Charlie Parker

Charlie Parker grew up listening to music.
Charlie Parker (1920-1955) spent his childhood in Kansas City, Missouri, one of the hottest jazz spots in the country. Seeking jobs as a song and dance man, his father moved the family there to find work. Unable to find a job, Charlie's dad left to go work on the railroad. He had to travel long distances and was gone a lot of the time. In the end, he left the family altogether and Charlie's mom had to provide for the two of them. Some times, she worked two or three jobs to give Charlie everything he needed and wanted. When his mom worked at night, Charlie would go out and listen to jazz around town.
He learned to play the sax but it wasn't easy.
Charlie started playing an alto saxophone when he was twelve years old. He taught himself by listening to jazz musicians. He was able to play music and joined his first band when he was 14. Because he never had lessons or formal training, he often struggled playing music. Eventually, with proper training and practice Charlie mastered the basics. He memorized the records made by the tenor saxophonist Lester Young, until he could play them all from memory. Charlie claimed that he practiced up to 14 hours a day until he could play anything he wanted.
Charlie was different from other high school students.
Unlike other high school kids, Charlie spent his days practicing his sax and preparing for his performances with swing bands. At night, he would often visit Kansas City's jazz clubs to see famous performers. He was passionate about music as a young man.
Charlie wanted to play new sounds and rhythms.
Charlie moved to New York City after a short stay in Chicago. He found work playing in swing bands but started experimenting with his own style of playing. Late at night, he would gather with other musicians who to wanted to play fast-paced, fiery music. This jazz style would later become known as bebop.
Bebop was challenging and energetic.
At first many of the older jazz artists and fans disliked bebop. The unpredictable beats and lengthy improvisations departed from the smoother rhythms of swing music. For swing fans, jazz was music for dancing. Unlike swing, bebop was powerful music for listening. Its melodies and harmonies were more complex than the great majority of the music that preceded it.
Charlie was a brilliant musician.
Charlie was the genius behind bebop. The exciting pace and expressive solos of bebop won over the musical community. Other jazz musicians desired to play like Charlie. Luckily, he made many great recordings, and even played with a large group of violins, violas and cellos. To this day, much of jazz's language comes from what Charlie Parker played. Unfortunately, Charlie started using drugs and alcohol as a teenager in Kansas City and became addicted as an adult. His long time use of alcohol and heroin took over his life. Sadly, Charlie died when he was just 34 years old, a time when many artists are in their peak years.

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Best of Smooth Jazz

Best of Smooth Jazz




1. Maputo - Bob James/David Sanborn
2. Hippies On A Corner - Joe Sample
3. We're In This Love Together - Al Jarreau
4. Breezin' - George Benson
5. Daddy's Gonna Miss You - Yellowjackets
6. Rio De Janeiro Blue - Randy Crawford
7. Angela (Theme From 'Taxi') - Bob James
8. Midnight In San Juan - Earl Klugh
9. The Dream - David Sanborn
10. No Rhyme, No Reason - George Duke
11. 101 Eastbound - Fourplay
12. The Lady Wants To Know - Michael Franks
13. Nothin' But Love - Boney James

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Jazz - A Film By Ken Burns

Jazz - A Film By Ken Burns




Accompanied by a menagerie of products, Ken Burns's expansive 10-episode paean, Jazz, completes his trilogy on American culture, following The Civil War and Baseball. Spanning more than 19 hours, Jazz is, of course, about a lot more than what many have called America's classical music--especially in episodes 1 through 7. It's here that Burns unearths precious visual images of jazz musicians and hangs historical narratives around the music with convincing authority. Time can stand still as images float past to the sound of grainy vintage jazz, and the drama of a phonograph needle being placed on Louis Armstrong's celestial "West End Blues" is nearly sublime.

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The film is also potent in arguing that the history of race in the 20th-century U.S. is at jazz's heart. But a few problems arise. First is Burns's reliance on Wynton Marsalis as his chief musical commentator. Marsalis might be charming and musically expert, but he's no historian. For the film to devote three of its episodes to the 1930s, one expects a bit more historical substance. Also, Jazz condenses the period of 1961 to the present into one episode, glossing over some of the music's giant steps. Burns has said repeatedly that he didn't know much about jazz when he began this project. So perhaps Jazz, for all its glory, would better be called Jazz: What I've Learned Since I Started Listening (And I Haven't Gotten Much Past 1961). For those who are already passionate about jazz, the film will stoke debate (and some derision, together with some reluctant praise). But for everyone else, it will amaze and entertain and kindle a flame for some of the greatest music ever dreamed.-Andrew Bartlett

DVD features
The DVD version of Jazz offers a "music information" mode, in which the title of a song is displayed when it is played in the film. Pressing the Title button jumps the viewer out of the film to a screen that lists that song's composer, performers (including all band members, not just the headliner), year of recording, and album and record company information when applicable (and no, all the credits are not to the series' own CDs). Another click of the Title button returns the viewer to the film. When music information mode is turned off, song titles are not displayed but the Title button still accesses the song credits. Each DVD's scene-selection menu lists only the 10 subchapters, but in fact each song is individually tracked (50 to 80 tracks per DVD).

The DVD set also includes three full-length performances not seen in the film: Louis Armstrong's "I Cover the Waterfront" from 1933, Duke Ellington's "C Jam Blues" from 1942, and Miles Davis's "New Rhumba" from 1959. Finally, the 16-minute documentary "Making of Jazz" provides insight into the production of the film. Ken Burns and producer Lynn Novick (who both admit their lack of musical training) discuss their process of researching and collecting materials, Wynton Marsalis mentions how he suggested to Burns the topic of jazz after the trumpeter became a fan of The Civil War, and narrator Keith David is shown recording his lines.-David Horiuchi

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Smooth Jazz at Midnight

Smooth Jazz at Midnight




Features:

1. Everette Harp f/Brian Bromberg - Rock With You
2. Urban Knights - Dancing Angel
3. Chuck Loeb - Right Down Broadway
4. Jeff Lorber - Snakebite
5. Richard Elliot - Moomba
6. Peter White - Caravan of Dreams
7. Jeff Kashiwa - Power of Midnight
8. Spyro Gyra - Westwood Moon
9. Euge Groove - Sneak A Peek
10. Joyce Cooling - Callie
11. Shilts - There's No Wonder
12. Steve Reid - Pillow Talk

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I Wayan Balawan..The Magic Finger from Bali

If America have Lee Ritenour as “captain finger”. Indonesia have young talented “the magic finger” I Wayan Balawan.

Born in Bali - Indonesia 9 September 1973, I Wayan Balawan, Grew up amongst Balinese gamelan music. At age of 8 he began to play guitar and start his first band in the age of 14. He can plays rock guitar virtuoso style like Yngwie Malmsteen since he was 10 years old.

In 1993 he went to Sydney and got a scholarship to study jazz at the Australian Institute Of Music for two years. He went back to Bali in 1997 and form Batuan Ethnic Fusion (A mix of Balinese Gamelan and Jazz) and released one album in 1999.

He is versatile guitarist that play many styles of music, and a great solo performer. He has developed the ability to play a special and difficult form of tapping which involves chord and bass work with the left hand and tapped melody with the right hand, which resembles piano playing.

In his second solo album, now under label Sony-BMG Music Indonesia, titled, BALAWAN - MAGIC FINGERS, he proved his greatest skill in guitar playing.
Magic Fingers is also ruly a showcase of Balinese guitarist Iwayan Balawan ability in arranging , composing and his unique blend of musical styles which collaborating between great guitar playing mix with the traditional instruments of Bali.

Balawan is now considered as one of famous favourite jazz guitarist in Indonesia.

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Incognito's Album

In their "jazz journey, Incognito have launched many album. Most of them got succes in USA, Europe even Asia.

• 1981 Jazz Funk
• 1991 Inside Life
• 1992 Jazzfunk
• 1992 Tribes, Vibes and Scribes
• 1993 Positivity
• 1995 100° And Rising
• 1996 Remixed
• 1997 Beneath The Surface
• 1997 Blue Moods
• 1999 No Time Like The Future
• 2000 Future Remixed
• 2000 The Best
• 2001 Life, Stranger Than Fiction
• 2002 Who Needs Love
• 2004 Adventures in Black Sunshine
• 2005 Eleven
• 2005 Let The Music Play
• 2006 Bees + Things + Flowers

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The sexy one..Michael Buble

Born 9 September 1975, Michael Steven Bublé is a critically acclaimed Grammy-nominated, multiple Juno Award-winning Canadian crooner, big band singer and actor. While achieving modest chart success in the United States, his 2003 self-titled album has reached the top ten in Canada, the UK and Australia. In 2004, a live album and video called Come Fly with Me was listed on the Billboard music video charts and reached Australia's top 40 album charts. He reached commercial success in the U.S. with It's Time. He currently lives in Vancouver. His third album, Call Me Irresponsible, was released on May 1, 2007, with the first single from that album, Everything, reaching success on the adult contemporary charts. He has sold over 12 million albums.

One of his singles hits, is Sway an old swing jazz that can be perfomed by him perfectly…

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