Blue Like Jazz

Tonight I sat and talked with L. She just returned from a trip to Japan, and brought lots of cool souvenirs to show me. She also brought a couple of Japanese snacks for me to try. One was chocolate with green tea flavoring. You have to wait a couple of seconds to taste the green tea, but it's definitely in there.

We talked about a bunch of different things, and at some point I said something (I can't remember what it was), and she said "Oh! That's in Blue Like Jazz." I hadn't heard of it, so she went on to explain that it's a book.

The title was easy for me to remember because I'm a drummer. When I was growing up, my teacher made me study lots of jazz. A few years ago, I sat in with some guys at Baker's Keyboard Lounge; it's the oldest continually operating Jazz club in the world. I told the piano player, "Don't make me do a solo. I'm not really comfortable with that."

He said, "Naw baby. That's how you learn."

I said, "Seriously, don't make me do one."

He gave me a funny look and said, "We'll see."

When I got the chance to go on stage, the band started playing a tune I didn't know. I decided I wouldn't worry ... I had made it clear that I wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't solo. I was doing an okay job of faking it as we played; I figured the audience wouldn't be able to tell, but the other musicians on stage would know. They wouldn't make me solo.

Wrong. I was playing, and all of a sudden, everybody else stopped. The other people on stage were all looking at me. I realized I was supposed to be "trading fours" with the others. "Trading fours" means four bars (measures) of drums, then four bars of piano, then four of drums, then four of bass, then four of drums, etc. I caught on to trading soon enough because I understood the basic concept.

But ... I didn't know the melody. I had never heard the tune before.

Jazz is about improvisation. But the spontaneity falls within a framework. When you have a drum solo, you're supposed to sing the melody in your head, and make the drums "sing" the melody too. The best jazz drummers can play melodically, even though snare and toms don't sound off in C, E, or G.

It was awful. I didn't know how long we were supposed to trade fours. I lost count. I started doing a roll, and looked at the bass player. I started nodding at her, wanting her to play. She looked really confused, agitated. She finally realized I was lost, and started playing, and nodding to everybody else. I remember looking out into the audience, and seeing a couple of faces that had a most memorable expression.

It was the look people wear when they're thinking "WTF is that kid doing up there?"

I felt like crying. I couldn't get out of that place fast enough. Talk about having the blues.

So, Blue Like Jazz was an easy title to remember. The author is Donald Miller. That name made me think of Donald Byrd, the trumpet player.

Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller. I can remember that without writing it down. It's about Miller's understanding of Christian spirituality. I plan to read it soon.