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[smokeyh2 1,512]

one of my all time favourite songs

this is just a beautiful gorgeous song

sang by the equally gorgeous judy tzuke

 

[ByeByeBye 1,756]

Frank Zappa wrote this originally as a drum solo...a very difficult and strangely metered drum solo.  Then he adapted this rhythmic nightmare into an arrangement for melodic instruments.  The result is one of the most difficult peices of music ever written.   The melodic version was originally titled "Easy Teenage New York Version" but quickly became The Black Page #2 while the drum solo version became The Black Page #1.

 

There are tougher pieces of music out there, but not many, and none as easily accessible to the layman as The Black Page (lotsa notes written on the score).  That is not to say that The Black Page is actually easy to get into, but there is a feeling of continuity and pulse generated even from the first time listening.  To really appreciate it takes several run-throughs.  It is horrendously dense and, well, ...nuts.  Mutant polyrhythms of 4 against 5 colliding with 3 against 2 and tuplets battling quintuplets with nested tuplets scattered here and there.  There is no way anyone but a very highly advanced technical musician could read this after quite a bit of study.  And, I doubt a musician has ever lived that could sight read it...it is a beast of a piece of music.  Usually complex stuff like this is the arena of classical composers like Varese, Stravinski, Schonberg, etc. but Zappa brings complexity and avant garde musical art into pop music/culture.

 

I am a big Zappa fan.  Some of his stuff leaves me cold and I don't care for it at all, other pieces are great.  Some are silly, some fun, some heppy-peppy chart topping pop fodder, some serious orchestral works.  A person could devote years to listening to the Zappa catalog and keep discovering new facets of the his music for all those years.   

 

Zappa's kid Dweezil has gotten some criticism for covering his dad's work, but I personally think he is doing a great job with his band Zappa Plays Zappa.  If anything I think he has brought FZ's music more into the limelight after his dad's passing.  This is their version of The Black Page 1 & 2 with the original drummer, the guy it was originally written for, Terry Bozzio doing Part 1 and FZ's guitarist of many years, Steve Vai, joining for Part 2.

 

If you can't handle the entire drum solo (Part 1) skip to the melodic section and give it a minute or two.  It starts with a vamp interlude where Vai gets introduced at about 2:14 and the actual melodic music starts at 2:56

 

[Condensation 481]

:ph34r:

[Woman 3]

[Midas 41]

[Viking4s 10,822]

[ByeByeBye 1,756]

Night School is one of my fav Frank Zappa pieces.  It is off his last studio album, Jazz From Hell (love the title)

 

There is a great animated video for this piece, but the sound's fidelity was lousy on the YouTube version.

 

[Midas 41]

[Condensation 481]

^_^ Edited October 7, 2018 by Condensation

[Mosad 963]

[smokeyh2 1,512]

just a fantastic feel good song

would brighten up anyones day

 

the great kc and the sunshine band

 

[Drazox 681]

@ByeByeBye you like French music?

Edited October 7, 2018 by 78190-facebook78

[Condensation 481]

:D

[ByeByeBye 1,756]

@ByeByeBye you like French music?

Yes.  I like almost everything, but I am kind of extra partial to music where I don't understand the lyrics.  I think lyrics in pop music many times detract from the music...great tune/groove with poor lyrics equals a kind of let down song.  If i don't understand the words they can't be poor poetry and the human voice acts more like an instrument.  So yeah, I like a lot of French music.

 

 

Jambalaya some American French music...(Zydeco from Louisiana)

Edited October 7, 2018 by ByeByeBye

[splitterpoint 10,990]

Holy smokes I just discovered Greta Van Fleet; this stuff is from 2018... 2018!

I guess this is how my dad felt when he discovered Led Zeppelin, it's 1970 all over again.

 

 

[smokeyh2 1,512]

yeah splitterpoint

good band 

still can't beat the best of the best tho

 

 

Edited October 8, 2018 by smokeyh2

[ByeByeBye 1,756]

Holy smokes I just discovered Greta Van Fleet; this stuff is from 2018... 2018!

I guess this is how my dad felt when he discovered Led Zeppelin, it's 1970 all over again.

 

 

I have listened to everything from these guys on YouTube and I like them,, but they don't quite have the raw and raunchy feel of Led Zeppelin.  The kid that is singing has a very very similar voice to Robert Plant...maybe even a better voice, but the instrumental work is not quite as dynamic and seems to rely much on tech wizardry...but it is still damn good, don't get me wrong.  I'd go see these guys in a heartbeat, especially since I never got to see Led Zeppelin play.  In 2018 I'd rather see Greta Van Fleet live than Zeppelin since (most) geriatrics just don't have the edge they once did.   ...good post

Edited October 8, 2018 by ByeByeBye

[ByeByeBye 1,756]

A favorite English song I like better in French

 

I sang Santiano (English version) with my crew all throughout the South Pacific.  We taught it to a bunch of Tahitian friends on Bora Bora and sang it once at a town council meeting in Vavau Tonga in front of about 250 of the town's men.  They always sing at these meetings (kinda sorta church-like) and it is awesome hearing 250 deep male voices sing hymn like music.  

 

This is the only thing I could find on YouTube...It's only about 8 or 10 guys, so it doesn't have even a fraction of the impact of a real Tongan men's choir of 250, but it does show the basic bass to baritone range of the traditional Tonga male vocal music.  They liked us singing Santiano and applauded like mad, but that may have had more to do with the kava we were all drinking and the fact that the palangi (foreigners) were singing for them.  :)

 

Edited October 8, 2018 by ByeByeBye

[smokeyh2 1,512]

probably the most perfect pop song ever written and performed

just stunning

 

Edited October 8, 2018 by smokeyh2

[babyofRosemarysbaby 256]

 

 

 

 

 

[Condensation 481]

[Musa 5,361]

[ByeByeBye 1,756]

 

 

 

 

 

Ooooooo, I love this piece...I never heard it titled Once Upon A Time In Paris before.  Was it used in a movie or something?  I've always heard it as Gymnopédies #1.

 

I first heard it as a kid when it was covered by one of the original fusion bands, Blood Sweat and Tears.  I still think their horn arrangement of it is haunting and full of pathos...maybe even more so than as just a piano solo.  They also do an outrageous arrangement of Satie's Gnossiennes #1, which follows directly on the heels of Gymnopédies ending (1:26).   

 

This video also has a more typical BS&T's tune, Smiling Phases (2:30)...kinda dated sounding mostly due to the singer's highly stylized vocals, but the actual instrumental sections are still spot on after almost 50 years.  

 

 

Also, if you like Once Upon A Time In Paris (Gymnopédies #1), give this 2nd & 3rd variation a listen...they go so well together.  They remind me of split canvas picture on the wall. 

 

If you don't want to take the time to listen to the entire songs, try to pop on like ten seconds of #1 at the beginning, then a few seconds of #2 at the beginning and a few seconds of #3 at the beginning.  You can see how interconnected and well fitted they are to each other...maybe listen to them in their entirety another time.

 

Gymnopédies  #1  #2  &  #3

Gymnopédies #1

Gymnopédies #2

Gymnopédies #3

 

Sorry, I post so much...I know I kinda hog the forum, but I just get so excited about good music.

Edited October 9, 2018 by ByeByeBye

[Condensation 481]

[babyofRosemarysbaby 256]

 

Well since Gymmopedie no.1 is 1/5 of the pieces in the vid and the rest are Gnossienne's I think the video creator took some liberties with the name... although I'm not sure since I haven't really researched Satie outside of just listening. I like the 2nd and 3rd Gymnopedie too good suggestions. The band version wasn't bad, but the vocalist sure was a bit of a relic. Still I do admire the innovativeness.

Also what is this listening to few seconds of a song business you suggest? And apologizing for posting too much? Come on, I think we all like your posts. I've been listening to Rising Appalachia ever since that post and you just made me remember Stromae exists. You don't have to act like you are somehow burdening us.