9 Comments
Apr 27, 2023Liked by Paul Wells

I love your jazz columns. They take me to a world I don't really know. Caity Gyorgy (whom Autocorrect would prefer to call City George) sounds amazing and now I'll look out for her. Pity she's not coming to the Ottawa Jazz Festival.

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Paul (I STILL feel silly at that presumptuous familiarity!), I originally subscribed due to your stellar political reporting. You very clearly noted that you would not confine yourself to that topic and I was okay with that. Much more than okay!

I am a retired accountant who is functionally deaf without electronics in my ears so, really, I cannot get out to live performances due to the limitations of those electronics. However, however, with my headphones on I can appreciate music and I particularly enjoy jazz, particularly jazz vocals, so thank you.

I absolutely agree with Caity (see, I can be too familiar with others!) that the voice is an instrument and that scat singing is a particular way of exercising that instrument. The truth is, that I am totally in awe of how scat singers can manipulate their lips, vocal chords, all of it so quickly when I am such a slow speaker.

I don't understand jazz at all, I just know that I do like it. Appreciation is not understanding but it is wonderment.

I am reminded, when I think of music generally, of when I was still a practicing accountant and I had many, many visual artists as clients. I would honestly tell them that I simply had no training in art and I could not tell good art from bad art but I could absolutely say that some art called out to me and told me to simply stand there and look at it. It didn't matter to me if someone else called it good or bad if it impelled me to look; sometimes the images were repulsive but they made me look. Similarly, some music simply tells me that I want to sit and listen (with my headphones on, of course).

Now know Caity Gyorgy's name and I will try to follow her more.

As always, Sir, thank you, thank you.

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Thanks for this. I'm appreciating the variety of writing you send to inbox.

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Thank you for writing widely in your sub stack…I am learning about new folk

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Not sure if you will see this Paul -- but I saw Caity Gyorgy at the Prince Edward County Jazz Festival on Saturday (August 19). She was extraordinary, as was her band. Thanks so much for bringing her to our attention.

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Thanks, so much Canadian talent! Go Canucks Go ... Go Caity Gyorgy ... GCG

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Another great read. Thank you.

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I will definitely be checking into CG! Thank you!

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Jazz is in great hands! Wonderful voice and scatting! Thanks for introducing this wonderful talent to me!

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