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Karla Yazmin Teran Huerta

Professor Edmiston

ENGL 107 - 016

07 March 2017

Jazz Community

Jazz community is considered as a group of people that share values and beliefs

such as Jazz, music, instruments, and styles. Jazz is a broad conformation of different

instruments such as trumpet, piano, guitar bass, drums, saxophone, trombone, and guitar.

All these instruments combined to form a type of music that has been recognized around

the world as one of the best.

According to Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz the jazz community was born in

New Orleans about 100 years ago, but its roots can be found in the musical traditions of

both Africa and Europe (jazzinamerica.org). It is known that African dances and

drumming tradition are related with the origins of jazz.

The National Park Service explain that Jazz were largely nourished in the African-

American community but became a broader phenomenon that drew from many

communities and ethnic groups in New Orleans (nps.gov). It is interesting to see how two

communities are correlated to form one.

In the United States, Jazz is really the best music to represent America

(jazinamerica.org). Its spontaneous and planned performance make it the best music. It is

known that Jazz is conformed by improvisation in which the musicians can lead a song and

express emotions while doing it. Jazz is considered a language in which you can

communicate your thoughts and ideas. A language that is expressed just in the moment that

someone is playing it.

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Juan Carlos started playing trumpet when he was at Elementary School just to

comply with one of his classes. He decided to go for trumpet because he wanted to follow

the steps of his cousin, but little by little he started enjoying it more to the point of playing

trumpet as something that made him happy. He stated how many people go into sports and

they enjoy it, but he always felt pleased while playing trumpet.

Juan Carlos Salcedo was part of the Tucson Jazz Institute and he explained how this

institute is a very know community of Jazz in Arizona. He related how this institute was

established by two professional musicians; Scott Black and Doug Tidaback. Both

constructed a Jazz Institute where students can develop their knowledge of Jazz. He said

how significant it was for him to be part of this institute. He learned all the important

material to be a good trumpet player of Jazz.

Juan Carlos Salcedo Jazz showed us about how important Jazz is in the United

States. He explained that how he started playing trumpet since his 5th grade and how

playing this instrument played an important role in his life. Juan Carlos Salcedo started

playing trumpet as an amateur, and then he went to an audition at the Tucson Jazz Institute

to play trumpet in a more professional way. He played trumpet in the top band of the

Tucson Jazz Institute known as the Ellington Band.

When he was part of the Tucson Jazz Institute he had the opportunity to play at the

Essential Ellington competition winning the 1st place. Also, he traveled to Europe to play

with his band in concerts. He explained how Jazz is so important in the life of many people,

how he can express emotions by playing trumpet, and how good it feels to play an

instrument.

Juan Carlos Salcedo stated how being part of a Jazz community is not just a joke, it

needs time, responsibility and courage. He explained how long it take him to learn all the
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songs for a concert and how he never looked at his music notes while he was playing

trumpet. It is necessary to understand that being part of a band, in this case of a Jazz

community is a hard work that not everyone can do it, if it is not a passion.

Juan Carlos Salcedo was part of The Pride of Arizona marching band in his

sophomore year at The University of Arizona. It was a hard work to get into the band

(Salcedo) he said. He explained how many musicians that are part of the university were

interested to be part of this band, and how difficult it was to get accepted. He expended

hours studying the songs that the play to be ready for the auditions. He explained how

beautiful it feels to play trumpet with this huge band, and how there were many people

watching them. It was a hard work to be part of the band, but it is always a pleasure to do

what you love and to hear the music in your ears (Salcedo) he said.

Jazz has been a shocking music genre throughout the years, prevailing for more that

hundreds of years. It is in the life of many Americans, kids playing it at school,

professionals at concerts, and people playing Jazz as a hobby.

It is also important to highlight that a Jazz community is part of a community of

musicians that is formed by people from all over the world, some of them have different

musical tastes, but all of them play music as a way of communication.

Nowadays Juan Carlos is no more part of the Tucson Jazz Institute or a Jazz band,

he explained that he loves to play trumpet and jazz with it, but he wanted to go into the

Eller College of Management. It is part of my life, and I will never stop playing jazz even

if I play it as a hobby (Salcedo). He is proud of what he did while he was part of the

community and he loves jazz.

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Works Cited

"Jazz Origins in New Orleans." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior,

www.nps.gov/jazz/learn/historyculture/history_early.htm. Accessed 05 Mar 2017.

Salcedo, Juan Carlos. Personal interview. 01 Mar 2017.

"What is Jazz?" Jazz in America. The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz,

www.jazzinamerica.org/LessonPlan/5/1/249. Accessed 05 Mar 2017.