Billy Preston - Nothing from Nothing
Haha, I know it’s not jazz, but let me explain. The last 40 seconds of this clip from House MD > youtubed “blues piano” > Horace Silver > youtubed “gospel piano” > this video > Nothing from Nothing haha.
I’m not a music student or any sort of professional jazz musician. I’ve taken half of a music history class, and watched that one Ken Burns series, just like everybody else. I can kind of play jazz, and I know what sounds good (to me)… but I am by no means an authority.
I have, however, grown up surrounded by jazz.
Weekend mornings of my childhood were filled with Dave Brubeck and KNTU, and my mom took me to countless concerts and events: UNT’s famous One O’Clock Lab Band, the annual North Texas Jazz Festival, practically anything we could get our hands on (and a ten-year-old into).
If there’s anything I’ve picked up over the past twenty years, it’s that jazz is the essential carpe diem. It’s about taking structure and familiarity, tearing it to pieces, and creating something fresh and personal. It’s about collaboration and understanding the why of music- why people love it, why they hate it, why people write it or dance to it or play it, why it inspires, why it even happens at all.
I believe that jazz is about what feels right.
And that’s why most of what goes up here isn’t going to always be the most technically perfect performance but the ones with the most heart. :)
