The Jazz Thread

[indy4 152]

We've got one for Classical music, why not Jazz?

Some of my favorite Jazz tunes include "Fables of Faubus," "When You're Smiling" (Tom Kubis version), "Sing Sing Sing," "Slo-Funk," "Brazil," "Roll 'Em," and "Four Five Six." And of course most of Williams' jazz, but I wanted this thread be oriented more around Jazz written outside of film scores. Not counting film scores I've only got about 3.3 hours of Jazz music, but I definitely want to expand my collection throughout the years.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

I love jazz, but like with classical music, I have no idea where to start. I really love the kind of stuff Woody Allen uses in his films, and other jazzy soundtracks like the songs from Fallout 3 or BioShock 2.

[Nick Parker 3,017]

Paul Whiteman might be a good transitioning point for you (his orchestra premiered "Rhapsody in Blue" way back...1924?). Stan Kenton is also really cool, and of course Duke Ellington is an obvious choice (you might want to start with something like "Take the 'A Train'").As far as "modern" stuff, I think you would probably like Gordon Goodwin (check out "Jazz Police" or "Hit the Ground Running")... Now that I think about it, Henry Mancini wrote an excellent

of a lot of the "greatest hits", see if you like that (stay away from the CD recording, though, its tempo is mind-numbingly slow).

[Koray Savas 2,095]

Yeah I know of "Take The A Train" and I love it. I'll try and look into more Ellington. I'll check out the other artists you mentioned as well.

[indy4 152]

I'd also recommend staying away from improvisation-heavy tunes. They are often hard for me to get into.

[Muad'Dib 1,514]

Jazz is amazing! It's one of my favorite musical styles. I love stuff from Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodmann and why not... Henry Mancini!

I'm my native town there used to be a jazz concert every month. One month you had Big-Band, the other a classic jazz trio, the other more experimental jazz... It was so cool! My favorite one was the Big-Band, and I still remember how good the band sounded. There were mostly memebers of the city orchestra, and that's what made them so good I think. They could play Sing Sing Sing, and it sounded exactly like the best CD-version. They were amazing. There were a lot of Russian musicians who had left they countries many years ago and settlef there. That's why the brass section was so damn good. Sadly some of them have left to work in other cities and now the brass section isn't the same, sadly. But back on topic...

Long live to jazz!

[Docteur Qui 1,248]

I'd also recommend staying away from improvisation-heavy tunes. They are often hard for me to get into.

That's a big statement, mainly as many forms of jazz are so heavily reliant on improvisation. Some soloists improvise in very particular idioms, depending on where it is in their musical development, their influences etc. A lot of modern or free jazz can be alienating, primarily because there's nothing for the "common" listener to relate to, but some of the great players have brilliant solos with melodies and developments that seem as inevitable as any movie theme or classical symphony.

At the moment I'm listening to a lot of Herbie Hancock's earlier works, around the early/mid 60's and particularly while he was playing with Miles Davis. He was heavily influenced by Romantic and Classical composers during this period; his interpretations of ballads are extraordinarily rich with nods to Debussy and Ravel. I'm playing a lot of ballads at the moment with him (and the mentioned composers) at the forefront of my mind and it's a very rewarding experience. For me, it's accessible without being predictable but also complex without being alienating.

Also listening to (and playing with) some Chick Corea material, circa Return to Forever. It took me a while to get into the modal and rhythmic feel of the music but once I did I just couldn't stop.

We are so lucky to have an incredible library of music to listen to and enjoy. I'd say there's something for everyone when it comes to jazz - even those who claim not to like it - simply because it encompasses such a huge range of styles, sounds, conventions and ideas.

[Charlie Brigden 5]

Some great names here, Ellington, Hancock. I'm more on the vocal side of jazz, I adore Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.

[Koray Savas 2,095]

I think I prefer vocal jazz as well. Here is some of the stuff I like (in general):

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=t5xd2HFIIYU

[Joe Brausam 203]

Miles Davis, that's the way to go! That's innovation. Bitch's Brew, Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain, love it!

[pixie_twinkle 44]

Couldn't agree more. I've been listening chronologically through my Miles Davis CDs in the car for the past 3 weeks and I've got from 1945 (First Miles) to 1959 (Kind of Blue) via about 35 other CDs. I'm less than a third through everything I have. According to my iTunes I have about 4.5 days of Miles Davis music.

My wife and I were in Cleveland a couple of weeks ago and had dinner at Night Town (Cleveland's best Jazz spot). We saw a great Django-style guitarist called Stephane Wrembel. Someone mentioned Woody Allen movies in an earlier post, well Stephane Wrembel plays on the soundtrack to Vicky Christina Barcelona apparently. Haven't seen the film yet (I'm only up to Manhattan Murder Mystery in my Woody Allen marathon), but I bought several of Mr Wrembel's CDs at the concert and I can highly recommend him. Start with the CD "Introducing", it's fantastic!

I'm also into fusion jazz. Found a 5-disc box set of CDs by Weather Report on Amazon for about 8 bucks so I ordered that yesterday. I only own Heavy Weather by them, so I have a lot to catch up on.

[Score 557]

For some great jazz, I will add Dave Brubeck and his quartet. Dave Brubeck (born 1920) is a pianist/composer who had a classical training and studied with the famous composer Darius Milhaud. Although he was not a great "fan" of classical music, this experience surely had a deep influence on his style, from the point of view of harmony and rhythm. My favourite work by D. B. quartet is the CD "Time Out" (1959), in which you can listen to cues written in un-conventional time signatures, or featuring great time changes (the majority of jazz standards are in 4/4 or 3/4). The most famous track is "Take Five", written in 5/4, which features a memorable alto saxophone melody. Another good track is "Blue Rondo à la Turk", where the main theme is in 9/8 (sounding as 3/4 + 3/8), but improvisations are in 4/4, with insertions based on the main theme, again in 9/8. The whole CD is great, and it offers many examples of rich harmonies, great improvisations, and great rhythms.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I'd also recommend staying away from improvisation-heavy tunes. They are often hard for me to get into.

Two words for you: Stephan Grappelli.