Tom Vaguely: Music Analysis

In “What is Jazz Part 1”, I heard “Tom Vaguely”, “Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child”, “St. Louis Blues”, and “Picture This”. Listening to the first piece, “Tow Vaguely”, I saw a busy Monday morning in the city. People in suits and hats carried their business bags, passing each other by on the sidewalk. The brief bass solo in the middle of the piece gave me the image of cars crossing the streets along side the pedestrians. The short clip of the sorrow song, “I Feel like a Motherless Child”, was quiet and sad. The first part of “St. Louis Blues” that Mr. Billy Taylor introduced had more warmness and solitude than its second part. With Latin elements added in, the second part of the song had more excitement. It sounded younger and more lively. The next piece, “Picture This”, had jumping piano notes throughout. The piano part was elegant and carefree at the same time. It pleased me. From the notes, I felt the excitement and pleasure of exploring a beautiful place. Closing my eyes, I could see my friends and I walking along the beach in a cool summer afternoon. It reminded me of visiting Pier 39 in San Francisco with my family two years ago.
Steve Johns performed many drum rhythms. Among them, I liked the Cuban style rhythm and Calypso rhythm because they sounded more unpredictable and lovely to me. The following song, “Cute”, provided me a picture of a sunny weekend afternoon in a busy shopping district. People were talking to their friends, going in and out of stores, and watching street artists’ performances. Dozens of interesting events were happening all at once. Mr. Johns’ long drum solo amazed me. His drums had many tunes that changed from one to the other smoothly. The song still sounded full during his solo. Upon the first time hearing, I did not even realize the disappearing of the bass and the piano until a while into the drum