Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

In honor of the man himself's birthday, we at Sound Chaser have prepared a special review for you.

Kind of Blue-
The best-selling Jazz album to date. A masterpiece that is more than just a bunch of songs collected on an album. Indeed, it's much more than that. Kind of Blue is exactly as it details- a kind of blue. A kind of blue that everyone else perceives differently. Your blue isn't my blue, but I can surely tell you the blue that most see on this record is the most beautiful shade of them all. In fact, it's turned into the best selling record of its kind...and for good reason.
If any single element that composes this record were to be missing, it would remove the spirit. Every soul that laid a hand on their instrument created a truly magical atmosphere. Every hit from Jimmy Cobb pounds on your heart and soul. Every pluck on the bass by Paul Chambers leads you into a unique trance. Every key danced upon by Bill Evans leaves you swinging to the rhythm, and every note spurted by Davis colors the soul a different shade of blue.
From the haunting melody of "So What" to the soft emotional ballad that is "Blue in Green"... this record is, in a sense, manipulating. Jazz is hypnotic. Somehow it seems the fabric of music was torn by the beautiful material produced on this album. Miles and the crew accomplished the feat of making you create your own visual spectrum by listening to this record. Millions of albums were sold and millions of albums changed people.
Miles would continue to change lives, and jazz, through music on later releases, but Kind of Blue was obviously the bait that pulled people into his trance. Kind of Blue was and is one of the most influential and important albums of all time by one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.
This masterpiece isn't just audible, but visible, in the way you can sense the musicians doing what they do best...making you feel. And that, my friends, is the beautiful thing about music- the ability to create and feel new moods with each track.

Happy birthday to Miles Davis, and may he rest in peace.

-Ethan Blackburn

Ray Manzarek - The Golden Scarab (1973)

Shortly after The Doors released their whimsy 1972 album Full Cirlce, the band split apart and went their separate career ways. Krieger and Densmore went to join I believe the Butts Band, while Manzarek went his different ways. He debuted with this, then followed it with The Whole Thing Started with Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control and went to form a new band, Nite City, and finally record his last solo album for then, 1983's Carmina Burana, then onto other collaborations with different artists. This debut and the others have been unfortunately ignored in post-Doors history with the members, in my opinion.

The album begins with an obvious latin percussion-influenced track, He Can't Come Today, first starting with what seems a little childish drum melody but then progresses and evolves throughout the song. The song ends, and next comes what could possibly be my favorite track from the album.

Solar Boat starts as a soft slightly mellow possible fender...riff, to say. Then it turns into a classic Manzarek jazzy progression and instrumentation. The lyrics are well-written with references to earlier Doors songs and philosophers, possibly in memory of Jim Morrison.
The song slowly fades into a poem at the end, and the rougher third track Downbound Train starts, a heavy slightly jazz song, then the song ends and turns into another latin percussive track- the title track.

The Golden Scarab is a rather happy kind of song, with...out there instrumentation and strange- but good strange lyrics, and strong latin percussive sequences.
Next, the funky track The Purpose of Existence Is? ensues, with jazzy styles similar to that heard on Downbound Train, then progresses onto the next, The Moorish Idol.

The Moorish Idol starts out a little rough, but then a low but nice synth starts throughout this lovely instrumental, adding a nice touch.

We have Choose Up or Choose Off start, another rock-like track, then it moves onto the awkwardly titled Oh Thou Precious Nectar Filled Form (or) A Little Fart, a folk kind of song, then the first two bonus tracks go, but they aren't worth noting. Last but definitely not the least plays an instant classic, Bicentennial Blues.

Bicentennial Blues starts out with another possible Fender electric "riff", then turns into a latin style that reminds me of Santana. In the middle of the song, a familiar bass line and solo occur, which is actually a copy of Light My Fire with a latin kick, then the catchy opening Light my Fire riff plays and back to the song it goes, ending with a bang.

The untapped genius of the post-Doors work of Manzarek is rather depressing. Perhaps it was the failure of Other Voices and Full Circle that lead the Doors into a curse of underground solo and band work. Nevertheless, the trilogy of solo albums Manzarek put out were classics waiting to happen, but they didn't quite surface as much as they should have. 

But music is never measured in how popular it is, or at least shouldn't be. Manzarek's keyboard playing left a footprint in the world of rock and became an inspiration for others even today.

His death should not make his memory fade away. The feud of Densmore, Manzarek, and Krieger was a nasty unnecessary one- one that tested the relationship of musical brothers. Music isn't a profit income, it's a feeling, and this issue broke apart not a band, but a family.

Among Manzarek's work, you should check out his other two solo albums-

-The Whole Thing Started with Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control

-Carmina Burana

Manzarek later went on to produce two albums with Nite City as mentioned, and died May of 2013. He shall always be remembered. 

Music, Memories, and Family

       Many a musical journalist have written about music as a means of bringing people together: friends, family, lovers, and enemies. Music is a language shared by all peoples and classes the world over. Sure, it's no new concept, no ground-breaking revelation, but nonetheless, it's something I come back to as one of my favorite things about music. It proves further how it transcends being an art form and becomes a phenomenon, something to do with other people, something to share and enjoy with the ones you want to get close to.
       I remember when I showed my little brother a jazz song for the first time. The song was "Dixieland Jazz Band One Step" by the Original Dixieland Jazz band, a very early jazz tune. Getting to see his reaction, best described as "amused," was a moment I'll never forget. He was so completely tickled by the goofy trombone slides (glissandi), and made totally giddy by the wild clarinet playing that, to him, was "going crazy" compared to the rest of the band. Watching someone that I love, someone so young and new to so much in the world, react in such a joyous and mirthful way to a song was a treasure few other things could replicate.
       This is how music is most special to me. It starts with a song, just a tune written by people you (most likely) do not know, but around a song, a phenomenon is created, a unique and totally wonderful moment in time, a memory that can stick forever, and the catalyst for that moment, for that beautiful memory, is just a song. One little song can make such a big difference to someone.
      Music is an art, of course. A beautiful, wonderful, diverse, and gorgeous art, but it's role as a powerful social happening should never be downplayed. I think of music as a fine art, for sure, but to me, what's more important is the personal, emotional connection music can create between people. To this day, I never listen to jazz music without thinking of that awesome little kid laughing himself silly over the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

-Andrew Oliver
The song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW7rldvqN1w

Peanuts Hucko - A Tribute to Benny Goodman 1990 (YOUTUBE ONLY)

Of those legendary jazz artists who left their marks on the world, Benny Goodman was undoubtedly one of the greatest. Ask anyone who knows anything about jazz music, and they’ll most likely recognize Benny Goodman’s name when they hear it. Peanuts Hucko, on the other hand, is not likely to be name-dropped by any casual jazz enthusiast. Indeed, Peanuts Hucko (love that name) is one of the great unsung heroes of jazz clarinet, and jazz in general, on par with some of the greatest players jazz has ever known, and whose résumé includes playing with Louis Armstrong and the Glenn Miller band, to name but a few.

Fast forward to 1990, thirteen years before Peanuts Hucko’s death. He gets together a modest-sized big band to pay a tribute to one of the greatest figures in jazz history, and what a tribute it was. There are very few instances wherein a Big Band jazz show can be said to be both endearing and touching, while still swinging as any big band should, but Peanuts’ choices of songs and ability to convey emotion and soul with his playing bring forth a heightened sentimental value in the context of this particular show.

One can’t help but smile at the beautifully soulful “Memories of You,” the theme of The Benny Goodman Story film, and when Peanuts puts down his clarinet to sing an almost laughably peculiar and heart-warming duet with Louis Tobin (“When You’re Smiling”), you get an idea of just how truly personal and sentimental this event is. It feels not so much like a concert, but rather like a family getting together to celebrate the life of a lost loved one.

Even on the tracks that really swing, you feel a true sense of passion and closeness that Peanuts had for this project. As Peanuts and the band stomps and swings through such fantastic Goodman staples as the technically impressive “Let’s Dance” and the infectiously dance-able “Oh, Baby,” we’re taken back to a time when Benny Goodman still ruled as the unchallenged King of Swing.

One must not also forget, of course, that in order to put on a proper tribute to Benny Goodman, you need something very important: Chops. Peanuts and his band, despite their decrepit ages, could really play with the best of ‘em. With songs like “Stealin’ Apples,” “King Porter Stomp,” and the timeless classic “Sing Sing Sing,” Peanuts shows true proficiency as a musician, displaying speed, complexity, and fluidity in his playing. “Stealin’ Apples” has become one of my favorite versions of the song, played with some extremely catchy and impressive soloing by Peanuts, and at the end, one of the greatest buildups and crescendos that this song has ever known, leaving me with chills every time I listen to it.

Between the faster, more swinging tunes (“I Would Do Most Anything for You”) and the slower, more emotional tunes (“Just a Closer Walk With Thee”), Peanuts Hucko managed to create and bring together an incredible show, and overall, a tribute more than fitting for Mr. Benny Goodman, a great tribute for a great man whose music touched the hearts of many people, then and now.

-Andrew Oliver