Ok i realised this thread will probably not get much attention due to the over amount of rockers in the forum...
But i aim to bring out all the 'jazzers' that are hiding in the forum. You know who you are, so come and register yourself! xD

This idea came after witnessing the 'spectacularity' of the Penang Jazz Festival recently. I gotta hand it to ya, though there were numerous international bands performing, our local jazz bands were the ones that really blew me away... Only then i realised there are actually so much potential in local musicians to be shown to the world, only i haven't realized it before... I was more than amazed, i was petrified and inspired by these people!!

I mean in all honesty, local indie rock bands suck big time. Only a handful of them sound good and even fewer are actually really original..

So for those wanting to strut that jazz lick, heres your chance to prove yourself. If we gather enough jazzers in this forum, there might be a gathering.


LYN JAZZERS UNITE!!


This post has been edited by Ryuuga: Dec 22 2008, 12:02 PM

i mean in all honesty, local jazz bands suck big time. only a handful of them sound good and hardly any real jazzer amaze me if compare to international standard (but for malaysian standard, a few them are pretty great). to be honest, many bands play funk, which doesn't require many deep stuffs but just blues scale all the way. some can't even have tight rhythm. seriously, i mean those on the stage.

i used to be a jazzer too but pardon my whining about jazz. it's too complicated, too boring. play so complicated people also don't understand, some more i can't play much too complicated (means i sux) hence it's boring. a problem with jazz is they can go commecialized, or artistic. and it's a greatly dedicated talent to be able to merge commercial value with artistic expressions.

don't get me wrong. i love listening jazz especially french jazzers, and my favourite is stephane grappelli.

PS: how's your school lately? have been hearing lots of illegal activities going on.

EDIT: just a correction, the father of jazz violin is not Stephane Grappelli, it's Joe Venuti.

This post has been edited by little ice: Dec 23 2008, 06:00 PM

I do like Jazz music, but don't really play them... Hmmm...

i guess it takes alot of music education for reali understandin wat notes ur playing...

its a hard thing, and there's many jazz style
some are very fun while some are soft and....some might refer it as boring lol

the fun part is to improvise, creating tension and counter points
its gud to learn though

that's why. very often i hear many local jazzers all will only know to tell you which mode scale go with which chord, but they don't have a single clue that they're making melody on the spot which has to flow all the way through and have to be well thoughtout. That's why only a few players can play jazz with soul.

but what i refered as boring it's simply because i cannot play very deep things that's why i always repeat and repeat the one i know so in the end it's really boring. but just like any music, it's all about personal preferences.

Wow.. i didn't expect this kind of replies..
@little ice, where do you go to watch local jazz musicians? I know i've not seen many, but just the ones in the PJF '08 was enough to open my eyes..

First of all, i agree playing jazz is not easy. I personally feel so myself. And i'm like little ice who keep playing the same things over and over again. which is one of the reasons why i made this thread, in hope to learn more from other people. Then again, nothing is easy in life. Jazz is difficult doesn't mean we turn ignorant to it do we?
Jazz is actually really free, theres nothing to tell you what is right or what is wrong. You could hit outside notes and still resolve and it will sound "right"
Take hiromi uehara for instance, she plays a whole lotta gibberish which still sounds nice!
I totally disagree with the fact, its difficult so we stay away from it. Cause for me, its difficult thats why i plunge myself into it. I just like the challenge.

@crazychris it doesn't really take a lot of musical knowledge to understand anything. You don't have to understand electricity to enjoy the benefits of it do you?
There are many jazz styles and to distinguish it from one another ain't that hard, but to get in the mood of it and play... now thats when you have to listen ALOT
I think jazz here is still underrated...

hm? you mean ICoM?? i wouldn't know since its sem break i never go back to sch lol...

PS: @crazychris
I checked out your band, did you guys write your own lyrics for the songs? means you are all japanese educated no?
Just one comment though, for the close your eyes song, i think the vocalist was a bit pitchy at many parts. perhaps the key was too high for her?
Overall i think the band come together very well.

well, actually, many jazz musicians are ignorant, no matter which school they graduated, as far as i observed.

but i really hope you're not one of them. don't be blinded by jazz. jazz can be showy, and cool to show off, and it's actually fun to play too. but you must not see it as the holy grail of music. many jazz musicians cannot even play a simple pop song, play so much flowerish thing but end up a crappy song. when they receive critiques, they'll just bash pop song say they're too easy and kiddy to play. but the fact is, pop song is entirely different world of art. how to blend art with lots of commercial value is so much harder.

and to be able to play "out" yet still sound nice need a really dedicated talent. that's why i've dropped jazz and focus on pop. and hey i love classical too.

yeah, take the challenge. just don't be blinded by jazz then you're fine.


em, heard something related to drugs and blacks. hope it's rumour.

is your opinion only based after watching the PJF?
only one festival? how well versed are u in the local jazz scene?

estrella rocks =D!

Lol thats somewhat random but they are kinda jazz so is indirectly related =D!

I like jazz =D!!!!

i think jazz needs lots of theory n trial/errors? sorry i may be wrong coz my noob jazz knowledge is just too limited.

duno lah, someone thought me about all those weird scales even classical pianists don't learn. myxolidian, phyrngian bla bla...maybe u can try all the different modes? then create disharmony...lol

=end=

p/s...i'll just stick improv in rock... =) cheers.

This post has been edited by edge85: Dec 22 2008, 05:17 AM

True, I may only be touching the surface of the local jazz scene, other than going to local jazz bars in kl, this is the first major jazz fest i've been to. thus you will have to excuse my ignorance.
But if this ONE festival was enough to open my eyes, to impress not only me, but also the few thousand audiences, then i believe, there is potential in the local music scene.

Its fine with me if nobody here believes what i'm saying. I wouldn't as well if i never did witness it for myself.
But i'm merely sharing my experience. You don't know how is it to realize suddenly that the local music scene actually HAS potential. Its like you've never believed in ghosts and suddenly a ghost appears in front of you and that changes everything....

did you know modes is actually easy? -__-
play a C major scale over a Cmajor chord(loop this chord), that is all the white keys on the piano from C to C right?
Now the D Dorian of C major is actually just all the white notes from D to D ( still played over a Cmajor chord)
E Phrygian = all white notes from E to E (still played over a Cmajor chord)
etc. etc.

Practically, you're just playing the C major scale but starting and ending at different notes, that creates all the difference in sound because of a certain "characteristic note" in that scale.

Its only difficult when you perceive it to be difficult, thats all there is in the world.

PS: once again i would like to stress that the purpose of the thread is actually to unite LYN jazzers or whoever who are interested in learning jazz and to build a community to share jazz knowledge and hopefully play together someday. Thus i would very much like to answer any questions you have regarding jazz theory/harmony or practicality to the best i can (not to say i'm very good yet)
The thread is not about promoting the local jazz scene.

This post has been edited by Ryuuga: Dec 22 2008, 12:03 PM

no, jazz doesn't need a lot of theory. you just need the talent to be able to understand by ear.

mode scales just the name created by someone who want to be able to write down as a book, and teach as a written material. however a real jazzer will only play according to the "flow" of the harmony and apply the "melody line" that's appropriate.

jazz is about improvising, and is about "creating something" on the spot. which means, you're creating a melody on the spot, new harmony on the spot. in other words, melody have to be flowy, have to be nice, have to be make sense. if you think you can blah off with the notes within the whatever scale is jazz, then you won't be able to play jazz with soul. without being able to play with soul, you cannot move your audiences, heck you can't even touch you own heart with your own playing. this is a major flaw of the material taught in school.

0001011010100001110101010100101001010010100

this is jazz... it doesn't make sense... but somehow it looks abit unique

i wouldn't know how to show-off cause i can't -__- its just fun to play for me. i just love the freedom of it thats all.
Besides, i started with pop songs then classical, now jazz, so its a whole new world for me.
hm, similar to some here, would bash jazz saying its too difficult to play lol
btw, i wouldn't know of any drug trafficking since i've not been to sch heh>.>

@ken0777
binary isn't that difficult when you learn it.

This post has been edited by Ryuuga: Dec 22 2008, 12:33 PM

+1000000


Jazz players doesn't play by scale
...they play note-to-note ..could be anything among the 12 notes..


..playing with scale have alot of limitations...you only have 7-8 notes for improvisation..bah..boring..

stil improvin, ur rite wit the vocals, working on tat


watching jaco's vid, he says its hard for him to learn and read music
cz he already CAN play music lol

so +1 wit gapnap
jazz musicians jus play note by note



its like the chinese kungu myth,
to master the art of kungfu, u mus learn all the styles
and FORGET all the styles!!!

because whatever kind of kungfu you're learning, in the end you want to hit the opponent. so what if opponent know all your moves and block it all? gotta be flexible right?

have a listen to 'saori yano' in youtube. A beautiful japanese girl who plays jazz Sax like super terror. Another terror japanse girl is 'kaori'. Both are in youtube. Both are sooooo pretty!

an interesting video i found.



This post has been edited by little ice: Dec 23 2008, 05:58 PM

so if i wanna jazz, where do i start?