GOD.... I LOVE JAZZ

[Bilbo]

On 14/04/2018 at 09:34, mikel said:

His view is that Jazz is anything you want it to be, and that's why it has evolved and morphed and never stood still.

I respect the spirit of this position but I have a caveat to it. 

 

Jazz is whatever you want it to be unless it is something else. The problem I have with the idea that 'anything goes' is that this is OK to a point but, put simply, some things are not Jazz not because they 'don' t swing' or some other genre specific details or whatever. They are not Jazz because they are Funk or Torch Songs or Blues or Pop. Rod Stewart doesn't become a Jazz singer just because he puts on a beret. 

Edited November 3, 2018 by Bilbo

[bassace]

A jazz musician never plays the same thing once.

[Staggering on]

33 minutes ago, bassace said:

A jazz musician never plays the same thing once.

Good one! I will remember to use that one as I continue to improve on the upright acoustic that I bought after attending the double bass bash in April and meeting you and the other BC members.Thank you bassace  and BC.

[Leonard Smalls]

On 03/11/2018 at 16:41, Bilbo said:

News coming out that trumpeter Roy Hargrove has died of a heart attack aged 49. He is a kid, Ffs. 

Indeed. RIP!

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by Leonard Smalls

[MacDaddy]

The late Tony Wilson, ... said he would never go and see jazz because he couldn’t tolerate the idea of the musicians having a better time than the audience.

[Iceinmyveins]

So much vitality, creativity, positive energy, and genuine human feeling is in it. In a world of types, stereotypes and marketing, jazz offers us the possibility of transcendence. Jazz is not a limited or limiting music, it is not the "property" of any era or group or place, but it is something that reaches each of us in our own way.

[ezbass]

Having been raised in a house that frequently featured big band music, it will always have a special place in my heart. Yesterday, I was introduced to a piano player and band leader I’d not heard of before by a Scott's Bass Lessons YT post on his influences,  Michel Camilo. It doesn’t hurt that the band includes the legend that is Anthony Jackson, who's is killing it. Warning: jazz, loud shirt and massive talent content.

 

 

 

[lowdown]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

Having been raised in a house that frequently featured big band music, it will always have a special place in my heart. Yesterday, I was introduced to a piano player and band leader I’d not heard of before by a Scott's Bass Lessons YT post on his influences,  Michel Camilo. It doesn’t hurt that the band includes the legend that is Anthony Jackson, who's is killing it. Warning: jazz, loud shirt and massive talent content.

 

Haha... A gig myself, Bilbo and a couple of others have banged on about over the years. 

Certainly one of my favourite live concerts. 👍

 

Michel Camilo's Trio gigs are great as well.

 

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by lowdown

[Bilbo]

The live CD Caribe is a monster album if you want to hear Camilo's Big Band and AJ at their best. Caribe [Ltd. Edition] https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003WSSMFW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CNEKCb8DYV0Q9

[ezbass]

Thread resurrection time. A keyboard playing and jazz loving friend of mine just shared this on Facebook. Very Mahavishnu, but not as extreme. Dave Weckl being brilliant as ever and Mohini Dey really nailing the low end on that Cort. However, for me, it's the doubled violin/guitar 'head' that makes me hit replay (reminds me of the Dixie Dregs).

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by ezbass

[Bilbo]

Shakti meets Chick Corea's Electric Band

[Mykesbass]

2 hours ago, ezbass said:

 

 

Not a great example - the only clip available, but the album is available on Spotify - I found it very reminiscent of this:

 

[Bilbo]

Wow. Another blast from the past.

[Mykesbass]

Saw their show at (I think) the Lyric, Hammersmith when I was in the sixth form, so yes, blast from the distant past!

Just seen it was Riverside Studios Hammersmith, May 1980 - the week of my 16th birthday!!

Edited January 14, 2020 by Mykesbass
Updated research

[lowdown]

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by lowdown

[Mykesbass]

Loving the bass playing in that first track @lowdown - the groove feels/sounds so much like an electric bass. What a player!

[Bilbo]

 

[ezbass]

I realise that I am massively late to the party, but how good is Steve Rodby? A keyboard playing friend of mine posted a Pat Metheny video on FB (as a guitar player for many a year, I’m aware of PT mainly through his work with Joni Mitchell) what I wasn’t ready for was Mr Rodby. His intonation on DB is exceptional, way better than many/most of the more established names IMO. To say I’m now a fan would be an understatement.

 

[Bilbo]

Steve Rodby is a very classy player. Massively underrated because he never really solos with the PMG but there are other bands he payed with where he had more space e.g Simon and Bard Group. He is all over this one...

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by Bilbo

[Leonard Smalls]

Here's the late Sonny Sharrock rockin' out with Melvin Gibbs... I saw him around this time at the Festival Hall - never seen someone use so many guitar picks, and never heard such crazy jazz guitar!

 

[mikel]

On 07/11/2018 at 04:16, Iceinmyveins said:

So much vitality, creativity, positive energy, and genuine human feeling is in it. In a world of types, stereotypes and marketing, jazz offers us the possibility of transcendence. Jazz is not a limited or limiting music, it is not the "property" of any era or group or place, but it is something that reaches each of us in our own way.

Or not. I come from a household that had Jazz playing in the 50s and 60s a lot of the time. Big band, swing, trad etc etc, and I liked a lot of it. But for me music is music, one genre does not have it all for me, or even most of it. We have been to the Marciac Jazz Festival a number of times and mostly it was the Trad or melody based stuff that entertained me the most, a lot of the more "modern" stuff was simply musicians showing how much they can play, and boy can they play, but as for entertaining me, no, not really. Music is music, the genre, age, gender or nationality of the musician or source material is, well, immaterial to me.

[Bilbo]

There is a lot said about 'melodic' playing in Jazz as opposed to more complex approaches but, in my experience, there is less of a difference that people think. I posted somewhere recently that, when reading dots, it is helpful to thing of sixteenths notes as eighth notes played more quickly  As humorous as that sounds, it is true of playing AND listening and 'complex' melodies are, to my ears, generally simple melodies that just go past quicker. Interestingly, when you try and write things down using Transcribe software, you can slow things down to 50% and it is often the case that passages that whizz by at a pace are often straightforward bop lines. It is a question of processing the details more quickly. To my mind, a lot of 'melodic' playing is predictable and uninspiring so it's horse for courses. I guess it's all about the balance that works for you as an individual.

 

[Owen]

On 30/01/2020 at 19:31, Bilbo said:

 

That is a very fine reading of Havona. 

[Leonard Smalls]

33 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

To my mind, a lot of 'melodic' playing is predictable and uninspiring

Indeed! I feel that the longer a "nice" melody goes on without veering off somewhere crazy and inspired, the more likely the music is to be of the ElevatorCheese variety...

And I was brought up with trad jazz - MJQ were thought to be at the cutting edge of atonality!

[Bilbo]

I WANT to like the MJQ but they do get a bit bland at times. I bought a boxed set last year but gave it away after one listen.