"Jazz, ...., is a musical expression, and this music is for me an expression of the highest ideals. It calls for brotherhood, and I think with the brotherhood there would be no poverty. And the brotherhood there would be no war. "
John Coltrane
This disk does not belong, like many other albums by this musician, published in the last 30/40 years, the classic recordings of Coltrane.
Its title, in my opinion, very apt, referring to one of the cornerstones of jazz as a whole: "My favorite things", a classic of the same footage of Coltrane.
a business transaction, then, but also inherently a process with a certain cultural value that has for objective to propose a wider audience, possibly youth, listening to the best musical production of one of the biggest (for me the greatest) jazz musicians ever. And this kind
operations is particularly important as jazz, (and I mean a real fan of this genre) does not have an objectively good state of health.
are many and complex reasons for this crisis: I could cite, for example, an inadequate replacement generazionle musicians who interpret or "needs" of business that make it less attractive to record companies to promote the genre.
But these are nothing more than the fenomologia of this process: the root of the crisis, in my opinion, there are reasons "internal" to the jazz music, which historically has always been characterized as a style of music "alive" and able to continuously to innovate stylistically in relation to changing historical and social.
But first things first and make an argument a bit 'more analytical.
The history of jazz, at least in its most vital seasons, is an epic heroic and tragic at the same time, without suffering, racial discrimination, drug addiction and died young, yet steeped in happiness, joy of living, passion, spirituality, protest, riot, civil commitment and the political, social redemption, meeting of cultures and races.
The history of jazz, at least in its most vital seasons, is an epic heroic and tragic at the same time, without suffering, racial discrimination, drug addiction and died young, yet steeped in happiness, joy of living, passion, spirituality, protest, riot, civil commitment and the political, social redemption, meeting of cultures and races.
Jazz, as in Europe symphonic music and opera of 700/800, was essentially "popular music" in the highest sense of the word, witness and mirror of enzymes, gusti e aspirazioni di un'epoca e di un popolo.
Nato ed evolutosi dall'incontro della tradizione afro dei neri d'America (blues, boogie, spiritual e poi rithim and blues) con la cultura musicale occidentale (nel senso della melodia, dell'armonia e dello strumentario), il jazz si caratterizza per tre elementi fondamentali:
Nato ed evolutosi dall'incontro della tradizione afro dei neri d'America (blues, boogie, spiritual e poi rithim and blues) con la cultura musicale occidentale (nel senso della melodia, dell'armonia e dello strumentario), il jazz si caratterizza per tre elementi fondamentali:
- il tempo musicale, definito semplicemente con la parola "swing"
- la spontaneità della sua esecuzione, in cui l'improvvisazione ha un ruolo di primissimo piano
- il modo di fraseggiare e di formare il suono del tutto originali.
(Spero mi perdoneranno i cultori del jazz per questa estrema banalizzazione degli elementi principali di questo genere musicale).
All the stylistic evolution of jazz is based on mixing and the relationship of these three elements and put on different accents for each of them: the uncertain early days of ragtime, to Dixieland to swing to bebop to cool down ' hard bop to free jazz, the fundamental characteristics of the bottom of the jazz style remain essentially unchanged while modifying markedly.
As with classical music at the beginning of the twentieth century, so for the jazz from the late '60s and early '70s the ties between American black people in this musical genre has gradually loosened, and perhaps permanently, and off.
Is this not the place to analyze the causes sociali e culturali di questo processo, ma in breve si può dire che si è verificato quello che i sociologi definiscono "il riflusso": giunto forse all'apice della propria evoluzione (ad un punto che molti definiscono di "non ritorno"), il jazz non ha saputo più evolversi e trovare nuovi stimoli ed innovazioni stilistiche (a meno di non considerare tali i tentativi di "fusion" che si sono alternati negli anni '70 e '80, con esiti obiettivamente "sterili"). Le nuove generazioni dei neri d'America hanno seguito nuove culture musicali: da un lato le tipiche strade del disimpegno, di cui la "disco music" degli anni ottanta è forse l'emblema musicale più significativo, dall'altro vie caratterizzate da ribellismo (se non proprio da comportamenti francamente antisociali), di cui il rap è solo una delle tante espressioni culturali.
Is this not the place to analyze the causes sociali e culturali di questo processo, ma in breve si può dire che si è verificato quello che i sociologi definiscono "il riflusso": giunto forse all'apice della propria evoluzione (ad un punto che molti definiscono di "non ritorno"), il jazz non ha saputo più evolversi e trovare nuovi stimoli ed innovazioni stilistiche (a meno di non considerare tali i tentativi di "fusion" che si sono alternati negli anni '70 e '80, con esiti obiettivamente "sterili"). Le nuove generazioni dei neri d'America hanno seguito nuove culture musicali: da un lato le tipiche strade del disimpegno, di cui la "disco music" degli anni ottanta è forse l'emblema musicale più significativo, dall'altro vie caratterizzate da ribellismo (se non proprio da comportamenti francamente antisociali), di cui il rap è solo una delle tante espressioni culturali.
Certo il jazz si esegue ancora, come del resto si eseguono ancora le opere e le sinfonie classiche dei musicisti del passato, ma ormai è un genere musicale del tutto slegato dai processi che percorrono la società contemporanea: come la musica classica, adesso è musica "colta", apprezzata e seguita da elites culturali europee e nordamericane.
Ci consola, rispetto agli appassionati di musica classica, il fatto che la tecnologia ci ha regalato la possibilità di poter ancora ascoltare i nostri brani preferiti direttamente eseguiti dai veri protagonastici di questa fantastica epopea.
Ci consola, rispetto agli appassionati di musica classica, il fatto che la tecnologia ci ha regalato la possibilità di poter ancora ascoltare i nostri brani preferiti direttamente eseguiti dai veri protagonastici di questa fantastica epopea.
Per chi come me, however, has had the good fortune in the 70s here in Italy to attend live concerts by artists such as Bill Evans, Cecil Taylor, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Mingus, Don Cherry, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, Ornette Coleman (to name only the first names that come to mind), especially during the legendary "Umbria Jazz" (free concerts and traveling placed in the scenario of the most beautiful natural sites and art of this region), really crying my heart to see the day of 'now included in billboard events jazz names such as Astor Piazzola, Joan Baez, James Taylor and Burt Bacharach: for charity, artists of all respect and admire very much but have little or nothing objectively to do with jazz.
The phoenix has not been able to rise again from its ashes.
The phoenix has not been able to rise again from its ashes.
Trane (so called admirers Coltrane playing with the similarity of the word "train" like an unstoppable train that runs at full speed) is imposed on the music scene after a few years of paying dues in the minor band around the middle of 50s, during the period that is perhaps of greatest splendor of jazz, promoted to sublime completely unimaginable and leaving in a few years (he died in '67 at age of 41) and perhaps ultimately an indelible mark in the history of the genre .
Contemporary artists such as Miles, Coleman, Cherry, Taylor, Rollins, and Sheep tanti altri con molti dei quali suonò insieme in concerti ed in jam sessions, Coltrane è contemporaneo e testimone di un'America, tanto per cambiare, estremamente complessa e contraddittoria: l'America "bianca", intrisa delle paranoie maccartiste e del Khu Khux Klan, l'America degli armamenti nucleari, della guerra fredda e di quella "calda" di Corea; "l'altra" America bianca, quella della "beat generation" di Kerouac, Ginsberg e Ferlinghetti, che già preludeva ed in qualche modo anticipava la grande esplosione libertaria degli anni '60; l'America "nera", ancora sottoposta a leggi e consuetidini oggettivamente razziste, che cercava faticosamente di alzare la testa per affermare la propria dignità di uomini, dando rise to movements that would later be led by a non-violent protest in the side of Luther King, second in the revolutionary dream of Malcolm X and Black Panthers.
Contemporary artists such as Miles, Coleman, Cherry, Taylor, Rollins, and Sheep tanti altri con molti dei quali suonò insieme in concerti ed in jam sessions, Coltrane è contemporaneo e testimone di un'America, tanto per cambiare, estremamente complessa e contraddittoria: l'America "bianca", intrisa delle paranoie maccartiste e del Khu Khux Klan, l'America degli armamenti nucleari, della guerra fredda e di quella "calda" di Corea; "l'altra" America bianca, quella della "beat generation" di Kerouac, Ginsberg e Ferlinghetti, che già preludeva ed in qualche modo anticipava la grande esplosione libertaria degli anni '60; l'America "nera", ancora sottoposta a leggi e consuetidini oggettivamente razziste, che cercava faticosamente di alzare la testa per affermare la propria dignità di uomini, dando rise to movements that would later be led by a non-violent protest in the side of Luther King, second in the revolutionary dream of Malcolm X and Black Panthers.
Jazz is the mirror of these enzymes: the experience of Cool jazz evolves into the hard aggressive musicality of modal free.Questo up to lead the drive, and this is a limit "objective" of any anthology, it can obviously give only partial account of the musical production of Coltrane.
It presents only seven performances (remember that the executions are inherently long jazz) in the case of this artist, none of which works, in my opinion, may be considered "minor" means any other selection was made at the same time would have been legitimate and arbitrary.
The songs on this album are: 1 My Favourite Things
The songs on this album are: 1 My Favourite Things
Mr.PC
2 3 I Want To Talk About You
4 5 Naima
Stuff I'm Partial To
6 Traneing In
7 Man Made Miles
of this album I would like to show you three songs in particular because they represent symbolically as many "souls", among many, of Coltrane:
"My Favorite Things," the opening track, perhaps running Coltrane's most famous, certainly the one that has consecrated him definitively as one of the greatest jazz performers of all times. Performed for the first self-titled album of '60, this track has since been repeated in many other later albums and in almost all of the live concerts in a jazz musicista.Opportunamente upset, is inspired by a waltz that was very polite sung by Julie Andrews in the musical "The Sound of Music (remember the Italian version:" Three are the things that I like? "), and is composed primarily of long and hypnotic improvisations of his sax soprano.La choice of this instrument, which is the main instrument of Trane (who used to play the content) allows the musician to express himself clearly inspired by the musical sounds Arabic and Eastern (Indian in the first place). We can say that this piece begins with the search for the sound to Coltrane "modal", in the years to come, more openly and directly characterize his style.
The second song is "Mr.PC" album's closing track "Giant Steps" of '59, the disc of the "revelation" the song dedicated to the bassist Paul Chambers, referred to Coltrane has always had great respect and admiration (as, indeed, to dedicate a song), was described by critics "Blues supersonic." Here we find the Trane-train, amazing and unexpected notes in succession incredible, high-pitched sounds and low sounds that run with the same ease (or complexity) of a plan, the impression that at any moment to explode the saxophone.
The third song is "Naima", always from the album "Giant Steps". Here we find the so-called "gentle-side of John Coltrane" a ballad written by the same delicate and sweet and dedicated to Coltrane's Naima, the Arabic name of his first wife, in which the musical expressiveness and passion take the place of harmonic complexity.
"My Favorite Things," the opening track, perhaps running Coltrane's most famous, certainly the one that has consecrated him definitively as one of the greatest jazz performers of all times. Performed for the first self-titled album of '60, this track has since been repeated in many other later albums and in almost all of the live concerts in a jazz musicista.Opportunamente upset, is inspired by a waltz that was very polite sung by Julie Andrews in the musical "The Sound of Music (remember the Italian version:" Three are the things that I like? "), and is composed primarily of long and hypnotic improvisations of his sax soprano.La choice of this instrument, which is the main instrument of Trane (who used to play the content) allows the musician to express himself clearly inspired by the musical sounds Arabic and Eastern (Indian in the first place). We can say that this piece begins with the search for the sound to Coltrane "modal", in the years to come, more openly and directly characterize his style.
The second song is "Mr.PC" album's closing track "Giant Steps" of '59, the disc of the "revelation" the song dedicated to the bassist Paul Chambers, referred to Coltrane has always had great respect and admiration (as, indeed, to dedicate a song), was described by critics "Blues supersonic." Here we find the Trane-train, amazing and unexpected notes in succession incredible, high-pitched sounds and low sounds that run with the same ease (or complexity) of a plan, the impression that at any moment to explode the saxophone.
The third song is "Naima", always from the album "Giant Steps". Here we find the so-called "gentle-side of John Coltrane" a ballad written by the same delicate and sweet and dedicated to Coltrane's Naima, the Arabic name of his first wife, in which the musical expressiveness and passion take the place of harmonic complexity.
A must-have album and enjoy: notes scream, scratch, stroke, passion. anger and spirituality magically fused into delirium, in trance music and ecstasy of a genius of jazz
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