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Jazz at The White House


Jazz+

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It's nice to have a First Lady and a President with jazz on their iPods instead of country music.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/arts/music/16jazz.html?_r=1&hp

Harry Likas was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Find 700 of Harry’s piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and jazz piano tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas

 

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:rolleyes: Jazz+, please confine your political BS posts to the Harmony Central DU forum.

 

Please be advised that discussion of politics and religion is not acceptable on this forum.

 

Anyone starting a thread or making a post in an existing thread that leads to either of these subjects will most likely have their posting privileges suspended for 30 days on first offense and will be subject to longer leaves of absence on subsequent offenses.

Live: Yamaha S70XS (#1); Roland Jupiter-80; Mackie 1202VLZ4; IEMs or Traynor K4

Home: Hammond SK Pro 73; Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue; Yamaha S70XS (#2); Wurlitzer 200A

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I can't speak for Jazz+ but I'd be willing to bet his remark reflects the more sophisticated nature of jazz music especially when compared to country music.

 

While there are great country composers and performers, harmonically speaking, the music is usually simple with relatively simple melodies.

 

Jazz, on the other hand, is typically richer harmonically and places slightly more demands on the listener.

 

You can twist these remarks to make me an elitist, but what I wrote is basically true.

No guitarists were harmed during the making of this message.

 

In general, harmonic complexity is inversely proportional to the ratio between chording and non-chording instruments.

 

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I would imagine there is a variety of music on the iPods at the White House. The residents are relatively young.

 

For the Prez, I'm sure 4'33" is one of those tunes. If not, it will be more sooner than later. :laugh::cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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I would imagine there is a variety of music on the iPods at the White House. The residents are relatively young.

 

For the Prez, I'm sure 4'33" is one of those tunes. If not, it will be more sooner than later. :laugh::cool:

I'm pretty sure EVERY president wishes they could have 4"33" at some point...
A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable.
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At least 4'33" is public domain, so when I take a 5 min. break, I don't worry about plagiarizing John Cage.

 

I actually talked to him on the phone once, by chance. He was at a friend's apartment in NY and answered the phone when I called. We talked for maybe 20 minutes, or I should say he talked... about birdwatching... which I knew nothing about.

 

 

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I think the whole 'Jazz vs Country' is not political at all.

 

It seems the White House invited high school jazz students to this event. It shows they're trying to encourage the youth to stay interested in the art form. Jazz is dying(almost dead), these kids are the possible future for that art form.

 

Country, another american art form, is doing quite well on the other hand. However, when the sad day comes that country music is on it's death bead, I'll bet that current administration will try whatever it can to encourage it amoung the youth of that time.

 

 

TROLL . . . ish.
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I would imagine there is a variety of music on the iPods at the White House. The residents are relatively young.

 

For the Prez, I'm sure 4'33" is one of those tunes. If not, it will be more sooner than later. :laugh::cool:

I'm pretty sure EVERY president wishes they could have 4"33" at some point...

 

I imagine the president turns to music to relax, not to show how sophisticated a listener he is.

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How long have people been proclaiming "Jazz is dead" or "Jazz is dying"? At least since Miles went electric. Forty years later, it still ain't dead. It's still being played, and exciting jazz music is still being made. Enough is enough with the cliches.
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How long have people been proclaiming "Jazz is dead" or "Jazz is dying"?

Yep, it is only in the minds of the listener(s) making the proclamation.

 

IMO, it is the style of music that 'dies' rather than the genre itself.

 

I was reminded this past weekend when I saw an advertisement for the 'Greatest Hits' of Soft Rock. :laugh:

 

Styles come and go, yet, Jazz, Rock, Country, R&B, etc., are still alive and well.

 

A new generation of musos and diehards willing to stay in the game are putting their twist on it i.e. style. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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How long have people been proclaiming "Jazz is dead" or "Jazz is dying"? Enough is enough with the cliches.

 

So are you saying Jazz is as popular as country music right now? It used to be.

 

There are no cliches, maybe jazz is as popular as it was in the 60's? Or maybe you're not saying that at all. Maybe it's as popular as it was in the 70's and 80's when I was coming up and I just don't see it? How about no. It's not.

 

When I was growing up, kids who played instruments were intertersted in playing School Days, or Spain, or learning Birdland by Weather Report. That was current to the times, but it made us more interested in what jazz was all about.

Todays kids who play(my friends kids and there friends)want to program hip hop, and couldn't tell you what Birdland was, or who Weather Report is...Dizzy?. Not even close. When I came up, the kids I played with played funk, some rock and acid/jazz. However when we went to hear other players play, we would go to the jazz concerts to hear the real players, who played..jazz. We learned about the past and the greats like Miles and Dizzy. Ellington and Byrd, even though we couldn't play some of there songs.

 

Jazz will always be here, so, like rock or rap, it will never truly die. It's just at a point now where the returns are diminishing. Listen to any media, or ask any 10 kids today who play instruments about jazz, and then tell me jazz isn't dying. Hell with that, ask Herbie Hancock! As far as the OP, any move that gets our youth interested, or keeps them interested in an american art form is a good thing!

TROLL . . . ish.
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@meccajay

 

Just saying jazz isn't dead. And I share your lament of the disinterest in it these days. It's hard to believe jazz music was "popular music" before the term became synonymous with the Top 40.

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Jazz will always be here, so, like rock or rap, it will never truly die. It's just at a point now where the returns are diminishing. Listen to any media, or ask any 10 kids today who play instruments about jazz, and then tell me jazz isn't dying.

Jazz lives in the halls of academia and it is performed in venues scattered throughout the world.

 

There are still kids enrolling in the music programs at North Texas State University, Berklee, Peabody, Julliard, U of Miami, to name a few.

 

At present, Smooth Jazz is the most popular form of it. There are dedicated record companies, radio stations, festivals, etc.

 

In fact, most Jazz musos I know play more Smooth than traditional gigs.

 

Jay, as an aside, your A-Town homie, Phil Davis played for both Will Downing and George Duke at the Capital Jazz Festival. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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Herbie won the 2008 Album of the Year Grammy Award for the Joni Letters. A jazz record. Jazz ain't dead.

 

True, but you have to consider why. I think it won less for the fact that it's a jazz album and more for the fact that Herbie is paying tribute to Joni Mitchell, and that singers Grammy voters love (Norah Jones, Tina Turner, Corinne Bailey Rae) are on it. We're talking about a voting demographic that chose Steely Dan over Eminem in 2000. I'm not making a judgment call on who should've won, just pointing out that Grammy voters tend to be older.

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How long have people been proclaiming "Jazz is dead" or "Jazz is dying"? At least since Miles went electric. Forty years later, it still ain't dead. It's still being played, and exciting jazz music is still being made. Enough is enough with the cliches.
If you don't think jazz is dead, you should come to one of my gigs :wave:
A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable.
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@meccajay

 

Just saying jazz isn't dead. And I share your lament of the disinterest in it these days. It's hard to believe jazz music was "popular music" before the term became synonymous with the Top 40.

That's because jazz used to be no more sophisticated harmonically than a lot of pop music. Once the harmony got deeper, average folks were lost. People don't want to hear that shit. who can blame them - takes too much thought to get past Britney, Whitney, or Glenn Miller
A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable.
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@meccajay

 

Just saying jazz isn't dead. And I share your lament of the disinterest in it these days. It's hard to believe jazz music was "popular music" before the term became synonymous with the Top 40.

 

Yes and I apologize if I came off to emphatically. Obviously we both love Jazz. :thu: To rethink, and reword it. I should have said...

 

I think kids today need encouragement, guidance, and lots of exposure to all things past and present regarding the rich tradition of jazz.

TROLL . . . ish.
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At present, Smooth Jazz is the most popular form of it. There are dedicated record companies, radio stations, festivals, etc.

 

In fact, most Jazz musos I know play more Smooth than traditional gigs.

 

With all due respect, I don't consider smooth jazz to be within the realm of real music jazz at all.

 

 

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At present, Smooth Jazz is the most popular form of it. There are dedicated record companies, radio stations, festivals, etc.

 

In fact, most Jazz musos I know play more Smooth than traditional gigs.

 

With all due respect, I don't consider smooth jazz to be within the realm of real music jazz at all.

 

Smooth jazz is a fundamental modern equivalent to the bulk of Big Band music - instrumental pop tunes played in a very accessible manner
A ROMpler is just a polyphonic turntable.
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