Okay. What is the best jazz guitar piece Bill has done? I'm referring to strick jazz, not the Pink Buddha ish bluesy playing. Nothing where you really have to think, "Is that jazz?" Just give me his BEST jazz!
I only could hear two of the suggestions. The closest seems She Swings Skirt which is a little like Django Reinhart's Hot Club jazz. A little slower and moody.
Here are a few more suggestions for you to check out, off the top of my head. (I'm no musician/music theorist, so I might be totally wrong, but I think of these as jazz guitar):
Here Comes Mr Mercury (title track from the album)
La Vie Moderne from 'Silvertone Fountains'She Swings Skirt from 'Rosewood'
And another one popped into my head - Transoceanic from 'The Romance of Sustain'. Haven't heard that one for quite a while, but it seemed jazzy to me at the time - and pretty awesome! (I'm still trying to remember which track was the jazzy one I remember from 'Trial By Intimacy'). I'm sure there are several more.
I found the track I had in mind from the 'Trial By Intimacy' box set - it's A Promise of Perfume from 'A Catalogue of Obsessions'. (Closer in proximity to the acoustic track from 'Rosewood' I mentioned, guitar low-key and jazzy).
There are several I'd class as "jazz guitar" if pushed to categorise - going back quite a way (at least one lovely example on the 'Trial By Intimacy' box set, as I recall). Too big an exercise to go back through scores of albums to find them all - I'll leave that to the person(s) interested! Remember: absolutist category games are for suckers.
Trial by Intimacy sound like a 80s project. I too, am not going to dig back. So far Pink Buddha is the only contender with a strong line for a guitar piece. But it's bluesy. People remember that because it is memorable. If there could be something as strong and memorable as that, that is jazzy.
It's on Mazda Kaleidoscope, but I don't know if you would consider it to be definitively jazz. I think of it as a laid back jazz number and great for a night drive.
There is a hint of jazz drums, but it's mostly ambient in the key of C major with one note off in the G mixolydian mode part, with some Rock a Billie licks and lush outros. Speaking of "Rock A Billie" there is a great title should Bill do just that type of music. But to my ear this is still not what I'm looking for. The closest thing so far is the Japanese "Return to Jazz of Lights" but it hints and there is nothing like a jazz guitar piece.
Thank you, Alec. Your intentions were good. I heard two pieces, but they don't sound like jazz to my ear. The Awakening of Dr. Dream has a nice shimmery rocker sound. The last two pieces I couldn't access. I'm thinking of conventional-sounding jazz, something with Bebop lines or Fusion or Bossa Nova/Latin, chromatic phrasing, and alt harmony.
I'm thinking of conventional-sounding jazz, something with Bebop lines or Fusion or Bossa Nova/Latin, chromatic phrasing, and alt harmony.
Well you're probably in the wong place, then 😉 Surely the whole point of Bill's music is that it's not "strictly" anything - jazz, blues, rock, Mongolian throat singing, etc. And why stick labels on everything, anyway?
@Perfect Monster I know he does a lot of different things, but I'm looking for a jazz guitar piece where you don't have to question if it's jazz or not. I'm thinking if he gives us one piece that is jazz guitar from beginning to end. Maybe that would be a novelty for the man who loves constant novelty and difference.
C'mon people, I can't believe there is not one guitar jazz piece that can be recommended! But maybe there isn't. Bill fashions himself as a jazz guy and there is some jazzy stuff… but no strict guitar piece! Here is an opportunity, no doubt. If he wrote something he could do Music for Small Rooms.
Thanks for that, but I'm thinking more about his instrumentals. I'm thinking of a strictly jazzy guitar piece where the focus is on his playing. A modern piece might be like this piece.
I only could hear two of the suggestions. The closest seems She Swings Skirt which is a little like Django Reinhart's Hot Club jazz. A little slower and moody.
Here are a few more suggestions for you to check out, off the top of my head. (I'm no musician/music theorist, so I might be totally wrong, but I think of these as jazz guitar):
Here Comes Mr Mercury (title track from the album)
La Vie Moderne from 'Silvertone Fountains' She Swings Skirt from 'Rosewood'
There are several I'd class as "jazz guitar" if pushed to categorise - going back quite a way (at least one lovely example on the 'Trial By Intimacy' box set, as I recall). Too big an exercise to go back through scores of albums to find them all - I'll leave that to the person(s) interested! Remember: absolutist category games are for suckers.
It's on Mazda Kaleidoscope, but I don't know if you would consider it to be definitively jazz. I think of it as a laid back jazz number and great for a night drive.
Evening Illuminator is a good one.
Thank you, Alec. Your intentions were good. I heard two pieces, but they don't sound like jazz to my ear. The Awakening of Dr. Dream has a nice shimmery rocker sound. The last two pieces I couldn't access. I'm thinking of conventional-sounding jazz, something with Bebop lines or Fusion or Bossa Nova/Latin, chromatic phrasing, and alt harmony.
The Light Fantastic from The Awakening of Dr. Dream
Selectatone from Dazzlebox
Shining Reflector from Shining Reflector
A Lovely Dazzle from Loom
C'mon people, I can't believe there is not one guitar jazz piece that can be recommended! But maybe there isn't. Bill fashions himself as a jazz guy and there is some jazzy stuff… but no strict guitar piece! Here is an opportunity, no doubt. If he wrote something he could do Music for Small Rooms.
Thanks for that, but I'm thinking more about his instrumentals. I'm thinking of a strictly jazzy guitar piece where the focus is on his playing. A modern piece might be like this piece.
You can hear a jazz influence running through quite a lot of Bill's music.
For something that is more standard jazz, I've always been very fond of
'Jean Cocteau', from Futurama...great little solo.
Here it is, for some younger/new fans who may not have heard it, and a good enough excuse for us oldies to have another listen..🙂