Video of the day - my/maSCENA

Kendrick Lamar

Video of the Day – Kendrick Lamar King Kunte Groove Sessions

By Weiyu Dang on 20 July 2016 Popular Music, Scena Jazz, Video of the day

Native son of Compton, Kendrick Lamar has taken the mantle of west coast king from mentor Dr. Dre in recent years with modern classics as Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City and To Pimp a Butterfly. Lamar, known as the paragon of a consummate rapper, takes advice and inspiration from a medley of sources from the Motown vibes of the Isley Brothers, the modal musings of Miles Davis, and the trap sounds of the Atlanta rap scene. The King Kunte Groove Sessions continued his jazz-rap period, marked by Butterfly, one of few rap albums featuring live instrumentation in favour of sampling and…

Songhoy Blues, Photo Andy Morgan

Video of the Day – Songhoy Blues Tiny Desk Concert

By Weiyu Dang on 19 July 2016 Scena Jazz, Video of the day, Vocal Jazz, World Music

In an interesting mix of West African Songhoy lyrics and electric guitar blues, the four member Songhoy Blues play trance-like grooves that shouldn’t be relegated into ‘fusion’ or ‘world’ music just because they aren’t western. From Mali, the Songhoy Blues play what they call ‘desert blues’ to capture the nostalgia and dislocation caused by wartime migration. Their droning guitar riffs and lyrical strains build into an infectious swelter, while the drum beats and guitar solos can’t help but raise heartbeats and get feet tapping. Video of the Day: Songhoy Blues – NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Apple Music

Video of the Day – Apple Music

By Weiyu Dang on 18 July 2016 Popular Music, Video of the day

On this day in 2005, iTunes sold their 500,000,000th song. Started in 1998 under the name Soundjam, iTunes has become the dominant medium of music consumption in the present world. The aesthetically suave and user-friendly interface coupled with its native compatibility with iconic devices as iPods and iPhones make iTunes a pioneer and staple of digital music use. In 2015, Apple started its streaming service Apple Music on iTunes to launch into the burgeoning streaming industry by featuring exclusive album releases. Apple Music

Esperanza Spalding

Video of the Day – Esperanza Spalding “Rest in Pleasure”

By Weiyu Dang on 15 July 2016 Popular Music, Scena Jazz, Video of the day, Vocal Jazz

Winner of the Grammy for best new artist in 2011, bassist, composer, singer Esperanza Spalding stands as one of the strongest young voices in the jazz scene. On her latest album, Emily’s D+Evolution, Spalding brings an eclectic fusion of Joni Mitchell style delivery, harmonically unique pop, and stylish rock punk. The use of foot pedals and electric bass departs from the earlier acoustic sound to create a warping soundscape that wraps up the listener in a series of loops and reverbs. In the following video, the more progressive and breathy style meshes well with the overly theatrical costumes and stage…

Jon Batiste, Photo Betsy Newman

Video of the Day – Jon Batiste Teaches How to Piano

By Weiyu Dang on 14 July 2016 Mainstream Jazz, Piano, Scena Jazz, Video of the day

Everyone wants to impress their friends on an instrument. Thanks to New Orleans jazz pianist Jon Batiste, you can learn the basics of piano in 9 Easy Steps. After following these instructions, you too can play like the award-winning Stay Human bandlander. Topics discussed include: how to care for your your piano, theory basics, and jazz harmony. Jon Batiste Teaches You How to Play Piano

Thelonius Monk

Video of the Day – Joshua Redman and James Carter

By Weiyu Dang on 13 July 2016 Mainstream Jazz, Scena Jazz, Video of the day

In this absolutely fire video, Joshua Redman and James Carter throw almost every saxophone technique possible at the Thelonius Monk standard “Straight, No Chaser.” From the highest altissimo notes imaginable to growling at the deepest, bluesiest ranges of the horn, the two former young lions of jazz go at each other shot for shot in an enthralling improvisation battle. On an extend band break, the two jab at each, laugh at each other, growl at each other, honk at each other all with saxophones to create one of the highest energy jazz performances on Youtube. Joshua Redman, James Carter –…

Conrad Tao

Video of the Day – Conrad Tao covers Beyoncé’s ‘Blue’ on Piano

By Weiyu Dang on 12 July 2016 Contemporary, Piano, Popular Music, Video of the day

At age 22, Conrad Tao has won honours ranging from the Davidson Fellow Laureate to the being the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Artist-in-residence for 2015–2016. In today’s video of the day, Tao takes on his match in the popular music world by covering Beyoncé’s ‘Blue’ off the singer’s 2014 album, Beyoncé. Conrad Tao – “Blue (Beyoncé cover)”

Caroline Shaw & Vanessa Goodman

Video of the Day – Caroline Shaw & Vanessa Goodman

By Weiyu Dang on 11 July 2016 Contemporary, Dance, Video of the day

Youngest winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Caroline Shaw is primarily a violinist, but composes primarily for contemporary, cutting edge chorale, drawing on eclectic forms of folk vocal music. In this multimedia duet with modern dancer, Vancouver’s Vanessa Goodman, Shaw sings various vocal strains that she records and layers with a loop machine. The resulting show is a polyphonic modern vocal fugue that’s matched, in black and white with Goodman’s lithe dance harmony. Caroline Shaw & Vanessa Goodman, Improvisation

Alessio Bax

Video of the Day – Lullabies with Alessio Bax

By Weiyu Dang on 8 July 2016 Piano, Video of the day

In an adorable edition of “Tiny Desk Concert,” Italian classical pianist Alessio Bax plays classics by Bach, Brahms, and Rachmaninoff of his CD Lullabies for Mila in an attempt to lull the 22-month Mila to sleep. The first piece is the performer’s own transcription of the familiar Bach tune “Sheeps May Safely Graze.” The bright piano timbre however seems to amuse Mila more than anything as she gives more attention to her Cookie Monster plush doll. Brahms Waltz Op. 39 in A-flat, the second piece featuring Bax’s wife Lucille Chung, works better to hush Mila with its graceful trills. The…

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah

Video of the Day – Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – “K.K.P.D.”

By Weiyu Dang on 7 July 2016 Experimental Jazz, Scena Jazz, Video of the day

New Orleans trumpet player Christian Scott is the driving force behind Stretch Music, a genre that aims to “stretch” jazz’s structural foundations to coalesce various forms of cultures and experiences into a new, comprehensive emotional complex. On “K.K.P.D (Ku Klux Police Department),” Scott and his band transform Scott’s emotions and thoughts after being assaulted and harassed by New Orleans police into a sprawling display, bursting at the seams with power. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – “K.K.P.D.”

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