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.