Joe’s Biggest Fan

By Michele Stivalo

Are you a fan of jazz music?  If so, what is it about jazz that draws your interest?  And if not, can you identify the reason?

I grew up in a musical family, so I started listening to jazz at a young age. My father has been a professional musician for over 40 years, so I spent much of my childhood listening to all types of great music, both recorded and live. I have great memories of spending what seemed like endless nights at my father’s gigs. He is a true entertainer.  But my father’s music was typically popular standards, the kind of music you hear at weddings and dance parties- in other words, the kind of music just about everyone likes to listen to while dancing.

It wasn’t really until high school that I started hearing more jazz music, because by this point my brother Joe (who is a year older than I) had become a jazz musician.  His friends would form 4-piece combos and perform in local coffee houses. It was something to do on a Friday night in our little Jersey town.

My wording is deliberate when I say that is when I started hearing jazz music more, because as much as I heard it prior to this, I’m not sure that I was really listening. The truth is, jazz music intimidated me. As time passed, and Joe’s coffee house combo bands became more serious gigs, I became even more intimidated. It was its own culture, and I couldn’t figure out how to become a part of it. Either that, or I just wasn’t smart enough to “understand” it.

Sometimes I would confess these fears to Joe. “I just don’t think I get it,” I would tell him. As the sister of a big band leader who has a CD with big name New York players to his credit, it wasn’t easy to admit. He’s always been one of my most trusted confidantes, so it wasn’t that I was afraid that he would judge me. Maybe I was just afraid of what everyone else would think if they found out my deep dark secret. After all, I have always been Joe’s biggest fan.

“There’s nothing to understand,” he’d tell me.  “Do you like listening to it, or not?”

That sounds easy enough, I’d think to myself, but frankly it wasn’t that easy. Did I enjoy listening to it? I’m not sure. I liked the idea of it. I liked following Joe and his friends to the basement jazz clubs in New York. I liked hanging out with the musicians at the Park Tavern after a New Jersey City University jazz concert. That was the college my brother attended. Each year they get some big name jazz artists (this fall their guest musician was James Moody).  The conversations we had were often about music, but even when they weren’t they were always interesting and thought-provoking. I liked being a part of that scene I guess.

But it was the music itself that I was never sure about. It always seemed so … complicated. Listening to popular music was always so much easier.

Yet, I never gave up on jazz, partly because I simply couldn’t, partially because I didn’t want to, but mostly because I wasn’t about to stop being my brother’s biggest fan.  I may have been intimidated, but I was also intrigued. And always impressed. Sure, jazz music takes on many forms and can be more complex than relationships at times. But overall, jazz music is an American art form. And although it only originated within the last century, it has- in my opinion- an old soul.

So, back to my original question: are you a fan of jazz music?

If you are, what draws you to it?

If you’re not, that is OK too. But if you’re like me and you’re not really sure, I recommend keeping your mind open. May I also make some great recommendations? These albums are a great way to introduce (or reintroduce) yourself to jazz, yet they feature some of the greatest jazz artists of all time (you may be familiar with most of these artists already):Far East Suite by Duke Ellington; Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings; Porgy & Bess by Miles Davis; Best of Ella Fitzgerald & Louie Armstrong; and Standards & Ballads by Wynton Marsalis.  I also proudly recommend Vanity Fair by my brother, Joe Elefante.  (You can get more information about his CD at his website, joeelefante.com).

I’ll be listening to all of these cds again myself in the next few weeks.  I’d love to know your thoughts as well so please log in and leave a comment. I hope you enjoy them!

Michele Stivalo is the co-owner of two family businesses, Elefante Music Click here for website and The Performing Arts Conservatory Click here for website, in her hometown of New Providence, NJ.  She has a degree in Business Management from Rutgers University.  She enjoys spending her free time with her husband Joe and their daughter Rose, and her extended family and friends.