Letter to the editor, kind of

A sequel to MnMo on jazz, sort of.




Glory be, Minnesota Monthly printed a letter I wrote in response to editor Andrew Putz's comments on how hard jazz is to understand, appreciate, love, and find.

Here's the edited version that appears in the June issue:

Off Key

I read with interest and growing dismay your assertions that jazz is “too damn hard—hard to understand, hard to appreciate…even hard to find,” and that it only happens at the Dakota, the Artists’ Quarter, and now, Orchestra Hall (“Hot Summer Nights”).

The Twin Cities has a thriving jazz community with many artists performing in several places pretty much any night of the week. The Dakota and the Artists’ Quarter are primary venues, of course, but we also have the Northrop Jazz Season, jazz at the Walker, and concerts at MacPhail.

Finding jazz isn’t hard. Understanding, appreciating, and loving jazz comes with experiencing it.

And here's the original:

I read with interest and growing dismay editor Andrew Putz's assertions (Hot Summer Nights) that jazz is "too damn hard"—hard to understand, hard to appreciate, hard to love, hard to find—and that it only happens at the Dakota, the Artists’ Quarter, and now Orchestra Hall.

The Twin Cities is a thriving jazz community with many artists performing in several places pretty much any night of the week. The Dakota and the AQ are primary venues, of course, and three cheers for Lilly Schwartz, the person behind the new jazz series at Orchestra Hall, but we also have the Northrop Jazz Season, jazz at the Walker, the Twin Cities Jazz Society’s “Jazz from J to Z” concert series (which happens in various places), jazz at MacPhail, the Twin Cities Summer Jazz Festival, the Winter Jazz Fest, the JazzMN Big Band, and live jazz in numerous restaurants, bars, and community centers around town.

Jazz is not illegal dog fighting; you can find it by checking Friday’s Strib, the Jazz Police Web site (www.jazzpolice.com), and my weekly jazz column on MinnPost.com. You can even check the Minnesota Monthly Web site; type “jazz” in the search window. Minnesota Public Radio sends out a weekly jazz calendar, and so does KBEM, our local jazz radio station (and one of the few remaining in the nation).

So finding jazz isn’t hard. Understanding, appreciating, and loving jazz come with experiencing it.

Andrew, I invite you to be my guest at an upcoming jazz event, and let’s say for starters that it won’t be at the Dakota, the AQ, or even Orchestra Hall.