Whiplash
My father was a jazz aficionado. Big band jazz. He knew all the songs, all the players. Put on a track, he'd call it out within a bar or two, say who was playing on the track, and give details. While not being a player himself, he had spent hours upon hours upon hours listening to the music, studying it, breathing it, learning every detail. His favorite stories were of his time in the Army: the 19 times he saw Benny Goodman play, and of the one time at Fort Ord when he was the only person in a dining hall where Lester Young was practicing. When dad was 80, an old record would make him 20 again. That was the power of the best music. Today, my 17- year old son is becoming a player. Not yet breathing it, really, not yet really studying it, but passionate enough. Big band jazz has long faded from being this country's pop music, it's still fairly standard for kids learning to play in high school combos. Aaron plays drums and double bass. His bass teacher recently had a reco...