Category : Uncategorized

JOEY ALEXANDER THE GREAT

CAN YOU REALLY APPRECIATE HOW TALENTED THIS KID IS?

In a previous post I did on child prodigies I mentioned this young kid but didn’t really give you the full scoop on this little miracle of nature.

This kid literally came out of nowhere (Indonesia of all places) and is playing jazz piano that rivals the best today or any other period has offered. Now that’s a bold statement but seriously I’m not kidding. Ask Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis and counless other jazz masters who have played with or come in contact with this little guy.

This kid is unreal. He plays not only with highly tuned technique and knowledge but with finesse, feeling and soul. Damn, he’s only 13.

Whether you know anything about jazz or nothing at all about jazz, when you listen and watch this kid, it is mesmerizing and totally unbelievable what you are witnessing. The mental and physical toughness it takes to play this type of music is one thing but the emotionallity and mindful peace that the music demands is not for the light hearted, never mind a 13 year old (actually he was doing it at age 8…ya I said 8.

So who is this kid?
Indonesian, Josiah Alexander Sila, born June 25, 2003, taught himself to play the piano by age 6. His father bought him jazz records which he learned to play by ear on a miniature electric keyboard. He was already playing for Herbie Hancock at age 8. He and his parents moved to New York in 2014 and he released his first album in 2015 at age 11. Is that extraordinary or what?

Allen Morrison of Down Beat magazine said at a performance of Joey’s: “If the word ‘genius’ still means anything, it applies to this prodigy. He played his own solo variations on ‘Round Midnight’ with a breathtaking precocity and mastery of several decades of piano style.
Marsalis said of him, “There has never been anyone that you can think of who could play like that at his age. I loved everything about his playing – his rhythm, his confidence, his understanding of the music.”
Newport Festival producer George Wein said “Alexander distinguished himself with “the maturity of his harmonic approach”.

The Music That Shaped Me (part 4 of 4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

R&B and Hip Hop

OK, I must admit I probably know more about jazz and rock than I do about R&B and Hip Hop. I believe the reasons for that are geographical and demo graphical. You see, I grew up in an area where there weren’t many people of colour. In my high school for example, I was the only black person in the entire school for the first two years. So I didn’t get the influences of the music my culture was listening to.

That’s not to say I didn’t listen. Even back then you couldn’t possibly avoid the lure of 70’s and 80’s R&B or emerging Hip Hop. For me, another reason I didn’t latch on to those types of music is that I’m not really a vocal music person. I love instrumental music (why I love jazz and classical so much). If you asked me the words to a popular song I’m sure I would stumble. A song may be popular and I may like it but I just don’t pay attention to the words. I’m all about the instruments and the interaction between them.

That said, there were some influences that were significant to me and for varying reasons (again most likely having to do with the music behind the vocalist) but really in this category it’s hard to miss the sound of a good singer or the power of a good rhyme. Here are the R&B and Hip Hop artists that shaped my musical me. Of course there were many, but these are the big one. (again the videos are just examples of their music).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wWjIKpjhH0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu2JBMNBbKo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJUk45l4h8c

JAZZ FM LIVE TO AIR BLUES SUPERHOUR

One of the perks of doing volunteer work at a radio station is you get access to meet some pretty interesting people, both radio personalities and artists that drop by for interviews and live performances.

One such character is the host of the blues program Bluz-FM, Danny Marks.  A very talented blues artist and historian who could sing just about any blues song you throw at him.  On Wednesday August 24, 2016,  he hosted and participated in a live to air performance called blues SUPERHOUR.  Now, hearing that title one might expect a huge band including drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and maybe even a horn or two.  But that night it was just Danny and two very special guests, Paul James and Jack de Kyzer.

Toronto native, Paul James started playing in the 60’s and has played in bands with Neil Young, with founding members of Steppenwolf, sat in with Muddy Waters, played in Bo Diddley‘s band and backed up Lightening Hopkins and Sunnyland Slim, John Hammond and even John Dylan. For decades the Paul James Band was a Toronto staple and highly sought after band.

Jack de Kyzer, is a highly recognized and awarded Canadian great who worked with Etta James, Ottis Rush, John Hammond, Robert Johnson and the band Blue Rodeo.  jack also plays some fantastic jazz guitar.

The performance was as you would expect, very intimate but there was no lack of blues intensity or playful musical conversation between the three.  Each took turns playing songs from their own repertoire with the others playing along and Danny threw in a few standard blues tunes like ‘Sweet Home Toronto’ (come on he just had to do it).   Paul did a really great solo acoustic number that had a lot of Hammond influence and Jack did a great rendition of his tune ‘If You Were My Woman And I Were Your Man’. (see video below).

It was a fantastic performance by all three well seasoned musicians.  And what a bunch of down to earth gentlemen they were. Here are a few clips from that night’s performance.

The Music That Shaped Me (part 3 of 4)

Part 3 of 4 – CLASSICAL MUSIC
In the mid 80’s I was introduced to classical music through someone I was in a relationship with who was an art teacher and a lover of the ballet.  Her department head was a big classical music fan and would often invite us to the symphony.

Even back then I had a great appreciation for music and would jump at the chance to see and hear anything musical (even musicals, of which I’m still not a big fan. But that’s another story).  I was so intrigued by the enormity of the compositions and the variety of instruments that I just had to learn as much as I could about classical music.

So I started buying books and magazines, read up on the different periods and the composers affiliated with each.  I bought huge amounts of CDs (which at the time was just becoming a popular media).  I was almost as hooked as I was on jazz (did I just write that?).

I must say, I really do enjoy and have an huge appreciation for classical music. I wish I could say the same for it’s sub genre, the opera.  I could never really get into it.

My favorite periods are the Baroque and the 20th century periods and my favorite pieces from each are Vivaldi‘s ‘The Four Seasons‘ and Stravinsky‘s ‘Rite of Spring‘. If you’ve heard my music, you will no doubt find a lot my tracks have some of that dramatic sense ingrained in me from listening to the likes of Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.

Here are the composers that shaped my classical me. There are of course many others that I love but these are my major influences.  To make things easy I’ve arranged them in their musical periods. I’ve also chosen pieces that are more popular that you may have heard at some point in your musical journey.  Again I’ve chosen videos that show the music being performed.  For me it’s the best way to really appreciate it other than being there yourself.

THE BAROQUE PERIOD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehbar90jHz8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS86maxUnXk

THE CLASSICAL PERIOD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jh-E5m01wY

THE ROMANTIC PERIOD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4wnk5LD21o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P73Z6291Pt8

THE 20TH CENTURY PERIOD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq1q6u3mLSM

 

 

The Music That Shaped Me (part 2 of 4)

In my last post I gave you the Jazz artists who influence me from about 12 years of age to now.  Here I give you my rock and blues influences.  This was a little harder to choose because with Jazz I started early and I’m still finding interesting  and forward thinking musicians where with rock I started listening as a teen and intently up to the early 2000s.  I’m still listening but haven’t found many game changers lately.

That said, here are the artists that shaped the rock and blues me.

Again this is not nearly the full list but the ones that had a major effect on me.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0jBXB-wEkw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgubG-MOPT4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0OX_8YvFxA

THE MUSIC THAT SHAPED ME

JAZZ ROCK CLASSICAL HIP HOP AND R&B

Part 1 of 4 – JAZZ

So looking back as far as you can remember and recalling the music that shaped you, that influenced you, that brings you to the music that you listen to or play now, what and who were they?

Mine are a varied and different mix of likely and unlikely suspects.  Here I give you my major artist influences.  The one stipulation was that I wanted to have a video of my choices.  Of course this is by far not the full list. There are so many more I can’t include due to spacial constraints or availability of videos.

Because I’m such a musical person I could not in all honesty do this in one sitting so I decided to split this blog into 4 genres (jazz, 
Rock, Classical and Hip Hop/R&B).  There are other genres and sub genres mixed up in those but those are the main ones. The other genres will be posted later in separate blogs.

The videos and specific songs I’ve chosen are just examples of the music from each artist and what I could find really quick.
Please excuse the sound and video quality on some of these.

So here is Part 1, my JAZZ artist influences.

What’s yours?