In class recently, my students and I dove into the “Roaring 20s” and concentrated on all that Jazz. Hail to Billie and Ella and the Duke! What fun to introduce students to the Cotton Club, Bessie Smith, and Louis Armstrong. Each year, I am shocked most students are unfamiliar with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. At first this saddens me, like a few years back when a freshman of mine did not know who George Harrison was. Really? An hour ago, I heard the Donny Iris “classic”, “Ah, Leah” for the hundredth time.

I still think it’s a great pop song and wish my name were Leah instead of Cindy. The point is, I have to remember that I don’t know or appreciate much of the music my students listen to today. Why should they care about Jazz or my favorite pop songs? The singers of today will become sentimental heroes…