Hi /jazz/ what you been listening to recently? I've been trying to get into Monk. Originally when I watched him play live I thought he was just some sperg who hit his foot on the floor and played random notes to see what stuck, but is it true that there is a method to his madness? I accept that there's no such thing as a "wrong" note, and his philosophy, but I couldn't help but feel like he was just playing randomly. I like his albums though. It's just I guess that I haven't an appreciation for his style, given that I'm more the sort of person to listen to Bill Evans...
Can you help me understand why Monk is so great? I can at least tell that some of his technical skill (E.G., arpeggio triplets) is innovative.
First let me admit that I'm still quite new to Jazz so any accusations of being a pleb I will accept. That being said, I've been listening to several classic albums by some of the more famous Jazz artists such as Kind of Blue and Milestones by Miles Davis and Blue Train and Giant Steps by John Coltrane in addition to some other stuff. I enjoy some aspects of these albums but I feel like the long lengths of the solos get to me after a while. Like it's hard for me to keep up with the playing and it all sounds the same to me.
That being said I'm listening to Dave Brubeck's Time Out album and really enjoying. It's much more cohesive and melodic. Another album I've really enjoyed is Mingus Mingus Mingus especially the song II B.S. Any suggestions on more stuff like that?
Anthony Jackson
what's the best fb page of jazz memes?
Josiah Scott
To OP I think its totally normal to feel that way when first getting into jazz. The best thing you can do, imo, is to listen to those albums over and over until you know them in and out. That way you'll start to hear and understand the jazz language more and it won't sound all the same. That for me was the most challenging part about getting into it, and it took me about a year to get accustomed to the sound.
But anyway I recommend you listen to Hank Mobley - Soul Station. It's very melodic and his playing is captivating without sounding chaotic or disjointed. If you haven't checked out Charlie Parker, you JUMP on that. He is the dude that basically invented the bebop language and is the reason most players of the 50s and beyond sound the way they do. I'd suggest checking out a compilation, or Norman Granz' Jam session album with C. Parker. Bird and Diz is also a super good start. Good luck
Bentley Butler
>Can you help me understand why Monk is so great Think about how recognizable his sound is. The way he voiced chords was very distinctive and often emphasized the dissonance. His solos were innovative in that for his time he was probably one of the most focused on playing from the melody, rather than the chords. Meaning that what he's playing isn't usually random (sometimes it probably is though) but it relates in some way to the melody of the piece or to the previous melodic phrase that he played, but not always necessarily to the chord changes that the rest of the band was playing.
If you listen, that's really what he's doing is just playing melodies. Sometimes they fit, sometimes they don't, and even when they don't fit, the result is often interesting.
Brayden Martin
I'm going to argue and say that modern jazz can be much easier to get into for beginners than the classics. I wanted to get into jazz and so I listened to Coltrane, Davis, Rollins, and Mingus and thought it was all kinda cool but I didn't really see much difference between it and didn't really "get it." But then I started checking out some of the modern recs from Sup Forums like Robert Glasper, Johnathan Kreisberg, The Bad Plus, and Snarky Puppy and found all that stuff way more exciting and interesting, especially coming from a background of liking post rock and prog rock. Now listening to stuff like the classics I feel like I get it way more.
Pic related, reccing this to anyone who's new to jazz and feels like they don't get it
oh! hello pole user =) I remember this, I don't have time to listen to new stuff right now but I have this saved
Cameron Baker
freakin saved i love bossa nova
SAVED
wow good stuff today
Isaiah Reed
This might sound corny but i have a friend who said he could never listen to monk and then one day i told him to listen to a solo version of round midnight and dont think, just listen, just try to get what hes saying, maybe thatll help you idk.
Samuel Perez
this is interesting, I heard a story today about a rothschild woman who listened to round midnight then abandoned her rich family to be a patron to him. he wrote a song about her too
it's a really good thing desu
Parker Cook
Ah... OP here... I understand now... this is a been a really big help user,
Benjamin Barnes
Not OP, but I agree - this is great
Hunter Phillips
Now I feel like I've been listening to music wrong my whole life
Jason Reed
Gonna be seeing Hailu Mergia at a festival in a couple of days. Most of the lineup ended up being fairly medicore but definitely looking forward to his show
Jose Perez
Are we still collecting that huge compilation of old singles and stuff
Charles Jenkins
Anyone listen to the new Ambrose? It's on Spotify. p. good and seems a lot more experimental than his other stuff.
Anyone seen him live?
Dominic Smith
I haven't listened to the whole thing, but from what I heard I wasn't into the piano player.
Lincoln Fisher
I hope you'll enjoy them. I will work on this chart more, but first I have to discover more great albums and listen to them. Do you have any suggestions?
Ethan Watson
I don't think I've ever seen anyone look so smug
Adrian Powell
bump
Mason Long
rec jazz that stereotypically reeks of whiskey breath and cigarette smoke, evokes a trail of blurry streetlights and the comfort of increasing sleepiness with a tinge of regret at the waste of one's life
Jack Ortiz
Tom Waits
Adam Gutierrez
...
Sebastian Perez
Yes Panonica De Kornswagtner or some shit like that. Had a large house in Hoboken NJ i believe that was refered to as the cat house, she had a lot of cats. Monk and many other musicians lived there and recieved varying levels of patronage from her. important figure to say the least. really one of the main reasons jazz was able to flourish so well for a time. she had a very nice bentley as well. glad i could help guys, yeah, try doing that all the time when you listen. its helped me understand a lot about why i do or dont like someones music and stuff.
Jeremiah Barnes
Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson trio I heard a few tracks, i like ambrose and pianist sam harris but the rhythm section drives me nuts, drummer completely covers the bass, the mans eating too much of the pie ya know.
Jace Thomas
>open pandora >search what you like >get endless suggestions
Pretty easy you dope
Robert Powell
Good album
Bentley Morales
...
Logan Phillips
charles mingus – mingus ah um frank sinatra – in the wee small hours the lounge lizards – self-titled (this one sounds more like cocaine than whisky)
Nicholas Flores
I felt the opposite way. I liked the bass and drum playing and I thought it sounded like they were on the same page most of the time, but it sounded like Sam Harris was never really on the same page as them. I guess Sam Harris and the rhythm section are both partly to blame for that.
It's kind of disappointing, I like Ambrose as a player a lot but I haven't liked much of his stuff as a leader. I thought maybe this one would be really good.
Kayden Rivera
yeah theres a definite disconnect between sam and the rhythm section haha i guess we just blamed different people haha. To be fair i listened to it on my phone speaker so that could be the reason for the lack of bass but even still, i just felt the drums were over playing like pretty badly. of course these are just my opinions and im admitedly not familiar with the album. i had higher hopes for it as well.
Andrew Wright
Anybody have a good explanation for the differences between Bebop, Hard Bop and Modal Jazz?
