Learning From Jazz

Duke Ellington

I love change and variety. As a matter of fact, I NEED change and variety. If life becomes too stagnant I don’t do well. So (as I explained a couple of weeks ago) this semester I decided to take a class in something I love, but don’t know a whole lot about—jazz. I’m enjoying it very much and learning a lot which I expected. What I didn’t expect was how much it would teach me about Living in Truth.

Jazz grew out of the Blues and the Blues was music invented by Afro-Americans to help them cope with the degrading lives segregation had forced upon them. The words of Blues music are depressing and express all the unfair and terrible things that were going on. But the music is happy and encouraging. It is as if they were juxtaposing the worst of the world with the best of the world in order to instill and maintain hope. Music was a Truth Tool for them.

But there is more. This week I came across a quote from the great Duke Ellington, one of the finest jazz pianists of all time. An interviewer asked how he felt about the fact that the hotels his band played in wouldn’t let him rent a room to stay for the night. He answered, “I take the energy it would take to pout and use it to write Blues music.”

That sums up what Living in Truth is all about. Instead of pouting or vexing about all that is bad in our lives, we can spend our energy and center our thoughts on the positive and good. That’s happiness! That’s Living in Truth!