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Need some good jazz bands.


DanFL

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I listen to pretty much just indie rock. You know, typical teenager stuff that isn't hip hop. I do, however, love jazz. But I'm not really in the jazz scene so I have no idea what's good and not. So the obvious question here, what are some good jazz bands?

 

And thanks to everybody who showered me with advice for my first post. I ended up getting lessons. I have a great teacher who is a cool guy. And I'm hoping to try out for the jazz program at my school (University of South Florida) next year. Thank you again. You guys rule.

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Start with the classics - Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman. Then listen to some of the small group recordings of the legendary plaers; Early Miles Davis, Coltrane, Charlie Parker, along with the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck Quartet, And Nat King Cole's trio (the stuff that he isn't singing on is very, very cool). And listen to the singers, too - the Ella Fitzgerald/ Louis Armstrong duet records with Ray Brown on bass are marvelous; Sarah Vaugn, Nat King Cole again, Big Joe Williams, even 'pop

singers like Dinah Shore, Patti Page and Doris Day - all of these are part of the tradition of jazz, and may be a lot more accessible than contemporary jazz pieces. These are the sorts of records that will give you the background that makes listening to jazz more enjoyable. Your friends will wondy why you're listening to your grand dad's records, though...

 

I bet that others will be able to offer more recent suggestions...

Dave Martin

Java Jive Studio

Nashville, TN

www.javajivestudio.com

 

Cuppa Joe Records

www.cuppajoerecords.com

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Get Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. Half the jazz fans in the world under the age of 40 became fans after listening to this record.

 

Miles, Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Billy Cobb...all in the same group.

 

And the tunes are so unbelievably simple and sublime, yet made rich and wonderously complex by the musicians' improvisational flights.

 

Best of all, for a beginning jazz listener, it's exremely accessible.

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What ist good jazz ??? ;) There are so many different stlyes....

But since this is a bass forum, here's one of my favs: Charlie Haden. I really love his albums with Quartet West, also the album "Art of song" and his latest with Michael Brecker "America the beauty" (if I remember well).

But there are infinte other good artists :)

 

- Ulli -

Sunburn In Cyprus - ElectricDancePop

Find our music at http://www.besonic.com/sic

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ULU is indeed great. I used to rub elbows with Justin Wallace when we were both at NYU just as he was getting that band together. He was a scary good bassist back then. Still is.

 

I ran into him at a rehearsal studio about a year ago, and he told me he had left ULU and was now playing freelance. He seemed to be doing well for himself.

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A few jazz albums that I've enjoyed (from among many):

 

John Coltrane "Giant Steps" and "My Favorite Things"

 

Wayne Shorter "Speak No Evil"

 

Miles Davis "In a Silent Way" (not everyone's 'cup of tea,' but one of my favorites)

 

There is plenty of great recorded jazz out there. Just jump in.

 

Peace.

spreadluv

 

Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars.

Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk.

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And don't forget the shot heard 'round the world, the very first fusion album, sire of a thousand pale imitators:

 

Miles Davis, "Bitches Brew"

"I had to have something, and it wasn't there. I couldn't go down the street and buy it, so I built it."

 

Les Paul

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Here are some that got my juices flowing:

 

Sketches of Spain, Miles Davis (Gil Evans arr.)

Live at Village Vanguard, Bill Evans Trio

Modern Jazz Quartet

Light as a Feather, Return to Forever

Roots in the Sky, Oregon (the album that first made me want to play URB)

Out of the Woods, Oregon

Tears of Joy, Tuck and Patti

Diamond Life, Sade

 

I added some things in there that may only be "jazz-flavored," but Sade's band is top notch, and Tuck and Patti is just too damn good not to listen to it.

"Let's raise the level of this conversation" -- Jeremy Cohen, in the Picasso Thread.

 

Still spendin' that political capital far faster than I can earn it...stretched way out on a limb here and looking for a better interest rate.

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Amongst the aforementioned groups/performers. I must add Paul Desmond to the list. His quartet did a lot of good stuff like "Take Five" (even though people often mis attribute it to Dave Brubeck).

groove, v.

Inflected Form(s): grooved; groov·ing

transitive senses:1a.to make a groove in;1b.to join by a groove;2.to perfect by repeated practice;3.to throw (a pitch) in the groove

intransitive senses:1.to become joined or fitted by a groove;2.to form a groove;3.to enjoy oneself intensely;4.to interact harmoniously

- groov·er noun

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Originally posted by Brendan Orr:

Amongst the aforementioned groups/performers. I must add Paul Desmond to the list. His quartet did a lot of good stuff like "Take Five" (even though people often mis attribute it to Dave Brubeck).

Not mis-attributed; Paul Desmond played with the Brubeck quartet, and the first release of Take Five was as the title track of a Dave Brubeck record.

Dave Martin

Java Jive Studio

Nashville, TN

www.javajivestudio.com

 

Cuppa Joe Records

www.cuppajoerecords.com

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If you're into more fusion-y sorts of jazz, try Soulive. They just released a live album that is fantastic. But if you do that, make sure you also listen to some of the classics that have also been mentioned here. Without understanding the roots of the genre, you don't get the full effect of the offshoots.

As I was going up the stairs

I met a man who wasn't there

He wasn't there again today

I wish, I wish he'd go away

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Dave, thanks for staitening that out for me. Looks like I have some more jazz history to learn.

groove, v.

Inflected Form(s): grooved; groov·ing

transitive senses:1a.to make a groove in;1b.to join by a groove;2.to perfect by repeated practice;3.to throw (a pitch) in the groove

intransitive senses:1.to become joined or fitted by a groove;2.to form a groove;3.to enjoy oneself intensely;4.to interact harmoniously

- groov·er noun

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What...no Mingus? :confused: Find a good compilation with "Better Git Hit In Your Soul", "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", "Haitian Fight Song", etc.

 

As Dave Martin mentioned, do check out singers. My favorite jazz vocal album: "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman". Perhaps the most romantic jazz album of all time. The only singer with whom Coltrane recorded, Hartman is one of my all-time favorite vocalists. Coltrane plays beautifully understated lines throughout.

 

Listening to great jazz singers will help develop your sense of phrasing and get you familiar with "standards". In jazz, "standards" are songs that had their roots in popular music, Broadway shows, etc., and were adapted by jazz musicians by enriching melody and chord changes. For example, songs like "All of Me", "Stella By Starlight", "All the Things You Are", "Night and Day". and "My One and Only Love". Composers whose works have become standards include George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Rogers and Hart, Rogers and Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, and many others.

 

For contemporary jazz, you'll need a copy of Weather Report's "Heavy Weather". The motherlode. Most of the forum contributors could go on and on about this album.

 

I'll also suggest Pat Metheny "Bright Size Life". A very young Metheny and a very young Jaco Pastorius foreshadow the shape of things to come.

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