What do you get when you combine both jazz and blues? Jazz Blues, like most other forms of music, gained its popularity in the back rooms of clubs, honky-tonks, and even in underground cultural surroundings.

With the history of blues and jazz woven together and some similarities in the styles, to this day the two still inspire each other. With the similarities in each style of music, artist began a fusion funk of the two giving birth to Jazz Blues.

At the very core of Jazz Blues, are blues songs that vocally express life felt stories of emotions bringing each verse to life. With Most blues songs include words forming a three-line stanza like in bop songs.

In the 1920’s, Harlem became the metropolis of an unprecedented creativity for the country’s best jazz musicians. The birth to many jazz players careers and several greats, got their start in the night clubs of Kansas City.

Blues music itself and the role that it plays in jazz music needs no mentioning. To this day you don’t have to look far to find melodies that have been impacted by sweet sounds of blues. If you happen your way down to New Orleans, and through the French Quarter, you can truly appreciate how a city that was once underwater after Katrina, clanged on to the hope of its revival.

Through the sweet sounds of Jazz Blues infused a belief in their culture that spirited the community to rebuild. As jazz, blues or a combination of, continues to heal and bring hope to a battered community, new incredible sounds have come to life, new artist have risen from the debris and old ones returned to bring in an era of new hope and life to this great city.

Epistle 24 – Avast, Ye Lubbers!

Ahoy, mate! Belay the cut o’ yer jib, or when the bos’n unfurls the yardarm, you’ll walk the plank! Down t’ Davey Jones’ locker with ye. We’ll hoist the Jolly Roger by the 2-bell watch or me name ain’t Long John Silver! Arrgh.

As you can probably tell, I’m on the high seas. I don’t have a peg leg, but I do have an artificial hip, which is almost the same thing. I also don’t have a parrot on my shoulder, but there is one on my Tommy Bahama shirt. And, I’m feeling quite salty. Or maybe it’s the margaritas from the Mermaid bar. When one is aboard a cruise ship in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, swashbuckling comes naturally to us old salts.

If the truth be told, I have been Shanghaied on an . . . um . . . er . . . business trip. That’s it—a business trip! Honest! After months of suffering through the lunacy of the politicians and the bankers, a handful of us decided the best course of action was to take our wives and plunder ye olde shoppes of the Yucatan. If we can’t do anything about the US economy, maybe we can help Mexico.

If nothing else, exchanging the pirates of Washington and Wall Street for the Pirates of the Caribbean should certainly be safer and more profitable. I don’t understand why the Spaniards kept looking for El Dorado when there were all those gold and silver shops in Cozumel. Maybe they didn’t like the tourist prices but Columbus was a tourist, too, right?

Anyway, back to my tramp steamer where I have been liberally sharing the wisdom of my many ocean voyages (this is my second) with the lubbers who don’t have my sea legs. The adventure of the high seas is fraught with peril, and the first danger of the deep is the buffet line when you board.

One false step there and you could be trampled to death. And then there’s the threat of diabetic shock from a sugar overdose at the chocolate extravaganza. Of course, there are also all those plump torsos scorched beyond recognition on the pool deck, but somehow those manage to regenerate new cells from the smoke in the casino.

But none of these terrors of the deep can match the wrath of the old toughs who invade the library everyday right after breakfast to play cards with the same people they play cards with everyday back home for free. Occupy their table and God help you.

Which is exactly the crime on the high seas for which I have been found guilty. I have to leave now because a scurvy crew of old, gray buccaneers is marching me off the plank. Arrgh!!

We Will Win

Epistle 23 – Java

I have a Starbucks gold card, which I think means I hang out there a lot. It’s like your friendly, neighborhood bartender having your “usual” set up on the bar before you even reach your stool. It’s comforting to know there is someplace you always belong. Of course, the barrista (Spanish for bartender) changes more than my shirts, but somehow, despite a bewildering array of ways to serve you a cuppa Joe, they always add a personal touch. “Room for cream?” they ask, genuinely concerned for my every wish. I never request room, thinking I’ll get more for my money, which leaves me anywhere from a half empty cup to a puddle in my lap when I add my own.

How did we ever order coffee in the good ol’ days, without lattes, mochas, cappuccinos and tarantellas? (I think that last one is some sort of dance, but it sounds like it should be on the menu.) I can even remember when decaf was invented—Sanka, I think—so not a lot of menu choices before that. My grandmother ran a diner and all you got was a white cup (made of real glass), with a hot, strong (very strong) dark brown liquid beside a beaker of sugar and a small pitcher of cream, which was probably really milk. But none of this sissy non-dairy creamer or white stuff in little paper bags.

No, sir. Not in the good ol’ days. You ordered coffee, you knew exactly what you were getting. The food service was about the same concept. Regardless of the daily Blue Plate Special, my grandmother gave you a plate of brown, green and white stuff mixed in a glurpy swirl. Her theory was that it all got mixed up in your stomach anyway, so why not give it a head start. Ambiance was supplied by the curly strip of flypaper hanging from the ceiling. One look at that, and you didn’t care about the presentation either.

So much for mellow nostalgia. Back to Starbucks where my gold card (it’s really coffee brown) also allows ol’ Starbuck free access to my checking account so he can make sure I never run out of money while I’m in his store. God forbid I should run out of credit and swoon from a frappuccino attack right in front of the barrista. Talk about service! Oh that my bank should treat me as well as the Bank of Starbucks, which didn’t even get a federal bailout.

And what about the snob appeal? Here I sit, sipping my cardboard Venti, in my overstuffed chair, thinking I should have a cardigan sweater and a pipe. I’ll bet everyone in here knows I have a gold card. The staff continually fawns over me, genuinely concerned for my every need. In fact, just this morning the barrista asked about me.

“Room for cream in that?”

We Will Win

Playing the acoustic guitar and specifically the blues is one of the most enjoyable and enriching things to do.

As challenging as it may be in learning to play the guitar, once you master just a few chords, you are able to play multiple songs and as you become more comfortable and allow your creative juices start to flow you will find that picking up on some other chords is much easier.

It surprises me that with six little string and some 20 frets the infinite amount of music that can be created is infinitely abundant On top of that, playing blues music has its own subtle note changes that are separate from the conventional scale. This happens by bending the strings to adjust the pitch until it gets to the right sound.

The blues music players from the South had very inadequate means; in fact some had homemade guitars. These instruments were made from just about anything that they could find. Some were made of cigar boxes and wire for strings. One of the most notable blues music player of all time is Chuck Berry whose style was a unique as your personal signature on your check.

The point is this, if you are passionate about blues music and love the guitar. Just pick one up and start strumming a few chords. After some practice and persistence you will be on your way. Just don’t expect to be an overnight sensation or sound like Chuck Berry. Over time your skill will improve and who knows, your friends may actually stick around if you decide to burst out in to a private jam session.

No matter what level of playing you’re at now or which musical instruments you may know how to play, learn piano blues and you’ll be much better off for it regardless of the level of expertise that you are at or even if your focus is another instrument.

Playing the piano is invaluable for musical ideas, arranging for other instruments and just plain fun, relaxing and will open up opportunities when you can accompany other performers.

By learning piano blues you will have also learned many rock and roll songs as well since that technique developed out of blues music.

By simply learning some simple and easy patterns you can get in to the spirit of the blues. Before you know it, you will have mastered those patterns, develop some more complex version of those patterns and develop that are slightly more technical and before you know it you’re playing some very decent boogie woogie blues.

This style of blues with a bit of speed is very impressive. The boogie woogie style came directly out of the blues and is one of the best ways for a pianist to show off their technical ability.

If you ever get the chance, stand behind or next to a blues piano player and just watched what they do with their hands. Watching what they do will really allow you to see what’s going on with both hands and how these repetitive riffs are being implemented.

Just take it slow, analyze and study you will surprise yourself how easy things can really be. Then, like anything else, and a little commitment to some daily practice your peed and dexterity will come. Sure, kids usually pick it up quicker than adults or even easier than us boomers, but anyone who has the desire to learn can do it regardless of age.

Even if you decide to only learn to play the blues, think of the enjoyment that you can have at a jam session. Blues is the international language of music and who know learning to play blues music may spring board you in to other styles like gospel and jazz.