Joey Alexander, an 11-year-old jazz sensation on piano, was discovered in Jakarta, Indonesia, about three years ago. He then moved with his parents to New York, where he’s become a well known name in the jazz scene. Now the jazzpiano prodigy has just released his debut album ‘My Favorite Things’.
Tag Archives: jazz
For those funky lines and great soulgrooves… MonoNeon! (my favourite bass player on YT)
Gosh, I really love this guy’s playing. I embedded only two examples here, but he has tons of stuff on his YouTubechannel. It’s Dywane Thomas Jr., as an artist going by the name of ‘MonoNeon’. He’s a young bass player from the United States. I found his videos a year ago on YouTube.
Yes, once I stumbled upon his channel I couldn’t of course miss his funny colourful presentation and his peculiar way of playing (and dressing up) his instrument – while being right handed, Dywane plays a right-handed bass guitar upside down with the left hand! – but right from the start I was infatuated by his bass playing alone. Awesome funky lines and soulgrooves all over the place.
It’s also obvious from MonoNeon’s videos that he’s an adventurous musician, looking for ways to try out new things and further develop his playing. Outside of his blues- soul- and funky homebase his playing of other genres is also pretty amazing. He knows his Zappa and his Coltrane and he even does a few videos where microtonal playing is involved, ranging from Indian raga-related to modern Western stuff.
I made a YouTube-playlist with a great selection of his videos, you can play my playlist from here. Otherwise, you can of course also visit his channel. This dude’s playing is a real delight, so check out what he’s got in store for you. Enjoy!
Elina Duni presents her new ECM-release ‘Matanë Malit’
The exceptional musical energy of Magma exemplified in ‘Zombies’
Earlier on I highlighted Christian Vander’s Magma here on my website. I thought it would be nice to share another fine example of the band’s exceptional energy. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed and highly admired the music of Magma since my high school days. Christian Vander’s music, mostly created in the 1970’s, sounds unique and timeless. For those unfamiliar with the band, watch this powerful performance of ‘Zombies’ – recorded in 2005 – and you’ll probably grasp what’s so special about Magma.
Shankar Tucker conquers a world audience via YouTube
I’ve been tracking down his uploads ever since I noticed his presence on YouTube early this year. Shankar Tucker is quite a phenomenal guy who has conquered a world audience by storm via his YouTubechannel in less than a year.
One of Shankar Tucker’s videos: Sapnon se Bhare Naina, with singer Rohini Ravada
Shankar Tucker plays the clarinet and a handful of other instruments and is interested in Indian Classical music and Indian folk music traditions. He incorporates these different styles with elements of Jazz, Electronic, Classical and Pop in his compositions. He spends a lot of time in India, where he studies Hindustani music on clarinet with flute-bansuri player Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia. So far Shankar Tucker’s channel has featured collaborations with a bunch of great singers, such as Mahesh Vinayakram, Aditya Rao, Rohan Kymal, Vidya and Vandana Iyer and Nirali Kartik.
Here’s a link to the Hindustan Times writing about him in September 2011, a.o. things saying: “(..) a student of flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia at the Brindaban Gurukul in Mumbai, he has picked the clarinet over flute”. And then, so funny what follows: “(..) he disclosed in an interview to an Indian Express that his guru doesn’t even know about his fusion experiments.” :))
Wonderful music of the Zoe Rahman Trio
Below four pictures I took of pianist/keyboardplayer Zoe Rahman at Roots Open Air 2009 in Amsterdam, while she was playing with the band of Natacha Atlas. Only recently I found out she’s also a very good jazz pianist, making her own music, beautiful music! She’s Irish with Bengali cultural and family roots, a mixed background which fits her nicely – I think – in Natacha Atlas’s band 🙂 Below also three YouTube-videos of the Zoe Rahman Trio, featuring in two of the clips Zoe’s brother Idris, who does the beautiful sensuous clarinet playing.
(Zoe Rahman / photo: Pieter de Rooij)
(Zoe Rahman / photo: Pieter de Rooij)
(Zoe Rahman / photo: Pieter de Rooij)
(Zoe Rahman / photo: Pieter de Rooij)
Superb group sound and fabulous musicianship : best clip of Magma on YouTube (imho)
This is such an amazing clip, great display of a superb group sound and fabulous musicianship, imo the best clip of Magma on YouTube. Leading roles here for the guitarist and of course group leader and phenomenal drummer Christian Vander. An electrifying performance!
Bill Evans – Spring is here
Bill Evans speelt ‘Spring is here’. Werkt even zo goed op oor en gemoed in andere jaargetijden…
Art Tatum : a virtuoso in extremis
He had an encyclopedic memory for baseball statistics, otherwise he was at the piano. Art Tatum, a virtuoso in extremis.
De Concertzender: muziek van topkwaliteit uit alle periodes en alle richtingen!
Voor elk wat wils bij de Concertzender. Zoals de kraan water geeft, zo geeft de Concertzender muziek. Muziek van topkwaliteit uit alle periodes en richtingen. Kijk maar es naar onderstaande promo.