Keeping the Beat
Drummer discusses the importance of jazz
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| Kid Reporter Grace Choi gets a feel for life behind the drums with jazz musician Mel Brown in Portland, Oregon, January 2007. (Photo: Courtesy Grace Choi) |
Jazz musician Mel Brown talked to Scholastic News recently about the importance of jazz to Black History and the African-American community.
The Portland, Oregon, drummer began his career in music playing the cornet. That gave him headaches, he said, so he tried the clarinet. That was too squeaky, so his grandfather suggested the piano.
“I started playing the drums because my sister played the piano better than I did,” Brown said.
As a young man he held a job as a paperboy. To get the papers ready for delivery, he had to roll them up into tubes. He would pretend the rolls of newspaper were drumsticks, banging them on the sidewalk to beat out a tune.
“During summer months I’d practice from 8 in the morning until 3 o’clock the next morning,” Brown said.
Jazz is an important part of African-American history. It is considered America’s greatest contribution to music. The art form was born in the south out of the sounds and emotions of slavery. It incorporates the tribal drums of Africa with the gospel and blues.
The history jazz is a history of black music and black musicians. Jazz made it possible for African-Americans to succeed in a career at a time when there were very few opportunities. Brown says studying black history will include a study of jazz and hundreds of successful role models.
“Black History Month should be a time when you think back at the people who made a difference in U.S history,” Brown said. “It’s important for little kids to know where they come from.”
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Grace Choi is a member of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps.
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