Jazz appreciation
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You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
I'm pretty new to Jazz and am having some trouble appreciating it. I enjoy it, but on a kind of dense, subtle level.
I wonder how people got into Jazz? What people listen for when listening to Jazz? How you think the experience should differ from other musics?
And some good starter albums too.
jazz has got so much going on it really depends on what exactly you like about it.
i enjoy that even though each performance is explicitly unique, the group still sounds as a whole.
here's one of my favorite performances of one of my favorite Miles tunes. To me they look and even sound like theyre pissed at each other.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElJVTpaf93A
>>64320913
Thanks. This sounds great. Do you think Jazz is experienced better from these kind of live recordings as opposed to albums?
Or both?
I know Jazz is a genre where the live performance is extremely integral to the genre.
>>64321124
I really love live recordings of almost all genres. But that doesn't mean there aren't some great cohesive studio albums. And a lotta times those studio albums are recorded in a live fashion, at least i think they are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFA0FYQo0Gg
give that a shot
>>64321124
another thing i love about jazz is it is just a blast to play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHr4XQ9SEcg
>>64320673
I think the catch to getting into jazz is being capable of listening the solos as discourses. They actually have direction, intention, thought into it. It's hard because it's not conveying any textual ideas, but musical ones. But when you transcend the idea that solos are "just wankery" it's a completely new experience
Those transcripts of solos may help, even if you can't read sheet music. You can visualize the figures, the repetitions, structures etc
https://youtu.be/S4P8orKjadI
>inb4 Giant Steps
>>64320673
>I'm pretty new to Jazz and am having some trouble appreciating it. I enjoy it, but on a kind of dense, subtle level.
I think that is a big part of how we all appreciate it. I can't speak for others but at least in my case. The point here is, different musical genres cause very different aesthetic appreciation. Take for instance thrash metal or reggae, classical. They touch different nerves in our minds and so does jazz. Enjoy it anyway you want. Don't over analyze it. If you find yourself playing it, then it's because you're interested and you enjoy it. But it's true that jazz rarely has the emotional impact of a ballad or a pop song. It's a different thing, so you shouldn't look for that.
>>64321493
giant steps is one of my favorite albums of any genre
>>64320673
I've been playing and listening to jazz for a few years now.
To me listening to jazz is basically about appreciating beauty of each sound a musician makes while playing an instrument. When i listen to jazz i like not to think at all, just open the emotional part of my mind and try to feel, what the musician tried to express by playing a certain note in a certain manner. Listening to masters like Bill Evans or John Coltrane makes me feel like they are one with their instruments, like every sound is played with perfect articulation and dynamics, so it evokes 100% of player's soul. On the other hand, listeting to jazz clearly technically is also fun, finding patterns, differentating scales and chords can be satisfying
As a trumpet player, Jazz is much easier to enjoy thoroughly, (same goes for any players of any jazz related instruments, Saxophone, Stand-Up Bass, clarinet, etc.) for me, I admire the instrumentation, and absorb all the "vibes" jazz gives off, example, Round Midnight - Thelonious Monk (Piano "sad" moody jazz). Or, Blueberry Hill - Louis Armstrong (Happy, kinda makes you wanna dance jazz).
Anyway's, here's a recommendation to get into the genre (Improvisation/Blues modernized jazz, based off of Peanuts which is pretty damn cool imo).
Joe Cool's Blues - Wynton Marsalis
>>64320673
Most of your attention should be on the soloist, unless there's people in the back doing particularly interesting stuff.
I don't think the experience necessarily differs from other sorts of music. It's just another language for conveying emotion in music. It might be an unfamiliar language to you but as someone who was more of a rock fan until recently, the sort of emotional experience I have with the two is pretty similar. Sometimes one is better at expressing certain emotions than the other but it's all just music yo.
bump
>>64320913
>i enjoy that even though each performance is explicitly unique, the group still sounds as a whole.
Neither of those things are true.
Jazz being simplistic is one thing, but the lack of interaction between players, the way each person plays for themselves, is almost as painful.
>>64321493
>They actually have direction, intention, thought into it.
Maybe a couple of decades on this myth will die.
>>64325958
>Jazz being simplistic is one thing, but the lack of interaction between players, the way each person plays for themselves, is almost as painful.
In fact, I just understood that this is related. Jazz is simplistic partly *because* the players play it safe and keep out of each other's way. There are no build-ups and variation is being minimized and limited to alterations of handfuls of tones precisely so to reduce the likelihood that anything goes wrong.
>>64325958
>>64326069
I also heard that most jazz musicians smell funny.
