Wednesday, May 09, 2007
"a celebratory mountain of notes"
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Son of Tofu Hut is a collaboration with The King Open School of Cambridge, Massachusetts. King Open is a mix of races, ethnicities, social class and nationalities; a melting pot of opinions and perspectives. I've been sending discs of music to King Open to have them played to a class of seventh and eighth graders; the kids give them a listen once or twice and then write a brief critique of what they've heard. I'll be compiling their responses to present you with music, links (when available) and lightly edited (spelling and obvious typing errors are corrected, grammar and slang is not) teenagers' responses.
Clifford Brown and Max Roach - 'Daahoud'
John sez: Man, you just forget when you listen to Cliff Brown how goldurned YOUNG this cat was. To believe that he was not twenty-four when he composed and performed 'Daahoud' is a straight-up mind boggler. The mastery of the horn and the impact that kid left behind after no more than four years playing is stunning; it's a terrible tragedy that we didn't get to hear him at forty, at sixty, at seventy...
'Daahoud' is a total standard now and, along with 'Joy Spring', one of Clifford's best known composition. The apple-tart quality of Brown's bright, slightly fuzzy intonation on his feather-soft and labyrinth-complex trumpet solos slays me every time. It's insanely deep and emotive as hell and purely joyful.
ANYONE reading this who has not yet had opportunity to fully ingest the wonder of the 'Clifford Brown and Max Roach' album really MUST go get it now; as much as any album has left a permanent footprint on my taste and love for music, that one has.
VISIT A CLIFF FAN PAGE
READ ABOUT CLIFF (1)
READ ABOUT CLIFF (2)
WATCH CLIFF LIVE
EXPLORE CLIFFORD'S DISCOGRAPHY
REMEMBERING CLIFF
READ MORE ABOUT IT (I liked this book, BTW)
LEARN 2 PLAY LIKE CLIFF (1)
LEARN 2 PLAY LIKE CLIFF (2)
GIVE BACK IN CLIFF'S NAME
Student 1: This song reminds me of the blues. I like the drum solo. I would like to learn how to drum real good. Do you know how to drum? Do you? If you do, then teach me.
Student 2: Oooooh! Very swingy! I like this a lot. The percussion is just perfect and the trumpet is great! I feel like I'm at a chic bar eating shrimp cocktail and sipping a martini from a fancy glass. I can almost see the waiters rushing by to serve Donald Trump and his wife their $10,000 food. I would definitely put this on on my iPod.
Student 3: This sounds like the blues and I have to tell you I dont like the blues when they are slow. I don't like this because I think this song will put me to sleep. When I listen to music, I want to dance to it and when I do I'm happy with that. WHEN MY TEACHER SNAPS HER FINGERS it is like my grandparents dancing to this. This is good for my mom and higher but not for me. Sorry!
READ ABOUT MAX
WATCH MAX WORK OUT
LISTEN to Cliff and Roach rip up 'Cherokee'
Student 4: At the begining of this, it sounds like you are at a very fancy rich party. I don't like jazzy music, because it's too slow. I'm all bout the fast music!! This song has no singer in it. It's the kind where you just hear a bunch of music and just meditate.
Student 5: Sounds like the kind of music I would hear at a jazz festival. I don't like jazz. It's too.... uneven? No. That's not the word I'm looking for. Hmm.... something like uneven, but not. I can't think of the right word. It's not coming to my head. This kind of song might also be heard at some kind of restaurant that has colorful lights and nice tables where you can eat or just have a drink and the people there are all dressed up in formal, fancy clothes.
Student 6: What a funny name for a jazz song. Why would the creators of this song name this piece with that name? I must say that I am a big fan of jazz, whether it is modern, smooth or back to the greats like Ray Charles. I feel jazz has that calming feeling and expresses emotion other than with words. Sometimes I think that jazz can be more POWERFUL than speech. [ Depends on the quality of the song though.] Amazing too that Jazz artists can play music without recording it down. Now for what I envision in the song. Hmmmmm.... I just see those college cafes that always have the young artists playing all the instruments like the saxophone, piano, you know....
AMAZON Clifford Brown and Max Roach
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AWESOME CLIFF AND MAX ALBUM
LISTEN 2 MORE CLIFF AND MAX
Student 7: This song has no lyrics to it. It is a jazz. There is drums, trumpet and I think there is a piano. It feels like this is a good song to dance to and just have fun with it. I think this song has so much feeling that i can listen to it all day.
Student 8: I like the jazzy tune. I also like the saxophone, the piano and the drum solo. I think this is like something you would find in an underground jazz club in downtown Boston or New York. I really like this type of music.
Student 9: Jazzy time .......................oh well. I'm not that much of a fan. This song would be great to go with a troublesome scene in a bazaar movie. Oops... I mean bizarre.
If you'd like to leave any questions or comments for me or for any of the students who are helping contribute to the Tofu Hut, feel free to do so in the comments section, but PLEASE keep the criticism constructive and to a minimum; we're all just starting to write together and it's gonna take us a little while to get comfortable.
Labels: jazz, son of tofu hut
