April is National Jazz Appreciation month. The beginnings of my relationsip with Jazz is not a long story, but it is fraught with peril. In 1992 I was a football coach in the Boulder Youth Football league. My chariot of choice was a shiny red Sterling (I think I was inspired by the Greg Nice line, 'I drive a Red Sterling and the seats recline!'), but I digress. So the Sterling had this radio that if it lost power in any way, it would lock on the 1st station it found and could only be released through a code. I bought the car used so the code was long gone. One day after practice I got to my car to find that the fuse to the radio had tripped somehow (with the car off. Madness!!) I happened to have some spare fuses, which is a used car staple, and low and behold when the radio came back on, it was stuck on 89.3 KUVO 'the Jazz Oasis in the city'. Keep in mind that this was 92. Hip hop was beginning to pick up major steam and to top that off I was a DJ. Listening to the new stuff kept me sharp for my gigs. When I took a few moments to let my indignation to hearing "Jazz! Of all things!!" coming out of MY stereo I heard true magic. The song was Stolen Moments by Oliver Nelson and if you aren't familiar with it, here's a synopsis. That feeling you first got when you heard the ice cream truck as a kid. Or the birthday where you got the banana seat huffy. Better yet your first pair of Cortez Nikes with the blue swoosh. This song was that feeling and I was hooked.


All throughout this month I will share albums and songs that have shaped my understanding and love for jazz.