Juilliard Jazz Quartet

To be perfectly and completely honest: I can’t stand jazz. I have always wanted an opportunity to learn about jazz, maybe even get into it, but after experiencing this concert I know it’s not for me. Every haphazard beat of the drums, every improvised piano solo, every note, made my heart palpitate. The quartet made me anxious. I felt like I was having mini heart attacks the whole night. It’s something about the way every instrument is playing at the same time and they go together but in such an odd way my blood just can’t beat normally. I hated it.

That being said, I’m so grateful I got the opportunity to experience it. Because despite the fact jazz puts my blood flow into irregular roller coasters of discomfort, I can appreciate it. Listening to each instrument on its own was a joy (except the drums, they were the main source of my distress). When I focused in on just the bass, just the sax, I got it. I understood the joy of each performer, the carefully practiced effortlessness that made them masters. It was only when I heard it all together that it sounded like a cacophony of fifty different beats and sounds.

More so than the music, I enjoyed the performers. There is no other way to describe them than cool. They were some cool cats. And they were one. They played in harmony (I didn’t feel that way but I could tell they were). Never was there a spot light on just one, and when there was, they each got to feel the light. You could feel the respect they had for each other, the love for the audience, the love in the audience. It was quite an experience. And although I hate jazz, I’m glad I actually had the chance to find that out, and I’m even more grateful that through my vehement reaction, I could still appreciate it.