The New York Voices

The New York Voices are a vocal jazz group that have learned from other vocal jazz groups such as Take 6, The Manhattan Transfer, Lionel Hampton and have taken jazz music to higher levels which have earned them Grammy Awards. Their sound is definite jazz sound with classical, pop, Brazilian and R&B immersed in.

In 1987, Peter Eldridge, Darmon Meader, Kim Nazarian, Caprice Fox and Sara Krieger formed the group. Darmon, Peter, Caprice and Kim went to Ithaca College, in upstate New York. They were able to go and tour the European jazz festivals in 1986. In 1989 they were signed to GRP Records and their first album New York Voices was released. In no time at all it seemed they became popular in the jazz music world. Four albums were done with GRP.

The Collection, Hearts of Fire and What's Inside. During this time, some changes were made. Sara left, and they auditioned more than sixty vocalists in the United States before they settled on Lauren Kinhan. When she sang with them, the chemistry was real and she fit in perfectly. Thus, they called themselves the "New" New York Voices. Lauren appears on the third recording. In 1994, Caprice left , and the New York Voices was at the point the same as it is presently.

The New York Voices, has recorded their own albums, guest starred on other albums, and many other performances. Some of those performances are Live at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, Brazilian Dreams, a Latin Grammy Award winner with Paquito d' Rivera and Heirs of Jobim. They have also performed with many famous jazz artists such as Annie Ross, Bobby McFerrin, Nancy Wilson, John Hendricks and Diana Krall. They tried something new in 1997, by singing Paul Simon's songs. It was called New York Voices Sing the Songs of Paul Simon.

They used many styles to sing his music. Near the end of 2000, after they have completed their sixth album, Sing , Sing, Sing, they took on big band music. They had performed with the Count Basie Orchestra for years, so Darmon arranged the band and vocal parts and Elliot Scheiner who has produced The Manhattan Transfer and Steely Dan, produced a great recording. Other arrangers on the recording were Rob Mounsey and Michael Abene. The result was something complex, with swing, and vocal parts intermingled that was contemporary as well as classic. They did it in a way that did not lessen either style.

In 2006 their was a new recording where they go back to their Brazilian style. The New York Voices have been all around the world astounding audiences with their amazing vocal style, arrangements and classy selections. They have been at numerous jazz festivals, The North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland and The Montreal Jazz Festival.

The New York Voices also helps high school and college students doing workshops and clinics. They have many projects teaching, writing, solo gigs as well as arranging. They are forever expanding their fan base by experimenting with all types of music.

The American Influence Of Jazz Music

The Jazz music sensation began to rub off on other parts of the world which encourages the experimentation of melding their familiar sounds with the essence of Jazz. In Europe's country in the Region of France came the Quintette Du Hot Club de France who was responsible for the making of the early "Gypsy Jazz".

The Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt created gypsy jazz by mixing the style of French Musette which was used in the dance halls, eastern European Folk known as Jazz Manouche, and American swing of the 1930's. The sound was developed by instruments from the string family which are a steel string guitar, violin, and an upright bass. The atmosphere of the Jazz music is seductive with sudden unpredictable twists, and accelerating rhythms. The French artist Bireli Lagrene plays this unique music with old elements of the past.

Another style of Jazz music that allowed the musicians to express themselves freely was the invention of Avant-garde or free Jazz music. Both of these styles stemmed from the Bebop era, yet produced a relaxed form of harmonic and rhythmic music in the 1940's and 1950's. The musicians John Coltrane, Dewey Redman, Charles Mingus, Sun Ra, Sam Rivers, Ornette Coleman and many more were the creators of the free Jazz music. Between the 1960's and 1970's the Latin musicians created the Afro-Cuban and Brazilian Jazz Music styles after Bebop musicians Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Taylor cultivated it.

Gillespie and Taylor was influenced by the music of Cuban and Puerto Rican musicians Chico O'farrill, Tito Puente, Chano Pozo, Xavier Cugat, Mario Bauza and Arturo Sandoval. Jazz music expressed in a Latin interpretation was termed Bossa Nova with origins in Samba music which is a mixture of Jazz, classical and pop music from the 20th century. Bossa is a moderate sound of music with Classical harmonic structure from Europe, Samba polyrhythm's from Brazil and cool music. The tempo of such a work is about 120 beats per minute. The instruments used in this particular sound is nylon stringed guitar, piano, high hat tap of eighths, tapping on the rim of the drum like Sade's "Sweetest Taboo", and a vocalist. The sound produced is a new relaxing sound where the acoustic sound of the guitar can lull one to sleep with it's easy melodic line.

Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim became popular in the sixties with this style of music. The influence of Jazz music returned to the place of its origins in the religious music known as Urban Contemporary Gospel from the spirituals music. Much of spiritual music sung by southern slaves in the past has a haunting dark and mournful sound during the 1800 and 1900's. The churches know as the sanctified or holy churches took a more happier approach by encouraging member to sing speak their personal testimonies as they celebrated with song and dance.

The sanctified artist Arizona Dranes who was a traveling pastor made recordings that would fit in many musical categories such as blues, and boogie-woogie with the use of Jazz instruments. At the time the Jazz instruments used with religious themed music were percussion and brass instruments.

All About Jazz Dance

The Art of Jazz dance is an amalgamation of different styles of dance that began between 1800's, and the middle of the 1900's rooted in African American movement. One man known for this type of dance was the star of vaudeville Joe Frisco around 1910 who danced in a unrestrained fashion in close vicinity to the ground while tossing his cigar, and derby in a juggling manner. The Jazz dance style up to the middle of 1950's was Tap dance which was always performed with Jazz music such as the Jitterbug, Swing, Boogie Woogie, Lindy Hop, and the Charleston. Katherine Dunham is renowned choreographer and dancer studied the cultural dances of Caribbean in Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, Martinique and Shango making this African American dance a modern work of pure art.

She took this style to Hollywood and Broadway who embraced a more refined Jazz dance. Modern Jazz Dance is a smooth style of dance roots from Tap, Ballet and Jazz music which is performed in many musicals from the Pajama Game to Cabaret to Chicago to music videos and the Las Vegas showgirl performances. The usual technique for Jazz dance is that of a ballet dancer for balance and strength from doing slow movements. In contrast the typical Jazz dance has sharp movements, but the skills of ballet smoothes it down into a refined style.

Moreover, Jazz dance is such a versatile style that it can be combined with other dances from lyrical, contemporary and hip hop. Jazz dance like Jazz music can be combined with other dance styles to enhance the dance to another level. For instance, The United Kingdom witness a new movement of dancers in the 1980's who danced when the Jazz, and Funk music clubs was becoming unpopular known as Street Fusion Jazz Dance. Due to the new modern music scene, new groups who longed to keep the tradition of Jazz dance, and still leave room for the new styles.

There are two groups known for street fusion jazz dance known as IDJ ( I Dance Jazz), Brother in Jazz and Jazz Cotech. Famous people of the world of Jazz dance is Fred Astaire, Jerome Robbins, Jack Cole, and Bob Fosse. In the world of Jazz Dance there are terms people use to describe various dance movement.

Jazz Dance Terms:

Ad lib, Axel Turn, Ball Change, Barrel Jump, Barrel Turn, Bounce, Cake Walk, Cat walk, Catch Step, Chasse`, Coffee Grinder, Contract, Curve Or Arch, Dolphin, Drop and Recover, Fall, Fall Over The Log, Fan Kick, Figure 8, Flick, Flick Kick, Freeze, Funk, Head-Roll, Hinge, Hip Walk, Hip-Fall, Hip-Roll, Hitch Kick, Hop, Jazz Drag, Jazz Run, Jazz Split, Jazz Square, Jazz Walk, Jump Over The Log, Kick, Knee Fall, Knee Slide, Knee Turn, Lay Out, Limbo, Mess Around, Moonwalk, Pencil Turn, Pitch, Pivot Step, Primitive Squat, Release, Ripple, Shimmie, Shiver, Shoulder Fall, Shoulder Roll, Sissonne Fall, Skate, Snake, Snap, Spins, Spiral, Stag Leap, Step, Switch, Table Top, Tilt, Touch, Tripplettes, Turns, Twists, and the Worm.

Jazz Music Festivals

If you are a jazz music lover, chances are that you go to a festival every year. What you probably didn't know is that there are jazz festivals all over the world. If you like to travel, expand your jazz tastes and go to these international jazz festivals.

Akbank Jazz Festival, Istanbul, Turkey

October 17-October 27

The Akbank Jazz Festival is one of a diverse mixture of sounds from the country as well as all around the world. Last year's festival was dedicated to Arif Mardin. One artist that has performed there is Kurt Elling. Kurt Elling is very popular in jazz music today. In his ten year career, all six of his albums were nominated for Grammy awards. He has toured all around the world in places including Israel, Japan and Australia. In 2003, he was made Vice Chair on NARAS.(National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) He has an album out this year.

Barbados Jazz Festival, Barbados

January 8-January 14

Some of the artists that will be performing here are Ruben Studdard, Anita Baker, Macy Gray and Robert Glasper. This is not a free Jazz music festival. Prices to hear performances range from $30 to $100, depending on the artist. If you want to attend this jazz music festival, you cannot order tickets internationally. You have to actually be in Barbados and provide the address where you'll be staying in Barbados and the tickets will be delivered to that address.

Brecon Jazz Festival, United Kingdom

August 11-August 13

Brecon Jazz has been around for twenty-four years. The best jazz music is performed at the brilliant Brecon Beacons National Park. It is located in Wales. The company, Brecon International Festival of Jazz Ltd., a charity organization, is backing the festival has an education and outreach program in Wales and the South-West of England, during the year.

This year, the Brecon Jazz Festival had an Artist-in Residence, Joe Lovano. Joe Lovano is one of the world's best tenor saxophone players and has been around since the '70's. He has performed in Woody Herman's orchestra and Mel Lewis's orchestra. The music he then went on to create broke boundaries collaborating with artists such as John Scofield, Hank Jones and Bill Frisell. He led the BBC Big Band at Brecon, taught a masters class to young welsh Jazz musicians. This year Brecon also featured "Women in Jazz". A couple of the artists were: Jessica Williams from the U.S. and Hiromi from Japan.

Copenhagan Jazz Festival, Denmark

July 6- July 15

In case you didn't know, the Danish are really into jazz. New artists as well as the old have been performing in the city. The concerts in the day are perfomed near the canals and historic homes. Some prefer to play small, crowded clubs. Every live performance is electrifying and memorable. Artists that have performed here are George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars, McCoy Tyner Trio, Scandinavian Brasillian-Big Band,Mavis Staples W. Band, The Zawinul Syndicate and Maceo Parker. Jazz music is not something that is only appreciated in the states, but everywhere around the world. It is important to experience jazz music in other places so that the magic of jazz will ever be broadened, shared and continued to be translated for years to come.

Free Latin Music is Available Online Illegally

Everywhere you go these days people are pumping up the volume on free Latin music that they are downloading illegally from online file sharing sites such as Limewire.com or Napster. These free sharing sites are really just another name for illegal pirating and the people that are putting up these sites should be stopped and prosecuted in the opinion of many in the music and film business. A lot of time and money is spent to make the music that these artists and film makers create and for someone to just give it away randomly or steal it from the internet is completely wrong.

This is outright stealing and is covered under international piracy laws. You would not think of bringing your movie camera to your neighborhood multiplex and filming the latest release like “Avatar” or “Kick Ass” and then making thousands of bad quality copies and selling them on a street corner in Managua, would you? But that is precisely what you are doing when you download free Latin music or any form of music from the internet without the artists’ permission. It is hard enough for most musicians to make a buck these days without some goofball grabbing up his intellectual property without paying a dime.

If you think about it this form of piracy is just about being cheap. If someone wants free Latin music so badly why can’t they just sign up for an account with itunes.com like everyone else and pay a measly ninety nine cents per song, which is what most tunes cost these days. In some instances songs cost a bit more, but I have never seen them cost more than one dollar and twenty nine cents each. Don’t tell me you can’t afford ninety nine cents to pay the royalty rights to your favorite artists. And don’t even think about calling yourself a fan of these musicians or actors that you are stealing from. This is like some stranger coming up to you, picking your pocket and then telling you how much he loves your work. If you really love their work then pay for it like everyone else.

Free music and videos online are usually very poor quality anyway and you are never really getting the experience that the artist intended. I know a lot of people that tell me they don’t care if the camera is shaky or the film grainy or the sound quality muffled. These are the same people that eat fast food for breakfast, lunch and dinner and drink Keystone Light while telling you how much they love it. No one loves Keystone Light. They buy it because it is dirt cheap. Any one that buys or drinks this stuff is a cheapskate and that goes double for people downloading supposedly free Latin music online. It is wrong, illegal, and unethical and you need to stop.

Music Business News

Those looking for the latest music business news may be confused by all of the information out there on the Internet, mostly because much of it is outdated. The business of selling music, concert tickets, and even movie or television soundtracks is not what it use to be. The days of playing your heart out in local clubs and traveling around to different states hoping to be 'discovered' are pretty much over. It still happens, but the industry has changed dramatically, thanks to the Internet.

If you think about it, it makes a lot of sense that the Internet has changed the industry of making and selling music. Most up-to-date music business news stories will tell you that thanks to downloading music to MP3 players and other digital gadgets, it is easier than every for consumers to find what they want and buy it. They don't have to drive to the music store and buy an entire album they are not sure they are going to like. They can buy single songs in digital form and own it within seconds. That has changed everything.

Because consumers are spending so much time and money buying music this way, fewer are buying CDs. You may think that this bit of music business news has nothing to do with those hoping to be signed by a record label, but that is not true. The Internet has changed that too. Though people still love to go out and see live music, those bands wanting exposure do not have to rely on that as much. They have the Internet as a way to reach out as well. Some succeed without a record company footing the bill for a tour.

How do they do this? That is what is making the latest music business news. Some bands are so crafty that they sell enough of their own songs that they really don't need the backing of a record company, though this is now the best way to get that very thing. If you can prove that you can sell so many songs on your own, a record company may pick you up and put you on a tour. They want to make money, and if they see you are already doing that, they may just want a piece of that money for themselves. The smartest bands are the ones that think twice about these arrangements if they are already doing fine on their own.

To find the latest music business news, search hard online. Even better, search out bands on MySpace and other music related sites and ask them how they are doing and what they have done to be successful online. There is no doubt about it, it still takes hard work to make it in the music industry, but today it takes a different type of work in a whole new direction. Things have changed, and they will continue to change. You just have

to find a way to keep up with the latest news. The Internet has changed most business sectors, and music is no exception.

Jazz Music Today

Jazz music has evolved to the point where basic signature of the style has minimized into an influential element. For example, the Jazz music of the 80's electronica music of IDM which stand for Intelligent Dance Music where such artists like Bjourk is known for. The drum and bass is another form of electronica that does not use the typical improvisation that is one of the key elements of Jazz music. In fact, this is not thought of as Jazz music at all, but a style that was influenced by Jazz music.

Musicians of the electronica age were St. Germain, Jazzanova, Portishead, Apex Twin and more who used live Jazz music to beats. The Cinematic Orchestra and Julien Lourau from Europe's France were very successful with this style of music. However, those musicians who master keeping the traditional Jazz music combined with new elements are the most loyal to the style from which it came. In the millennium, Jazz elements became a part of the American Pop scene with the artist Norah Jones, and Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse.

There are skeptics who do not believe the music should be called Jazz. However, Christina Aguilera's Back To Basics album used Jazz brass instruments with urban beats. Jazz music according to the National Public Radio filed a report stating that the music is becoming more popular with the public regarding the interest of the buyers of jazz music.

Rhythm and Blues music is a product of Jazz music that describes funk and soul. The musicians who successfully made their mark with this sound of jazz, boogie-woogie gospel, bebop and blues reinvented R&B into contemporary styles. Artist such as Robert Palmers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Prince, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Keith Sweat, Mariah Carey, En Vogue, Guy, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Levert, Teddy Riley, Justin Timberlake, Aaliyah, Missy Elliot, Lauren Hill, Brian McKnight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are a few of the many people who've made this music popular. Later on Pop artist like Pink, Britney Spears and Gwen Stephani used R&B musical elements in their songs. The wheel of the evolvement of Jazz music keeps turning into new styles, yet turns back at different times toward the root where it began.

Those who were in favor of the traditional Jazz music feared that the essence of Jazz music would be lost among all the new innovations. Free thinking in the world of Jazz caused a division between the modernist and traditionalist. The world of Jazz music has changed to the point where Jazz once the leader turned into an element included in today's works of art. Nevertheless, nothing in the traditional Jazz music has changed, but the radios have extended their repertoire to include all the styles of music with jazz elements.

The array of Jazz music is present in the Jazz fests who played music with African elements that did not sound like Jazz music. One thing we all should look out for is the musical elements in Jazz that stand out such as the complex rhythm, and the chromatic chordal harmony or chord progressions typical for the Jazz Music.

Opera Music Produces the Best Singers

I am a fan of most kinds of music, but with our local opera festival drawing closer and the thought of Don Giovanni on my brain, I have been thinking a lot more about opera music lately and how talented opera singers truly are.

I remember reading a biography of the great operatic tenor Jose Carreras and learning how about how much he practiced singing. He would spend hours every day at his craft, sometimes singing so long that he lost his voice.

I started to think about opera music compared to other types of music at that point, and realized that opera singers are far and away the best singers in the world. The way that I was able to figure this out was by comparing my experiences at the opera with recordings of opera, and comparing opera to other genres of music that I have heard live and recorded.

What I discovered about opera music is that its singers sound almost the same whether they are performing live or on a recording. They have beautiful and powerful voices that fill the concert hall, all as they're acting out a role on the stage.

In musical styles like rock n' roll and country-western, the singers have nice voices, and that is certainly part of what makes them appealing, but their recorded voices sound much sharper and cleaner than their voices sound live.

I am not sure why opera music produces the best singers, but I have a few ideas. First, with country and rock artists, they are usually writing their own songs. Not only do they have to perform them, but they also have to write the lyrics and create the music for them.

With opera music, singers do have to worry about acting out their performances, but they mainly focus their effort on singing.

I think another thing that distinguishes opera singers is that they tend to study music, learning music theory and how to understand chord progressions and so forth a lot more than rock or country singers do. I think that those things certainly help.

Opera singers certainly enjoy what they are doing, but I think they go into it knowing that a career in opera is what they want, whereas a rock artist or country singer would probably love to make a living as a musician in a band, but their happiness does not necessarily depend on that happening.

Whatever the reason, I do still believe that opera music produces the best singers. With the opera festival just a few months aways, I am really excited about going to see some of my favorite operas and hearing the beautiful music. I love all kinds of music, but there is definitely something special about opera.

Alternative American Music

One of the biggest imports from the U.S. is American music which goes over big time all around the globe and has been that way for most of the last hundred years or so. Jazz was invented in the U.S. and is a distinctly American art form, though it has travelled well all over the planet and has influenced almost every type of music conceivable. Louis Armstrong travelled the globe promoting American music and jazz in particular and it continues to this day with the great alternative American music acts that are dominating worldwide.

Green Day originated in Berkeley, California and over the span of their almost thirty year career they have sold tens of millions of CDs and had multiple international hits. Their brand of purely American music inspired by punk and alternative rock is a unique invention that has been embraced by audiences of all ages. They are truly one of the few bands in history that have crossed over successfully and transcended artificial labels and media imposed boundaries. Their latest album was “21st Century Breakdown” and it was number one on the Billboard charts from the moment it came out and featured the number one hit single “21 Guns”.

Another great band playing American music is also coincidentally from Berkeley, California, the same hometown as Green Day, and this band is the great Counting Crows. Although there popularity has diminished a bit over the years, they have a tremendous international following and can pack them in all over the world. Their first big hit was “Mr. Jones” which was very derivative of the great Van Morrison, but more modern. They went on to score many huge hits including “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Long December”, among others.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have gradually risen in the ranks to become perhaps the number one rock band in the world, if such a thing can be measured. The group is from Los Angeles and they have scored some huge hits with their blend of American music and contemporary modern rock and rap. Songs like “Californication”, “Dani California”, “My Friends”, “Aeroplane”, “Otherside”, “Scar Tissue”, and many, many more have won them fans across many continents. Led by singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea, the group is stronger than ever and every music fan awaits their next big album.

Van Halen has sold millions and millions of albums all over the world, even though they changed singers in mid-stream, substituting the brilliant energy of David Lee Roth for the piercing vocal gymnastics of Sammy Hagar. Whoever the singer is, Van Halen can fill up stadiums wherever they play their rock tinged American music, no matter what country they happen to be in. When they are not playing you can find them relaxing in Cabo San Lucas in Baja California, Mexico.

American music, especially American rock music, will never be equaled across the world when it comes to popularity. Foreign bands try to emulate their moves and riffs. Foreign music fans wait in long lines to get their hands on new releases.

The classics of music are the enduring expressions of adventurers that withstood the test of time

Classical composers did not compose classical music. At the time of their composing, they were standing on the bow of the ship of music as it headed for the deep, dark, mysterious waters of the unknown possibilities of human experience. For them, their creative act was an experiment in both expression and technique.

Their creative acts were a tempest of exaggerations and struggles as they attempted to forge a new path to aesthetic experience. Little understood in their own time, the resolution of the tensions between the old and new creations not yet acknowledged, or accepted, it would take time for the listening public to understand and appreciate the new world these classical music composers discovered on behalf of man. It would be only later that their works, their discovers and claims, would gain full recognition, be appreciated, and finally, after a time, set as a launching point from which new adventures into music experience would be launched.

Among students of the history of music, the phrase, “classical music composers”, brings to mind such giants as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and they would be sure to make a distinction between such music as these composers created and the music of Schubert, Wagner or Schumann, even though these latter are regularly presented on “classical” music radio, or performed by “classical” music symphonies. This distinction is correct to the extent we define “classic” as that sort of musical style that rests heavily on the response of the heart to the objective beauties of form, of order, of measure, number, proportion, and balance, the rational qualities to which humans respond with recognition and delight. These aesthetic qualities first appeared among the “classical” Greeks, by which we mean, the Greeks of the Golden Age of Athens, starting around 470 BC. Being lovers of thought, their idea of beauty was the rational. In this case, “classical” refers to a style of music.

They would not be correct, however, in excluding as classics those who, departing from the rationalism of an earlier period, charted a new course called romanticism. The advances of these later composers too, in due time, were finally assimilated and established as “classic”. Like the classic composers, these composers forged new experiences that would withstand the test of time.

Today we call music of the 1950s, classics. The composers of that music would not have thought of themselves as classical music composers. Elves Presley, for instance, would have broken a hip had someone called him one of the classical music composers, but this is just what we mean when we say composers do not write classics, but, rather, the music they write becomes, after a time, after its techniques and intent have been assimilated by the music appreciating public, after withstanding the test of time, “classic”.

The next time a music composer waves a disparaging hand at classical music composers, tell him that if he is so lucky, his adventure in music might someday be a classic too.

Dizzy Gillespie

There is not one person around who knows jazz music that did not hear the name Dizzy Gillespie. Dizzy Gillespie was a composer, singer, jazz trumpet player and bandleader. He along with Charlie Parker was the creator of modern jazz music and bebop. Dizzy also started Afro-Cuban jazz. He had the gift of making new harmonies that were layered and complex. At the time, it was not done in jazz before. He was most remembered for the trumpet he played that was bent. It was accidentally ruined when he was on a job in 1953. Surprisingly, Dizzy liked it because of the way it changed the tone of the instrument.

Dizzy was born John Birks on October 21, 1917 in South Carolina. He was the youngest in the family of nine children. His father was a horrible man who beat his children all the time, and died when dizzy was 10 years old. He taught himself how to play trumpet when he was twelve years old. He won a scholarship to Laurinburg Institute but, dropped out of school and went to Philadelphia to pursue music full-time. He played with Frankie Fairfax and recorded for the very first time in 1937. He then was a part of Cab Calloway's band, but was criticized for his solos, calling them "Chinese music". He was thrown out because Cab said that he sent a spitball at him, and Dizzy, angrily stabbed him in the leg with a knife.

Dizzy was a part of Duke Ellington's, Woody Herman and many other bands. It was with Billy Eckstine's band where his unique playing fit better than anywhere else. He met again with Charlie Parker. Together they played famous clubs such as Monroe's Uptown House, and Minton's Playhouse. This is where jazz music progressed again and bebop was created. In the beginning a lot of people didn't like bebop. They were used to the old jazz music, and thought the new sound of bebop was a threat and were afraid of it. Dizzy's style had an effect on trumpeters and the younger musicians that he was able to mentor. Examples of bebop music are "Groovin' High", "Salt Peanuts" and "A Night In Tunisia". Musicians that he taught bebop to were Miles Davis and Max Roach.

Eventually, the band departed, as the audience grew wary of the new jazz music. Dizzy wanted to go big, and tried to create his own big band in 1945 but was not successful with it. He started other small groups and finally put a big band together that was a success. He soloed many times with Jazz at the Philharmonic.

Dizzy proved himself overseas in France when he began his third big band, and did several concerts and albums.

During the 1940's Dizzy was composing Afro-Cuban music. Afro-Cuban music is a combination of Latin and African music, pop and salsa. The work that is the most well known are "Tin Tin Deo" and "Manteca". Dizzy was responsible for finding musician Arturo Sandoval while he was on a tour in Cuba researching music.

Dizzy continued to reach people with his music even on television and film. He was on Sesame Street and The Cosby Show. He died in 1993 from Pancreatic Cancer, he was 75 years old. He had two funerals, one was for friends and family and the other funeral was for the public in Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Dizzy Gillespie was a special innovator in jazz and is continually remembered at the New York Bahai Center.

To Learn About Classical Music, Start with Baroque Music

While the beginnings of classical music date back many, many centuries to the Italian Renaissance period, what most people consider to be classical music today was really started in the late 1600s in the form of a musical style called Baroque music.

Such great composers as Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and Henry Purcell were Baroque music composers that left an indelible mark on the world of classical music.

Bach wrote the famous Brandenburg Concertos and Air on the G String, among many, many others, which are still played on classical music stations today, more than 300 years later.

Vivaldi wrote the Four Seasons, of which the Spring movement is one of the most recognizable pieces of Baroque music – and classical music, for that matter – ever written.

Purcell, the famous English composer, wrote Dido and Aeneas, which may rank as the greatest opera ever to come out of the Baroque period of classical music.

Baroque music is characterized by a unity of mood throughout an entire work, less frequent shifts in dynamics than its successors in the Classical or Romantic eras, and a devotion to sacred music, evident in Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, or Handel's Messiah.

Another interesting tidbit about Baroque music is that the piano had not been invented yet, so the music composed during that period was done so on the harpsichord. One of the questions I am most often asked is why one never sees a piano concerto from the Baroque period of classical music, and I always have to tell them that the period pre-dated the piano.

Baroque music really kind of got things started for classical music as most people know it, and served as the foundation on which later composers, such as Mozart and Beethoven, would create their music.

As a matter of fact, it was Beethoven that once referred to Handel as the greatest composer that ever lived.

Baroque music was not simply limited to sacred music, either, as Bach wrote some of the greatest fugues, and Handel was renowned the world over for his ability to write great oratorios.

My uncle, who is also a great classical music lover, counts Bach and Handel as his two favorite composers of all time. They are not just his favorite composers of Baroque music, but his favorite ever, so I asked him about that. He told me that it is just hard to top the music that both men produced.

Baroque music was paramount to the development of classical music and was really the first era in the history of classical music in which multiple composers from several countries contributed a large body of work. It is one of my favorite eras of music, and once a person becomes familiar with classical music, Baroque is unmistakable in its form.

One of My Favorite Pastimes is to Listen to Country Music

Growing up in Texas, I have always been a fan of artists like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, and while I am certainly not trying to perpetuate a stereotype, I do have to admit that one of my favorite pastimes is to listen to country music.

I think that country music gets a bad rap by most people. I think that a lot of people think of it as being too hokey, or in some cases, too depressing. It seems that out of all genres of music, it is country that is the most popular to make fun of, but it is also the most popular type of music in the country, period. I read a report recently that said that there are more country music stations that any other kind of music stations in the country.

I love to listen to country music for a number of reasons. First and foremost, country music songs, for the most part, tell a very interesting story. One of my favorite country songs is “The Highwayman,” written by Jimmy Webb. The version I like is performed by Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.

The song was inspired by a dream Webb had while staying in a hotel in London about being a British highwayman. Every time that song comes on, I have to listen, and it always makes me feel good because it tells such a great story with four legends of the country music genre.

Another reason that I like to listen to country music is because most of the songs are fairly wholesome. In other words, they are not songs that I would not want my children to hear or would feel embarrassed playing in front of my parents. Of course, in my family, we are all big fans of country music.

One thing that I have always loved about country is that the music from it is so catchy. When you think about musicians using a guitar, fiddle, bass and drums and some of the music they are able to create with those instruments, it is truly amazing. I think one of the most memorable songs of all time is “A Country Boy Can Survive,” by Hank Williams, Jr., which is performed largely by an acoustic guitar!

One reason that I have always loved to listen to country music is that I have gotten the opportunity to watch my children grow up and fall in love with it, and actually ask for country music CDs for Christmas and their birthdays. While other kids are asking for Hannah Montana and Justin Timberlake, my kids want George Strait and Trisha Yearwood.

I will probably continue to listen to country music until the day that I die. I know that a lot of people don't like it, or at least think they don't, but I would recommend just listening to a few songs, and see if it doesn't start to grow on you. You might just be surprised.

Art Blakey

The beginning career of jazz music legend Art Blakey was amazing. He took piano lessons at school. When he was in the seventh grade he played music full-time and was leading a popular band. Not too long after, he started playing drums in the style of such players as Ray Bauduc, Chick Webb and Sid Catlett. He taught himself how to play.

He played with Mary Lou Williams at Kelly's Stable in 1942. Next, with Fletcher Henderson for the next two years, and he toured with. Art then went to Boston to lead a big band, then joined Billy Eckstine's band in St. Louis. Art stayed with that band from 1944-1947.

Art was considered to be among jazz music's finest musicians such as Fats Navarro, Miles Davis and Dexter Gordon. In 1947 when Eckstine's band broke up, Art started the Seventeen Messengers. He would go on to have several other groups with this same name. He then went to Africa to learn all about Islamic people for over a year. By the 1950's he performed with Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Horace Silver.

After they performed together many times, he started another group with Horace which included Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley with the name Jazz Messengers. Horace left a year later. He was the known leader of the band. The Jazz Messengers played hard-bop jazz music. The roots of which were blues music. Hard bop is a mixture of bebop with gospel and soul music. An example of this is his album Moanin' recorded on Blue Note Records in 1958. They fought hard to keep black people interested in jazz, when the ballroom jazz music disappeared. Many young musicians during the years have been influenced by this style. Jazz musicians such as Keith Jarrett, JoAnne Brackcen, Woody Shaw , Donald Byrd, Delfeayo, Branford and Wynton Marsalis.

In 1971 to 1972, Art world toured with the biggest names in jazz music such as Kai Winding, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. He also performed a lot at the Newport Jazz Festival. The best performance was when he was in a battling performance with Buddy Rich, Max Roach and Elvin Jones in 1974. Art continued to tour nonstop with help from Donald Harrison and Terence Blanchard, along with younger musicians such as Benny Green.

Art never thought of his music as similar to African style, although he did use some of their techniques such as using his elbow on the tom-tom to alter pitch. His trademark, the forced closing of the hi-hat on each second and fourth beat was created in 1950-1951, which many jazz musicians copied.

A major jazz musician and innovative in his drum style, he was unique and performed with power. The way he played was loud and aggressive. The jazz critics basically ignored what he did in the 1960's. American audiences left him behind in the 1970's when rock music took over the scene.

He always made time for young jazz musicians, listening to them, and helping them with their jazz music careers.

Lena Horne: Jazz Legend

Lena Horne is one of the most popular African-American jazz legend singers. She was born in 1917 Lena Mary Calhoun Horne in New York City. She performed with the greatest jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington and Artie Shaw. She lives in New York City today and does not appear in the public eye anymore. Lena is most famous for the movie Stormy Weather, in which she sung the title song, in the 1940's. Contrary to how music careers usually begin, Lena grew up in an elite family. She lived in a black bourgeois area in Brooklyn, New York.

Her father Edwin Horne left them when she was three-years-old. Her mother Edna Scottron, daughter of an inventor, was an actress with a black theater group and traveled a lot. Lena's grandparents raised her. Though, she was said to have been a part of the Black elite, racial discrimination still existed. Lena Horne and her friend Paul Robeson embarked on a lifelong effort to fight for Civil Rights.

In fact, she took the civil rights movement so seriously to the point of rejecting the offer to perform to a segregated audience or to an audience where the black people were there only to serve white people. Lena Horne was apart of the March on Washington just for the purpose of receiving well-deserved treatment equal to the privileged white people. In addition, Lena Horne committed herself to speaking along with performing for the NAACP, National Council For Negro Women and to assist former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt in passing the anti-lynching law in America's Congress.

Even with all those serious concerns she still found time to become one of the most memorable Jazz singers in history. She performed at the café society, a club imitating the European cabarets to show the talent of undiscovered African American which led to the success of Lena Horne, Paul Robeson, Big Joe Turner, Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young, Hazel Scott, Sarah Vaughn, Josh White, Pete Johnson and Mary Lou Williams.

From 1947 to 1971 Lena Horne remarried again to a Jewish man Lennie Hayton a musical conductor and arranger for MGM studios later to admit in her autobiography titled "Lena" by author Richard Schickel that she married him to help her career. Nevertheless, the interracial couple as always had to face pressures same race couples do not, but she stayed with him until he passed away. Lena Horne was in several Broadway musicals, and won a 1958 award for her performance in the calypso titled "Jamaica". Lena Horne won a Tony Award For her one woman show titled "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music".

In her success, she has to her credit one of the longest solo performances in history to run more than the usual record time. Lena Horne in great modesty did not accept a lot of musical projects, yet agreed upon a recording with Frank Sinatra and Quincy Jones as producer which did not happen. However, Lena Horne worked on a solo recording that featured duets with Sammy Davis, and Joe Williams titled "The Men In My Life" in the year 1988. The next year she won a Grammy Life Time Achievement Award to add to her list of credits of success she mastered in her career. In her eighties she continued to record albums titled 1994 "We'll Be Together Again", 1995 Live album that won her a Grammy for the Best Vocal Jazz Album. 1998"Being Myself". Finally, she had the chance to sing on an album with Frank Sinatra to the song "Embraceable You".

In 2000 she recorded another album to lend her voice to a "Classic Ellington" recording. Lena Horne is a member of the sorority Delta Sigma Theta and has been on the label Blue Note Records since 1995.

In 2005 ,Oprah Winfrey stated that she may to ask singer/musician Alicia Keys to play the part of Lena Horne in a movie.

The Many Styles Of Jazz Music Part 1

The essence of the appeal of Jazz music has expanded and became reinvented from the use of elements found in African drumming, spiritual and hymn music, bluegrass hillbilly music, blues, impressionist, and classical traits to newer sounds. Jazz music became popular from radio and underground clubs that influenced other parts of the world. For instance, Europe's French Jazz scene created Gypsy Jazz and South America's Brazilian and Afro-Cuban Jazz sounds. Not only did make it's mark on the world, but it also found its way back to its roots through urban contemporary gospel music of percussion as well as brass instruments.

Today the contemporary gospel music uses guitars, keyboard, piano, drums and brass instruments for their sound. One can usually tell during the ballads how Jazz chord harmonies are used in the keyboard and piano. The harmony in Barbershop music like Jazz came from the African American Black gospel church community which use close four part harmony without accompaniment. This particular style of music without accompaniment is known as A capella. The Mills Brothers were popular Jazz musicians who learned how this harmonization in the barbershop owned by their father.

In many Jazz groups such as Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, Acoustix, Bara Vox, Beach Front, BR6 and more the harmonies are similar to that of barbershop. These harmonies are from the chromatic chordal harmony found in Jazz Music. The group Take 6 has expanded the traditional four part harmonies to six tones. Jazz Music did not stop there , but grew into an array of different styles that produce different aesthetic appeal.

The aesthetic appeal can be found in how each part of the music makes one feel once heard. All the different elements from the lyrical content to the kaleidoscope of colorful harmony to the depth of the mood provides its own ambiance of sound. To give examples:

On the extent to which Jazz has expanded are listed below as new expressions to the music.

Vocalese - From 1952 to 1962 Eddie Jefferson and Jon Hendricks made their mark by using their vocals as a substitute for the music instrument in the exact melody. Meaning, the voice imitated the exact solo of a saxophonist solo. It was not wide accepted until the musicians above made it popular.

Cool Jazz- From the latter 1940's and 1950's a softer more gentle style of Jazz of both bop and swing with arranged harmonies that are present in Jazz ballads today.

Hard Bop-From the middle of 1950's the church's spiritual and gospel roots of African style returned to the Jazz music which assisted in the making of Rhythm and Blues. One example of this music is Davis' work titled "Walkin".

Mainstream- From the 1950's era, Jazz improvisation changed from single line melodic ornamentation to chordal which appeared again as a loose form of Jazz music in the later part of the 1970's and 1980's. This style was influenced by the cool, classical, and hard bop Jazz styles.

The Many Styles Of Jazz Music Part 2

Bebop-The dance elements gradually faded away into a true art of real music by the musicians Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Clifford Brown, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Stitt, and Ray Brown who wanted to steer away from the commercial type music. These musicians sought to use examples of the Jazz musicians of the past such as Lester young, Coleman Hawkins, Earl Hines and Art Tatum to expand Jazz music to another level.

At this time, Jazz music moved away from the basic melodic element of the piece to produce a more abstract chordal sound of dissonant tones, and chromatic patterns. The dissonant tones in Jazz music can be heard when two tones are played simultaneously in a clashing manner that can either sound strange or terrible depending on how the tones of the chord fit together as melody notes from a particular key. Clashing sounds can also occur from the use of lowered fifths and raised fourths.

The chromatic sound of the music allows the musician to freely play each of the twelve tones of the instruments without restriction. Musicians were able to play substitute chords as well as altered chords that could change the key of the piece in a whim. The change in rhythm became more discreetly energetic in sound which is used predominantly in Jazz music today. For instance, the cymbal was hit in beat of a 1+a 2+ a 3 +a 4 +a while the snare and bass drum are suddenly hit without warning.

Soul Jazz- From the late 1950's, a style of music that derived from gospel and soul using the tenor saxophone, repetition with melodic groove hooks, and less intricate improvisation that occurred over the chordal harmonies. The music from the popular radio artist of the time known as Ramsey Lewis wrote "The In Crowd" a hit in 1965. Souls Jazz music signature was powerful bass lines and changing tempo of the song.

Modal- Bill Evans a pianist of this time made his mark in the making of new jazz music styles by using examples of major and minor medieval church modes which produced altered sounds between two notes. This music broke the rules by allowing the musicians to form new harmonies regardless of the key.

Jazz Fusion- Between the 1960's and 1970's, Jazz music infused with rock to the horror of Jazz lovers. The sound of Jazz fusion is complicated chordal harmonies, and oddly mixed meters with syncopating rhythms. The instruments used is similar to the instruments used in today's bands such as the electronic guitar, electric bass guitar, electric piano and synthesizer. The musicians Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Tony Williams and Frank Zappa and many others performed this music.

Smooth Jazz- From the 1970's and 1980's Jazz became a lighter pop style of fusion which begat muzak an electronic form of popular music on the radio. This music made popular by Kenny G., Najee and Grover Washington Jr. is played in many businesses to entertain customers.

My Top 10 Music Hits of 2009

2009 proved to be a banner year for the music industry, even amid the recession. It seems that when people only have a few bucks in their pockets they would rather spend it on a good bit of music than save it. This is good news for the music industry which has been suffering from rampant worldwide piracy. Very few people actually purchase music anymore it seems and most of the money that artists make now is from live performances. Even that has dried up though since most people can’t afford to go to an expensive rock concert these days. Nonetheless some bands are enjoying great success and 2009 produced a crop of top 10 music hits that have surprised a jaded industry. My list leaves out the really boring stuff like Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and concentrates on cutting edge alternative music.

The best album of the year had two or three of the top 10 music hits and that was Kings of Leon with their wonderful CD “Only By The Night”. The brothers Followill, led by lead singer Caleb, churned out such masterpieces as “Use Somebody” and “Sex on Fire” both of which were huge, crossover, international top 10 music hits. Although many think that this band just appeared last year, they have been around for about five years now and have had many great songs and CDs before “Only By The Night”. Check out earlier songs like “California Waiting”, “The Bucket”, “Molly’s Chambers”, and “Holyroller Novocaine” and you will be blown away.

Last year also saw the emergence of other top 10 music hits such as “Lay Me Down” by the Dirty Heads featuring Rome, the lead singer for the super alternative ska group Sublime. Finger Eleven had a couple of massive top 10 music hits including the very popular “Paralyzer” which has had audiences worldwide dancing since it first came out. Three Days Grace came out with the beautiful and powerful “Never Too Late” and Incubus scored once again with their ballad “Love Hurts”, not to be confused with the classic rock hit by the same name.

Famous bands did not fare as well last year with the exception of Green Day and Pearl Jam. Green Day came out with their album “21st Century Breakdown” which featured one of the best top 10 music hits of the year “21 Guns”. Pearl Jam’s great album called “Backspacer” had several hits but none as wonderful as “Breathe”, a lovely and spare ballad.

All in all, 2009 saw many new top 10 music hits that have enhanced all of our listening lives. We hope that 2010 will see more of the same. With a new Keane album due to be released it sounds like this will be another banner year for alternative music.

The Growth Of Jazz Music

In the turn of the century around 1920, many artists made their mark by playing in the discreet underground nightclubs known as "Speakeasies" which are high class , "Blind pig" lower class or "Smokeasy" for smokers. The United States once prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages and smoking tobacco in clubs as a constitutional amendment. One could usually find an underground nightclub by the doors without a sign to indicate that there was such as establishment inside. Those dives also had a secret door that lead out to a passageway or alley in case the police came to investigate. The police had the power to arrest everyone in the place due to the fact that they were broke the law by being there.

However, thing were beginning to look up for Jazz Music once the invention of the record player or phonograph was made to play jazz albums. In addition, radio stations helped promote Jazz music, and made it popular among the public. Jazz Music became a music of class that earned the era a nick name known as the "Jazz age". The band leaders who became famous as Jazz musicians were Paul Whiteman, Ted Lewis, Harry Reser, Leo Reisman, Abe Lyman, Nat Shilkret, Earl Burnett, Ben Bernie, George Olson, Bob Haring, Vincent Lopez, Ben Salvin and many more. Paul Whiteman claimed to be the king of Jazz music due to his popularity. He earned the title when he hired some white Jazz musicians with Bix Beiderbecke included to combine jazz with larger orchestrations.

In fact George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue' was commissioned by Whiteman as his debut for the orchestra.

Ten years after Jazz music became popular it was reinvented into a style that would be suitable for radio and dancing. This style was known as "Swing" which allowed musicians to improvise their own interpretation of the melody or theme that was sometimes difficult to do. In the Swing era Jazz bands grew into a larger size which was often referred to as "Big Band" music that would always feature a soloist.

The band leaders and music arrangers for Jazz music who became famous for this style of music was Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Earl Hines, Fletcher Henderson, Walter Page, Benny Goodman, Don Redman, Chick Webb, Jimmie Lunceford, and Jay McShann. During this time there were racial issues of segregation between black and white people, but it slowly died down enough for the white band leaders to find black musicians to perform with them. In the middle of the 1930's Benny Goodman invited Teddy Wilson(pianist), Lionel Hampton (vibraphonist), and Charlie Christian (guitarist) to be a part of a group. Each musician learned from the style of other musicians in order to form their own. For example, Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie(trumpeter), Bing Crosby (vocalist) were influenced by the improvising of Louis Armstrong. Later, the vocalists Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and Sarah Vaughn joined the scene with Jazz Improvisation known as the scat. To Scat is to vocally imitate musical instruments using such non verbal language as doot 'n doo bee yah bah loo bey doo ee ya boy lay bah doo doot 'n doo yah doo doy.

In the beginning of the 1940's Jazz music evolved yet again into a new style known as "Jump Music" which was upbeat music using blues chords performed by small music groups. These small music groups are the forms many bands make today. Later, another style of Jazz music came using the music of the 1930's as an inspiration called "Boogie-Woogie" where the usual 4 beat bar section expanded into an eight beat bar section in the rhythm which Big Joe Turner took the lead in the 1940's.

In the 1950's, music reinvented again when turner turned to "Rock and Roll music". As for the Swing era music it was reborn in the use of the modern dance trends. Kansas City made memorial for Charlie Parker in their American Jazz Museum that displays the history of the music and the people who made Jazz music what it has become.

Cuban Music is Popular Around the World

For such a small island, Cuba has asserted incredibly big influence over the music of many countries around the world. Long renowned for their great artists such as Tito Rodriguez, Celia Cruz, Ibrahim Ferrer, and many others, Cuban dance music has transcended popular music and crossed international and language barriers all around the planet.

Cuba is known for sultry women, great cigars, rum drinks, beautiful beaches, and fantastic music. The great American writer and adventurer Ernest Hemingway made Cuba his second home and was famous for drinking Mojitos, smoking Romeo and Julieta cigars, and sport fishing. He wrote his famous and wonderful “The Old Man and the Sea” during the time he lived here and could be found holding court at his favorite Havana bar, “La Bodeguita del Medio” (translated as the little store in the center). In the 1950s Havana was THE destination for chic socialites and movie stars. They would stay at the centrally located Hotel Nacional and it was required that you be seen at the Tropicana nightclub. The Tropicana was the most famous nightclub in all of Cuba and featured the very finest Cuban music and musicians, along with dozens of gorgeous dancers in typical clothing and outlandish costumes. The Tropicana was world famous for the quality of music and shows that were presented there nightly.

Cuban music came back on the scene in a big way in the late 90s with the release of “The Buena Vista Social Club” movie and CD. Featuring legendary Cuban musicians such as singer Ibrahim Ferrer, the Buena Vista Social Club became a huge international hit for the band and producer Ry Cooder, who was credited with discovering the group. Another great Cuban music band that has lasted over 40 years together is Los Van Van. Los Van Van won a Grammy Award about ten years ago and featured some of the greatest songs ever recorded. Their brand of music is generally called Salsa or Son Cubano and their leader Juan Formell has been hailed by many as a musical genius without equal.

Some of the other great Cuban groups of the last twenty to thirty years include Son 14 with the raspy, rum and cigar voice of their singer Tiburon (shark). Son 14 made many great records in the 80s and 90s, establishing themselves as one of the greatest Cuban music makers of all time.

Another fantastic and legendary band was NG La Banda which won fans all around the world with their melodic and infectious dance hits. Sierra Maestra was another great band from that same era. Cuban music has been around a long time and will continue to thrill audiences around the world.

Diana Krall

Diana Krall is an accomplished singer, and jazz pianist. Diana was born in British Columbia Canada in 1964. She learned to play piano when she was just four-years-old. Everyone is her family are musicians. When she was in high school she played in a jazz group, and at just fifteen played in many restaurants in Nanaimo. She won a scholarship from Vancouver International Jazz Festival at 17 years old to go to Berklee College of Music. She stayed for one and a half years.

When she played in Nanaimo, Ray Brown, a famous bass player and ex-husband of Ella Fitzgerald told her to move to Los Angeles, California and improve her talents with Jimmy Rowles, a pianist. She did, and began to sing with him. This move led her to into a circle of producers and teachers who could further her career. In 1990 she went to New York and married the British musician Elvis Costello, on musician Elton John's estate in 2003. Diana and Elvis had twins Dexter Henry Lorcan and Frank Harlan James in 2006.

Listening to her fathers huge jazz music albums is what helped Diana be the musician she is today. She lost her mother to multiple myeloma in 2002, and her mentors Ray Brown and Rosemary Clooney in just a few short months of each other. Her younger sister is a strong supporter of her jazz music career.

Her first album came out in 1993, called Stepping Out. John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton were part of that record. Tommy LiPuma heard it and produced her next album Only Trust Your Heart in 1995. Her next album was called All For You: A Dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio, in 1996. That was nominated for a Grammy award and was on the jazz charts in Billboard magazine for seventy weeks. In 1997 Love Scenes was a hit record with Russell Malone on guitar, and Christian McBride on bass guitar.

In 2000, Diana went on a tour with Tony Bennett and was nominated for more Grammy awards. The Look of Love album went platinum, the following year. It went to number one on the Canadian charts, and on the Billboard 200, top ten. In 2001 Diana toured the world. The Paris Olympia concert was recorded, and Diana Krall-Live in Paris was released and went to the top of Billboard jazz charts, number 5 in Canada and the top 20 of Billboard 200. On the recording was a cover of Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" and "A Case Of You" by Joni Mitchell.

Diana also wrote with her husband after they were married, and wrote her own songs. The Girl in the Other Room was the result of her work, in 2004. This year, she was in a Lexus ad. Diana also sang "Dream a Little Dream of Me" with Hank Jones, a famous pianist. In 2003 she received an honorary doctorate from University of Victoria. In 2004 she was included in the Canada's Walk of Fame.

Live Classical Music is a Different Experience

My love of classical music began as young boy and has only grown over the years. I collected tapes and CDs of my favorite composers and orchestras and listened to them on a regular basis growing up. I can say, though, that having the opportunity to listen to live classical music is a different experience all together.

I went to my first live classical music concert when I was 14 years old, to see a production of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. It was during the Christmas season, so I was already in a good mood, but when I heard that opening chord and listed to the orchestra play those beautiful notes, I was transfixed, and knew that I was in for the experience of a lifetime.

I had gone with my grandmother who had been to many live classical music performances, so it was probably old hat for her. She did look over at me on multiple occasions, however, and I knew that she could tell that I was really enjoying myself.

When the concert was over, we went out to eat and she asked me what I thought. I told her that I had never seen anything like it, and that I wanted to go to as many live performances as possible. She laughed and said that it does have a tendency to get into your blood.

A few months later, I had the pleasure of attending a Beethoven review live, where movements from a few of his symphonies were performed, as well as a couple of his better known works like Moonlight Sonata.

Once again, I was completely mesmerized by the experience. I had always enjoyed playing classical music at home, but nothing compared to the live classical music that I had gotten to experience at our local concert hall. I knew that it would be something I would enjoy for the rest of my life.

I attended my first opera when I was in my mid-20s. It was Tosca, my favorite opera of all, and it absolutely blew me away. Although I had the recording of the opera with Placido Domingo in the role of Cavaradossi, it was not nearly as breathtaking as seeing it live and hearing those wonderful arias performed right in front of me.

I have since been to see six other operas and will go to two more this year alone. Live classical music is like nothing I have ever experienced and is something that will be a part of my life for as long as I live. I would urge anyone that is a classical music fan but has never attended a live performance to do so, because it will strengthen and solidify your love of classical music forever.

Jazz Music Composition

Jazz music composition is the work of knowledgeable musicians with the skills to write, and create one of the most memorable masterpieces. Moreover, Jazz music Composition is a course included in colleges and universities who deem it a worthy subject to study. Composing Jazz music requires the theory of constructing chords that are altered or substitute that would fit within the guidelines of composition.

Meaning, experimentation is fine as long as you know how to fit in the musical shocks in the piece in a manner to not disrupt the flow. It is mandatory to keep the essence of Jazz music a part of you when creating, and keep all thoughts to restrict creativity out of your mind. The aim of Jazz music composition is to create what you feel about any subject into the sound of your musical work. To find your way into the making of Jazz music composition you should learn the skills of basic theory in ear training, notes on various instruments, key signatures, scales, chords, intervals, counterpoint, harmony, melody, music terminology, clefs, meters and time signatures, transposing of various instruments, and music reading.

Listening to Jazz music from various artists will give you a feel for the type of composition you would like to create. You can begin with music arranging which is recreating an old song with new ideas. For instance, it has been done many times by professional musicians to use a public domain song, or ask permission to use a certain song. One example is Chaka Khan's " The End Of A Love Affair" written for Billie Holiday by Edward C. Redding in an arrangement that fit Chaka Khan.

There are many versions of Jazz standards such as "They Can't Take That Away From Me" , "Misty", and "Stormy Weather" by different people who wanted to either keep the basic structure or interpret the song in their own special way. The basic rules to composing a Jazz Composition is to make a theme and arrange the music around it.

Meaning, as in basic songwriting structure you will need a beginning, middle, bridge, and ending. The order is always up to the person(s )creating the music. You can begin with the themes most common in notated Jazz and Blues sheet music or fake book forms. In addition, use the basic theory structure you find on sheet music as a format, but use your own ideas. In arranging, you can examine the basic format, and embellish on areas you think needs it. The direction one can go in music arrangement is infinite according to the history of how each style of jazz music was created.

When creating Jazz music composition one must remember the essential element present in all true Jazz music which is improvisation. Jazz Improvisation is not notated in any shape, way, or form. In fact, the improvisation in Jazz composition is invented by pure emotion of the musician moved by the accompaniment. Improvisation in Jazz composition can be in the beginning, the bridge and also at the end of the piece. Most commonly there is embellishment in the middle of the piece, but it all depends on the mood of the creator of the music.

Once you learn the theory behind Jazz music composition, you can learn the shortcuts on creating. For example, lead sheets usually have the Jazz chord symbol above the melody below it as a basic structure to follow. When all is said and done, you will have created your own masterpiece as a gift to the world from your heart.

The Essence Of Jazz Music

The essence of Jazz music is the ethereal atmosphere of the dimensional harmony created by kaleidoscope of chromatic tones. It is the pulsating back beat of syncopating African rhythms through the rumble of the drums, or soft sound of the brush to the snare.

The music is an expression of melody from the depth of the soul conveyed as a gospel in many unique ways. These elements combined with the free impressionistic ambiance of instrumental tones in orchestration as a foundational juxtaposition of 7th, 9th,13th chordal harmony makes this style truly unique. The essence of Jazz music is music that is upbeat, full of pizzazz ,yet laid back with style. One would never guess that this free style of music has a foundation that began with Baroque elements found in Classical music.

Classical music comes from the basic structure of homophony when two or more musical lines are played vertically in the same direction as sacred music. In fact, Jazz music is created with homophony in terms of the movement of chords to support the melodic improvisation. However, when it comes to playing intervals and chordal harmonies, Jazz is free from the restriction of classical form. For example, if a song is written in the key of C or a minor there are no sharps or flats written on the staffs. Many times in Jazz music Accidentals are put in the music to cause a tonal effect found in chromatic tones. Tonal effects can occur when one or more notes are altered by raising or lowering a pitch by one half step. Sharps are symbols in the shape of a number sign or tic tac toe board (#). Flats are symbols in the shape of a lower case B(b), yet shaped differently like half a heart.

In some Jazz pieces, both the sharp and flat can occur simultaneously in a chord. The result of such musical experimentation can be Dissonant chords unresolved for the purpose of producing a certain sound. Depending on what tones are used the sound is either full of color, or full of tension. On the other hand, Consonance is a stable balance of harmonic tones without tension. One example of the essence of Jazz Music is the song "Route 66" with cluster of chords with dissonant tones that move from major to minor to diminished to create tonal color.

The Tones in Jazz music is always about the speech rhythm and the chordal harmony full of color as influenced by music in the impressionism period. The essence of Jazz music serves as a personal interpretation of the picture the performer wants us to thinks about. The icing to the cake are the vocalists and instrumentalists who performs how they feel from the soul as the music beckons them to reply to it's statement. As the soloist plays or sings, the beauty of strong kaleidoscope tones in the harmony encourages one to soar especially in ballads.

All of this can occur when the harmony plays in the right position above the correct bass tones found in all Jazz masterpieces. The true essence of Jazz music is present in its ability to shape the music through tones, the syncopation of speech rhythm, the chromatic harmony, improvisational solos, and constant motion of the bass. It is the free structure made from a balanced structure, and a music expressed from the soul.

If You're in the Market for the Most Cost-Effective MP3 Music Downloads, What Would Be Your Choice?

I'll come clean any day - I'm addicted to music, and I'm proud of it. As much as I would like to get my MP3 music downloads off a torrent or a peer-to-peer site, I'm afraid that I'm going to be in hock for $100,000 the day I'm caught. So if there is any description that I'd like on my tombstone, it could be "an iPod addict who'd like nothing better to do find somewhere great for cheap or free MP3 music downloads". Let's get the free ones that I've discovered out of the way. AOL Radio, SHOUTcast, AOL Music Weekly CD Listening Party and Spinner's MP3 of the Day are wonderful for a couple of free crumbs every now and then. But for my regular stuff, this is where I go.

At first glance, Rhapsody looks like an offer that he could not possibly want more out of. You pay your few dollars (between $10 a month and $15 a month), and stream all the music you could ever want on your computer or your phone; they have nearly ten million songs, and all of it is practically in your mobile device at any time. You can even set up an online library right on Rhapsody to listen to your unlimited subscription downloads. If you want to own your MP3 music downloads, it'll cost you something like 69 cents. So all of this seems fine; what is my gripe? To begin with, Rhapsody hates the Mac. You can use it on the Mac, but everything is so badly designed for anything but the PC. It also, the whole subscription streaming service ends up charging me several dollars every month for the rest of my life. I'll never get a song the moment I stop paying. And may confine in a little secret? Those tantalizing unlimited subscription downloads? I never found out how to actually get them.

Grooveshark is a great and innovative option; and the interface is basically that of a playlist; but it tries to turn you into your own DJ. It works perfectly, signing up is quick and painless, and you can look at what everyone else has on their playlist.

eMusic has about 7 million songs, and you get to buy songs to keep for about 41 cents each. What am I complaining about? You don't buy these mp3 music downloads

one at a time; you pay for 75 songs every month, whether you download them or not. And your quota doesn't roll over to the following month.

Pandora is somewhat different; it finds out what you want, based on what you already like. It conjures this information based on its input from the Music Genome Project, and you even have an iPhone app to go with it. Pandora comes up with suggestions all the time, and once you understand which ones to use and which ones to leave alone, Pandora gives you great discoveries. You can buy the songs you want, and it's cheap.

I happen to like Zune Pass best of all - sometimes even better than iTunes. You pay a flat $15 a month fee; you can listen and stream as much as your little heart desires, and you get 10 DRM free MP3 music downloads every month. To me, that's a deal that can't be beat.

Outlaw Country Music is a Different Breed

In the realm of country music, outlaw country music holds a very distinct and special place. Started in the late 1970's, this style of country music featured some of the best country artists of all time and the best country music ever performed.

Outlaw country music was started in response to a style of country music called the Nashville sound, which was a bit softer than country had ever been. Such country music artists as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash were the originators of outlaw country and really made it what it was.

Jennings was the king of outlaw country music for me. He had a number of songs that exemplified the style, including “Lonesome, On'ry and Mean” and “Honky Tonk Heroes,” which was a tribute of sorts to the old honky tonk-style country singers like Hank Williams and George Jones.

Outlaw country music is a different breed because nothing before or after sounded quite like it, and it was extremely popular while it lasted, which oddly enough was not very long. It went against the establishment and had a more rugged sound.

One of the interesting things about outlaw country music is that there was a women's movement during that period that featured such performers as Jessi Colter and Sammi Smith. Jessi Colter was actually Waylon Jennings' wife, and with him she created the great compilation album called “Wanted! The Outlaws,” which was a huge success.

The outlaw country music movement also spawned a new movement in country music called Texas country music, which has already established legions of loyal followers. Hank Williams III is one of the more notable musicians from that movement.

One of my best friends asked me one time if I thought that outlaw country was better than other types of country music, because he liked more of the pop country style of modern artists. He said that it just seemed to be more listener-friendly style and that it appealed to a much larger listening audience than some of the outlaw country artists.

I told him that was precisely the reason that I prefer outlaw country music. To me, it had more of an authentic feel to it, and when I listened to it, I knew that I was listening to real country music and not a pop song.

I grew up with outlaw country music, idolizing guys like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. It definitely turned the tide of country music back to what it was supposed to be, in my mind, and featured some of the greatest country musicians of all time. Anyone that wants a good introduction to country music should definitely check it out.

Why Are 80's Music Hits so Timeless?

As a child of the 1980's, I grew up loving such musical groups and performers as INXS, Robert Palmer and U2, and I still find myself listening to a lot of their songs. That got me to wondering the other day why 80's music hits are so timeless. It is not just that way for me or people from my generation, either.

One of my favorite 80's music hits was “Need You Tonight” by INXS. I was just a little kid and remember listening to it over and over again. I thought it had the coolest music of any song that I had ever heard. Even to this day, when I hear it on the radio, I have to listen to it and sing along with all of the lyrics.

Robert Palmer was another great artist of the 1980's whose song “Addicted to Love” was my brother's favorite. We would be in our room hanging out, and he would play that song over and over again, and the truth of the matter is that I really didn't mind. I loved it probably as much as he did.

As an American of Irish ancestry and a music lover as well, one of my favorite rock groups of all time is U2, and the 1980's was when I was first introduced to them. The group had a lot of 80's music hits, as that was the decade of the album “The Joshua Tree.” That particular album featured such songs as “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “With or Without You” and “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.”

I remember playing that cassette so much that it actually wore the tape out completely. I eventually bought it on CD, and I'll pop it in from time to time just to sort of take me back to my youth.

I also had my first big crush in the 1980's, and that was on the pop singer Debbie Gibson. When I first laid eyes on her, I fell deeply in love, and still find myself blushing a little when I see pictures of her today.

She had a couple of 80's music hits, such as “Shake Your Love” and “Only in My Dreams.” I got a tape of hers for my birthday one year, and needless to say, it was my favorite present.

I have often wondered why 80's music hits are so timeless for me. Perhaps it is because it takes me back to my childhood when I first developed my passion for music, and perhaps it is just that the music of the 1980's was really that good.

I have a number of younger cousins who are also great music fans, and they love the music of the 1980's, even though they were not even born yet. I'll ask them why they like it, and they say that the music is cool, and in many instances, meaningful.

Whatever the reason, 80's music hits still stand out to me as some of the best music ever produced and I feel fortunate to have come up during that decade in music.

Jazz Clubs

Jazz music is appreciated worldwide. If you are ever traveling and are new to some countries, here are where some of the best jazz clubs are located so that every place you go will be just like home.

Canadian Jazz Clubs

In Westminster, you can go to the Java Jazz Café & Bistro. Live jazz is played served with Filipino cooking, with dishes like kare-kare, milkfish and bangus. Every night there are different artists playing. Times are from Tuesday-Thursday from 12p.m. to 2:30p.m. and 5:30 to 12:00a.m. Friday it's to 1:00a.m., Saturday 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Sunday 5:30 p.m. to midnight. If you want to attend jam sessions, they are each Saturday 3p.m. to 6p.m.

If you are ever in Victoria, go to the Hermann's Jazz Club on 753 View Street. This club has been around for 25 years. You can enjoy good food and international jazz music from the hottest musicians around.

In Vancouver, you can go to Capones Restaurant & Live Jazz Club. Jazz music is played there every night of the week. The food is excellent food and wine. Some of the dishes are pizzas, pastas, tapas and there are also some signature entrees. The musicians that play here are literally chosen to play there from the area and offer great west coast jazz music and blues. You have to call and book in advance to get a table here.

Cuban Jazz Clubs

If you are heading to Havana, be sure to stop at La Zorra Y La Cueva Jazz Club. Open every day, you can eat, drink, dance and enjoy the best jazz music as only the best of musicians play here. Dress tropical for this club.

Chinese Jazz Clubs

In Bejing, you can go to The Big Easy. Modern jazz music and blues is played there. Ted's Café plays traditional jazz on Saturday nights. In Shanghai you can go to the CJW. The CJW is the Cigar Jazz Wine House. It is on the highest floor of the fifty-story Bund Centre. The atmosphere is very modern, eccentric with lava lamps, transparent beaded curtains. The food is traditional western and Chinese fusion.

Israeli Jazz Clubs

In Binyamina, you can go to the milestone. The Milestone is set in a beautiful park inside a Roman fortress. The times are from weekends Thursday to Saturday. The jazz music is played by the best Israeli jazz musicians. Gourmet food is served, and there is also an amphitheatre. If you are in Haifa, go to the Hottentot. Performances are just about every single day. The atmosphere is laid-back, there's good food, drinks and a gallery.

French Jazz Clubs

I had to save the best clubs for last. French jazz clubs. The French are serious when it comes to jazz music. All kinds of jazz music is played from standard to amateur. There are many, many jazz clubs here. Quite a few American jazz musicians chose to live there permanently or temporarily and have enhanced their lives all around. Here is a couple of the best jazz clubs in France. In Paris 4th, there is Franc Pinot. Those that love swing and bebop music should come here. This club has natural acoustics, and is located in the heart of Paris. Times are from 7p.m. to 9p.m., but it depends on who is playing for the night. In the 15th, there is Jazz Club Lionel Hampton where the best bands and artists play contemporary jazz. If you want to enrich your spirit, go travel to other places to appreciate jazz music.

All About High School Jazz Competitions

There is nothing more exciting that masses of Jazz lovers all in the same place competing in a competition to showcase the skills they have honed. High school educators all around the country unite at different location to enter their vocal Jazz ensembles, Jazz Bands, Jazz Orchestra's in a competition to represent their schools. All who enter this Jazz competition have been preparing and working hard at learning the music most of the school year.

The music educators gather a small stack of repertoire that will really make their students stand out as unique. The key to performing for the Jazz competition is to know the music, and express it exactly the way the teacher has taught them to do. The truth of the matter is that all Jazz singers should sing out , and not hold back unless the teacher motions for you to do so. All the instrumentalist should follow the music and shape the sound. Jazz music is an expression that should come as a personal interpretation of the piece. After all, how do the winners in the Jazz competitions exist if the right music and interpretation of the musicians did not exist?

Fortunately, the successful Jazz Group must possess something that allows them to feel at ease with showing soulful emotion with the instrument of voice. When every member does the same thing it makes the most magical atmosphere of music that would send chills up the spine. One can play the piece of music plainly as written, or one can perform the music as written shaping it into something beautiful. Emotion should always be involved with music performance. Moreover, the music performed in Jazz competitions should be believable to the listeners.

Meaning, if you do not feel the music no one else will feel it. Therefore, a performance without emotion is dull and uninteresting. If emotion is something hard to grasp at anything in your life, you should try the Mr. Holland's Opus strategy.

There was a girl who could not play her instrument the way she wanted to. He told her in the film to think of something that means a lot to her. She thought of that and was able to perform. If the piece you are playing does not move you personally you might find it hard to perform. However, if you are familiar with what the music is about it will be easier to interpret it. For instance, "Georgia On My Mind" written by Stuart Gorrell and Hoagie Carmichael, one may have never traveled to the state of Georgia. Nevertheless, the music is an expression of adoration for the state of Georgia.

All students participating in high school Jazz competitions should use that emotion to the fullest when performing. In other words, think of something you adore and perform with that though in mind. The thought can be a person, a place or even an object that you hold dear. Be prepared to shine in high school Jazz competition, and feel the music from your heart. It wouldn't hurt for the teachers to choose the right music to show off your talents.

All About The Origins Of Jazz Music

The essence of the sound of Jazz music is so versatile due to the origins from which it first began. In fact, New Orleans, Louisiana is the place where Jazz first began between 1850 and 1900 by African slaves as well as the freed people of color. The first style of Jazz music was known as Dixieland.

In Africa from the Middle to Central to the West, one can hear the intricate rhythmic improvisation of the percussive instruments that is often heard with Jazz Music. These rhythms combined with the American Spirituals, Hymns, Blues, and the blue grass hillbilly musical sounds created a type of sound the originated in Jazz music. However, the music was just a peculiar sound without a particular title to call it fifteen years later in 1915. The great pianist Earl Hines born in 1903 played this type of music before the title Jazz became an official style of music. The word "Jazz" which was formerly spelled as "Jass" has it's origins as a type of American slang used to describe the sound of Jazz music.

It is the sound of Jazz music that began as an offspring from the origins that created this music. In the beginning of the century the instruments used in Jazz music were European percussion, brass and woodwind instruments primarily for the military marching or dance bands.

Moreover, these instruments were used in the funeral marches in the deeper party of the southern area and well as the northern. The essence of the origins of Jazz music finally became developed into it's own style with an original shape. In addition, origins of Jazz music expanded the style to the point where it cannot be defined as pure folk music even when some of its roots began there.

Once the education system included the study of music to train musicians in a formal setting it paved the way for many to learn the techniques to create music from the heart. The importance of the origins of Jazz music is to learn all about the sound that many have fell in love with. Jazz music represents freedom to create color and sound that can be interpreted best by the performers and composers who create this style of music. The origins of Jazz music has been a subject worth debating over when it comes down to labeling it a particular style. Duke Ellington himself explained it as "It's all music" due to the fact that the music has no particular structure or form it has to take.

Jazz music is not a simple style that can easily be defined except as free music that can easily meld into other styles of music to take it to another level. Jazz music itself is an innovation of African, Impressionist, Spiritual, Hymnal, Blues and Blue Grass hillbilly music simultaneously combined into a music masterpiece. The essence of the sound of Jazz music comes from the different musical elements from each part its origins as putting pieces of a puzzle together into one cohesive entity.

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was one of the most famous jazz music singers in America. Her real name was Eleanora Fagan. Like most lives of musicians, she had a very bad time growing up which damaged her career. Her life is written about in the autobiography Lady Sings The Blues, but there are many things in there that are not really valid. Her stage name is from an actress, Billie Dove and her father Clarence Holiday.

Billie grew up in the poorest area of Baltimore. Her parents married when she was three years old, but it did not last. They divorced and she was raised by her mother and various relatives. She had been raped when she was eleven years old, and skipped school a lot, so she was placed in The House of the Good Shepherd in 1925. The House of the Good Shepherd was a reform school for Catholics. A friend of the family helped her out of there a couple of years later. She then went to New York to live with her mother. A year later, her mother discovered a neighbor was raping Billie, the man spent three months in jail.

Things seemed to go from bad to worse. Billie had said a brothel claimed her where she worked as a prostitute , and then was in prison for awhile. She started singing for tips in the Harlem night clubs in the 1930's. It was said when she had not a dime to her name and was about to be evicted, she sang "Trave'lin All Alone" at a club and had the audience crying. She kept singing for tips until she ended up at a popular jazz club called Pod's and Jerry's in Harlem. A lot of her performing cannot be discovered, but it is said she was working at Monette's, another club in 1933 when John Hammond, a talent scout found her.

John got her to record with Benny Goodman that same year. She sang in a group with Teddy Wilson, a pianist. Their debut was the song "Miss Brown You", and "What A Little Moonlight Can Do", which made her a famous jazz singer. The year following that, she began recording under her own stage name. Some of the musicians who she performed with her the best, such as Lester young, a tenor sax player. Lester was a boarder in her mother's house, so they were good friends. He was the one who gave her the nickname Lady Day. She gave him the nickname Prez. She also performed with Artie Shaw and Count Basie.

When Billie was on the Columbia label, someone gave her the song "Strange Fruit" about lynching. She sang the song at a club in 1939, afraid of some kind of retaliation. Later on, Billie said that it was similar to the death of her father, and that is part of the reason why she performed it. She was upset that a lot of people didn't understand the song. She said," They'll ask me to sing that sexy song about the people swinging." Columbia didn't record it, but Commodore Records did. She sang that song for twenty years.

She began doing drugs in the 1940's, married Jimmy Monroe, a trombonist in 1941. At the same time, she was with her drug dealer Joe Guy living with him common law. She divorced her husband in 1947, and departed from her drug dealer, but spent eight months in a correctional facility for women. Because her Cabaret Card was taken, she couldn't perform in clubs in New York City for the last twelve years of her life, except once at the Ebony Club with permission.

She continued on with substance abuse, and getting into the worst relationships with men.

She died in 1959 from cirrhosis of the liver. She was just 44 years old. All she had was seventy cents in the bank, and a $750 tabloid fee. A movie Lady Sings The Blues was done about her life starring Diana Ross. It wasn't the real story but it gave Diana a Best Actress nomination. Billie has been an inspiration for many people and is still one of the best jazz music vocalists today.