I was listening to Roy Hargrove the other day, and I wondered if I had ever featured this very talented jazz musician and his quintet on this here blog.
I haven't in a while.
That's a shame because the guy is a serious talent. And you can witness his quintet's artistry by watching the video below of "Strasbourg/St. Denis." This song is one of my favorites on the album Earfood. Like other earworms out there, the song's melody will stick with you, but in contrast, it makes me happy when I have it in my head.
In the performance, the piano player does some fabulous work on the keys. That drummer kicks it. And the saxophone solo acts as a productive tempo/theme change to the work.
Another song from the same album is "Mr. Clean," which I believe is a Freddie Hubbard cover. This video is two years later than the first, and it's clear that two of the players in the Roy Hargrove Quintet have changed for some reason.
The initial solo and later solo by the bass player is worth the time you have to put in to watching the performance of the whole song.
One of my favorite classes I had as an undergraduate was an elective out of my major, a course called "Jazz History and Appreciation." The class consisted of a Professor of Music, two other students, and me sitting around in the professor's office to learn about and listen to jazz. It was great.
!Viva Liberal Arts!
!Viva Humanities!
After taking that class, a year later I had to take a Senior Seminar course in my major, and instead of writing a paper about some novel, short stories, or collection of poems, I wrote a large research paper about Charlie Parker.
When I look back on that project now, it sounds a bit sketchy, but it was a good experience, and I sort of related to the discipline of English Studies. Sort of. Then again, the professor of the course agreed to me doing the project, so he should have known what he was getting into.
Hope you all have a weekend that has some swing in it, folks.
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