Just saying thanks…
I know this is the music blog and all, but I did want to thank all of you who sent such kind words to me after I announced the birth of my niece. I finally got a chance to see her this weekend and it was amazing. I have always wanted to be an uncle and now I am and I am planning on being the coolest uncle I can be. I also know that this little girl will grow up with and appreciation of music and, in particular, jazz.
Interesting note, my brother admitted that, had he had a boy, he was going to name the young man Miles Parker. How cool is that?
It’s been an interesting thing between me and my brother. He is three years younger than me and he and I always took different tracks when it came to music. I was into oldies and classic rock when he was into rap and then punk and even a heavy metal phase. I moved away to St. Louis for a while and my brother grew up, went to college, started a career and settled down his wild ways.
By the time my marriage had ended and I had moved back from St. Louis to Chicago, I found a young man wearing fancy clothes, in a nice apartment and listening to a huge collection of Charlie Parker music. I showed up one night with my Miles Davis stuff and, well, we kind of crossed each other with appreciation for each other’s taste in music.
I have to say it was pretty cool. We finally agreed on something and it was jazz. For him, it was Charlie Parker and for me it was Miles, but we still both loved the music. In fact, if it weren’t for him and his love, I may have never found clubs here in Chicago like the Velvelt Lounge.
Music is like that. It can cross generations and it can be passed from one sibling to another. When it clicks in someone’s head, you can almost see it and almost hear it. It happened to me in that radio studio when I sat there like a statue, unable to move, while listening to at tune from “Kind of Blue.” It happened to my brother when he first heard “Bird” playing his sax.
I guess nothing I am saying here is particularly profound, but it’s on my mind. I have been looking for the perfect song, in any genre, to express how I feel about my niece and how cool it is that there is this new life and I am some part of it.
One of my favorites is a song called “Raina” by singer/songwriter Peter Himmelman, but it is NOT jazz. Still, if you have the means, find it and take a listen.
I just can’t wait for the day when I may get to play that “Kind of Blue” album for my niece and, with any luck, she smiles and starts bopping her head along with it.
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