The MAM Bloghttp://www.makingamelody.com/the-mam-blog/en-US2010-03-12T00:52:07ZSquarespace Site Server v5.9.2 (http://www.squarespace.com/)-http://www.makingamelody.com/the-mam-blog/2010/3/10/the-last-couple-of-weeks-have-been-crazy-good-an.htmlDavid Bailey2010-03-10T12:22:00ZActs 29 Network Alex Mejias Cool People Crossing Cultures Gigs High Street Hymns Making A Melody One Conference Pregnancy Resouce Center Racial Reconciliation Update
The last couple of weeks have been crazy, good, and challenging. I've been at the studio working on the music and audio for the PRC DVD. The DVD is coming together. I think you will enjoy watching it.
About a week ago, I went to the One Conference about Racial Reconciliation. The conference was sponsored by the Acts 29 Network. They a good group of people and it was great connecting with them.
While I was in Charlottesville at the One Conference, I connected with Alex Mejias of High Street Hymns. He's a great guy and you should check out his High Street Hymns stuff. I'll be playing with Alex 8pm, March 20 at his show, "Hymns for Haiti". I'm hoping to get him in for an interview on MAM TV soon.
I should be back on the blog wagon, so stay tune. I have more to share.
In this episode, David Bailey interviews "Throat Singer" Brian Grover. Brian shares "throat singing" techniques, the paralles between throat singing and blues, and much more. To get a list of the things he's referenced or to see more interviews, log on to: www.makingamelody.com
]]>Throat Singing Performance by Brian Groverhttp://www.makingamelody.com/the-mam-blog/2010/2/18/throat-singing-performance-by-brian-grover.htmlDavid Bailey2010-02-18T23:34:39ZBrian Grover Cool People Crossing Cultures Interviews Khoomei Multiethnic Music Throat Singing Tuvan
Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brian Grover who is a noted "Throat Singer". For those that are not familiar with throat singing, you will be amazed. It's fascinating!
The full interview will be posted tomorrow. In the interview, Brian talks about the art form, where it's from, and some of it's parallels with American blues music.
Stay tune and check it out.
]]>The Duke of Jazz and the King of Pophttp://www.makingamelody.com/the-mam-blog/2010/2/17/the-duke-of-jazz-and-the-king-of-pop.htmlDavid Bailey2010-02-18T04:22:03ZBenny Goodman Cool People Crossing Cultures Duke Ellington Jazz Jazz Jungle Music Michael Jackson Swing
Two of my musical inspirations are Duke Ellington and of course, Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson would be an obvious inspiration for any 80’s baby and Duke Ellington is an obvious inspiration for any student of jazz. I admire their musical innovation and influence on popular music, but my admiration goes deeper.
Duke Ellington and Michael Jackson were two African-American artists that were so excellent in their craft that they helped to redefine what it means to be “black” in a culture where being “black” meant something derogatory and marginalized in the majority of society.
Duke Ellington is truly the King of Swing Jazz music. Benny Goodman was branded with the title, “King of Swing”, but Goodman himself admitted that he could not light a match to Duke and the other black jazz musicians that would hang out in Harlem, NY. As a matter of fact, Benny Goodman and his band members would go to Harlem after their gigs to learn how to play jazz at the jam sessions with black musicians. He and his band had a lot to risk with their reputation back then by seeing black people as equals and in certain areas superior.
During that era, Duke Ellington’s sophisticated music was called, “Jungle Music”. What a derogatory term to one of America’s greatest composers?
Ellington was aware of the racism and aware that he was not getting the respect that he deserved as the great artist he was. He had to sleep on the bus (not the hotel) and go to the bathroom on the side of the road when he was on tour. Instead of turning bitter, he used his injustice as a motivation to do something greater.
During that time, the music industry tried their best to marginalize black musical artists by promoting them as uneducated, untamed, jungle like entertainers. Duke Ellington got his nickname, “Duke” because of his regality. Part of Duke’s motivation to carry himself in a regal manner was to redefine to the ignorant, what “being black meant”.
To be “black” has always been something of dignity and honor to black people in America, even when there was a lot of rebranding to define black as something dishonorable.
The longevity of Duke’s character paved the way for other black intellectual musicians and artists.
By the time Michael Jackson came along, our country matured to the point where it wasn’t okay to call black music, “jungle music”, but it was unimaginable for a black artists to get world wide super star status similar to The Beatles.
During Michael Jackson’s peak, he added another definition of what it means to be black and the abilities that black people can achieve. Now we live in an error where a musical superstar can be any race or ethnicity. Thanks to these two men and others.
I’m sure that you all have seen plenty of Michael Jackson videos. Here is a video of a Duke Ellington composition.
]]>Quincy Jones: From Billy Holiday to Lil’ Waynehttp://www.makingamelody.com/the-mam-blog/2010/2/16/quincy-jones-from-billy-holiday-to-lil-wayne.htmlDavid Bailey2010-02-17T04:08:06ZCool People Cool Songs Cool Songs Crossing Cultures Quincy Jones We Are The WorldAnother one of my musical inspirations is Quincy Jones. “Q”(a nick named coined by Frank Sinatra) is living “music history”. He’s worked with every major musical performing artist in some capacity from the 1950’s to the present.
He’s been apart of every major evolution in popular music. He wrote the arrangement that made “Fly Me To The Moon” famous. He produced the number #1 Album of all times, Thriller. And he co-produced “We are the World”, the first single to ever be certified as multi-platinum. It’s a fascinating thing to look him up and see what he has been involved in over the past 60 years…. A living and breathing “music history”
I appreciate his efforts to raise money for the people of Haiti. I was watching the video today and it’s a very interesting thing to see what has happened in music over the past 25 years since “We are the World” was first released. Rap music was in its infant stage and now it’s as popular as jazz was when Quincy Jones starting to learn how to play music. Michael Jackson was the most popular artist at the time and now Lil’ Wayne is one of the most popular artists of this time. The implication of this reality is very interesting. I don’t know how I feel about that.
Let me know what you think.
…Meanwhile...
Check out both of the “We Are The World” videos. Also, please responsibly give to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
]]>Indian Music recommendations from Chris Halehttp://www.makingamelody.com/the-mam-blog/2010/2/15/indian-music-recommendations-from-chris-hale.htmlDavid Bailey2010-02-16T04:05:13ZHello All,
Chris Hale mentioned some cool things to check out as an intro to Indian music. Just in case your pen couldn't fly fast enough I've conveniently located them below:
1. If you like a particular style you should listen to it and imitate when you find things you are particularly attracted to.
2. Try to find a teacher but experiment with a few different teachers first before you commit. Once you choose one should you stick with them for awhile and commit to learning from that articular instructor. www.chandrakantha.com/teachers
Indian Musical Genres: Classical, Semi-classical and Folk
]]>MAM TV: Interview with Chris Hale of Aradhna - Episode 2http://www.makingamelody.com/the-mam-blog/2010/2/13/mam-tv-interview-with-chris-hale-of-aradhna-episode-2.htmlDavid Bailey2010-02-13T23:50:17Z
In this episode, David Bailey interviews Chris Hale, founder and sitar player of Aradhna. Chris shares about his group, Indian music, playing the sitar, and much more. He's provided some great content. Unfortunately, we were unable to capture the video of our interview, so we've provided pictures so you could have something to watch. If you would like to download the mp3 of this interview, you can do so at: www.makingamelody.com
]]>Mp3 Download of Chris Hale's Interview & Bhajo Naamhttp://www.makingamelody.com/the-mam-blog/2010/2/12/mp3-download-of-chris-hales-interview-bhajo-naam.htmlDavid Bailey2010-02-12T13:05:52ZAradhna Bhajans Chris Hala Cool People Interviews Music TechniquesI've recently interviewed Chris Hale, founder and sitar player for Aradhna. The video will be uploaded later day.
We were unable to capture the video, so we added some moving pictures for you to have something to look at. If you prefer to download the mp3, you can do so at this link.
Meanwhile, if you want something to look at now, check out their website www.aradhnamusic.com and watch this clip of Aradhna performing Bhajo Naam.
]]>Cannonballhttp://www.makingamelody.com/the-mam-blog/2010/2/10/cannonball.htmlDavid Bailey2010-02-11T04:29:52ZCDs Cannonball Adderly Charlie Parker Cool People Cool Songs Cool Songs Jazz Jazz Miles DavisSince this is the month our Nation celebrates African-American history, I thought that I would highlight some of the black people who have inspired me musically.
I was over my grandmothers house and I saw a Miles Davis recording. I don't think I knew at the time who Miles Davis was, but I put on the recording. I heard this amazing introduction of the song "Autumn Leaves". After the introduction I heard this silky muted trumpet play the melody. The music was still mellow and groovin' as Miles played a beautiful spacious melody and then out of no where, this soulful alto saxophone improvises a solo that made me feel like I was at church! ... but I wasn't?
Hello Jazz!
This had to be almost 20 years ago and I remember the experience like it was yesterday.
Julian "Cannonball" Adderly was a post-bop alto saxophone player that was considered to be the "new Bird" (a reference to Charlie "Bird" Parker, the co-creator of Bebop jazz music). Cannonball had a unique way of swinging (playing notes in a certain rhythm), creating melodies, and playing with good ol' church soul! I've listened to Cannonbal thousands of times and I've never heard him repeat himself improvising something he played before.
Some of his most noted work is with Miles Davis and the "Kind of Blue" album is probably the most famous album of them all. The work that he did on his own is noteworthy also.
As I've matured, I've come to appreciate the educator and resilience in him. The way that Cannonball dealt with injustice and the history of his people was beautiful. When his band mate, Miles Davis, was being eaten up by the anger and bitterness of being a victim of injustice, Cannonball did the opposite. Cannonball used his music as a tool to make people feel good during hard times while educating them about the realities of brokenness. One of my favorite songs that he recorded is a song called, "Work Song". A work song comes from the slave tradition of working and singing while they worked. Listen to how he conveys the pain of a work song and converts it into a feel good time.
]]>Olonkhohttp://www.makingamelody.com/the-mam-blog/2010/2/9/olonkho.htmlDavid Bailey2010-02-10T02:24:40ZContextualizing Cool People Olonkho Robin Harris YakutIn my last post, Robin Harris shared a bit about the Yakut people and their tradition of Olonkho. I was not familiar with that musical tradition, so I did little bit of research. One of the things that I appreciate about the Olonkho tradition is that it honors the elders in their community. The Olonkho tradition is similar to the Griot tradition of Africa where the elder, shares stories of wisdom and history to educate the community, particularly the young. In both of these cultures, the younger people sit down at the feet of the elders and listen.
They just sit and listen.
I think we could benefit from sitting and listening to the elders in our community. My grandmother will be 80 years old this year and every time I sit and listen, I eat well and learn something!;)
Take the time to look at this clip and learn a little about the culture of the Yakut people. Think about how we can borrow from their tradition for an American contexts. Let me know what you think.
