listening assignment

Miles Davis: so what- the beginning was slow and minimal. The saxophones brought the music to life. The background music sounded like elevator music and was repetitive but the focus was on the saxophones which changed over time giving the music feeling and character and almost a narrative. The different solos made the song almost new and added a new element.

Parliament Funkadelic: Mothership Connection- The album was groovy. The tempo wasn’t very fast but the music was still very upbeat and uplifting. The vocals gave the music something unique and took the album to another level. It wasn’t the lyrics however it was like the vocals where another instrument .This album made want to dance I can see why it would be sampled so much. I could hear some jazz influence but I guess you could say that to every song.  

Charles Mingus: The Chill of Death- Frankenstein was the first thing that came to mind then the twilight zone.  The music was very familiar and I am assuming this has been most sampled in movies. I had some fun with it and started pretending a was Dracula while listening to it. Once the narrative stooped and the saxophones started I was a bit confused. I’ve never heard saxophones being used like this and it’s probably because I haven’t been exposed to it before but it sounded off.

James Brown: The Big Payback- this reminded me a little of Parliament Funkadelic with hip hop mixed into it.  The music wasn’t as uplifting as funkadelic but it was still dance worthy. His voice gave the song a good edge feel to it. The song was about revenge but it was strangely very uplifting. The end was unexpected and it felt off compared to the rest of the music.

John Coltrane: My Favorite things- I immediately recognized the melody from “the sound of music my favorite things”. The music is so jazzy im disappointed they changed it so much for the sound of music. The song was very relaxing and chill for a typical jazz experience. It was enjoyable and sounded of childlike wonder and magic.