WYNTON: The second line parade and jazz were born around the turn of the 20th century right here in the Crescent City. Now at that time many different types of people lived together in neighborhoods. I’m talking about French people, Spanish, descendants of all types of Africans, Caribbean people. In other words, Americans. But the thing is, even those these people lived close to one another, you know what? They really didn’t like each other. Oh, they were fighting and arguing about everything. Then the streets?.. they didn’t have pavement and it was just dust and it rains a lot so you know it would be dirty.. They had a lot of horses. So you know what happens when you have horses, and dust and dirt. It’s nasty. So it was nasty and the people didn’t like each other. So you know what the music did? It gave them a chance to get closer together and you know why? Because even though they didn’t like each other, they loved the music. And when they heard that music, it let them know that we are ourselves. The music brought the community together. Now the first person to play jazz in New Orleans was a cornettist named Buddy Bolden. Let me hear you all say, Buddy Bolden.

CHILDREN: Buddy Bolden??

WYNTON: Buddy Bolden??

CHILDREN: Buddy Bolden??

WYNTON: Buddy Bolden! They say Buddy Bolden could play so loud that he could play way across the river in Algiers and people in New Orleans could hear his trumpet. How loud is that?

CHILDREN: Loud!

WYNTON: It’s loud. That’s right. But the thing that made him special is that he knew the thing that all these people who didn’t like each other had in common. You see, he was like a translator, translating languages. He translated human feelings and emotions into the language of music. He realized that people all got jealous, they all got happy, they all were hungry at certain times. They all felt full after they ate. He realized that they all had relatives they didn’t like and some that they did like. He realized that they got sick and he knew how to put this knowledge of what everyone had in common into music and the music he played with his band became known as Jazz music. And they showed everyone New Orleans Jazz was about people working together with feeling and style. Now this working together is called “Collective Improvisation”. So I want ya’ll to say again Buddy Bolden??

CHILDREN: Buddy Bolden

WYNTON: Now I want you to say collective improvisation

CHILDREN: Collective improvisation??

WYNTON: Collective Improvisation

CHILDREN: Collective improvisation??

WYNTON: Now that mind sound like two big words but it’s not really that intimidating. First of all what goes ‘collective’ mean? It means together. Together, right? ‘Improvisation’. What does that mean? I can’t hear you. Let me hear that?.What?

CHILDREN: Make it up??

WYNTON: Tell me that again. You got some cute glasses. That’s right. You make it up. So collective improvisation means you make it up together. Now an example of collective improvisation would be a conversation. For example, let’s see this conversation between Mr. Irving Mayfield and Mr. Vincent Gardner. They’re just going to speak to each other. We’ll see it. They’re making it up and it’s collective.

CHILDREN: Collective improvisation??

MR. MAYFIELD: Hey, Man. How are you doing?

MR. GARDNER: Pretty good, Mr. Mayfield. How are you this evening?

MR. MAYFIELD: I can’t complain.

MR. GARDNER: You having a good day today?

MR. MAYFIELD: Yeah, everything is going alright. It’s hot out there but you know??

MR. GARDNER: It’s too hot for you?

MR. MAYFIELD: No, it’s not too hot.

MR. GARDNER: Come down to my mama’s house and get some Kool-Aid.

MR. MAYFIELD: Oh yeah? She got the red kind?

MR. GARDNER: Red and green.

WYNTON: Okay. You heard them have a conversation right? They went back and forth.

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