Let's start!

So for my first post I suppose I had better try and rationalise the purpose of this blog. As mentioned in my profile I want to have a more structured appreciation of jazz, blues and world music, and hopefully the layout of this blog will help me to do that. I will link to many outside sources regarding musician bios and albums. I will include information I have gathered regarding music that I will make an effort to listen to. I will not rate the albums in a numerical way as I don't believe I have the qualification to so that. I will let the many intracacies of the English language do that for me. As I also mentioned I will try and include my experiences at the numerous jazz bars and clubs in and around Seoul and try to get a perspective of the scene here.

So to begin with here is what I know about jazz in a nutshell. Primarily an American art form that developed from the beginning of the 20th century. I associate this time with Dixie jazz bands and straightforward jazz standards. Think "When the saints go marching in". Following the migration of workers from the south to the larger northern cities like Chicago we then witness the rise of the likes of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. The outbreak of war sees the rise of the big bands and the introduction of bop. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie being the biggest exponents. The 50's sees the classic albums of A Kind Of Blue and Blue Train from Miles Davis and John Coltrane respectively. The 60's and 70's see the form take a more avant garde form - Charles Mingus and John McLauglin. I associate the 80's with a very polished form of jazz - George Benson.

So there it is. Pretty woeful and probably wrong in a lot of places.