Pettinhouse

Here’s a preview of WarmJazzFree:

Features:

• 7 Kontakt patches ready to use: 1 patch is dry for amp simulators and 6 patches are amped with the Kontakt effects processor emulating some of the popular guitarist sounds.
• 129 unique samples.
• 3 layers.
• Round robin played – upstroke/Downstroke.
• Release samples for each note.

You can download WarmJazzFree at the Pettinhouse site.

via rekkerd

Ableton Live 8: This is a sneak preview of a new monome app, 7Up Live:

Little teaser of new Melodizer features in SevenUpLive that are currently in development. All I can say is it is very addictive and amazing. You can rip through chords and scales and turn them inside out in a fluid way. The kind of thing you might have spent years learning to do in music theory are at your finger tips. Just the thing to inspire creativity.

7up Live is a Java application that combines 8 different monome applications into one interface.  With it, your monome communicates with Ableton Live 7 via MIDI and allows MLR-like functionality along with other goodies like sliders, sequencing melodies, creating patterns of beats, saving/loading/queueing your songs, and more.

This portrait of synth pioneer Joe Zawinul (Weather Report) comes from 1985.

via EstelDillon:

Keyboard genius and jazz giant Joe Zawinul in rehearsal and conversation one afternoon after Weather Report is put on hold for Joe’s solo tour.

Photographed and edited by Estel Dillon. Produced by Steven Reiner.

This is the teaser video for Kind of Bloop, an 8-bit tribute to Miles Davis’s classic jazz album Kind of Blue, released on the 50th anniversary of the album on August 17, 2009.

Music by chiptune artists ast0r, Virt, Sergeeo, Shnabubula, and Disasterpeace.

I was prepared to hate this album – but after listening to the previews at the album site, I’ve got to admit, it kind of swings.

Digital downloads will be available starting August 20th at the KindOfBloop site.

About the project:

What would the pioneers of jazz sound like on a Nintendo Entertainment System? Coltrane on a C-64? Mingus on Amiga? For years, I’ve wondered what “chiptune jazz” would sound like, but there are only a tiny handful of jazz covers ever made.

To satisfy my curiosity — and commemorate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue” — I’ve asked five brilliant chiptune musicians to collaborate and reinvent the entire album in the 8-bit sound.

The lineup, in alphabetical order:
Ast0r (Chris J. Hampton)
Disasterpeace (Rich Vreeland)
Sergeeo (Sergio de Prado)
Shnabubula (Samuel Ascher-Weiss)
Virt (Jake Kaufman)

This video captures the Berklee College Of Music Piano Department Synthesizer Performance Ensemble at a 2009 student concert, doing a smooth jazz synth jam.

Part 2 below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Synthesizer Performance Ensemble:

• Koichi Komura-Synthesizer
• Yoon Ah Oh- Synthesizer
• Pier Luigi Salami- Synthesizer
• Seonhee Yang- Synthesizer

Ross Ramsay-Faculty Director

via berkleepianodept

Sunday Synth Jam: Torley demonstrates shredding on the virtual flute, shows you his articulation tricks and even explains how to make a kung-fu movie soundtrack along the way.

Some of these tips even work on lame synth flute patches!

See Torley’s site for more synth jamming tips.

Andy Baio has announced a project to create an 8-bit CD version of Miles Davis’ jazz classic Kind Of Blue:

What would the pioneers of jazz sound like on a Nintendo Entertainment System? Coltrane on a C-64? Mingus on Amiga? For years, I’ve wondered what “chiptune jazz” would sound like, but there are only a tiny handful of jazz covers ever made.

To satisfy my curiosity — and commemorate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue” — I’ve asked five brilliant chiptune musicians to collaborate and reinvent the entire album in the 8-bit sound.

The lineup, in alphabetical order:
Ast0r (Chris J. Hampton)
Disasterpeace (Rich Vreeland)
Sergeeo (Sergio de Prado)
Shnabubula (Samuel Ascher-Weiss)
Virt (Jake Kaufman)

I hope to have the entire album download ready for Kind of Blue’s 50th birthday on August 17. (Printing and shipping CDs will take longer.)

The 8-bit take on this jazz classic, Kind Of Bloop, could be epic or awful, but we’ll have to wait until August to know.

Will Kind Of Bloop join its predecessor as one of the ultimate collegiate make-out albums of all-time, or will it be a monstrous carbuncle on the face of an old friend?

Leave a comment with your thoughts!

This video is for Speculativism’s bizarre electronic jazz re-working of The Beatles’ Stg. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The entire album, Some Other Sgt Pepper, is available for free download and is a non-profit artwork.

via Califaudio

This mashup, Five Step, pits Radiohead vs Dave Brubeck (mashup by Overdub).

It works surprisingly well, don’t you think?

Download the MP3 below.

via overdubsound

Sometimes you should just let a dead guy rest.

When the dead guy is Nat King Cole, whose jazz trio recordings of the forties are some of the best that jazz has to offer, you should leave well enough alone.

Doing an album of Nat King Cole remixes, 44 years after his death, is like pissing on his grave.

The forthcoming remix compilation RE: Generations “aims to construct a tuneful bridge between generations, cultures and races. Evocative of a sleek and stylish metrolounge where music and the visual arts converge, RE:Generations honors Nat King Cole’s continued cultural influence around the planet, 90 years after his birth.”

Here’s the list of artists that are aiming “to construct a tuneful bridge between generations, cultures and races” by adding loungy beats and rap overdubs to classic Nat King Cole recordings:

• “Lush Life” (Cee-Lo Green)
  “Straighten Up And Fly Right” (will.i.am Feat. Natalie Cole)
• “Day In Day Out” (Cut Chemist)
• “Brazilian Love Song” (Michaelangelo L’Acqua Feat. Bebel Gilberto)
• “The Game Of Love” (Salaam Remi Feat. Nas)
• “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home” (the Roots)
• “Hit That Jive, Jack!” (Souldiggaz Feat. Izza Kizza)
• “Calypso Blues” (Damien Marley and Stephen Marley)
• “More & More Of Your Amor” (Bitter:Sweet)
• “El Choclo” (Brazilian Girls)
• “Pick-Up” (Just Blaze)
• “Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere” (Amp Fiddler)
• “Nature Boy” (TV On The Radio)

Does the world need a will.i.am remix of Nat King Cole? And does the world need Natalie Cole singing another creepy duet with her long-dead father?

If these guys really want to introduce Nat King Cole’s music to a new generation, shouldn’t they STFU and get the guy some air time, instead of milking his memory to try and make their own music relevant?

Ryo Kawasaki with Guitar Synthesizer

Description:

Ryo Kawasaki plays his guitar synthesizer, accompanied by Lincoln, Buddy & Ilana. A huge rack of guitar synth modules can be seen behind him. 1980 in Tokyo. 

The group is called Ryo Kawasaki & the Golden Dragon.

via Satellite Records

In celebration of this month, I’ve decided to release a free jazz drumset sample library. This sample library features unique and rare drums and cymbals and has an excellent tone suitable for jazz and funk.

You can preview the sample library below:

The library in in Kontakt format, but the .WAV sample files are also included in the download.

via rekkerd

Big Fish Audio has introduced a new sample library, The Jazz City Collection.

Description: Inspired by the classic 1950s and 1960s jazz albums of artists like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and others, Jazz City features 14 construction kits of traditional Jazz loops.

Also included is a substantial amount of extras and alternate loops, bringing the total content to nearly 3 GB in just the WAV format. An array of different ensembles are included, ranging from intimate-sounding jazz trios to quartets, quintets, and sextets.

Contents:

• 14 Construction Kits (1.6 GB of WAV files).
• 1.4 GB of extra and alternative WAV file loops.
• Tempos ranging from 55 to 205 BPM in various keys.

FORMAT: Apple Loops/REX/WAV/Acid/RMX
RETAIL: $99.95

The awesome Pamelia Kurstin performing at TED!

SHe discusses the theremin and performs Autumn Leaves, Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life and a composition by David Mash, Listen: the Words Are Gone. Piano: Makoto Ozone

Born in Los Angeles, Kurstin currently resides in Vienna, and performs with acclaimed eccentric rockers Barbez, among many others. Her latest solo CD, Thinking Out Loud, was released in 2007 on John Zorn’s Tzadik label.

Kurstin is delightful in person and a bit goofy/freaky, too. If you’re brave, she’ll teach you the theremin and cut your hair:

i’m available for private lessons in Vienna or wherever i may be on tour or visiting. if you’re daring, i also give haircuts!

all levels, ages, and creatures are welcome for lessons. for hair cuts, i usually do best with shorter hair. if you have a small dog, it’s totally welcome for hanging out and getting a haircut too… maybe even a bath if i can find a hose outside!

you don’t have to have perfect pitch to play theremin. whoever told you that, i would like to have a word with him/her about this BULLSH*T idea of ‘PERFECT PITCH’… ” hey, psst pssst, think RELATIVE PITCH… and don’t you be fakin’ that headache from something being ‘out of tune’… just shut up!!!” so anyhooo, you don’t have to bring scissors, i have these paper-cutting scissors that work just fine. if you bring your dog, i’ll show you where he can poop outside and you don’t have to pick it up!!!

Fusion jazz pianist, keyboardist, synthesist and composer Joe Zawinul, best known for his work with the group Weather Report, has died at the age of 75. Zawinul died today in Vienna, from a rare form of skin cancer.

Zawinul played with Cannonball Adderly, Dinah Washington and Miles Davis. With Davis, Zawinul helped create the jazz fusion style, and played on Davis classics In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew.

Zawinul is best known for his seventies work with Weather Report. On albums like Heavy Weather, Black Market and I Sing the Body Electric, Zawinul and co-founder Wayne Shorter took jazz fusion to a new level.

Zawinul could usually be found surrounded by a stack of synths, like in the picture below. On classics like Birdland, though, Zawinul showed that he not only had monster chops, but that he was a masterful synthesist and arranger.

While the idea of sequencing jazz seems a little ass-backwards, the collection sounds like it would be right at home in hip-hop tracks or soundtracks. You can preview Jazz Sessions below.

The DVD offers up 3,000 separate WAV files, including instruments such as drums, double bass, fretless bass, brass sections, flute solos, trumpets, trombones, acoustic and electric guitar, piano, Hammond and Rhodes samples.

Tech Specs:

One Data DVD Package for PC/Mac featuring over 5,000 copyright-free Jazz samples, 3,042 Acidised Wav files, 1,858 Rex2 Loops, and 11 Patches for NNXT, Halion, Kontakt, and EXS24. It’s also ready to use with Stylus RMX, Ableton Live and Cakewalk SFZ compatible samplers. The DVD is both Mac and PC compatible and will work with nearly all music software packages.

Sample content:

450 Swinging Jazz Drum Loops, 130 Percussion Loops, 160 Single Jazz Drum Samples, 200+ Double Bass Samples, 140 Fretless Bass Parts, 46 Brass Stabs, 160 Smoking Brass Section Riffs, 130 Flute Riffs, 110 Sax Riffs, 100+ Trombone Parts, 150 Trumpet Solo Sections, 170 Electric Guitar Riffs, 260 Electric Guitar Solo Parts, 40 Nylon Guitar Loops, 96 Hammond Loops, 56 Old Jazz Piano Samples, 128 Piano Loops, 100+ Rhodes Riffs—and also includes ready-to-play patches for Double Bass, Old Jazz Piano, Rhodes and three Drum kits.

Available now on DVD for £79.95 including shipping.

Inamorata is possibly one of his most ambitious projects in a prolific career that has included producing Grammy winning albums and singles for Herbie Hancock – who makes an appearance here on electric piano, flowing over Paradox breaks. All in all, 12 beatsmiths were commissioned from the top tiers of drum n bass – including Black Sun Empire, Evol Intent, Submerged, new wunderkinds Amit, and Fanu, and also Metalheadz stalwarts Outrage and DStar.

Musicians were selected from the Miles Davis era of electronic fusion (Pete Cosey, Dave Liebman) to modern virtuosos such as Buckethead and Nils Petr Molvaer. The world of free jazz and avant composition weighs in throughout, with John Zorn and the Masada Strings, Toshinori Kondo, and legendary tenor player Pharoah Sanders.

According to the group, the concept of combining electronic beatmasters and virtuostic players has yielded a dark vortex of electronics and musicians blending into an infinitely listenable journey.

You can hear a preview of Inamorata below.

Since its inception last June, PlayJazzNow.Com has offered downloadable play-along tracks for jazz musicians who want to hone their improvisation skills by working out with a live trio. Now it aims to reach out specifically to drummers and percussionists who want to master the rhythmic, stylistic, and formal elements of jazz.

PlayJazzNow.com has created sets of tracks geared to beginning, intermediate and advanced percussionists. Drummers can now play along with the rhythm team of piano and bass without the clutter of a pre-existing drum track. Students of jazz can practice a wide range of rhythmic styles, including swing, jazz waltz, bossa, samba, 6/8, 5/4 and ballad. Each style is available in a variety of tempos, which employ standard forms such as 12-bar blues, 32-bar AABA form, plus the less common 16- and 24-bar forms.

PlayJazzNow.com offers jazz play-alongs that are different from the CD/book sets of play-along tunes sold elsewhere. PlayJazzNow.com tracks consist of chord progressions – turnarounds and forms that occur in all types of standards and jazz compositions.

With the addition of tracks created specifically for drummers and percussionists, PlayJazzNow.com now has tracks that all instrumentalists can use to improve their skills as soloists and accompanists.

Nnnj’s music falls into the broad downtempo category – but the tracks on Monkey Straddle are some of the most interesting examples of the genre that we’ve heard. Nnnj gets slow jazzy grooves going and then layers on samples, drones and spoken dialog.

Highlights of the CD include Fiji Geesus, a track that grows from an ambient beginning to a more melodic, world-music feel; the dubby title track; and Demeter’s Pupil, which creates an uneasy balance between a jazzy groove and ambient effects.

Throughout the CD, Nnnj is consistenty original and creative. Listening to it, you’re never quite sure where he’s going to go next. But Nnnj nicely balances his flow of new sounds and effects with song structures, so the CD is as listenable as it is creative.

Tracks:

• Goop Scoop – 4:05
• Close The Loop – 3:27
• Lush Lope – 4:12
• What’s The Weather Like Today? – 4:10
• Fiji Geesus – 3:04 play sample
• Monkey Straddle – 4:22 play sample
• What’s The Weather Like Tomorrow? – 5:15
• Uberamkin – 4:06
• – 3:29
• 1205-180a – 4:21
• Demeter’s Pupil – 4:19
• The Rinse – 1:25

In advance of releasing his Luz Interpretations album on January 23rd, 2007, Luz Mob is making available two digital singles to download here for free.

The Selecter is an up-tempo ska boiler covering a rare single from the English ska revival band of the same name, while stretching out in another direction, Ella Se Fue is Luz’s creative reimagining of a classic Dominican love ballad, featuring mournful muted trumpet work from Kevin Louis. Download them here.

Luz Interpretations is due out on Crystal Top Music January 23rd, 2007.