Last week, I was ready to explore Wayne Shorter's contributions to my Dad's record collection. I made a reference to the Jazz Messengers and now I offer my sincere apologies to the estate of Art Blakey for leaving out the most important name in this group. Free For All is the only Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers vinyl record I could locate.

     I played the first side to Free For All about six times as I read the liner notes. I approached this record from an interest in Wayne Shorter. I heard a bit of his very latest record, Without A Net, and was very impressed with his lightening fast attack on the tenor sax. Shorter's sound is much different than the smooth touch of Stan Getz. I'm getting very excited because I can determine these differences and I'm learning about key players in the tenor sax jazz kingdom. This girl, who thought she knew plenty about music, had to google tenor saxophone to learn the difference in saxophones. I knew there were different kinds, but I always referred to them as just saxophones. I love that Wikipedia lists my guys, Getz, Coltrane, and Shorter to describe the tenor sax.

    So I'm digging the back and forth conversation on this record and then comes a drum solo like I've never heard on vinyl. (I'm just a short ways into this jazz journey, so I anticipate more of these.) I've always liked drums. I play pretty good air drums. I admire the strength and endurance it takes to play drums in any band. I'm suddenly in love with Art Blakey. The liner notes from Free For All have a great quote from Blakey. "No jazz band is any better than its drummer. If the band is better than the drummer, then it's not a jazz band. He puts everything together there and keeps things rolling. This is what I was taught by Chick Webb and by my predecessors, and I think they're proven to be right." Well said, Art! Art's biography on his website tells a great story of how he started as a piano player. (I've tinkled the keys myself.) But one night, a club owner ordered him onto the drums at gunpoint! Seriously! That is just crazy and I'm glad it worked out.

    I guess I've seen Shorter's name in a lot of places and I recognize some of the album covers in his discography, like Night Dreamer and Second Genesis. I didn't get any of these for me to add to my journey. Of course, he's on at least seven of Dad's Miles Davis records. I'm not ready for the Miles journey. I'm saving that for last. If I need more, I've always got the CD's Dad made. There is a big box of those somewhere in my tiny apartment.

     I ask myself, what have I learned about Dad through his records so far? For sure, I get my good taste in music from him. While most of these records are from the 1960's, I don't think these were just promo records he took home from his college radio station. He's put his name on the back and drawn 5 stars on Free For All. I know he had many more records. He loved the few that are left enough to keep them in pristine condition and protect them from hurricanes, moving across the South and even my prying hands, until now. Dad was a dedicated television news producer by day. Often he would put on these records late in the evening. It was the only time I saw him dance. (thank God) No other genre made him dance. I think these particular artists reminded him of being a hip DJ in College. I understand the euphoric power being a college DJ can give a person. But also, getting lost in the music is a gift, both from the artist and for the person who allows them self to do so. Jazz is just jazz when it is in the background. But when you are lost in jazz, you appreciate the difference between Stan Getz and Wayne Shorter.