[Monday Notes n.26] Although he was one of the protagonists of the historic jam sessions at Minton’s, it is impossible to place Thelonious Monk within any stylistic current, as his music is completely personal and inimitable. Let’s look at his piece Rhythm-a-Ning. Help me to spread the love for music Share Tweet Pin LinkedInContinue readingThelonious Monk Rhythm a Ning, a pianist beyond the mainstream
Category: Monday Notes
A music analysis column dedicated to the great classics of jazz and rock music: every Monday a song with technical notes and curiosities. To start the week on a good note… and learn more about music.
[Monday Notes n.25] Luigi Tenco was a unique case in the history of Italian song. He was an excellent composer but also a musician, lyricist and performer. None of his contemporary Italian songwriters had qualities comparable to his. Let us analyse his ballad Ti ricorderai.Continue readingLuigi Tenco, Ti ricorderai. The Italian song that turns to jazz
[Monay Notes n.24] Dexter Gordon was one of the most original tenor saxophone voices, although he was part of the bebop movement his style is very personal. Dexter Gordon was also an original composer, but his pieces never made it into the repertoire of standards performed by other jazz musicians. Let us analyse his piece…Continue readingClubhouse, Dexter Gordon is an all-too-neglected composer
[Note di lunedì n.22] Miles Davis was the most visionary and prolific band leader jazz music has ever produced. A musician who is impossible to classify, from his debut as a bopper alongside Charlie Parker he changed styles repeatedly with exceptional results, moving through modal jazz, electric and experimental jazz-rock, to rap and pop. We…Continue readingYou’re My Everything, a ballad from the Miles Davis point of view
Categories
Bud Powell, Tempus Fugit
[Note di lunedì n.20] Bud Powell realised on the piano the innovations that Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie had experimented with on wind instruments. Powell was an exceptional pianist but also an accomplished composer. Let us listen to and analyse his piece Tempus Fugit.Continue readingBud Powell, Tempus Fugit
Categories
Lester Young Teddy Wilson All of Me
[Monday Notes n.15] All of me is one of the first songs that aspiring jazz singers learn. The melody is simple and graceful, the phrases symmetrical and easy to remember, the tempo bright but not too fast. The song is so typical that its simple melody immediately evokes the 1920s and the swing era.Continue readingLester Young Teddy Wilson All of Me
Categories
Ella Fitzgerald, A Tisket a Tasket
[Monday Notes] Ella Fitzgerald is one of the most important jazz singers, her Song books are monumental and must-have works, her vocal improvisations a model for any aspiring jazz singer. However, it was not a song that launched her to success in 1938 but a simple nursery rhyme entitled A Tisket, a Tasket.Continue readingElla Fitzgerald, A Tisket a Tasket
[Monday Notes] Teddy Wilson was a piano virtuoso but rarely showed off his skills, always playing elegantly and simply. We hear him with Billie Holiday in a lovely song called Pennies From Heaven.Continue readingPennies From Heaven, Teddy Wilson and Bille Holiday
Categories
Dizzy Gillespie, Salt Peanuts
[Monday Notes n.12] Singer Billy Eckstine gave the leadership of his orchestra to Dizzy Gillespie in 1944. Swing orchestras used to perform a catchy, danceable repertoire, but Dizzy was constantly experimenting with new and daring sounds. One night the audience rose up, complaining about the many instrumental pieces and demanding a sing-along. Dizzy, who had…Continue readingDizzy Gillespie, Salt Peanuts
[Monday Notes n.11] Let’s listen to one of young Charlie Parker’s first recordings with the orchestra of pianist and blues singer Jay McShann, dated 1940, a piece entitled The Jumping Blues.Continue readingCharlie Parker with Jay McShann, The Jumping Blues