19
votes
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What is a "jazz standard"?
From experience, here is what I think of a jazz standard:
A jazz standard is usually a famous jazz song. The reason it is called standard, is because it has been recorded many many times, by numerous ...
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10
votes
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How to understand free jazz?
Some genres and styles (not exclusive to jazz) are based on very well stablished and known patterns and dynamics: specific cadences, progressions, scales, rhythms, instruments, etc.
Free jazz is a ...
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10
votes
What is a "jazz standard"?
IDK, if this answers your question. But here is what I think:
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of
the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in ...
- 1,040
9
votes
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Why is the word "blue" so commonly used everywhere in Jazz: from lyrics, song titles, to record label names?
The blue note refers to a particular type of note:
In jazz and blues, a blue note (also "worried" note1) is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch than ...
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8
votes
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Did the analogy "The Birds And The Bees" truly originate from the Cole Porter song 'Let's Do It"?
It seems that the phrase has multiple possible sources with none truly confirmed. I've listed the sources below:
"..poet Samuel Coleridge (1825): 'All nature seems at work ... The bees are stirring—...
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8
votes
How to understand free jazz?
I would like to answer from a humble listener point of view, with absolutely no music theory background. For me free jazz is like an open window into musician's mind. It's his stream of consciousness ...
- 191
8
votes
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On free Jazz and Ornette Coleman
I think if you look beyond taste/personal preference it's easy to see that Coleman was an extremely skilled musician. I think it's easy in this day and age to undervalue how much of a impact The Shape ...
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7
votes
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What kind of Hat is Jimmy Rushing using in this photo?
That's a pork pie hat. Standard issue headwear in 50s jazz. As per Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat"
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7
votes
What is the difference between Cool Jazz and Bebop?
Bebop has frequent chord changes, many notes in the melody, and brisk tempos.
Cool has less frequent chord changes, sparse melody, and moderate tempos.
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7
votes
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Was Miles Davis involved with free jazz?
I think what you're looking for is Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet, which, aside from Davis, featured four young, untried musicians:
Ron Carter — bass
Tony Williams — drums
Herbie Hancock — piano
...
- 4,393
7
votes
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Are there any kinds of Jazz that use Sitars?
The history of the sitar in jazz, that is the fusion of the sounds of Indian classical music with Western jazz, dates back from the late-1950s or early-1960s when musicians trained in Indian classical ...
6
votes
Accepted
What music styles were popular in pre-bossa nova Brazil?
Samba was indeed the popular music in Brazil prior to Bossa Nova, and before that came Choro. However, it's worth noting two things:
Firstly, samba in Brazil existed in multiple forms, including not ...
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6
votes
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What year was "Don't Play Me Cheap" by Louis Armstrong recorded, and what jazz style is it?
According to discogs, "Don't Play Me Cheap" by Louis Armstrong was recorded on April 26, 1933, and released a little under a year later, on April 4, 1934. Discogs also lists the song as being of the ...
- 4,393
6
votes
On free Jazz and Ornette Coleman
Jazz is a challenging form of music by nature. It's technically demanding, it uses exotic chords and rhythms, it's dissonant and improvisational. Even when covering familiar material, it departs ...
6
votes
Why do jazz guitar players rarely bend strings?
It may come down to tradition, combined with historic technical limitations.
Guitar strings used to be considerably thicker than they are now, making them considerably harder to bend - I think it was ...
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6
votes
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Jazz style with examples?
Probably a couple of reasons why such lists don't abound is that:
Any such list is always going to be tremendously incomplete. In general you can't get a sound perspective on a style with just one or ...
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6
votes
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What does "clean" mean at the end of the title of an instrumental jazz song on Amazon Music?
According to a discussion here, these are probably censored versions of the songs.
EDIT: Answer from the Amazon support :
The Clean version you see next to some of the Music titles means that the ...
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6
votes
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Why is Kenny G so hated among jazz musicians? Are there objective reasons behind the hate?
Personally, I find Kenny G's music as pleasant as does the next person. But the hatred for him is neither solely because his music is bland, unchallenging, and largely outside traditional jazz idioms, ...
6
votes
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What is the name of this instrument / jazz style?
That's a vibraphone. It's like a xylophone, but the bars are metal, so they vibrate longer. The resonators below the bars have discs inside that are turned by a motor, alternately opening and ...
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5
votes
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What recordings does there exist of Lester Young playing along with Dizzy Gillespie?
Lester Young / Charlie Parker / Dizzy Gillespie – Early Modern: 1946 Concert Recordings
Label:
Milestone Records – MSP 9035
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country:
US
Released:
1971
Genre:
Jazz
...
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5
votes
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Does Nina Simone play the piano on "I loves you Porgy" (studio version)?
Given that Nina Simone is the only credited pianist on the album on which "I Loves You Porgy" first appears, her debut album Little Girl Blue, it's highly likely that she was accompanying herself on ...
- 4,393
5
votes
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What defines cool jazz as a jazz style/sub-genre?
Cool jazz is a style of jazz that arose as a sort of response to the growing popularity in bebop. Bebop featured fast-paced, syncopated, energetic music and frantic improvised solos. Cool jazz, in ...
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5
votes
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Is there a composer who made a fusion between Latin and Bebop Jazz?
There's a rich tradition of musical exchange between "latin" and jazz, going back to Jelly Roll Morton, who talked about "The Spanish Tinge." Today, the phrase is more often stated as the "latin tinge,...
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5
votes
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What defines Bebop as a jazz style/subgenre?
Bebop can in general be characterized by the following stylistic elements:
fast tempos
complex, highly syncopated rhythms
advanced harmony using chords with added higher intervals (9ths, 11ths, 13ths)...
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5
votes
How to understand free jazz?
In some ways free jazz can be easier to understand than other jazz forms. You really don't need music theory since the central theme of the genre is to free the performers from exactly the conventions ...
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5
votes
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What is the difference between Cool Jazz and Bebop?
See the "Overview" section of Wikipedia's "Cool jazz" article. Quoted here:
Broadly, "cool" refers to a number of post-war jazz styles employing a more subdued approach ...
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5
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Weather Report song title "Dara Factor One" – What is “Dara Factor”?
This detailed website Weather Report: the annotated discography describes the two Dara songs like this - both quotes are from Brian Glasser's "In a Silent Way" (shortened to IASW below), Sanctuary ...
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5
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Song identification help, Big band tune
One of my big bands has just found the charts for this - and it's a great number! Birdland.
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