1001 Albums...#4 - Frank Sinatra: Songs For Swingin' Lovers

One year after In The Wee Small Hours Frank Sinatra recorded Songs For Swingin' Lovers which, in my personal opinion, is an overall masterpiece in this genre of music.

Vocally, Frank is right on target. On the album In The Wee Small Hours his presentation was not nearly as solid. I heard hardly any pitch issues whatsoever, and the scooping issues noted on the last album were definitely done more tastefully and far less often. Frank's voice is ridiculously easy to listen to. Throughout this entire album, which has a "let's have fun because we are in love" theme, it sounds as though Frank is not even trying at all. This gives the album a conversational feel that is really fun to listen to.

Each arrangement on this album is well put together, and the backing band is flawless. Musically, the album was fun to listen to, but about 3/4 of the way through, my attention began to falter a bit. When an artist does something well, it is easy to do that one thing over and over again. It feels good to the performer and it feels good to the audience. It's comfortable and easy. However, while this albums is very enjoyable to the ear, the songs are so similar in style that they almost blend together into one long vocal jazz odyssey. While this can get a little tedious, it isn't all bad. If you like one of the songs on this album, you most definitely will like the album in its entirety.

Verdict: This one is easy. If you are a fan of Frank Sinatra, you should definitely listen to this before you die. If not, you should still listen to it, but it may become boring about midway through. My recommendation is to listen to this album as background music. Lyrically it's not all that special, but the smoothness in Frank's voice mixed with the great arrangements is well worth the price of admission.

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1001 Albums...#3 - Elvis Presley: Self Titled

Elvis Presley. The King of Rock and Roll. I just have to come out and say it. This album is not his best work.

Made in 1956, Elvis' self titled debut is somewhat of a mess. It starts off well with the well known tune "Blue Suede Shoes" and then takes a severe nose dive into musical Sheol. As I have been going through these last few albums, I write down notes on each of the songs detailing my impressions, good and bad. Needless to say, I wrote down a lot of negative comments while listening to the album. From track 2 to track 12, Elvis' vocals were all over the place. This was definitely not the refined vocal presentation most of us are familiar with. Considering this was his debut album, I will cut him some slack. The producers may have asked him to try different styles of singing on each tune, and that's fine, but most of the choices are just plain horrible. During these 11 songs (track 2-12), Elvis' voice sounds shaky, pitchy, and the character of his voice changes so frequently that I didn't even know who I was listening to at one point. If the album rested on these 11 songs as the foundation for Elvis' talent, than in my opinion it would have been nothing to write home about.

Thankfully, "Heartbreak Hotel" comes in and changes everything. This is Elvis in his true form. The band is doing things that are musically interesting and Elvis has more presence in his voice than in any of the prior tunes with the exception of "Blue Suede Shoes". From this point on, the album is incredible. It is almost as if the Elvis impersonator that did the middle portion of the album "left the building" and the real Elvis has finally arrived. His voice is spot on and I found myself actually wanting to listen to him more once the album was over. Without these last six songs, I'm not sure I would have finished the album with that impression.

Verdict: Halfway through the album I would have told you, "Skip this one. You'll die happy." However, the last six songs changed my mind, slightly. I find myself in somewhat of a pickle. Considering there are 18 songs on this album and I can only stand behind 7 of them, I'm not sure that I can recommend the whole album, and since this is list is called 1001 Albums You Must Listen To Before You Die, I'm not sure what to do with it. Is it a must? Not really considering you can listen to the good songs on other more quality albums, but at the same time, it is Elvis' debut recording which deserves a listen because of it's historical significance. You can listen to this one yourself and judge, but if you never hear Elvis' debut album as a whole, I don't personally think you're missing much.

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1001 Albums...#2 - Duke Ellington at Newport 1956

If you have never heard of Duke Ellington, you may need to expand your musical horizons a bit. Wikipedia has it right by labeling him as "one of the greatest figures in the history of jazz". This album displays not only his chops as a composer and band leader, but also the charisma that he and his big band brought to a live performance. This album was recorded during Duke Ellington's revival into public view and what a welcome back this must have been for Ellington and his band.

The album begins with the Star Spangled Banner (of all things) played by Ellington's big band, and to be quite honest, it was nothing fancy. From there on out though, the mood really changes. After a few moderate tunes, the band really picks up the pace. The trumpet soloist on most of the album is Cat Anderson, and my goodness can he play. Not only was he a great straight ahead player, but he really knew how to squeal! On this note I do want to mention that the mixing on this album is not the best. Granted, it is a live recording and who knows what type of recording setup they had going, but there are times where the trumpet is so loud that the rest of the band is inaudible! Also, during the vocal numbers you can barely hear the singer which almost defeats the purpose of including them on the album. On the other hand, most people who are listening to this live show could probably care less about vocals and would probably rather hear all the nuances and technical mastery that Ellington's band displays in each and every tune.

The pure standout for me on this album was the tune Diminuendo In Blue which was as boisterous and exciting as big band playing can get. One of the endearing aspects of this album is that you can hear the crowd yelling with pleasure and affirmation during each of the solos on the album (of which there are many). However on this tune in particular the crowd becomes so carried away that the track following Diminuendo In Blue is called "Pandemonium" which is basically the crowd screaming for more while Ellington tries to calm them down. This made the album fun to listen to and it really felt like I was right there. I couldn't help but wonder what a fun time every one must have had, both in the crowd and on the stage.

Verdict: So, should you listen to this album before you die? Most definitely. Will you enjoy the whole thing? Maybe, maybe not. For jazz heads this is a must. However, I consider myself to be a jazz lover and even I can grow a little weary when each tune is 6-8 and sometimes 14 minutes long! Listen to Skin Deep without a drummer's mindset and your ADD may just kick into high gear. This is classic big band jazz that needs to be heard by everyone. The only issues that I have are in regards to the overall mix of the album and that it may not be accessible to everyone. However it still should be listened to for the historical reference and for the enjoyment of listening to some truly incredible musicians that deserve to be heard.

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1001 Albums...#1 - Frank Sinatra: In The Wee Small Hours

The first album on the list is Frank Sinatra's In The Wee Small Hours released in 1955. The album is a concept album and generally hovers over the theme of lament and lost love. Here are my overall impressions.

This album has classy and impressive arrangements in both the vocal and instrumental parts. Frank is THE crooner, scoops and all. His voice pours out like honey and is suited perfectly for this style of music. However, he rarely gets to a note without sliding up to it, especially on the higher parts of the melody. This is not necessarily a negative though as it adds character and a raw quality that is missing in our modern day world of auto tuned vocals. The album is well pieced together, but may be difficult for the modern listener to sit through without doing something else at the same time. Most of the songs begin to sound very similar, which could become incredibly boring to listen to if you aren't actively trying to hear all of the nuances in each song. For the everyday listener, this album would be perfect background music while conversing with friends over dinner and maybe a nice bottle of wine. On the other hand, for the musically inclined this is definitely an album to listen to with full attention both vocally and instrumentally.

Verdict: This is truly a classic and should be heard at least once before you die. Enjoy it with friends or as relaxing background music after a long day. If you are looking for musical variety on a single album however, look elsewhere.

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1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: An Attempt

I stumbled across a website that lists the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. I am going to do my best to listen to an album each day for the next year or so with possible breaks in between. After listening to the album I will give a brief review and possibly rate it as well. I am notorious for not finishing what I start, but this could be fun and will no doubt be an "ear opening" experience. The first album on the list is Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours released in 1955. I am really enjoying it so far and will write out a short review later today.

My goal here is to really give these albums the attention they deserve so I may need to listen a few times in order to give a proper review. I will try to get some time later today to finish this one up, or I may truly begin this whole fiasco tomorrow. We'll see...

Understanding Musical Harmony

I have often been asked over the course of my life, "How do you hear harmony?". Usually it is during a band rehearsal for church or just when hanging around friends and family while listening to background music. The truth is, outside of the grace of God, I'm really not sure. Over the years I have tried and tried to come up with an answer that is sufficient for how I personally "hear" musical harmony. I do not have perfect pitch so I can't use my genetics as a cop out. I also never really had music theory lessons until college, and I was singing harmonies in choir long before that, so I cannot use my theoretical knowledge to explain how I hear it. Truth is, all musicians probably hear and interpret music differently so I am going to explain how I "hear" harmony with a simple sentence. Again, this is my own inclination, so this is NOT universal. Here is my one sentence explanation:

I don't hear harmony, I see it.

At this point you may be scratching your head and saying, "You can't SEE music!" To some level I agree with you. All music is, after all, is the vibration of things in our world that create frequencies we can hear. Some frequencies are more enjoyable than others, but that is beside the point. Music is primarily a "hearing" art, and I do "hear" notes in my head, but really it is just my brain using aural recall of things I have heard other musicians do. It is like knowing correct grammar from hearing your parents use it while growing up or that pepperoni and pizza go very well together because you have eaten it for as long as you can remember. It works the same way with how I hear harmony. Surround yourself with it, and you begin to know what works and what doesn't. However, when I say that I "see" harmony, I am simply saying that when I hear, sing, or play music my mind is producing images that help me know what I am doing, where I have been, and where I am going.

Let me make one thing clear. I do NOT see specific images. I see stairs. I see horizontal lines that move up and down like a flight of stairs. Sometimes I see more than just lines, but whatever I see, it moves in a stair formation. I have tried to explain this to people before and it only partially gets the message across through words. I've thought over and over again, "If only I could get people in my brain so they could see what I am talking about, they could nail that harmony!" Finally, by way of Noel Piper I discovered The Music Animation Machine. Before you follow the link I want to show you a few videos that will hopefully show how I, and maybe others, "see" musical harmony. The first is easier to follow along with visually while the second and third are more complex. What is visually enjoyable about the first (Bach) and third (Mozart) videos is that both men were notorious in their compositions for being almost mathematical. Watch for parallel lines especially in Mozart. Very deliberate patterns going on here. Enjoy and welcome to my brain!

*Quick thought: If you want to help train your ear to hear some of what is going on, visually pick out a line (the top is easiest to follow) and just pay attention to that line. Then move to the lowest line, and so on. It will really help you hear the lines and develop an understanding of harmony if you are a visual learner.*

Something new for 2010

Given that I haven't blogged for quite some time and a new year is upon us, I thought that now would be a good time to clean house and make plans for the blog for 2010. I have a few ideas in my head, but I am not sure if I am up to the task. While I will still be posting random stuff that interests me, I am thinking of posting devotional thoughts as well as blogging my way through a few books. The books I am thinking about doing may be a little too much for me, but I think they may be the most beneficial in the long run. I'm going to think about this some more and hopefully have something up soon.

Maybe one day I will finish the Caravaggio series...