To my professor and whom ever has been reading my blog,
It sure has been a great journey. I hope you all enjoyed my many blog posts and discussions of the featured music. To my professor, I hope I discussed enough music, because it took me a great deal of time to come this point. Well, I truly enjoyed your class and I have learned a great deal! I came in knowing absolutely nothing about jazz or jazz rock fusion, and I’ve come out knowing so much.
Thank you for everything,
>GAB
There are a great deal of tremolos that give this song an eerie, oceany feel, but after some time the mood changes. This song features a double bass solo (something Miles Davis likely would not allow. The bass solo is very virtuosic and it’s improvisation is nicely done. This song also features a mandolin solo that is also virtuosic.
Because of the guitar solo, this song sounds quite a bit like the big hair band tunes. This song is a far stretch from Chick Corea’s original jazz past. A great part of this song is the gong at the end. This tune is a connection to the progressive rock of the 1970s-80s.
You can definitely hear the attempt to give the song a Spanish feel. There is a sustained bass notes, a slow sultry piano tune in the beginning. The piano plays a rid and the tune picks up speed. Once this done, the song comes alive. There are claps, castinets, yells, and a fast rythm. There is also a flute solo that is quite well done.
This is the first song discussed that has a female vocalists. The song features a fast rhythm and Brazilian elevator music feel. The song sounds a great deal like “Mas que nada,” a song of the time period by Sergio Mendes + Brasil 66.
Interstellar image of the Daft Punk duo.
Unlike many of the past songs, this song features a singer. There is a great deal of synthesizer used for the instruments and the vocals. Daft Punk was defiantly influenced by songs such as this, because many of their songs have a similar sound and feel. The album in particular that has the most in common with this tune is the “Interstella 5555 album.” The reasons why it sounds similar is because it has a similar feel and spacy, synthesized instruments and vocals and heavy bass.
The song begins with an introduction of each musician and an ostinato rhythm in the background. There are various percussion instruments used in this piece including whistles and a wooden block. This is an overall good song that is much like many of its time period.
The work begins with a solo heavy drum beat and later an electronic instrument enters. The song takes a funky turn with the introduction of even more instruments. There are a few elements in this work that make it sounds a great deal like the Fat Albert tune. An ostinato tune begins to work as the accompaniment to the solo keyboard.
This song is closely related to the Motown music of the day, with its funky RnB feel. The work has a walking bass line feel and a great trumpet phrases. This tune is the epitome of what many believe to be funky 1970s music. I quite like the synthesized solo in this piece because it’s not too out of this world but still maintains a creative feel. The mood of the song changes near the end to a more modern rock-jazz feel with the addition of more synthesized instruments and the faster rhythm. Near the end the mood changes back to how it began, with the Motown RnB funky feel. The only difference the return to the tune is much faster than in the beginning.
“Raindance”
The beginning of this sounds a great deal like the electronic music of the 1990s and of today. It has a bubbly science lab sound too it. The song could be categorized as technical sounds rather than music until the trumpet solo begins. The trumpet has a somewhat musical feel and leads the band into an even more extreme state of experimentation. The bass solo is quite unique in that many of the past songs discussed, did not feature a bass solo. The bass solo is great and adds to the unique and unorthodox piece of music. This song features an ostinato pattern by a synthesized instrument and over top is another cresendoing synthesized instrument that is hardly recognizable as a modern day instrument.
“Shadows”
This song is much more down to the earth than “Raindance.” Though there are strange synthesized elements that give a spacey feel, the bass and drums makes the tune feel more like an earthy song. Like the last song, the bass does play an ostinato pattern to keep the rhythm alive.
W&L Music 296 Listening Journal - Gab 