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Jennie's Jazz

I am a piano Music Major studying at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Ca. My main area of piano study over the last 10 years has been classical music, but I have always enjoyed playing other styles of music as well. While at OCC, I have become involved with the Big Band and Jazz Improv Ensemble groups under the guidance of "Doc" Rutherford. He's an experienced band leader whose many talents could never be learned from a book. I'd like to share a poem I wrote about "Doc" for an English Class project, including his character in our journey along the Road to Canterbury.


The Bandleader

A bandleader came too, a man of true taste
A professor of art who lived life in haste.
He spent all his years in a room at a college
Wanting no more than to spread all his knowledge.
Having no real first name, we just called him "Doc",
I swear he was older than the world's first clock.
Solid white hair like the first winter's snow,
And piercing blue eyes that we all came to know.
A small portly man standing just over five feet,
Though grumpy by nature, a pleasure to meet.
The garb draped upon him was simple and plain
Following the latest fashions he did so in vain.
Hearing only what he wanted from musicians so meek
He did this only because his hearing was weak.
To Canterbury he came as a mere tag-along,
providing us devoutly, with a nightly song.
Played in the style of a samba so quick,
his tones were of quality and ever so thick.
He'd blow his reed horn for hours on end
Starting something simple and following a trend.
A trend that led to melodies heard the whole night through
He by far surpassed what any novice could do.
Loving every style from light bossas to swing,
When given requests he could play anything.
He picked up new musicians along our dusty road
Training them to play in every scale and every mode.
The band improved greatly as our journey went on
Practicing heartily, from dusk untill dawn.
A most faithful leader, Doc quickly gained support
Teaching music was a mission he would not soon abort.
His band rallied fans and entertained all around
Creating only, the most beautiful sound.
With a character so strong, full of fire and zest
Doc never failed to bring out their best.
You will never meet a man with so tight a grip
However, he was, a nice addition to our trip.


If you are interested in starting a CD collection of classic Jazz recordings, here are some of my favorite albums to start you on the road to discovering the sounds and style of Standard and Latin Jazz.


You can't go wrong with the Verve Music label. Watch for more of my Jazz links on the Net as my page develops....

Musical Comments
Melodymaker@juno.com

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