Thursday, October 8, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Different Version - My Favorite Things (John Coltrane)
WIKIPEDIA
My Favorite Things is a 1961 jazz album by John Coltrane. It was the first session recorded by Coltrane on the Atlantic Records label (as SD-1361), and the first to introduce his new quartet featuring McCoy Tyner (piano), Elvin Jones (drums) and Steve Davis (bass) -- neither Jimmy Garrison nor Reggie Workman featured as yet.
The album was also the first to quite clearly mark Coltrane's change from bebop to free- and modal jazz, which was slowly becoming apparent in some of his previous releases. It introduces complex harmonic reworkings of such jazz standards as "My Favorite Things" and "But Not for Me". Additionally, at a time when the soprano saxophone was little used in jazz, it demonstrated Coltrane's further investigation of the instrument's capabilities.
The standard "Summertime" is notable for its upbeat, searching feel, a demonstration of Coltrane's 'sheets of sound', a stark antithesis to Miles Davis's melancholy, lyrical version on Porgy and Bess, and makes use of offbeat pedal points and augmented chords. "But Not For Me" is reharmonised using the famous Coltrane changes, and features an extended coda over a repeated ii-V-I-vi progression.
The title track is a modal rendition of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. The melody is heard numerous times throughout the almost 14-minute version, and instead of having a solo over the written chord changes, both Tyner and Coltrane taking extended solos over vamps of the two tonic chords, E minor and E major. Tyner's solo is famous for being extremely chordal and rhythmic, as opposed to developing melodies. In the documentary The World According to John Coltrane, narrator Ed Wheeler remarks:
"In 1960, Coltrane left Miles [Davis] and formed his own quartet to further explore modal playing, freer directions, and a growing Indian influence. They transformed "My Favorite Things", the cheerful populist song from 'The Sound of Music,' into a hypnotic eastern dervish dance. The recording was a hit and became Coltrane's most requested tune—and a bridge to broad public acceptance."
My Favorite Things is a 1961 jazz album by John Coltrane. It was the first session recorded by Coltrane on the Atlantic Records label (as SD-1361), and the first to introduce his new quartet featuring McCoy Tyner (piano), Elvin Jones (drums) and Steve Davis (bass) -- neither Jimmy Garrison nor Reggie Workman featured as yet.
The album was also the first to quite clearly mark Coltrane's change from bebop to free- and modal jazz, which was slowly becoming apparent in some of his previous releases. It introduces complex harmonic reworkings of such jazz standards as "My Favorite Things" and "But Not for Me". Additionally, at a time when the soprano saxophone was little used in jazz, it demonstrated Coltrane's further investigation of the instrument's capabilities.
The standard "Summertime" is notable for its upbeat, searching feel, a demonstration of Coltrane's 'sheets of sound', a stark antithesis to Miles Davis's melancholy, lyrical version on Porgy and Bess, and makes use of offbeat pedal points and augmented chords. "But Not For Me" is reharmonised using the famous Coltrane changes, and features an extended coda over a repeated ii-V-I-vi progression.
The title track is a modal rendition of the Rodgers and Hammerstein song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. The melody is heard numerous times throughout the almost 14-minute version, and instead of having a solo over the written chord changes, both Tyner and Coltrane taking extended solos over vamps of the two tonic chords, E minor and E major. Tyner's solo is famous for being extremely chordal and rhythmic, as opposed to developing melodies. In the documentary The World According to John Coltrane, narrator Ed Wheeler remarks:
"In 1960, Coltrane left Miles [Davis] and formed his own quartet to further explore modal playing, freer directions, and a growing Indian influence. They transformed "My Favorite Things", the cheerful populist song from 'The Sound of Music,' into a hypnotic eastern dervish dance. The recording was a hit and became Coltrane's most requested tune—and a bridge to broad public acceptance."
Monday, October 5, 2009
Different Version - My Favorite Things (Julie Andrews - Sound of Music)
As everyone knows, the Original "My Favorite Things" was sang by Julie Andrews in the Movie, Sound of Music.
Different Versions - My Favorite Things
WIKIPEDIA
"My Favorite Things" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.
The song was first introduced by Mary Martin in the original Broadway production, and sung by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film.
In the musical, the lyrics to the song are a reference to things Maria loves, such as 'raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens'. These are the things she selects to fill her mind with when times are bad.
The original Broadway musical places this song in the Mother Abbess's office, just before she sends Maria to serve Captain von Trapp's family as governess to his seven children. However, Ernest Lehman, the screenwriter for the film adaptation, repositioned this song so that Maria would sing it with the children during the thunderstorm scene in her bedroom, replacing "The Lonely Goatherd", which had originally been sung at this point. Many stage productions also make this change, shifting "The Lonely Goatherd" to another scene.
The first section of the melody has the distinctive property of using only the notes 1, 2, and 5 (Do, Re, and Sol) of the scale. Rodgers then harmonized this same section of the melody differently in different stanzas, using a series of minor triads one time and major triads the next.
The song ends with a borrowed line of lyric and notes from Rodgers' earlier composition with Lorenz Hart, "Glad to Be Unhappy," a standard about finding peace in the midst of unrequited love. Using the same two notes for the phrasing of "so sad" in the original song, Rodgers brings the gloom of my "Favorite Things" to a similar upbeat ending – "and then I don't feel so bad."
"My Favorite Things" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music.
The song was first introduced by Mary Martin in the original Broadway production, and sung by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film.
In the musical, the lyrics to the song are a reference to things Maria loves, such as 'raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens'. These are the things she selects to fill her mind with when times are bad.
The original Broadway musical places this song in the Mother Abbess's office, just before she sends Maria to serve Captain von Trapp's family as governess to his seven children. However, Ernest Lehman, the screenwriter for the film adaptation, repositioned this song so that Maria would sing it with the children during the thunderstorm scene in her bedroom, replacing "The Lonely Goatherd", which had originally been sung at this point. Many stage productions also make this change, shifting "The Lonely Goatherd" to another scene.
The first section of the melody has the distinctive property of using only the notes 1, 2, and 5 (Do, Re, and Sol) of the scale. Rodgers then harmonized this same section of the melody differently in different stanzas, using a series of minor triads one time and major triads the next.
The song ends with a borrowed line of lyric and notes from Rodgers' earlier composition with Lorenz Hart, "Glad to Be Unhappy," a standard about finding peace in the midst of unrequited love. Using the same two notes for the phrasing of "so sad" in the original song, Rodgers brings the gloom of my "Favorite Things" to a similar upbeat ending – "and then I don't feel so bad."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)