So, for the past couple of years the main genre I have been listing to is rock, mostly metal, symphonic metal, power metal. Yes my head has been filled with it for years. However, I wanted to try out a wider range of music, I have been interested in classical and classy Jazz from time to time, but never really know any specific people to start listing to.

I have tried Mozart and Beethoven, and I love them (of course), as for jazz I want to try something really calm I guess and refreshing, nothing fast. When I was watching Britain's got talent, I took a liking the song Julian Smith was playing

So please recommend me some good pieces of music if you may :D.

ZoW

United States3983 Posts

July 01 2009 20:16 GMT

Jazz you say!?

Street fighter 3/CvS2/Marvel 2 ost's yeeeeaaaaah

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Schnake

Germany2819 Posts

July 01 2009 20:30 GMT

Jazz:

Diana Krall (one of the best),
Blue Note Artists,
Herbie Hancock.

Arrian

United States889 Posts

July 01 2009 20:31 GMT

Uhhh well if you want big band jazz, anything by Ellington, Basie, or Glenn Miller, is pretty much staples of the glory days of big band. If you're looking for smaller ensembles probably Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan; those guys.

As far as classical goes, some of the more accessible/modern stuff is more like Frank Tichelli stuff these days. In classical you go less by specific composer and more by genre, I suppose, but if you're looking for more staples of band/orchestra literature maybe Percy Grainger or Alfred Reed.

Of course, if you want the beauty of classical music without the esoteric post-modern atonal composition, check out orchestral arrangements of final fantasy tunes on youtube.

JDizz6688

United States177 Posts

July 01 2009 20:31 GMT

If you like julian smith, then definitely check out kenny g. he's another soprano sax palyer who is famous world wide. he's the guy you hear when you go to nordstrom or some other store like that. i was a trumpet player so i cannot tell you which songs are good by him. only that he is very famous. only thing i remember is his christmas album is very good.(if you wanna hear some christmas music)

as far as big bands go i would check out the Buddy Rich big band. they're very very good. and by far my favorite.

and for a good trio, check out The Ray Brown Trio. also some very great jazz. the piano player Gene Harris is quite good.

hope this helps

edit: i agree with every suggestion made by the previous poster. they're all the originals. every modern composer is inspiried by all those artists.

o3.power91

Bahrain5288 Posts

July 01 2009 20:31 GMT

For classical, try Tchaikovsky.
If you like piano especially, try Chopin.

Some pieces I'd recommend other than these 2 composers:
Schubert's "Ave Maria" (Hitman themesong)
Strauss's "Blue Damube" (you should know it by listening to it.)

Can't help much with jazz though

coltrane

Chile988 Posts

July 01 2009 20:32 GMT

if u want something calm may i suggest this:

hope anyone listen, pretty good music here.

koreasilver

9109 Posts

July 01 2009 20:33 GMT

On July 02 2009 05:30 Schnake wrote:
Jazz:

Blue Note Artists

Seriously, that's like almost everything you need for Jazz.

StarN

United States2587 Posts

July 01 2009 20:39 GMT

What Julian Smith played wasn't really jazz, the style definitely falls more into pop. But enough of me being a pedantic smartass. You'll probably like Kenny G (as stated above).

I love Chopin. Listen to Chopin.

meeple

Canada10211 Posts

July 01 2009 20:54 GMT

#10

Well... in my opinion thats not really jazz, and I know people will disagree, because there's definitely a vast definition of what jazz really is. The music there, is a jazzy sounding classical clarinet... and what I mean by that is the style of music he's playing isn't jazz at all... since jazz usually has a definitive upbeat rhythym... as well as usually improvisation.

Relaxing Jazz:
Louis Armstrong - What a wonderful world
(may not be your cup of tea... louis is someone who takes some getting used to)

Glen Miller - midnight serenade

I think you might like this better though... since its a soloist and more closely resembles the bgt thing.

Christian Lindberg

Anything by him is good... technically he's a virtuoso trombonist... but he plays jazzy stuff on occasion and his sound is very similar to that which you're referring to.

mrgerry

United States1508 Posts

July 01 2009 21:01 GMT

#11

I'd start off with fusion if I were you then move onto the less accessible jazz. I'm recommend Bitches Brew from Miles Davis as a gateway into some of the improvisation you will find. From on then there is many mini branches of jazz such as big band, swing, free jazz, be-bop, hard-hop, dixieland just off the top of my head. It really depends on what you want from jazz, if you want a challenging listen that will give you something different look into John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Albert Ayler (if you really want to hear some dissonant lol), and Sun Ra. The best easy listening jazz I've come across is Dave Brubeck's Quarter with their hit "Take Five". Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington are other swing/big band I've enjoyed though it's not really my cup of tea. There's alot of out there good luck with the listening.

I listen to classical periodically so I won't comment as much on it but Philip Glass has always been a favorite modern composer of mine. Metamorphasis, his soundtrack to the film "The Hours" is also fabolous, and Glasswerks is amazing. That should be a good start for ya :D

Misread the op, oh well dont worry about the inaccesible stuff then.

CaucasianAsian

Korea (South)11585 Posts

July 01 2009 21:18 GMT

#12

Bach is amazing for classical

zobz

Canada2175 Posts

July 01 2009 21:25 GMT

#13

Jesus christ man how do you go straight from rock to smooth jazz? Were you previously listening to emo-pop and calling it rock? 'Cause calling this shit jazz would follow nicely. Check some of the links provided above and learn what non-corporate jazz is all about. It doesn't have to be fast, just not so safe and corny. Jazz imo should be about cleverness and invention and at least some degree of peculiarity and surprise, not some soaring journey through very old boring vistas of melodrama. Ranting is fun, i hope you don't mind. If you want to explore new genres you may as well explore the new ways of looking at music which Usually go with them.

DragoonPK

3259 Posts

July 01 2009 21:35 GMT

#14

On July 02 2009 06:25 zobz wrote:
Jesus christ man how do you go straight from rock to smooth jazz? Were you previously listening to emo-pop and calling it rock? 'Cause calling this shit jazz would follow nicely. Check some of the links provided above and learn what non-corporate jazz is all about. It doesn't have to be fast, just not so safe and corny. Jazz imo should be about cleverness and invention and at least some degree of peculiarity and surprise, not some soaring journey through very old boring vistas of melodrama. Ranting is fun, i hope you don't mind. If you want to explore new genres you may as well explore the new ways of looking at music which Usually go with them.

emo rock? GOD NO O.O!!! I listen to stratovarius, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica, Disturbed, and a couple of other, as well as a bunch of K-pop, J-pop, and J-Rock.

CaucasianAsian

Korea (South)11585 Posts

July 01 2009 22:13 GMT

#15

^^K rock isn't bad either.
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v1rtu0so

United States140 Posts

July 01 2009 22:17 GMT

#16

Rachmaninoff, rachmaninoff, rachmaninoff for the fledgling classical listener.
Please immerse yourself in the music for 17 min with an open mind and you will be hooked:
part 1 --->

part 2 --->

frozenclaw

Canada410 Posts

July 01 2009 22:30 GMT

#17

Hmm, I like Jazz but I don't know any specific people.

However, I do want to build up a sizeable classical collection and here are some stuff I have so far
Anton Bruckner
Brahms
Richard Wagner
Dvorak
Haydn
Rachmaninoff
Schoenberg
And some classical piano recordings of Vladimir Horowitz who performs pieces by :Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Scarlatti and Scriabin.

I guess that's a pretty good mix of composers although I'm always thinking of adding more to my collection, the good thing about classical music is that there is a wide range of music to enjoy and each individual piece can be listened over and over again and each time you experience different things. Basically, the same piece of music can sound/feel different when performed by different performers/orchestras so it's good to hear multiple versions of an interesting piece so that you can find out the specific performers that you enjoy.

v1rtu0so

United States140 Posts

July 01 2009 22:45 GMT

#18

I would say Bruckner, Wagner, Schoenberg, while I love them, are bit too abstruse for someone who is just starting to listen to classical.

Smokin_Squirrel

Korea (South)674 Posts

July 02 2009 01:26 GMT

#19

I would HIGHLY recommend you the Barber Violin Concerto. I'm going to learn it soon for College Auditions next year and it is absolutely gorgeous.

Some more specific favorites of mine:

- Adagio For Strings (Barber) <--- Really beautiful
- The Firebird Suite (Stravinsky)
- Jupiter (Gustav Holst)
- Romeo and Juliet (Sergei Prokofiev) <--- Epic
- Finlandia, Lemminkainen Suite (Sibelius)
- Symphonic Dances (Rachmaninoff) <--- Just gorgeous melodies
- Symphony No. 5 (Shostakovich)
- Symphony No. 9 (Dvorak)
- Chaconne or Ciaconna (It's under Vitali although he wasn't the one who wrote it)

PleaseJustChill

Canada21 Posts

July 02 2009 01:37 GMT

#20

Once you're able to distinguish the individual melodies and understand the harmony behind Bach's polyphonic music, you'll listen to nothing else I guarantee it.

But that takes quite a bit of training. Start with his Inventions (2-part), then Sinfonias (3-part), then Prelude and Fugues from the Well-Tempered Claviers, and eventually his chamber works.