Computers and Music
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
I was having a bit of fun and made a quick recording of something I'm working on right now with the piano. It's the jazz standard "Our Love is Here to Stay". Click here to listen (it's a MP3, about 1.7 MB). If you have any comments about this music, feel free to email me at gpeters@sfu.ca.
 
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
The late Gene Kelly with the help of a bit of computer graphics does a modernized version of Singing In The Rain in this cool Volkswagen Ad. (Via Richard Cleaver's blog).
 
Sunday, March 27, 2005
My brother just told me about the jazz group, Happy Apple. I checked out their web site, and enjoyed listening to some of the many music samples they provide from their various CD's. I especially like their song "The Express Lane Really Isn't All That Fast" from their album, Body Popping Moon Walking Top Rocking (1999). You can listen to that tune here.

But when I listened to the Happy Apple style, I was surprised to find that it doesn't seem connected much to their name, or at least I have never seen a happy apple which sounded like this. I think a more appropriate name would be "somewhat aggressive but coherent and groovy apple".
 
Saturday, March 26, 2005
If you haven't done so already, check out Jazzworld's page on Tony Williams, the late great jazz drummer. It features a bio, lots of photos, and some rarely seen video clips and sound recordings.

I have listened to Tony Williams performing on the the Miles Davis CD, "The Complete Concert 1964" which is one of the best jazz albums of all time, according to some people. A very talented fellow he was!
 
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
I found a fascinating account of the life of the late French jazz pianist, Michel Petrucciani (click here). As the author writes, "Michel was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as "glass bones," a disease that stunted his growth (he was only three feet tall and weighed barely 50 pounds) and weakened his bones." A brief excerpt from the article follows:
Michel decided, as a challenge, to set off for America. He landed in New York where a friend gave him the address of a musician living on the West Coast. When he arrived at Charles Lloyd's Californian retreat two weeks later, he wasn't aware that it was Charles who had first discovered the young pianist Keith Jarrett back in the 1960s. Once he heard that Michel was also a jazz pianist, Lloyd suggested that he should play something on his Steinway. After hearing a few bars Charles went and fetched his saxophone. For two days they played together non-stop. This shared adventure lasted five years and resulted in three albums. Charles Lloyd really opened every door for Michel—it could not have been a better start for his American career. Moving to California in 1982, he joined Charles Lloyd's new quartet. A solo performance by Michel at Carnegie Hall as part of the Kool Jazz Festival resulted in widespread critical acclaim.
 
In an interview with Fred Jung, pianist Jessica Williams discusses her favourite CD:
SOME BALLADS SOME BLUES is probably my favorite out of all the records that I've made. It's just like, it's not because it's on my own record label, but because it's one I listen to the most. It's the one that I feel is the most centered. I've really, there's this interview with Keith Jarrett. I think it's in TIME Magazine this week and it says, because he was sick with chronic fatigue, "that I was so exhausted that I didn't have any energy to try to be hip." He just said he just made his favorite record. That's kind of about how I feel about this record. I got so tired after twenty-five years of trying to be hip and fast and this and that, I was starting to feel like a gunslinger and I just let myself do exactly what I wanted. I didn't have any record producers to try and please. I didn't have any market niches to try to fill and that's why it just is what it is. It's pure, without makeup.
Jessica Williams is definitely worthy of your attention, especially if you're a jazz fan! Scott Yanow from All Music Guide writes:
She is one of the top jazz pianists of today, a powerful virtuoso whose complete control of the keyboard, wit, and solid sense of swing have combined to make her a particularly notable player. Although she appeared on Charlie Rouse's final record and gigged steadily, Williams was largely off record (outside of her own private label) until re-emerging in the late '80s as a brilliant solo acoustic player. She is a giant ...consistently brilliant
Interestingly, Jessica does all her own web design, and her web site is chock full of interesting tidbits. On the listen page (click here) you'll find an impressive collection of music to download, including several full length tracks. You'll also find several pieces of free sheet music of some of her original compositions (click here).
 
Saturday, March 19, 2005
From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy I found an interesting (but long) article on what is called the "Social Minimum" (click here). It talks about the concepts of relative wealth and whether there is a minimum amount of wealth that is necessary or desirable for someone to live a decent life.
 
From [Something Like That], I bring you Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music (click here). Ever wanted to find out what's the difference between Microhouse, Gloomcore, and Casiocore? There you can get listening samples and an explanation of each of these sub-genres of modern electronic music.
 
Thursday, March 17, 2005
In the 60's and 70's, saxophonist Sonny Fortune played and recorded with Miles Davis, Mongo Santamaria, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Elvin Jones and Nat Adderley.

Discussing his recent collaboration with former Coltrane drummer Rashied Ali, Sonny Fortune says, "the Coltrane influence is there, but from a different direction. The thing I learned from Coltrane was the musical pursuit of one's self. This is different from anything I've ever done."

If you're interested in listening to some of Sonny Fortune's music, you are in for a treat. His page at Cdbaby (click here) has 5 two minute high-quality clips of his recent CD, Continuum. I especially enjoyed the third track, Delilah, where Sonny shows off his flute playing.

You can also visit Sonny Fortune's page at MarsJazz as well as his personal home page.
 
Monday, March 14, 2005
From an interview with Israeli jazz guitarist Ofer Ganor (read it here):

Is there such a thing as Israeli jazz? If so, how does it measure up to American or European jazz?

Israel has many talented and dedicated musicians that measure up to any that I heard in New York. Jazz is the high art form of spontaneous
group improvisation developed in America by African-Americans. Its rhythmical roots go as far back as the oldest African tribal music and its harmonic complexities draw upon the rich European tradition. Israeli jazz is witnessing a rejuvenation as we see more musicians that are coming back from New York and passing on their experiences to the younger generation. There are a few talented and dedicated local young musicians that I am sure will make an impact on the global jazz scene.
 
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Another great Internet radio station is Swissgroove. They play an eclectic collection of jazzy/funky stuff.
 
Friday, March 11, 2005
Some of the best jazz on the 'net can be heard for free at the new Internet radio station called "Inside Jazz" (click here). Right now I'm listening to the "Be Bop Big Band" and the quality of the performance and recording is superb. I also just heard a really great performance by the Estrada Brothers. Check it out!!
 
Found a good MIDI search engine.
 
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Remix Fight is a web site where competitors are invited to make remixes of music tracks and visitors vote on who created the best remix. And there's also Song Fight for those who create original music and have a competitive streak.
 
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Geof just emailed me a link to an amazing Flash animation that goes along with Coltrane's famous Giant Steps solo (click here).

When I was playing saxophone I attempted to transcribe that entire famous solo and play it note-for-note, but I only managed to transcribe the first 30 seconds of it (that took several weeks) before I moved on to other things (and piano). It's kind of like a "holy grail" for saxophone players, and many professionals learn and memorize that complete solo, and use it to keep their fingers in shape. It's even more amazing to think that Coltrane was improvising it. And the chord structure for Giant Steps is one of the most difficult ones to master.

I tried to learn that song on piano, and do my own improvising on it, and you can listen to my version on my musical sketchbook (click here).
 
Thoughts of an aspiring jazz musician and computer programmer.

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