OK, so with the Metal and Blues threads, here comes one for jazz!
I have always enjoyed jazz very casually- I never really paid attention to the genre, but I always enjoyed jazz when I heard something good in say, a coffee shop. This fall, I will be taking a History of Jazz class at the U of C! I can't wait to expand my musical horizon!
My favourite jazz album so far would have to be Michael Occhipinti's "The Sicilian Jazz Project". I read a review of it in a newspaper and it captivated me.
I love to cook to that album. It's got so much variety, and the vocals are just breathtaking! Listen to it, enjoy it and share your favourite jazz albums/artists/random factoids!
I love jazz. It's a highly subjective genre. The best of it is absolutely brilliant, the worst atonal wankery. But you get that with rock and roll too.
I bet that course would be interesting. I readily confess I'm nowhere near the level of being an aficionado of it, but on a sociological level, it has profound cultural impact. It's rock and roll before there was rock and roll, crossing a lot of racial lines along the way.
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Jazz has been called America's classical music, and for good reason. Along with the blues, its forefather, it is one of the first truly indigenous musics to develop in America, yet its unpredictable, risky ventures into improvisation gave it critical cache with scholars that the blues lacked. At the outset, jazz was dance music, performed by swinging big bands. Soon, the dance elements faded into the background and improvisation became the key element of the music. As the genre evolved, the music split into a number of different styles, from the speedy, hard-hitting rhythms of be-bop and the laid-back, mellow harmonies of cool jazz to the jittery, atonal forays of free jazz and the earthy grooves of soul jazz. What tied it all together was a foundation in the blues, a reliance on group interplay and unpredictable improvisation. Throughout the years, and in all the different styles, those are the qualities that defined jazz.
Kind of Blue is a staple in my CD collection, and I love most of Jaco's stuff.
And because it is Annasuave's favorite Kid's In The Hall skit:
[Bruce is seated on a stool on an empty stage. There is a jazz musician on each side of him.]
Bruce: Wow. One thing I hear a lot is, people say, "Bruce, what's this with you and Jazz? What's the beef with you and Jazz music?"
I say, "Well, I really hate Jazz."
They say, "What do you hate about poor old Jazz?"
I say, "The sound. The sound that Jazz instruments make when they're being manipulated by Jazz players to the delight of Jazz respondents. I think of it as musical barf."
They say, "I don't think you've given Jazz a chance."
Well, I maintain, I haven't given suicide a chance, but. . .Well, I did give suicide a chance, but that was only because I was threatened with Jazz. You know. Jazz music.
One thing I hate--One thing I hate is being woken up in the middle of the night, when I'm dreaming about, say, promiscuity with dignity [Man off camera "All right."], by a rap-tap-tappin' on my window by those guys with goatee things on their faces, saying, "Hey. Can we come in? Beano's clarinet's gettin' wet." And then they go into this sorta Gene Krupa trance. Jazz schmazz. I'm sorry; I've got to go that far. Jazz schmazz.
You know what? I'd like to declare this a Jazz-free zone, about forty miles as far as the Jazz-hatin' crow flies in any direction. Just paradise. Those guys would go to work, and it wouldn't be there. I'm gonna ask a question. What sort of music do you think there is in hell? You know, H-E-double hockey sticks? Well, I think it's probably hateful, free-form Jazz. And in heaven? Country and Western music. The choice is pretty obvious. It's not Jazz. It's not bop-a-dop bop-be-bop-bo Jazz. [to flutist:] What's that? A recorder or something? I'm not into it. Fuzz pedal, that's what I'm into. You know?
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Oh man..........I have been waiting for a jazz thread!
I just recently got into jazz, and I must say I like it without lyrics for the most part. I really enjoy soft saxaphone based jazz.........like Boney James and Richard Elliot. If nothing else, it makes for great make-out music.....and is very relaxing.
Music History and Literature 281 Jazz History
Directed listening and analysis of jazz forms from the early beginnings of jazz to the present. Styles examined range from Early Jazz to Jazz-Rock Fusion. Major figures considered include: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
I have heard anecdotally that the course is really good. When I get an actual syllabus, I can send you the info.
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My exposure to jazz is actually more through the vocal jazz strain (especially ensemble v.jazz), although of course, the instrumental variety is fantastic too :-)
The Real Group is probably my favorite of the current vocal jazz ensembles, but there are a number of other fantastic groups.
Two live videos to show -- the first is great for the improv section in the middle; the second is, of course, a classic :-)
Bruce: Wow. One thing I hear a lot is, people say, "Bruce, what's this with you and Jazz? What's the beef with you and Jazz music?"
I say, "Well, I really hate Jazz."
They say, "What do you hate about poor old Jazz?"
I say, "The sound. The sound that Jazz instruments make when they're being manipulated by Jazz players to the delight of Jazz respondents. I think of it as musical barf."
*shudder* Gad, how I loathe jazz.
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Like any genre, there's some great stuff and some crap. Miles Davis and Charles Mingus are definitely my favorite musicians in the genre, and similarly Kind of Blue and Black Saint and the Sinner Lady are my favorite albums. Of newer stuff, I really like Ornette Coleman (actually, both his newer and older stuff), Keith Jarrett, Brad Meldau, Ron Carter and Sex Mob.
I'm sure I've posted these before, but oh man, this chick is an absolute beast sax player and a hot bombshell to boot. No joke, I think she's better than Charlie Parker. I have her albums, and here are a couple of gems on YouTube:
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The CP Jazz thread!
I can't wait to expand my musical horizon!
