Jan 1 2020

David Byrne Presents: Orchestral Jazz

By Todomundo

Song Artist Purchase
Miles Ahead Miles Davis
Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio) [Master] Miles Davis
What Reason Could I Give Ornette Coleman
The Queen's Suite: Lightning Bugs And Frogs Duke Ellington And His Orchestra
Oclupaca Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
Arabesque Cookie (Arabian Dance) Duke Ellington
Skies of America Ornette Coleman & London Symphony Orchestra
The Good Life Ornette Coleman & London Symphony Orchestra
Just Friends Charlie Parker
The Blue Necklace (Remastered) The Modern Jazz Quartet
The Jasmin Tree (2010 Remaster) The Modern Jazz Quartet
Stolen Moments Oliver Nelson
Overture Duke Ellington
Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy) Duke Ellington
We Shall Overcome Charlie Haden
Thelonious (Complete Version Bonus Track) Thelonious Monk Orchestra
Symphonique #6 (Good For Goodie) [Instrumental] Moondog

Happy New Year,

I've been watching and enjoying the Ken Burns doc series on Jazz. Lots of folks carp about omissions and biases in this and his Country music series, but overall it's a pretty good overview and with lots of context. Jazz, like any musical genre, was shaped by external forces- race, wars, technology, economics, laws- it both reflected and was molded by all of that.


Quite a few great artists at various points expanded their pallets to include orchestral and symphonic arrangements. Usually they didn't aspire to the 60+ members of a traditional symphonic orchestra- but the reach as far as color, timbre and scope were all there. Some of these were very popular. Some jazz fans disdained these recordings as being impure, sometimes precisely because they ended up being popular.


I cannot judge. But it is true the room for improvisation is more limited in these pieces, but other qualities come to the fore- sonic worlds on a par with anything classical composers were doing.

Jan 1 2020

David Byrne Presents: Orchestral Jazz

By Todomundo

Song Artist Purchase
Miles Ahead Miles Davis
Concierto de Aranjuez (Adagio) [Master] Miles Davis
What Reason Could I Give Ornette Coleman
The Queen's Suite: Lightning Bugs And Frogs Duke Ellington And His Orchestra
Oclupaca Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
Arabesque Cookie (Arabian Dance) Duke Ellington
Skies of America Ornette Coleman & London Symphony Orchestra
The Good Life Ornette Coleman & London Symphony Orchestra
Just Friends Charlie Parker
The Blue Necklace (Remastered) The Modern Jazz Quartet
The Jasmin Tree (2010 Remaster) The Modern Jazz Quartet
Stolen Moments Oliver Nelson
Overture Duke Ellington
Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy) Duke Ellington
We Shall Overcome Charlie Haden
Thelonious (Complete Version Bonus Track) Thelonious Monk Orchestra
Symphonique #6 (Good For Goodie) [Instrumental] Moondog

March Radio David Byrne Radio Presents: Nigeria!

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