Jazz for aficionados

Spring will be here soon. What are your fave Jazz albums/cds to kick off
the new season?  Happy Listening!

Marcia Ball:  Not everyone can sing the blues.  It helps a lot if you have lived the Blues.

Paul Desmond & Dry martini:
Mission accomplished.

The Frogman Posting Shemekia Copeland:
WTF!!!   oops   She's  from NYC.   Never Mind.
.
Cheers

I like Marcia Ball- she can really swing as well.

Range, Rok, range! 😔 As always, "there’s only two kinds of music.....(you know the rest).

Actually, being the daughter of Johnny Copeland (Texas) means that she’s probably more from Texas than anything else; as far as her music genes go, anyway.

Story that I think you’ll appreciate:

So, I’m riding the subway last night on my way home after a job and, as often happens here in NYC, this alto saxophone player gets on the train and starts to play. I’ve seen/heard him about half a dozen times before on my train; late middle age, not quite down and out, real character. He plays the same tune EVERYTIME; Nat Cole’s "Nature Boy". The guy can sort of play; not too bad as is often the case and as one would expect on the subway. But, he plays the same wrong note everytime and it’s been driving me crazy. If you know the tune and the lyric it’s where it goes: "There was a boy, a very strange, enchanted boy. They say he wandered very far, very far..." Well, the note on the first "far" is supposed to be a half step below the note before it on (ve)"ry". It’s almost like a melodic hook and is one of the tune’s most identifiable melodic traits. Well, this guy plays it a whole step lower which sounds clearly wrong. When he finished playing one chorus of the tune he went up and down the crowded subway car with his hat in his outstretched hand. I always give him a few bucks and bite my tongue. This time, as I hand him a five, I said "it sounds really good, but you know you’re playing a wrong note". He responds in a funky gravelly voice: "yeah man, I know, its supposed to be a half step. You know, I started to play that tune before I learned to read music and get me my books and I learned it with that wrong note. The weird thing is that when I play it with the wrong note I make more money than when I play it with the right note". Cracked me (and others on the train) up.

http://youtu.be/Iq0XJCJ1Srw

Hi Orpheus - I just saw your question about what classical music would be cool.  I have been sitting here for fifteen minutes trying to decide how to respond.  This is actually a difficult question, as I have absolutely no idea what you would think is cool.  I could give you a couple of recommendations of things I like, but if you didn't like them, then you might not respond well to further suggestion.  

It would be better if you explored for yourself at first.  The problem becomes then, where do you start?  There are lots of different ways to approach that, too.  One approach might be - what is your favorite instrument(s)?  When you listen to jazz, do you like the pianists the best?  Then maybe try some solo classical piano music, or some piano concertos.  If you like the trumpet, then maybe find a recording of some trumpet  concertos.  Do you like the vocalists?  Then pick either opera (again so many different places to start), or maybe some art songs, by say Schubert.  If you went this route, then you are at least starting with something at least somewhat familiar, the instrument being featured.  

Another way to approach it would be by picking a composer to start with, and listening to several different types of pieces by that composer.  Again, there are many different places to start here, and I have no idea which composers or what era of music you might like the best - and by the way, that's another way to start - pick an era (Medieval/Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, etc.) and listen to several different works by different composers in that era.   

I hope this is somewhat helpful.  If anything above strikes your fancy, then maybe we could get more specific with recommendations.