ROBIN's badass podcast - episode 001 (pilot)

Here....let's see how this whole thing works.

Let me know what you think...

When I do it for real there would be a bit more commentary/set-up for tunes, but you get the idea, I think...

Perhaps in future episodes, I'd include some leadsheets / score excerpts... analysis ... whatever.

DOWNLOAD HERE (.mp3, 9.2MB, 10-min)

I may also dig into RSS-feed stuff ... we'll see.

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Robin's Badass Podcast - episode 001

August 1, 2009

Setlist:

0:00 - introduction

0:10 - Charles Mingus, Boogie Stop Shuffle (Mingus Ah Um)

5:05 - discussion / set-up

5:20 - Miles Davis - Orbits (Miles Smiles)

9:54 - wrap up

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Info

Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

Columbia, 1959

Personnel

• John Handy — alto sax, clarinet, tenor sax
  
• Booker Ervin — tenor sax
  
• Shafi Hadi — tenor sax, alto sax
  
• Willie Dennis — trombone
  
• Jimmy Knepper — trombone (Replaces Dennis on tracks 1, 7–10)
  
• Horace Parlan — piano
  
• Charles Mingus — bass, piano
  
• Dannie Richmond — drums
  

Mingus' unique brand of jazz helped break the mold, ushering in an era of freedom. Mingus incorporated elements from Black church music, classical and free improvisation creating a very soulful and organic style.

In lieu of using written (and constricting) parts for his arrangements, he would teach it to them on the spot, allowing the players to interpret it in their own way - this helps maintain the incredible sense of spontaneity and aloofness we find in most Mingus compositions.

Ah Um is one of the classic records from the late-50s scene, signaling a departure from the bop and cool (released within months of other seminal albums like Mile's Kind of Blue and Ornette's Shape of Jazz To Come).

More:

Wikipedia: Mingus Ah Um

Wikipedia: Charles Mingus

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Miles Davis - Miles Smiles

Columbia, 1967

Personnel

• Miles Davis – trumpet
  
• Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone
  
• Herbie Hancock – piano
  
• Ron Carter – bass
  
• Tony Williams – drums
  

This is Miles' second classic quintet. A stunning powerhouse group which worked together for about 4 years. Miles had an exceptional ability to bring together some of the finest musicians and the group, over time, developed an uncanny dynamic together - the level of interaction is honed to the finest degree, something which is rarely seen today.

Miles Smiles is modal-jazz evolved, while the tune has changes, it's the modal, intervallic and rhythmic exploration that takes precedence. The time is often quite ambiguous - Tony Willaims, YEAH! - which contributes to the sense of freedom over structure.

more:

Wikipedia: Miles Smiles

Wikipedia: Miles Davis

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WOO HOO!!! Go Robin. This definitely woke me up this mornin'!! Thanks,

it works really well.

That worked fine, and the music was cool!

I know this was just a test, but just in case you were planning on doing this next time as well, please talk more on the subject. The info you have on the first post is great, try saying some of that (obviously not all, that would get boring)

Robin, your voice is so hot. No lie.

That worked fine, and the music was cool!

I know this was just a test, but just in case you were planning on doing this next time as well, please talk more on the subject. The info you have on the first post is great, try saying some of that (obviously not all, that would get boring)

Don't worry, he said he was going to talk more, he just wanted to see if it worked.

And, yes, your voice is amazing!

I will talk more...

I got a little self-conscous (I loathe public speaking) ... and am worried I sound like a moron... You should see me on stage, it's hilariously pathetic :P

Thanks for the vote of confidence - Mori and Corbin ;)

Thanks to all who've tuned in so far...keep the comments/ideas coming. Ideally, also, this would be where we could discuss the music and...stuff.

I wouldn't worry about sounding like an idiot - most of the voices you hear in mediums like this have been highly processed almost to the point of becoming synthetic, whereas you just seem to be talking into a PC mic with no processing applied.

Cool stuff, nice wrap up. :P

I think I'd be a regular listener to this podcast. I really enjoyed it :P.

Sounded like spider pig. :pinch: Well, the Mingus did. That was pretty hawt. A lot of little things caught my attention in that, notably the fast repetition of notes in the tune itself and it sounded like the saxes weren't actually tonguing, was so legato. The Davis tune didn't do much for me, but I was able to keep up with what was going on modally more than I usually can.

I never thought of it before when listening to things like these, but Mike's right, some processing on the voice might make it sound more badass. Oh, and you might want to keep the heavy words to a minimum in the cast - you don't know who's listening. In the write up it's fine, though. Thanks for sharing these. =]

Nice work.

Assuming you want some discussion coming from this pod cast, here are my thoughts:

The Mingus: quite cool... I liked some of the crunchier, tighter harmonies towards the end.

The overall vibe was sort of quirky and almost a little like some of the Goodwin things..cartoony... but for some reason it didn't sit quite right with me. It maybe just wasn't cool enough. :P

Miles: This is much cooler. Good ensemble... though some sloppiness (Miles?) in places, like at the start.

Williams is great as usual. Wayne is good too, but the solo could've been a bit longer (as could all of them) and had a bit more development. No wanking, from any of them, which was great. Not often you hear three solos in a row with no wanking.

Other than that, occasionally felt a tad disjointed, but good.

Miles' solo is good...meanders a little...but pretty decent.

Herb's solo pretty solid too.

No weak links, as you'd expect. What I really I like is how they all pick up ideas from each other (and from the head), and play with them.

Your voice is totally fine for this, by the way; I liked it. Lower than I expected, but nice.

Good job!

RE: tunes

Sounded like spider pig. :pinch: Well, the Mingus did. That was pretty hawt. A lot of little things caught my attention in that, notably the fast repetition of notes in the tune itself and it sounded like the saxes weren't actually tonguing, was so legato. The Davis tune didn't do much for me, but I was able to keep up with what was going on modally more than I usually can.

I loves my Mingus...and Ah Um is one of the best records of all time - definitely one of my "desert island five". The tune has such a vibrant sense of life to it...the energy and vibe of hip urban excitement.... Mingus.

Expect to hear a lot from him.

Miles, can leave people hot or cold. I'm glad you were able to stay along for the ride though...as the 60's progressed, and Miles went electric, you'll have a tougher time keeping a firm grasp on him. Expect more Miles too...

The Mingus: quite cool... I liked some of the crunchier, tighter harmonies towards the end.

The overall vibe was sort of quirky and almost a little like some of the Goodwin things..cartoony... but for some reason it didn't sit quite right with me. It maybe just wasn't cool enough.

Miles: This is much cooler. Good ensemble... though some sloppiness (Miles?) in places, like at the start.

Williams is great as usual. Wayne is good too, but the solo could've been a bit longer (as could all of them) and had a bit more development. No wanking, from any of them, which was great. Not often you hear three solos in a row with no wanking.

Other than that, occasionally felt a tad disjointed, but good.

Miles' solo is good...meanders a little...but pretty decent.

Herb's solo pretty solid too.

No weak links, as you'd expect. What I really I like is how they all pick up ideas from each other (and from the head), and play with them.

Don't call Mingus "cartoony" :angry: ... Kidding... I can actually see where you're coming from - there's a fantastic sense-of-humour and a bit of tongue-in-cheek aloofness about his music. Comes with his personality (he was one OUT cat!) ...

As for Miles (it's interesting you and James had polar opinions on these tunes), the sense of the "individual within the whole" is great - the way they play off each other, the way Tony pokes and prods the soloist - Herbie's comping spurring new directions and everyone interacting and reacting...THIS is "modern jazz" at its PEAK... THIS is what we're all striving for - no wanking ...

Disjointed, I can understand - they may have heard something we didn't; may have responded differently than we expected, it's impossible to catch everything that's going on. Also, for the length of the solos, their LIVE show would have let them stretch out for sure...they were known for that...in the studio, time is money - longer solos were unreasonable, I guess.... Check out the album "Live at the Plugged Nickel" - they doubled the length of most tunes... 13, 14, 17-minute tunes were the norm. And this was early in their existence - they kept stretching and expanding...

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RE: technical

I never thought of it before when listening to things like these, but Mike's right, some processing on the voice might make it sound more badass. Oh, and you might want to keep the heavy words to a minimum in the cast - you don't know who's listening. In the write up it's fine, though. Thanks for sharing these. =]

I just did this on my internal laptop webcam/mic thingy....will likely use a better mic for the actual thingy, assuming I'm not too lazy.... which I most certainly am.

I suppose it'd be easy enough to EQ it a bit....

...what do you mean "heavy" words? ...swearing? Jargon? ...I dunno...is just the way I talk. Maybe I should write a script. ;)

Your voice is totally fine for this, by the way; I liked it. Lower than I expected, but nice.

Good job!

Thanks. :)

(it's interesting you and James had polar opinions on these tunes) ... THIS is "modern jazz" at its PEAK...

Judging by Daniel's observations, he's a much better listener than I am - he picked up more of the intricacies, and I reacted more on the general points, i.e. style/language/attitude. And if you call it "modern jazz", that's funny because it seems I don't take well to anything considered "modern", be it art, classical music, avant-garde... I guess jazz is another item to throw on the list. But keep layin' down the tunes, I need to hear more of this "modern". :P

I just did this on my internal laptop webcam/mic thingy....will likely use a better mic for the actual thingy, assuming I'm not too lazy.... which I most certainly am.

...what do you mean "heavy" words? ...swearing? Jargon? ...I dunno...is just the way I talk. Maybe I should write a script. ;)

The better mic is probably all it'll need - I figured you did this on a good external mic.

I've seen that most podcasts are usually scripted - if not so that the podcaster has something to go by confidently, then just to provide the script as reading material or to attract search engine attention.

...I've seen that most podcasts are usually scripted - if not so that the podcaster has something to go by confidently, then just to provide the script as reading material or to attract search engine attention.

Yah...it makes sense to have at least a point-form guideline for my talkings.... otherwise, countless takes and many awkward pauses will be required.

;)

I may provide a script - but, to be honest, I want to discourage search engine attention... ultimately, this is kind-of for YC ears only.

I loved it! Good stuff.

For an introduction, I liked the "turn up your speakers." That quickly followed by the music created an amazing mood for me. I don't know why...

Maybe that could be the only intro, and maybe talk about the song afterward or whatever. It's your deal.

Not much else to say except I like the music.

Lookin' forward to the next one. :thumbsup:

That could be a great trademark ... for every podcast you say some different variation of "turn up your speakers" and just play the music. THEN you start talking after the first chart is over. :)

This is great! Superb someone just starts with a podcast. I would definitely listen the next ones.

I'm not so into jazz, and thought the podcast would play other music and with commentary and not only "this is some heavy scraggy" :) which is strictly speaking a comment, but not one I was waiting for ;) Anyway, you just started. so thumbs up!

This is great! Superb someone just starts with a podcast. I would definitely listen the next ones.

I'm not so into jazz, and thought the podcast would play other music and with commentary and not only "this is some heavy scraggy" :) which is strictly speaking a comment, but not one I was waiting for ;) Anyway, you just started. so thumbs up!

Don't worry, this was just a test to see what would happen...

Upcoming episodes will have MORE music, and a bit more talky-talky from me...I'll give more details about what you heard/will hear - what happened, why I like it, why you should like it too...

In-depth analysis I will save for the thread and discussion, but I'll be sure to give you guys more to chew on while listening...

Re: "other music" - I'll get to that eventually... Be patient, little one; I've only played two tunes ;) Keep in mind, my listening habits are "jazz-centric" so the majority of my podcastings are going to reflect this... ....just don't expect any Beethoven.

Re: "other music" - I'll get to that eventually... Be patient, little one; I've only played two tunes ;) Keep in mind, my listening habits are "jazz-centric" so the majority of my podcastings are going to reflect this... ....just don't expect any Beethoven.

:) I don't expect Beethoven. But how about the Jazz album by Shostakovich? ;)

I think its only fair that your podcast reflect your likes. But I hope it will be more than a podium of your preferences. I think it could be nice to add one dislike to your program with explanation.

Looking forward to the next (when to be expected?)

:) I don't expect Beethoven. But how about the Jazz album by Shostakovich? ;)

I think its only fair that your podcast reflect your likes. But I hope it will be more than a podium of your preferences. I think it could be nice to add one dislike to your program with explanation.

Looking forward to the next (when to be expected?)

Expect news soon...

In the end, though, this little project is 100% a podium for my preferences. That's why I did it...so I can force my musical preferences on unsuspecting young minds - minds that are so depereately in need of getting musically knocked around a bit... ;)

But, I like your "dislike" idea...I'll work it in.

Yeah!! Get on a Jazz Suite by Shosty.

Admittedly, it's the least jazzy thing you'll hear this side of Amy Winehouse, but it might be good for discussion ... like .. was the real reason Shosty wrote Jazz Suites just so he could get away with writing some good tunes?

But, I like your "dislike" idea...I'll work it in.

haha; that way you can educate the young minds: "Dont you ever say again you like Telemann" :angry:

A-ferkin-mazin.