Welcome back to the long-awaited fourth installment to The Record Room series! “Long-awaited” as in I, myself, have been eager to get back into the series. However, I’m still unsure of my reader demographic, so I can’t entirely confirm that it’s been long-awaited for anyone besides my parents, editors, and maybe my boyfriend.
Nevertheless, for this month’s issue, I decided to take a break from using this series to air out my own flagrant musical opinions (to which I’m only semi-entitled) and instead reach out to someone more involved in KO’s musical community to gather their thoughts and judgments. With the interviewing skills that I picked up in sophomore year journalism class but haven’t had the opportunity to use since, I looked to junior Jaedan Curcio for another, more-qualified musical opinion for this month’s issue of The Record Room.
Beginning his extensive music career in the fourth grade, Jaedan has earned his place in both KO’s concert band and jazz ensemble since his freshman year. Eventually, after exploring jazz music with some friends in KO’s jazz combo band, Jaedan was inspired to join jazz combo himself.
“They sent me some music that really sparked my love for performing and listening to jazz and music in general,” he said. This passion for jazz and for music in general has led Jaedan to pursue a minor in music performance at the collegiate level, and he has expressed his interest in continuing to perform at functions outside of school. Today, Jaedan performs alongside fellow jazz combo members in a band that can be frequently seen and heard playing gigs for KO’s various gatherings for parents and alumni.
Additionally, Jaedan presently sits at the head of the new Kingswood Oxford Music Appreciation Club, which he dubs “KOMAC” for short. Jaedan describes KOMAC as an extension of the previous Jam Band club that had seen fewer meetings due to the pandemic. In an effort to maintain this musical environment while also being COVID-19 safe, Jaedan formed KOMAC, upholding his goal to promote casual listening of music that club-goers can enjoy, while also bringing people together in the process. “Even though there hasn’t been a massive turnout, it’s been a great time for everyone involved, and it’s something I look forward to every Tuesday,” Jaedan said.
While this promotion of casual listening and socializing certainly draws club-goers in, the main appeal of KOMAC has to be Jaedan’s choice of music. And here’s where my job comes in. Jaedan describes his own music taste as somewhat sporadic and indescribable. “It’s really anything from 70’s rock, to funk and soul music, to indie pop, to jazz, to R&B,” he said. Based on Jaedan’s musical journey and fixation on jazz music, it came as no surprise that he mentioned songs like “Red Clay” by Freddie Hubbard, “Meditation” by Cory Wong, and “Straphangin” by the Brecker Brothers when I asked him what he’d been listening to recently. While I will admit that I hadn’t previously heard of any of the songs he listed, this only supports the uniqueness and depth of Jaedan’s music taste that compelled me to write this article in the first place.
As someone who is so involved in music, Jaedan has curated his own opinions on the power of music and its effect on everyone from individuals to societies. Reflecting on his personal experiences with music, he shared some insight as to the role that listening to, performing, and creating music has in his life. “As with any hobby, sometimes music can feel like a chore, especially with practice, but when you’re out there performing or playing with a band, it’s the best feeling in the world,” Jaedan said.
When I asked him about what he thinks is the effect of music on our society, Jaedan gave a similarly passionate response. “Music is such a powerful cultural tool and I feel like it has the power to bring people together in a way that nothing else can,” he said. Recounting a video he had seen in which an English-speaking band traveled to Mongolia to perform music with the Mongolian citizens, Jaedan commented on the universality and connective nature of music. “Despite the fact that they had no way to communicate properly language-wise, they were able to play well together just off of the fact that they understood music, and it connected them,” Jaedan said.
Moving in a less introspective direction, I asked Jaedan a question that I would love to ask just about everybody: What is a hot take or controversial opinion that you have about a certain song/artist/genre? His response was blunt and direct, almost as if he’d been waiting to share it – exactly the type of controversial music opinions I live for.
“Modern country music is incredibly generic and soulless,” Jaedan said. Mentioning artists like Keith Urban and Blake Shelton, he remarked, that “[Country music] is made for the sole purpose of getting money, even more so than pop music, which we would typically associate with that.” While I’m sure this opinion might ruffle some feathers, and I don’t listen to enough country music to really form my own opinion on the matter, takes like these are incredibly interesting to hear, especially from someone with such a broad taste in music.
With that, my interview came to a close and so, too, will this issue of The Record Room. If you’d like to hear more from Jaedan, you can find him during any given weekly KOMAC meeting. which takes place in CT-107 from 12:00-12:45 p.m. on Tuesdays. However, it wouldn’t be a true addition to this column if I didn’t mention myself, too. So, if you’d like to suggest topics for future articles, shoot me an email. This has been The Record Room, and I’ll see you all next month.
