Jazz for aficionados

If you really noticed "Bird", he always had a sly grin, as if he knew something he wasn't sharing with anyone; his music, it had something special and different, it was a secret that only he knew. Even today, his "Bird with Strings" sounds like it could have been made yesterday.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmRkZeGFONg&list=PLqzxGGRskMsArMdq06cOawHAbO2kBWfmD

Notice how he plays the melody so smooth and easy, but Bops and riffs all over and around the melody at the same time; a mixture of be bop and a smooth melody, nobody but Bird could ever do that.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbXauqq9ayY&index=4&list=PLqzxGGRskMsArMdq06cOawHAbO2kBWfmD


All through this album he does that, and makes all the riffs blend so easy with the melody; that's why his music was deified, "Bird lives on".

Although I only posted two, listen to your favorites on this album that sounds current, even today.

When you are talking about "Jazz", you are also talking about "Super Creativity"; that's why they have so much respect for one another. Jazz musicians are born, not made; nothing I can think of would enable a musician to get on a bandstand in front of a crowd of people, without knowing what he's going to play, and blow them away.

That's what I've seen hardbop jazz musicians do; of course it took most of the waking moments of their lifetime to do that, but never the less, they finally arrived at that moment.

Rok, how about addressing the specific question instead of condescending lectures. Let’s see, you won’t take what Mingus has to say seriously, but we are to take your judgmental lectures seriously. Is that it? Now, let’s focus; shall we?

You stated that Brubeck was part of the ”culture war”. You choose to call it a “war”. That’s fine, and I and all here, I’m sure, are well aware of the cultural changes (negative and positive) that have been taking place. Additionally, don’t be so quick to suggest you are the only one that understands history. The relationship between iazz and race is well understood by anyone that cares about this music, as is its huge positive impact on race relations; one of the most prominent and important topics discussed in “music school propaganda”, btw. Check your arrogance at the door, please; you just might learn something yourself. Back to Brubeck:

Again, how exactly is Brubeck part of this “culturel war”? How is someone who was so admired and who brought so much to the music a negative force in all this? Your comments seem to connect the subject of race to Brubeck’s influence in the scheme of things. How was a musician who was such a staunch advocate of race equality and so admired by other musicians and listeners of all races a negative influence in all this?
Please, don’t cop out with “you don’t understand this or that”. Specifics, please.

rok2id
Yes unless you are more specific I don't see the connection between Brubeck and so-called cultural war either. BTW be careful quoting Ken Burn's "Jazz" as a historical reference. When a purported documentary of jazz history makes no mention of Bill Evans in its content , or his place in jazz history and the musicians he influenced it can hardly be called accurate. Also when a documentary of jazz places no emphasis on any jazz past the hard bop period it also lacks credibility.