Jesus Molina funking like it's 1999

[AROIOS]

Amazing what he came up with after only one pass of listen, and it's a tasty Gospel side of him we don't usually hear.
 

 

[J.F.N.]

Saw that the other day too, he's a machine, tbh I didn't really think it was that "genius", he's doing his thing, which he is great at, but I didn't feel what he did really fit very well into the context as a whole, which is fully okay as we all have different ways of expressing our creativity.

 

 

[stoken6]

I have trouble believing that these top musos, who are immersed in a world of music and musicians, haven't heard some of these tracks. How can you not know 1999? It's like being an architect and not knowing the statue of Liberty.

 

On a Drumeo video, Larnell Lewis hadn't heard Enter Sandman. How is this possible?

 

Cheers, Mike.

[J.F.N.]

He's 27, grew up with the internet and music streaming, no MTV and I assume not a lot of mainstream radio either, even if I do assume Colombia has a fair amount of culture influence from the US, probably Prince has not made any footprints there during the last 20 years or so...

 

And I doubt Prince ever hit any charts in Colombia since JM was born, or ever... 🤪 

 

In all fairness, first time I heard 1999 was in 1994 when I took a one year "Pro Preparation" course and it was part of the tunes in the curriculum.

 

The course was about learning how the pro music industry works, how to deal with different situations being a gun for hire, all teachers were seasoned pros playing with A-list artists etc. (I met Mic from Europe through one of the teachers who thought it'd be a good idea for us to meet as we both are synth geeks... 🤣 )

[Sean M. H.]

1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

I have trouble believing that these top musos, who are immersed in a world of music and musicians, haven't heard some of these tracks. How can you not know 1999? It's like being an architect and not knowing the statue of Liberty.

 

On a Drumeo video, Larnell Lewis hadn't heard Enter Sandman. How is this possible?

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

Well...in this case...Jesus was born 14 years after 1999 was released, and in another part of the world...so I don't think it's too farfetched that he hasn't heard of one particular Prince song (or more accurately, he's not "familiar" with the song...sure he could have heard it randomly at some point in his life)

 

More generally, I guess it's a little different from other areas of study (like architecture for instance) where learning the history is part of the formal, required curriculum.  Some of the best musicians I know, very rarely stray too far away from the types of music they were exposed to in their formative years (which may explain why they've become masters in the first place?).  For Molina, that (obviously) included jazz, latin, gospel and fusion...probably wasn't into American pop-rock.

 

My problem with these videos--especially the keyboard ones I've seen-- is that what these guys are playing has absolutely nothing to do with the original!  I mean here, Molina may as well have been playing over any random groove/loop in the key of F.  Great playing, as always...but...the only role Prince/1999 really play here is to allow them to put it in the title of the video and draw clicks.

[stoken6]

2 hours ago, Sean M. H. said:

formal, required curriculum

That's kind of the point I'm making. I would be less surprised if you pluck any old Colombian 20-something off the streets of Bogotá and they didn't know 1999.

 

But Jesus is not a random Joe Shmoe (Juan Perez?) - he's is in the music business. He studied at Berklee FFS - it doesn't get more "formal, required curriculum" than that.

 

Agree that if you take the harmonic content out of 1999 you're not left with much to work with. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

[Docbop]

To me it shows that Jesus just views song a vehicles to show off his skills to, he's not listening like someone who plays with others or records focusing on making the song good.   He became know for his chops and that his niche and he stays there.    I guess that is why I stopped listening to him chops music to me gets boring  I want to hear people who play to the song or accompanying the artist or soloist. 

[ProfD]

Jesus Molina playing over this track reminds me of Jordan Rudess on the Alicia Keys track. 

 

IMO, these dudes have chops for days and zero musicality.

 

In fairness, I do realize many folks listen to music from the neck up. Bless their hearts. 🤣😎

[J.F.N.]

This one is quite a bit more interesting imho.

 

 

 

[CyberGene]

I usually agree with those who think Molina is more about chops and less about music but I beg to differ this time. There’s absolutely nothing in common between what he did here and what Rudess did in a similar setting. While Rudess just played fast diatonic arpeggios in no particular idiom and rather f*cking around, Molina applied very tight rhythmical comping with great harmonies in what sounded to me like a very well thought start to end piano track with pleasant Gospel feel, of course interspersed with his chops which I actually think are recognizable and that’s a good thing. I am amazed at how much variation he could come up with just one take. Thoroughly enjoyed it. 

[konaboy]

hmm, playing to impress rather than playing to support the song/vocals.

so fail for me on this challenge, although no denying his talent!

[AROIOS]

I think there can be at least two perspectives of looking at his arrangement:
 

1) how a re-arrangement could serve a familiar Pop melody, hopefully without clashing too much with our impression from the original arrangement;
 

2) in a Jazz tradition, how a Pop melody could serve as launch pad for a universe of harmonic/improvisational fun
 

It's understandable how folks might feel unsatisfied coming from the 1st perspective.
 

Jesus did brilliantly from the 2nd perspective. His harmony choices revolved around the melody tastefully and is a masterclass in Churchy reharm.

[ProfD]

@CyberGene and @AROIOS, I get what you are hearing from a musician's standpoint.

 

Jesus Molina is what we call a musician's musician. 

 

IMO, it's too busy and doesn't groove. He's throwing up notes all over the track.

 

A record producer would tell him to leave a majority of that sh8t he's playing in the bathroom or save it for the Olympics. 🤣😎

[AROIOS]

Just now, ProfD said:

@CyberGene and @AROIOS, I get what you are hearing from a musician's standpoint.

 

Jesus Molina is what we call a musician's musician. 

 

IMO, it's too busy and doesn't groove. He's throwing up notes all over the track.

 

A record producer would tell him to leave a majority of that sh8t he's playing in the bathroom or save it for the Olympics. 🤣😎

Absolutely. No way any sane producer's gonna leave those busy runs as they are in a session context.

And Jesus knows that perfectly well. He plays simple and sparsely, almost to a fault, in his Pop songs. That's a major difference between him and Jordan.

[Sean M. H.]

7 hours ago, ProfD said:

Jesus Molina playing over this track reminds me of Jordan Rudess on the Alicia Keys tracks. 

 

IMO, these dudes have chops for days and zero musicality.

 

In fairness, I do realize many folks listen to music from the neck up. Bless their hearts. 🤣😎

 

For me, it's not even that they lack musicality--cause I actually like some of Molina's own material, as well as Rudess (Dream Theater)...so I don't want to attack their musicality/artistry as a whole...but yeah...in this context, these videos do nothing for me.

 

I think some of it is the way these videos are done also.  On the aforementioned Larnell Lewis drum video--the idea was that he listened to the Metallica track all the way through, and then attempted to recreate it (in his own way of course).  These keyboard videos are done differently..."hey, let's give you a blank canvas so you can improvise over the track with all the keys removed"... doesn't really offer much of value for me personally.

 

[ProfD]

5 minutes ago, Sean M. H. said:

These keyboard videos are done differently..."hey, let's give you a blank canvas so you can improvise over the track with all the keys removed"...

That approach could lead to a virtuoso KB throwing in everything i.e. kitchen sink, plywood, roof shingles and a lawnmower.🤣😎

[Sean M. H.]

2 minutes ago, ProfD said:

That approach could lead to a virtuoso KB throwing in everything i.e. kitchen sink, plywood, roof shingles and a lawnmower.🤣😎

 

 

Yep...as seen in Exhibit A and Exhibit B lol

[CyberGene]

BTW, assuming these keyboard players really didn’t know the tracks (I have no reasons to believe otherwise but some people seem to suggest it), it’s very difficult to just hear drums and melody and come up quickly with something worth it to fill it up. It’s expected that they will resort to their typical stuff. Even the most creative music minds of our time need the comfort (or discomfort) of being alone for days, weeks, months or years to produce what we hear as a great product. And here we have someone who’s been called to do some wild things over unknown tracks in what seems to be no more than an hour under the scrutiny of people watching them both there in the studio, and later on when released for public. 

[Bill H.]

Moment of truth for many of us in this forum was Jesus Molina's first comment: "This is really old!"

 

When 1999 the song is 42 years old and 1999 the year is 25 years old, I don't blame a kid for not knowing it. 

 

I listened a bit to his interpretation. It's not something I'll be adding to my car's playlist. But I'm of the age that knows the original well and has played it a lot. 

[AROIOS]

1 hour ago, Bill H. said:

...I listened a bit to his interpretation. It's not something I'll be adding to my car's playlist...

Speaking of car playlists, I've always had Phil's "1999 knock-off" in my car but not Prince's "original". David Frank did a great job with the synth bass and drums on that.
 

 

[CrossRhodes]

As the famous saying goes “Lighten up Francis!”. These videos are made in the spirit of good fun and to highlight all of the talent out there. I got a kick out of watching Molina do his thing and had no expectations that he was going to write something in the vein of the original track. 

[CrossRhodes]

• 5 hours ago, ProfD said:

  @CyberGene and @AROIOS, I get what you are hearing from a musician's standpoint.

   

  Jesus Molina is what we call a musician's musician. 

   

  IMO, it's too busy and doesn't groove. He's throwing up notes all over the track.

   

  A record producer would tell him to leave a majority of that sh8t he's playing in the bathroom or save it for the Olympics. 🤣😎

  
  
  These videos are made by musicians for musicians. There are no record producers for YouTube wankfest videos. Gotta’ take them in the spirit they are intended and enjoy ‘em for what they are.
  
  I think there is a place for this kind of light hearted content as it’s all in good fun. I would choke like a mofo if I was put on the spot like this so I always find it enjoyable to see what players with more talent than I have can cook up on the spot. Especially after only one listen, jeez!

[CrossRhodes]

8 hours ago, J.F.N. said:

This one is quite a bit more interesting imho.

 

 

 

This was definitely my favorite one to date. I liked his track better than the original!

[J.F.N.]

6 hours ago, CrossRhodes said:

This was definitely my favorite one to date. I liked his track better than the original!

 

He's definitely an interesting keys player indeed!

 

[ProfD]

9 hours ago, CrossRhodes said:

This was definitely my favorite one to date. I liked his track better than the original!

Justin Stanton is accustomed to playing in a band. Granted, they do stretch out a bit but it still requires a certain amount of  restraint. He's also familiar with the type of music presented even with KB parts muted. I'm not surprised by his approach to it.😎

[Tusker]

There is a philosophy of taking a tune and making it yours. It's where the idea of a jazz standard comes from. The jazz standard is not damaged by your eccentric interpretation of it.

 

You can draw an interesting parallel between 19th century virtuosity movement in Western Europe and 20th/21st century recorded music era in which we live. Both narrowed the acceptable range of what music can be. There was a "best" version and then there are those which are not quite there. This force is so strong that bands began to write music which could be precisely reproduced live. Today we have tribute bands which are note perfect. Nothing wrong with that, except when it narrows musical imagination.

 

Music ebbs and flows between this narrower concept and the broader philosophy I mentioned: Take the original song and have fun with it.

 

I loved what JM did. (also JS) I also love channels like the Scary Pockets. Who cares if it's not designed to go up the charts and please the lowest common denominator? It's music. Have fun!

[Thethirdapple]

Figure that the “prompt” and agreed purpose of the video makes all the difference. Here is a slightly different angle of the same video concept for musicians to show off chops and creativity. 

I didn't go looking and don't follow these musicians, but just an algorithmic feed…

 

 

 

PEACE

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[Adan]

One reason I like Scary Pockets is that it's always evident that they put real thought into the arrangement. At their best, the arrangements make me think "this song could have been a hit written this way too."

 

By contrast, these "what can you do with this tune right here on the spot" end up being more about how the featured player can improvise. In this case, as someone posted above, the melody of the tune is so generic that the jam ends up being about how JM can riff on a root chord and a beat. If you like his playing (I do), then that can be worth a click, but I'm not sure what the point is beyond that. 

 

And who are these giddy couch people? I'm assuming they produced the video, paid JM to show up, paid someone with requisite skills to create the vox/drum-only track. In other words, they're YouTube entrepreneurs who think they've found a way to get clicks and make money.

[Docbop]

2 hours ago, Adan said:

One reason I like Scary Pockets is that it's always evident that they put real thought into the arrangement. At their best, the arrangements make me think "this song could have been a hit written this way too."

 

What is amazing is the interview videos Ryan Lerman and Jack Conte have done with Jim Keltner and others, the level of detail Ryan and Jack have on great records from the past on individual parts played and the recording.   It definitely come through in their own music their study of past great music.

 

 

[CrossRhodes]

3 hours ago, Adan said:

And who are these giddy couch people? I'm assuming they produced the video, paid JM to show up, paid someone with requisite skills to create the vox/drum-only track. In other words, they're YouTube entrepreneurs who think they've found a way to get clicks and make money.

They’re both musicians affiliated with the Pianote online lessons platform. With almost two million subscribers on YouTube, I’d say they are pretty savvy on the business side of things. Working the social media algorithms is just the name of the game these days for most people trying to make a living with music.

I really don’t see the harm in this type of content. They seem to be genuinely having fun doing this video series and it’s good exposure for the musicians they feature.