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The Official Jazz Music thread


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21 hours ago, Muad'Dib said:

 

 

Hey, have you listened to Lalo Schifrin's non-film stuff? Here's one of my favorite pieces of music, his "Latin Jazz Suite" (this is the first movement)

 

 

I'm also a big fan of Chucho Valdez, here's a piece he wrote with his band Irakere:

 

I feel like you'd like these, so I figured I would share them!

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Bet.e & Stef

"Bet.e & Stef deftly transport their listener into an intricate fusion of the lush and sensual worlds of Bossa Nova, Samba rhythms and timeless Jazz. Bet.e’s natural, seemingly effortless vocals are supported by Stef’s guitar. In turn, his vocals intertwine beautifully with hers, resulting in one of those ultra-rare intuitive, 50/50 collaborations akin to Louie & Ella.'' ---- from a CBC Radio concert review

 

Bet.e & Stef is a Canadian bossa nova and jazz group from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of vocalist and percussionist Elizabeth "Bet.e" Provencher and vocalist and guitarist Stéphane "Stef" Carreau. They are best known for their 2002 album Day By Day which sold 200,000 copies and were shortlisted for the Juno Award for New Group Of The Year at the Juno Awards of 2003.

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

20 years ago, Frank Sinatra left us.

 

I could encode some CDs for my new FLAC player.

 

But which albums too choose, that's always the problem!

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My current Frank Sinatra 3 top Choices:

 

- Duets

- In the wee small hours

- Come Fly With Me

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I'm listening to this wonderful new album of traditional Cuban mambo/jazz this morning and imagining myself under an umbrella on a hot day drinking a mojito and eating arroz con pollo and fried plantains.  Preferably while wearing a panama hat, sunglasses, and a linen shirt like it's 1958 or some shit.  This is the Westworld park fantasy I'd pay to go to.  The 1950s Cuba of Godfather Part II, Graham Greene, and Hemingway (with a side dish of Dr. No Jamaica).

 

gX7uZjxF0Fyafy7VOfJF5CJ_Dc9IbGJ3hb5y5WJK

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  • 1 month later...

I just made this, I think, very good compilation of Johnny Mercer’s best songs.

 

Jazzy apéro!

 

 

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4 hours ago, Cherry Pie That'll Kill Ya said:

Anyone else ever listen to Harry Potter Jazz by the Mark Kramer Trio? I put it on at night to fall asleep to.

 

Never heard of it until now, just checked out some of the tracks (based on the first score, yeah?) A pretty natural take on the source music, sounds good!

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According to ITunes I’ve listened to this more than 50 times.  It’s that good.  Dizzy and his band never sounded this good to me, it showcases his great sense of humor, and the tune is just a classic.

 

 

I used to be obsessed with this album

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1 minute ago, Mitth'raw'nuorodo said:

Just discovered Big Phat Band, thanks to Incredibles 2 and a friend. I love this big band interpretation/loose arrangement! 

 

 

"Life in the Bubble" from 2014 is an excellent album.  They're a little too slick and "Hollywood" for my usual taste in big band music but the talent is undeniable.  Some really neat arrangements.

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Just now, Disco Stu said:

 

"Life in the Bubble" from 2014 is an excellent album.  They're a little too slick and "Hollywood" for my usual taste in big band music but the talent is undeniable.  Some really neat arrangements.

 

I'll check it out for sure! I just bought one of their albums and am hooked, so I'll probably have to keep buying them now.

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Just now, Disco Stu said:

 

"Life in the Bubble" from 2014 is an excellent album.  They're a little too slick and "Hollywood" for my usual taste in big band music but the talent is undeniable.  Some really neat arrangements.

 

Agreed 100%. Goodwin and his crew are extremely good at what they do, but holy smokes do they play the cutest-sounding crap. I tend to like more cojones when I listen to a big band.

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2 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

 

Agreed 100%. Goodwin and his crew are extremely good at what they do, but holy smokes do they play the cutest-sounding crap. I tend to like more cojones when I listen to a big band.

 

This is more my speed.  Probably my favorite jazz album of the last couple of years actually.  An excellent balance of approachability and intellectual engagement.  Ferber is the best.

 

This track starts with a raucously knotty sax solo before going into an incredibly fun, rhythmically complex, catchy tune for the whole band.

 

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11 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

This is more my speed.  Probably my favorite jazz album of the last couple of years actually.  An excellent balance of approachability and intellectual engagement.  Ferber is the best.

 

This track starts with a raucously knotty sax solo before going into an incredibly fun, rhythmically complex, catchy tune for the whole band.

 

 

Yo, that's pretty slick! Never heard of them before. To elaborate on my previous post and sound even more pretentious, when I listen to a big band, I want to hear it used as a genuine vehicle for musical expression, a compositional device utilized to explore ideas. With Goodwin and similar ilk, it feels more like "Gee, aren't we such jazzy cats? Remember, snap your fingers on two and four, everybody, it's how to be hep!" The music more often than not is very shallow, flashy and well-designed but empty behind the eyes (which makes his collaboration with Giacchino very logical). I played with a semi-big trumpet player years ago who shared this opinion: my reaction was "I'm not the only one!"

 

Thanks for the link!

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Just now, Nick Parker said:

 

Yo, that's pretty slick! Never heard of them before. To elaborate on my previous post and sound even more pretentious, when I listen to a big band, I want to hear it used as a genuine vehicle for musical expression, a compositional device utilized to explore ideas. With Goodwin and similar ilk, it feels more like "Gee, aren't we such jazzy cats? Remember, snap your fingers on two and four, everybody, it's how to be hep!" The music more often than not is very shallow, flashy and well-designed but empty behind the eyes (which makes his collaboration with Giacchino very logical). I played with a semi-big trunpet player years ago who shared this opinion: my reaction was "I'm not the only one!"

 

Thanks for the link!

 

Much of my jazz listening over the past year has been discovering what vibrant, modern, interesting music is being made these days by "large ensembles" as some of them like to be called to distance themselves from that retro-chic image of people like Goodwin.

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17 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Much of my jazz listening over the past year has been discovering what vibrant, modern, interesting music is being made these days by "large ensembles" as some of them like to be called to distance themselves from that retro-chic image of people like Goodwin.

 

Haha, yeah. Have you heard of these guys before? They're normally pretty small (including most of this album), but for at least this tune they stretched their chops to big band. Really starts to come in around 3 minutes.

 

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

 

Haha, yeah. Have you heard of these guys before? They're normally pretty small (including most of this album), but for at least this tune they stretched their chops to big band. 

 

 

 

 

They're a group I've known of for over a decade and have just never sat down to really listen to them.

 

That groove is pretty irresistible.  Overall it has a bit too much of a "created in pro-tools", "the studio itself is an instrument" feel to it for my usual taste in jazz, which I'd characterize as "musicians playing together in a room."  But damn that rhythm section is locked in.  Very fun.

 

While we're trading recommendations, and to prove I can be groovy too, here's one of the best jazz drummers out there, Nate Smith.  His recent album Kinfolk is another knockout.

 

 

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:music:  to STARFIRE, by Jaga Jazzist. Oh, boy, is this great?! Imagine Daft Punk meets Ozric Tentacles.

It also has a slight Synergy feel, to it - thing SOUNDCHECK DELTA 3. 

Does anyone else know this band? @Thor? @Jurassic Shark? You're both Norwegian, aren't you?

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2 minutes ago, Richard said:

:music:  to STARFIRE, by Jaga Jazzist. Oh, boy, is this great?! Imagine Daft Punk meets Ozric Tentacles.

It also has a slight Synergy feel, to it - thing SOUNDCHECK DELTA 3. 

Does anyone else know this band? @Thor? @Jurassic Shark? You're both Norwegian, aren't you?

 

I've got one good and one bad news:

 

1: I'm indeed Norwegian. So is Thor.

 

2: Sorry to disappoint you Richard, but I know the band mostly just by name.

 

Speaking of Daft Punk, what do you think about the Tron Legacy score? I dig it!

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Of course I've heard of Jaga Jazzist. They're one of the biggest acts of the genre here in Norway. Although I've only really heard bits and pieces by them over the years. I can't remember if I've sat down with a whole album.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Yesterday I was at a Cotton Club Singers reunion concert - I grew up on them, we have all their CDs, have been to many of their concerts, but they broke formation years ago.

They're mostly a cover band, but often rearranging them. They started out covering the big (trash) pop songs of the late 90s in a jazzy, swingy style, then standalone albums of their own material with various covers, then a Sinatra tour with 2 CDS, an ABBA Jazz tour with 2 CDs, "Sound Film", which is specifically 30s-40s, "Golden Age of the Radio" which ranges from 20s to 50s, so all kinds of stuff. My favourite thing from them is probably the 10-minute Sound of America Medley (Chattanoga Cho Cho, Chicago, I'm Beginning To See The Light, I'm Singing In The Rain, Pennsylvania 6500, Straighten Up, In The Mood, Lullaby Of Broadway), which is unfortunately not up anywhere (EDIT: FIxed! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rZJYrquGTzwKEWmhhiUumDNgsEUshXGS/view?usp=sharing), so here's other things:

 

 

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On 8/1/2018 at 6:10 PM, Jurassic Shark said:

Speaking of Daft Punk, what do you think about the Tron Legacy score? I dig it!

Not only is it their finest achievement (GET LUCKY comes a close second), it was my favourite score of 2010.

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1 hour ago, Richard said:

Not only is it their finest achievement (GET LUCKY comes a close second), it was my favourite score of 2010.

 

It's indeed great, but I have the feeling that Joseph Trapanese's involvement was more extensive than his credit suggests.

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6 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

It is indeed great, but I have the feeling that Joseph Trapanese's involvement was more extensive than his credit suggests.

 

There was an interview a few years back that outlined his role very explicitly, forgive me for not being able to say more details than that. 

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16 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

 

There was an interview a few years back that outlined his role very explicitly, forgive me for not being able to say more details than that. 

 

I'll forgive you Nick, but not today. ;) 

 

I'll try finding the interview, but I have a strong feeling they pulled a Zimmer on Trapanese's credit.

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1 hour ago, Nick Parker said:

 

There was an interview a few years back that outlined his role very explicitly, forgive me for not being able to say more details than that. 

 

Yes their collaboration has been quite clearly discussed, with the roles of electronic musicians and more traditional composer resulting in exactly the distribution of contributions one would expect.  The credits reflect this accurately, so yes, you could say the credits were Zimmerized actually.  

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

On the subject of Ellington vs. Strayhorn, compiled from the tomes of Discord:

 

They were more autonomous than what is presented, though. The times where one would arrange the other's is not too too common, and is pretty obvious when it occurs (like how Strayhorn was behind the big arrangements in the HiFi album with stuff like the Mood Indigo arrangement).

Ultimately the two had very distinct styles and personalities. Strayhorn was more of a--forgive me-- "classical" paradigm, writing pieces where ideas flowed into another in an inevitable sequence, much like Williams or Stravinsky or any other number of orchestral composers. Ellington was typically "rougher", writing in blocks and sections, almost like how a modern DJ might write something: from night to night, he'd experiment with the order of the composition, and this approach allowed him to drastically alter a piece: didn't like this one part? Take it out and shove another one in!

A huge part of Strayhorn's stuff sounding like Ellington's is honestly the band. There's actually a series of recordings out there from a European big band focusing solely on Strayhorn's music, and the differences really shine there. He wanted to be a symphonic composer, but went where he did 'cause he didn't think America would accept a black concert composer.

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The two had a falling out in the '40s, 'cause Ellington was taking too much credit for Strayhorn's accomplishments--and Strayhorn was very much of the concert composer mindset, mind. So some time passed, and Ellington, desperate to get one of his deepest friends back, extended the olive branch: "No matter what, everything that comes out will be credited to you and me!" And he was true to his word, unyil Strsyhorn passed away. As I briefly mentioned in Discord, this had the interesting effect of Strayhorn getting equal credit for things that Ellington was mostly responsible for, such as the Such Sweet Thunder Suite (12 movements, and I think Strayhorn did...3,4 of them?) The Steinbeck suite on the Three Suites album is all Ellington, while the Nutcracker Suite is predominantly Strayhorn, as another example.

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