An interesting thread that was introduced on another BBS with great success might be interesting here. It has to do with how your interest in jazz was cultivated? The subject has always resulted in some interesting accounts from posters.

I'll tell my rather bland story later, but who would like to start with "their story?"

About 5 years ago I was at a neighbor's all- day BBQ. After about 6 hours into the party and way too much Jimmy Buffet, I told him to throw on something a little livelier. The average age at this thing was late 30's/early 40's so I figured he'd throw on a little Who, Grand Funk or Rare Earth but no! He throws in Ripps "Live In L.A." and absolutely cranks it! It sounded so good I went into the house and sat in front of the speakers to take it all in. By "Curves Ahead" I was mesmorized. I'll never forget that night. I was pretty down on how brutal Rock and Roll had evolved and I really love music so it opened a whole new door for me. Over the past 5 years and about 100 jazz cd's latter I'll have to say I have expanded my horizon's rather admirably.

Ah..nostalgia...I love it. I remember when I became 'obsessed' with Jazz. It was about the summer of 1986 and a lot was happening in my life. I had just started a new job, moved into a new place, got my first CD player and other trivial but effective stuff. Anyway, I, too, was becoming disconnected with Rock music and Jazz filled the void created very nicely. It's interesting, when I think back, that I was dangerously close to being 30 when this drastic conversion took place. It turned out to be a good transition. My first Jazz influences were Lee Ritenour's 'Earth Run', Bob James/David Sanborn collaboration CD and Acoustic Alchemy 'Red Dust and Spanish Lace'. Oh, also influenced by the music of Andreas Vollenweider. I do still return to my 'roots' of Rock occasionally.

I was in college and I worked in a bar that had live music, I was also singing at the time and doing all the acoustic nights. This club had been doing acoustic night on Sunday but they changed it in order to put the managers friend's jazz band on. I was pretty mad about this. I thought all jazz sounded like the straightahead stuff I heard which I did not like. But I was bartending that night (my consolation for not playing, I needed the paycheck). These 5 guys came on and played Return To Forever's "7th Galaxy" pretty much all the way through, plus some Jeff Beck, Crusaders, Weather Report, Zappa Hot Rats stuff, and Mahavishnu. I just kinda stood behind the bar with my mouth hanging open and by the second set I had to bribe someone else into serving beer so I could stick my head in front of a speaker. The next day I blew my financial aid check on fusion and within a month I had a fusion show on my campus station and the music dept faculty was petitioning to get it taken off the air because it was "not real jazz".
Then I was led from fusion into more of the sax stuff to a large extent by Joni Mitchell, who was working with Tom Scott at the time. I saw them live and got hooked on noisy funky sax stuff. I also found Pat Metheny because of Joni M...heard "Pats Solo" on Shadows and Light. Better late than never. Around that time I got to do my first "jazz brunch" show and had to actually deal with some of the more subdued stuff (Grover, Benson, Bob James..) but even then this was not my favorite element of the genre.

My interest started back in early-mid 80's with Stanley Clarke's School Days album. Also early Yellow Jackets and Jean Luc Ponty, Tom Grant, Kit Walker, Hiram Bullock, the old ripp'in , smokin Al DiMeola is what got me started.

My first exposer to jazz probably came about before most of you were even born. I can remember my dad trying to get me to listen to some old LP's (man does ever date me!) of various big band and jazz artists. Of course I wanted nothing to do with any of that kind of music. Funny now about a fourth of my 800 or so cd's feature that very music. But I managed to dismiss all of his noble efforts until sometime in the late
70's when, while working as a dj or an album rocker I came across a couple of albums with some wild looking covers. The had come to station from promoters but because they were not rock they found themselves placed on the back shelf. The albums were the early works of Jon Luc Ponty and Spyro Gyra. Intrigued by the covers I decided to give them a listen and the rest is as they say history. To date I am the proud owner of 22 Sypro Gyra cd's and 12 by Jon Luc Ponty. Good old dad would have been proud.

[This message has been edited by Dave Shrader (edited 10-10-99).]

I can relate DAvid.

I grew up in a home with a father who was a straight-ahead jazz guitarist and acoustic bass player. Jam sessions in our home was a pretty regular thing but it was a struggle for him making aliving in those difficult years. I can remember going for months without seeing him when he was on the road with a band.

For some reason though, I missed the fusion era and the initial popularity of groups like Spyro Gyra, the Yellowjackets, etc. All of my children are involved in one form or another of music, but it was my oldest son, a rock guitarist, who came home one evening from his band practice and asked me if I ever heard of a group called "Spyro Gyra?" I dismissed the whole idea picturing them as just another rock band with a kooky name. However, a few weeks later, driving home on a Sunday afternoon, there was a local jazz show on and the DJ spun Spyro Gyra's "4MD" (for Miles Davis) and the stuff stopped me dead in my tracks.

Next day I purchased the band's tape "Fast Forward" got exposed to some of their other great arrangements of "Para Ti Latino," "Ocean Parkway" and "Escape Hatch." It was like a breath of fresh air for me and led to the ultimate discovery of the YJ's, Rippingtons, Chick Corea's Elektric Band, etc. The experience so heightened my music experience that I will always have that special feeling about Spyro Gyra. I still love straight-ahead jazz as well, and there are those special bands and artists that I was exposed to from very young years thanks to my family and father. Spyro enjoys that same special place (along with 22 of their CDs) as these other "originals."