Cats that dig jazz and blues

[Unseelie Queen]

Nina Simone is my favorite artist by far. Lately I'm very much into latin and afrojazz/afrobeat though.

Love Gil-Scott Heron, too.

I'm generally most fond of earlier jazz and blues. (1920s-40s) Also, if you've never heard Alan Lomax's various field recordings I highly recommend them! (This one and this one are both quite haunting)

Some favorites off the top of my head:

Nina Simone - Blackbird

Earl Hines - Memories of You

John Coltrane - Psalm: A Love Supreme

Duke Ellington - Melancholia

Gil Evans - Cry of Hunger

Blind Willie Johnson (there sure were a lot of blind Willies back then) - Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground

Mississippi Fred McDowell - Shake 'Em On Down

Jazz and blues fans really are not that rare... As with many threads, it seems most simply can't be bothered to reply even if they have an interest (often myself included, lately).

[Tobi]

Originally Posted by Gem

Yay! A jazz and blues cat! And one knows "the high priestess", Nina Simone. Shes my heroine. This morning I was beginning to wonder, but you've restored my faith in humanity!

Nina Simone, one of my favourites too. Even though the Blues/Jazz genre is not completely 'my thing'....I do love her voice and her Soul.

(haha I thought you literally meant cats who like jazz and blues....and some cats are very musical! Trust me to be literal.... )

[Unseelie Queen]

Current favorite:

Ibrahim Maalouf - Beirut

[Somnia]

Originally Posted by Tobi

(haha I thought you literally meant cats who like jazz and blues....and some cats are very musical! Trust me to be literal.... )

You mean like these cats? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rrXR6n0RTY

[Ciona]

Another fan of Nina Simone here.

Here's some Stan Kenton Big Band, I've Got You Under My Skin.
https://youtu.be/Uy3_lGJS9T8

I was a little nostalgic listening to this earlier, it reminds me of an ex who back in the day used to take me to jazz clubs where there would be live Swing bands, and both dinner and dancing. We would get out on the floor and we didn't know what the hell we were doing but he would whirl me and twirl me with the best of them. I loved it! I remember the fabulous atmosphere, the great food and champagne, and the women and their diamonds. Such a wonderful time, I'd love to get back into that scene eventually.

[Ciona]

Avoiding most of the Forum at the moment but the Jazz and the Art threads simply refuse to let me go entirely, ah well. ♥ Do love that Caravan Palace Gem, that was quite above and beyond, would love to see them perform live for sure. Great lyrics too, love the way she sings 'Don't stop, swing begin!' and 'Looking for the king, the king of the swing', Lol that's awesome. That's some fierce sh-, erm stuff, yeah I can see what you mean.

Somebody Loves Me - Eddie Condon Dixieland All-Stars
https://youtu.be/oMRzSathbO4

I Hadn't Anyone Till You - Red Norvo. So beautiful.
https://youtu.be/m2h8g6uZiqE

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Sister Moon

Avoiding most of the Forum at the moment but the Jazz and the Art threads simply refuse to let me go entirely, ah well. ♥ Do love that Caravan Palace Gem, that was quite above and beyond, would love to see them perform live for sure. Great lyrics too, love the way she sings 'Don't stop, swing begin!' and 'Looking for the king, the king of the swing', Lol that's awesome. That's some fierce sh-, erm stuff, yeah I can see what you mean.

Somebody Loves Me - Eddie Condon Dixieland All-Stars
https://youtu.be/oMRzSathbO4

I Hadn't Anyone Till You - Red Norvo. So beautiful.
https://youtu.be/m2h8g6uZiqE

Caravan Palace hold the the very beginning of time in both their signature and tempo, and the evolution of swing and be-bop as dance music, mainly through black America culture, into what we now describe as hip hop and R&B.

The art of 'rock music' (which is rooted in blues, Jazz and 'Rock ad Roll') has been oppressed or at the very least marginalised by the moral order predicated historically on white conservative Christian Christian norms. You see, 'the land of the free' has always been a bit of a misnomer, and the movement from indigenous genocide to slavery to civil rights, and finally, to actual social liberties has always been the same vital essence of the human spirit which is truly and unconditionally free wherefrom the slave song rose, and brought new perspectives on Gospel not only in the spirit of Christ, but also musical 'soul' genre. The music was and continues to be the most powerful force of conscious transformation and social revolution there is.

It isn't what Troy Seals meant by 'I've got a rock and roll heart' (the song made famous by Eric Clapton). That song is about 57 Chevys and electric guitars. It is nationalistic consumer product symbolism. This 'heart' has nothing to do with the unconditionally free 'soul' expressed in blues and Gospel. The people I know of that sang of 'rock and roll hearts' are Clapton and Lou Reed - white men. Reed sang "Deep down inside I've got a rock & roll heart just lookin' for a good time". The Seals/Clapton song was later used to advertise T-Mobile (a mobile phone with Clapton's tag scrawled across it - which was pawned off as a 'collector's item').

The point is the trivialisation of black roots music by white commercial interests. We call Elvis the King - not Chuck Berry or Little Richard. Black men did not call it 'rock and roll' (DJ Alan Freed coined the term); they still called it 'the blues'. Little Richard started out as a teenage drag performer named Princess Lavonne, who would sometimes introduce her/himself as "Little Richard, king of the blues - and the queen, too" (he was still making that joke when Elvis took reign). The blues was 'black music'. Rock & Roll was what white men sold. Elvis was the medium to take the genre from the 'race charts' and make it 'mainstream'. Young white American girls, who were the target market, could acceptably go gaga over Elvis; Elvis being a white guy - not black - so Elvis topped the billboard charts, but not so hot on the 'race charts' (for black rhythm&blues, Gospel and Jazz), which evolved into what we now call the R&B charts.

So, we have this thing called 'the blues' (devil's music) which is devil's advocate to Gospel (God's music), which are to do with the soul. And we have another thing called 'Rock & Roll heart'. This makes me think that the kind love expressed by the 'rock and roll heart' is a possessive love that steals from the possessed 'soul' which is unconditionally free, just as were the living souls of slaves that gave rise to the blues.

This is the 'love and theft' of it.

Caravan Palace are a white band, but they don't romanticise and trivialise something like a 'rock and roll heart' with Chevys and phone products that are trying to be American national iconography. In fact, the sound of Caravan Palace's song, "Lone Digger", captured the essence of genres that span the ages and inspired me to write all this.

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

Move your body.

[Ciona]

Not to trivialize talented artists and musicians of the 'rock and roll' genre, but I couldn't agree more. I've always rejected the 'rock and roll heart' you speak of, music is music and I don't judge anyone for responding to it at base level (I've got all kinds of music my soul responds to, which some people don't even recognize as music, like mechanical for example), but personally speaking that has never resonated with me. I've never liked hardly anything from that era on a soul level. And I think I can count the actual modern rock bands I like on one hand (long live Scorps!).

It does feel so contrived and by its very conception I agree its a possessive love although I would also argue that's just the spirit of it, despite my nod to anyone who responded to it back in the day, especially young people. As I said my soul never has, and I can't stand its motifs either.

It's not my intention to imply, just because I don't 'like' it ('it' meaning the 'rock and roll heart' OR rock in general, in my case), that some bands from this era weren't evolving beyond this already, as music is too spiritually diverse for that imho. It's difficult to categorize completely, and different people bring different things to the table. But I do think you bring up an important subject. :)

I think Lone Digger is great, but speaking as an American (and perhaps as an American female), now that I've listened more I would say that their Dramophone illuminates the point even better in a way, musically speaking they're taking it right to the edge with that and exemplifying the comparison; when I listened to it, it cut straight through my American psyche and I found myself thinking, 'these two things are so similar, and yet so different.'

Dramophone - https://youtu.be/A7lxd7RL1To

Rather enjoyed the top commentator who stated that an emergency electro swing LP should be required safety equipment for all public institutions, have to agree haha, I do love my electro.

Originally Posted by Gem

Move your body.

Are you asking me to dance, my brother?

Love the dancing in this swing dance vid! :) https://youtu.be/xYUfKJjo2zU

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Sister Moon

Not to trivialize talented artists and musicians of the 'rock and roll' genre, but I couldn't agree more. I've always rejected the 'rock and roll heart' you speak of, music is music and I don't judge anyone for responding to it at base level (I've got all kinds of music my soul responds to, which some people don't even recognize as music, like mechanical for example), but personally speaking that has never resonated with me. I've never liked hardly anything from that era on a soul level. And I think I can count the actual modern rock bands I like on one hand (long live Scorps!).

It does feel so contrived and by its very conception I agree its a possessive love although I would also argue that's just the spirit of it, despite my nod to anyone who responded to it back in the day, especially young people. As I said my soul never has, and I can't stand its motifs either.

It's not my intention to imply, just because I don't 'like' it ('it' meaning the 'rock and roll heart' OR rock in general, in my case), that some bands from this era weren't evolving beyond this already, as music is too spiritually diverse for that imho. It's difficult to categorize completely, and different people bring different things to the table. But I do think you bring up an important subject. :)

If anything, I'm a rocker, but I know the roots from where it all sprang, so I go to the earliest audio recordings and understand the progression, link by link. I can't actually separate what is a flowing river. The clip "Dramophone" Captures this in a very interesting way as the dancers merge early swing steps fluidly with hip hop moves as though all time, that whole history, has been distilled to a moment.

The previous post I made was more like another aspect of the question as to whether culture produces art or art produces culture, and despite America being hailed as 'the land of the free', the history of oppression based on race, gender, sexuality and religion/spirituality is the way in which 'America' evolved, and this movement of blues and gospel - jazz - rock and roll - to the plethera of modern genres was largely a revolution, a rebellion, an expression, from it's very inception in slavery.

The music cannot be apart from the social climate it arises within, and the powerful effect it has on the transformation of the social psyche by appealing to youthful energetic bodies. The body moving in new ways for the sake of being and feeling free signifies how social freedom is what we enact together - by a forming band - or as the common audience who gather at concerts and/or to dance. In this way dance movement as the expression is inseparable from the music within the social or cultural dynamic, and all the modern liberties we enjoy today are owed to the historical river of American music with its source in the slave songs.

I think Lone Digger is great, but speaking as an American (and perhaps as an American female), now that I've listened more I would say that their Dramophone illuminates the point even better in a way, musically speaking they're taking it right to the edge with that and exemplifying the comparison; when I listened to it, it cut straight through my American psyche and I found myself thinking, 'these two things are so similar, and yet so different.'

Dramophone - https://youtu.be/A7lxd7RL1To

Rather enjoyed the top commentator who stated that an emergency electro swing LP should be required safety equipment for all public institutions, have to agree haha, I do love my electro.



Are you asking me to dance, my brother?

Love the dancing in this swing dance vid! :) https://youtu.be/xYUfKJjo2zU

Great steps, and very dapper.

[Ciona]

Originally Posted by Gem

If anything, I'm a rocker, but I know the roots from where it all sprang, so I go to the earliest audio recordings and understand the progression, link by link. I can't actually separate what is a flowing river. The clip "Dramophone" Captures this in a very interesting way as the dancers merge early swing steps fluidly with hip hop moves as though all time, that whole history, has been distilled to a moment.

The previous post I made was more like another aspect of the question as to whether culture produces art or art produces culture, and despite America being hailed as 'the land of the free', the history of oppression based on race, gender, sexuality and religion/spirituality is the way in which 'America' evolved, and this movement of blues and gospel - jazz - rock and roll - to the plethera of modern genres was largely a revolution, a rebellion, an expression, from it's very inception in slavery.

The music cannot be apart from the social climate it arises within, and the powerful effect it has on the transformation of the social psyche by appealing to youthful energetic bodies. The body moving in new ways for the sake of being and feeling free signifies how social freedom is what we enact together - by a forming band - or as the common audience who gather at concerts and/or to dance. In this way dance movement as the expression is inseparable from the music within the social or cultural dynamic, and all the modern liberties we enjoy today are owed to the historical river of American music with its source in the slave songs.

Right, well I am right there with you Gem; I still have more to learn about jazz and blues history in particular along that river (I got a compendium but have yet to read it, I also listen to artist profiles and historical analysis in addition to the music itself), but your discussion of its influence on our social liberties is my general understanding of history, yes. Don't have anything else to add at the moment, but sure enjoyed the thread. :)