Blog #2

Benny Goodman- Sing, Sing, Sing

    Benny Goodman was an American big band leader and clarinetist who from 1936 to the mid-1940s led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. Goodman's bands started the careers of many jazz musicians. During an era of racial segregation, he led one of the first integrated jazz groups, his quartet, and quintet. He is most famous for his performance at Carnegie Hall in 1938 and the live recording of it is deemed to be "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music" (Eder, AllMusic), and was the first jazz album to sell over a million copies. Benny Goodman would be considered by many to be a virtuoso and is still known as the "King of Swing" for his contributions to jazz and big band music. Additionally, this piece features Gene Krupa playing the drums which was his groundbreaking performance and gave a unique addition to jazz numbers that weren't there previously. Also, Harry James was put on the map for his trumpet performance.

    This piece is meaningful to me because my dad is a huge jazz fan. We have a Miles Davis poster in our dining room and records of Dave Brubeck and John Coltrane all over the house. Listening to this piece just reminds me of the music that my dad has played so frequently in my house, and I think this is one of the best jazz standards that I have ever listened to.

    

    The musical elements of this piece are of a wide variety due to the length of the piece and the varying instruments. The range of this song is very wide, with the low pulsing drums of Gene Krupa being prominent in one second and Harry James's blasting trumpet being featured in the next. As a result of these gaps, the melody would be described as conjunct. The key is in D minor. At a tempo of 113 beats per minute, meaning it is moderato. The rhythm is very much articulated by Gene Krupa throughout the performance. The song is in a simple quadruple-time signature. It switches between being polyphonic and homophonic, with background instruments stopping and starting.

Just The Two of Us- Grover Washington, Jr., Bill Withers

    This piece features the magnificent Grover Washington, Jr. on saxophone and Bill Withers on vocals with The Fender Rhodes electric piano, played in the introduction and throughout, performed by Richard Tee. The title of virtuoso of this track can be attributed to both Washington and Withers, with Washington playing a truly epic saxophone solo and Withers's low-key, calm tone punctuated by several ventures into the belting range of his vocals. Overall, this song is seven and a half minutes of outstanding artistry from every musician involved in this song.

    I chose this song because it is one of my favorite songs, and is able to hold my undivided attention for more than twice as long as an average song heard on the radio, which I think makes this song especially impressive. I have a soft spot for any song with woodwinds, but the impressive performance by Grover Washington, Jr. and the beautiful lyrics makes this a song that I often have on repeat. 

    The musical elements of this song also are quite varied because of the various segments of the song. This song has a slower tempo of 96 bpm which makes it andante and is in the A# minor key. It switches between being polyphonic and homophonic, with background instruments stopping and starting at certain points of the song and then reentering later. The rhythm of this song is articulated by various instruments throughout the song, with the saxophone, piano, and Bill Withers's voice all signaling the end of the measure with particular emphasis. An interesting fact about this song is that the tuning of the song is set to around A=444 Hz, as opposed to the standard A=440 Hz tuning, a slight change in the tuning which is the more common tuning standard in continental Europe. This song is in a simple quadruple-time signature.