just jazz?? or other stuff to???

[Jazz-in-Aust]

As a jazz musician, talking to other jazz musicians, should I focus all my listening habits on jazz. Do you think that it's ok to go into thing's like latin, and blues, and soul, and motown, and old school rock, and african, and all music, or should i plainly focus on jazz???

be cool,

Marc

[Pete C]

Listen to EVERYTHING.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

DITTO!

[graypencil]

...including ( but not limited to ) :

the Bulgarian Womans Choir..
all sorts of world music ( fado/ balinese gamelan / tibetian monks chanting /endless variety of sounds..
Conlon Nancarrows hand punched piano roll music..
Harry Partch and his hand built one of a kind instruments..
Street drummers ..who make kits out of garbage cans and throwaway stuff ..
Brian Eno ..
Bela Fleck..
Dennis Gonzales ..
Count Basie ..
Hamid Drake ...
Pierre Boulez ...

[Richardo Caerleoni]

Moondog...

[Jazzooo]

Strictly polka.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by graypencil

...including ( but not limited to ) :

the Bulgarian Womans Choir..
all sorts of world music ( fado/ balinese gamelan / tibetian monks chanting /endless variety of sounds..
Conlon Nancarrows hand punched piano roll music..
Harry Partch and his hand built one of a kind instruments..
Street drummers ..who make kits out of garbage cans and throwaway stuff ..
Brian Eno ..
Bela Fleck..
Dennis Gonzales ..
Count Basie ..
Hamid Drake ...
Pierre Boulez ...

Nice list. I once saw a very rare Nancarrow concert (mid-80s, I think). Some of his pieces were transcribed for conventional instrumentation, and they also had a bunch of player pianos on stage. Everybody who was anybody in the NY avant garde was there.

[cookie]

The best advice I ever received from my jazz mentors when I was starting out was to listen to all styles of music, learn as much as I could about different kinds of music, and learn to be a *versatile* player.

Yes, you must listen to tons of jazz, too. I listen *mostly* to jazz at this point, but I also listen to the radio and hear other kinds of music: classical, folk, alt.rock, classic rock, country, pop etc. Sometimes I run across a song in another genre that can be used to play jazz on (to me "jazz" is something you *do* to music and not just a body of repertoire). Sometimes, I take an old jazz tune and play it in another style (like funkin' up a ballad to give it a more kinetic beat).

Don't let anyone pigeonhole you into one genre. Respect and explore the recorded history of our music, but don't be afraid to listen to and play other things. After all, our music has effected other genres and other genres have effected jazz. Music's music.

[graypencil]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Nice list. I once saw a very rare Nancarrow concert (mid-80s, I think). Some of his pieces were transcribed for conventional instrumentation, and they also had a bunch of player pianos on stage. Everybody who was anybody in the NY avant garde was there.

Pete:

There was a suite of early Nancarrow transcriptions done for a small wind ensemble ..were these what they played?

I have the CD of that stuff around here somewhere, but I can't tell what of the many piles its currently in

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by graypencil

Pete:

There was a suite of early Nancarrow transcriptions done for a small wind ensemble ..were these what they played?

I have the CD of that stuff around here somewhere, but I can't tell what of the many piles its currently in

I can't remember. I know there were transcriptions for multiple human pianists.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Listen to Cassandra Wilson, a "jazz" singer, transform Boyce and Hart's "Last Train to Clarksville", one of the big hits for the Monkees.

And thanks Graypencil for your list which includes me.

[JazzAt52ndStreet]

I listen to the pop station in the car, mostly 'cause the jazz station gets crappy reception here and also everybody else in the car prefers it to jazz. I listen to jazz everytime else, except when I'm angry I'll dust of that MuDvaYnE or Slipknot record, or when I'm high i'll dust of that raggae record? lol.

.....the pop music keeps me sane.

-52nd

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Originally Posted by graypencil

Pete:

There was a suite of early Nancarrow transcriptions done for a small wind ensemble ..were these what they played?

I have the CD of that stuff around here somewhere, but I can't tell what of the many piles its currently in

Phil: I have this one. Is it the one you're thinking of? The album opens with a 11 of the "Studies For Player Piano" arranged for the Ensemble Modern.




Along somewhat similar lines, I REALLY like Ligeti's compositions for barrel organ.

[Sand]

Stay away from harding fiddle/hardingfele music! It's probably just a passing fad, a worn-out effect from commercial films, popular music, ecm-branded stuff, watered down world musc and whatever.
Ram's horn jazz still has a lot to offer. Karl Seglem's "New North" sampler is an example.
And ditto: Joiks or chanting songs of the Finnish Sami people. Ulla Pirtijärvi's New York recording is nice.

[lazarus]

I think it can be a very good idea to listen to the french composer Olivier Messiaen.

Also Karlheinz Stockhausen, Captain Beefheart, Robert Johnson, Bert Jansch and James Brown.

[Gary Sisco]

I would think that as a developing jazz musician, you would stunt your musical development if you listened only to jazz, even given the vast variety of music gathered together under that name. Most musicians that I've known listen to all kinds of stuff besides the kind of music that they play, and find much inspiration from it, as well. Indeed, jazz has always, from the beginning, incorporated the sounds around it.

I wasn't a jazz player, but I did make my living for quite a long time playing music. One thing I notice, looking back, is that I only very rarely listened to the kind of music I played myself. If I wanted to hear that, I'd play it.

As for listening, I listen to all kinds of "genres," apart from the strictly commercial "product" the pop world releases these days, which isn't meant to be taken seriously as music anyway. It's what they call it: product.

My second love behind jazz is reggae -- roots reggae from the 60s/70s/early 80s and dub from the same periods.

Next comes my newest love: eai or whatever we're going to call it this week.

After that, a new (for me the past couple of years) developing interest in modern and contemporary "classical" for want of a better term. Modern classical being oxymoronic.

But I also listen to a lot of and love a lot, real rock and roll, old-school r&b, the blues (esp delta and Memphis from the 20s), real country and old-timey music, deep gospel, (good) hip hop, modern non-Jamaican dub that goes by many names and has various styles, my favorite being "illbient" like the Crooklyn Dub Outernational has been releasing. All kinds of stuff. Not to mention lots of "world music," another absurd name, which apparently means, at least in the States, any kind of music that's made anywhere else.

Don't limit yourself. You wouldn't want to eat the same thing every day. Why listen to the same thing every day?

I would leave the Bulgarian Women's Choir out. Sure, there was a time when they were hot, but the new ensemble, Bosnia Babes, blows them away.

[Richardo Caerleoni]

Ruby and the Rumanians, The Art Ensemble of Croatia, The Hot Club of Slovakia…their version of “Stars fell on Albania” is ….cooooooool ! [but long deleted]

[graypencil]

Originally Posted by Squaredancecalling Steve

Phil: I have this one. Is it the one you're thinking of? The album opens with a 11 of the "Studies For Player Piano" arranged for the Ensemble Modern.




Along somewhat similar lines, I REALLY like Ligeti's compositions for barrel organ.

SDQ Steve:

Bingo! ..that's it ..recognized the cover instantly



Along the same lines , you should try to locate some recordings of the Les Sonores glass sound sculptures ..I first saw them at the 62 Worlds Fair in Seattle and have since seen them on TV ..beautiful to look at, walk through, as well as listen to ...

[JazzAt52ndStreet]

....I've been listening to Wynton Marsalis' Carnival. (ducks from a flying tomato ;-))

Amazing stuff...great great technique.

-52nd

[Jazz-in-Aust]

Thank u all very much for your advice, it's very kind of you all to give me guidance in my developing years, but i am still confused.

I am still just discovering jazz, and even though it would "stunt my growth" as a jazz musician, i don't want to go off into other genre's yet. It feels like I haven't finished exploring jazz yet and that I'll miss out if i leave it for just a second.

I do listen to delta blues, country blues, african, motown, more or less all the african stuff, and i do enjoy it. This is only on a rare occasion when i feel uninspired.

I do love all music, but i don't know what i should be doing at the moment, because all i want right now is jazz.

What should i do?

be cool, stay cool

Marc

[JazzAt52ndStreet]

Listen to what you want.....don't ever force your self to listen to something you dont want.

...unless of course, it means you're gunna get fired. In which case you should definiatly learn your parts....even if it means listening to church music all day

-52nd