In addition to my regular workload and assignments this week, I also had a really unique history lesson. It was a small history lesson on jazz. I know what you might be thinking, what does jazz have to do with an NPR radio station? Well, the simple matter of the fact is that they are one in the same.
Well, for my station it is one in the same. My station, 90.5 WESA, in addition to streaming 24-hour news and NPR coverage also has a second radio stream called jazzworks, which plays jazz 24/7. Throughout my internship, I have on occasion listened to some of the songs and programs that have been played on jazzworks.
What really surprised me was that there are as many different types of jazz music as there different types of rock, country, rap, etc. I always assumed that jazz was just simple low-key and smooth that you would hear in a jazz club. While that certainly is a big part of it, Bob, the person in charge of running jazzworks, said that there are many more different sounds and types of jazz from around the world. There have been many different artists and writers who have sang and written pieces throughout the years that have gone on to become jazz standards.
Most people think of Etta James, Duke Ellington, or Louis Armstrong when they think of influential jazz players, but there is so many more. There are also different ways that jazz has changed forms and styles over the years in America, inspired by those who perform jazz around the world.
That brings me back to the history lesson. Bob wanted me to look up information and listen to a few songs about the bossa nova style of jazz, which was inspired by jazz musicians from Brazil and other parts of Latin America. Overall, while I have always liked the sound of jazz beforehand, this internship has made me have a new appreciation for it and realize just how important it is to music and popular culture.
Nicholas Vercilla's Portfolio 