VOA常速英语2014--Pioneering Asian-American Jazzman Recalls Musical Journey 亚裔美国爵士先驱音乐回忆录

Pioneering Asian-American Jazzman Recalls Musical Journey 亚裔美国爵士先驱音乐回忆录

HONOLULU, HAWAII — Gabe Baltazar is one of the few Asian Americans to achieve worldwide acclaim 1 as a jazz artist.  The versatile 2 musician played saxophone and clarinet with some of the biggest names in jazz. 

火炉鲁鲁，夏威夷州-加布 巴尔塔扎尔是一名为数不多、世界公认的爵士艺术家。这多才多艺的音乐家使用萨克斯管和单簧管演奏出著名的爵士音乐。

But, in 1969, at the height of his career, Baltazar decided 3 to move back home to Hawaii. Now in his 80s, he's sharing his story in an autobiography 4 called If It Swings, It's Music.

但是，在1969年也就是巴尔塔扎尔事业巅峰时，他决定搬回老家夏威夷居住。在他享年80多岁时，他将自己的自传命名为《如果摇摆，就是音乐》

Baltazar had been playing professionally for 15 years when he was asked to join the influential 5 Stan Kenton Orchestra in 1960.

从1960年巴尔塔扎尔被邀请加入当时具有影响力的Stan Kenton Orchestra乐队，他非常的专业，演奏长达15年。

“One of my biggest highlights in Stan's band was being featured on this beautiful standard tune 6 called "Stairway to the Stars," which he liked that tune," he said. "And he thought it would be my signature song. And throughout my career, four years with the band, I was featured on that. And it was just great.”

“最值得一提的是我在Stan's乐队演主演一种叫“通往星星的阶梯”。Stan非常喜欢。 他认为那是我歌曲风格。纵观我一生的事业，在乐队的4年时间，我一直采用这种风格，并且它很成功。

Baltazar's story is an important chapter in the history of American jazz, says fellow musician Theo Garneau, who co-wrote Baltazar's autobiography.

巴尔塔扎尔的故事是美国爵士音乐史上一位非常重要的章节，继他之后的另一位音乐家是西奥加尔洛，他合作撰写巴尔塔扎尔的自传。

Garneau calls him one of the pioneering Asian-Americans in jazz, noting that his success came despite the anti-Asian atmosphere of the 1940s and 50s.

加尔洛称自己是一位亚裔美国人的先驱爵士音乐人，尽管40年代和50年代是反亚洲这样的背景环境，他还是取得成功。

“Sometimes people say, well, what difference does it make if he's Asian-American or not?" Garneau said. "I think it's important to remember that there was a lot of exclusion 7 going on in Los Angeles and across the mainland. Asian-Americans were severely 8 discriminated 9 against before and after the second world war, and during the second world war. And this is part of our history, this is part of American history, it's part of Asian-American history.”

“有时人们会问，他不是不亚裔美国人会有这样的不同呢?"加尓洛说道。”我认为我们必须记住发生在洛杉矶和美国大陆的许多事情是可以杜绝的。二战前后亚裔美国人受到很严重的歧视。但这是我们历史的一部分，是美国历史的一部分，是亚裔美国人历史的一部分。”

Baltazar grew up in Hawaii, the son of a Japanese-American mother and a Filipino father. 

巴尔扎特尔在夏威夷长大，他的母亲是一位日本美国混血人，父亲是菲律宾人。

“My father was from the Philippines, he was a professional musician," Baltazar said. "And then he came to Hawaii to play with a vaudeville 10 show, to entertain the plantation 11 people, you know, people working in the fields, pineapple and sugarcane fields.”

“我的父亲来自菲律宾，他是位专业的音乐家”，巴尔扎特尔说。他来夏威夷杂耍表演，娱乐那里种植庄园的人，你知道那些人在地里凤梨和甘蔗地里劳作。

Gabe Baltazar Sr. encouraged his son to play music and gave him a clarinet when the boy was 12.

在巴尔扎尓特12岁的时候，他的父亲Gabe Baltazar Sr.鼓励他的儿子学习音乐，并给了他一个单簧管。

Baltazar grew up listening to musicians from the mainland who came to Hawaii in the 1940s to entertain the troops.

巴尔扎而特从小是听一位音乐家演奏长大的，这位音乐家40年代是从大陆来给军队演奏的。

"There was Artie Shaw's band. They were stationed in Pearl Harbor, and they performed in Waikiki Beach," he said. "And there, all barbed wire fence on the beach, you know, at that time, because this was World War II.  And I used to crawl under the barbed wire and listen to the band.”

“这儿有Artie Shaw's 乐队。他们驻扎在珍珠港，在怀基基海滩演奏”，巴尔扎尓特说。“那时候，这里所有的海滩边上有锋利的金属栏杆，因为这里爆发二战。我经常爬在金属丝上，聆听乐队的演奏。

Back then, jazz wasn't taught in school in the islands. So Baltazar learned alto saxophone by playing alongside his father in dance bands.

当时，海岛上的学校没有教爵士。于是他开始在他父亲跳舞的时候演奏萨克斯。

In 1956, Baltazar moved to Los Angeles, where he worked with other Asian-American jazz musicians.

1956年，巴尔扎尔特搬去洛杉矶住，和那里另一位亚裔美国爵士音乐家一起居住。

“My first recording 12 was with Paul Togawa, a Japanese American from California who, earlier during World War II, was interned 13 in the internment 14 camp.”

”我最初的记忆是和Paul Togawa一起，在二战早起，他是一位来自加利福利亚的日本美国人，被拘留在营地。

Baltazar gained international recognition with Stan Kenton, then went on to work with Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderly, Wes Montgomery and others.

巴尔扎尔特是从Stan Kenton有了国际的意识，自那以后他们和Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderly, Wes Montgomery 等人一起合作。

But after 13 years in Los Angeles, Baltazar wanted to come home.

但在洛杉矶居住了13年以后，巴尔扎尔特想回家。

“He came back to Hawaii in '69, so the world kind of forgot about him," said Garneau. "And it's just the beauty and the allure 15 of Hawaii and the fact that he was a local guy, that he left when he was on top.”

“他69岁返回夏威夷，所有世界遗忘了他。”Garneau说。“只有夏威夷的美丽深深吸引着他，事实上他就是那里的人，当他最成功的时候他离开了。”

Over the years, Baltazar became something of a local hero for nurturing 16 many younger musicians.  And he's revered 17 by music fans in the islands. These days, Baltazar rarely performs. But he's still eager to share a few tips he's learned along the way.

这些年，巴尔扎尔特成了当地的名人，他培养了许多年轻的音乐家。他受到岛上乐迷的崇敬。这期间，他很少演奏。但他任然非常希望分享爵士音乐的一些小门。

“I used to play like a thousand notes a minute, you know, during the young days. But now it's, you know, you don't try to get too fancy. You try to get more feeling in your music. So, in other words, you got to get your soul going," he said."That's what music's all about. And swing, naturally. That's what my book's about, If It Swings, It's Music. That's the name of the book. And it's all in there.”

“年轻的时候，我不停的演奏。但现在，我不痴迷。我从我的音乐中感受到更多，换句话说，提升你的灵魂，"他说，“这就是音乐的全部。自然摇摆。这就是我书的内容，《如果摇摆，就是音乐》。也是我的书名。这就是全部。”