A few Hip Cats...

I've had the truly rare experience of running into a club owner who loves Jazz, knows it's a small market, knows this is a country town, Still wants to brand himself, and his club as a place for jazz lovers. Even more interesting: I've played for this fellow previously with a girl singer, who, regardless of anything else I may think, can actually sing, and is easy on the eyes. Yet, he's not interested in her - only me. The most remarkable thing about this is I didn't solicit the attention - Along the same line, I've recently run into a number of young kids, around 14 - 15, who don't listen to, or even like the rap or tecno that many of their peers listen to. They both really dig Jazz. And the best part was the reason: "We like our music to be free, and to have content. It's not merely about the presentation" When I pressed them to be more specific, they said, and I quote, "music that speaks to the emotions is nice, but that's one thing. Lyrics that speak to the intellect is something else, and that's nice too. But music that speaks to the soul, that is every part of a human, on it's own merits, without the benifit of lyrics - now that's something altogether different, and when you run into someone who can create that, right in front of you, there you have something. That's what happens with a musician playing jazz, and that's what we want to do someday."
Teenagers saying that, and thinking something this profound!?!?

I have performed on Carnival Cruise Lines, many years ago. A large majority of the passengers, and crew members, for that matter, caused me to despair for our species almost every day. These young kids, and this particular club owner, for the time being, at least cause me to have hope.