And I am saying that if people only wish to use this thread to come in & bash a particular type of music I will probably chose not to continue to post here.
To each his own.
Jazz?
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Primula Baggins
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I don't think that's happening, cem.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Primula Baggins
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I am hoping you won't have reason to disappear. 
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
My favorite kind of Jazz is Bluegrass! Seriously! Although I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the roots of Bluegrass lies in jazz. After all the Father of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, categorically hated jazz - he thought it was the devils music! But Monroe wanted to push the limits of stringed instruments, both through technical acumen as well as improvisational playing, and he needed jazz musicians to do that. After the seminal lineup of his Bluegrass Boys broke up his group became a revolving door for new musicians, many of whom were either jazz musicians posing as good-ol-boys, or country musicians who were well versed in the jazz tradition. One of the most famous of his band members, the legendary fiddler Vasser Clements, loved jazz and recorded several jazz albums, including one with members of Miles Davis’ band, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jimmy Cobb.cemthinae wrote:I don't know if most people would consider bluegrass to be jazz, but that's where it got its roots. I like Bella Fleck for this catagory. Another fairly popular artist that shouldn't be too hard to locate.
Bela Fleck was certainly trained as a Bluegrass musician but most of his work with the Flecktones has been strictly jazz - about the only connection to bluegrass being the use of the banjo. But his work certainly helps to reveal the relationship between the two genres - after all, how often do hear of a jazz banjoist? And one that has won a Grammy for Best Jazz Album to boot!
That's very interesting, tinwë. I was taught that jazz was the foundation for bluegrass.
I don't know much about bluegrass though. I was listening to a Fleck album earlier today. The one he did with Edgar Meyer, Music For Two.
My grandfather *loves* that album. I'll never forget the grin that lit up on his face when I popped the cd in!
So tell me more about bluegrass! I could stand to expand my collection some day.
I don't know much about bluegrass though. I was listening to a Fleck album earlier today. The one he did with Edgar Meyer, Music For Two.
My grandfather *loves* that album. I'll never forget the grin that lit up on his face when I popped the cd in!So tell me more about bluegrass! I could stand to expand my collection some day.
You were probably taught that by a jazz afficionado!cemthinae wrote:That's very interesting, tinwë. I was taught that jazz was the foundation for bluegrass.
Bluegrass has its roots in Appalachian Mountain music, which itself traces its roots back to Irish and Celtic folk music. At one time Mountain Music was country music, well, along with traditional Americana folk music and Western swing, that is. So, in that sense it’s more founded in Country than anything else. But Bill Monroe helped to bring about a split from mainstream Country back in the forties when the music industry in Nashville started to try competing with the burgeoning pop music scene in Los Angeles by adding non-traditional instrumentation to their productions. Monroe was something of a purist, you see, and things like drum sets, orchestral arrangements, electric guitars and (eventually) synthesizers had no place in country music as far as he was concerned. So, he set out to create his own style (which became Bluegrass), focusing exclusively on string instruments and combining Mountain music with the blues that he had heard played by African Americans in the Kentucky mining towns he grew up in. That part of it, I suppose, could be considered a connection to jazz, which began as a largely African American genre, but the real connection came from the way he wanted his music played. The Irish influence meant two things in particular - fast paced and improvised (imagine an Irish pub where the local boys gather on Friday night to jam with each other). The fact is there weren’t that many “country” musicians who could keep up with the style that Monroe was playing. Add to that the fact that jazz was not, and has never been, a particularly lucrative field of performance and the result was that many jazz musicians sought out Monroe and other bands that began playing his style. Bluegrass was popular and made money and the jazz musicians could handle the intricacies of it, so that’s what many of them did!
So, from very early on there was a distinct jazz influence in Bluegrass, but it was not by design because, like I said, Monroe hated jazz. One of the reasons his band became a revolving door of musicians was because he kept having to fire them all of the time. Why? Because he would catch them playing jazz behind his back! And he just couldn’t have that! Devil’s music and all!
I’m familiar with the Fleck/Meyer album you mentioned, but I haven’t heard it yet. It’s classical, isn’t it? Fleck is such an awesome musician and I love some of his Flecktones records (I have a long story about seeing them play once many years ago at a little outdoors venue called Green Acres), but I really like his traditional Bluegrass recordings the most. If you want to check it out I would highly recommend Tales From the Acoustic Planet, Vol 2, The Bluegrass Sessions. The lineup on that album is a virtual who’s who of Bluegrass musicians - Sam Bush, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Vassar Clements, even Earl Scruggs himself. It is, hands down one of the best Bluegrass albums ever made and really displays the musicianship that it is so closely related to jazz. And, it’s all instrumentals too, so you don’t get the high-pitched nasally vocals that are common to Bluegrass (which are very “countryish”, imo).
Personally I tend to think of Bluegrass as having more in common with jazz than country, although I know that really isn’t true. But, since I’m not a big fan of country (and no fan at all of contemporary mainstream country) I’ll happily stick to my delusions!
Without a doubt. It was my high school band director. He was also the founder of our jazz band & my private tutor for a time. He saw that hunger in my eyes for more & was happy to oblige.tinwë wrote:You were probably taught that by a jazz afficionado!
Fascinating!So, from very early on there was a distinct jazz influence in Bluegrass, but it was not by design because, like I said, Monroe hated jazz. One of the reasons his band became a revolving door of musicians was because he kept having to fire them all of the time. Why? Because he would catch them playing jazz behind his back! And he just couldn’t have that! Devil’s music and all!
I’m familiar with the Fleck/Meyer album you mentioned, but I haven’t heard it yet. It’s classical, isn’t it?
Not really. It's pretty much a blend of everything. It borrows from both musicians' areas of expertise. It ranges from classical to bluegrass to jazz. There's a nice cover of Miles Davis' Solar.
The set comes with a dvd which is great as well. These two men clearly love making music & just being around each other. Great humour!
I plan on checking them out. I also wouldn't mind hearing the story!(I have a long story about seeing them play once many years ago at a little outdoors venue called Green Acres), but I really like his traditional Bluegrass recordings the most.
I think that way, but I was taught that way. Country is ok. I went through a phase of country, mainly pop country, because, let's face it, I'm just a lil ol' hick from Indiana.Personally I tend to think of Bluegrass as having more in common with jazz than country, although I know that really isn’t true. But, since I’m not a big fan of country (and no fan at all of contemporary mainstream country) I’ll happily stick to my delusions!
I have yet to find a musical style I couldn't find something that I liked about.
I just get slightly more obsessed about some!ETA: I totally forgot to swoon for tinwë!
ETA2:
The llama/bowing thing is hilarious!
vison wrote:Of all the various kinds of music humankind has created, I confess that Jazz is my least favourite. I always assumed it's because I'm too ordinary to like it, it seems to me you have to be a cool city dweller who has five degrees in Political Science, a spouse of a different colour than you, and the owner of a dog of a breed no one else on earth has ever heard of.
Jazz is my favourite music eversince I was 3 years old. Yes, I'm a city dweller but if given the chance I would like to retire in a farm someday. I'm not a Political Science major, I'm French-Canadien and my wife is Irish, different race I guess, not colour
In fact, my wife listen to both country music and jazz, loves the Theatre. My wife introduced me to country music and I think I'm beginning to like the bands. 
My dogs are a pug and a german sheppard. I would love to adopt a Huskie someday, though. Unless you count my cat which is a Tonkinese (sp?), similar to a Siamese.My grandad who fought during World War II introduced me to jazz esp. the big bands like Glen Miller, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Andrew Sisters, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald etc... He was my babysitter and he would have me listen to all the old records (phonograph).
My wife and I go to the Beaches International Jazz Festival (Toronto), we just a few minutes from the area and the Montreal Jazz Festival annually. We frequent the jazz concert series which only costs $10.00 for new jazz artists sponsored by a local jazz station. Funny thing is, most of the folks are older people or middle aged, they would often tease us that we must have gone to the wrong concert hall cause we look so young. They rarely see people my age at the jazz series, I was only 25 then and my wife was 22, when we started going to the series a few years ago. There's the odd 10 or so people my age but they are mostly jazz students/grads from Humber College. We wear jeans going to these concerts so we seem really out of place.
Recently, I have listened to a lot of Latin jazz (since my wife took Salsa lessons), jazz guitarists like Pablo and Acid Jazz (love this stuff!) or you might call it Fusion Jazz. The more distorted the jazz instrumentals are, the more I like it. I used to have an ex-gf who would comment how can I stand listening to jazz when there is no melody.
Acid Jazz is somewhat similar to Rap and Hip Hop and I have to admit I like Old School hip hop and rap when it used to be about politics, human rights, not much for the new ones though except for say Eminem, P. Diddy, Mary J. Blige and Nellie etc... and a few others.
Last edited by Lurker on Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Yov,yovargas wrote:I've been very interested in looking into Miles Davis for quite some time, particularly the massively acclaimed Bitches Brew album. Has anybody heard that album?
I think you better start with Some Kind of Blue, that is his best piece of music. I don't have Bitches Brew, though, I better look for it. I got most of his albums, his love songs from the 50's and 60's collection I'm sure you will like, my wife loves it. I think the album is called "My Funny Valentine", I've got to rummage through my collection. I've got one wall just for jazz.
I once had an old fellow at a jazz festival tell me that "it takes a special kind of young person to love & understand this music."Lurker wrote:Funny thing is, most of the folks are older people or middle aged, they would often tease us that we must have gone to the wrong concert hall cause we look so young.
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Rowanberry
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Great recordings, Cem!