Lately I have found myself listening to a lot jazz. Becoming obsessed with music is what I do, I suppose. There was a period (2004-2006) where I listened to almost nothing but hip hop. I find myself liking something different and I want to immerse myself in it. I hope to stick with jazz for a while.
Aside: If somebody says they listen to "hip hop" but not "rap," they are very stupid. Rapping is what you do and hip hop is the culture that was once made up of DJing, MCing, breakdancing and graffiti. For the record, Dead Prez is not bigger than hip hop; they are just okay at best.
Ken Burns
When I decided to listen to more jazz, I decided to finally finish watching Ken Burns' Jazz documentary. It is about 15-20 hours long, but it is pretty good. I am sure it skips or glosses over some important information, but I doubt there is another comparable jazz documentary that does not. One thing you will notice is that once Charlie Parker hits the scene everybody immediately starts doing heroin in an effort to acquire some of his magical powers. Heroin does not give you magic powers, unless you consider shitting your pants to be divine.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
This guy can play three saxophones at the same time, and he also plays a flute with his nose. This video is notable for the drugged out hippie, donned in Amish clothes, going to town on a tambourine. It is great, especially because he pretty much sticks to the same beat the entire song. I bet these guys did the best and most drugs.
"Kind of Blue"
I love this album so much. For a drugged up wife beater Miles Davis sure made some beautiful music. This might be my favorite album.
This is interesting because I've never heard of hip hop until now.
ReplyDeleteI prefer Bitches Brew.
ReplyDeleteAs an African American, I am into musical genres such as jazz, but not only into musical genres such as jazz.
ReplyDeletethis was very informative! like a ken burns documentary! thanks, jake!
ReplyDeleteThis post encapsulates everything wrong with hipster culture. I am glad this isn't written by one and is just another respectable fellow duped into thinking Miles Davis is good. To be fair, I am uncultured, and have tried to like Miles Davis. I can 'get' Charlie Parker, but Miles Davis to me is at best muzak on acid, which to be fair as a musician is something I'll never be able to achieve. But I love Jake, and wish him the best in his jazz endeavor.
ReplyDeleteHa, I don't like everything by Miles Davis, but I really like "Kind of Blue" so much. I've just started scratching the surface with jazz, and maybe it will be like when I started listening to punk and I'll get into the better, lesser known stuff later. Maybe Miles Davis is the Pennywise of jazz.
ReplyDelete