# Classical has Made me Lose Something for Jazz Lately



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Perhaps I've just been on a Classical kick as of late, but Jazz doesn't sound as appealing as it once did compared to Classical Music.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Prescription: Play Miles Davis' Bitches Brew once at breakfast and once before bed for one week.


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

hpowders said:


> Prescription: Play Miles Davis' Bitches Brew once at breakfast and once before bed for one week.


It is a great album!


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> It is a great album!


It will help you....play it....twice a day for a week...then write a thread....how I recovered my love for Jazz.


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

hpowders said:


> It will help you....play it....twice a day for a week...then write a thread....how I recovered my love for Jazz.


hahaha! That could be BB overload!


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> hahaha! That could be BB overload!


Okay. There's always the Soundtrack to Jack Johnson. One of my all-time favorites!


----------



## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

hpowders said:


> Okay. There's always the Soundtrack to Jack Johnson. One of my all-time favorites!


Just picked that up. Phenomenal. Also picked up "On the Corner." I feel very adventurous. Thinking about "Ascension."


----------



## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Kind of Blue & Sketches of Spain are my Miles Davis favorites


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

laurie said:


> Kind of Blue & Sketches of Spain are my Miles Davis favorites


Those are fine but not adventurous enough for me.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

jegreenwood said:


> Just picked that up. Phenomenal. Also picked up "On the Corner." I feel very adventurous. Thinking about "Ascension."


When I was living in an apt./flat in Queens, NY, the dude living under me banged up with a broom handle when I was playing Jack Johnson.


----------



## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

How about Herbie Hancock's early 70s work? I find "Crossings" very engaging. "Water Torture" is a very spooky track and that brief riff in "Quasar" makes me think of 50s Sci-Fi B-Movies. In a good way.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

jegreenwood said:


> I feel very adventurous. Thinking about "Ascension."


Yep, that's adventurous.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Perhaps I've just been on a Classical kick as of late, but Jazz doesn't sound as appealing as it once did compared to Classical Music.


That's funny. I listen to classical because I like jazz too much.


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Manxfeeder said:


> Yep, that's adventurous.


I can't listen to Ascension. It sounds like nonsense to me, and I'm a Coltrane fan! Love Supreme and Blue Train are my favorites!


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I do love The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady however, that is phenomenal.


----------



## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

I prescribe some Kapustin ―a mix of Jazz and Classical styles!


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

chill782002 said:


> How about Herbie Hancock's early 70s work? I find "Crossings" very engaging. "Water Torture" is a very spooky track and that brief riff in "Quasar" makes me think of 50s Sci-Fi B-Movies. In a good way.


I enjoy Head Hunters, Sextant, and Thrust the most!


----------



## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

laurie said:


> Kind of Blue & Sketches of Spain are my Miles Davis favorites


I recall from the earliest days of the CD, when Columbia issued its first three jazz titles: "Kind of Blue," "Sketches of Spain" and . . .

Any guesses?


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Crossings sounds cool so far...I like the drumming!


----------



## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Portamento said:


> ...a mix of Jazz and Classical styles!


_Rhapsody in Blue_ has always worked for me. I must also admit to being a big fan of Herb Alpert's version of _Aranjuez_ from the _Rise_ album. Of course, that's an odd classical, jazz, and disco mix. Herb's a man of many skills and talents.


----------



## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Manxfeeder said:


> Yep, that's adventurous.


I didn't listen to much jazz (or classical) before college. My freshman roommate decided that there was no better place for me to start than with "Ascension." And "New Thing at Newport" with Coltrane and Archie Shepp.

We stayed roommates for all four years. And he went on to win a college prize for his paper on "Finnegans Wake."

By the way, the one classical disc of his that I recall was the "Brandenburg Concertos." I'd never heard them before.


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

jegreenwood said:


> I didn't listen to much jazz (or classical) before college. My freshman roommate decided that there was no better place for me to start than with "Ascension." And "New Thing at Newport" with Coltrane and Archie Shepp.
> 
> We stayed roommates for all four years. And he went on to win a college prize for his paper on "Finnegans Wake."
> 
> By the way, the one classical disc of his that I recall was the "Brandenburg Concertos." I'd never heard them before.


Nice! . Very cool story!


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Bettina, I always see you liking posts, but rarely see you write up a post! More of a lurker?


----------



## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Nice! . Very cool story!


He also had a soft spot for "Trout Mask Replica." And he did have a Mingus disc, but it was not "Black Saint." Can't remember which one.


----------



## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Bettina, I always see you liking posts, but rarely see you write up a post! More of a lurker?


Haha, I do enjoy liking posts and showing my appreciation for all our wonderful TC members. However, I've actually written a vast number of posts myself...I'm not sure why our posting paths haven't yet crossed. Maybe we're just not posting on the same threads? Anyway, if you're interested in exploring my "opuses," so to speak, you can click on my name to see a list of my recent posts.


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Wow, this first track on Crossings, "Sleeping Giant", just got incredibly funky! He switched to piano and decided to lay it down thick with some very groovy chords.


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

chill782002 said:


> How about Herbie Hancock's early 70s work? I find "Crossings" very engaging. "Water Torture" is a very spooky track and that brief riff in "Quasar" makes me think of 50s Sci-Fi B-Movies. In a good way.


Congrats, you made me a believer again with Crossings. Certainly blowing my mind currently, this is too good.


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

jegreenwood said:


> I didn't listen to much jazz (or classical) before college. My freshman roommate decided that there was no better place for me to start than with "Ascension." And "New Thing at Newport" with Coltrane and Archie Shepp.
> 
> We stayed roommates for all four years. And he went on to win a college prize for his paper on "Finnegans Wake."
> 
> By the way, the one classical disc of his that I recall was the "Brandenburg Concertos." I'd never heard them before.


Ascension is definitely one of the pinnacles in Jazz Music. Black Saint is in my view the Greatest. Out to Lunch and Free Jazz are up there too


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Back to Classical. Chopin: The Romantic Piano - Vladimir Shakin.

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1239119


----------



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I do think my tastes are growing towards Classical more though, I still love everything I have in my collection, but Classical has become more dominant. I just love it! I like the structure and direction Classical brings which is almost the opposite spirit of what Jazz is about, which is what makes both great! I'm certainly a classical pianists more than a jazz pianists I'd say, certainly.


----------



## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

I'm turning more to classical myself lately but in my experience it's quite coincidental and some sort of mood thing. It flips over constantly from one to the other (and to experimental music/prog rock/world music).


----------



## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Congrats, you made me a believer again with Crossings. Certainly blowing my mind currently, this is too good.


Happy to be of service.


----------



## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

I always felt Classical Music is more pleasing to the ear. The instrument selection and scale selection.


----------



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

When I switched from pop&rock to classical in the mid/late 80s, I could not see myself listening to my old love anymore. There was so much to explore in classical. That lasted about 10 years, then I realized that although I was never done with exploring classical, I was missing my pop/rock music. For the past 15-20 years I've gone about 50/50 classical/pop&rock (OK, with some jazz thrown in as well), and I love that mix.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Phil loves classical said:


> Ascension is definitely one of the pinnacles in Jazz Music. Black Saint is in my view the Greatest. Out to Lunch and Free Jazz are up there too


Good choices. Personally, my tastes for free jazz run closer to Eric Dolphy and Ornette Coleman than John Coltrane.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

jegreenwood said:


> I didn't listen to much jazz (or classical) before college. My freshman roommate decided that there was no better place for me to start than with "Ascension." And "New Thing at Newport" with Coltrane and Archie Shepp.


The college experience is amazing for the things you get exposed to. Now that I'm several years (okay, maybe decades), out of that environment, I wonder where all those people went. When I'm out of the house, it's hard to find anyone who wants to talk about anything other than sports.


----------



## Omicron9 (Oct 13, 2016)

I vastly prefer classical over jazz, but do have a healthy jazz collection. Yesterday I listened to Coltrane's "Interstellar Space," for which the argument could be made that it owes as much to 20th-century classical compositions as it does to jazz.

Adventurous indeed.

-09


----------



## MissKittysMom (Mar 2, 2017)

I grew up in classical (played piano and cello all through school until college), then in college I was exposed to progressive rock (called "art rock" in those days), and some jazz. All of that has continued to expand scope. I'm particularly attracted to genre-crossing works that truly blend influences into something new.

A few favorites:
Dixie Dregs - southern rock, jazz, bluegrass - "What If", "Dregs of the Night"
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic - post-punk, jazz, classical minimalism - "The Iridium Controversy"
Univers Zero - chamber rock, heavy influence from Stravinsky and Bartok - "1313", "Heresie", "Ceux du dehors"
Thinking Plague - avant rock - "This Life", "A History of Madness"

I'm recently back into classical in a big way, having bought a piano and starting to play again for the first time in decades.


----------



## sprite (Jan 31, 2015)

I've heard dashes of Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev in Art Tatum. Tatum is on the earlier side of azz anyway, still has that classical ragtime feel, so it hits that spot. And his Humoresque (Dvorak) is just lovely. There's quite a few versions but this one, although unfortunately of lower sound quality (although you do get to see him play, which is a plus) is my favorite. That rhythm in the beginning.. Mph.


----------



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

sprite said:


> I've heard dashes of Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev in Art Tatum. Tatum is on the earlier side of azz anyway, still has that classical ragtime feel, so it hits that spot. And his Humoresque (Dvorak) is just lovely. There's quite a few versions but this one, although unfortunately of lower sound quality (although you do get to see him play, which is a plus) is my favorite. That rhythm in the beginning.. Mph.


I heard Horowitz say if Tatum switched to Classical, that he himself would be out of a job? That is some praise


----------



## sprite (Jan 31, 2015)

Phil loves classical said:


> I heard Horowitz say if Tatum switched to Classical, that he himself would be out of a job? That is some praise


yes! Horowitz, on the other hand, might not have had such an easy time adjusting to jazz..


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Bettina, I always see you liking posts, but rarely see you write up a post! More of a lurker?


Bettina emulates Beethoven, gradually building tension....where is she?.....and finally when we can stand it no longer....in a burst of C Major....there she is posting again!!!


----------



## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

hpowders said:


> Bettina emulates Beethoven, gradually building tension....where is she?.....and finally when we can stand it no longer....in a burst of C Major....there she is posting again!!!


Wow!! Thank you for comparing me to Beethoven!  That might be the most flattering compliment that I've ever received. I love the sense of tension and buildup--the use of delayed gratification--in Beethoven's works (and in the works of many other classical composers).

With regard to the topic of this thread, the sense of tension/goal-orientation is the main reason why I prefer classical music over jazz. Jazz music doesn't seem to generate feelings of anticipation, tension and release, at least not to the same extent as 18th and 19th century classical music.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Bettina said:


> Wow!! Thank you for comparing me to Beethoven!  That might be the most flattering compliment that I've ever received. I love the sense of tension and buildup--the use of delayed gratification--in Beethoven's works (and in the works of many other classical composers).
> 
> With regard to the topic of this thread, the sense of tension/goal-orientation is the main reason why I prefer classical music over jazz. Jazz music doesn't seem to generate feelings of anticipation, tension and release, at least not to the same extent as 18th and 19th century classical music.


You are welcome and deserving! :tiphat:


----------

