The Dirty Dog Jazz Café will remain closed until our jazz family can again safely gather in an intimate setting to hear live jazz. What makes the Dirty Dog and jazz so important in our lives is its ability to bring us closer together. For the moment we will have to stay close by staying apart. This necessary intermission will end, and jazz will once again leak out the Dog’s front door and smiling people will pour in. See you then.

I am thankful for the the band of friends who normally would be showing up at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café five days a week to work or a night or two to listen to some jazz. There has always been an unspoken camaraderie present, a kind of glue that only families have. There is calm when calm is required, and there is intense focus when action is required. Jazz and restaurant work require special people who can band together in the moment, an I’ve got your back mentality.

I hope that all you special people are safe.

CREATING SOMETHING NEW CAN BE A LONELY TASK

Most often we think of art as something created by a lone individual working far away from the social whirl. Painters, sculptors, poets and novelists almost always work alone. Their art is very personal. Artists reach inside themselves to find the stories they want to tell. Sometimes when they are still enough they can bring back some good memories to use. There is an abundance of stillness in most of our lives right now. So why is it so hard to do creative work?

Limited by the stay at home imperative, we sure have plenty of time to stop and observe the world around us, as small as it is. We have only our family around us, much like when we were children. It should be enough. It isn’t, so what’s missing?

Newborns first respond to light and to sounds and it seems to make them smile. Soon they hear the playful voices of their brothers and sisters and waddle into the fray. When rejected they will hear some calming words, while being rocked in their grandparents’ arms. They will leave their home where the rhythms of life will continue to surround them from the honking of horns to the rustle of leaves.  We all continue to be surrounded by music and images the rest of our lives. First from our parents’ radios and then ours. As we get out and gain new experiences we begin to listen differently. We later learn to filter information. There will be some other people’s sounds or visuals that bring back our personal memories. Sometimes this leads to collaborative art. Eventually we find ourselves playing with friends. We form new families.

My favorite definition of the word family goes like this “A group of people, usually of the same blood (but they do not have to be), who genuinely love, trust, care about, and look out for each other”. They can be easily spotted by everyone’s quick-to-smile demeanor when in each other’s company.

I think that this is what I miss most at this moment, the friends that I took for granted, and are no longer part of my life. I also miss having adventures with my family and friends. The sameness of the days can numb the creative process.

OUR RICH DETROIT JAZZ FAMILY

My son had a drum set in our basement. That meant that we had the band in our basement. For a while, a teenaged Rodney Whitaker was contributing to the sounds coming up  from the basement to the parents upstairs. This was my introduction to Rodney. The band sometimes got gigs on Mack Ave where Marcus Belgrave would occasionally come and offer his support. Marcus recalled to me that he stood up and hushed the crowd so that he could better hear the band. Growing up in Detroit playing jazz is like that. Marcus and others would take the time to give a gentle but firm push to those young players who were willing to listen and work. Rodney was a world class learner and listener. Rodney has never stopped learning or teaching. Rodney Whitaker today is a robust giant in jazz and in life.  He is respected for the depth of his understanding of the music and its roots. He is the sum of all those who guided him and those whose lives he has enriched.

Rodney currently is the Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University where he is also a professor of Jazz Bass.

A PROUD MOMENT BEFORE THE VIRUS

On January 18-19, 2020 the Michigan State University’s Jazz Orchestra I and Jazz Octet I ensembles traveled to New York City where they were a top finisher in the Jazz at Lincoln Center inaugural Jack Rudin Jazz Championship,. The two-day invitational featured ensembles from 10 of the most well-regarded university jazz programs in the country, and MSU finished third in the rankings, Just to be asked to participate was an honor.

Director of Jazz Studies Rodney Whitaker led the band comprised of 23 accomplished, aspiring jazz musicians from MSU’s nationally-recognized program.

https://youtu.be/vHYKFZKidNM