I don’t enjoy Girl Talk’s music all that much — I find it overwhelming, like watching someone flip channels on a TV. But I think he’s really important, and anyone who cares about music, technology, originality and ownership should be paying close attention. Adam Bossy raised an intriguing idea in his answer — describing an [...]
Filed in Composition, Copyright and Authorship, Dance, Key Musicians, Sampling
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Also tagged audio editing, copyright, girl talk, hipster, inspiration, linkedin, mashups, memes, pop, rock, songwriting
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Friday, September 16, 2011
Good bets in general: De La Soul Biz Markie Eric B and Rakim DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince Everything before 1985 (Sugarhill Gang, Spoonie G, Treacherous 3, Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy) Current pop radio hits aimed at pre-teens are usually fine for little kids too, ie Willow Smith, Black Eyed Peas etc, [...]
Friday, September 9, 2011
If you had to name the most influential drummers in contemporary music, who would you pick? If you’re a rock fan, you might go with Ringo Starr, John Bonham, or Keith Moon. A jazz fan might talk about Max Roach, Elvin Jones or Tony Williams. You probably wouldn’t think to name Gregory Cylvester Coleman. He [...]
Filed in Copyright and Authorship, Math, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged amon tobin, aphex twin, copyright, curtis mayfield, david bowie, digging the crates, dillinja, drum n bass, drumming, eighties, electronica, futurama, golden ratio, jungle, looping, luke vibert, lupe fiasco, mantronix, Math, memes, nineties, nwa, powerpuff girls, recycle, reggae, rnb, salt n pepa, Sampling, snow, soul, the impressions, the winstons
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Why does folk music collector Alan Lomax have a copyright interest in “Takeover” by Jay-Z? I learned the answer from Creative License: The Law And Culture Of Digital Sampling by Kembrew McLeod and Peter DiCola. It’s a companion book to the invaluable documentary Copyright Criminals. The story of Jay-Z and Alan Lomax isn’t quite as [...]
Filed in Composition, Copyright and Authorship, Music, Music Business, Politics, Recording, Sampling
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Also tagged alan lomax, blues, chain gangs, copyright, digging the crates, folk, funk, grand funk railroad, jay-z, krs-one, rock, Sampling, the animals
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My friend Leo has a new jazz quartet. At their debut performance a couple of weeks ago, they ended the show with a mashup of “Solar” by Miles Davis and “Freedom Jazz Dance” by Eddie Harris. “Freedom Jazz Dance” is a favorite of mine, and a lot of my fellow jazz nerds agree. People love [...]
Filed in Key Musicians, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged digging the crates, ed og, eddie harris, fu-schnickens, funk, jazz, mashups, miles davis, nas, Sampling
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The other night Anna and I went to see Beats, Rhymes And Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest.
Filed in Key Musicians, Music, Sampling
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Also tagged a tribe called quest, cassettes, digging the crates, documentaries, fugees, jazz, lil wayne, masculinity, minnie riperton, movies, nineties, q-tip, Sampling
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Back in June we went to see the incomparable Reggie Watts perform at Central Park Summerstage. I think Reggie is one of the most exciting artists of our time, but it’s difficult to verbalize exactly what he does. His performances combine improvisational music and absurdist standup comedy into a free-associative yet oddly coherent and impactful [...]
Filed in Hardware, Improvisation, Key Musicians, Music, Race and Identity, Recording, Sampling
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Also tagged comedy, Improvisation, jake lodwick, jazz, looping, reggie watts
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Wednesday, August 3, 2011
When teaching guitar, I find that my students need the most help with groove. Students come to me expecting to learn chords, scales, riffs and ultimately entire tunes. I do teach those things, but after a little guidance, anyone can learn them on their own just as well from books, videos, web sites and so [...]
Filed in Music, Music Teaching, Music Theory
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Also tagged attention, funk, funky drummer, groove, guitar, linkedin, meditation, rhythm, swing, time
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Today is the Fourth of July, and I can’t think of anything more patriotic than a post about our most significant contribution to world musical culture: swing. The title of this post refers to the classic Duke Ellington tune, sung here by Ray Nance. Check out the “yah yah” trombone by Tricky Sam Nanton. The [...]
Filed in Dance, Emotion, Music, Music Teaching
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Also tagged america, charles mingus, classical, count basie, drum machines, duke ellington, ella fitzgerald, funk, janet jackson, jazz, louis armstrong, ray nance, rhythm, soul, swing, syncopation, tchaikovsky, time, tricky sam nanton
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Last night I was talking about my sister about how timeless Missy Elliot songs are, how they continue to sound futuristic no matter how long it’s been since they were recorded. It was true of “Work It” and it’s equally true of “Get Ur Freak On.” Click the image to see the video, since I [...]