Monday, November 16, 2009

Different Version - Blackbird (Crosby,Stills and Nash)

Another band that gives justice to songs composed by other artist without being a copycat and putting on their signature on it.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Different Version - Blackbird (Kenny Rankin)

Each time Kenny Rankin perform a cover song, he really does it well and with that distinctive touch and arrangement only you hear from the Man.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Different Versions - Blackbird (The Beatles)

Different Versions - Blackbird

"Blackbird" is a Beatles song from the double-disc album The Beatles (also known as The White Album). Blackbird was written by Paul McCartney, but credited as usual to Lennon/McCartney.

McCartney explained on PBS's Great Performances (Paul McCartney: Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road), aired in 2006, that the guitar accompaniment for "Blackbird" was inspired by J.S. Bach's Bourrée in E minor, a well known lute piece, often played on the classical guitar. As children, he and George Harrison tried to learn Bourrée as a "show off" piece. Bourrée is distinguished by melody and bass notes played simultaneously on the upper and lower strings. McCartney adapted a segment of Bourrée as the opening of "Blackbird," and carried the musical idea throughout the song.
The first night his future wife Linda Eastman stayed at his home, McCartney played "Blackbird" for the fans camped outside his house

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."


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.