ABOUT So This Is Jazz
“I really like jazz, but I’m not sure I understand it.”
When I tell people that I play jazz piano and write about jazz music, that’s a typical response.
If you’ve ever had that thought, this website is for you.
It’s a place for jazz lovers and jazz dabblers. It’s a place for musicians and non-musicians. It’s a place for those who have favorite players, or for those who have never heard of Miles Davis or Sonny Rollins. It’s a place for those who like playing their parents’ or grandparents’ old LPs, or those who enjoy the background music at a cocktail party, but never give it much thought.
There are plenty of books or online courses that offer a deep dive into the history and theory of the music. So This Is Jazz is a little different. Rather than tell the “Jazz Story”—sketch out a timeline from spirituals and blues hollers to rarefied, 21st-century experiments—So This Is Jazz focuses on the elements of the music.
Each episode is designed to help you understand how jazz is created. It will help tune your ears so that the playing becomes more than mere background. It may even let you inside the mind of a musician as he or she is spinning through a tune. Ultimately, So This Is Jazz will help you appreciate the genius of great jazz artists and take your love of America’s own great music to another level.
CONTACT:
Paul Kosidowski
It’s hard to talk about music without having it in your ear. So This Is Jazz makes that happen by integrating music from Spotify into its pages. When I write about a specific recording in an episode, it will appear on the page as either a YouTube video or a Spotify link. To listen to the Spotify examples, you’ll need to register at the site (either as a paid or unpaid subscriber). When you click on a Spotify link in So This Is Jazz, the song will appear on the Spotify page and you can click the “play” arrow to listen. If you don’t have Spotify open, clicking on a music link will play a random 30-second clip of the music. Sometimes, that will be fine. It will give you a taste of the music we’re talking about. But sometimes, I want to focus on a particular part of the recording (usually the beginning). So boot up Spotify to get the full STIJ experience.