The Martini Lounge

Jazz is wonderful. I love the melodies and the way it makes my ears tingle when I listen to it. I became a jazz fan after hearing Miles Davis' So What, off of his Kind of Blue release. It was a great ushering into the world of jazz. Jazz music is one of a kind, and anyone who truly loves music is most likely a jazz fan. Now there are two different types of jazz, old and new jazz. I prefer both although most jazz fans prefer the old type because it consists of Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Bill Evans, and the like while the new jazz is filled with all sorts of people who try different things in their songs, different melodies. New jazz has often been referred to as smooth jazz. It is jazz that literally is supposed to make you calm and relaxed and it does. I am a long fan of smooth jazz. I enjoy such groups like Hiroshima, which uses flutes and oboes in their songs, and I also enjoy Keiko Matsui who can play a mean piano. I saw her in concert when I went home for my birthday last year. She can really play and she can produce songs that will make you push repeat. There are some people who say that jazz is nothing but noise, but I disagree. After you have listened to Nina Simone's Four Women or Ella Fitzgerald's A Tisket A Tasket or John Coltrane's Giant Steps, you begin to see the fascinating world behind the keyboard, the vocals and the other instruments that produce such wonderful work. Then they have this category called martini lounge music which is a form of jazz. I don't know whether it falls under smooth or old jazz, but it is quite interesting. Take Henry Mancini for example, who produced such melodies as the Pink Panther, which is enough to hook anyone or Martin Denny, who has sounds of waves, birds and animal noises in his jazz melodies. One of his best songs is Tstee Fly, which is a marimba beat and a xylophone being played and ever so often in the song, the buzzing of a fly sounds. Some of his biggest hits were Congo Train, which literally has the sound of an electric train, you know the kind you buy from a store in it and Quiet Village, which has the sound of waves and birds with the banging of percussion instruments and a piano. They sometimes file martini lounge music under easy listening, but it is still jazz. The compositions are still produced in the same way. I created a jazz playlist on my iPod. You should check out these songs....

Keiko Matsui - Sapphire
Nina Simone - I Loves You Porgy
Marc Antoine - Unity
Chris Botti - Lisa
Rick Braun - Club Harlem
The Rippingtons - She Likes To Watch
Art Tatum - Yesterdays
Martin Denny - August Bells
Les Baxter - Safari
Weather Report - Black Market
Diana Krall - Swonderful

I really enjoy that last one. Diana Krall is an interesting singer. You have to get use to her style. When I first heard her voice on Popsicle Toes, I wasn't too impressed partly because I have heard better versions of that song done but when I heard Peel Me A Grape, I became smitten with her voice. It is mellow and smooth like a Cosmopolitan or a Bay Breeze on a Friday night. I sometimes envision myself at a jazz club while listening to certain songs. You know I am not yet 21 and most of the jazz clubs require you to be 21. It's only a few months away so I figure I'll go visit one soon. Another type of jazz is called fusion jazz. This is kind of a rocky type of jazz or a jazz with no specific composition. Improvisation is big here. Groups like Weather Report and Return to Forever are big fusion jazz groups. Weather Report uses noises in their jazz, noises of rain and thunder, lightning and loud bangs, while Return to Forever does improvisational melodies, such as Sorcerer, which switches at 4 minutes into the song from one beat to another. It literally starts out slow and ends up fast but the beat does not follow the same pattern. I think jazz music should be cherished and I am sure I am not alone in this.