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Can you please explain Jazz to me... (Help make this thread Jazz 101)

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Aizo

Aizo

Banned
Wow. I spent a long time writing up a very detailed post about Japanese Jazz recommendations and lost it due to computer troubles, so I'll re-post something brief. I want to introduce you all to some cool Japanese Jazz to show you how diverse Jazz really is. Although it's not traditional, and many purists wouldn't like a lot of this, I think it could really get you into some cool Jazz subgenres you may have never found on your own.

Let's listen to Japanese Jazz

"Death Jazz" with guest vocals from the famous Shiina Ringo: Soil and Pimp Sessions - Koroshiya Kiki'ippatsu

Gypsy Jazz: Little Fats & Swingin' Hot Shot Party

Bossa Nova: Lamp - Kimi ga Nakunara

Nu-Jazz with Post-Rock influence. Two pianos and a drum set: Mouse on the Keys

A unique Japanese female Jazz vocalist with a beautiful, deep voice: Hamada Maron - Mayakashi no Blues

High intensity Punk Jazz (it's what it sounds like): Kagerou

Really thickly textured instrumental Jazz with phenomenal compositions and precise playing. This group does covers of Vocaloid, Touhou Project, and other nerdy songs, but they're phantasmagorically beautiful. Tokyo Active NEETs

Contemporary Swing with some rough (in a good way) vocals: Katte ni Shiyagare - Wana no Youna Gogo
 
P

Psychological Intellect

Banned
wanderingprostheyltite said:
I don't claim to know theory or be knowledgeable of the greats' catalogs, but I def have an appreciation for it, admittedly a lot is fusion or prog based. This won't help you for classics op but I thoroughly enjoyed Kamasi Washington's The Epic which was released last year. He's the sax player Flying Lotus uses a lot. Give it a whirl sometime if you're so inclined.
Click to expand...
Kamasi also composes most of the instrumentation on Kendrick Lamar's album. Super skilled dude.
 
P

Parch

Member
I haven't seen the Ken Burns series, but there's an audiobook called "How to Listen to and Appreciate Jazz". It's part of The Modern Scholar college series. It's mainly chronological history but explains a lot of technical aspects that you can listen to.

There is so much variety and it really depends on the sub-genre you prefer, but when I was exploring jazz I frequently ended up going back to Miles Davis. Just how he evolved his music and created genres makes for an incredible career. The guy was a genius and has a great discography.
 
dsp

dsp

Member
I prefer the sound of the 70s, upbeat jazz funk, latin jazz, fusion, whatever, so here's some tunes you might like that I frequently listen to. Otherwise I don't really have much to offer to the discussion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LKxEs0HewI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWUzYSirD9A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0svRYUUCso

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OjuCA-SsJM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zh0-T0efTY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2or5RqfyIc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j06aPJfL1M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwzTk7o7VKQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN9ZsDIasZU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UJqdlPOS0E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTpD_yrPyik

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdcZg-DVyZM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQKAh9nrofM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPNojdiFgZQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOhdXupxLDM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnT2kAeOMX4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7BJeo9m-pg
 
N

NervousXtian

Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
zer0blivion said:
How was he a tool?

My introduction to Charles Mingus was a tribute album.
Weird Nightmares - Meditations on Mingus

It features Bill Frissel, Elvis Costello, Robbie Robertson, Henry Rollins, Chuck D, and some others I'm forgetting. It's great and I highly recommend it.
Click to expand...

Womanizer, violent, angry, and pretty much an asshole to everyone around him be it fans or band mates.

Dude was master of his craft, but total tool... same with Miles Davis really.
 
Z

zoozilla

Member
If you liked Headhunters, I think you'll probably like Christian Scott's stuff. He's a trumpet player who incorporates stylistic elements from all over the world in his compositions. He very much carries on in the tradition of guys like Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, trying to push the genre into new territory.

He's got a new album called Stretch Music that's pretty great, and his previous album (called Christian Atunde Adjuah) is another modern and accessible jazz record.

Just take a look at the NPR Tiny Desk Concert he did recently and you'll get a good sense of his style.
 
GutsOfThor

GutsOfThor

Member
I've been on a jazz kick the past day or so and want to check out some new and old stuff. I'm looking for albums in the vein of:

Miles Davis-Kind of Blue
John Coltrane-Blue Train
Molly Johnson- Another Day
Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa-Krupa and Rich

Thanks ahead of time for suggestions!
 
B

blackjaw

Member
GutsOfThor said:
I've been on a jazz kick the past day or so and want to check out some new and old stuff. I'm looking for albums in the vein of:

Miles Davis-Kind of Blue
John Coltrane-Blue Train
Molly Johnson- Another Day
Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa-Krupa and Rich

Thanks ahead of time for suggestions!
Click to expand...

You will enjoy these timeless albums:

David Bruceck - Time Out

Wes Montgomery - incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery

Duke Ellington and John Coltrane - self titled
 
F

Fugu

Member
I wrote a big post for this thread but opted not to post it because the thread died! I'll try to dig it up later. I love Jazz. It is my favorite thing.

GutsOfThor said:
I've been on a jazz kick the past day or so and want to check out some new and old stuff. I'm looking for albums in the vein of:

Miles Davis-Kind of Blue
John Coltrane-Blue Train
Molly Johnson- Another Day
Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa-Krupa and Rich

Thanks ahead of time for suggestions!
Click to expand...
Kind of Blue is a bit of a lightning in a bottle situation and there's not much exactly like it, but Miles Davis' quintet recordings for the few years preceeding are about as close as you can get. I particularly recommend the four n' Prestige albums (Cookin', Steamin', Relaxin', and Workin') and 'Round Midnight. You can't really go wrong with anything from that era.

Blue Train is one of many albums that Coletrane did of a very similar style. The last (and probably best) of this style is the album Giant Steps. There's also The Cats, which is criminally underrated considering its stupid stacked lineup.
 
S

shangolin

Banned
A lot of jazz I find unlistenable. This is coming from someone who majored in jazz in college. Herbie Hancock is a great album so I have a few other recommendations that you might like that I find highly listenable as well. I won't list stuff that's already been listed though.

Absolute best jazz album IMO: The Birthday Concert by Jaco Pastorius. This was essentially a superstar meetup of jazz greats from the early 80s to play for Jaco's birthday.

The Chicken

Second favorite: Abdullah Ibrahim A best of album. African musician that incorporated African musical themes into his jazz work.

Chisa

One offs:

Karl Denson - Like Like Dope Funky like Hancock, but also modern.

Michael Brecker - Delta City Blues Probably one of the most difficult songs to play on saxophone. But also easy to dig.

Joni Mitchell - Twisted One of my favorite vocal tracks.

Cannonball Adderly - Mercy Mercy Mercy A classic. Funky again.
 
N

NastyBook

Member
Soapbox Killer said:
something newer?

Gregory Porter " Be Good"


This has become my favorite song of all time, and I grew up on Hip Hop
Click to expand...
Dude, have you listened to On my way Harlem? Gregory Porter has a wonderful voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNwfUanmihY

Jeff Bradshaw is another newer player, though he's been in the background for awhile. He's been going out on his own and was even featured with The Roots on Jimmy Fallon.
Here he his on his live album giving All this Love some love with Take 6 killing the acapella.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3c2Y4aQQfo
 
F

Fugu

Member
shangolin said:
A lot of jazz I find unlistenable. This is coming from someone who majored in jazz in college.
Click to expand...
I also studied jazz in university and I feel like I can enjoy just about everything on the jazz spectrum except for the big electric guitarists of the 80s. Indeed, my enthusiasm for most fusion is mild at best.

I am a relative anomaly, however, in that I actually enjoy bebop, which is highly unfashionable in contemporary jazz education.
 
T

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
Jazz doesn't have enough cool sounds. Hancock tries to use cool synth sounds but most of the time still sounds like a dork. I want power-synth jazz. Actually nevermind, I'll just listen to Parliament Funkadelic.
 
J

JinjoUnchained

Member
Jazz is all about dissonance. Picture a scale on the keyboard, say C major, all white keys from one C to the next. Classical diatonic harmony would build chords out of notes spaced apart, like C E G C. Jazz harmony, on the other hand, might give you C E G C D. That extra D sounds blurry or dreamy as it bumps up against the higher C, but it all still sounds pretty spread out and harmonious.

Notes like the D in the example above are what you might call jazz notes and give jazz its' distinct sound. Try it at the keyboard; play the two chords I mentioned and notice how they hit your ear differently. That's Jazz in a nutshell.
 
GutsOfThor

GutsOfThor

Member
blackjaw said:
No worries I think those are all free on Amazon Prime as well!

You have great tastes in jazz, some of those you listed are my fav albums.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm loving Time Out! I was able to find all your suggestions on Google Play and added them to my library!

Thanks to everyone else for the suggestions! I have a lot of listening to do!
 
Soapbox Killer

Soapbox Killer

Grand Nagus
NastyBook said:
Dude, have you listened to On my way Harlem? Gregory Porter has a wonderful voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNwfUanmihY

Jeff Bradshaw is another newer player, though he's been in the background for awhile. He's been going out on his own and was even featured with The Roots on Jimmy Fallon.
Here he his on his live album giving All this Love some love with Take 6 killing the acapella.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3c2Y4aQQfo
Click to expand...


YES! It's the album that made me want to buy Vinyl.
Here he is live in Amsterdam with a full orchestra ...it's incredible! I long for a Blu-Ray.
Gregory Porter &The Metropole Orchestra, Full concert, Paradiso.
 
F

Fugu

Member
I've been trying to put together a list of "essential jazz" but it's becoming very cumbersome to do. For now, I'm just going to post my top ten:

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz (Free jazz)
Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch! (Free jazz)
Miles Davis/Gil Evans - Porgy & Bess (Cool big band)
Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus ("Hot" big band, sometimes called progressive big band)
John Coltrane - Giant Steps (Hard bop)
Thelonius Monk - Alone in San Francisco (Monk's hard bop -- quite different from everyone else's hard bop)
The Quintet - Jazz at Massey Hall (Bebop)
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue ("Modal jazz", post bop? Tough to classify)
Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans - Know What I Mean? (Hard bop)
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (Cool jazzish, some might say hard bop)

These are in no particular order, although I probably would rank Free Jazz or Porgy & Bess at the top of an ordered list.. Of these, the bolded five are what I would consider "required reading" for a basic primer on jazz: These recordings are so iconic or impactful that they simultaneously represent watershed moments and the high points of quality for the canon.

Having said that, I think there's nothing on my list that is especially obscure and that many if not most jazz fans will encounter all of these records fairly early in their listening career, except perhaps the Cannonball/Bill Evans one.

JinjoUnchained said:
Jazz is all about dissonance. Picture a scale on the keyboard, say C major, all white keys from one C to the next. Classical diatonic harmony would build chords out of notes spaced apart, like C E G C. Jazz harmony, on the other hand, might give you C E G C D. That extra D sounds blurry or dreamy as it bumps up against the higher C, but it all still sounds pretty spread out and harmonious.

Notes like the D in the example above are what you might call jazz notes and give jazz its' distinct sound. Try it at the keyboard; play the two chords I mentioned and notice how they hit your ear differently. That's Jazz in a nutshell.
Click to expand...
I agree with your broader point, but I wouldn't call D over C major dissonant unless you're talking about counterpoint.

A straight up major chord is something of a rarity in jazz, too. You're likely to see C6/9, Cmaj7, or Cmaj7#11, but a C major triad is more likely to be heard as a rootless voicing for another chord -- it's a common upper triad for Ami7, Dmi7, many chords beginning on F (Fmaj7#11, F6/9, FMiMa7...), G7sus, Bb6/9, BbMaj7, Bb7#11, A7#9, Eb7b9nat13... I could go on.

C 6/9: C E G A D
Cmaj7: C E G B (D) (F#) (A)
Cmaj7#11: C E G B (D) F# (A)
Ami7 : A C E G (B) (D) (F#)
Dmi7: D F A C (E) (G) (B)
Fmaj7#11: F A C E (G) B (D)
F6/9: F A C D G
FMiMa7: F Ab C E (G D/Db)
G7sus: G C D F (A E)
Bb6/9: Bb D F G C
BbMaj7: Bb D F A (C) (E) (G)
Bb7#11: Bb D F Ab (C) E (G)
A7#9 A C# E G (Bb) B# (D# F)
Eb7b9nat13: Eb G Bb Db Fb (A) C

All of these chords contain the notes C, E and G in some form. The 6/9s appear to not have only two but the third note comes in if you introduce the seventh.

Jazz is full of sounds. The harmonic inventory of jazz is surely in like, the 99th percentile in terms of size and variety for all music. The only thing I can think of that has more choices is contemporary western art music.

The only limit for jazz harmony is what people can feasibly improvise over, and people are really pushing that too. Coltrane pushed that about as far as it can go in a technical direction with things like Countdown, where you have nine keys in a chorus and a chorus is about ten seconds long, while meanwhile the free jazz guys basically threw harmony away altogether and proved that you could still hold it together as a band.
 
N

nasax

Member
Subscribed. I've been looking for a starting point for jazz music as I've been wanting to get into it. I've played the saxophone in my school's marching band and in our jazz band as well and I used to listen to jazz with my band director in the band hall but all of this was like 17 years ago and I didn't have the same taste in music.

Anyway I see so many recommendations and I'm going to give it a go. I'm not the OP but thanks for the recommendations.


teruterubozu said:
There's a Jazz |OT| folks! And it needs more love!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1012381
Click to expand...


Subscribed to this too. Thanks!
 
L

lazygecko

Member
I would recommend Klaus Doldinger and his band Passport and anything they did in the 70s. They are pretty much a german 1:1 equivalent of Herbie Hancock and Headhunters.
 
J

JinjoUnchained

Member
Fugu said:
I've been trying to put together a list of "essential jazz" but it's becoming very cumbersome to do. For now, I'm just going to post my top ten:

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz (Free jazz)
Eric Dolphy - Out to Lunch! (Free jazz)
Miles Davis/Gil Evans - Porgy & Bess (Cool big band)
Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus ("Hot" big band, sometimes called progressive big band)
John Coltrane - Giant Steps (Hard bop)
Thelonius Monk - Alone in San Francisco (Monk's hard bop -- quite different from everyone else's hard bop)
The Quintet - Jazz at Massey Hall (Bebop)
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue ("Modal jazz", post bop? Tough to classify)
Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans - Know What I Mean? (Hard bop)
Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus (Cool jazzish, some might say hard bop)

These are in no particular order, although I probably would rank Free Jazz or Porgy & Bess at the top of an ordered list.. Of these, the bolded five are what I would consider "required reading" for a basic primer on jazz: These recordings are so iconic or impactful that they simultaneously represent watershed moments and the high points of quality for the canon.

Having said that, I think there's nothing on my list that is especially obscure and that many if not most jazz fans will encounter all of these records fairly early in their listening career, except perhaps the Cannonball/Bill Evans one.


I agree with your broader point, but I wouldn't call D over C major dissonant unless you're talking about counterpoint.

A straight up major chord is something of a rarity in jazz, too. You're likely to see C6/9, Cmaj7, or Cmaj7#11, but a C major triad is more likely to be heard as a rootless voicing for another chord -- it's a common upper triad for Ami7, Dmi7, many chords beginning on F (Fmaj7#11, F6/9, FMiMa7...), G7sus, Bb6/9, BbMaj7, Bb7#11, A7#9, Eb7b9nat13... I could go on.

C 6/9: C E G A D
Cmaj7: C E G B (D) (F#) (A)
Cmaj7#11: C E G B (D) F# (A)
Ami7 : A C E G (B) (D) (F#)
Dmi7: D F A C (E) (G) (B)
Fmaj7#11: F A C E (G) B (D)
F6/9: F A C D G
FMiMa7: F Ab C E (G D/Db)
G7sus: G C D F (A E)
Bb6/9: Bb D F G C
BbMaj7: Bb D F A (C) (E) (G)
Bb7#11: Bb D F Ab (C) E (G)
A7#9 A C# E G (Bb) B# (D# F)
Eb7b9nat13: Eb G Bb Db Fb (A) C

All of these chords contain the notes C, E and G in some form. The 6/9s appear to not have only two but the third note comes in if you introduce the seventh.

Jazz is full of sounds. The harmonic inventory of jazz is surely in like, the 99th percentile in terms of size and variety for all music. The only thing I can think of that has more choices is contemporary western art music.

The only limit for jazz harmony is what people can feasibly improvise over, and people are really pushing that too. Coltrane pushed that about as far as it can go in a technical direction with things like Countdown, where you have nine keys in a chorus and a chorus is about ten seconds long, while meanwhile the free jazz guys basically threw harmony away altogether and proved that you could still hold it together as a band.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's true. I was trying to keep it super simple for OP as I don't know how into theory they are or even if they know where the notes on the piano are. But yeah, in order for that D to be "jazzy" against a C major, you'll also need the dominant seventh or a dominant substitute; that's what makes that D a 9th as opposed to a 2nd. And if you sub the 6 for the dominant 7th, then you get C E G A D, or C 6 9. That's a good chord for someone to start off with as it sounds harmonically enhanced, but still pentatonic.

So, if you're still following along OP. Play a C E G Bb C chord, then a C E G A D chord. You'll hear a harmonic difference that you could call the difference between traditional/diatonic harmony vs jazz harmony. In this case, the A and D are "jazz" notes that don't belong to the traditional C major chord, but add that extra jazzy flavor. As the poster above me stated, though, that chord would probably be voiced differently in jazz. So you could actually drop the C root and play only E G A D. The ear still hears that as C 6 9, even without the root.

Take it one step further and you can do a chord progression with jazz voicings and harmony, leading you to the chord we've already played. This time play F A C E, that's a rootless voicing for D minor (with the E as the "jazz" note here). Next, drop the C down a note to B and play F A B E; that's a rootless voicing for G major (the F and the E are "jazz" notes here). Finally, end with the E G A D we did originally; a rootless voicing for C major (A and D are "jazz" notes here).

Hopefully that's easy to follow along with, again I don't know your skill level.
 
D

dafinezt

Banned
If you liked Headhunters, I recommend checking out Spectrum by Billy Cobham and Chick Corea Elektric Band's self titled.
 
J

jb1234

Member
JinjoUnchained said:
Jazz is all about dissonance. Picture a scale on the keyboard, say C major, all white keys from one C to the next. Classical diatonic harmony would build chords out of notes spaced apart, like C E G C. Jazz harmony, on the other hand, might give you C E G C D. That extra D sounds blurry or dreamy as it bumps up against the higher C, but it all still sounds pretty spread out and harmonious.

Notes like the D in the example above are what you might call jazz notes and give jazz its' distinct sound. Try it at the keyboard; play the two chords I mentioned and notice how they hit your ear differently. That's Jazz in a nutshell.
Click to expand...

A C-major chord with an added D is hardly out of place in contemporary classical music either. But then, at this point, composers have every possible note combination available to them as all the rules have been torn down.
 
D

Doctor Shatner

Member
As others have said, Miles' Kind of Blue and Coltrane's Love Supreme are great starting points. Chick Corea and McCoy Tyner are some favorites of mine if you go deeper (Spain and Sahara for specific pieces).
 
T

taco543

Member
wanderingprostheyltite said:
I don't claim to know theory or be knowledgeable of the greats' catalogs, but I def have an appreciation for it, admittedly a lot is fusion or prog based. This won't help you for classics op but I thoroughly enjoyed Kamasi Washington's The Epic which was released last year. He's the sax player Flying Lotus uses a lot. Give it a whirl sometime if you're so inclined.
Click to expand...

He is a great modern jazz musician. Here's a link to one of his songs off his album The Epic
A THREE HOUR LONG JAZZ ALBUM

https://youtu.be/NtQRBzSN9Vw
 
F

Fugu

Member
JinjoUnchained said:
Yeah, that's true. I was trying to keep it super simple for OP as I don't know how into theory they are or even if they know where the notes on the piano are. But yeah, in order for that D to be "jazzy" against a C major, you'll also need the dominant seventh or a dominant substitute; that's what makes that D a 9th as opposed to a 2nd. And if you sub the 6 for the dominant 7th, then you get C E G A D, or C 6 9. That's a good chord for someone to start off with as it sounds harmonically enhanced, but still pentatonic.

So, if you're still following along OP. Play a C E G Bb C chord, then a C E G A D chord. You'll hear a harmonic difference that you could call the difference between traditional/diatonic harmony vs jazz harmony. In this case, the A and D are "jazz" notes that don't belong to the traditional C major chord, but add that extra jazzy flavor. As the poster above me stated, though, that chord would probably be voiced differently in jazz. So you could actually drop the C root and play only E G A D. The ear still hears that as C 6 9, even without the root.

Take it one step further and you can do a chord progression with jazz voicings and harmony, leading you to the chord we've already played. This time play F A C E, that's a rootless voicing for D minor (with the E as the "jazz" note here). Next, drop the C down a note to B and play F A B E; that's a rootless voicing for G major (the F and the E are "jazz" notes here). Finally, end with the E G A D we did originally; a rootless voicing for C major (A and D are "jazz" notes here).

Hopefully that's easy to follow along with, again I don't know your skill level.
Click to expand...
What makes the D a 9 or a 2 depends on the interval distance between it and the C, in other words whether there's an octave or not.

Having said that, in jazz parlence it'll always be a 9 unless there's no E since jazz deals with extensions in distances of thirds.

EGAD sounds like Emi11 to me. Someone's gotta play the root if you want it to sound like C6/9. Granted, those chords are substitutes of each other but if you want C you've gotta play C.

EDIT: Also, switching between C7 and C6/9 is unlikely to elicit any real revelations since there's no harmonic tension. If you want to keep the same root the biggest change that you're likely to see in the vernacular is CMaj7 to Cdim, although Cmaj7 to C7 is far more usual.
 
W

watershed

Banned
Interesting thread. I feel like if anyone really explores Charles Mingus' music from early works through Let My Children Hear Music, you will cover a lot of jazz history and forms. He starts out completely conventional, jazz standards and all, ends up composing and arranging for bands of all sizes from trios to 22 plus big bands and jazz orchestras, and eventually goes into genre bending avante garde territory all the while doing things with jazz music I've rarely heard before or since.
 
S

Shrike_Priest

Member
I have trouble with straight up "classic jazz" (note that I'm far from an expert, so I'm sure I'm missing plenty of genre nuance), aside from a few pillars like Kind of Blue/A Love Supreme.

I do like plenty of the fusiony and more contemporary stuff:

David Axelrod - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMakYKVKqIc
BADBADNOTGOOD - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atBp0-W9o68
Nils Petter Molvaeir - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7XibMS09HI (this is one of the more post-rockish albums, but the trumpet game is on point)
Austin Peralta - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=835XeBsNAzk (think this is the most legit jazzy of these recommendations)
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMpbiwN9wlI (word of warning, this is is some really dark noisy, nails-in-your-ears type stuff)
 
G

Guffers

Member
jb1234 said:
A C-major chord with an added D is hardly out of place in contemporary classical music either. But then, at this point, composers have every possible note combination available to them as all the rules have been torn down.
Click to expand...

That chord is everywhere in pop music as well. Unschooled pop guitarists play C E G D G all the time. I've heard it called a 'Beatles C.'

It would just be a Cadd9 wouldn't it? If you play C E G B D then you get C major 9. Probably voiced as C E B D on a guitar. To my ears a very syrupy, poppy harmony. The kind of thing John Mayer built his early career on.

To me as a classical musician I tend to think of typical Jazz harmony being defined by the stock standard ii V I progression. If you can play over those kind of changes you can do a fairly decent approximation of jazz improv. Although people like Parker and Coltrane absolutely exploded the harmonic possibilities with endless substitutions etc. One of my lecturers at University called it 'Super music' on account of how fast you need to be able to think through changes.

Oh and my recommendations for jazz records...anything by Keith Jarrett or more recently the sax player Chris Potter. And of course Miles, Coltrane, Parker etc. Another favourite of mine, Bill Evans. His trio recordings are magical.
 
S

Systolique

Member
Joe said:
How much of Jazz is improvised? Is modern Jazz still improvised, or did that get left behind in a different era?

How can you even tell if it is improvised, or pre-planned, or a mix of both?

If it is improvised then how the heck do you record an album? Are tracks recorded in one take? Is every take vastly different?

How do you perform album tracks live?
Click to expand...

1. Depends on what type of jazz is playing ; free jazz is going to be almost - if not completely - improvised, as opposed to a pop-like jazz song that can be written and played as written from start to finish.
You still get both today, improvisation is not tied to an era.

2. It's also tied to the genre of jazz you're listening to, but usually you can spot a hook that comes back, which is what glue the track together.
It can go like : theme => guitar impro => theme => piano impro => theme => double bass => end
You can usually tell when someone goes in a solo improv because there's one instrument going forward (ex. trumpet), while all the rest goes quieter and play simpler (ex. piano, drums, double bass).

3. To record an album you do a lot of takes of one song, and then you choose the one you like the most.
Sometimes jazz albums do have "alternative takes" ; 2 versions of one track, which could be one played at a faster tempo or simply just more lively.
It usually goes like this : "[Song name]", "[Song name] (Alternative Take)"

4. Album tracks performed live are usually longer in jazz, but not all the time.
Mostly this is due to letting the musicians have more time to improvise between theme reprises, so a 5min track could go on for 15min live or something !

Lastly I encourage you to visit the Jazz OT, maybe you'll be able to find something you like or ask more questions !
Once I have the member status I hope I can do another sexier and more welcoming OT so that newcomers like yourself have an easier time approaching jazz !
 
M

m3k

Member
the more you know about notes and the original melodies the more you can hear what is being improvised... the players will improvise with keys or notes that correspond or go with other notes and play around a melody... i find that i will hear them come back to the original melody before someone else in the band goes to a solo or they continue on to another part of the song

i also thought it was cool to recognise how different parts of a band will respond to each other

jazz singing is often old songs from the 30s or 40s and then the singer will make all of those sounds occasionally deebodoop ba da etcetc... doesnt always sound great but it is hard to do and when its done well it is its own form of improv

my sister termed jazz musicians as music nerds... it helps to know and hear different parts of music because they are using it to play 'new music'
 
S

Systolique

Member
Walpurgis said:
Baccano Opening Music

If anyone has anything like this, tell me. The closest that I could find is the Undertale soundtrack and it wasn't quite the same.
Click to expand...

It's not the first time I see people asking for things similar to Baccano's or Cowboy Bebop's opening.

You should try SOIL&PIMP SESSIONS :
Crush
Summer Goddess

Other suggestions :

Blowin' The Blues Away - Horace Silver
Love For Sale - The Buddy Rich Big Band (look for the Love For Sale track in the description)
GG Train - Charles Mingus
Enitnerrut - Jackie McLean
You've Got To Have Freedom - Pharoah Sanders
Strangers In Paradise - Tina Brooks
 
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