|
Post by Wolfgang on Aug 3, 2023 12:10:26 GMT -5
Before I got into "hardcore" and "real" jazz (e.g., Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Art Tatum), I listened to a lot of Spyro Gyra during my transitional pop-jazz fusion phase.
"Shaker Song"
"Morning Dance"
"Catching the Sun"
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Aug 3, 2023 12:16:03 GMT -5
Deja vu...I feel like I posted the above several years ago. LOL!
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Aug 3, 2023 12:20:23 GMT -5
I got through college with Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage album. (Also, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On album, but that's for the other thread)
Here's the title track:
|
|
|
Post by BeachbytheBay on Aug 3, 2023 12:21:14 GMT -5
Spyro Gyra
what a throwback
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Aug 3, 2023 12:32:06 GMT -5
Speaking of Billy Joel and the origins of "Piano Man," he gave a talk at Harvard in 1994. In it, he plays a passage from "Manhattan" (see above post). This may have been improvised. Don't know for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if it was improvised given his vast body of knowledge and good ear, plus he probably played it before while noodling around on the keyboard. I've keyed the video. Holy frikk! I've been looking for this video where Billy Joel plays a snippet from "I'll Take Manhattan." Turns out, I already posted it several months ago! Good heavens! My memory is declining!
|
|
|
Post by azvb on Aug 3, 2023 14:20:40 GMT -5
The closest I get to Jazz is Van Morrison “Moondance”. Probably doesn’t count.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Aug 3, 2023 15:18:59 GMT -5
The closest I get to Jazz is Van Morrison “Moondance”. Probably doesn’t count. Oh, I'm pretty certain you know (and love) more jazz than you think. Jazz's influence in music, especially Broadway/film musicals, is very strong. Here's "Cool" from West Side Story: In film, almost all of Woody Allen's films have a heavy jazz soundtrack: I have to say, though, that a lot of "hip" and "swingy" music from the 1940s-1960s are a blend of pop and jazz music. They can be characterized as pop music with heavy jazz influences. Basically, if you like the old standards from the 1930s-1960s, you love jazz.
|
|
|
Post by azvb on Aug 8, 2023 17:40:08 GMT -5
The closest I get to Jazz is Van Morrison “Moondance”. Probably doesn’t count. Oh, I'm pretty certain you know (and love) more jazz than you think. Jazz's influence in music, especially Broadway/film musicals, is very strong. Here's "Cool" from West Side Story: In film, almost all of Woody Allen's films have a heavy jazz soundtrack: I have to say, though, that a lot of "hip" and "swingy" music from the 1940s-1960s are a blend of pop and jazz music. They can be characterized as pop music with heavy jazz influences. Basically, if you like the old standards from the 1930s-1960s, you love jazz. WSS and Oklahoma are my two least favorite musicals. Although “Somewhere” from WSS is a beautiful song. And Woody Allen movies are not my cup of tea. So, there!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Aug 9, 2023 15:11:19 GMT -5
Oh, I'm pretty certain you know (and love) more jazz than you think. Jazz's influence in music, especially Broadway/film musicals, is very strong. Here's "Cool" from West Side Story: In film, almost all of Woody Allen's films have a heavy jazz soundtrack: I have to say, though, that a lot of "hip" and "swingy" music from the 1940s-1960s are a blend of pop and jazz music. They can be characterized as pop music with heavy jazz influences. Basically, if you like the old standards from the 1930s-1960s, you love jazz. WSS and Oklahoma are my two least favorite musicals. Although “Somewhere” from WSS is a beautiful song. And Woody Allen movies are not my cup of tea. So, there!!!! Yeah, I mean, that's cool. We're all entitled to love and hate the things we love/hate.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Aug 9, 2023 15:58:13 GMT -5
Love the old standards.
"Manhattan" (aka "I'll Take Manhattan")
A snippet from this song was what Billy Joel was playing (above).
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Oct 11, 2023 13:13:24 GMT -5
I've been keeping myself busy in the past few years practicing the piano w/ iReal Pro. It's a jazz accompaniment app where, for only $14.99 (at the time I paid for it), you get the backing tracks for thousands of songs. If you like, you can also custom create your own chord progressions. During playback, it'll play the bass, drums, and piano (if you like) accompaniment so that you can either sing or play your lead instrument (which is what I do with the piano).
The best feature is you can loop any section of the song, which makes practice more efficient.
(I sound like an ad.)
Bottom line: It's been great. It took my piano playing to the next half-level.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Oct 11, 2023 13:17:42 GMT -5
A short iReal Pro demo:
And a guitar guy playing lead guitar with iReal Pro in the background.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Oct 16, 2023 16:18:52 GMT -5
My wife accidentally found a Swing Era radio channel while randomly tuning her car radio. So, she programmed this channel into my car radio system.
89.1 FM
Been listening to this channel for the past week. One thing about Swing music, especially the original vintage stuff from the 1920s-40s is that, for the vast majority of them, they play the bulk of a song with instrumentals only while the vocals last for a short time and take a back seat. They substantially subordinate the vocal section, as if it's only presented just for variety, as kind of a bridge between the two lengthy instrumental sections.
I'm not sure if there's a term for this music structure. My theory is that back in the dawn of the Swing Era, "jazzy" type music was played almost exclusively in dance halls and music was there to get people to dance. Or, I guess, people went to dance halls TO DANCE so the dance hall proprietors instructed the band to play songs with a focus on instrumentals and they didn't want sung lyrics (where people had to listen to the lyrics) to get in the way of a good time. LOL!
Also, a lot of the music "stars" during that time were instrumentalists.
Example, "Blue Skies" (by The Knickerbockers (Ben Selvin), vocal by Charles Kaley), 1927
The vocals occur from 1:18-1:54. The entirety of the song before and after the vocals is all instrumental.
|
|
|
Post by Wolfgang on Oct 16, 2023 16:30:23 GMT -5
I can't believe that in 2023, there's a radio channel dedicated to solely vintage Swing Era music from the 1920s-40s.
|
|
|
Post by volleyguy on Oct 16, 2023 17:02:01 GMT -5
Oh, I'm pretty certain you know (and love) more jazz than you think. Jazz's influence in music, especially Broadway/film musicals, is very strong. Here's "Cool" from West Side Story: In film, almost all of Woody Allen's films have a heavy jazz soundtrack: I have to say, though, that a lot of "hip" and "swingy" music from the 1940s-1960s are a blend of pop and jazz music. They can be characterized as pop music with heavy jazz influences. Basically, if you like the old standards from the 1930s-1960s, you love jazz. WSS and Oklahoma are my two least favorite musicals. Although “Somewhere” from WSS is a beautiful song. And Woody Allen movies are not my cup of tea. So, there!!!! The jazz influence is pretty diverse, as Wolfgang suggests: This is a Nancy Wilson cover of a Barry Manilow interpretation that appeared on his Paradise Cafe album (lyrics by Johnny Mercer): And this is a cover by Dianne Reeves of River by Joni Mitchell:
|
|