General Music Chat

Thanks! I don't limit myself when it comes to playing and enjoy different styles. I'm a big fan of symphony and opera music as well. In my demo clips in my profile I try to mix things up a bit. I might add some of my Spanish acoustic stuff as well.

Mike you know, I cut my band performance teeth in the golden age of Punk, so I'm no stranger to the screaming dissonance thing. But as time goes on, I have really started to miss musicality in performing acts. Do you know what I mean? Clever, powerful melody work, ingenious, luscious chord work and brilliant orchestrations of instruments and song sets. That's one of the reasons I cocooned up three years ago and wrote nothing but neo-romantic piano music. It was a real reaction to the seeming lack of music in anything, anymore.

I think screamo has a place. I was there when I was 18 too. It just doesn't have a lasting appeal. Its sort of like, how many times do you really get a charge out of pulling the school fire alarm, or toilet papering the neighbors house? It gets old.

Mike,
I believe that all of us here would agree that you "do your Dad and your Brother proud". Your words and playing testify to that. Once again, best of luck in all your pursuits.

Irmy,
Pertaining to my remark "we all come back to the blues", your right!
(to my knowledge, Wayne Newton didn't come back to the blues.)
I have a "Bad Brains" greatest "hits" C.D.. Without a doubt one of the greatest"punk" bands ever! (their later "Reggae" stuff is good too).

Scarlet,
Good advice all around to Mike.
I must say however, not being a great "Bono" fan myself, I still regard U.2's "Boy" as one of the finest "rock" recordings of its era. Still holds up today.

"did someone say the blues"???????????..................

im joking.

lets not go there again.

but i had the same trouble with my own "da" or dad as you folk call em ,when i was young i was playing punk/metal and i had many an arguement with him over it,he was a "trad" or ballad singer and he played guitar too(hes left handed and due to the lack of a left handed guitar back in the day he learned to play "righthanded" no sh*t he can play perfectly upside down.its like a right handed person playing a lefthanded guitar... yes he is that good)...two of my uncles were a successfull singing duo and my grandfather was a concert pianist....all of this heritage and there i was playing...."noise" as he called it......at the time i thought he was wrong and likewise he thought i was crazy to play the type of music that i wanted to play.he still till this day thinks i would have been better playing stuff like the "beatles" as he put it.

im happy to report that once he saw how serious i was about it and when i started to play other types of music he stopped bugging me so much..

and im sure if and when i have kids that it will be the same for me and my kids.

Irmy,
Pertaining to my remark "we all come back to the blues", your right!
(to my knowledge, Wayne Newton didn't come back to the blues.)

You know, on that note, I have to add a short conversation I had with an old timer I jammed with once. This guy was a seasoned jazz player, REALLY good, and I warned him several times before we played that I don't know jazz. About half an hour into it, he stops me and says "you know jazz just FINE. Let me tell you something. You keep creating, keep experimenting, reach out as far as you want to go...we ALL end up back at jazz."

Without trying to revive the blues debate, do you think that is true? Or, is "ending up back at blues" a different inevitable end for one type of player, than the "you'll end up in jazz" would be for another?

Just askin.

Without trying to revive the blues debate, do you think that is true? Or, is "ending up back at blues" a different inevitable end for one type of player, than the "you'll end up in jazz" would be for another?

If you started with Jazz, and that is your personal root, and you are returning to "your" roots, then it would be jazz you end up with.

Of course, Jazz sprang forth from the Blues, so we just get to go a little further back.

If you started with Jazz, and that is your personal root, and you are returning to "your" roots, then it would be jazz you end up with.

Of course, Jazz sprang forth from the Blues, so we just get to go a little further back.

I don't think that's what he meant. He was saying that all roads stop at Jazz, no matter how experimentive you get. That made me rethink my own definition of jazz.

He was saying that all roads stop at Jazz, no matter how experimentive you get.

I understood what he was saying. But isn't that a personal assessment? Do you feel that jazz was the origin of musical experimentation?

What I like best about this forum are the "personal anecdotes". Irminsul has contributed some of the best, and the "old jazz man story" follows suite. It brought to mind a conversation I had some years back with one of my favorite local jazz guitar players.
"Matt" is the only person I know who literally wore out the neck of a Stratocaster. I sat in with him at a wedding once and found that he could play lounge music and Z.Z Top with equal aplomb. His "strong hand", however, is his talent for playing "free form, improvised, live, Jazz-Fusion. I jammed with him on my alto-sax once and it proved to be a very rewarding musical experience. (It was the only time i was ever complimented on my "sax playing"). Not everyone appreciates his music however, My wife Cin, (A good but "retired" bass player) , regards Matt's improvisations as "Nothing but loud noise". In truth , sometimes he "Blows Hot " other times "Blows Cold" as he puts it. ,,,,,anyways,
I once asked Matt his definition of "Jazz". His answer? "Jazz just means taking the music ONE STEP FARTHER!"

i cant say anything about jazz because ive never really been exposed to much of it..i liked some and didnt like some...ive no real say on jazz,i like the idea of "freeform" but all to often the players push too hard and its "musicial soup" as i call it....

but if i was to ever return to my roots...i guess i would be 60 years old and playing three chord punk songs with no teeth....i cant wait im gona rock the retirement home

Hey I like jazz also. Maybe my next band could be a hardcore/shred jazz ensemble. I wonder if that's been done already?

He was saying that all roads stop at Jazz, no matter how experimentive you get.

I understood what he was saying. But isn't that a personal assessment? Do you feel that jazz was the origin of musical experimentation?

Personally? I don't know because I'm far from the end of that road. I was only telling you what he said, because I thought it was interesting.

.....
I once asked Matt his definition of "Jazz". His answer? "Jazz just means taking the music ONE STEP FARTHER!"

Wow, that was perfect. I think that was how this old timer was defining it.

Thanks HowlinJ.

Hey I like jazz also. Maybe my next band could be a hardcore/shred jazz ensemble. I wonder if that's been done already?

Yes, it's been done, some years ago we had a local act called "Thirsty Alley" made up of bored jazz musicians who did that very thing. But you know that doesn't mean you can't do it your way. You could get entirely different results than they did.

Mike,
If you're serious about "OUT-THERE MUSIC", to "get ya started", Google...

Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Edgard Varese (early electronic music pioneer)

George Crumb

Definitely not everybody's "cup of tea", but some truly creative and "nuts" old guys.

H.J.

I could think of a few more, but this stuff should be taken in small doses!

H.J.