Summary

What does Neil mean when he says his band had "long hair, loud guitars, even louder drums, leather… all that jazz!" Feifei and Neil teach you a musical phrase that's not about music! 

Transcript

Feifei
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Feifei.

Neil
And I'm Neil.

Feifei
And Neil –we have a musical expression… Do you like rock music?

Neil
Rock. Yeah I love it.

Feifei
Really?

Neil
When I was younger I was in a rock band – we had it all: long hair, loud guitars, even louder drums, leather… all that jazz!

Feifei
Jazz? Hang on, was it a jazz or a rock band?!

Neil
Aha – very funny – 'all that jazz' is our phrase today. And it has nothing to do with jazz.

Feifei
Indeed, it simply means 'and so on', or 'and other similar things'.

Neil
You often use it after listing things. For example: I love Christmas dinner – you've got turkey, Brussels sprouts, roast potatoes, gravy, all that jazz. It's just great.

Feifei
You're not wrong. I love all that jazz too. And now you've made my mouth water, so let's take a break and listen to these examples.

Examples
I had a super lazy weekend. I woke up late, got some coffee, went for a walk, watched a couple of movies, all that jazz. It was great.

I don't read celebrity gossip. You know: who's going out with who, who got plastic surgery, all that jazz. I'm just not interested!

Feifei
It's often used – in a list of unpleasant or boring things.

Neil
For example: This morning I cleaned the whole house – washing, scrubbing, vacuuming, all that jazz!

Feifei
Yes, by using “jazz” to describe dull things, it's ironic and brings some humour.

Neil
It does, Feifei. Especially when we compare it with the phrase to “jazz up”. You can 'jazz up an outfit' or 'jazz up a meal', for example – which means to make something more interesting and even glamorous.

Feifei
Before we go, we should of course mention the phrase is also the name of a song from the 1975 Broadway musical, Chicago. Fancy singing it for us, Neil?

Neil
I really couldn't. After all, I was in a rock band. Not a jazz band! What about you, Feifei?

Feifei
Maybe next time. I can't remember the words!

Neil
Excuses, excuses! Bye for now.

Feifei
Bye.