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Jazz Standards |
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morris_minor
Moderator Group Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Location: Surrey Status: Offline Points: 6015 |
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Posted: 16 Aug 2015 at 1:12pm |
I thought I'd start a new thread about Jazz Standards - those songs that have been picked up - and picked about - by countless jazz artists over the years.
This was prompted by my playlist off the server this morning - every recording I have of Thelonius Monk's 'Round Midnight. This has assumed a bit of a "colllectors" status for me; magpie-like I gather new versions into the fold at every opportunity. Currently I'm only scraping the surface with about 20 recordings - but it's a very varied lot . . . There's Monk of course. Monk with Gerry Mulligan's baritone. Monk with Coltrane and Davis. Wes Montgomery, Sonny Rollins, the MJQ, Chet Baker, Carole Kidd, Art Pepper, Gil Evans. Eddie Thomson's piano disc has an alternate version with a grand opening like Monk was channelled into Bach's D minor Toccata. More unusual renditions were from The Quintet of the Hot Club of San Francisco (think Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt), opera singer Ute Lemper (sultry, or what!), and Zyklus. On the Zyklus version Neil Ardley and Ian Carr assemble the theme bit by bit, with elements akin to Steve Reich minimalism. Carr's haunting trumpet combines with the electronics of Ardley making for a 'Round Midnight like no other. Ain't jazz great! Does anyone else collect Jazz Standards like this . . .?
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Bob
Majestic DAC/pre-amp Accession MC/Enigma, Accession MM, Reflex M, Elevator EXP, Era Gold V Solo ULDE, Novo, Lautus USB and digital, Libran balanced, CuSat50 2 x Proprius + Spatia/Spatia Links |
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jazzcatlee
New Member Joined: 17 Jan 2016 Location: Florida, U.S.A. Status: Offline Points: 34 |
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I don't collect recordings of jazz standards in that way. But one can't help noticing that certain songs have been highly popular with, and often recorded by, jazz artists. "Round Midnight" is one. Others are "Love for Sale," "Yesterdays," "Autumn leaves," and so on.
Which raises an interesting question. What qualities or attributes make a song attractive as a vehicle for jazz interpretation? |
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"All the hard ways!"
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Sturgus
Regular Joined: 26 Jun 2015 Location: St. Louis Status: Offline Points: 95 |
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MM, do you have the version by Linda Ronstadt? I like the collection with the Nelson Riddle orchestra.
Sturgus |
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Aussie Mick
Senior Member Joined: 21 Feb 2014 Location: Bendigo Aust. Status: Offline Points: 1091 |
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Hi all,
Jazz standards become so for two reasons, really. The first is that the melody itself is popular and memorable, having "timeless" qualities. But the second reason is more important! The harmonic progression (chord progression) provides a lot of opportunity for inventive improvisation! This makes standards of songs that might not be standards for singers, who look more for what they can do with a good lyric. Mick. |
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Rega RP8 - Apheta 2 - Accession MC Enigma PS -Solo ULDE (Focal Utopia) - PS Audio M700 - Fical Kanta No2
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morris_minor
Moderator Group Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Location: Surrey Status: Offline Points: 6015 |
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Bob
Majestic DAC/pre-amp Accession MC/Enigma, Accession MM, Reflex M, Elevator EXP, Era Gold V Solo ULDE, Novo, Lautus USB and digital, Libran balanced, CuSat50 2 x Proprius + Spatia/Spatia Links |
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shirivasta
New Member Joined: 03 Apr 2020 Status: Offline Points: 37 |
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Love this thread. I keep lists in my head of all the artists I know who have done a standard, and also what might be my favorite of the moment.
I'm always impressed when a vocalist can interpret a classic in a way that makes it seem fresh, and kinda fascinated when someone bulldozes something lyrically that has real weight and strips it of it's nuance and meaning. That's probably where that hazy line between stylist and artist exists. Blossom Dearie is one of those vocalists who can take a song that seems almost invisible to me and turn it into something interesting. Surrey with the Fringe on Top is a good example. She slows the delivery down in such a way that it hit me what the tune was about—a slow seduction and the desire for privacy in a pre-automobile era. Anyway, so many examples, and so many tunes I came to as an instrumental only to later learn the words. |
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kgilroy
Senior Member Joined: 28 Nov 2012 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Status: Offline Points: 414 |
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Along those lines I have recently become a big fan of Shirley Horn. Her releases on Steeplechase are excellent
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Keith
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