• The Jazz Thread
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[img]http://i.imgur.com/bq1Xt.jpg[/img] [b]Jazz[/b] is a musical style that originally came from ragtime, with swing being its first iteration, popularized by artists like Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong. While it originally proliferated in the south among African American communities, it truly gained popularity in New York City on 52nd street, particularly between 5th and 7th avenues, where numerous jazz nightclubs were producing the music of America. It is true, jazz is probably the most notable and truly American music in history. It has spread worldwide, taken on many forms, and has been fused to produce even more genres, such as bossa nova. While there are many, many popular musicians in the jazz genre, none have been more notable or legendary than Miles Davis, who lived through generations of jazz music and evolved along with it. But first, let's take a brief journey through jazz and its beginnings. [b]Swing (big band jazz)[/b] Big band jazz focused on a collective sound, but innovated on the original idea of swing music by allowing individual musicians to take on solos and improvs, a fundamental idea of what would come to define jazz. These groups blended whites and blacks, culminating in gradual desegregation in the popular music scene of America. One of the primary functions of big band jazz was to keep the dancing feeling going, a prominent feature of swing. However, the popularity of swing jazz was short, only lasting until the mid-to-late 1930s. A newer, more radical form of jazz was just on the horizon. Examples: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxfMRhyzu3g]Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington - It Don't Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got That Swing[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brqxEdwsTQs]Duke Ellington - Sophisticated Lady[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYLbrZAko7E]Count Basie - Swingin' the Blues[/url] [b]Bebop[/b] Bebop started in the early 1940s with artists such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, musicians who had worked with Duke Ellington in his orchestra. Bebop was the beginning of jazz moving away from being music you can dance to to being music you have to sit and understand. Compared to swing, bebop feels fast and disjointed, relying heavily on dissonance and different phrasing. Alongside that, you can hear the ever-popular ride pattern from snare drums as percussion began to complement rather than be an overpowering focus in the music. This style created the idea of "improv" in jazz, which would come to define the heart and soul of jazz itself. Musicians would play off of each other, creating rich harmonies and melodies that would differ every single time they played the same song. In many ways, bebop challenged a lot of contemporary theories about musical structure, and would come to shape the future of jazz forever. Examples: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqQfX4j6Mi0]Charlie Parker - Embraceable You[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fgxyyrqZ-I&feature=related]Charlie Parker - I've Got Rhythm[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09BB1pci8_o]Dizzy Gillespie - Bebop[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl8Fn4jgcQg]John Coltrane - Moment's Notice[/url] [b]Cool jazz[/b] The excitement and tension of bebop began to cool off towards the end of the 1940s, and while bebop remained popular, cool jazz was where things really began to take off. Cool jazz emphasizes longer, more emphasized notes, and its starting point can be traced back to Miles Davis' first major record, [i]Birth of the Cool[/i], and this style would dominate jazz for at least ten years. Examples: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65RngURlDmo&feature=fvst]Modern Jazz Quartet - Vendome[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs]Dave Brubeck - Take Five[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLzqjmoZZAc]Miles Davis - Boplicity[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DHulBVO1rI]Stan Getz - Misty[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR13ECD71xU]Duke Ellington & John Coltrane - In a Sentimental Mood[/url] [b]Hard bop[/b] However, not every artist was content to chill out their bebop desires. Towards the end of cool jazz's popularity, hard bop emerged in direct response to prolonged notes and instead created an even harder, more tense form of jazz that could come off as relentless. It is a jazz style that refuses to let you go the longer you listen to it, but is also incredibly complex and beautiful. This style of jazz would later evolve into free jazz, some of the most complex jazz one can listen to. Examples: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTfBpKzu6XA]Miles Davis - Walkin'[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kotK9FNEYU]John Coltrane - Giant Steps[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKXsnDvILmI]Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Moanin'[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z-8CyHRnCc&feature=fvst]Horace Silver - Camouflage[/url] [b]Modal jazz[/b] Once again, ever since the birth of cool jazz, Miles Davis was on the forefront of yet another jazz trend, modal jazz. Modal jazz takes the mode, or basic musical structure, and uses it as the foundation for complete improvisation. With it, one creates a melody that uses few modes, moving away from the harmony of a jazz group to a succinct and readable melody; chords can last for many measures, and while bebop and hard bop used them to provide the background for solos, modal jazz used them solely for improv. The premiere album of this genre was [i]Kind of Blue[/i], by Miles Davis, which is both the most classic jazz album of all time and also the most popular, selling millions of copies to date. Examples: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEC8nqT6Rrk]Miles Davis - So What[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6nbxwwxjcw]Miles Davis - Freddie Freeloader[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW_7gRH7ASE]Bill Evans - Blue in Green[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I6xkVRWzCY]John Coltrane - My Favorite Things[/url] [b]Free jazz[/b] Also called avant-garde jazz, free jazz focuses on complete atonality, eschewing the meters, beats, and regulated structure of all the genres of jazz before it. Free jazz is also called "world jazz", because its spread worldwide allowed it to blend with many different kinds of music from many different cultures. The free harmony and tempo of free jazz made it immediately controversial, and it is undoubtedly the most difficult genre of jazz to get into. However, among the perceived chaos, there is a method, and it is fascinating. Unlike bebop or hard bop (and perhaps modal jazz), free jazz (along with cool jazz) continues to be popular to this day and many artists enjoy its inherent freedom. Examples: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87FDctNdUOw]Sun Ra - Door of the Cosmos[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPKqY50pXDk]Ornette Coleman - Voice Poetry[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPoK1lryfh4]Charles Mingus - Better Git It In Your Soul[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajl28OdWqtc]John Zorn - Gevurah[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duOTEGOdVkE]John Zorn - Khebar[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgBVWx_1TKs]Pharaoh Sanders - Thembi[/url] [b]Post bop and soul jazz[/b] Both of these movements in jazz were small, and not easily identifiable in the grand history of jazz. Post bop is a sort of melting pot of hard bop, modal jazz, and free jazz, and is popularized by many of the same musicians of those genres. Soul jazz, however, took hard bop and infused blues and gospel music into it, creating repetitive hooks and less complex improvisation. Examples: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clGrqjuZI3M]Wayne Shorter - Fee Fi Fo Fum[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62p-CXrYmf4]Miles Davis - Footprints[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLdm1yuoU_Q]Horace Silver - Song for my Father[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4ZiU10Ngq0]Jimmy McGriff - The Worm[/url] [b]Jazz fusion[/b] While bebop and cool jazz dominated the 40s and early 50s, hard bop and modal jazz the late 50s and early 60s, and free jazz/soul jazz/post bop the late 60s, the 70s brought along jazz fusion. Jazz fusion took on many forms, the most popular being rock. Jazz artists looked to the rising popularity of Jimi Hendrix and wanted to blend jazz with it, which showed the world the versatility of jazz itself. The mixed meters and odd time signatures along with syncopation created a new and unique tone to jazz. Though many resisted the idea of blending these two genres of music, it proved fruitful to the musicians who capitalized on it. Examples: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae0nwSv6cTU]Weather Report - Birdland[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P-EBcF1u9Y]Mahavishnu Orchestra - You Know You Know[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AR93r-ASWI]Miles Davis - Bitches' Brew[/url] [b]Jazz funk[/b] Jazz funk is characterized by having a strong groove, along with heavy use of synthesized beats. It is the result of blending funk, soul, and R&B into jazz. Oddly enough, jazz funk brought back a lot of the "swing" feeling that had been missing from jazz since the early '40s. Examples: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jeq7zX5FBOw]Miles Davis - Tutu[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIqj2_B-qVY]Herbie Hancock - Heartbeat[/url] [b]Today's jazz[/b] Jazz of today has become blended with so many genres it may not be even distinguishable anymore. I'll first give some examples of the continuation of certain forms of jazz, like cool jazz, but also give mention to the rise of smooth jazz, a form most associated with "elevator music" due to its easy-listening characteristic, and pop jazz, which has helped commercialize jazz into something more casual. Along with that, nu-jazz, acid jazz (jazz with more soul and funk, perhaps hiphop), and jazz hop have each earned interesting places within the jazz pantheon. Examples: [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gJTh1eDrBA]Ruben Miller Band - Love L.A.[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVhSCVVz5rI]Esperanza Spalding - I Know You Know[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBTfvkvy4tM]Gretchen Parlato - Better Than[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXZTKxhuEmE]Taylor Eigsti - Speaking Song[/url] [b]Swing revival[/b] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB8vzBcoEcg]Big Phat Band - The Jazz Police[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lmgTaDI0lE]Brian Setzer Orchestra - Stray Cat Strut[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5IEt63qOSI]Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Save My Soul[/url] [b]Acid jazz[/b] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr51l1BOCxY]Jamiroquai - Alright[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwBjhBL9G6U&ob=av2n]Us3 - Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dIEvhxxkSo]Brooklyn Funk Essentials - Take the L Train (To Brooklyn)[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cboqGkC0hp4]Thievery Corporation - The Mirror Conspiracy[/url] [b]Nu-jazz/jazz hop[/b] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVlkFN6itzU]Jazzanova - L.O.V.E. (And You, And I)[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1chC9-srjI]Blazo - Distant Graphite[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQxIexegatM]DJ Shadow - What Does Your Soul Look Like Pt. 1 (Blue Sky Revisit)[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4WbixY6-DE]Nujabes - Music is Mine[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nixDp_dvEg4&list=FLAuScF9GruS2cpeSovYc-yg&index=1&feature=plpp_video]Dela - We Will B Free[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnDKK6v2JPY&feature=youtu.be&hd=1]BADBADNOTGOOD - J Dilla Medley[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY9gtzC_TAc]Jazz Liberatorz - Breathing Pleasure[/url] Miles Davis once said jazz is dead. However, it has continued to evolve and adapt, like it always does. It may not share the dominant musical zeitgeist that pop music does today, but it will continue to inspire for many, many generations.
Finally! Nice thread, man! Jazz does have a long and extensive history, very well explained and on the spot. Been on my track on becoming a good saxophonist a few years now, hope to manage and continue further. Jazz made me start music, it all started watching old black and white cartoon with the big bands playing. Are you an instrumentalist?
[QUOTE=kraed;34919893]Finally! Nice thread, man! Jazz does have a long and extensive history, very well explained and on the spot. Been on my track on becoming a good saxophonist a few years now, hope to manage and continue further. Jazz made me start music, it all started watching old black and white cartoon with the big bands playing. Are you an instrumentalist?[/QUOTE] I'm not a musician myself. I used to play Clarinet/Sax and Bass Guitar when I was a kid but I was never really god at it. I just really enjoy Modern (and occasionally Classic) Jazz. Especially 90s Jazz Funk.
Fuck yeah, jazz. Nujabes is awesome. [editline]29th February 2012[/editline] I always listen to jazz when reading. Makes it easier :smile:
I enjoy most sounds of jazz but tend to hear nujazz, smooth, acid, and latin. I picked up my father's alto sax around 5 years ago, getting good at any instrument is quite a long and hard journey. When i started everything i played and tried sounded like crap to me. I'm starting to notice the difference and the progress now, after countless hours of band and music class and i still can't say i sound how i want to...but i'm getting there.
Reading your OP, it really seems like this thread should've been made in the Music section instead of the Musician's Gig Room section. Even then, that section already has a jazz thread. Just to clear things up: Music section is for discussing, listening to and enjoying music. Musician's Gig Room is for discussing, listening to and sharing self-made music.
[QUOTE=Hakita;34928494]Reading your OP, it really seems like this thread should've been made in the[/QUOTE] Err...it was supposed to go there but with the new front page design I completely missed it and thought that this was it.
[QUOTE=Jack Trades;34928531]Err...it was supposed to go there but with the new front page design I completely missed it and thought that this was it.[/QUOTE] Mistakes happen.
I must say I much prefer listening to live recordings when it comes to jazz. Some of it can be fucking amazing. [url]http://ia600304.us.archive.org/14/items/delf2008-07-02.lsd2.v3.flac16f/delf2008-07-02t02.ogg[/url] Jesus fuck I love that drumming. And the bass at 4:20. And the drumming again at 10:30. [editline]2nd March 2012[/editline] Not sure how jazz this is though, maybe it's just fusion.
I'm not a huge jazz fan, but I have a few songs I like that are "jazz-esque" [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VVv5cORIOc[/url] After the versus, the outro is basically a nice jazz beat. [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x-i-KjTRB0[/url] Entire beat is smooth and jazzy. [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bgKZ7HOWI4[/url] Mos Def, one of the jazzier rappers out there. [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhZNXYwXX5s[/url] Another silky smooth song. Not technically jazz I suppose, but I like them.
quality OP
I've been meaning to get into jazz. Been listening to Quincy Jones quite a bit recently. What are some good albums to start with?
My dad's a Jazz Professor at TX State university! I used to hear him play everyday in our house and he used to play daily at a bar and grill. Unfortunately he got laid off. Now he's putting together projects and playing around town with people.
[QUOTE=Slowbro;34974019]I've been meaning to get into jazz. Been listening to Quincy Jones quite a bit recently. What are some good albums to start with?[/QUOTE] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/aa/Head_Hunters_Album.jpg[/img] One of the first jazz albums I heard, and still one of my all time favorite albums. The funkyness is dangerous
nice OP, neglected to mention pre swing genres such as dixieland and new orleans among others. All seriously influential and great.
the only Miles record that's left in his "essential" section is now his Big Fun album. 2 discs... 2 and a half hours.. oh yeah. :dance:
[QUOTE=Vedicardi;34954106]quality OP[/QUOTE] OP is great but I don't want to take any credit for it because most of it is taken from somewhere else.
Bump I recently found out the name of the band which a drum teacher I had plays in. Found this song to be pretty good. I don't listen to jazz enough to say what genre it is but that doesn't matter I guess. [video=youtube;06EDtzmwB7s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06EDtzmwB7s&feature=plcp&context=C4b742c5VDvjVQa1PpcFOBBM4Zqpe0mIJ4WsiDC4DG 6-E4OUzcofY=[/video] Also, I've listened to Freddie Hubbards Red Clay album some, do you have any suggestions for something else by him that's worth listening to?
Just want to bring my contribution for the thread. Jagga Jazzist - Animal Chin [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVIFUQV20NM[/url] Jagga Jazzist - Day [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nbB8W7RtMo[/url]
For the young and the classy. [video=youtube;8XuLIQyMVPE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XuLIQyMVPE[/video] Awesome lyrics.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG9fGY-Ga3g[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqG01vRVKZs&feature=fvst[/media]
polish jazz is really good. [video=youtube;rIjPqD3Y8Dk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIjPqD3Y8Dk[/video] there's also a whole lot of unknown (in the west) african jazz, check it out: [video=youtube;eG29ilGCGf4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG29ilGCGf4[/video] [video=youtube;usXK02NNOnE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usXK02NNOnE[/video] [video=youtube;VHO0c0kH6hA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHO0c0kH6hA[/video] [video=youtube;3v6M4Mbeoqw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v6M4Mbeoqw[/video]
Freddie Hubbards "Soul Experiment" is awesome. Also Hard bop is cool and is for cool people.
I don't know if this counts as Jazz, but I've been loving this album lately: [url]http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Return+To+Forever/2365127[/url]
eric fucking dolphy [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu78BMbjuT4&feature=relmfu[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0VW1eNR2DU[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I777BcgQL9o[/media]
this album is the shit [img]http://www.musthear.com/music/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/panthalassa-music-miles.jpg[/img] Some aren't up for remixes of Miles' work, but this takes it on a whole new perspective of awesome.
[QUOTE=AK'z;35424367]this album is the shit [img]http://www.musthear.com/music/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/panthalassa-music-miles.jpg[/img] Some aren't up for remixes of Miles' work, but this takes it on a whole new perspective of awesome.[/QUOTE] Found a copy for $3 including shipping, something to look forward to over easter break apart from uni work :D
It's pretty intense. One of the few remix albums I've heard that truly re-realise great music.
I've been studying jazz harmony recently, and some of the stuff that these musicians came up with is just unbelievable [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kotK9FNEYU[/media] Being able to take a close look at stuff like this really blows my mind [editline]4th April 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=vagrant;35423775]eric fucking dolphy [videos][/QUOTE] I've been meaning to check him out for a while, any suggestions for albums to start with?
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