Big Band is the Hair Metal of Yesteryear

Big, brash, flashy sounds. Overly formulaic, with a cheesy dependence on impact, as opposed to nuance.

Attention to programmers of Sirius music channels: Big Band, Small Band, and Vocal Jazz should be minimum requirements for seperate
categories of jazz. Having one "Classic Jazz" (whatever that means) channel and stuffing all three into it really defeats the purpose.

(And btw: "Smooth Jazz" is not jazz...)

I concur with you Flint.

And it reminds me of a line a respected DJ friend of mine once said to someone who did not know what was meant by "Smooth Jazz." He leaned over and said:

"Yeah. Smooth, like diarhea."

Watch it, bub, don't diss hair metal...

Oh, I love Hair Metal. For having vastly different qualities than I want when I listen to jazz.

I love big band, smoth jizz, err jazz blows. And chic corea really bites.

!
Chic Corea rocks, especially with Wooten.

I love Chick Corea, all the way from Return to Forever to Elektric Band.

RATT > Glenn Miller

ah, but Skid Row, GnR, and Whitesnake > Ratt

Whitesnake? Are you serious? They were hardly hair but for a breif period. GNR I can go with. Skid Row had bigger hits but for overall quality I still say GNR > RATT (only barely) > Skid Row > Whitesnake.

Psh, Whitesnake had Vai, which gives them major points, and so I'd say... Skid Row (I love Bach), GnR, Whitesnake, Ratt.

Big, brash, flashy sounds. Overly formulaic, with a cheesy dependence on impact, as opposed to nuance.

I orginally concured, but I think that there are SOME big bands that do nuance fairly well. Stan Kenton comes to mind.

Big Band music is mostly dance music, so maybe disco, rather than Hair Metal, is a good analogy.

Chic Corea? Well, not my cup of tea. I went through a fusion phase however, and in retrospect I remember liking it; not now, however.

But Flint's point regarding "Classic Jazz" is so true. My All Music Guide to Jazz, which I respect after using it for a year or so, lists over 75 sub-genres of Jazz.

Nonetheless, just for fun, I ask all of you, if limited to one, what would be the one "Jazz" album (of any genre) you would bring to your island?

Time Out - Dave Brubeck Quartet ... no wait ... Benny Goodman ... no ... Django Reinhardt

Can't be done. Not just one Jazz Album. Has to be at least five, possibly 10.

Does a five CD compilation set count as one album? I might be able to cut it down to that ...

Can't be done.

I know, but it's just an experiment, a way to create a Cellar Jazz Compilation CD. I'll start.

Meet The Jazztet (1958?) Argo LP 664

Art Farmer-Trumpet
Benny Golson - Sax
Curtis Fuller-Trombone
McCoy Tyner - Piano
Addison Farmer - Bass
Lex Humphries - Drums

A classic.

Miles Davis - In a Silent Way

Miles Davis... Trumpet
Wayne Shorter... Soprano, Tenor Sax
Joe Zawinul... Organ, Electric Piano
Chick Corea... Electric Piano
Herbie Hancock... Electric Piano
John McLaughlin... Guitar
Dave Holland... Bass
Tony Williams... Drums

Something Else

Cannonball Adderly - Alto Sax
Miles Davis - Trumpet
Hank Jones - Piano
Sam Jones - Bass
Art Blakey -Drums

Cannonball... Now there's a nickname.

Something Else

Miles Davis - In a Silent Way

It's been my impression that any album with Art Blakey ends up being pretty special. I have two Jazz Messengers LPs, but not that one. I'll have to check it out.

Corea and Hancock on 1 album. Sounds cool. Somewhere I have an MP3 file of a record put out by Fender Rhodes to promote their Electric Piano. Herbie Hancock guides the listener through all its features. Way cool. You could buy all sorts of distortion devices for that piano, kida like the same as for the electric guitar (fuzz, etc.).

If some other folks don't chime in, we're gonna have to go to our next choice.

Pangloss62 wrote:

Corea and Hancock on 1 album. Sounds cool.

The best way I can describe this album is that it doesn't even sound like a group of people consciously playing "parts" on instruments. It just sounds like... sounds... happening... organically. There are these little themes and subthemes that rise and fall so seamlessly, it's mesmerizing. It's perfect.

It just sounds like... sounds... happening... organically.

I always argue with my father about that concept. He just can't stand Jazz for it's improvisational qualities. He's strictly a fan of the "long hair" music, if you know what I mean. And I ain't talkin about Ratt.

When I taught contemp. humanities I always compaired it to punk.

Jebediah wrote:

for overall quality I still say GNR > RATT (only barely) > Skid Row > Whitesnake.

Ibram wrote:

Psh, Whitesnake had Vai, which gives them major points, and so I'd say... Skid Row (I love Bach), GnR, Whitesnake, Ratt.

Skid Row>Ratt>Whitesnake (Sykes)>GnR>Whitesnake (Vai).

Ratt can go anywhere in the middle, actually. Their lyrics were stupid as hell. But DiMartini was and is godlike. Sooo fluid compared to the guitarists in the other bands. Lay It Down is the perfect intro and solo. Not the flashiest, but the most fist pumping.

Actually, I wanna change Whitesnake to somewhere near the top -- I just watched the DVD of a recent tour, and they kicked so much ass I almost grew a spontaneous mullet. They were better than any other thing I've seen this year -- David Coverdale looks like someone's great aunt, but he is an awesome showman. Reb Beach from Winger was playing 2nd guitar for em. The lead guitarist was someone I've never heard of, but he was fucking phenomenal. Reb just kind of hung back for most of it. When he did a solo or two, it was standard Reb pwnage, but whenever he plays it sounds like a Winger solo.

Dang.

K.

Whitesnake>Skid Row>Ratt>GnR (who doesn't really fit in this category for me. They were kind of late-ish)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled big band thread.

Ibram wrote:

Psh, Whitesnake had Vai, which gives them major points, and so I'd say... Skid Row (I love Bach), GnR, Whitesnake, Ratt.

Blah, that Whitesnake album with Vai was so bland I sold mine. Vai is great but if the songs are boring not even he can save them.

Passion and Warfare is what Vai is all about, to me.

Real Illusions: Reflections is better by far.

Nah, it's mostly nostalgia. I get stuck on certain albums.

I have the pleasure (regret?) to say I have no fucking idea about Whitesnake or Skid Row. Have I missed something, or should I not worry?

But I will stand by Lemmy and Motorhead any day.

Dont worry... this thread has drifted so way off-topic that whatever you say will be meaningful and relevant.

Heh, usually I don't try to get threads off topic but almost every thread here seems to go off topic. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Labelling music by genres is overrated. Too many things cross over and drift away from any established idea. My friend played me an album that was classified as "armageddon metal" I didn't pay attention much after that, except for the vaguest classifications. But in truth, I am not really one for hair metal... like jazz though.