In the very first entry of this blog (2014) I shared how my father was the person most responsible for my love of classical music. Today, I want to pay tribute to my mom, Judi Hazlett. She too has had a profound effect on my musical life. When a group of musicians from the University of Texas came to Pillow Elementary in 1973 to give a performance-demonstration, and I fell in love with the sound of the violin and wanted to start violin lessons, it was my mom who most closely shared this journey with me. She was the one who drove me to violin lessons, symphony rehearsals and concerts...year after year. She's also the one who encouraged me to practice. On top of that, she was also driving my sister to ballet lessons and working as a volunteer at the Austin Civic Ballet. Judi took the picture above. It is my first concert ever....a group of first year violin students playing Twinkle Star on stage at the LBJ Library Auditorium. (I am up there somewhere.)
This past weekend, she was once again in the audience for one of my concerts...this time for the Heritage Philharmonic. Forty six years later, I am still playing the violin, and my mom is still my biggest supporter. I caught a glimpse of her from the stage shortly before the concert started and it hit me like a ton of bricks how blessed and lucky I am. Not just that she was there to hear the concert....but how great a mom she is...how wonderful a person she is. She is the most loving and genuine person on earth and in that brief moment, I felt like that third grader on stage playing Twinkle Star, knowing that his mom was out there cheering for him. She has the same passion for music in her heart that my dad did and that I do She is a true blessing. Love you mom.
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There was an article in the Kansas City Star on February 24, 2019 about the American Jazz Museum in the historic 18th and Vine District of Kansas City. It was from the Star's editorial board and they were making the point that the Jazz Museum needs to finally stand on it's own feet...taxpayers should not be asked for more money to keep it afloat. I have been to the American Jazz Museum, and while I want to be enthusiastic about any attempt to enlighten and promote music in our world, this museum did not inspire me. And the idea of museums for any genre of music frankly does not appeal to me. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland may be the best known and most successful such museum. I have not been there, and I don't have any desire to go either. I don't know where or how one could build a classical music museum....Vienna? New York? London? Paris? Moscow? Kansas City does have a strong jazz history. I can see why KC makes sense for such a museum. But jazz as a genre has almost as small a place in our culture as classical music. It is a hard sell, and brick 'n mortar establishments require a great deal of start-up capital and significant annual operating revenue to survive. The American Jazz museum opened in 1997. Why doesn't it have a flourishing endowment after almost a quarter of a century of operation? Maybe there just isn't enough interest to sustain such a museum. Twenty-two years has shown that there is not.
https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article226638919.html
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Don't get me wrong, I like jazz a great deal, and have written about it many times since I started this blog. So here is another jazz post for you.
My wife and I recently watched a great show called The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It is on Amazon and there are two seasons to see, with more on the way. The show is very funny and it brilliantly captures the period of the late 50's and early 60's...styles, colors, and music. Here is a piece from udiscovermusic that highlights the music from Season 2.
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/marvelous-mrs-maisel-season-two/
On this list, I want to point out Blossom Dearie. Blossom had a very unique voice that can't be mistaken for anyone else's. She studied piano as a youngster and according to her website, was encouraged by her family to attend the Peabody Conservatory, but she went a different direction at that critical juncture and began her jazz career instead. It worked out well for her. Her website also states that her favorite piece of music growing up was Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.
I came to her music pretty late...I'd say it was about 15 years ago that I was introduced to her for the first time..
Here is the song from Season 2 of Mrs. Maisel, "Some Other Time."
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