By Liz McBreen
Zeiger, a professional musician and music educator, retired from playing in American jazz clubs about seven years ago and has since been giving lectures at area libraries on the blues, jazz and classical music. When he is not educating the masses about his favorite musical medium, Zeiger travels to Mexico where he plays jazz and blues with other musicians.
The roots of the blues and jazz music began in the early 1900's in rural areas, explained Zeiger. It started with workers laboring in the fields of America, singing about their miseries. The earliest roots of the blues are known as Negro Spirituals. Originally, they reflected man's relationship with God, and later became more focused on man's life on earth. "The blues are about man's earthly needs and desires," said Zeiger.
Many of the most influential musicians who contributed to the jazz and blues movement had difficult lives, according to the musician. Robert Johnson had three different fathers throughout his childhood, and outlived two wives. He was poisoned at the young age of 26 by a bar owner. The man took revenge because he had seen Johnson flirting with his wife. But before his untimely death in 1938, Johnson recorded 29 songs.
As Zeiger discussed the major figures of the blues movement, he played pieces of some of their best known songs, often playing along on the piano, clarinet or saxophone.
Bessy Smith and Billie Holiday, two of the most famous female blues musicians, both had difficult childhoods, Smith eventually becoming an alcoholic due to her swift success, and Holiday overdosing on drugs. In spite of their hardships, both women had a strong impact on the blues. Years before the Civil Rights Movement, both of these African-American women had made a name for themselves in the music world, and both recorded with jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong.
Zeiger explained how, over the years, blues has found its way into several other types of music, including rock, country and gospel. It is also the foundation of jazz music, which began in the 1920s. One of the most important elements of this new kind of music was improvisation.
Jazz bands of the 20s and 30s immediately began incorporating improv into nearly all of their performances. Using the chords included in a particular song, musicians take turns improvising solos. Zeiger demonstrated this for his audience, using a song that was familiar for everyone. After playing the melody of 'Pennies from Heaven', Zeiger created a new melody using the same chords provided by the original tune. These solos always have a structure, stressed Zeiger, but no two are ever the same.
The blues eventually gave way to jazz music. The first kind was called New Orleans Jazz. When it began, the melodies were simple, and generally made up of three 'sentences'. The first two make a statement, and the last completes the story. This classic form of jazz eventually gave way to Swing during the Big Band era. Swing music was more complicated, but progressed in a more smooth manner than its predecessor, according to Zeiger.
Modern jazz was the next step in the progression. The newest addition to the jazz family is often noted for its complexity. "It deals with more chords, and it is more difficult to hear where the statements begin and end," said Zeiger. As he explained these different types of blues and jazz, Zeiger played along with excerpts of songs by some of the most famous blues musicians, including Smith, Holiday and Louis Armstrong.
Even though it has quite a reputation for being somber, Zeiger explained that "blues can be happy too." To prove this, he played pieces of Joe Williams and Ella Fitzgerald singing upbeat tunes.
Zeiger received his doctorate from Columbia University where he explored the similarities between classical and jazz music. He plays the tenor sax, alto sax, clarinet, flute and piano, and says he still practices every day.
He taught music in the Bethpage school system for 40 years, and then at Five Towns College in Dix Hills for about five. He was also the Education Editor of 'Metronome Jazz Magazine' in the fifties and sixties.
Several years ago, after he had retired from playing club dates in the states, Zeiger and his wife were on vacation in Mexico. They happened to visit a dinner club where a jazz band was playing, and the musician sat in with the others. Zeiger now visits on a regular basis. "I still sit in with different bands, just for fun." He has recently recorded a CD with some of the musicians he has met in Mexico.
A friend of Zeiger's attended the lecture. "It was easily accessible to someone who doesn't know anything about music," said Muriel Schwartzman. "I appreciated that he spoke in a way that I could understand, even though I do not have a musical background."
Zeiger said that the musicians that have influenced him the most include Ben Webster, Charlie Parker and Paul Desmond, and he explained why he enjoys jazz music so much, "It can express the feelings of the moment through improvisation. With classical music, you have to read every note, but happiness, sadness, any emotion can be expressed through jazz."
