{"id":2326,"date":"2017-09-15T17:01:22","date_gmt":"2017-09-15T21:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=2326"},"modified":"2019-09-12T12:09:42","modified_gmt":"2019-09-12T16:09:42","slug":"my-qa-for-bluesgreece-spirit-of-jazz-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/09\/my-qa-for-bluesgreece-spirit-of-jazz-award.html","title":{"rendered":"My Q&A for Blues@Greece & Spirit of Jazz Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jazz, blues, American literature and where I’d go for a day in a time machine are topics I address in an email interview <\/a>with Michalis Limnios<\/strong> who blogs\"\"<\/a> at Blue@Greece<\/a>. I post this item out of sheer vanity, reinforced by my being presented with a Spirit of Jazz Award tomorrow (9\/16) by the Englewood Jazz Festival<\/a>, taking place from noon to 6 pm on Chicago’s South Side in Hamilton Park, not far from where I grew up.<\/p>\n

Performers include saxophonist and organizer Ernest Dawkins,<\/a> singers Dee \"\"<\/a>Alexander and Carolyn Fitzhugh, the Live the Spirit Residency Big Band and trumpeter Wallace Roney. This one-day free fest is the important date between the Chicago Jazz Festival<\/a> and the Hyde Park Jazz Fest<\/a> (where I’ll present the Jazz Journalists Association’s Flutist of the Year Award to the great Nicole Mitchell, appearing with kora player Ballake Sisoko in the debut of their Bamako*Chicago Sound System)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m thrilled to stand for this Spirit honor with fellow recipients trumpeter-composer-Chicago Jazz Philharmonic leader Orbert Davis<\/a>,and Sirius\/XM jazz director-record producer-journalist\u00c2\u00a0Mark Ruffin<\/a>, who credits me with giving him his first\u00c2\u00a0paying job in radio about 40 years ago).<\/p>\n

\n

But back to ME<\/strong><\/a>: Here’s the pull quote Mike used from my response to the heady question,\u00c2\u00a0“What is the impact of Blues and Jazz on literature and on the racial, political and socio-cultural implications?”<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Your not-so-humble blogger, photo by Marc PoKempner<\/p><\/div>\n

Mark Twain was at the font of the American vernacular style the blues and jazz gave impetus to, and we can put Walt Whitman, Stephen Crane, Jack London, a few others there, too. Then read the fiction of Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Ishmael Reed, Chester Himes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c “hear” the rhythms and snap of their language, the sounds of people meeting in the streets and taverns of modern cities \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that’s jazz and blues.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Asked “How has the Blues and Jazz culture influenced your views of the world and the journeys you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve taken?”<\/strong><\/div>\n

Jazz has helped me learn to be adaptable and has heightened my sensitivity for responsiveness. It’s encouraged me to savor life in all its dimensions, and swing with it, try to make it work for me, dance lightly and gracefully, with power when advisable. It’s taught me about changeups I can use in my writing.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Where I’d go in a time machine?<\/p>\n

Room 305 of the Savoy Hotel, Chicagon on February 15th<\/sup>, 1943, to overhear Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie hash out the basics of what became bebop for their first recording. Or back to Soldier Field, Chicago on August 15, 1965<\/a>, to hear John Coltrane with Archie Shepp, McCoy Tyner,<\/p>\n

Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones at the DownBeat Jazz Festival (Gerry Mulligan, Woody Herman, and the Thelonious Monk Quartet were also on the bill). I was there!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

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Jazz, blues, American literature and where I’d go for a day in a time machine are topics I address in an email interview with Michalis Limnios who blogs at Blue@Greece. I post this item out of sheer vanity, reinforced by my being presented with a Spirit of Jazz Award tomorrow (9\/16) by the Englewood Jazz […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1586,1222,1590,1572,1355,1497,459,1588,1587,1409,1589],"class_list":{"0":"post-2326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-bluesgreece","9":"tag-charlie-parker","10":"tag-downbeat-jazz-festival","11":"tag-englewood-jazz-festival","12":"tag-howard-mandel","13":"tag-jazz-beyond-jazz","14":"tag-john-coltrane","15":"tag-mark-ruffin","16":"tag-michalis-limnios","17":"tag-orbert-davis","18":"tag-spirit-of-jazz-award","19":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/HM-by-po-2015.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-Bw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2334,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/09\/jazz-community-upends-englewoods-bad-rep.html","url_meta":{"origin":2326,"position":0},"title":"Jazz community upends Englewood’s bad rep","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"September 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The 18th annual free Englewood Jazz Festival in south side Hamilton Park last\u00c2\u00a0Saturday (9\/16) affirmed the best of\u00c2\u00a0Chicago's grassroots\u00c2\u00a0culture, promoting an opposite image of this challenged neighborhood as a dangerous place -- unless one fears powerful, creative music that speaks as directly as dance rhythms to its family of\u00c2\u00a0listeners. Produced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Alexis Lombre\"","block_context":{"text":"Alexis Lombre","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/alexis-lombre"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/dancing-in-Englewood.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/dancing-in-Englewood.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/dancing-in-Englewood.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/dancing-in-Englewood.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2288,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/08\/jazzimprov-chicago-wide-ranging-talents-free-fests-pokempner-pix.html","url_meta":{"origin":2326,"position":1},"title":"Jazz\/Improv Chicago: Wide-ranging talents, free fests, PoKempner pix","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Chicago's jazz\/improvised music scene contains multitudes, last week ranging from the wild yet earnest Liberation Music Collective to veteran piano sophisticate Michael Weiss in trio, as two of Marc PoKempner's photos document (and more of his vision, focused on links between local music and politics -- Obama included -- is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Andy's\"","block_context":{"text":"Andy's","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/andys"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/MPK5562m-e-300x180.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1647,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2014\/07\/jazz-and-beyond-jazz-nyc-to-chicago.html","url_meta":{"origin":2326,"position":2},"title":"Jazz and beyond “jazz” — NYC to Chicago","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"July 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Jazz above and beyond established conventions of jazz in and around NYC last month was super\u00c2\u00a0abundant -- and I'm going to miss a lot about this scene when I move base of operations to Chicago in mid-July. 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Capacities vary: free multi-day fests in\u00c2\u00a0Chicago\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Detroit\u00c2\u00a0attract tens of thousands each, and the free Memphis Music & Heritage Festival;\u00c2\u00a0River Front Jazz Fest\u00c2\u00a0in Stevens Point,\u00c2\u00a0Wisconsin;\u00c2\u00a0Franklin Jazz Festival\u00c2\u00a0outside Nashville, Tennessee; \u00c2\u00a0Big Muddy Blues\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/jazzfest-crowd.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2459,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2018\/08\/labor-day-jazz-fests-starting-with-chicagos.html","url_meta":{"origin":2326,"position":4},"title":"Labor Day jazz fests, starting with Chicago’s","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00c2\u00a040th annual Chicago Jazz Festival, four days free to all of unfettered, usually joyous music held in beautiful downtown Millennium Park,\u00c2\u00a0 started last night with stars of of the local scene celebrating\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\"Legends and Lions\".\u00c2\u00a0Add \"Ancient to the Future\"\u00c2\u00a0to set the tone for a weekend of exciting, civically-supported music here --\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/chi-listens-300x216.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":993,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2012\/08\/jazz-festivals-in-newport-and-everywhere.html","url_meta":{"origin":2326,"position":5},"title":"Jazz Festivals in Newport, and everywhere","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The 58th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival starts tonight (Friday, 8\/3) in Rhode Island, and thanks to producer George Wein, there's a press bus going that I'll be on. 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