Sophia’s First Impressions About Jazz

First approaches to jazz by Sophia Dorn

Hey all together:-)

I thought it was probably time for a new post to let y’all now what is going on in my world since I came to Sydney. So, due to the fact that I am doing an internship at Eastside Radio (Roxane and I were reporting on this in our last post), which is basically a jazz radio, I decided to write a short draft about my first impressions referring to jazz as a music genre.

Well, honestly, before I new that I was going to do an internship at a radio station that is mostly focused on jazz, or,let’s say, even before the day I actually started my internship, I have to admit that I never had anything to do with jazz. That means that I neither listened to it in private nor really cared about it because I was always listening to other genres of music. The only contact I had to jazz was when my dad sometimes listened to some jazz discs in the evening, to calm down from work and to relax from a stressful day.
In fact, this is exactly what I felt when I was actively listening to the huge variety of jazz music in the music library of Eastside Radio for the first time. You know, this was just a completely new type of music for me.Listening to jazz, you just feel as if you can let go from everything which stresses you or which goes on your nerves. Concentrating on a most often regular rhythm, jazz music allows you to calm down and to relax. It allows you to escape the exhausting and stressful daily life in the city, where everything is just fast and hectic and where everyone always seems to be in a hurry to get to manage his or her usual tasks. Above this, jazz also allows you to take time for yourself, to tidy up your thoughts that have accumulated during the day and to forget all your sorrows for a while.

Moreover, jazz music is very manifold. For instance,there are songs which are quite sad and melancholic, with a soft and caIm voice, but I have also listened to happy music with a faster beat. Following,as a first conclusion, you can say that on the one hand, jazz music has an appeasing effect on you. On the other hand, jazz is very dynamic, so it can also animate you to dance.
Another thing that I noticed when listening to jazz and which I really had to smile at was that I suddenly got the feeling not to live in year 2014 anymore, but to be beamed back in the 30’s or 40’s – as if I was a part of an old black and white movie in which a couple is just about to have dinner in a restaurant and there is nice jazz music to be heard in the background. Don’t ask me why, but that was just exactly what the music was reminding me of. So, you should definitely try and listen to jazz music as well to make your own experiences with it, to have your own imaginations. Who knows, maybe you’ll feel the same afterwards and share my opinion :-).

Besides, it may also be interesting for you to know what I think about the connection between jazz music and Eastside Radio. Well, as already mentioned in the last draft, Roxane and I noticed that Sydney is a very lively city. Eastside Radio itself is located in Paddington, right next to a very noisy street,which is just full of cars and trucks and every other type of vehicle during the whole day. So, when I walk along the road to get to Eastside Radio, I am accompanied by the noise of squeaking wheels, blowing horns or people talking rapidly to each other when they walk by. And then again blowing horns, the loud noise of a car which just managed to brake before the lights turn red.
But then, coming closer to Eastside Radio, you already know that in a couple of minutes, you will enter a place where you will be able to calm down and listen to relaxing music. You know that you will feel safe and comfortable, somehow protected from all the noise outside on the street. Therefore, you could describe Eastside Radio as a calm isle in the midst of a vibrant city. Everyone is just taking his or her time, no one is in a hurry and which music type could reflect this attitude more than jazz?
Finally, I can only recommend you to listen to jazz music and to make your own experience with it. I can definitely say that it was really exciting to let myself get connected to this new type of music. You only have to be open and, of course, willing to adapt to a new music genre – then you’ll like it for sure :-).

You are going to hear from me soon! Have a good week and take care.
Sophia

Jazz Live Music