Article May 6, 2002 Issue

Spiritual perspective on music

What's sacred about JAZZ?

By Bill Dawley

The first time I heard modern jazz I loved it. I'd gone to a high school that was heavily into the arts. I finished the bulk of my academic work in my junior year, so in my senior year, I focused on music.

The classes were wonderful: music theory, music composition, music history, music appreciation, band, orchestra, dance band, a jazz group.

One dreary winter afternoon, I walked into a music appreciation class. There was a 33 1/3 record on the stereo (these were the days before Walkmans and CDs), and I heard the most intriguing music I'd ever heard. A piano played the "coolest" chords. An alto sax interchange with piano was haunting. That record was Jazz Goes to College. The pianist was Dave Brubeck. Paul Desmond played alto sax. Jazz Goes to College turned out to be a classic among jazz buffs.

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