hoops and jazz

I like most sports, and growing up I was a huge fan of all the Cleveland sports teams, including my favorite, the indoor soccer team the Cleveland Force.  I’ve watched live the majority of the Cleveland sports “disasters,” conveniently rubbed in when  the Cavaliers were recently ousted from the NBA Playoffs.  This year’s loss in the Eastern Conference Championship is now the most recent on that list of failures, and yet another reason it is so hard to keep the faith in Cleveland professional sports.     

I don’t know if it is cyncism about our current Steroid Generation of baseball, or the ongoing futility of the Browns, but the only pro sport that I really follow any longer is basketball, and in particular the Cavs. 

I got to thinking about the game of basketball itself, and how it is more organic than baseball or football.  Basketball and soccer are in my mind more graceful and flowing (more so the latter) than any other sport.   I’ve always tried to convince my non-sports fan music friends that basketball is the “jazz quintet” of the sports world, and that many parallels exist between the musical art form and the sport.  I am not alone either.  Recently the New York Times ran a small video feature with Wynton Marsalis explaining the connection between jazz and basketball.  Years back Basketball Hall of Fame member Kareem Abdul Jabbar did a TV piece on the similarities between jazz and the sport, and even appeared in a documentary about famed jazz label Blue Note records.  Larry Blumenfeld, writing for the Times-Picayune, also notes the connections.

Marsalis points out that both jazz and basketball feature a give and take between the members of the group, and that the success of the whole often depends on the players acknowledging and carrying out their roles, even if it means deferring the glory or limelight.  Great jazz albums don’t get made without a solid, capable rhythm section of upright bass and drums.  These instruments lay the musical foundation upon which the soloist or vocalist improvises.  Many times these musicians play every beat of every bar of music for the entire album, sometimes never getting the chance for a improvised solo feature.  In basketball, LeBron James might have a hard time driving the lane and throwing down a windmill dunk were it not for the power forward teammate who set a hard pick at the top of the key seconds earlier.  These same players are the ones sacrificing their bodies on defense as they try to stop oncoming opponents, or battle other 7-footers for a loose rebound. 

Marsalis also notes that both jazz and hoops often begin with a standard form and deviate from there, as players are free to get creative with the standard song and chord progressions in the case of jazz, or in the case of basketball the play called out by the coach.  In each case the players are reacting to the actions of their band mates or teammates, and working as a group to create something new out of the established form.  Rhythm also dominates both areas.  Obviously jazz music would not be worth listening to if the musicians didn’t play with a compelling and driving rhythm; it’s what gives the music its flavor and uniqueness.  B-ball players also have their own rhythm that they try to follow during the game.  Jump shooters talk about timing and rhythm in regards to their shot, and when it is inconsistent they relate that they were “out of rhythm.”  Whether its a team running a half court set offense, or LBJ slicing through the defense to the top of the rim, they all play with a cadence that is unique to each player or team; much like each small jazz combo has its own unique sound and feel.

I don’t know if many other jazz musicians think about basketball and jazz along the same lines as I do, but on this Monday morning it is all I could do to not be depressed that the Cavs are on summer vacation early, and that the best basketball player in the world will not be in the NBA finals for the second year in a row.