Jazz for aficionados

Today's Listen:

Charles Mingus -- CHANGES ONE

The first track is the clip I have posted. " Remember Rockefeller at Attica"
This refers to the bloody prison riot that took place while Rockefeller was Governor of NY.

This tune sounds very upbeat to me.  Esp Don Pullen on piano.  I read the liner notes, and find out that the tune's original name was changed, by Mingus,  to 'Remember Rockefeller at Attica'.   The name was changed,  but not the music.   He said he wanted people to remember the incident.   WTF!!!

Which got me to thinking about how Jazz tunes are named.  Should / does the name and music have any relationship?  Should a person be able to hear and follow the theme or subject indicated by the name?  

Of course, most are self-explanatory, or obvious,  esp the standards and tunes from Broadway or pop music. etc......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM6vIURo5OI

Perhaps The Frogman can enlighten us.  Or me.  I am sure everyone else knows this.

Cheers

Leon Thomas:

Some nice unique tunes, but can he sustain / carry an entire CD?  I don't think so.  The Viet Nam tune was just silly.   Sort of ruined the entire record.

I tend to buy music based on the entire CD.   I have had my fill of buying a CD just  to hear one song.   I know they can't all be like 'Thriller', but I like to get as close as I can.

The Frogman's Theorem still holds.

Cheers

Rok, I don't know why artists put conventional and Avant Garde on the same album. Either a person wants to hear one or the other, but not both. So far I've ordered two CD's, and one of them is under Pharoah Sanders.

"Leon The Blues Band", seems to be for you, it's got Joe Williams tunes.

I've ordered "Kharma" plus "Spirits known and Unknown"; while that last CD only has two cuts that are for me, it's still a no lose situation because I like the outfit the home boy is wearing.




Enjoy the music.

I don't know which CD this is on but I intend to acquire it. Acman do you have this on record? This is exactly what I'm looking for.


              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwKbI2Y7lCc


We have too much to choose from.




Enjoy the music.

****Should / does the name and music have any relationship? Should a person be able to hear and follow the theme or subject indicated by the name?****

Should?  Grandma used to tell me: "there are no "shoulds" in life".  In seriousness, should the name of the music....?  Probably not, although I think it's much better when it does and I think the best tunes do.

Does?  Often it does.  1. Sometimes it's obvious and the music follows, as you say, the theme indicated by the name. 2.  Other times it's a very "inside" relationship that only the composer of the tune is privy to; and, may want to keep it that way.  3.  Sometimes there's no relationship whatsoever and the title is random or may relate to a person or event without the music itself relating to that person or event; I think this is the exception.

1. Obvious:
- "Take Five".  The tune is in 5/4; five beats to the measure.
- "Watermelon Man". HEEEEEEEEEY WATERMELON MAN
- "So What". Eight note bass lick followed by the two note motif by the horns: SO WHAT!
- "Ceora". First three notes of the tune are clearly deliniating the three syllables of the title.
- "Take The A Train".  YOU, MUST TAKE THE A TRAIN
- "Salt Peanuts".  SALT PEANUTS, SALT PEANUTS

2.  Inside
Well, if it weren't an inside thing we would know, right?

3.  
- "Ornithology".  No clues in the music itself, but since the word means the study of birds.....duh!  "Bird", get it?
-  "Bitches Brew".  Couldn't imagine the connection.
- "Billy's Bounce".  Obviously relates to Billy (?), but I don't hear it in the music itself

Often, a composer has an experience or sees somehting that has some kind of impact as in the case of "Watermelon Man".  I heard Herbie Hancock describe that very process in how he wrote the tune; he saw a man selling watermelons.  Fewer times the composer writes a tune and then "looks" for a title that he feels somehow relates or chooses to leave the choice of title completely random.

BTW, I think your overall assessment of Thomas is spot on.