Hi everybody!!
I've just recently joined this forum while looking for some new speakers. I ran across this thread almost two hours ago. I'm still here and want to contribute something.
My main gig is sales and marketing. My other life is as a jazz musician, (or, because this is a small town, the symphony, blues, funk or country. ((but I freakin' hate the country gigs)))
I fell into jazz at about 15 years of age. My parents asked me if I wanted to go with them to hear Oscar Peterson. I said yes.
I said yes not because I liked his music. In fact, I didn't like it at all. My parents had a bunch of jazz records and none of the songs sounded to me like the musicians knew where they were going. It was just a jumbled mess of notes. But I knew he was famous, an old guy and would probably die soon, so I went to the concert.
This was about 1966-67. Anybody over 40 was pretty much an old guy.
I was 14-15 years old.
We went to the gig. As it turned out, it was a solo performance. The room held maybe 300 people. Nice, intimate and we had an excellent view of his hands.
Anybody that knows the music of Oscar Peterson knows that he has a blindingly fast right hand and that his left hand is equally as fast, and can play off the right in such a way that sometimes you think that there are actually two piano players.
Anyway, here he is playing his stuff. It's not that good. (at least to my 15 year old ears). At one point he does the super fast right and left hand thing and I can tell he's going out of time. I thought, Okay, he's going out of time, but he's an old guy so that's okay.
He was not going out of time.
I'd just never had to listen to music that "hard" before. I became obsessed with understanding his music and bang; I was a jazzhead. Still am.
At some point in my life I can't remember I began to look for odd meter tunes. I think some tunes are written in odd meters just because the musicians can play them. Some others work. And work really well.
Here is one of my favorites, and my first contribution to this most excellent thread; Cannonball Adderly playing 74 Miles Away. I had the privilege of seeing this live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmpV67Mgsl0
Thank you all for a wonderful thread.
Bob
I've just recently joined this forum while looking for some new speakers. I ran across this thread almost two hours ago. I'm still here and want to contribute something.
My main gig is sales and marketing. My other life is as a jazz musician, (or, because this is a small town, the symphony, blues, funk or country. ((but I freakin' hate the country gigs)))
I fell into jazz at about 15 years of age. My parents asked me if I wanted to go with them to hear Oscar Peterson. I said yes.
I said yes not because I liked his music. In fact, I didn't like it at all. My parents had a bunch of jazz records and none of the songs sounded to me like the musicians knew where they were going. It was just a jumbled mess of notes. But I knew he was famous, an old guy and would probably die soon, so I went to the concert.
This was about 1966-67. Anybody over 40 was pretty much an old guy.
I was 14-15 years old.
We went to the gig. As it turned out, it was a solo performance. The room held maybe 300 people. Nice, intimate and we had an excellent view of his hands.
Anybody that knows the music of Oscar Peterson knows that he has a blindingly fast right hand and that his left hand is equally as fast, and can play off the right in such a way that sometimes you think that there are actually two piano players.
Anyway, here he is playing his stuff. It's not that good. (at least to my 15 year old ears). At one point he does the super fast right and left hand thing and I can tell he's going out of time. I thought, Okay, he's going out of time, but he's an old guy so that's okay.
He was not going out of time.
I'd just never had to listen to music that "hard" before. I became obsessed with understanding his music and bang; I was a jazzhead. Still am.
At some point in my life I can't remember I began to look for odd meter tunes. I think some tunes are written in odd meters just because the musicians can play them. Some others work. And work really well.
Here is one of my favorites, and my first contribution to this most excellent thread; Cannonball Adderly playing 74 Miles Away. I had the privilege of seeing this live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmpV67Mgsl0
Thank you all for a wonderful thread.
Bob