I have visited a jazz concert at the Green Mill Club on the 17th of February this year. There were a lot of performers who presented their music pieces, however, I would like to speak about the one I like most of all. Jazz for a Rainy Afternoon is a collection of music performed by different artists. Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most composed by Fran Landesman and Tommy Wolf in 1955 and performed by Ron Carter and Houston Person (Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most) is the music I want to describe. I would like to discuss this piece of music from the point of view of the analysis according to the books, and then I plan to talk about my personal feelings of the songs. This information will give a broad vision of the song, I will have an opportunity to present the ideas on this piece of music of the authorities, people who can professionally judge music and my personal one. I will get much experience from this analysis.
Describing this piece of music, Santella describes it as follows, “as one tune melts into the next”. It is impossible to disagree with this issue. Moreover, he adds that “alto saxophone and piano embellishments make for a lovely ballad” and it is impossible to disagree with the point. There is a professional opinion that Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most “has become a jazz standard without ever being a hit” (Fran Landesman). It is one of the best confirmations that the structure and the tempo of this music perfectly corresponds to jazz. Professional review says that this is the best jazz interpretation ever (Jazz for a Rainy Afternoon: Various artists 4) underlining my idea that this music perfectly fits in a rainy day. I am inclined to think that this is exactly the point.
As for me, I liked this piece of music right because of this association. Listening to it I saw rain before my eyes, I heard how it sounds. The tempo is perfect, it is neither fast nor slow. The structure is difficult to define as each following sound is taken from the previous one. The final notes are the most impressive as they are the most emotive. Each piece of music in jazz finishes with trombonist solo (Barrett and Stauffer 106). It is the most impressive part. I am inclined to think that it is exactly what a jazz music should stand for. My impressions of listening to this piece of music cannot be explained. My soul wanted to rise higher and higher. The periods when the music became silent I still heard the sounds. I believe it is the best phenomena in music, when a performer stops playing, but the music still sounds in the heads of the audience. This is the feeling I had.
In conclusion, I would like to say that jazz is not a genre I adore, but this concert made me reconsider my vision on this kind of music. Each of the pieces during this concert was amazing, but Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most is the best. Listening to it the vision of a spring rain appears before one’s eyes. I would attend a similar concert with pleasure as after it was over I felt much energy in me.
Works Cited
Barrett, Margaret S. and Sandra Lee Stauffer. Narrative Inquiry in Music Education: Troubling Certainty. New York: Springer, 2009. Print.
Fran Landesman. Web.
“Jazz for a Rainy Afternoon: Various artists.” The Mag/Lawrence Journal-World. 1999, p. 4. Print.
Santella, Jim. “Various Artists: Jazz For A Rainy Afternoon.” All About Jazz. 1998. Web.
“Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most.” Jazz Standards. 1955. Web.