| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: WOAH......listen to this guy | |
| dalty52 -- 03/10/2007, 09:48:17 -- #33702 | |
| http://www.gabrielkahane.com/ BRILLIANT | |
| CynBad -- 03/10/2007, 10:02:47 -- #33702 | |
| I hope you're kidding. I can never tell with you, dalty. | |
| Mike -- 03/10/2007, 13:56:16 -- #33702 | |
| The "different strokes for differnt folks" rule clearly applies here. This rule is so very important to keeping the world turning round. This guy is not my cup of tea but then again neither is Kenny G and look at how many people love his stuff. | |
| dalty52 -- 03/10/2007, 20:07:30 -- #33702 | |
| Actually, I'm not kidding. The guy is a harmonic genius. Check out his praise section.........Brad thinks he's killin, too :o) I actually found him randomly by emailing him about a post he put on Craigslist. I asked him to hear some of his music, and I ended up pleasantly surprised. Really listen to what he is doing harmonically on the piano.........it's fabulous. | |
| CynBad -- 03/10/2007, 21:40:36 -- #33702 | |
| I guess he's somewhat entertaining and humorous (albeit self-involved). The lyrics are a bit like a comedy routine. Harmonically, it's all been done... he's obviously classically trained and influenced because that's exactly what he's playing. I've always enjoyed contemporary classical music... Jazz is quite conservative by comparison. and... I couldn't care less what "Brad" thinks. | |
| Mike -- 03/10/2007, 23:37:48 -- #33702 | |
| lol who is Brad? | |
| jwv76 -- 03/11/2007, 04:28:47 -- #33702 | |
| Brad=Brad Mehldau... Sometimes I think "Brad" would be happier playing music more like this instead of jazz...(I own only one Brad Mehldau CD, which I don't care for at all - some of his other stuff has been showing up in my pandora.com radio stations lately that I like much, much more). There's a couple of songs here I like very much (specifically Vernon Drive and Underberg- sounds kind of like Ben Folds, but better). I could understand why the jazz set wouldn't be too interested. Some of the songs have great piano playing but bad singing. "Half a Box of Condoms" has good singing, interesting piano (not really my thing, but well played), and hilarious lyrics, although I wouldn't ever buy a CD based on funny lyrics, you can only listen to it so many times before it's not funny anymore. | |
| dalty52 -- 03/11/2007, 09:36:36 -- #33702 | |
| "Harmonically, it's all been done... he's obviously classically trained and influenced because that's exactly what he's playing." Uh..............in addition to amazing pop stuff. The cool thing is that he is combining classical/art song ideas and harmonies with pop/jazz harmonies........and it's seamless. I haven't really heard many people do that sort of thing. So, you say that it's all been done.....but, in reality...has it? Pretty much any harmonic idea you can look at has "been done". Everything derives from influence. But, it's how you combine those influences that can make for something very new and original. I mean........look at Radiohead. Their sound is pretty innovative......yet, their harmonies are not. It's just the way they put it all together. Plus, he's forming a group consisting of Piano, Banjo, Violin, Bass Clarinet, and Cajon. I can't imagine what that will sound like, but it might be pretty sweet. Or it might be a train wreck, who knows. At least he's trying something fresh. Jwv, the singing is a matter of taste...........he is actually a very good vocalist, but he doesn't really have a pop OR a jazz sound. I think he comes from more of a musical theatre background, vocally, therefore, he sort of has that sound. You may not like the sound(I'm not really a big fan of the musical theatre sound myself), but the cat is pretty well spot on. Personally, I'm more interested in his compositional ideas. | |
| dalty52 -- 03/11/2007, 09:40:30 -- #33702 | |
| BTW............CynBad, would you knock Fats Waller for singing "Your Feets' Too Big" or Nat King Cole for "Frim Fram Sauce" becuase they have funny lyrics? It's ok for music to be funny, you know :o) | |
| CynBad -- 03/11/2007, 14:00:56 -- #33702 | |
| No, dalty, the one thing I found enjoyable about the guy was the funny lyrics. And I didn't mean that everything has been done before, just that I heard nothing new from this particular guy. I just thought "brilliant" was an overstatement. But I can see how some would find him entertaining. | |
| jmkarns -- 03/11/2007, 19:16:55 -- #33702 | |
| Agree with Mike on the "Different Strokes" thing. | |
| BlackWhiteKey -- 03/12/2007, 16:23:04 -- #33702 | |
| now i can't agree from what i hear from you guys that i like this guy. i have dial up internet(hold your applause) so i can't download videos. i down load at a rate of 9 kb/sec. start laughing. now everyone has their own liking of style. i prefer something upbeat like chick or o.p. a little bill evans isn't bad. but i don't have a thing for pianists who don't like to swing hard, like gershwin, or pianists that resemble jazz-pop(kenny G). every pianist has his/her style, and wheter you like it your not is entirely up to the listener. | |
| hepcatmonk -- 03/12/2007, 17:44:22 -- #33702 | |
| Dalty, thanks for posting that, this is one of the best things I've heard in a while. It makes sense Brad would like that so much because I think the voicings Brad employs are really similar to this guy. So much great stuff in there...echoes of Schubert, especially Schumann, and some more modern influences (Hindemith?). Man, this kicks ass. Thanks for posting that. I really like the unresolved bass movement in Half a Box of Condoms. As far as "nothing new here"...Cynbad, I'll have to disagree with your criticism here. It's true, of course, that none of the harmonic devices employed by this guy have never been used by another composer. Even the title "Craigslistlieder" is a bow to Schubert and Schumann. I don't see how that disparages the quality of his compositions, however. I'd say we'd be hard pressed to find a completely original performer in ANY genre of music. It's not what he does, but how he does it. I've heard you sing the praises of Hiromi on here. Similarly, couldn't we say that she's doing a lot of things that Chick Corea has done before her? Of course, it's not that simple, and I feel like the same concession should be made for this guy. | |
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