[GearMe]

...With all of that said, I think what you have is an extremely beautiful tune written by Joni Mitchell and an extremely beautiful arrangement by Pat Martino, and I doubt either was thinking too much about the musical technicalities of what they were doing while they were in the creative process, if at all...

 

[bigshot]

Will do...this One time]

Tell me why I should play this video. Not that I don't think it's valuable, it's just the internet is full of dumped media without any context.

 

[GearMe]

Tell me why I should play this video. Not that I don't think it's valuable, it's just the internet is full of dumped media without any context.

Hmmm...I see what you're doing

Seriously though, can't help you there...I'm guessing I view the world through a different set of lenses then you (which is cool -- for both of us).

As I alluded to in an earlier post, I look to connect to music on an emotional level...not an analytical one. If it makes my head bop, my foot tap, evokes joy/sadness/serenity/etc then sometimes I'll post it; sometimes I won't.

That said, I'll read/scan the comments about the music posted here (and other places) -- if they're concise; but do this primarily to get a sense of that person's lens. I'll leave the analyzing of music to the folks that do it best as a vocation or avocation.

Interestingly, I've clicked into the majority of the videos on this thread and in a couple other music oriented threads on this site. I've listened to some songs all the way through; others I bailed on after checking for that 'connection' at several spots throughout the video and not finding it. I've found value in that because I've heard some new artists that I like as well as some new songs by some artists that I already listen to. For this reason alone, I'm grateful you created this thread!

So...to circle back to your question, 'why should you play this video?' Maybe because it might be worth analyzing for you...or that you've never heard this rendition of One by Jamal...or simply on a lark.

Who knows, maybe you're the person that is supposed to provide that context for someone else...

 

[bigshot]

I'm just letting you know that the internet is a huge place. There are links scattered all over it and following all those links would take more time than I have in my lifetime. I've decided that I'm only going to click on things that I am confident will be worth my time. If you just post something without telling me what it is and why I should take the time to look at it, I'm going to skip past it. I don't think I'm unique in that regard.

Now I understand that a lot of people post on the internet for self-validation. They just post things they like and all they want in return is for someone to reply with a "like"... even if they didn't bother to actually play the music and listen to it. Facebook is the best place for that sort of thing. People like/ignore on Facebook all the time. This isn't a good place for that.

I'm looking to learn from other people here and hear from a wide range of points of view. I might agree with you or not. That doesn't matter. The fact that we communicate is what matters.

 

[SilverEars]

I'm not classically trained, but I know when something is significant.

 

[GearMe]

I'm just letting you know that the internet is a huge place. There are links scattered all over it and following all those links would take more time than I have in my lifetime. I've decided that I'm only going to click on things that I am confident will be worth my time. If you just post something without telling me what it is and why I should take the time to look at it, I'm going to skip past it. I don't think I'm unique in that regard.

Now I understand that a lot of people post on the internet for self-validation. They just post things they like and all they want in return is for someone to reply with a "like"... even if they didn't bother to actually play the music and listen to it. Facebook is the best place for that sort of thing. People like/ignore on Facebook all the time. This isn't a good place for that.

I'm looking to learn from other people here and hear from a wide range of points of view. I might agree with you or not. That doesn't matter. The fact that we communicate is what matters.

Works for me! Not looking for validation...

Sounds like you've got a very well-defined process for how you approach internet forums...which apparently works for you!

FWIW, my point of view is that people tend to focus on things that are typically of interest to them...and communicate in a variety of ways on various levels. Some see the forest; some the trees and quite often neither is better than the other...just a different perspective. IMO, I'd rather see them post than not; whether their analysis is 'hey this is something significant' or a treatise on musical composition history that is meant educate (confound?) the masses.

Me? I'm going to click on songs/videos posted (yes, even yours!) in this and other Head-Fi music threads simply because I'm either curious about a new artist (to me) or my past listening experiences with an artist have been moving in some way. I fully expect to be surprised/bored/disappointed/elated/etc. along my musical journey through every twist and turn (or shout)!

Spoiler alert...don't click into this video for analysis purposes...it's nothing more than a very large group of people whipped into frenzy by a guy and his band singing some very simple songs

 

[Steve999]

@SilverEars and @GearMe , really loved both your posts. As far as writing treatises and whatnot, I hear you. Listening to music is more of a past-time than an avocation or hobby for me at this point in my life. So I have only listened to everything once in what I am discussing here to keep me from writing too much [edit: The Joni Mitchell recording I have listened to many times because I couldn't find a particular song I heard this morning on Spotify on YouTube] and will post from what little I remember! BTW, I think I have listened to everything everyone has posted in this thread at least once, and some probably 10 or more times if I love it. It's a window into other people's personalities as well as extremely interesting. Honestly, criticizing other peoples' musical taste is off limits for me at this point in my life. It was not always that way, and honestly that's something I regret a bit. However, this, who is he, Springsteen guy (j/k, as you more familiar with internet discourse than I am would say). . . If a performance is not so good I will once in a while say, oh, I think I see a problem, in a gentle way, or at least I try.

So @SilverEars, I might suggest that if that performer playing Liszt is your gateway drug for classical, go for it! It's a rich journey. I think that performance would resonate with nearly anyone, certainly me, it's great. Liszt was the great virtuoso pianist and this piece was in 3/4 time (I always take note of the meter of a piece, I can't help it) and won't say anything more about that. This is a performance I will listen to several times.

So @GearMe, as far as the Springsteen, it's true, I'm afraid,I've had a hard time getting into Springsteen. I always fear I have missed out on something. I tried listening to a Springsteen album a time or two and I'm like, oh man, not happening. I made myself listen all the way through once to the album where he is on a motorcyle or something (pure memory here, not Googling!) and I was just, wow, not happening. For me it did not pass your toe-tapping test! But how can you not like the performance you posted? Maybe it will pry open my mind a little! That's awesome and the crowd bopping up and down and the joy between the band and the audience, that's just a joyous spectacle. A few songs of Springsteen's have resonated with me and I really like them--a guy in college used to always play "Hungry Heart" I think it was called and sing along, so I developed a lot of good feelings about that song. I think Springsteen wrote "Blinded by the Light" (I am going by memory so I don't write a treatise) and that's a really super-cool song. I forget who made it popular. I like "Pink Cadillac" (both his song and Aretha's song!) and he has a song "State Trooper" I really get into from the album Nebraska. So this song you posted, what does it make me think of. . . the Beatles, how much Latin music is part of the fabric of American music and we don't realize it, the joy of sharing music with other people (I read an interview with Herbie Hancock once, I think either he or the interviewer remarked how sharing recorded music with other people is one of the great pleasures of life and a very intimate thing to do, and sharing live music I am adding here could be even moreso if the audience is engaged).

So I heard a song for the first time this morning, Summer Breeze as played by Bobby Broom, just as I was waking up, and it challenged my ears. I picture a guy playing the jazz organ and playing the bass-line in the pedals. It's the song Summer Breeze, I think Crosby, Stills and Nash or Seals & Crofts might have done it (?) and the Isley Brothers did a nice cover of it. It's modern jazz fusion so I have to pry open my mind a little to give it a chance. It's by someone named Bobby Broom and I imagine he's the guitarist (I'm not Googling!) It challenged my ears because the bass line is good but it's also jagged and puts kinks in the beat, the drumming is the same type of thing. . . its not just gliding along. And the guitarist took the melody and did unique things with it. It reminds me of Willie Nelson's quirks. This band makes it so I don't feel like I am just listening to "Summer Breeze" for the upteen millionth time. I'll be listening to more Bobby Broom! It's a nice connection for those who like the song to hear some good jazz if they are not used to jazz, and with today's current of jazz influences. @castleofargh -- no woodwinds!

I am just hoping it's on YouTube so I can post it. End of treatise! And thanks for your posts! (Minutes later. . . ) Bobby Broom's Summer Breeze doesn't seem to be on YouTube. So if anyone wants they can seek out Bobby Broom's Summer Breeze. It's on Spotify anyway. I'll post Joni Mitchell's later version of both sides now and for my treatise on that particular song and guitarist Pat Martino's version you can scroll up a bit. This performance by Joni Mitchell really resonates with me. I'm am going to take a guess that Wayne Shorter's on sax here. I'll fact-check myself later. I'll leave my errors intact and you can laugh at me. Anyway, this version gives me goose bumps.

And on the YouTube video you can see the beauty of what I am guessing is her self portrait. She expresses in her music and interviews sometimes that she considers herself a painter first, who happened to hit it big as a singer. I also found it interesting to read that she has a bit of a temper! Don't mess with her!

Sorry about the treatise! I did it again!

@bigshot . . thanks for pushing the thread in this direction. It will make it much more than just another what-are-you-listening-to-now type of Internet thread.



Something's lost but something's gained in living every day. . . That's a diamond of wisdom. I think I'll add that to my Head-Fi sig. After I figure out how.

I'm not classically trained, but I know when something is significant.

 

[castleofargh]

Works for me! Not looking for validation...

Sounds like you've got a very well-defined process for how you approach internet forums...which apparently works for you!

FWIW, my point of view is that people tend to focus on things that are typically of interest to them...and communicate in a variety of ways on various levels. Some see the forest; some the trees and quite often neither is better than the other...just a different perspective. IMO, I'd rather see them post than not; whether their analysis is 'hey this is something significant' or a treatise on musical composition history that is meant educate (confound?) the masses.

Me? I'm going to click on songs/videos posted (yes, even yours!) in this and other Head-Fi music threads simply because I'm either curious about a new artist (to me) or my past listening experiences with an artist have been moving in some way. I fully expect to be surprised/bored/disappointed/elated/etc. along my musical journey through every twist and turn (or shout)!

Spoiler alert...don't click into this video for analysis purposes...it's nothing more than a very large group of people whipped into frenzy by a guy and his band singing some very simple songs

that's what I failed to allude to when asking for criteria. if we take "I just like it" out of the equation and only focus on objective reasons to value a song without a clear notion of what we're looking for, I can't imagine how it's going to turn into anything other than a circus show. with the weirdest stuff, the guy playing the most difficult score with the most intensity, that singer going over a billion octaves in 3seconds... La Campanella is a perfect example IMO. the nature of why most people will take notice is the freak nature of it and how we can have only 5 or 6 fingers(2 EZ), but it's better if we have them on 4 separate limbs when we try to play this. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm not saying anything is bad in art. but that's why I went with the slowest Chopin prelude I could think of a few pages ago, because I wondered if that would be judge as "objectively" uninteresting despite being very famous and loved.
I personally admire anybody able to do simple and good in any domain. to me those are the true masters of this world from engineers to artists. again I don't mind measuring dick and showing the pleb who's the boss when we have the skill for it, but I don't think art would really be what it is if it was just basically judged as a sport. I think we're in agreement on a few of those points.


@Steve999 forget about woodwind. I like a lot of ska, funk, classical and stuff like that with people blowing air in oddly shaped stuff all the time. I don't like trumpets in general, and often I will dislike a sax too. but it's the same way I dislike cymbals or violins. I dislike how they sound IRL, that is very true. but if we go that way, I also dislike most unprocessed voices. the dynamic, the sibilance, they piss me off. I have almost no opera because of that. but even that has exceptions where the result just works. such is the magic of music.
and if they avoid having a trumpet or cymbals too forward in a track, so it can blend in more, or use compression, EQ, whatever to make it more euphonic, I'd usually be fine. I've adored Iron Maiden almost all my life for that. they always had such lovable quiet and inoffensive cymbals.
here is an example of what should be my typical audio nightmare, yet I love that song(and the band in general).

as for the very objective reason to pick this one instead of others, I have that too. I picked it because it was playing while I was writing my post. time alignment is a very objective criteria. (sorry bigshot, it's the best I can do )

 

[bigshot]

I don't dislike musical instruments. Just what some people do with them.

 

[Steve999]

@castleofargh . . I haven’t thought about it for years but I did in the past think a lot about that if recordings depicted how hot and sharp (objectively: emphasized) the mid and upper treble was in a live performance people would not like it at all. Maybe the recording engineer types can jump in on that one.

If I ever meet you I will bring a vocoder and a voice synthesizer and a reverb box so you don’t have to hear my unprocessed voice. I don’t want to upset you.

I listened to your track four or five times and began to get a hang of the lyrics and it is quite odd and I started to like it and figured that was not good for me and stopped there.

Also this may show my ignorance but was that picture made for the album, I mean obviously it has the Dali clock and it’s very odd, or is it some picture I would have heard of if I were culturally literate. Most people have two arms, not four. Is that a baby bottle or an IV or a vacuum tube? Most blue herons are blue, not pink. Just saying. Maybe some things are going over my head.

@Steve999 forget about woodwind. I like a lot of ska, funk, classical and stuff like that with people blowing air in oddly shaped stuff all the time. I don't like trumpets in general, and often I will dislike a sax too. but it's the same way I dislike cymbals or violins. I dislike how they sound IRL, that is very true. but if we go that way, I also dislike most unprocessed voices. the dynamic, the sibilance, they piss me off. I have almost no opera because of that. but even that has exceptions where the result just works. such is the magic of music.
and if they avoid having a trumpet or cymbals too forward in a track, so it can blend in more, or use compression, EQ, whatever to make it more euphonic, I'd usually be fine. I've adored Iron Maiden almost all my life for that. they always had such lovable quiet and inoffensive cymbals.
here is an example of what should be my typical audio nightmare, yet I love that song(and the band in general).

as for the very objective reason to pick this one instead of others, I have that too. I picked it because it was playing while I was writing my post. time alignment is a very objective criteria. (sorry bigshot, it's the best I can do )

 

[castleofargh]

If I ever meet you I will bring a vocoder and a voice synthesizer and a reverb box so you don’t have to hear my unprocessed voice.

that would be swell. ack ack ack! ack ack!

Also this may show my ignorance but was that picture made for the album, I mean obviously it has the Dali clock and it’s very odd, or is it some picture I would have heard of if I were culturally literate. Most people have two arms, not four. Is that a baby bottle or an IV or a vacuum tube? Most blue herons are blue, not pink. Just saying. Maybe some things are going over my head.

I kept telling you that I had no interest or knowledge in the hows/whys of a song or an artist, and you expect me to have inquired about a CD cover?
when I remember both the name of a song and the artist, it's a good day. I usually end up googling some of the lyrics when I'm I have song in my head and wish to play it. of course that flawless system isn't so flawless if the song I'm looking for happens to be from the likes of Be'lakor or Children Of Bodom.

 

[bigshot]

No offense intended, but if you have no interest in hows and whys, then you don't have to comment. Just click and decide. for yourself. It doesn't necessarily apply to anyone else.

 

[GearMe]

@SilverEars and @GearMe , really loved both your posts. As far as writing treatises and whatnot, I hear you.

Thanks...the posts in this thread have been very helpul to me in expanding my musical horizons/playlists...perfect example is Bobby Broom; didn't have a single song from him...that's changed...Thanks! He has a jazz guitar style I like and does some very interesting interpretations in his 'covers'! Check out 'Just One of Those Things, Can't Buy Me Love, and Moanin'

As far as 'treatise'; would like to clarify. Nothing wrong from my perspective in 'digging deep'...also nothing wrong with the KISS approach; room for both in this world and they each add value in different ways!

I think I have listened to everything everyone has posted in this thread at least once, and some probably 10 or more times if I love it. It's a window into other people's personalities as well as extremely interesting.

Same here!

So @GearMe, as far as the Springsteen, it's true, I'm afraid,I've had a hard time getting into Springsteen. I always fear I have missed out on something. I tried listening to a Springsteen album a time or two and I'm like, oh man, not happening. I made myself listen all the way through once to the album where he is on a motorcyle or something (pure memory here, not Googling!) and I was just, wow, not happening. For me it did not pass your toe-tapping test!

Yep...many people have this take on him and rightly so for some of his music. But as you point out below if you listen to what he's done, likely something will resonate with you...

But how can you not like the performance you posted? Maybe it will pry open my mind a little! That's awesome and the crowd bopping up and down and the joy between the band and the audience, that's just a joyous spectacle...So this song you posted, what does it make me think of. . . the Beatles, how much Latin music is part of the fabric of American music and we don't realize it, the joy of sharing music with other people (I read an interview with Herbie Hancock once, I think either he or the interviewer remarked how sharing recorded music with other people is one of the great pleasures of life and a very intimate thing to do, and sharing live music I am adding here could be even moreso if the audience is engaged).

You've hit on one of Springsteen's biggest strengths. He is a great showman...engaging the audience and giving them a concert experience that they'll never forget

Sounds like you and I think much like Hancock on this...

So I heard a song for the first time this morning, Summer Breeze as played by Bobby Broom, just as I was waking up, and it challenged my ears. I picture a guy playing the jazz organ and playing the bass-line in the pedals. It's the song Summer Breeze, I think Crosby, Stills and Nash or Seals & Crofts might have done it (?) and the Isley Brothers did a nice cover of it. It's modern jazz fusion so I have to pry open my mind a little to give it a chance. It's by someone named Bobby Broom and I imagine he's the guitarist (I'm not Googling!) It challenged my ears because the bass line is good but it's also jagged and puts kinks in the beat, the drumming is the same type of thing. . . its not just gliding along. And the guitarist took the melody and did unique things with it. It reminds me of Willie Nelson's quirks. This band makes it so I don't feel like I am just listening to "Summer Breeze" for the upteen millionth time. I'll be listening to more Bobby Broom! It's a nice connection for those who like the song to hear some good jazz if they are not used to jazz, and with today's current of jazz influences. @castleofargh -- no woodwinds!

Don't have Spotify and can't find it anywhere else; expect it is very good as I love that Seals & Crofts song and several others of theirs! Will keep looking...

As far as latin music, it definitely has influenced American music and I can't fathom how people aren't moved by this genre and all its permutations...

The rhythms, harmonies and passion of the genre just draws you into the music!

Here's a different version of Desfinado...some nice singing, solos, and interaction between the band members.

 

[Steve999]

@GearMe . . . totally awesome. Shades of rhythm from straight ahead to straight Latin to great effect for contrast and lots in between and the playing is absolutely dazzling. The level of concentration on Eliane Elias's face and yet her dancing make such a great contrast. I had no idea she was such a great musician in addition to being a singer. The whole band is dazzling and the second I see her fingers hit the piano keys in a straight-ahead groove I'm like what? That's astonishing, that's great. And the bowed vibrato double-bass solo in the middle of all of this, what a great thing.

Spotify's algorithm must have thrown Bobby Broom's Summer Breeze out at me as a suggested new promotional pre-release track yesterday morning. Scary. It knows me too well. It's from the very new in-the-process-of-being-released Bobby Broom's Soul Fingers. It just hadn't made it to YouTube. It looks like a legit link on YouTube now. You can be the second person to view it on YouTube (whoever is reading this now)! Google hasn't even aggregated a picture to go along with the track yet, from what it seems. Listings of all of the tracks-to-be are on the Interwebs here and there. It's all pop tunes, I'm sure with a jazz treatment. Should be a nice gateway release for people interested in jazz.

It looks like they publicly let out one more track from Bobby Broom's Soul Fingers today, Come Together. It's got a total of something like 10 tracks. I guess they are trying to create some buzz or something by letting the tracks out one by one or maybe someone paid for first-release rights, or who knows what.

To copy and paste from my prior apparently pre-release post (with one correction as per @GearMe to reference Seals & Crofts a little more definitively):

So I heard a song for the first time this morning, Summer Breeze as played by Bobby Broom, just as I was waking up, and it challenged my ears. I picture a guy playing the jazz organ and playing the bass-line in the pedals. It's the song Summer Breeze, I think Seals & Crofts might have done it and the Isley Brothers did a nice cover of it. It's modern jazz fusion so I have to pry open my mind a little to give it a chance. It's by someone named Bobby Broom and I imagine he's the guitarist (I'm not Googling!) It challenged my ears because the bass line is good but it's also jagged and puts kinks in the beat, the drumming is the same type of thing. . . its not just gliding along. And the guitarist took the melody and did unique things with it. It reminds me of Willie Nelson's quirks. This band makes it so I don't feel like I am just listening to "Summer Breeze" for the upteen millionth time. I'll be listening to more Bobby Broom! It's a nice connection for those who like the song to hear some good jazz if they are not used to jazz, and with today's current of jazz influences.

Thanks...the posts in this thread have been very helpul to me in expanding my musical horizons/playlists...perfect example is Bobby Broom; didn't have a single song from him...that's changed...Thanks! He has a jazz guitar style I like and does some very interesting interpretations in his 'covers'! Check out 'Just One of Those Things, Can't Buy Me Love, and Moanin'

As far as 'treatise'; would like to clarify. Nothing wrong from my perspective in 'digging deep'...also nothing wrong with the KISS approach; room for both in this world and they each add value in different ways!



Same here!


Yep...many people have this take on him and rightly so for some of his music. But as you point out below if you listen to what he's done, likely something will resonate with you...


You've hit on one of Springsteen's biggest strengths. He is a great showman...engaging the audience and giving them a concert experience that they'll never forget

Sounds like you and I think much like Hancock on this...


Don't have Spotify and can't find it anywhere else; expect it is very good as I love that Seals & Crofts song and several others of theirs! Will keep looking...

As far as latin music, it definitely has influenced American music and I can't fathom how people aren't moved by this genre and all its permutations...

The rhythms, harmonies and passion of the genre just draws you into the music!

Here's a different version of Desfinado...some nice singing, solos, and interaction between the band members.

 

[Steve999]

I took the time time to find for you my favorite 1st movement of Tchaikovsky’s 6th symphony on YouTube. I will write a few things strictly by memory so as not to write a treatise. I was on the same campus as this conductor and got to see him with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra several times and in retrospect I was extremely fortunate. I believe this was a very early digital recording. I believe Tchaikovsky died shortly after this piece was first performed. He had a tough life. There’s a whole academic controversy about it but I’m just throwing that out there to pique the curiosity of those who might not know but might otherwise be curious. It may seem obvious but this is the first movement. I mention that specifically here because to me the rest of the symphony builds artistically around the moods, melodies, and harmonies of this first movement in what I find to be a free but intricate manner. So if you want to seek out the whole symphony I’ll just say it’s a piece of music I’ve always found to be extremely worthwhile. I saw this live in my home town from a right balcony right over and beside the orchestra (by far my favorite place to sit—I love to have a great visual of the orchestra) last year and just loved it. It is a fascinating piece for watching the musicians. A lot is going on physically and visually. Tchaikovsky was not always as well respected as he is today. For me I probably was not so much ahead of my time as thoroughly unknowing about prevailing tastes. For me he strikes a very appealing balance between romanticism and classicism. In looking for my favorite version to post here I found I liked this movement most when played intensely, richly, and slowly. Also I think Tchaikovsky’s harmonies and melodies resonate well with the modern ear.

If you can take seventeen minutes out of your day, enjoy!