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
