By GLENN BURKINS/QCITYMETRO.COM
If you search online for the phrase “don’t like jazz,” you’ll come away with more than 55 million search results. Quiet as it’s kept, despite its uniquely American roots, jazz continues to confound a large segment of the American music audience.
Ziad Rabie, who for nearly five years has been the featured musician at the popular Jazz at the Bechtler series, knows this well. He has seen it firsthand, even among some of his friends and close associates.
His advice to those who have not caught the jazz bug or might be intimidated by the improvisational nature of the music: “I tell them to come out and try it, give it an honest experience and see what they come away with and whether they are interested in it going forward,” he says. “I think it’s a nice journey to go on.”
On Friday, Ziad and his jazz quartet and several other local artists will be on stage at Knight Theater when the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art throws a special birthday bash to celebrate the museum’s fifth anniversary. (The Bechtler opened on Jan. 2, 2010.)
Qcitymetro spoke with Ziad about the poplar jazz series (which sells out every first Friday in the museum’s lobby) and his personal mission to introduce jazz to a new audience. The Q&A below was edited for brevity and clarity.
Q. Why do you think the Jazz at the Bechtler series has been so popular?
It was presented in a concert format in an art environment, where all this wonderful modern art is on display. It was the perfect thing. I think the combination of the venue, the music and the musicians and the way things materialized brought that audience out. It drew them to the series and drew them to the music.
read more: http://wfae.org/post/ziad-rabie-talks-about-jazz-bechtler-and-music-he-loves
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