- 歌曲
- 时长
Disc1
Disc2
简介
If you haven't noticed, the popularity of jazz - particularly with young people - has been declining for decades now. Jazz is beautiful and complex music, and I feel fortunate to be able to play and teach it for a living. However, this problem with jazz turning into a fringe style that is unwelcoming to "outsiders" is a real problem, and if it is not addressed, we will end up playing ourselves into cultural and artistic irrelevance. We as practitioners DO have a say in our current dilemma, but we must be willing to make some adjustments in how we go about doing things musically if we are going to bring about change. I'm not alone in raising this issue, but I made the decision to stop just talking about it and try to (in some small way) do something about it! In thinking about ways to combat the trend stated above, I had the idea of using hip hop as the "bridge" to get new listeners to give jazz a fair shake. The challenge, of course, is finding a way to balance desires to make the music welcoming to new listeners, while at the same time, upholding my personal standards of musical substance and integrity. So began the idea of "Duality" - a double album which contains one disc of varying flavors of traditional jazz and a second disc of jazz on equal footing with hip hop. The idea is to attract younger/less experienced listeners with the familiar sounds and grooves on the hip hop disc while pairing that music with an album of quality straight-ahead jazz. Coincidentally, that road goes both ways in that the more seasoned listeners that are drawn to the jazz disc will have the opportunity to expose themselves to hip hop flavored with a musical sensibility that better resonates with their existing musical tastes. The overall goal: to try to get folks excited about jazz again, to show them a potential new direction for the music, and to dispel common myths that quality jazz simply isn't applicable to the sensibilities/tastes of everyday people. Striking the balance mentioned above is easily my most challenging artistic undertaking to date - but I think I may have pulled it off! My late father would always say to me, “Damani, never forget where you come from and never forget to make music that connects with the people!” As a self-assured young artist, these conversations of what I should or shouldn’t do with MY music were the source of much frustration over the years! But as I grew older and wiser, I realized that his statements conveyed a bitter truth that must be respected. While it is essential that jazz and its artists have the leeway to stretch their creative wings, music is not meant to be a self-indulgent art. It is ultimately put on this earth to be shared with and connected to people like you. Music made by musicians, for musicians and with the ultimate intent of impressing other musicians is a road that leads to extinction. The two discs that comprise Duality are an attempt to present jazz in a way that vibrates with modern-day musical sensibilities, and I hope that your affinity towards one style will help foster a new connection with the other. With any luck, the pairing of these two worlds presents a new perspective on the potential possibilities and cultural relevance of jazz music. To my dad, I’d say that this album was made by a MUSICIAN, for the PEOPLE and for the sake of impressing BOTH! Fingers crossed that this body of work would make him proud. The Album Musicians Disk 1: Mike Jellick - Piano/Rhodes, Takashi Iio - Ele./Upright Bass, Nate Winn - Drums, Disk 2: CJ Warfield - Keys, Greg Squires - Ele. Bass, Cassius Goines - Drums. . Guest Artists: Dwight Adams - Trumpet, Quincy Stewart - trumpet, Jimmy Smith - Trumpet, Vincent Chandler - Trombone, MEL Sixdeepgeneral - Emcee
