Week 5 Listening Guide

                                                                                                                                             

Week 5: "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)" by Frank Sinatra

        To be honest, I had never heard this song before this week. Of course I have heard of Frank Sinatra before, he's one of the most popular musicians in America ever; I just never really dove into his music. I sort of do the same with all of these super popular 1900's artist outside of hip-hop or R&B. I'll get a general understanding of them and their music and maybe a few songs, but I won't really check out the music.
        With that being said, I'm glad listened to this song. Frank's voice is so timeless. Not even necessarily the timbre of his voice (which is fantastic, obviously) but the way he uses pronunciation
to enhance his music is so cool. He holds out certain tones and emphasizes certain syllables to truly create his own sound. It is not a surprise to me that sometimes I'll come across songs where I hear flashes of Frank Sinatra; he definitely made a massive influence on music in America.
       But my favorite part about Frank is how smooth he was. He had this swagger not a lot of musicians moved with. It's like he was the coolest person ever without trying. He was super classy yet had every able women in the country swarming to all of his shows. Honestly, he created a culture and music that creates culture seems to always end up timeless.
       Another thing that shouldn't go unnoticed is the instrumental to this song. The string chords are absolutely beautiful and layered perfectly. I also enjoy the little snippets of the harp in the background, it really adds to the whole vibe of the track. Overall, the song is fantastic and it maintained the massive amount of respect I already have for Frank.

Week 4 Listening Guide

                                                                                                                                                  Jesse Sine

Week 4: "Caravan" by Duke Ellington

        Browsing this weeks songs, Duke Ellington's name immediately caught my attention. I have actually sampled a few of his songs for beats before. I am an automatic Stan of any musician that can make melodies that can be implicated into a hip hop or r&b instrumental decades later. Those to me are the most talented artists. If you got one hundred producers to try to make a melody that would be relevant in several years, a few (if any) would get it right. Music is changing so rapidly that melodies I made two years ago would not sell well in the industry today. That is why Duke Ellington has my upmost respect. To me he is a visionary. Yeah he was already famous for his music in his time, but in my opinion he is one in a million due to his ability to make timeless musical ideas. 

        But I digress (as always). "Caravan" by Duke Ellington is a fantastic song. I actually really intros like these. The percussion slowly increases in volume, and then the main lead just hits you. The almost provocative melody just resonates perfectly with the timbre of the instruments. Duke's ear for melody was insane. Certain melodies bring out the instrument being played and vice-versa-- that's why sound selection is much more important than people think. In all of Duke's songs, the instruments all mesh well with the melodies being played, making the music seriously so pleasant to listen to. Duke really is one in a million and do expect more of him in later blogs.

Week 3 Musc 1020 Blog Post

                                                                                                                                                  Jesse Sine

Week 3: "Cross Road Blues" by Robert Johnson

   
      I promised a more inclusive genre coverage in the last blog, but I already broke my promise and did another blues song called "Cross Road Blues" by Robert Johnson in this week's blog. Johnson's life was quite undocumented, which explains the many stories and legends about him (for example, it is said he sold his soul at a crossroad to the devil to make it in the music industry). However, one thing we do know about Robert Johnson is he was a very talented songwriter, guitar player, and musician. "Cross Road Blues" is the first song I ever heard from him. The backbone of the song is a very improvised sounding guitar lead that plays throughout the whole duration. For whatever reason, I am super interested in music that seems to sound made up as it goes. Even the vocals sound random over the guitar sometimes, like if he sang the song again and again the timing would be different every time.
      The song is great, but it throws me off because it's so different from today's popular music. Popular music today is much more memorable, probably due to the fact musicians try to make their songs as catchy as possible. I think my ear has been trained to hear a hook after every verse in every song; when "Cross Road Blues" ends it feels awkward to me, like he should start singing the refrain when the song is ending. I say this in a non- critical way, the song sucks now. I enjoy the song but have no interest in listening to it again-- same with most of the music made at the time. I guess what I am getting at is: this song made me realized how much the average listeners taste in music has changed in not even a century. With that being said, I'm sure I would have been bumping the song in 1936 and I have no regret of critiquing it this week.

Week 2 Music Blog Jesse Sine

                                                                                                                                                  Jesse Sine

Week 2: "West End Blues" by Joe Oliver

        I did my post this week about this song because out of all the older, popular American genres, blues is easily my favorite (next to jazz). I think listening to a lot of R&B makes me appreciate it more because you can really hear the influence. The vibe you get from blues is just so different from most music today, and this unique timbre is really something I've always enjoyed. The song to me kind of comes out almost provocative and just smooth. When I think of mid to late 1900's music in America, this is the kind of music I think about. You could literally insert this song into any old classic movie and it would fit. I enjoy the rhythm of the piano and how the chords are always changing. I also like the improvisation vibe of what sounded like a cornet.
        Joe Oliver and the pianist were obviously very talented, but I actually enjoy Louis Armstrong's version more. It does help that Armstrong came after Oliver so the recording was at a much higher quality but I think Louis put his own sound to it, which really turned out. I like the unexpected vocal that comes out halfway through Armstrong's song, it really matches the sound/ rhythm of the track and overall just adds to that classic blues vibe. I still respect Oliver's version though, especially because he taught Louis Armstrong a lot of things musically. It will be hard in future blogs to try to switch up the genres because there are so many more talented blues artists that came up in the 1900's, but I'm glad to start my series of listening blogs on such a beautiful piece.