2011年11月，联合国教科文组织大会宣布每年的4月30日为「国际爵士乐日」，以此增进国际社会对爵士乐的认识，让各地民众了解其重大价值。爵士乐更获教科文组织誉为「推广和平、团结以及增强各国人民对话与合作的一股力量」。
今年我们继续向你们征集爱爵士的理由：
ALL THAT JAZZ——且看大家的精彩分享吧！
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Benjamin Sand
美国大使馆公共事务处
......Herbie Hancock抓住我的胳膊，对我说了几句话，我永远都不会忘记。"嘿！这可能是你做过的最具爵士乐精神的事情。我的意思是，你并不晓得你的主持词，但你没有恐慌。你算是即兴创作，跟上节拍，让节奏继续。真不赖！"
是的，我自认为因为这个突发情况差点丢掉了工作。但是，Herbie Hancock的称赞对于我来讲，是无价的。
...And that’s when Herbie Hancock grabbed my arm and I will never as long as I live forget what he said to me. “Man,” he whispered. “That was probably the jazziest thing you will ever do. I mean, you didn’t know your line but you didn’t panic. You improvised. You stuck the beat and kept the rhythm going. Nice work!”
Yes, I figure I almost lost my job. But having Herbie Hancock compliment my timing? Totally priceless.
（正文）
I think the closest I have ever come to getting fired from my job as a U.S. diplomat was probably during the very first International Jazz Day, which was organized by UNESCO back in 2012.
This is what happened: At the time, I was still a junior diplomat working at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs, which included our offices at UNESCO. And honestly, I don’t know why, but for some reason I was asked to fly to Paris to help with the inaugural Jazz Day festivities. When I got there, mostly I worked directly with our Ambassador to UNESCO, helping him draft his remarks and plan the program. But the biggest job was actually night of the main inaugural concert. I remember immediately after the show we had some big VVIP reception to thank the donors and supporters and musicians and everyone who had helped make it possible. It was going to be shown on TV and beamed to other Jazz Day concerts around the globe. It was, as they say, a super big deal.
The plan, as I remember it, was I had to stand up in front of the huge crowd and get everyone’s attention. And then I was supposed to introduce Herbie Hancock, who would deliver a short speech and then give me back the microphone. And then I was supposed to introduce the U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO, who would deliver a short speech. And, now, this is super important: he was supposed to keep the microphone and introduce Irina Bukova, the president of UNESCO, who would take the stage to deliver the closing remarks. And I knew this was the plan because I helped write our ambassador’s remarks, and in those remarks…he introduces the UNESCO president.
Anyway, everything was fine at first. Even though I was super nervous speaking to such a big crowd, I got on stage and introduced Herbie. Who is like the coolest man on earth and he gave amazing remarks and then gave me the microphone when he was done.
And then I introduced the U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO, who delivered his (really well-written) speech. But this is where it went south. Remember, he was supposed to hold that mike and introduce UNESCO’s president. But he didn’t introduce her. When he got to that part of his remarks he kind of shrugged and then just stopped talking and sort of tossed the microphone back to me. And then the entire audience. Hundreds of people. Hundreds of VVIPs. Everyone turned to me and waited for me to introduce the evening’s keynote speaker. The president of UNESCO. The woman who helped design and launch the very first International Jazz Day. But as I gripped the microphone, and looked into the audience and stared at the TV camera I realized a very important thing.
I had absolutely no idea what her name was. Couldn’t remember. Maybe never even knew. I didn’t have it written down. Don’t recall ever having seen it. And It must have been really obvious to everyone because I do remember looking over at Herbie and he kind of raised one eye brow and shook his head as if to say, “this is your mess Ben…start cleaning!”
So what are you going to do? I took a deep breath. Gave everyone my biggest smile, and kind of half whispered half coughed out,“ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to introduce tonight a woman who genuinely needs no introduction here. The president. Of. UNESCO?”
And as soon as people started clapping I just pushed the microphone into her open hand and stumbled off stage. And that’s when Herbie Hancock grabbed my arm and I will never as long as I live forget what he said to me. “Man,” he whispered. “That was probably the jazziest thing you will ever do. I mean, you didn’t know your line but you didn’t panic. You improvised. You stuck the beat and kept the rhythm going. Nice work!”
Yes, I figure I almost lost my job. But having Herbie Hancock compliment my timing? Totally priceless.
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Cecilia
意大利驻华大使馆文化处
项目负责人
我喜欢和别人聊音乐，常主观地认为：一个人喜欢什么类型的音乐，会反映一个人的基本个性。所以问我爱Jazz的理由：就是天生骨子里的节奏感找到了可舒服匹配的音乐，恰巧是Jazz～
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Chris Boobier博一夫
英国驻华大使馆
志奋领奖学金项目主管
感受有时候是说不出来的，说话不是唯一的沟通方式，音乐可以当做一种沟通的媒介。爵士乐便是其中的一种！
Sometimes words are hard to find. Talking isn't the only way to show people how you feel. Music can be a medium. Jazz can be a frontier.
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Shanna Surendra
美国大使馆公共事务处
作为一个年轻人，演奏乐器帮助我培养了自信，领导技能，团队合作能力以及培养技能所需的韧劲。我开始为任何愿意听的人演奏萨克斯。
Playing an instrument as a young adult helped me develop confidence, leadership skills, team work, and the tenacity required to cultivate a skill. I started off playing my saxophone for anyone who would listen.
（正文）
When I was 10 years old, I begged my parents to buy me a saxophone. As a child of the 80s, there was no instrument that better defined “cool”. My parents were hesitant – the saxophone was the most expensive instrument on the list of options our music teacher had sent home – but finally they relented. Alas, my mother had played saxophone when she was young; maybe this was finally a sign I would follow in her footsteps.
I spent the next decade learning about music – how to read it, how to appreciate it, how to understand its long traditions. And for a saxophone player, jazz was key.I discovered favorite musicians and favorite styles, and I practiced and practiced.
Studying jazz and music in general was formative for me. Playing an instrument as a young adult helped me develop confidence, leadership skills, team work, and the tenacity required to cultivate a skill.
I started off playing my saxophone for anyone who would listen – from my patient parents to the long-suffering horses on the farm next door. But because I practiced, I got better, and eventually I played for fellow saxophonist Bill Clinton when he toured Michigan during his second bid for the U.S. presidency in the mid-1990s.
As a young woman in the early 2000s, I finally sold my saxophone to help fund my first trip to India where I found love and new wonders. But that is another story, for another time…
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J. Jerzy Malicki
波兰驻华大使馆
文化处执行主任
我非常喜欢听爵士乐，在忙完一天工作之后，听着爵士乐，会感到无比放松。它还拥有让人内心回归平静的神奇魔力。想象一下，戴上耳机，聆听《My Favorite Things》，亦或像Komeda、Stanko 这些波兰爵士大师的音乐，那种感觉无与伦比……
I love listening jazz because it has the amazing quality to reset my mind and bring back harmony after a long day’s work. Imagine putting on your favorite headphones to the sound of My Favorite Things or the works of famous Polish jazz musicians like Komeda or Stanko. There’s nothing else like it…
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静姝
法国驻华大使馆文化处
音乐项目官员
爵士就像身边的朋友，各种各样的性格都有，但不妨碍大家一起度过一段开心的时光。
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Marcelo Azevedo
巴西驻华大使文化产业处
主管一等秘书
大概6个月前我抵达北京，我惊讶地发现这里的餐厅、咖啡馆、酒店，大街小巷都播放着巴西爵士乐巴萨诺瓦（Bossa Nova）。令我同样惊讶的是，人们大都不知道这种乐曲其实是巴西土生土长的音乐，因为受到日本歌手小野丽莎的影响，有的人甚至以为巴萨诺瓦是日本音乐。在我看来，无论中国人对巴萨诺瓦及其起源了解多少，他们都能像我们巴西人一样，感受到这种音乐独特的风格：即兴、轻松、惬意，像拂过海面的微风。这么多年过去了，爵士乐仍然深深地吸引着大众。让我们一同庆祝国际爵士乐日！
When I arrived in Beijing, about six months ago, I was surprised by how often one can listen to Bossa Nova -the Brazilian-style jazz - at restaurants, cafés, hotels all over town. Later I was however equally surprised to realize that many people are not aware that Bossa Nova is quintessentially Brazilian – some even think it’s Japanese music because the Brazilian-Japanese singer Lisa Ono is so popular in China. I think that Chinese people, regardless of how much they know about Bossa Nova and its origins, can feel as much as Brazilians the qualities of its unique style: original, cool, relaxing, like a soft breeze at sea. After all the years, jazz never lost its power to bring people together. So let’s celebrate another international jazz day!
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钟秋
轻松调频主持人
英语里有个很特别的说法：
当你觉得沉闷、无聊，你可以jazz it up. 让事物变得更活泼有趣，引人入胜。
当你列举一堆无聊之事，又可以加一句"all that jazz" 增加一点轻松幽默。
Jazz，不就是枯燥生活的调节剂嘛！爱之有理。
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许志强
北京SKP商场RDV空间
书店主理人
爵士让你的灵魂变得自由。
更多答案来自
Blue Note Beijing官方微信读者留言
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奥巴浩：有人说爵士乐是最纯粹的音乐 忘记了是那里看到的言论 也许是自己对音乐理解的肤浅和不透彻 自视可以这么理解 也许她适合自己
她不同于其他形式的音乐 须正襟危坐在殿堂抑或嘈杂喧闹的环境享受 她就象轿车中的"高尔夫"适合任何人任何场合 也许是她的起源的关系 显得那么平和 朴实
你可以在情绪高涨的时候跟着她的节奏忘乎所以 摇头摆尾 也可以在低落的时候与她一起缠绵 哀怨
一羽：爵士是一种生活方式，是伴着咖啡的午后慵懒阳光，是午夜独酌的迷人玫瑰。爵士是一种生活态度，隔绝嘈杂喧嚣，是只属于自我的桃花源。过去说爵士巴黎，爵士新奥尔良，现在终于可以说爵士北京了，因为我们有blue note！ALL THAT JAZZ！LET's JAZZ！
追风筝：第一次懵懵懂懂的被爵士乐打动那首All The Things You Are 被Ella和big band征服 我知道一生将陷入这种美妙 那一刻用All The Things You Are形容再合适不过
Viki：想起我从何时听起jazz，似乎是我还很小的时候，我阿嬤的留声机带给我的音乐启蒙吧，这一听也就20多年了，还想起了我那几百张黑胶碟和打口CD
岁月从不优待任何人，可曾想过jazz陪伴在我身边已数十载光阴，这些都是我的财富呀
七喜：去年 我18岁 高考完的暑假去美国纽约参加了一个爵士乐夏令营 看了好多演出 彻底爱上爵士乐 虽然现在身边的同学喜欢爵士的很少 一般会觉得很难 不好听 听不懂 但也阻止不了我的热爱 每天很费脑的即兴练习很崩溃 但是晚上躺在床上一听爵士乐还是会有想现在拿起琴的冲动Cecilia Wang：碰到爵士乐是我的幸运。小时候能续命是因为父母无条件的爱。当下能继续续命，醒着的时候，随时陪伴在身边并能化解情绪的爵士乐占了生命的很大一部分。不知道是喜还是忧。Wandy萬：爵士为我打开了另一扇门 让我欣赏音乐的水平提升了 同时也让我更了解了自己真正喜欢的是什么样的音乐ж：15左右第一次听到Coltrane的音乐，彻底改变了我对爵士的所有看法，《a love supreme》纠正了之前对爵士的所有认识！爵士乐的内容是所有音乐形式中最为丰富的，从黑人酒吧的随意创作开始，到菲茨杰拉德笔下的那个疯狂的时代，一直到大乐队、波普、酷爵士，演绎了一代代音乐家对世界以及人生的思考，这些内容是无法用其他方式表达的，也是我从来没有真正理解的…超：小时候很喜欢听某一类音乐和节奏，当时也不知道分类啥的，只知道一听到这个节奏，整个人就像触电一样。后来高中的时候开始看村上春树，不知道为啥又很喜欢他的小说。他的作品里面经常提到爵士乐，于是有天就去找了提到的一些曲目来听，然后就听到了那些熟悉节奏，内心恍然大悟:原来这个就是爵士乐！
看来冥冥之中一些人还是注定会被某些事吸引到一起的。后来就立志要开一家爵士乐酒吧，但是现在走进学术的不归路，希望有天能自己亲自演奏一曲jazz吧~哪怕老了也无所谓~
R：我喜欢看花样滑冰很多选手会选择摇摆乐时期的标准曲，例如Sing sing sing这种，所以一直都习惯swing的节奏。
但是真正入坑是彭程金杨在拆对重组之后令人惊艳的短节目《My drag》，来自美国乐队squirrel nut zippers，后者后来也成为了我最喜欢的乐队。摇摆乐复兴时期的swing，是用摇摆复古的音乐风格阐释了朋克的内核，特别有趣。
后来我就组了一个乐队复现了my drag（我是小提琴），再后来就喜欢上了Gypsy Jazz。总之现在还想找队友一起玩Gypsy jazz如果恰好能在留言板遇到同好就最好了呀 爱bluenote！
吕超：有待老师，京城大名鼎鼎的张有待。绝对的爵士乐及各种先锋音乐的推广者。温和而有力量的声音，带给我们无穷的希望与向往。I love music
I love jazz
c瑞：在Jazz的世界里，没有排他、没有孤立，正如它能让各种不可能的音符共融。你说它不当紅？so what？kind of BLUE！它绝(爵)是(士)世界上最好的音乐！摇摇旗：记得高二的一个周六 父亲开车接我回家的路上 偶然听到一个电台的音乐 从此爱上爵士 那个电台在每周周六周日下午五点到六点播放爵士音乐 从那时起到高三毕业 每周六上车的第一件事就是调到那个电台 一个小时的音乐从开始到结束的时间正好是跨越大半个城市从学校回到家中的时间
现在已经大二了 网易云音乐每日推荐和歌单中百分之八十都是爵士 Dream a little dream是我接触到的第一首 也是到现在为止最爱之一
听爵士 已成为一种生活习惯
：最初入门爵士吸引喜爱天文的我的是：Sinatra版本的“Fly Me To The Moon“，这首歌让我第一次感受到爵士那放松自我，随心而动的感觉。
这种感觉既是歌词中“let me play among the stars 在群星环抱中起舞”的天马行空，也是《绿皮书》最后Shirley抛弃自我约束，在小酒馆里不同以往的配合起了爵士乐队的弹奏乐曲的“真正的自我”。
Lobster：初中时认识了方大同和他《timeless》，高中时是坂本龙一和他的《thousands of knives》，到了大学是彭飞的《第三个月》和这半年知道的bill evans和其他爵士大师，爵士听的不算很多也不是很明白，但逐渐变成每天的必做的事情，渐渐的开始去了解爵士的历史，买爵士的书籍，听爵士的现场，争取以后做一个爵士达人吧朴大：感觉爵士乐是我唯一能够坚持下去的东西吧Sylvia Xu：记得高中在北京艺考培训的时候，带我的老师就是个爵士迷，每天晚上可以说是我们俩最放松的时候，我画画他放爵士我们一起听。当时不知道那是爵士，只觉旋律很独特很微妙，能让心静下来…… 几年后不知什么时候迷恋上了爵士，才突然想起来原来曾经就与他相遇过。 喜欢听Miles Davis的作品，当灵感匮乏的时候总能让我沉静下来，或许能感受到乐手的情绪起伏，就像温柔的海浪，伴着夕阳和旋律一起浸在夜晚的怀抱中……楊洪伟：古老而又传统的爵士乐。带给你创作的灵感。各种乐器的可变性，给您无限的享受及乐趣！水蛭小姐.：爵士乐在我看来是生活中的必须品，可我生活在云南，身边很少人听爵士乐，在云南也没有爵士现场
。每天早上醒来打开虾米或是听黑胶唱片是我日常习惯，有时间就会到上海或是北京看爵士现场演出，这是我目前生活唯一的爱好“出差听爵士”。爵士就应该听现场，真希望哪一天我生活的地方也有爵士的存在送你一颗子弹：我爵士乐的起源好像更多来自于电影，比如爱乐之城，银翼杀手或者是星际牛仔。感谢爵士乐，让我的生活充满乐趣。高雪峰：#All that Jazz# 爱他即兴，爱他自由，爱他变幻莫测，爱他富有韵味，爱他诉人思绪，爱他感人所感。
同一段曲子，可以有几百几千甚至更多种不同的演绎，不同的乐手，不同的思想，通过丰富的乐理知识和乐手本身的天赋展现千差万别的乐曲版本。
而每一次的即兴表演，又是每一次再创造的过程。乐手把握自己手中器乐表达自己、展示自己，他们在比赛、竞争，也在配合、交流。音乐碰撞着、交织着，又互相成就、互相融合，直至完成作品。
so，怎能不为他着迷，怎能不沉醉其中！
狼族：以前一直是断断续续听爵士，后来有次玩了一个游戏，黑色洛城，开头的蓝调爵士彻底吸引了我，从此一发不可收拾。：在一个晚上FM96.8音乐调频听到Ray charles的《Grorgia On My Mind》之后对Jazz和R&B的喜爱就一发不可收拾HONGFU：爵士乐是走入人心的音乐，有灵魂，随时间流动，与记忆同在！Clare：第一次听到buddy guy的《what kind of woman is that？》就爱上Jazz，从此之后就开始寻找各种匹配我不同心情和状态的Jazz，早起挤地铁的路上，周末一人high，洗澡专用区，快走必点循环等等，这些Jazz都陪伴我不同的时刻。
诸葛钢铁 ：jazz有一种魔力，可以让人暂时从燥热的现实生活中抽离出来，只是流转在灯光与酒杯中
Dr. Marvelous：听了半年多爵士乐，返回头再听以前收藏的香港流行乐，发现里面有很多爵士元素，才知道那些港乐好听的原因所在。
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