All About Jazz, Uniquely American Music 爵士樂，真的很美國

文/莫伊拉·E.麥克勞克林 譯/鄧夢寒

By Moira E.McLaughlin

Risky.Dangerous.Scary.A way to break the rules.

冒險。危險。可怕。打破常規。

[2]We’re not talking about failing to study for your final math test or disobeying your parents.We’re talking about a type of music called jazz.

[2]這些詞兒不是指不好好準備數學期末考試，也不是指不聽父母話，指的是一種音樂——爵士樂。

[3]Some people say that jazz is America’s only true art form.That’s because it began here, hundreds of years ago, in the fields where black people worked as slaves and made up songs to pass time,to express themselves and to keep alive the culture and traditions of their African homelands.It wasn’t called jazz then,but the way the slaves were playing and singing music was different and special.

[3]有人說，爵士樂是美國唯一擁有的真正的藝術。這是因為爵士樂起源于美國——幾百年前，黑奴在田間勞作時通過編歌來打發時間、表達自我，并以此維系非洲故鄉的文化傳統。當時這種音樂不叫爵士樂，不過奴隸們演奏和歌唱的方式與眾不同，十分特別。

[4]The music of America’s black people came to be called jazz in the South in the early 1900s; New Orleans,Louisiana, is often called the birthplace of jazz.Despite slavery’s having ended in 1865, African Americans still didn’t have the same rights as white Ameri-cans.But jazz was music that both black and white people could enjoy.By the 1920s, jazz was growing in popularity and included influences from Europe as well as Africa.

[4]20世紀初，這種黑人音樂在美國南部開始被稱作爵士樂。路易斯安那州的新奧爾良常被稱為爵士樂的誕生地。盡管奴隸制在1865年就已廢除，非裔美國人仍未享有和美國白人同樣的權利。但爵士樂是黑人和白人皆可欣賞的。到20世紀20年代，爵士樂越來越受歡迎，還吸收了來自歐洲和非洲的影響因素。

[5]Jazz has all the elements that other music has: It has melody; that’s the tune of the song, the part you’re most likely to remember.It has harmony, the notes that make the melody sound fuller.It has rhythm, which is the heartbeat of the song.But what sets jazz apart is this cool thing called improvisation.

[5]爵士樂包含其他音樂的所有元素：它有旋律，即曲調，這是最容易讓人記住的；有和聲，即使旋律更加飽滿的音符；有節奏，即歌曲的脈搏。但是，真正讓爵士樂酷炫且與眾不同的是即興創作。

[6]That means making it up on the spot.No music in front of you.No long discussion with your bandmates.You just play.“It’s more free.It’s more soulful,”says Geoffrey Gallante, 11, a sixthgrader at Stratford Landing Elementary School in Alexandria.Geoffrey is such a good musician that he has appeared at the Kennedy Center and has been on television lots of times; he has even played with the band on“The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.”

[6]也就是現場編曲。沒有現成的樂譜，也不能與樂隊伙伴長時間討論，而是直接表演。11歲的杰弗里·加倫特是亞歷山德里亞市斯特拉特福德·蘭丁小學的六年級學生，他說：“這種音樂更加自由，更有感情。”杰弗里是個很棒的音樂人，曾在肯尼迪藝術中心演出，并多次上電視。他甚至還和樂隊一起在《杰·雷諾今夜秀》上演出過。

[7]In jazz, Geoffrey says,“it’s easy to express your emotions.In classical, …you get the sheet music and you read it top to bottom.You’re more focused on technically making it perfect.… In jazz,your main focus is… being creative and using your imagination.”

[7]杰弗里說，爵士樂“很容易表達情感，而古典樂……得拿著樂譜從頭讀到尾。古典樂更關注如何在技術上達到完美……而爵士樂關注的主要是……如何具有創造力和運用想象力”。

What makes jazz unique

爵士樂獨特之所在

[8]It’s not that jazz songs don’t have recognizable melodies.They do, but that’s just a small part of it.In jazz, a melody begins a song, but then each musician will take turns improvising,playing all kinds of crazy notes: high,low, long, short, gravelly and clear.

[8]并不是爵士歌曲的旋律無法辨識。其中確有可辨識的，但只是一小部分。爵士歌曲以某一旋律開始，而之后每個音樂人輪流即興創作，奏出各種瘋狂的音符：或高或低，或長或短，或厚重或清亮。

[9]The performers who are not soloing are playing quietly in the background, or comping, short for accompanying.Then at the end of the song, the melody returns.Improvising is what makes a jazz song different every time you hear it, unlike any pop song you hear on the radio.

[9]沒有擔任獨奏的表演者在后面安靜地演奏，或者說就是伴奏。之后，歌曲結尾處，開頭的旋律重現。即興演奏讓你在聽同一首爵士歌曲時每次聽到的都不一樣，不像收音機里聽到的那些流行歌曲。

[10]Another thing that sets jazz apart is its approach to rhythm.Think of“The Star-Spangled Banner.”When you hear that song, it probably doesn’t make you want to tap your foot.There are no rhythmic surprises, or what is called syncopation, in most presentations of“The Star-Spangled Banner.”Jazz musicians, on the other hand,“swing”notes, which means they change the length of notes, holding some longer and making others shorter.

[10]爵士樂與眾不同的另一面在于它對節奏的處理。想想美國國歌《星條旗》。聽到這首歌的時候，你也許并不想用腳打拍子。這首歌的大部分節奏沒有什么強弱變化，或者說切分，但爵士音樂家卻可以“旋轉”音符，即改變音長，使其長短不一。

Jazz and D.C.

爵士樂和華盛頓特區

[11]Washington has an important place in jazz history.In 1920, the city had the largest population of black people in the country.That’s around the time that a very famous jazz piano player, Duke Ellington,was playing around town.

[11]華盛頓在爵士樂歷史上占有重要地位。1920年，該城擁有美國最多的黑人人口。大概正是那時，著名爵士鋼琴演奏家艾靈頓公爵正在華盛頓環城演出。

[12]Born in Washington in 1899, Ellington as a kid wanted to play baseball instead of the piano.But his parents played the piano, and so he started taking lessons when he was 7 or 8 years old.

[12]艾靈頓于1899年生于華盛頓，兒時想打棒球而不是彈鋼琴。但是他的父母彈鋼琴，因此他在七八歲的時候開始上鋼琴課。

[13]By 1920, he was playing small shows at the Howard Theatre, where black musicians played to mostly black audiences.When he was 24, he moved to New York, but he didn’t forget his home town.He called his band the Washingtonians and later he returned to perform at another famous Washington spot, the Lincoln Theatre.(Both the Lincoln Theatre and the Howard Theatre, where a statue of Ellington stands, still exist.)

[13]到1920年，他已在霍華德劇院舉辦了一些小型演出。黑人音樂家在該劇院演出，觀眾也主要是黑人。24歲時，他搬到了紐約，但并沒有忘記故鄉。他把自己的樂隊命名為“華盛頓人”，后來曾回到華盛頓，在著名的林肯劇院演出。（留存至今的林肯劇院和霍華德劇院都立有艾靈頓的雕像。）

Why is jazz cool?

爵士樂酷在哪兒？

[14]Geoffrey Gallante was 4 years old when he picked up the trumpet.Now he practices three hours a day,mostly classical pieces.But what he really loves playing is jazz.It’s the spontaneity of jazz—that means there’s no planning ahead of time—that he really loves.He can walk into a club that he has never visited, with guys he has never seen, and just play.

[14]杰弗里·加倫特四歲開始學小號。現在他每天練習三小時，主要是古典樂曲。但是他真正喜歡演奏的是爵士樂。爵士樂的自然即興意味著沒有提前準備，這正是他熱愛的。他可以走進一家從未去過的俱樂部，和一群素未謀面的人合作，就這么一起演出。

[15]“The [band leader]says, ‘What do you want to play, and what key?’ [I]can get up there and have a blast.With classical, you have to plan everything.You need to practice.… It’s a whole big production.With jazz, you just walk up and you say, ‘Hey, I want to do this.…Let’s go.’”

[15]“（樂隊指揮）說：‘你想演奏什么？哪個調？’（我）會站起來直接吹一聲。古典樂需要提前準備一切，還需要練習……它是一整個大作品。而爵士樂只需走上前說：‘嘿，我想演奏這個……來吧。’”

[16]Now that does sound scary—in a very cool way.

[16]這聽來確實可怕——酷斃了。