Great musicians of the 20th century

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moktan said:
for me its easy with the menfolk..i would chose Louis Armstrong any day over the others..(though i am quite surprised with the omission of Otis Redding in that list..) personally i prefer Sinatra's cohort Dean Martin over the master..but that's only me making a highly subjective judgment ...
as for the ladies..now that is difficulty...
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Moktan, my dad would wholeheartedly agree with you.....He just loves Mr. Cool Martin....personally after having watched all of his shows on video and his movies, I think he was the best entertainer amongst the Rat Pack but Sinatra had The Voice and beautiful arrangements from Don Costa and Gordon Jenkins to back him up.....

Dean Martin was cool even more than James Dean...a thourough entertainer and a pretty good singer...

For everyone else not familiar with the Rat Pack, please watch the original Ocean's Eleven (1960) and you will get to see how cool these guys were...
 
ajay124 said:
Yeah!Otis Redding,Marvin Gaye,James Brown,Barry White,George Benson and even better Sam Cooke.Last night I was listening to Lou Rawls and he too is very good.Don't much care for Stevie Wonder.
Among the rockers/poppers Phil Ochs,Leonard Cohen,Bob Dylan,Neil Young,John Lennon,Van Morrison,Bob Marley,Steve Winwood,Donald Fagen,Art Garfunkel,,JJ Cale,David Bowie,Mick Jagger,Paul Mcartney,Lou Reed,Jim Morrison,Jimi Hendrix,Jack Bruce,Eric Clapton,Robert Plant,Roger Daltrey,Ian Anderson,Mark Knoffler,Don Henley,Neil Diamond,Rod Stewart,Freddie Mercury,David Gates,Karen Carpenter,Joan Baez,Joni Mitchell,Marianne Faithfull.Don't listen to most of them now(except on nostalgia trips) but I have spent a lot of time with all of them in the past!Springsteen and Sting are not my cuppa tea.
Blues-Robert Johnson,Muddy Waters,Buddy Guy,Etta James among the one's I've heard.
As for the ladies.The five I mentioned are so incredibly good that it would be unfair to choose one.But if I was pushed to choose I would go with Mahalia Jackson.
Oh Yeah!I keep forgetting Paul Robeson and Woody Guthrie!
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Lou Rawls definitely had a lovely voice .......I have a whole number of songs which have been sung by Sinatra, Elvis, Dean Martin and Lou Rawls and each of their songs are different and all the versions sound lovely...Very difficult to compare...
 
Top 10 singles for good vocals?
My (quick) list in no particular order.
My Funny Valentine/Ella Fitzgerald
Autumn Leaves/Nat King Cole
Mac The Knife/Louis Armstrong
Georgia On My Mind/Ray Charles
Loverman/Billie Holiday
Ain't got No,I got life/Nina Simone
Do Right Woman/Do Right Man/Aretha Franklin
You were Always On my Mind/Elvis Presley
Summertime/Sam Cooke
Change is gonna come/Otis Redding
 
ajay124 said:
@doors 666
One of the finest bluesman ever.
Ali Farka Toure.
From Timbuktu.Mali.
Best albums River,Savane,In the heart of the moon.
YouTube - Ali Farka Tour 'Amandrai'
Click to expand...

i have mentioned this album elsewhere in another thread in this forum...this is perhaps one album where a collaboration has clicked..Ry Cooder's guitar and the earthy sounds of the Malian bluesman indeed create a music in which the words don't really matter...the sound is universal..
my personal favorite GOMNI and yes AMANDRAI (i think it outshines hoochie coochie man)..
one jazz band that played the blues sound was the MJQ but have to admit that they don't have one subversive bone in their body of work..
 
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panditji said:
Moktan, my dad would wholeheartedly agree with you.....He just loves Mr. Cool Martin....personally after having watched all of his shows on video and his movies, I think he was the best entertainer amongst the Rat Pack but Sinatra had The Voice and beautiful arrangements from Don Costa and Gordon Jenkins to back him up.....

Dean Martin was cool even more than James Dean...a thourough entertainer and a pretty good singer...

For everyone else not familiar with the Rat Pack, please watch the original Ocean's Eleven (1960) and you will get to see how cool these guys were...
Click to expand...

greatly honored and humbled to agree with Dad..yes Dino indeed was cool and so was Sammy Davis Jr (RIP the Rat Pack)
 
ajay124 said:
Top 10 singles for good vocals?
My (quick) list in no particular order.
My Funny Valentine/Ella Fitzgerald
Autumn Leaves/Nat King Cole
Mac The Knife/Louis Armstrong
Georgia On My Mind/Ray Charles
Loverman/Billie Holiday
Ain't got No,I got life/Nina Simone
Do Right Woman/Do Right Man/Aretha Franklin
You were Always On my Mind/Elvis Presley
Summertime/Sam Cooke
Change is gonna come/Otis Redding
Click to expand...

ajay, would you consider Michael Bible? Please hear his 'Crazy Love' for
the song 'Cry Me A River'.
Cheers.,
sunder.
 
sunder said:
ajay, would you consider Michael Bible? Please hear his 'Crazy Love' for
the song 'Cry Me A River'.
Cheers.,
sunder.
Click to expand...

If it's the same 'Cry me a river' as my favorite Diana Krall track then it should be very good!
YouTube - Diana Krall - Cry Me A River (From "Live In Paris" DVD)
I find Peace and joy and beauty and excellence in this and many of the older Diana Krall tracks.Especially love Anthony Wilson.But could not sit through her recent albums like Quiet Nights.
 
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ajay124 said:
Top 10 singles for good vocals?
My (quick) list in no particular order.
My Funny Valentine/Ella Fitzgerald
Autumn Leaves/Nat King Cole
Mac The Knife/Louis Armstrong
Georgia On My Mind/Ray Charles
Loverman/Billie Holiday
Ain't got No,I got life/Nina Simone
Do Right Woman/Do Right Man/Aretha Franklin
You were Always On my Mind/Elvis Presley
Summertime/Sam Cooke
Change is gonna come/Otis Redding
Click to expand...
i would also include Unchained Melody and Mr Bojangles (covered by amongst others even :D Michael Jackson)..
 
Thanks all please post your best picks as links it gives us great oppertunity to listen directly without toomuch research....

Appreciate all your postings.

Kittu
 
kittu1977 said:
Thanks all please post your best picks as links it gives us great oppertunity to listen directly without toomuch research....

Appreciate all your postings.

Kittu
Click to expand...

Well here's one more.One of my eternal favorites!
YouTube - Phil Ochs - Crucifixion (Live Stockholm 1969)
And don't miss those Swedish beauties looking like they are going to gobble poor Phil!
Have you ever seen such innocence as in Phil's eyes?Truly a Son of God.
 
What a sweet voice !!!!! and whats up with that girl on his right is she gonna eat him after finishing the singing ... :D
 
@micjak 77
Once again.I truly regret my outburst.You made you mj post because you love his music.It was wrong/rude on my part to dismiss his music in a couple of lines.Anyway welcome back!.
My adverse reaction is not just to mj but more or less to all the music made since 1980...Rock/Jazz/Disco/R&B/Pop/Rap/Hiphop.
1968 was a watershed year for music .The summit for both jazz and rock.During the 70's conformity,mass marketing and the writ of the studio's changed popular music.Instead of singer/songwriters a'la' Dylan/Ochs/Lennon/Simon the recording studio's started employing a team of writers trying to patch together a few catchy lines.Substance was thrown out of the window.Most of the material was aimed at the teeny boppers and consisted of boys and girls moannnnnnning how they had been ditched by their boyfriend/girlfriend or how they had found true love.The days of Woody Guthrie/Phil Ochs/Joan Baez/Joni Mitchell/Bob Dylan/John Lennon commenting on everything under the sun were over.Lyrics became synthetic/hollow/meaningless.
The music itself also suffered because,instead of great bands like Cream/Rolling Stones/Led Zep/Who/Beatles which had 3-4 talented musicians who partnered each other well,you had media hyped superstars coming in, mike in hand,and crooning away to glory,backed by annonymous studio hired(by the dozen) musicians.There is a HUGE difference between Roger Daltry singing,backed up by Pete Townshend/John Entwhistle/Keith Moon and a present day singer with his annonymous 'team' of songwriters and musicians.
:)I do like a few mj tracks.Favorite album,Off the Wall.Favorite tracks-I wanna rock with you/Don't stop till you get enough.Also Billie Jean and Beat It.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrPTDU40hO4
Young,Happy and at the peak of his singing/dancing powers.
 
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Is A KIND OF BLUE the greatest jazz album ever?
Although I have been listening to this album for well over two decades,in recent times it had receded to a back corner of my music library.These days I am,one by one,checking out my old music on my new system.Last night with some Chilean red wine for company I slipped in A Kind Of Blue into the cd player.I found that the Brystons had transformed this album into a totally new experience.Miles Davis,John Coltrane,Cannonball Adderley,Wynton Kelly,Bill Evans,Paul Chambers,Jimmy Cobb...I have never heard these guys sounding so up,close and personal.Absolutely glorious music.:)
 
well ajay
kind of blue is probably right up there due to one of my three favorite musicians-JOHN COLTRANE.all of miles compositions would have come to nought without coltrane's snaking and twisting solos.But yes, its just that rest of the team matched the mellow theme beautifully and like all great compositions everything fell into place by CHANCE. Hence a classic.
Talking of other great musicians my second favorite is ALLAN HOLDSWORTH. relative unknown , but like coltrane , a musician whose musical boundaries are different from rest of the mortals.
Also the greatest musicians list would not be complete without the Dhrupad singers DAGAR BROTHERS.sublime hindustani classical at its very best.My third favorite.
cheers
himadri
 
@himadri
Natural affinities!
John Coltrane is my favorite jazz musician.I CAN EVEN SIT THROUGH 'ASCENSIONS' WHEN MOST PEOPLE ARE RUNNING FOR COVER!Followed by Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie/Louis Armstrong/Duke Ellington/Thelonious Monk/Clifford Brown/Sonny Rollins and Oscar Peterson.
Also although I don't much listen to hindustani classical,I like Bhimsen Joshi,Bismillah Khan and Ali Akbar Khan.But what totally blew me away was a live recording of Zahiruddin Dagar with (I think)Wajifuddin Dagar.
*What is your opinion of John Coltrane's later Free Jazz recordings like 'Ascensions' and Ornette Colemans 'The Shape Of Jazz To Come'.Personally I would rate 'Shape of Jazz' right up there with 'Kind of Blue' and 'Giant Steps'.Currently I am on a 'Bird' trip and for me Charlie Parker is slowly inching ahead of Coltrane.
 
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