Veritable Flabby Preludes (for a Dog)

Five Grins or Mona Lisa's Moustache

Sketches and Exasperations of A Big Boob Made of Wood

Menus for Childish Purposes

All are titles by the classical composer Eric Satie (1866-1925).  Is he a little eccentric?  Yes!  THIS ARTICLE makes a pretty good case for Satie as the first modern composer.  He's using modes, working the tritones, chord planing, he even has a cool nickname..."The Velvet Gentleman".  A lot of this stuff sounds modern even today, almost 100 years later.  If you haven't checked him out, he's a guy that influenced a lot of jazz musicians when he was semi rediscovered in the 60's by guys like Bill Evans and John Cage.  CLICK HERE for a summary of Satie, the man and his music, there are even some sound clip on there for you to hip yourself to.

The subject is...Jazz!

I am heavy on George Russell these days, so I'd like to share this with you.  It's funny listening to this because I feel like a lot of what you hear on this would be considered "modern" today.  Start listening at 6:10, and dig the groove.  To say George Russell the arranger and composer was ahead of his time is a major understatement.  If you like this, seek out "George Russell - Jazz Workshop."  I'm listening to this non-stop these days.  Even if you don't like the songs on the album, you've got Bill Evans on Piano, Barry Galbraith on Guitar, Paul Motian on drums, Milt Hinton on bass, Art Farmer on Trumpet, Hal McKusick on sax.  I especially like how George Russell says at 11:10 that tonally it is an unadventurous piece.  His book "Lydian Chromatic Concepts of Tonal Organization"  changed the landscape of jazz.  Tonal Gravity!    He gives a brief explanation of that here at 11:30.

Everybody digs Bill Evans! You might too.

This is Bill Evans, one of the greatest jazz pianists who ever lived playing a tune called "Waltz for Debby". Bill is known largely as a master of the inner voicings in chords - meaning he adds tension notes to chords that are not quite as cliche as in standard voicings. He also moves from chord to chord in interesting ways, creating melodic lines that most professional pianists would have to sit down and write out in order to play. He does it at light speed, which adds to his charm. Check out how they listen to one another, and compliment each other's playing.