Do you like Jazz?

[MACATL 1,775]

1 hour ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

I mean, the GASB is predominantly jazz standards for both singers and instrumentalists alike. 

 

These songs are just performed in that kind of style.  I’m talking about true jazz.  

“True jazz music is a uniquely American art form born from African American communities in New Orleans, blending African rhythms and spirituals with European harmony, defined by its core elements of improvisation, syncopation, and swing rhythm, featuring "call-and-response" and blue notes, and evolving constantly while expressing freedom and cultural identity. It's an approach to playing music, emphasizing creative freedom, musical conversation, and unique sounds, rather than just a set of predetermined notes.” 
 

The GASB is definitely “predetermined notes.”

[Ladle Ghoulash 32,023]

54 minutes ago, MACATL said:

These songs are just performed in that kind of style.  I’m talking about true jazz.  

“True jazz music is a uniquely American art form born from African American communities in New Orleans, blending African rhythms and spirituals with European harmony, defined by its core elements of improvisation, syncopation, and swing rhythm, featuring "call-and-response" and blue notes, and evolving constantly while expressing freedom and cultural identity. It's an approach to playing music, emphasizing creative freedom, musical conversation, and unique sounds, rather than just a set of predetermined notes.” 
 

The GASB is definitely “predetermined notes.”

Eh, both needlessly pedantic and also not generally how the GASB is regarded relative to the jazz tradition (as many of the most iconic versions of songs in the GASB have been jazz reinterpretations of those works and those reinterpretations, in turn, became seminal works in the jazz canon, like Davis’ version of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and Coltrane’s My Favorite Things). The definition that you provided also doesn’t insist that jazz doesn’t have predetermined notes, but rather that there’s an emphasis on improvisation. Not all jazz music is improvised and there are a great many classic jazz works that are heavily composed, actually (Ellington’s suites, many of Mingus’ compositions etc).

Jazz reinterpretations of the GASB are so essential to the tradition of jazz that actually, without Parker’s classic jazz reinterpretation of Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are”,” many jazz historians believe we wouldn’t have the harmonic bedrock of the hallmark sound of jazz we know today. The GASB and jazz evolved together in such a way that, at least through the 40s-60s, they were essentially inextricable. Lastly, the idea that vocal jazz isn’t legitimate jazz is hogwash and I’m sure very few jazz musicians hold that belief.

Edited December 30, 2025 by Ladle Ghoulash

[Ronk 14,812]

On September 2, 2017 after Gaga performed her Joanne concert at Fenway Park in Boston she went into the House Of Blues and performed several jazz songs.  It turns out she has a remarkable talent for swing jazz.  And she had the energy to do this right after performing a full pop concert.  I was not there, but several people recorded with their phones.  From the footage they shared I put together a video of some songs she sang that evening.  This video includes only a portion of each song.  She sang the full songs, so she performed for a much longer time than this video shows.

 

Edited December 31, 2025 by Ronk

[Ladle Ghoulash 32,023]

52 minutes ago, Ronk said:

On September 2, 2017 after Gaga performed her Joanne concert at Fenway Park in Boston she went into the House Of Blues and performed several jazz songs.  It turns out she has a remarkable talent for swing jazz.  And she had the energy to do this right after performing a full pop concert.  I was not there, but several people recorded with their phones.  From the footage they shared I put together a video of some songs she sang that evening.  This video includes only a portion of each song.  She sang the full songs, so she performed for a much longer time than this video shows.

 

Need a studio version of her doing What a Difference a Day Makes. Also saw her at Fenway that night and saw her getting into a black SUV outside the venue in this fit! I wish I had known she and Newman were playing, I would’ve tried to get in.

[Ronk 14,812]

42 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Need a studio version of her doing What a Difference a Day Makes. Also saw her at Fenway that night and saw her getting into a black SUV outside the venue in this fit! I wish I had known she and Newman were playing, I would’ve tried to get in.

A studio version would be great.   What was your experience at Fenway like?  Gaga's performance at the House Of Blues was unannounced.  Otherwise it would have been a mob scene with thousands of fans trying to get in.

[Ladle Ghoulash 32,023]

4 hours ago, Ronk said:

A studio version would be great.   What was your experience at Fenway like?  Gaga's performance at the House Of Blues was unannounced.  Otherwise it would have been a mob scene with thousands of fans trying to get in.

Great show, not a huge fan of concerts at stadiums tbh. Mediocre sound system, really poor view unless you’re on the field. But had a great time and loved hearing Perfect Illusion live. 

[Nessun Dorma 8,947]

Lately I've been listening to a lot more jazz, especially John Coltrane while doing my end-of-year cleaning and it's making the task so much more satisfying! I've spent my whole life listening mainly to rock music and only started exploring jazz in recent years, but what I've discovered so far has enchanted me. The richness of jazz's musicality provides a unique sonic experience.

[TheSine 6,331]

21 hours ago, Ronk said:

OMG all five songs/performances are so wonderful it's hard to pick a favorite.  I pick This Is Always - Betty Carter because of the emotion of the performance.  I cry.  

I love how most of the five songs/performances are backed by the most standard jazz trio (piano/bass/drums).  

I'm glad you said "It has to be these specific singers."  There is so much more to any jazz rendition than just the song.  The performance can make or break a song.   Of course I'm stating the obvious.  Besides the orchestration and the talent of the performers, the style and the phrasing means so much.   I think when someone says they like a song, they may have a specific performance in mind that clicked with them.

You get it. Getting into jazz is so interesting because you can listen to the same song but each one is different. There'll always be one singer or band that fits your taste or specific vision for the song perfectly. 

My personal favorite out of those picks is Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams. The way she descends so perfectly on "Your castles may tumble that's fate after all" and the piano follows with her is so....AGHH!!! Her voice is light and bouncy, not too rough and not too pitchy either. Or Nature Boy, that singer is my favorite all around.

Edited December 31, 2025 by TheSine

[Ronk 14,812]

4 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Great show, not a huge fan of concerts at stadiums tbh. Mediocre sound system, really poor view unless you’re on the field. But had a great time and loved hearing Perfect Illusion live. 

I'm not a fan of concerts at stadiums either.  I'm glad you had a great time.  That's what matters most.  I find it exhilarating just being at a live  event. 

[Ronk 14,812]

1 hour ago, TheSine said:

You get it. Getting into jazz is so interesting because you can listen to the same song but each one is different. There'll always be one singer or band that fits your taste or specific vision for the song perfectly. 

My personal favorite out of those picks is Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams. The way she descends so perfectly on "Your castles may tumble that's fate after all" and the piano follows with her is so....AGHH!!! Her voice is light and bouncy, not too rough and not too pitchy either. Or Nature Boy, that singer is my favorite all around.

Your comments on Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams made me listen to it again.  Wow, it's even better in second listen.  Thanks for your comments on the song/performance.

Yes, Lorez Alexandria is so great.  Interesting that her performance of Nature Boy is so very different from Gaga's performance, yet both are so wonderful.  And Tony's phrasing is so beautiful, as always.

 

[Ronk 14,812]

6 hours ago, Nessun Dorma said:

Lately I've been listening to a lot more jazz, especially John Coltrane while doing my end-of-year cleaning and it's making the task so much more satisfying! I've spent my whole life listening mainly to rock music and only started exploring jazz in recent years, but what I've discovered so far has enchanted me. The richness of jazz's musicality provides a unique sonic experience.

Glad that you're enjoying jazz.  Coltrane is so great.  Long ago I saw him perform at Penn State.  He was many hours late.  So late that some musicians formed a pickup band to kill the time.  They made up a song called "Waiting for 'trane".  Most people stayed and waited for Coltrane.  When he arrived he started playing way out extreme improvisations, not what many were hoping for, so many people left.  Interesting how varied jazz is, even by the same artist.

A nice performance by John Coltrane:

 

[Nessun Dorma 8,947]

2 hours ago, Ronk said:

Glad that you're enjoying jazz.  Coltrane is so great.  Long ago I saw him perform at Penn State.  He was many hours late.  So late that some musicians formed a pickup band to kill the time.  They made up a song called "Waiting for 'trane".  Most people stayed and waited for Coltrane.  When he arrived he started playing way out extreme improvisations, not what many were hoping for, so many people left.  Interesting how varied jazz is, even by the same artist.

A nice performance by John Coltrane:

 

I love hearing your stories, Ronk! What an incredible experience it must have been to see Coltrane live and improvising! Thank you for your suggestion, I’m going to watch the video right now! Did you listen to Laufey’s new album? I really liked it!

[Economy 51,106]

Yes. But I do have to be in the mood for it tho

[Ronk 14,812]

5 hours ago, Nessun Dorma said:

I love hearing your stories, Ronk! What an incredible experience it must have been to see Coltrane live and improvising! Thank you for your suggestion, I’m going to watch the video right now! Did you listen to Laufey’s new album? I really liked it!

I wish my Dad could have come up to see Coltrane live.  He played sax professionally and taught many sax students.   He liked several sax players, Coltrane and "Bird" among them.

I find Laufey's new album to be a grower.  I liked it much more on 2nd listening.  I hope people don't give up on the album after the first listening.  My faves of the album are Clockwork, Mr. Eclectic, Lover Girl, and Clean Air.  I really love those four songs.

Edited 6 hours ago by Ronk