Making a Melody Music Company, LLC

Entries in Jazz (3)

Wednesday

17Feb2010

The Duke of Jazz and the King of Pop

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 11:22PM

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.

David Bailey |

Cannonball

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 11:29PM

Since 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.

Cannonball Adderly is the man who introduce me to jazz.

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.

David Bailey |

Banjos, Bluegrass, & Jazz

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 11:54PM

The origins of music are not as clearly segregated as people try to make them.

The other day, I was on a tight schedule, so I stopped by our local barbecue pick up restaurant, Alamo Barbecue. I like picking up food there because the food and conversations in the waiting line tend to be equally satisfying. This time was no different.

Two of the guys waiting in line with me played in a blue grass band together. We had a great conversation about music and the similarities of blue grass and jazz.

Many people aren’t aware of the fact that blue grass and jazz share many of the same origins.

Both genres of music share its roots in the blues. The blues were a helpful musical expression that assisted poor people in getting through the difficulties of poverty. Blues music originated with African Americans, but has influenced and morphed into a variety of musical genres that cater to different people groups.

Over the years, jazz and blue grass have exchanged and borrowed from each other a lot. For example, today, the banjo is considered a blue grass instrument, but originally the banjo was a slave instrument that was commonly used in early jazz music. Over time, many jazz musicians traded the banjo for a guitar and the banjo became a staple for blue grass musicians.

Both genres of music rely heavily on the upright bass (and electric in more recent years) and syncopated drums as a foundation to establishing the groove of the music. Syncopation is essential to both genres of music, but the accents of the beats are different. Blue grass generally accents beats 1&3 and jazz generally accents beats 2&4.

Whether you like the music or not, I encourage you to take the time to listen intently to both genres of music. Listen to how all the instruments have a specific role and how they each interact with one another. The soloing of both genres of music is often phenomenal!

In relatively recent years (late 70s-early 80s), an outstanding musician by the name of Bela Fleck has resurrected the forgotten jazz instrument, the banjo. Check him out with two of my all time favorite musicians, Chick Corea & Bobby McFerrin.

David Bailey |