Jazz filtering through the air

Sound is a powerful entity to me. Sound can be ravishing, earth shattering, and loud. Sound can be soothing, calm, and loving. It is the sound of someone's voice that makes me smile if I am away from them for too long. The sound of my grandmother's voice on an old tape telling a story instantly places me at ease and feel like I am four years old again. It is the sound of music playing that brings a smile to my face as my heart leaps for joy. There are sounds that you may only hear for a short amount of time, like a newborn baby cooing, or sounds you may hear every day of your life, like traffic, crickets, airplanes. There is almost nothing better than hearing the crack of a bat as a home run is in hot pursuit. Sounds are as personal as a thought or whisper, but universal and public. What sounds I may enjoy will not be enjoyed the same by others; that is the most unique aspect of being who we are given our free agency. But how much better is my world when jazz is filtering through the air!

I used to live in a neighborhood that had a few Hispanic families. You could always tell when they were entertaining just by the sound their parties would contain. Mariachi music playing in the night air that lifted my spirits, reminded me to love what I am doing at all times. At times this was more of a nuisance than enjoyment. But now that I live in a neighborhood where you could hear a pin drop, I miss it. But it was another family in the neighborhood that made me embrace the sounds of my neighborhood. They had a child who was learning to play the trumpet. I would sit outside listening to the off-key notes of a novice musician, remembering trips to New Orleans where jazz filters every street within the French Quarter at night. The sound of a trumpet ringing out through the night air, smell of crape jasmine, people talking and laughing must be what Heaven will sound like.

Jazz is one of my favorite types of music to hear in a nightly breeze. Sometimes I will drive in my car, listening to Louis Armstrong or some other jazz musician from an era long gone by the hands of time, just to remember that feeling of New Orleans. It is not the same, and never can be matched to my memory, but must do while in Arizona. The lyrics are simple, the message is powerful. The shrill of the trumpet and the gruff of his singing voice puts me into heaven.

Louis is one of my favorite musicians. La Vie En Rose, What a Wonderful World, Give Me Your Kisses, Dream a Little Dream...the lyrics all speak volumes for the few actual words within the song. They speak of a different time; a time when hope was high, and you found that person you could depend upon to stay. How could you not smile when hearing the lyrics below...

Give me your kisses, I'll give you my heart

Give me your promise that we'll never part

I'll give you love and devotion

High as the sky above, deeper than the deepest ocean

Give me the right to call you all mine

And I'll be true till the ending of time

Give me your kisses, I'm willing to start

And I'll give you my heart

What a Wonderful World always reminds me of my son singing at his Kindergarten Mother's Day Tea - and me in full tears just listening to the sweet angelic voices of 5 and 6 yr. olds. Yes, they sang off key, but there was still jazz filtering through the air. And Tyler, knowing this is my favorite song, giving his Dandie grin I love so dearly.

If I ever am lucky enough to marry someday, I want to include something by Louis for my first dance. Not sure which song since I am only 1/2 of the decision making process in my metaphorical wedding. But to be held by the man I love, after declaring to the world I am in love and willing to stay with him for a lifetime, while hearing jazz sung by Louis in the background would make me the happiest bride of all.

It is sound that has shaped my world. Sound that allows me to relax. Sounds that remind me of when I was young as I grow older. Sounds of family or friends that allow me to feel at home. The voice of someone I love or a friend I haven't heard from reminds me to embrace life as it comes. Sound allow me to be who I am regardless of what others may think. And jazz filtering through the air never fails to help me remember to dream.