Keith Jarrett

Hooray! A normal title for once! So I'm back, internet; I've had a lot of work to do in school, as it's almost winter break, and so I've been neglecting to post. But no longer! I'm back, and ready for jazz noobery galore!

So tonight I listened to Keith Jarrett, as last time I listened to McCoy Tyner a youtube commenter arrogantly stated this guy was better. Now since I'm not an expert on either pianist (this blog is called The Jazz Noob, after all...) I can't tell you for sure, but DAMN this is impressive.

He starts off by playing possibly the coolest left hand piano ostinato I've ever heard, that not only sounds badass, but looks quite technically challenging as well, especially considering what he's doing in the right hand. Then he starts to solo over the ostinato, which doesn't change, but that's fine because the melodies he creates are sexylicious. I literally can't find words to describe them, as I'm still completely overwhelmed even five minutes after hearing them.

The melodies are so moving that he himself is literally moving; he continuously gyrates to his own music throughout the whole piece, sometimes even uncomfortably. Uncomfortable as in he almost completely stands up at one moment and starts playing it standing up. I understand moving to the music, but at some point it really just looks like you're screwing with the audience.

As hard as it is for me to admit it, I think overall I liked this more than the McCoy Tyner pieces. I'm emotionally punching myself as I write this, but I think it's true. So that's my opinion; what do think, internet? If anyone ever wants to comment on my blog, it's fine with me. I'm getting kind of lonely. I will let you write literally anything you want. SO COMMENT!

McCoy Tyner has a bitchin' ponytail

I'm really digging McCoy Tyner. This video right here is of a solo piano performance, and because there's no band to back him up, it's almost like he is now able to condense all of his awesomeness into this 3-minute song and no one's face will get melted by proximity. He's sweating, although that's easily explained by the same reasoning: he's melting his face with his own skill.

Everything he plays in this video is very very interesting and very very musical; the ideas flow by at an extremely fast pace. The ideas aren't the only thing flowing by; his hands are so fast it's ridiculous. When you look at the video, it's almost like it's playing in fast forward. When I first heard him play, I could tell he had great technique, but I never anticipated this. His fingers are so majestic he could probably kill a man with just one finger.

I also checked a second video just because he's so awesome (and the other one was kinda short, and I don't want to disappoint the four people that read my blog). Everything that's true about the first video is true here; McCoy has dazzling technique and amazing harmonic sensibility, but I enjoyed this one slightly more, probably because I just like this song better. One thing I really liked here was that I ended the piece with this weird dissonant run (maybe tritones? my musical ear is shit) and it seemed like a strangely perfect way to end the piece.

Anyway, that's McCoy Tyner for you. I really hope the rest of the jazz world is filled with guys like this, because they make my life so much happier. Anyway, comment, tell me what you like, what you don't, maybe your favorite food, something interesting that makes my day a happy one. See you in the next installment of 'THE JAZZ NOOB!'

staccato

http://staccatonote.blogspot.com/
This is the blog I was talking about in last night's post. Check it out. It's fun.

MCCOY TYNER (and John Coltrane)

So for tonight's selection I was inspired to listen to John Coltrane from my buddy, who also has a jazz blog called Staccato. He had a really informative and interesting post there, and so for the approximately 4 people who read my blog, go check him out. It's a cool place.

So I listened to a song called Impressions, and while I thought I liked jazz after hearing Thelonious Monk play last night, after listening to this song, I can definitely say I love jazz. It's fantastic; every single musician is outstanding in it, and it makes me very very angry that I can't play like them.

Inadequacies aside, the piece starts off with a little playing together as a group, establishing a melody, but soon enough, Sir Coltrane starts off the piece with his solo. He plays with great melodic style, and although he plays very fast, none of it feels forced and show-offy. It all sounds great. Next up is the second saxophonist whose solo while not quite as fun or entertaining as Coltrane's, still manages to hold my interest.

But even though everyone worships Coltrane, the musician who really blew my mind was the pianist, McCoy Tyner. He's legit the best pianist I've ever heard. He's obviously God. He plays with these very drifting and weaving melodies that on their own are like happiness and rainbows and sunshine flowing through my head, but then he combines them with these extremely floaty, beautiful chords and harmonies and it is sex.

While the pianist may be my all-time favorite musician, I also really appreciated the rhythm section. The bassist and the drummer were both far more interesting than those from last night's post, keeping a tight pocket while also embellishing the melody. They really helped to keep the song very cohesive and flowing. The drummer in particular is kind of a badass. I can tell.

I do miss Thelonious though. His dancing makes me very happy, and he had a great hat. He was also a badass.

Anyway, that's my two cents on this song, internets. Feel free to comment about the song, or if life in general is getting you down, you can vent on my blog. No one really comes here anyway, so it's almost like a journal. So anyway, comment and tomorrow we will continue on with our adventure!

Thelonious Monk is one crazy dude

So for my first jazz song for this blog, I chose Thelonious Monk. Even though I don't listen to jazz, I've heard his name a couple times around before, so I thought, why not? Anyway, this song is called Blue Monk, and overall for my first jazz experience, I kind of dig it (I'm kind of a terrible reviewer of just about anything, so prepare for very shallow commenting throughout the course of my blogging career).

So, the song starts off with a very simple, almost sing-song-y kind of melody, and then begins to head into the soloing. The saxophone player was up first; his was a good solo, full of interesting rhythmic and melodic concepts.

Then came Mr. Thelonious Monk himself, and I was really... surprised. He's very unique. In the sense that he plays piano like no one in their right mind plays it. And according to Wikipedia, there's plenty of evidence that he isn't. But it works. He plays with a very distinctive style.

When watching the video you notice that the way he lays his hands, and just from listening that's he obviously got a bunch of experience around a piano. But yet he chooses to jab and poke at it, with his elbows out; it looks very silly, but in this style he gets a very loud percussive sound. He also chooses to solo almost entirely with dissonances in this piece, but even though they should sound awful something about the way he arranges or plays them make them seem captivating. Like I said, extremely unique.

The rest of the song, besides Sir Monk playing behind the band, really didn't grab me. The drummer and bassist are solid, but there solos are kind of boring, at least for my uneducated peasant brain. The bassist also literally looks like a praying mantis 'preying' (so darn punny) on his bass, which freaked me out more than a little bit.

Also, after every solo, he stands up and stares off into the distance, perfectly rigid, sometimes tapping his foot or swaying his arm along to the beat. He also has a really great hat. I highly recommend this video if only for his stage antics.

So that was my first real experience with jazz; feel free, the four of you who have visited my blog to comment and post about whatever you're feeling about this piece or life in general, that's cool too.

ENTER: THE JAZZ NOOB!

Hello, internets.

Are you ready to be taken on a journey, nay, an adventure, the likes of which the world has never seen?

Once again, hello, internets, as I will be your guide on this adventure. This is an adventure of my own self-discovery. You see, I am a young high school student who really digs music. I play drums, and I just picked up guitar and piano last year; it's safe to say that music dominates my life currently. And so I have started this blog as a way to expand my own musical horizons. As of now, I currently listen to mostly rock, metal, alternative, and other genres of those ilk.

And yet, in my quest to become a better musician, I have decided to listen to jazz music, as I have heard that is the pinnacle of musical achievement; it is music at the highest form, and so if I myself want to play music of the highest form, I should listen to jazz music. And so this blog is a catalogue of my adventure through the daunting world of jazz music.

I will try to listen to at least a couple songs a day, and then blog my thoughts about them. Did I mention I know literally nothing about jazz music? The first few posts will most likely involve such mind-blowing technical terms as "thingy," "dude who plays that other horn instrument," "doos," and "dees." That is how someone who literally knows nothing about jazz music will describe what's going on, and hopefully it will be even slightly amusing to you, (hopefully) my readers.

Just letting you know what's about to go down, and so join me and learn more about jazz music!