Let's talk music, no genre boundaries


This is an offshoot of the jazz thread. I and others found that we could not talk about jazz without discussing other musical genres, as well as the philosophy of music. So, this is a thread in which people can suggest good music of all genres, and spout off your feelings about music itself.

 

audio-b-dog

@simao 

I don't think Mary Coughlan writes her own music. But here she's covering a standard and I could imagine her in a dark, smokey jazz dive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVMBE-fjnlE

@mahgister 

I'm trying to set up a new computer, so I was only able to listen to a few minutes of Moravec (I think) playing Liszt. I have Lazar Berman playing Liszt's Annees De Pelerenage and it sounds very different. I'll try to listen over the weekend, but I must spend my mornings and early afternoons writing. And you can't give me any more books until I finish The Everpresent Origin. That is a slow read because I must think about every paragraph and understand how it relates to what I'm writing. Is he supporting my thesis or shooting holes in it?

I was very fascinating by the playing of Liszt, however. I'll see if I can stream what you posted.

If I listened to all the music on this thread, I'd never get anything else done. But I'll try to listen to as much as I can. I am familiar with Marian Anderson. I've been listening to Maria Callas, however, and trying to understand her voice. It is relatively small, but extremely vulnerable.

i apologize to  audio-b-dog in throwing so much suggestions interrupting his works......devil

I had another book to suggest though which contain in it the mystery of music in relation to sound...

but i will wait your OK before speaking about it ... angel

In the mean time for everybody a documentary about the greatest pianists... for everybody probably one of the best piano documentary ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlxzvkkLfpc&list=RDxlxzvkkLfpc&start_radio=1

@audio-b-dog 

I don’t know how to classify Mary Coughlin, except to say, from my perspective, she’s not a Jazz singer., which is in no way intended as a criticism. It would be interesting to hear her with sparser accompaniment. 

@stuartk 

I streamed Mary Coughlan singing Billie Holiday songs and I had to turn it off. I don't know what her problem was. I read that she drank a lot and has had a rough life.

But when I play other songs by her, she's got the feeling that jazz singers need. Her voice sounds like a jazz voice to me because she sounds like she sitting next to me and I can feel her heartbeat. 

So, try one more and see if you don't think she has a jazz singer's voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LEkUeIoWr0

BTW, still watching Ken Burns' Jazz series, I got to the part where the better musicians like Parker and Gillespie lose most of their audience playing be-bop. There is a real rift in which the be-bop musicians look down upon the old swing musicians who still draw crowds. The narrator said that the be-bop musicians (almost all black) thought of someone like Louis Armstrong as an Uncle Tom.

So, even among "jazz" musicians, some didn't think others were. Louis Armstrong is shown in the Hollywood Bowl singing a song that makes fun of Parker et al, saying be-bop closes clubs. I think that rift still exists, where some people think that successful jazz players like Diana Krall are not real jazz. I've seen Diana Krall live several times and watched the older jazz musicians backing her marvel at her piano playing. She can do some mean riffs. So can Patricia Barber. If you listen to her piano playing she's as interesting as any jazz pianist I've heard playing today.