All That Jazz ...
- Thread starter Nikhil
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RIP Lorraine Gordon of the Iconic Village Vanguard
Many knew Lorraine as the no-nonsense owner of the Village Vanguard, proprietor of the greatest jazz club on earth, but long before that she was a key figure in the early days of Blue Note Records. In 1943, Lorraine married Blue Note founder Alfred Lion, just 4 years after he had started the label, and throughout the rest of that decade she worked side-by-side with Alfred handling the books and promoting the artists. She was a particularly fervent early advocate for Thelonious Monk, encouraging Alfred to record Monk's first albums as a leader.
Lorraine carried that devotion to and love for Jazz throughout her entire life, and contributed immeasurably to the legacy of the music and musicians. Along the way she became a Jazz Great herself. Her passion and spirited presence on the scene will be missed. (Text reproduced from Blue Note records FB page)
https://www.npr.org/sections/therec...on-guardian-of-legendary-jazz-club-dies-at-95
Many knew Lorraine as the no-nonsense owner of the Village Vanguard, proprietor of the greatest jazz club on earth, but long before that she was a key figure in the early days of Blue Note Records. In 1943, Lorraine married Blue Note founder Alfred Lion, just 4 years after he had started the label, and throughout the rest of that decade she worked side-by-side with Alfred handling the books and promoting the artists. She was a particularly fervent early advocate for Thelonious Monk, encouraging Alfred to record Monk's first albums as a leader.
Lorraine carried that devotion to and love for Jazz throughout her entire life, and contributed immeasurably to the legacy of the music and musicians. Along the way she became a Jazz Great herself. Her passion and spirited presence on the scene will be missed. (Text reproduced from Blue Note records FB page)
https://www.npr.org/sections/therec...on-guardian-of-legendary-jazz-club-dies-at-95
This really needs to be as a separate thread in AV lounge else Western Classical enthusiasts will miss it.
Hey who is a fan of Murakami here? I am so hopelessly a fan I switched my running shoes to Mizuno!
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage is all Lizt. This album
And “South of the border” has Ellington’s star crossed lovers.
Read this please
“http://theweek.com/articles/444246/literary-playlist-guide-music-haruki-murakami”
Another author who inspired me to start listening to Frank Morgan
https://www.michaelconnelly.com/extras/music/
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage is all Lizt. This album
And “South of the border” has Ellington’s star crossed lovers.
Read this please
“http://theweek.com/articles/444246/literary-playlist-guide-music-haruki-murakami”
Another author who inspired me to start listening to Frank Morgan
https://www.michaelconnelly.com/extras/music/
Pratap Antony
New Member
Hi, I am Pratap Antony, a new member of HiFiVision, and a lover of Jazz, Blues and Classical music. I write about music and reviews of events in Hyderabad, for the Hyderabad Western Music Foundation of which I am a Founder Trustee. And reviews of Indian classical dance on other online media. The reviews are collected in http://highnotesdance.blogspot.com/
Here are descriptions of a few singers whom I have enjoyed listening to and still enjoy listening to:
Al Jarreau – 1940. Al Jarreau has a masters’ in psychology and worked for several years as youth Counsellor for the US State Education Department, before taking the plunge into singing full time. A late starter in music! But ever since he began to be known, he changed the way vocalists sang jazz and how listeners related to Jazz music. He has a voice that sweeps across many octaves and he brings together several genres of music jumping from soul to jazz to swing to funk to musicals in a natural way as if they belong together, at the same time playing with rhythms, tricky syncopation's, tricky intervals and changing rhythms; his scatting and improvising incorporate all sorts of sounds that suit the song and his style of improvisation.
Dianne Reeves – 1956. Dianne Reeves is a highly melodic vocalist with a remarkably beautiful clear, light-yet-robust contralto voice. She sings with confidence, her voice flexible, in turn bending, soaring and reaching pitches that are almost whistling. She sings Jazz-fusion, pop-soul and African- and West Indian-flavoured material and yet makes connections between these far-flung styles. She swings in the tradition of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaugha, yet with a distinctive personal stamp that is all her own, by paying close attention to the lyrics. A superb artist and jazz singer.
Michael Buble – 1975. Michael Buble is young, charismatic, talented and charming singer who wears suits. He has a natural flair and a style that appeals equally to grandmothers and teenagers, he sings in the lounge style of Frank Sinatra and Nat Cole, in a strong, tangily-sweet voice without the rounded lower tones of Sinatra or Nat Cole, but yet, he is not imitative. His style, sound, confident phrasing and perfect timing give a new modern feel to old standards. A wonderful ambassador of Jazz.
And since I’ve mentioned Ella & Sarah I will describe them too.
Ella Fitzgerald - 1917 -1996. ‘The First Lady of Song’, Ella was the most important, and the most renowned singer of Jazz. Ella’s voice was sweet and melodious and her technique and her ability to swing made her songs a dazzling experiences to the listener. Though not considered the foremost interpreter of songs, she brought to Jazz a beautiful voice and very good technique and a love of improvisation so that even when she sang a song straight, or changed the phrasing just a wee bit, she made the song her own. And then she could scat and improvise to reproduce any instrumental riff.
Sarah Vaughan - 1924 – 1990. The third of the great triumvirate of female Jazz singers.
Sarah, quite unlike Billie Holiday, had a voice that could only be called divine and ‘The Divine One’ was one of her nick names, of course, the name that stuck was ‘Sassy’. Sarah Vaughan had a vast range, a pleasantly resonant vibrato, a marvellously rounded tone, and she used her voice with an instrumental approach, often improvising as a jazz soloist. She brought an incredible variety to her singing and she interpreted songs with heartfelt passion.
And since Billy Holiday has been mentioned here goes:
‘Lady Day,’ Billie Holiday - 1915 -1959. There is no polite way one can describe the voice of ‘Lady Day’. She probably didn’t have a range of more than an octave. She had suffered so much; endured so much distress and humiliation, and had so few pleasant memories, and yet through all the pathos and pain, she was strong, independent and a force, and she one of the most influential singers in Jazz. And whatever her vocal limitations, to me, she was the greatest jazz singer ever. Her timing was impeccable, her phrasing nuanced, and her singing actually dripped with touching emotion. No one could sing a song like Billie. Her genius lay in her interpretation. Billie Holiday always interpreted songs by empathising with the words; she interpreted with great musicality and honesty of expression.
Here are descriptions of a few singers whom I have enjoyed listening to and still enjoy listening to:
Al Jarreau – 1940. Al Jarreau has a masters’ in psychology and worked for several years as youth Counsellor for the US State Education Department, before taking the plunge into singing full time. A late starter in music! But ever since he began to be known, he changed the way vocalists sang jazz and how listeners related to Jazz music. He has a voice that sweeps across many octaves and he brings together several genres of music jumping from soul to jazz to swing to funk to musicals in a natural way as if they belong together, at the same time playing with rhythms, tricky syncopation's, tricky intervals and changing rhythms; his scatting and improvising incorporate all sorts of sounds that suit the song and his style of improvisation.
Dianne Reeves – 1956. Dianne Reeves is a highly melodic vocalist with a remarkably beautiful clear, light-yet-robust contralto voice. She sings with confidence, her voice flexible, in turn bending, soaring and reaching pitches that are almost whistling. She sings Jazz-fusion, pop-soul and African- and West Indian-flavoured material and yet makes connections between these far-flung styles. She swings in the tradition of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaugha, yet with a distinctive personal stamp that is all her own, by paying close attention to the lyrics. A superb artist and jazz singer.
Michael Buble – 1975. Michael Buble is young, charismatic, talented and charming singer who wears suits. He has a natural flair and a style that appeals equally to grandmothers and teenagers, he sings in the lounge style of Frank Sinatra and Nat Cole, in a strong, tangily-sweet voice without the rounded lower tones of Sinatra or Nat Cole, but yet, he is not imitative. His style, sound, confident phrasing and perfect timing give a new modern feel to old standards. A wonderful ambassador of Jazz.
And since I’ve mentioned Ella & Sarah I will describe them too.
Ella Fitzgerald - 1917 -1996. ‘The First Lady of Song’, Ella was the most important, and the most renowned singer of Jazz. Ella’s voice was sweet and melodious and her technique and her ability to swing made her songs a dazzling experiences to the listener. Though not considered the foremost interpreter of songs, she brought to Jazz a beautiful voice and very good technique and a love of improvisation so that even when she sang a song straight, or changed the phrasing just a wee bit, she made the song her own. And then she could scat and improvise to reproduce any instrumental riff.
Sarah Vaughan - 1924 – 1990. The third of the great triumvirate of female Jazz singers.
Sarah, quite unlike Billie Holiday, had a voice that could only be called divine and ‘The Divine One’ was one of her nick names, of course, the name that stuck was ‘Sassy’. Sarah Vaughan had a vast range, a pleasantly resonant vibrato, a marvellously rounded tone, and she used her voice with an instrumental approach, often improvising as a jazz soloist. She brought an incredible variety to her singing and she interpreted songs with heartfelt passion.
And since Billy Holiday has been mentioned here goes:
‘Lady Day,’ Billie Holiday - 1915 -1959. There is no polite way one can describe the voice of ‘Lady Day’. She probably didn’t have a range of more than an octave. She had suffered so much; endured so much distress and humiliation, and had so few pleasant memories, and yet through all the pathos and pain, she was strong, independent and a force, and she one of the most influential singers in Jazz. And whatever her vocal limitations, to me, she was the greatest jazz singer ever. Her timing was impeccable, her phrasing nuanced, and her singing actually dripped with touching emotion. No one could sing a song like Billie. Her genius lay in her interpretation. Billie Holiday always interpreted songs by empathising with the words; she interpreted with great musicality and honesty of expression.
Nice post Pratap. Did you know there's a thread on this forum "All that Jazz". I'm sure those following that thread would love to read this post, if you repost or move it there 
Nice post Pratap. Did you know there's a thread on this forum "All that Jazz". I'm sure those following that thread would love to read this post, if you repost or move it there
Done! (Merged to the Jazz thread)
@Pratap Antony Welcome to the forum! Thank you for joining!
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Dave Brubeck - Take Five (Live Version)
I've heard this a million times probably but seeing it performed live is another thing.
This version has an interesting improvisation by Paul Desmond on the Sax.
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I've heard this a million times probably but seeing it performed live is another thing.
This version has an interesting improvisation by Paul Desmond on the Sax.
.
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These are separate performances I think.
I could not get any info on the venues from Youtube but these look to be somewhere in Europe.
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Absolutely right!
Dave Brubeck - Take Five, Live in Belgium 1964
Paul Desmond (alto sax), Joe Morello (drums), Eugene Wright (bass) and Dave Brubeck (piano)
Just tumbled on this site.... appears to be a music & video treasure.
http://rvm.pm/
Indranil Sen
Active Member
I love this Jazz album by Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto (Getz/Gilberto 1963). Reference recording and wonderful music.
Enjoy!!!
Pratap Antony
New Member
Chet Baker was a surprisingly good instrumentalist, he was very melodic and yet had a sure but spare emotional melancholy to his playing. His singing was equally interesting, and he imparted that same restrained emotion through his singing of standards. His version of My Funny Valentine is still a good example of interpretive singing. Chet Baker generally tends to be under-rated. But he is way up among the greats of Jazz.Was never the biggest fan of Chet Baker, but this album is making me reconsider...
Chet Baker in Europe, a Jazz Tour of the Nato Countries
Amongst contemporary male jazz singers mention must be made of the suave Kurt Elling. His Man in the Air is highly recommended. Besides his ecumenical vocalese interpretation of Coltrane’s Resolution, light jazz listeners will get swept away by the masterful and almost epic balladry of his collaboration with Zainwul in Time to Say Goodbye.
What a pity that two legendary artistes from this video - Paul Chambers and John Coltrane both died too young. Chambers at 33 and Coltrane at 41!
I am doing a presentation on jazz legends who died too soon but left a huge legacy on 8 July as part of the Pune Jazz and Blues Club programs. https://www.facebook.com/PuneJazzBluesClub/
The first part will feature Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Bix Beiderbecke, Eric Dolphy, Paul Chambers and Jaco Pastorius.
All are welcome
Buy from India's official online dealer!
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