| steven 35638 19.12.2008 10:40 |
I'm afraid to ask, but does anybody listen to jazz? And no, I'm not talking about Queen's 1978 album. If there is such thing as a miracle, then please talk about your favorite jazz artists. I'd love to hear about them and/or even listen to them. |
| Mr.Jingles 19.12.2008 10:49 |
I'm not a Jazz buff, but I do enjoy listening to Jazz on this satellite radio station. Mostly they play the best known names like Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis & Ella Fitzgerald. However, I personally enjoy just about everything from old school jazz. |
| Marcos Napier 19.12.2008 11:17 |
One guy: Herb Ellis. And for the more modern, Pizzarelli. |
| Raf 19.12.2008 14:08 |
I sense Caspar coming to this thread. |
| steven 35638 20.12.2008 00:31 |
That's great to hear, Mr. Jingles. Those are three really great jazz musicians. Miles Davis is an incredible trumpet player, and his invention of 'cool jazz' is even more incredible. As for Armstrong, without him we might not have even heard of Miles Davis. And as for Fitzgerald, she's an amazing vocalist. I have only recently gained interest in jazz. As a music education student, I'm given the option of either concentrating in classical or jazz trumpet. I chose jazz my first semester, and in that time I've learned to really appreciate this great American treasure. I sometimes think I listen to more jazz than Queen -- imagine that! At any rate, I have strong admiration for Chuck Mangione and Maynard Ferguson. There are others of course, but those have been my main influences lately. You can see both of them performing together in the following clip. You will also see Fitzgerald and various other jazz lengends. If you're new to jazz, treat yourself. You might even like it! link |
| steven 35638 20.12.2008 00:39 |
Marcos Napier wrote: One guy: Herb Ellis. And for the more modern, Pizzarelli.I'm not familiar with them actually. |
| Bo Rhap 20.12.2008 03:48 |
What about John Coltrane or Count Basie or the great "Sir Duke" himself Duke Ellington.Charlie Parker too i suppose. |
| magicalfreddiemercury 20.12.2008 08:34 |
I was introduced to Jazz way back in high school. The Stage Band had a phenomenal teacher who loved and lived the music, and brought his love of it to his classes. I wasn't in those classes but loved being around them. The sound was contagious, fun, popping and... I don't know how to put this... group-oriented (?), It seemed each instrument fed off the others, the audience fed off the band and in return the band fed off the audience. Solos were a riot with all the cheering and "Yeah Baby!" stuff being shouted out. :-) I've actually had the fortune to see some of my favorite jazz artists here in NY at the Blue Note. I saw and loved Spyro Gyra, Carmen McRae, Diane Shuur, Larry Carlton, Dr. John (I'm not sure he'd be classified as jazz, though), RAY CHARLES (yes! In person!!!), Joe Sample and Dizzie Gillespie. Louis Armstrong is right up there with my favorites though he passed on long before I was frequenting places like the Blue Note. A couple of other favorites - David Sanborn, Sammy Price and Patti Austin. Wow. I'm glad you started this topic. I'm going to pull out some old albums and see if there's a way I can play them again. (albums as in LPs, not CDs). |
| Marcos Napier 20.12.2008 10:10 |
Steven wrote:Marcos Napier wrote: One guy: Herb Ellis. And for the more modern, Pizzarelli.I'm not familiar with them actually. Herb Ellis played in the Oscar Peterson Trio. Once I saw him do a rendition of Jobim's Wave that was absolutely fantastic. And he was quite old already then (he's 80something now). |
| thomasquinn 32989 21.12.2008 05:52 |
I'm a great jazz fan. I'm not overly fond of the available New Orleans and Chicago jazz from the '20s (only the extremely commercial bands ever got recorded) or the swing-era (same reason), but post-WWII jazz might just be my favorite style of music. Eric Dolphy (flute, bass clarinet and alto saxophone) is probably my favorite musician, followed closely by John Coltrane and Charles Mingus. Miles Davis, who was mentioned before, also produced some fine work, though I appreciate him more for the musicians he gathered around him than for his own playing. He did not, I might stress, invent cool jazz. The *name* originates with an album by him that was indeed *recorded* before cool became the hit of the decade, but only released in 1957 when everyone was making cool jazz already. The name "Birth Of The Cool" was invented by the producer, I think. Precedents for cool can be found long before Miles Davis' nonet recordings, though. Ben Webster and Lester Young seem to have kicked off the subdued style of playing so characteristic of cool, and the American West Coast had a number of groups I'd classify as cool as early as the mid 1940s. What I like best in jazz is the improvisational aspect, and as such I'm very partial to the style called "modal jazz", which became popular during the late 1950s and was the first to throw off the yoke of fixed chord progressions, and to structure the music merely by assigning one or more scales to each section of a composition, giving much more freedom without needing to resort to atonality or polytonality. If anyone is interested, I can highly recommend the album "Olé" by John Coltrane as a fine example of this style. |
| Ms. Rebel 21.12.2008 08:21 |
I'm listening to it sometimes. Scott Joplin & Louis Armstrong. *thumbs up* |
| thomasquinn 32989 21.12.2008 11:17 |
Scott Joplin is ragtime, not jazz. |
| Ms. Rebel 21.12.2008 12:47 |
ThomasQuinn wrote: Scott Joplin is ragtime, not jazz. He is. -.- Ragtime is the part of the Jazz. If you want to act some 'smart little fuck', inform yourself before posting. :) |
| Raf 21.12.2008 16:59 |
Ms. Rebel wrote:ThomasQuinn wrote: Scott Joplin is ragtime, not jazz.He is. -.- Ragtime is the part of the Jazz. If you want to act some 'smart little fuck', inform yourself before posting. :) No, you gotta inform yourself. What you said would be the same as saying Blues is part of Rock. Ragtime came before Jazz and influenced it. |
| Ms. Rebel 21.12.2008 17:07 |
Okay, sorry my bad. He influenced Jazz music. Calm down people. Everything's going to be alright. |
| Ms. Rebel 21.12.2008 17:14 |
Jazz music isn't my 'field'. I like listening to it sometimes, not so often. I was wrong. I'm sorry for calling Thomas little smart fuck. Let's move on without an argument. |
| 7Innuendo7 21.12.2008 20:16 |
the Miles Davis album 'Colors' is worth a listen alongside Pink Floyd's 'Meddle' |
| Rick 22.12.2008 05:38 |
I'm not really into jazz music, notwithstanding the fact that it might be very good. I guess it's just too soft for me. I'm a big Toto fan myself and they did a collaboration with Miles Davis once (in 1986, Fahrenheit album). The song is called "Don't Stop Me Now" (ironical, isn't it?). It's a nice little tune. Especially Steve's guitar and Miles' trumpet blend very well. |
| thomasquinn 32989 22.12.2008 07:45 |
Rick wrote: I guess it's just too soft for me. Jazz-virgin alert! :P But seriously, not all jazz is soft, not by a long run! Try John Zorn's Electric Masada, for instance ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCpSz7TtcAY ). |
| Micrówave 22.12.2008 11:37 |
TQ - good point about Miles. Boy, he sure could put together a band!!! Have to kind of disagree with you about the "cool" aspect though, because I think Miles brought a different type of "cool" than you're speaking about. Miles' cool wasn't really about musical style and structure, but more of a feeling... an arrogance, that was truly earned. He, and to a certain extent his producer, weren't afraid of boundries. While albums like Sketches Of Spain, Kind Of Blue, and In A Silent Way solidified his stranglehold on jazz, albums like Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson showed there wasn't really anything he couldn't do. |
| steven 35638 23.12.2008 23:16 |
It's wonderful to read all of your comments. I apologize that my statement in regard to Miles Davis was not clear enough. I realized, before TQ's brilliant response, that the development of 'cool jazz' wasn't so clean cut. As with any genre of music, no matter how small, several if not many artists share its development. At any rate, jazz music is refreshing to listen to. But it's even more refreshing to actually play it. I'm so happy that I took the option to study jazz over classical (although I haven't forgotten classical). It's just so awesome that the music allows me to come up with my own unique sound and style. There's nothing quite like it, especially for a trumpeter. I have an incredible jazz trumpet instructor, so I hope to learn as much as possible in the coming semesters. The crappiest part is the fact that I've never had a private teacher in my musical life. So, for the most part, I'm self-taught -- although I give thanks to my elementary school lesson teachers, my high school band director (huge inspiration), and my father who is a band director/trumpet player himself. I guess what I'm getting at is that I have a lot to learn, perhaps even more than other trumpet players at my age. But I guess that's a good thing, it gives me more motivation. |
| Knute 23.12.2008 23:52 |
How about Bill Evans? Check out the clip of him performing My Foolish Heart on youtube. It's sublime. Such beautiful music. |
| magicalfreddiemercury 24.12.2008 00:07 |
Steven wrote:
"I guess what I'm getting at is that I have a lot to learn, perhaps even more than other trumpet players at my age. But I guess that's a good thing, it gives me more motivation."
== The best part is that you know how much more you have to learn and are eager to do so. A friend of mine from high school - a trombone player - started giving private music lessons while going to college. He earned his masters and, since then, has taught high school band while playing weekend gigs. He said what he has is the best life - work and play combined during and after hours. Jazz is a love he never outgrew. He still walks like he's hearing the music - with a bop in every step. |
| steven 35638 24.12.2008 01:19 |
Thanks for the kind words! I'm happy to hear about your friend. It's wonderful that he's living his life with jazz in his soul and education in his heart. That's the kind of lifestyle I would like to live when I'm finished and out of college. So, good for him! |