Jazz for aficionados

"Why all the angst?" Precisely my point. That’s a damn good message you’re sending acman.

"There will always be something to learn and there will always be things about art that we don’t understand or can relate to. I see it as room for growth, not for shutting doors; and, that doesn’t mean that we then have to stay in that particular room." That’s true frogman. Great post by the way.

"You are correct about the guys at Lincoln Center. That’s why they are so important. They can play the old good stuff sometimes even better than it was in the past. They are better schooled musicians, have better recording technology, and a master arranger. They keep it alive." True.

"We welcome you with open arms David. That's a marvelous beginning; remember, we are all still learning, there is no end to this journey." Could not agree more O-10.

pjw, I am glad you liked Jan.

Mary_jo and the reason that, as a relative of mine always says, the world would be a better place if more women were in positions of power.

Excellent post, Mary_jo. That anecdote on “Bolero” is wonderful; and completely true. More on the great Buddy Rich:

Watch Buddy Rich play and one of the things that one notices is the relaxed attitude in his body. One of the things about Buddy that is often forgotten is that he was a tap dancer (and singer!). Not exactly Nicholas Brothers caliber hoofer, but he was pretty good:

https://youtu.be/kwE6ukSz69c

Pretty good drummer, but outstanding hoofer:

https://youtu.be/xoEX6g8itTw

Great to see all these responses:

Rob McConnell and Boss Brass - if you can find their D2D, the sound and music is awesome!
Miles - 12 Sides of Miles - found this used and cleaned it and it sounds great.
Coltrane
Art Blakey
Wynton Kelly
Wes Montgomery
George Benson - still love Breezin' - one of my all-time fav albums - and sound is excellent
Ella - at the Cote D'Azur - with Duke - One Note Samba is on there and she does some scat singing. Great live performance.
Getz - Girl from Ipanema - great album and sound
Oscar
Jim Hall
Pat Metheny
Jaco Pastorius
Paul Desmond
Dave Brubeck
Ed Bickert
Urbie Green - if you like trombone, he has a very smooth, distinct style
Rob Brookmeyer
Gerry Mulligan
Chet Baker
Christian McBride
Sonny Rollins
Duke
Count Basie

A minor typo correction...Rudresh Mahanthappa. Agree on his being a fantastic alto-sax player and composer.

Rok,

**** A person sits in front of a stereo system and listens to a tune he has never heard before. He does not know the group playing. He has no prior knowledge of any aspect of the music he is about to hear.

Can a person tell just from how the music starts and what and how it’s played at the beginning, whether or not there will be a vocal component to the tune. ****

Interesting question. The short answer is, no; with one notable, but very “inside” exception. First, I assume that by “vocal component” you mean vocalist as soloist on the tune as opposed to non-soloist vocalizing as part of the arrangement. The way that, say, a piano trio “sets up” the soloist in the introduction to the tune does not have to be and would most likely not be any different for a vocalist than it would be for an instrumentalist. To recognize the notable exception the listener would have to have perfect pitch or relative pitch. All tunes are composed in a particular key. Instrumentalists seldom play tunes in a key other than the “standard key” (the key that the tune was composed in). Vocalists, however, often need to have the accompanist or band play a tune in a key other than the standard key in order for the tune to be within a range that is comfortable for that particular singer’s vocal range; not too high, not too low.

Johnny Hartman sang it in the original key (C Major) his baritone voice was comfortable in that range:

https://youtu.be/ecrE80rnjhw

Ella needed to sing it a sixth higher in the key of A to accommodate her higher vocal range:

https://youtu.be/_ss9TV70uqE

Sting (yes, Sting; not bad!). Sings it in the key of F; about half way between C and A. If you listen to the general range of Hartman’s and Ella’s voices, even without perfect pitch, one can tell that Sting’s general vocal range is roughly between that of Hartman’s and Ella’s :

https://youtu.be/3MYCQLDoeB8