Tag: jazz

Mike Stern | What Might Have Been

Genre-hopping guitarist Mike Stern has worked with Miles Davis, Brecker Brothers, and Blood Sweat And Tears. He delivers a beautiful contemporary jazz fusion ballad in “What Might Have Been” (2002). Stern takes one of the guitar’s few weak links (the ability to strongly sustain a note without effects) and augments it by doubling it with the human voice, employing the enigmatic wordless vocals of Elisabeth Kontomanou.

The modulation is at 1:30, with a return to the original key at 2:05; after the guitar solo, the pattern repeats at 3:54 and 4:29.

Ray Charles | Stompin’ Room Only

MotD member Mark Mahoney contributes today’s mod: the 1961 album Genius + Soul = Jazz by the legendary Ray Charles featured this simple blues-based tune, dressed up by a no-hold-barred big band arrangement by Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns. The band was comprised of members of The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra and a group of NYC session players. In 2011, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The tune features several modulations; the first is at 2:27. Happy weekend to all!

Lee Ritenour | Is It You?

Described by AllMusic as a “flawless musical chameleon,” Grammy-winning guitarist Lee Ritenour has collaborated as a session musician with artists from Pink Floyd to Quincy Jones to Dizzy Gillespie as well as releasing many of his own albums. His pop/jazz hybrid release “Is It You” (1981) reached number 15 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts.

There’s a classic direct modulation at 3:17, but the bridge (2:23 – 2:53) is perhaps more interesting, pivoting all over the place harmonically.

Arturo Sandoval | Emily

The all-too-often overlooked jazz standard “Emily” (Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer) has been covered by many greats, from Sinatra to Tony Bennett — and here by trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. The tune was the title song for the 1964 movie The Americanization of Emily. This arrangement features a lovely intro through 0:19; the form begins in earnest in C major before briefly touching on a key-of-the-moment (A major) for a few bars (0:39 – 0:48), then reverting to C.

Jerome Kern | The Way You Look Tonight

“The Way You Look Tonight,” co-written by Jerome Kern and winner of the Oscar Awards for Best Original Song in 1936 for its appearance in the movie “Swing Time,” was first performed by that film’s star, renowned dancer Fred Astaire. Multiple singers have covered this standard in the years since, from Ella to Billie to Sinatra to Tony Bennett, who is featured here. Modulation at the beginning of the middle section at 1:36, then back to the original key at 2:17.