Jazz (2): Endless Forms

Gypsy Jazz:  Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt

During my college years, I fell in love with some recent recordings by then-70-year-old Stephane Grapelli, a jazz violinist.  I wondered what else he had done, and discovered a whole body of work from the 1930’s and ‘40’s, mostly with Django Reinhardt, the great Belgian-born Gypsy guitarist who founded an early jazz club in Paris and worked there most of his life.  They led the creation of a new style of music that merged Gypsy sounds with American jazz.  It became a staple in European dance halls, and even made its way back to the U.S., where it had some influence on the progressive jazz and fusion movements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcE1avXFJb4

 

Foo-foo Saxophone:  Coleman Hawkins

Here is a 1939 recording by Coleman Hawkins, probably my favorite jazz saxophonist.  Yes, I know it’s more hip to name Coltrane; I just love Hawkins’ cushy, sensuous sound.  If you’re a fan of Stan Getz, this is where Getz drew his greatest inspiration.  Hawkins was also an innovator in his own right, and bridged several different periods and styles in jazz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUFg6HvljDE

Thelonius:  Blue Monk

Thelonius Monk was a beloved eccentric.  He bent time signatures, played weird chords, experimented with dissonance before it was fashionable, and pretty much steered his own course.   This is from “Thelonious, Alone in San Francisco”.  It was the first jazz record I ever owned, and is still my most treasured piece of vinyl.

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

 

Where did the "Peanuts" music come from?

One day, on the way to the airport, TV producer Lee Mendelson heard this piece on the radio.  After several phone calls, he tracked down the artist, a jazz musician named Vince Guaraldi, and asked him to write the music for a TV special he was working on.  The special became “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Guaraldi wrote the music for over a dozen more shows and a full-length movie.  Even if you’ve never heard this before, you’ll feel like you recognize it.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Krl9nnXT4

McCoy Tyner makes waves

From the 1975 album Trident: McCoy Tyner, Ron Carter and Elvin Jones.  Minimalist, elegant, gorgeous.  It makes me feel the way being aloft in a hang-glider felt.  And McCoy just rocks the harpsichord.  We recently lost him--RIP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXnxoI8cliU

Should be a movie theme:  Gato

Gato Barbieri was an Argentine saxophonist who became one of his country’s biggest cultural exports.  What he did was called jazz but ranged far and wide, defying easy categorization.  He wrote romantic ballads, movie soundtracks, and experimental jazz compositions.  This is an unabashedly sentimental piece that he wrote in memory of his wife and lifelong collaborator, Michelle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0SZ4rE-QJo

Esperanza makes the impossible look fun

Esperanza Spalding is on my short list for “Coolest person ever”. She writes, composes, plays multiple instruments, and sings, but that’s like saying Albert Einstein was a guy who did math and physics. She melds jazz, fusion, funk, bossa-nova, scat, odd time signatures and odder scales into her own genre of music. She sings while playing bass, which is completely badass. Her compositions are academic yet catchy as hell. Here are two numbers, one featuring her on electric bass and the other on double-bass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aRC3YY3svs

And now for something really different

Japan may have the most dynamic jazz/rock scene in the world right now.  This group take the concept of “genre” and completely trash it - their influences include jazz (especially Dave Brubeck), progressive rock, punk, and rap, among other things. Not sure what it is, but I love it.

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