and I believe we are on. Folks, you're not gonna believe this. Episode 69. And I'm Amanda and I'm cutting Pete off. So we can just buzz right on through that one. Wow. I can't wait till we do episode four 20. Can we do episode 4, 2420? Here we go. That's gonna be the best. Okay. Um, so what's the plan today? What are we talking about? The plan today is, first of all, we're gonna talk about the fact that I'm a basket case. 'cause I just dropped off my baby at college. And I am an absolute train wreck. Has she been home since you dropped her off? No, she's not allowed to come home. Oh, you won't let her come home? No, dude. Six weeks. She's not allowed to come home. She's gotta make friends. Some of you. That's really awesome of you, dude. That's the rule, that's awesome. Yeah, I know. But like I am in full meltdown. I know. It is. Your baby, baby. When my oldest, Emma went away to college, I was a train wreck. 'cause like it's the oldest first girl. Oh my god. I died and then, uh, Luke and Paul went away and it was like, yeah, whatever. Okay. I mean local enough, da, da, whatever. But now, like Gabby dead sucks baby. Who I'm, let's be honest, like Dysfunctionally past, past to copy. Right. Exactly. Uh, she left and um, but I'm sure she's still texting, checking in. Daddy is sad that Amanda, that's not the point. The point is my soul is crushed, and you're supposed to be helping me through all of this right now. Well, I'm sorry that your soul is crushed, but Ruth is off doing some amazing things, so calm your tits and let's move on. I am trying to be a good father and a supportive father, but I miss her and she knows that and she loves that about you. Okay, I love you, Ruth. Shout out to Ruth. This is your episode then this is it. Okay. Can we start? Yeah. I love how you dedicated episode 69 to Ruth. Okay, so what is today's episode about? It's very EIP pissy or something. EIP pissy. I don't know. Wait, that's the opposite. That's like a guy who wants to hang out with his mom, I think, right? Yeah. That's not a girl who wants to hang out with her dad. That's daddy issues. That's a whole different scenario. All right. Can we get, can we get focused? Yes, please. Let's get focused. Today's episode is officially titled. Are you ready for this? Grant Park gets grooving. Amanda, the story behind the Chicago Jazz Festival, you are on a music bender, aren't you? I I am a little bit Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's always been a bucket list thing of mine to like go to Chicago and like go to the jazz festival. 'cause not that I love jazz or anything, but mostly 'cause jazz is cool and I just wanna wear sunglasses and smoke a cigarette and like hang out and listen to jazz music. You know what I mean? We have very different visions of jazz. We do. Yeah. I don't What's your vision of jazz? I don't know. Sunglasses and smoking a cigarette sit in a smoky like jazz lounge. I think it's, it's more about like the aristocrats. Okay. What? Either way some the cats that played the piano. Oh, oh my God. Either way. You know what it is? It's really frigging sophisticated. Oh yeah. I mean, jazz is very sophisticated. It is true. Right? Yeah. So like I had this whole plan, so one of my colleagues at work, her name's Christine Regoli. Shout out to Christine Re uh, she lives in Chicago. And I was like, oh shit. Like, because the Chicago Jazz festival's coming up, it's Labor Day weekend every year. That's the whole reason behind this whole thing. Okay. Okay. It's like blah, blah, labor Day. Okay. Uh, so I called her, I'm like, Hey, I'm gonna do this thing. Will you be on the show with me? And she's like, no, I'm not gonna Chicago Jazz Festival. I'm like, what are you doing? She goes, I go to the South of France every year for Labor Day weekend. I'm like, every year She goes, every year dudes just do whatever you want. That's amazing. You're on your own. I was like, oh my God, she's totally bge. Totally left me in the dust. So I have to Google all this shit myself and figure all this out. So whatever, I'm on my own. I love it. We're doing it. So how does learning about jazz make us more cultured and curious Peter? Uh, because of the Arista Cats, right? Because do you know who that is? The Arista Cats? Uhhuh from Disney? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We talked about it before. We love, like, we, I love them so much. It's, it's excellent, right? I mean, little cats that talk and play the piano, come on. Jazz is jazz. Learning about jazz is cool. That's why, I don't know, it just makes you awesome. You just chill and listen. Um, when I was Googling it though, okay. 'cause we have to be official here, it said that, jazz inspired a bunch of social change apparently in the last a hundred years. So there's that, kind of important besides, you can't help but just like, wanna like jazz. Like, if jazz was a person, Amanda, it would be like Jack Sparrow. Okay. Or like Ferris Bueller, the coolest dudes in the coolest dude club of all time. Okay. That's jazz. That's where, that's where you go. That's why it's cultured. Okay. That's it. That's what I got. It's the best I got. I mean, that is probably a good reason, I dunno, to like jazz because you just wanna be part of the cool dude club. Okay. When you think of just, just like cut to shit, when do you think of sophisticated things? What do you think of you? I'm not wrong. Jazz is top five sophisticated done. Yes it is. Okay. What else do you think of? Sophisticated Wine. Wine. Oh, oh shit. We haven't done wine yet. We should do wine. We have to do wine. Yeah. Okay. Wine sophisticated. Jazz is sophisticated. What else is sophisticated? I don't even know. Oh my God. France. France is sophisticated. We did France already. We did, we did. Shout out Eric. Right. I don't know, like that, there's just sophisticated things, right? Yeah. You know, I I, I, I always think of chess. Do you think of chess? Oh, wait. So chess is kind of sophisticated. I think. I think we should do chess when we talk about like, sophistication. Yes. A lot of times whiskey, whiskey sophisticated, it should just be thing. Like, it's just knowing more about something you don't know a lot about, uh, dur. I get it. I'm just saying like this tops the list. Okay. So that's why I know top five. Here we go. I know I'm on a little bit of a music bender, but like we're doing jazz. Okay. Okay. So deal with it. Well then what is the word of the day? The word of the day is jazz Hands. Ta No. Okay. Uh, word of the day today is, oh my God. Let me make sure I say this right. Dyspeptic. Dyspeptic, not dyslectic. What is dyspeptic? Dyspeptic an antip. Something. Yes. It helps you with Antip peptide. Yes. No, not even close. Dyspeptic traces back to the ancient Greeks, believe it or not. Thank you very much. Thank you. Being all ancient and shit. I was just, I just spent time with my Greeks, my family. Oh, that's true. That's my Greeks. That's true. Yeah. Okay. Shout out to the Greeks. All right, so it combines the prefix dis meaning bad or difficult with the word pepto, meaning digested. Literally it means badly digested or difficultly. Digested. Wait, so I wasn't too wrong with it being an antip peptid thing. Duh. Right. But instead of anti, yes. So now we use it to describe someone who's bad tempered or easily annoyed. Hmm. Dyspeptic Amanda is very dyspeptic. It's true. I'll own that one. I find it funny that we pick words that that go with you or I super easily. Well, maybe that's your whole ploy or your game. I don't know. I don't do that. I literally just look up a word purposely dead. Oh my God. So that way you could, uh, that is absolutely not true. Okay. Well, first of all, I have to research this whole episode. I have zero time to research a word of the day. The word of the day comes up. I pick the word and we go, okay. All right. That's how this is going. Well then, uh, must be serendipitous or something like that Should be our word of the day. No. Everyone know se Dipt is Sarah Dip, but that's like five sil. That's sophisticated. It's a big one. It's sophisticated. Mm-hmm. You said it not me. Okay. Okay. Are you ready? Yes, we are. You're ready to tell me everything that you know about jazz? Yeah. In five seconds or less and you're like, gonna break it down for me. I can do that. Okay. 'cause I basically know nothing. I mean, I know what jazz is, I know the vibe, but what is. Jazz. Ooh, I like the way you started that. What is jazz? We need some cool Leadin music. What is jazz? Okay. No shame dude. 'cause up till about two days ago, Amanda, I had absolutely no idea either. And we all know what it is. Like you can hear even, oh, that's jazz. Oh, I like to, okay. First of all, did you know jazz isn't even a word? I'm sorry. What? What we're gonna get? No, it's a fun fact. We're gonna talk about that later. We're gonna park that. Okay. And we're gonna get to it later okay, so I looked up. On Cha pt, it says, officially, jazz is a genre of music born in the early 19 hundreds in New Orleans that blends African American blues, ragtime and spirituals with European harmonies built on improv syncopated rhythms, and expressive ever evolving melodies officially. So I love that so much just because my only experience with jazz, yeah, is when I did go to New Orleans and actually Trent's cousin is a saxophone player. I love that and played. Lots of different Yeah. Jazz bands, right? Uhhuh. So we went down there and he had us go to all of these like, underground, legendary places for you were underground. You went underground for jazz music. I, man of Houston, you're a badass. I mean, I, well, and I didn't obviously appreciate it as much as I'm out like thinking about this. Did you put on glasses and smoke a cigarette? No. But it was amazing because it very much encompassed like the New Orleans blend of, I like that blues and rag time. Um, the different harmonies. It was incredible. And then they just like had this jam session where they were just like riffing off each other. That's it. And totally blew my mind. Were they doing a little scat, but were they doing that where they like No, they had the washboard and they had the washboard. Yeah. Which was like, let's go. I was like, what's that? That's, that's more bluesy though than it is like jazzy stuff. But they made it into a like, yeah. I dunno. They tied it in. It's badass. It was great. Let's go. It's amazing how, unless you take a minute and just look at the definition to then really appreciate what we were listening to. And I am doing that now, 12 years later. Insane. Okay. Up till about, a year or two ago, uh, pretty much the only exposure I had to jazz was at Disneyland. Walking through New Orleans Square and listening to the jazz bands. Wow. Right. And then, I remember my daughter, Ruth, who loved, what was it, princess and the Frog. Mm-hmm. Right. Tiana? Yeah. Mm-hmm. Because that was all like jazz. Right. I ain't got time for dancing. Yeah. Okay. That's it. That's, that's, that was jazz to me. And then I was like, maybe I should learn about it now. So you are already ahead of me, so good for you. Okay. Well, proud of you. Um, and hey fun fact. Kind of the whole point of jazz is that it's supposed to be like unpredictable and improvised, which is what you, no, it's not. That's the Yes. Really? That was what you Oh my God. That was the whole thing you just experienced in New Orleans. I, yeah. Again, didn't, right. That was the whole point of it. Yes. Have you ever been a comedy improv? Yeah. Sames concept. It's just with music. I'm not improv. I like, research my comedy. Okay, come on. Seriously. Whatever. Like these guys like make shit up on the spot and make it sound like really smooth and stuff. No, it's amazing. And like again, 12 years later having realization of what I witnessed blows my mind Right now, blow my line. Right. Do you remember the classical music episode? We just did it like not too long ago. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Do you remember how we said the musical instruments talk to each other? Right. I do same concept with jazz. Okay. But in this case, with jazz, they make sure the patterns change. 'cause with classical music, they wanted to make sure it sort of made some sense and you were searching for patterns. With jazz, it's the opposite. It's sort of like me and you, you know what it is? It's de sultry. It's like when me and you were talking and we go off on a million tangents and interrupt each other all the time. That's jazz music. So when the instruments talk to each other. In jazz, it's chaotic. That's the difference. Okay. Make sense? That makes sense. Okay. I love it. I think I can get on board with that. Okay, good. And I'm gonna keep an open mind. I like it as you like. Maybe unravel the history for all the jazz because we all know the history is not my forte. It's not. We know that. I think you're gonna make me like a quick flow chart, right? For jazz, we're gonna flow chart tissue for you. Okay? Make it easy. That's what I do. Buckle up. It's gonna be a wild ride. Mama. I have extra A DH. D today. So. Oh my God. I know. I don't even know how to handle you when you have normal A DH adhd. Godspeed. Let alone extra A DHD. Holy shit. Burger. I'm in trouble. You're totally dyspeptic. I don't even know. Okay. I'm not highly annoyed yet. You gotta start talking in that. I'll get there. We're we're close. Okay. So, like I already said, jazz was basically born around 1900 in New Orleans. 'cause New Orleans like had the secret sauce. Amanda Africans, Caribbeans. And Europeans, they were all crammed into these little neighborhoods together, making music, and then all of a sudden bam, jazz, like shoots out the other side of it. You with me? So the first real quote unquote flavor of jazz started here. Perfect. I love that. Yes. Officially New Orleans Dixieland Jazz. Oh, interesting. Yes. Picture banjos brass instruments, like street parades, like joyful chaos. You remember, lemme also Okay. Record. I said that they were playing the little washboard and you said that that wouldn't fit, but it sounds like it would perfectly fit in the Dixieland jazz. I think it might. Okay. Okay. I think I was wrong. You're right. Okay. Do you remember Louis Armstrong? Yes. Do you know like the what a wonderful world guy. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So he came out of this place like New Orleans. I dunno if I knew that that Dixieland Jazz is, I dunno if I put them together. Yes. Okay. This is the kind of music that you could play at like a wedding or a funeral or any, like literally a parade anywhere. It all works. Yes. Like New Year's Day. Yes. Parade vibes. Absolutely. No, you said a funeral, like I, I mean No, you can play at a funeral. No. Must be an upbeat one. No, no, no, no, no. You just, you got, all you gotta do is slow down. Same track, slow down. Okay. Okay. Okay. Alright. So, uh, around 1910. Something called the Great Migration Habit. Yes, and a bunch of African Americans left New Orleans and moved North looking for jobs, and of course brought their new jazz music along with them to two very specific areas. Chicago and New York. Kansas City too, but like Chicago, New York, me too. Major place. Yes. Then in the 1920s, thanks to this new growing black middle class, specifically in Harlem, we get the whole Harlem Renaissance. Do you remember the Harlem Renaissance? No. Yes. Kind of. Sort of, yeah, a little bit. A little bit. Okay. Right. Okay. That was basically this like huge explosion of art and literature and theater and like a whole lot of nights where some crazy shit went down that you don't talk about at parties. Right? Yeah. cause what happens in Harlem stays in Harlem. No, some serious gypsy shit was going on that seriously Talk about like Princess Tiana and the whole princess and wrong things. Some scary shit. Remember like this, the scary smokey guy comes out. Okay. Anyway, then musically speaking anyway, the next big chapter of jazz comes in the 1930s and 1940s with something called the swing era. This is where you get these massive dance halls and these big bands and all the grooving and boogieing that go along with it. Like, I mean, that right there should be a fun fact. Well, it number one, it should be a fun fact too. Boogieing, I should TM Boogieing. I don't even think that's a word. Oh, come on. That's a word, boogieing. Yeah, for sure. Oh my God. Okay. Yeah, you don't gimme, it's Jitterbugging Jess. It was the Jitterbugging decade. Boom. You just nailed it. Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman. The swing was basically like Amanda, the 1930s version of like a TikTok challenge. But like before, TikTok was a thing, like whoever could swing the best, right? Like they literally had these massive, I mean swinging is so fun. It was badass, right? People were going nuts. In fact, so you ready? What go? My senior year of high school, oh my God. I would go to swing clubs. No, you did not. Yeah, it was a great time. Is that where you met Trenty now? No, no. Met him in college. That'll be fine. But the swing you were swinging. Oh wait, I know. I shouldn't say that on air. That sounds terrible. Oh yeah. But it's interesting, like going to that. Never once did I derive that coming from. It did. Totally. 'Cause like you just, you think of swing music and it just seems so different, but you know, it came from it, huh? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That again, the more, you know, the swing music, it like the jazz swing, whole era is what made jazz the most popular thing in America. Like back in the 1930 forties. Yeah. Yeah. That was the whole, it was so fascinat, it was massive. But like, this goes back, back, back. Even when we were doing like, boom, the classical episode, right? Yeah. Where so many things. Today how it evolved I know. Ties back to it. And we just don't realize it. We don't. And here's another example. Thank you. Where I'm like, oh, here we're, who knew? Yeah. Who knew? The Right. We need the music D the more you know. Yes. Boom, boom, boom. Okay. I'm gonna keep going. Then in the 1940s, shit's goes a little sideways 'cause it has to go a little sideways 'cause it's been going too well. And new jazz musicians start like getting weird 'cause everybody's trying to make a name for themselves and try all this new stuff. So something, starts called bebop. I don't know if you're familiar with bebop. So basically that's like the faster, smarter version of swing. Um, but the problem was you couldn't dance to bebop, like at all. This was Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. These were the guys who basically said stop dancing everybody and um, instead we're gonna go ahead and melt your brain. That's sort of the gist of it. So if the thirties were all about like dancing the 1940s, were all about like. I don't get it, but I'm gonna clap along and pretend I get it. So kind of like the contemporary version of classical music like you talked about Yes. That you hated and I loved I do. Yeah. Yes. Mm-hmm. Correct. Perfect. I don't, I don't, I don't like, I like the way you just brought that together thing. I don't like when my brain melts. Yes. And I don't get it. Okay. I do like it when it's like a good rhythm and you can like bob to it and get into it. I'm with. So you just gotta skip over the 1940s altogether. Okay. Fair. Okay. That doesn't in your brain. Fast forward. Here we go. Skip the forties. Okay. Okay. Thank God that only lasted a decade for Amanda. No hate. 'cause I'm sure people love the 1940s. I mean, Charlie Parker amazing. But okay. By the 1950s, things start to mellow out again, and you can get back into this. So something called cool jazz takes over and cool jazz, Amanda is exactly what you think. It's. Just cool. All right. Super laid back. Oh, is this where you're This is, this is my, oh, this. This is your favorite. This sunglasses. Cigarettes. Let's go. Right. Think of Miles Davis, Chet Baker. This is the jazz you listen to at Starbucks or in the little coffee shops. It gives you like the inspiration. To change the world. Okay. Right. You're just it's, it's just, it's in the background, it's happening. Right. All sorts of good stuff. Okay. Then in the 1960s, we push boundaries again. Can't leave well enough alone. It's like one decade on, one decade off, whatever. Okay. This time it's something called free jazz, right. This was like Harry Armpits and shit. Like, we're going crazy. We're in the sixties. John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, probably a bunch of drugs. L-S-D-P-C-P, I don't know. It was the sixties, Amanda. These guys just lit the jazz handbook on fucking fire and started confusing everybody all over again. But I feel like it was the sixties. So like the music in that time was all psychedelic. Okay, first of all, right? Some of the music in that time was excellent. Okay? Think of like, uh, oh my God. Jefferson Airplane. Janice Joplin. Oh, Janice. Oh my god, I'm in love right now. Okay. Anyway, um, but that was also, I mean, no, but it does make sense. A little psychedelic, what you're saying does make sense. Okay, but here's the deal. You gotta push boundaries to get better, right? You can't just leave well enough alone. You can't. I don't know. I'm not a boundary pusher. Whatever. Where was I? Uh, 1960s. Okay. 1960s doing drugs. Okay. I'm done with my PCP. I'm moving on to the 1970s. This is where we officially achieved something called Jazz fusion. Hmm. Enough of this jazz for your dad. Shit. Okay. This was when we started combining traditional jazz stuff that we were talking about with electric guitars, synthesizers, rock and roll took it to a whole nother level. Shit got crazy. Who, like what, what do you mean? Who, like is there anything Yes, totally. Yes. That I'd be able to identify. I don't know if you would be able to identify it. I would be able to identify it. Um, I mean that's probably fair, but have you heard of something called Birdland by a band called Weather Report? That'd probably be the most mainstream version of Jazz Fusion I could think of. Nope, that's gonna be on my homework. Yeah, like probably 50 50. Right? Some people know it, some people don't know it, but if you know any, like listen to that. Okay. And you'll get a sense of what Jazz fusion really is. Okay. So I feel like, is that like the Lindsay Sterling of from the jazz world? What happened to Let's go. Okay. I love it. Fair. Okay, perfect. I'll go faster after that. From basically the 1980s to basically now, like, so for the last 40 years, jazz is like, fast forward that shit. Okay. Yeah. We're just going right. Now jazz is in everything, right? It's in hip hop, it's in Latin music, it's in funk. I mean, Kendrick Lamar use, like, everybody uses it. Okay. It sort of just all blends together and you can find it everywhere. So it's just a big giant blur now. And jazz is everywhere. And we love jazz 120 some odd years later. Okay, so the cliff note version that is, is go, I love when you do this part for me, just making sure I'm following. I talk, I talk way too long, and then you're like, okay, feed, lemme boil it down for you. Like just, I mean, I could be wrong. Hit it. Check me. Yeah. Uh, okay. So Jazz sort of started as like a whole street parade in New Orleans around a hundred years ago. Yeah. And then it took a whole century. And now it's like super famous and totally worldwide and used in every aspect of our lives. Yeah. So it took a hundred years for to manifest in every nook and cranny. I might not be reading this right, but you look a little dyspeptic. Are you, are you No, I'm not annoyed at all. No. Okay. No, all I was just making sure. Yeah. You got that right. You just nailed that. I just, you know, Sometimes it amazes me how quickly something can. Take over and shape and mold cultures. Yes. And societies. Thank you. And I guess jazz is one of 'em. This is why. This is why we're doing it. Gotta love. Sophisticated jazz. All right, well, so now that we already know all of this jazz history, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we're gonna be the smartest one at any cocktail party. We are. We always are. I guess my question would be, if I am actually at a cocktail party and some jazz starts playing, is there a specific way that I could like easily recognize it? Like you kind of did that with classical music, um, where you played something and then we kinda, you know, got the vibe or the feel for it. Um, but is there like a jazz tips and tricks? I could do that. Should I cue a little music? And we can do a few of these so you get, get an idea. It's, I, I thought it was great. So sorry to anybody who doesn't like that, but it definitely helped me. I like it. Let's do it. Alright. Okay, so first you have Louis Armstrong. Considered the grandfather of jazz. She, he be the godfather of jazz. He's a grandfather of jazz. I like Godfather better than grandfather. But anyway, we have to go with, we have to go with grandfather. I gotta stay true to this grandfather. Okay. Gravelly voice guy. Like he did the wonderful, we, we already talked about him, right? He played the trumpet all around, like total legend. So if you know one name in jazz, no, Louis. Okay. Let's do one of his songs. We'll do, one of the Saints go marching in. This is like the Dixieland parade stuff that started at all. You with me? Yep. Okay. Ready? All right. You're totally getting it right. I do. I love this stuff. It is literally when the saints go marching in. Like not complicated stuff, you with me? Yes. Excellent. Total parade. Yes. But you probably couldn't play that at a funeral. Who are we kidding? Right. Or a wedding, but you get the idea. Yes. Okay. Dixieland. All right. Next we're gonna do Benny Goodman. Okay. The king of swing. We're getting into the swing era. He was a guy that made like jazz classy. Okay. When you picture Benny picture, slick haired band leader in a tuxedo, the ultimate of sophistication. Okay. He's like the James Bond of Jazz. Oh, he is totally the James Bond of Jazz. Let's go. Yes, he's a good one. This is a good one. Right? We're gonna do some swing stuff with all the cool dancing. Ready? This is Benny doing Sing, sing. Sing. Okay. Oh my God. I totally wanna swing to this. Do you wanna get up and swing? Let's go see. Do you see what I mean? Yes. I mean, do you see the difference between Dixieland and swing? Like are you getting the decades here? This is totally easy, but see, like before this I would have just classified this as swing, not jazz. It's jazz. I know, I know. Mind blown. That's how it all starts. Can't mess around. Okay. You with me? So, so I do the first two. Okay. Got it. So I'm good. Okay. Now we're gonna do one. Tracking. Tracking. Now you're gonna do the one that like's gonna get you mad, okay. Because now it's Charlie Parker. Oh, okay, okay, okay. Okay. This is 1940s where he was the bebop guy that like melted everybody's brain ripping it on the saxophone. Um, can't dance any of this stuff. Sore. Gonna, you're saying that I'm not gonna like it. You're gonna hate this. This one's called, or anthology. Okay. Or anthology by a chaka Can't really dance to it anymore. Can you? You can't really dance to it. However, I do feel like it, you can still bop to it. You can, like, it's got, it's got good rhythm so you can clap to it. Good beats. But that's about it. It's like, I don't know what's going on, but I'm gonna clap. Fair. Right. Okay. Okay. Okay. I love this stuff. Like, this is excellent. My God. I mean, I do, I think I just love jazz. I'm so glad you made us do this. I just like jazz music in general. Right? One more. Okay, we're gonna do cool jazz next. Okay, cool Jazz. All right, so this is Miles Davis. This guy could rip it on the trumpet or the fugal horn, better than anybody. Uh, by the way, do you even know what a fugal horn is? N no. What is that? Okay. I didn't think so. It's basically like a bigger version of a trumpet. Okay. Oh. Um, now, even though Miles Davis put the cool and cool jazz, we're not gonna do Miles Davis. We're gonna do, like, we're not No. We're gonna do something more mainstream, that's easier for everybody to understand. Cool jazz. Oh, okay. Okay, okay. Okay. This one is called Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Take five. Dave Brubeck Quartet. Oh my God. This is my favorite one of all. I love Cool jazz. Yeah, it gives me chills. It's amazing. When I think of jazz, that's what I think of. Love it. Did that give you a good idea of how to recognize like good jazz? Like we did Yeah. No, no, no. Dixieland it, we did swing bebo. It was easier than I was expecting it to be. Right, right, right, right, right. Okay. Got a few others worth mentioning before, I get yelled at by like, if we have sophisticated jazz people. So you got uh, Ella Fitzgerald. Oh, okay. Who can, right. The Queen of Jazz. Okay. Thessalonia Monk, Billie Holiday. Nina Simone. All amazing. And I highly suggest you go listen to all of them after this. So I feel kind of smart. Do you know Nina Simone? Wait. Quite, 'cause you know some of these people. Yeah, no, I do. And I knew all the songs. Yeah. But I feel smarter because you're like. Linking all of these syn synapses, putting it together. Right. That I didn't even know. I love this. Okay. Oh, so good. Do you remember the Thomas Crown affair? Did you ever watch that? No. With Pierce Broner? You always ask me and I Why you ever asking me? No. Oh my God. Go. First of all, sexy movie. Okay. Like, honestly, you would like it I think a lot. Okay. At the end of it, like in the super famous scene that I don't wanna spoil because you have to watch this movie. They play Centerman by Nina Simone. Okay. Um, and Pierce Broin is going through this whole thing, that's just amazing and it's this eight minute sequence, uh, that in my opinion is like one of the best movie sequences, in movies. Okay. Whatever. Amazing. I'll have to watch it. I still dunno if I fully understand how that has anything to do with jazz, but Because Nina Simone is jazz. Like she's just amazing. Oh, yeah. Sit around Itand like, yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay. Okay, okay. Yeah. Well, speaking of watching something, is there like a way that we should be listening to jazz? Yeah. Smoking a doobie with sunglasses in a club. You know what, what? What'd you call it? Like a little underground, legendary little. Yeah. Shithole. I don't know. Okay. I don't think it said shit hole, but whatcha talking about, what are you asking me? Like, how should we listen to jazz? I mean, 'cause I think when people start listening, right? Yeah. It's like, oh yeah, I'm listening to jazz. But what are we supposed to like look for while listening? Or how do we learn as we're starting to listen? That's like with classical music, we were looking for patterns. Like same concept. That's kind of, so Right, right. I got you. Okay. So like, you start with a beat. Okay. Tap your foot, nod your head. Like, jazz could get weird with the bebop thing or the whole thing, but like realistically, there's always a beat underneath. So just find the beat and start tapping your foot. That's the first way to start. Fair. Okay. Solid point. Um,, Second, I would pick one sound. So remember we were talking about instruments. Talk to each other, like follow the trumpet or follow the bass or follow the drums. Don't try to hear everything at once. Like pick one, listen for that and see where it goes. Okay. That's easier. Third, I would say just expect the unexpected, It's there to surprise you. They like to solo, they like to go nuts. That's the whole point. I mean, that's the whole vibe, right? The vibing when it happens, just let it go and just let the beat disappear for you for a while while they're just like, they're doing their weirdo thing. Okay. Then finally. Listen for the conversation. I was just talking about that a little bit earlier, right? Like the way they talk to each other. Listen for the rifts. Listen for the echoes. Listen for the response. The call and response. You remember call and response. We talked about that. Yeah. Yeah. Same exact concept. So watch how like if you go to live jazz, watch how the different jazz musicians like. they literally will look at each other and when they're looking at each other, they're talking to each other with their instruments. So that's sort of how to follow the story of jazz. Like there's no specific way to do it, right? You just do the best you can to keep up. Amazing. Yeah. Alright, so now that we all have enough info to just be a little dangerous, are we gonna head to this Chicago jazz festival that I still know nothing about? PS we're, oh, we're doing it. Okay. We're going. We gotta break it down. What, what am I getting myself into? Uh, you're getting yourself besides, I mean, jazz festival, so I would assume Chicago the second home of jazz. Yeah. Um, it's a festival. Big has the best of the best. It's gonna be huge. Um, thousands and thousands of people. Yep. What else? I love it all. Nope, you just, that's it. That's the whole, just buy a ticket and go. That's it. You don't have to buy a ticket. That's the beauty of it all. What? You're not buying a ticket. It's free. Oh, what That is the, yes. They put it on because of their love of jazz. Okay. That's amazing. Yeah. So the reason for the whole episode in the first place, the Chicago Jazz Festival, full disclosure, Amanda, I have never been there. Okay. I have not either. I totally have to go. Um, but apparently it's been going on since 1974. So like 50 years already. Officially, 51 years to be exact. Well, yes, this year. Labor Day weekend. Right? So it all started when Duke Ellington died, so the famous jazz legend. Yep. Uh, in 1974, and the city of Chicago decides to host a memorial concert for him at Grant Park, and out of nowhere 10,000 people show up. Okay. Chills. That's how the whole thing starts. Okay. So. They decide to make it an annual thing and sort of keep it going. Just the Duke Ellington thing, right? Like for the next couple years, then in 1978, some other people were like, wait a second, this is bullshit. Why aren't we doing anything for anybody else? So a group of John Coltrane jazz fans get together. They decide, no, no, we're doing something too. So they host their own event honoring John Coltrane in Chicago. So now there's two events going on at the same time. You with me? Okay. So in 1979, Chicago gets together. They're like, wait, what are we doing here? Why don't we put all this shit together in one like giant festival? And in late August, 1979, the first official Chicago Jazz Festival was born and they turned it into a whole week long thing that featured a Duke Ellington Night and a John Coltrane night, and then five other jazz nights specifically around each genre of jazz. And it was actually pretty big, more than 125,000 people showed up over seven nights. So, like that, that's big, pretty decent crowds, right? That's, that's like 20,000 people a night, like serious shit. Right. So for the first 40 years it was held at the Petrillo Music shell in Grant Park at the lakefront, in the famous Chicago Loop. Okay. It's an outdoor amphitheater built during the depression with about 35,000 seats. Then around 2017, I don't know what that was like eight years ago, uh, when it started getting like way bigger, they expanded into Millennium Park. Added the j Pritzker Pavilion, the Chicago Cultural Center, and the Harris Theater Rooftop. Oh. So now we're like modified. Oh, it's in two parks into Grand Park and Pritzker Pavilion. Wow. So it got big. So it's always held on Labor Day. It's free, like I said. And the really cool thing about it's that after like all the main stage performances, each night, the artists will actually go to local clubs and start these spontaneous GM sessions out of nowhere that last like all night long. I love that so much. Yeah, I know. Totally. I go just for that part. Alright, so this year's headliners in case we care, are. Thursday's opener. Henry Johnson and then Grammy winner, Esperanza Spalding. Friday and Saturday Night Spotlight, Chicago Legends, Patricia Barber, Kermit Ruffins, Gary Barts and NTU Troop. Ava Logan and Ernest Dawkins. I feel so uncultured right now. I know we're gonna learn about all this. And Sunday's finale will feature the Ari Brown quintet and Cuban icon e Ochoa. Don't quote me on that if I said that wrong, they're gonna close out the whole festival. I feel like I have to listen to all of these, is that No, we're gonna, I'm to do this down. We gotta go do a little bit of work. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. During the day also, it's not just at night, they have a bunch of other bands playing at, like, at different venues. So you can just walk around Chicago Cultural Center and like check things out, grab something to eat, and just chill with like a bunch of amazing people around you. It's like the best way I could think of to spend Labor Day weekend. Right. Except if you're in the south of France with Christine Rez, but otherwise second best place, Chicago Jazz Festival. Well, I can't go this year, but definitely next year. Yeah, I know. But when we do go next year, um, are there any like specific hacks or things we should know before we go? Okay. I don't know. I haven't been there, but, well, I know you don't the one thing, but I figure you would've already, you mean you're planning on us going, so I figure you've already done research into what we need. Checklist, I'm not gonna lie, I was right. Ourselves. Yes. So the one thing Christine did leave me with was like what to do. Like she gave me the hacks to make the most of it. So she was cool. Even though she's not here, live with us. Okay. So first of all, if you want a good view of the main stage at Pritzker Pavilion, you gotta get there like an hour before the headliner start. 'cause there's no way you're getting a seat otherwise. She says lawn seating is first come, first serve and fills pretty fast. And she also said don't just stay at the main stage like the whole time. She goes to more chill places that she likes better. She said, uh, some place called the Von Freeman Pavilion, the WDCB Jazz Lounge and the Harris Theater Rooftop are some of her favorite places to go. And she said, bonus tip. They have way shorter bathroom lines. Huh? They're not as crowded. This is like from a Chicago one. Yeah. Like this is, this is serious shit here people, I'm giving you like good info. Okay. She also said the weather is kind of tricky in August. I don't know, I'm not a Chicago guy. Uh, it could be hot and cold in the same day. So she said pack and wear layers and also bring a blanket to sit on and something to hold it down. If it's windy 'cause it blows away like really fast. I guess that, I mean the windy city makes track, I guess it happened. I don't know. Track. Uh, as far as food goes, she said there's a place called Michigan Avenue that you should use as your food court. The festival has all its own concessions, but they're all over price, she said. But if you go down Michigan Avenue, it has way better food options that are out there and you can get like, authentic Chicago. So don't like get sucked into any concessions at the Chicago Jazz Festival. Um. And finally then she said that, like what I said earlier, she said, stick around afterwards, because, uh, some of the best parts are going to random bars or clubs afterwards and listening to these guys perform on the fly. And that's her favorite part of the whole show. So there you go. I love it. Those are, those are our little hacks. All right. I'm ready. Let's go res. You're the best. I'm ready to go. Here we go. Though we are gonna have to wait a year, so, sorry. I know, but until then we'll book in advance. Let's go. Yes, we need to, I know. I don't even know if you book, you just show up. Let's just show up to. Chicago. Chicago. We probably need like somewhere to stay in all that, all that jazz That was that're so funny. Oh my God. I try, I try. I love it. You're not, and, and this whole episode, you haven't been dyspeptic at all. I know. I'm really proud of you. Yeah. Yes. Look at me. Look at me, Gil. So good. Why don't, why don't you keep my good mood going? Okay, fine. One by uh, giving me some fun facts. We're already at fun Facts. We are. That flew by. I did. Holy crap. Mm-hmm. I think I was into this episode. You were? Yeah. You nerd it out. For sure. I'm ready. You ready for fun facts? Yes. Oh, oh my God. Do you remember like at the beginning when I said I have a fun fact about jazz? Oh yeah. Oh, here we go. Oh, you're gonna love this one. Ready? Okay. Alright. Alright. It's not the first one, but I'll tell you when we get there. Okay. Okay. Alright. So first one, did you know that jazz was once considered the devil's music? I did. You did? I did. Yeah. So well, that's probably like, but I don't know why. Princess In the Frog. Okay, so in the 1920s and 1930s conservative critics. Thought jazz encouraged loose morals and rebellion. I feel like every genre of music, I don't know they've Right. I think you're kind of right. Elvis Presley, everybody's, yeah. Right. Oh my God. Right. Don't gyrate too much. Right, right. Meanwhile, we talked about this. Yeah. House wives are like masturbating all over the place. Okay. Anyway, so some schools and churches even banned it because they thought the devil was taking a hold of their kids or their congregations. Their congregations. Seriously. Just from jazz music. I dunno. People are crazy. Okay. Here's the one I was talking about, the word jazz. Mine have started as slang for sex. Huh? Like the exact, Nope. Didn't think that was gonna be it. Yeah. No, here it is. Okay. The exact origin is debated, but early uses of jazz in newspapers around 1912 had nothing to do with music and everything to do with energy, or more specifically like bedroom energy, depending on who you ask. Some people tie it to the Jasmine plant. Which I guess had sensual or sexual connotations. I did not know that. No. Jasmine smells huh? Amazing. Don't get me wrong, but like, I never put sex together with that. But that's, some people are saying that's where jazz came. There's no etymology to the word jazz. Look it up. Huh? Zero doesn't, some people say it has to do with baseball. Like there was something to, I don't know. There was a lot. It's a very unique word, so yeah. Very unique. Interesting. No etymology. Interesting. Okay. Number three, jazz musicians were some of the first people to challenge segregation laws. Integrated bands, black artists performing in white venues and tours across racial lines were all happening like 40 years before the civil rights movement even started. And no one even cared because it was all about the music. Right. It's totally awesome. I mean, it's how music brings us together. Yes. Jazz was woke before woke was even a word. Yeah, right. It's true. I think it was all right. Number four Miles Davis. Yep. The best like jazz musician of all time. Yeah. So he used to turn his back on the audience when he performed. Oh, on purpose? Yes. Interesting. He did it regularly. Why? Like so it annoyed critics like crazy. But I guess the idea was he was communicating with his band. He wasn't doing it on purpose to piss off the crowd because his point was, it was about the music and he wanted to get the music right. It wasn't about the audience's feelings. So remember how I said he was connecting? Yeah, they were right. The, the, the instruments talked to each other. That was his way of doing it. Yeah. So he was like, dude. The show is the show. Yeah. You get what you get. But if I wanna give you the most exceptional performance, this is the way I perform. That's how we got into it. Absolutely. Go Miles Davis. Number five, jazz improvisation, inspired techniques in classical and even modern hip hop music artists from Leonard Bernstein. Two. Kendrick Lamar have cited Jazz's spontaneous nature as a creative influence. It's like the original freestyle battle just with fewer disk tracks except for Lamar and Drake who dis all the time. But you get the idea. Mm-hmm. And finally, last fun fact, did you know that there's an asteroid name after jazz legend, duke Ellington? No. Yeah, totally sure. Asteroid 3 1 5 6 Ellington is totally out there orbiting the sun just swinging through space. Do you see what I did there? Swinging, swinging through. Nah, it was discovered on Mar. Thank you very much. It was discovered on March 15th, 1953 by astronomer Alfred Schmidt, and later was officially named in honor of jazz legend Duke Ellington. Proof that jazz is truly universal, Amanda. And that, that was pretty cool is all I got for fun Facts. Alright, so we got some devil's music. Oh, we got devil's. Got some secret slang for sex. Um, I like the secret slang. I, I don't really know where you get all of this stuff. I think maybe sometimes AI lies to you. I make, but it's fine. I, I make most of it up. I mostly love all of it. I'm level seven. I'm level seven. That's true. Okay. But before we wrap up here and I start pretending I know the difference between like bebop and cool jazz, which I think I might have a, like a hot shot at. Oh, you know now. Yes. But you know, like, I'm still gonna pretend a little. Okay. Fake it till you make it. Yo. That's right. Um, you wanna go ahead and give us a call to action? 'cause I'm pretty sure I already like gave myself two watch the one movie. Yeah, you did. No, I'm proud of you though, because you're like taking the shit seriously. Good for you. Yeah. Okay. Here's the deal. If you got this far and you aren't interested in jazz, then me and Amanda give up. 'cause you're not salvageable. I don't know what to say. We gave you some history, gave you some famous legends, some fun facts. The whole Chicago Jazz Festival vibe, we can't help it. If you're immune to swing, that's between you and your soul people. All right. Otherwise, if you're jazz curious, kinda like me, jazz curious, right? That's amazing. Guitar, tm. Alright, here we go. Here's how you could dig a little deeper. Uh, start with a jazz playlist. Search jazz classics, or essential jazz on Spotify or Apple Music, whatever. I don't care. Uh, you'll get a mix of like Duke Ellington, mile Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, the OGs. Yeah. Right, right, right, right. Turn it on While you're cooking. Like I, purposely listen to new music that I'm not like. Good at understanding, when I cook all the time, 'cause it's like a half hour, 45 minutes. So I'll just turn on something totally random where I'm like, I gotta get into this. Right. It's solid. Yeah, absolutely. So highly suggest that um, if you can't get to Chicago, that's fine then just, just like go catch live jazz locally in your area. Even small, which is harder to do in some areas and not Yeah, but just saying, but you could find something like there's a spot hosting jazz Live once a week somewhere. Try a coffee house or like Okay. A hotel at like Fair. Fair. Yes. I get. I know it is a little tougher in some cities. How's the blues? Yes. But let's go find something. Right? Um, and then if you're into podcast, we're big podcasters here. Try jazz after dark or discovering jazz, both pretty self-explanatory. Uh, or hop onto NPRs jazz at Night in America for short, little smart pieces on specific artists or performances. That's another way to get like a lot of jazz like it. Um, okay. Then just remember these key takeaways that sound sort of sophisticated. Ready. Let's go. Jazz was born in New Orleans in the early 19 hundreds in African American communities, blending blues, rag time, and spirituals with European harmonies. First big flavor, new Orleans Dixieland Jazz. It was brassy, joyful, and totally parade ready. Number two, the great migration spread at North. In the early 19 hundreds, African Americans moved from the south to cities like Chicago, New York, and Kansas City, taking jazz with them. This migration fueled new styles and bigger audiences, especially during the Harlem Renaissance like we talked about earlier. Number three. Jazz evolved by decades and its constant reinvention has kept it alive. 1930s swing era. 1940s bebop. 1950s cool jazz. 1960s free jazz, 1970s fusion, and finally the Chicago Jazz Festival. In a nutshell, every Labor Day weekend, the city turns Grant Park and Millennium Park into one giant free celebration of jazz. What started as a 1974 Duke Ellington Memorial and a 1978 John Coltrane tribute has grown into a full on multi-day event. By day, you'll catch sets under the summer sun By night headliners light up the Pritzker Pavilion, and if you're still buzzing. Late night club jams. Keep the music rolling all over Chicago. Let's go Chi Town. And there you have it. Dear listeners, a not so intimidating dive into the world of jazz. From Louis Armstrong's Joyful Brass to John Coltrane's mind-bending solos. Jazz isn't just background music in a coffee shop. It's a living, breathing, improvising force that's been reinventing itself for over a century. And if we did our job today, you're leaving a little more curious, a little more confident and maybe ready to nod like a snob When someone brings up bebop swing or that one time Miles Davis turned his back on the crowd. You funny. I try whether you are streaming a playlist while cooking. Thank you very much. Catching a live set under the Chicago skyline, or just finally realizing that scat singing isn't nonsense. It is an art form. Thank you. A big takeaway is this. Yes. Jazz isn't for experts, it's for anyone who's willing to listen. And as always, if you like this episode, subscribe, leave a review and share it with that one friend who swears they don't get jazz, but taps their foot every time they hear a sax solo. So until next time, stay curious, stay cool, and remember, life's better with a little improv ep. Beep beep.
