Christian McBride on Frank Sinatra

[matthewbrown]

"If Ray Brown says listen to Sinatra, you listen to Sinatra."

When I Discovered Sinatra

For years, older jazz musicians kept telling me the same thing:

open.substack.com

 

[Lee Moses]

If Christian McBride says listen to Sinatra, you listen to Sinatra.

Really good article. Thanks.

 

[mambo4]

I also found Sinatra (and other great mid 20th century vocalists) invaluable to helping me grasp many standards.

If you really want to understand the harmony of a song, learn the melody. Learn the lyrics. Understand the story.
The melody is the navigation.
Not the other way around.

This reminds me of the Hal Galper clip where he dismisses the idea of chord scales for improvisation, and says "let the melody be your guide"

 

[bass player 53]

"If Ray Brown says listen to Sinatra, you listen to Sinatra."

When I Discovered Sinatra

For years, older jazz musicians kept telling me the same thing:

open.substack.com

"If Ray Brown says listen to Sinatra, you listen to Sinatra."

When I Discovered Sinatra

For years, older jazz musicians kept telling me the same thing:

open.substack.com

It’s been my experience that a lot of jazzers outright dismiss a lot of the changes written in the old fake books, the books that were published long before the Real Book. (those books that have guitar or uke diagrams) In many cases, those changes were closer to the intentions of the original composers.

 

[matthewbrown]

It’s been my experience that a lot of jazzers outright dismiss a lot of the changes written in the old fake books, the books that were published long before the Real Book. (those books that have guitar or uke diagrams) In many cases, those changes were closer to the intentions of the original composers.

One huge advantage of the old fake books: Lyrics.

 

[Turnaround]

If Christian McBride says listen to Sinatra, you listen to Sinatra.

Really? As I tried to say earlier, Sinatra couldn't play bass worth poop. (I used another word with asterisks that's not allowed and got chastised).

 

[s van order]

"If Ray Brown says listen to Sinatra, you listen to Sinatra."

When I Discovered Sinatra

For years, older jazz musicians kept telling me the same thing:

open.substack.com

Wow, thanks for this, a wonderful piece!

 

[buldog5151bass]

Sinatra used his vocals like a musical instrument.

 

[Lee Moses]

Really? As I tried to say earlier, Sinatra couldn't play bass worth poop. (I used another word with asterisks that's not allowed and got chastised).

Not sure if you're just joking or if you didn't read Christian's article.

 

[Turnaround]

Not sure if you're just joking or if you didn't read Christian's article.

Just joking. Ot at least trying to.

 

[AndyMopley]

"Almost nobody plays the right changes" - spare of thought for those of us trying to figure what to improvize over the chord changes..

Of course, before Frank there was Ella...Question is, will there be anyone else?

Really good article, thanks for sharing.

 

[12BitSlab]

The magic of The Chairman of the Board was that he knew when to sing and when to shut up. He never sang over the horns when performing with a big band.

Too many “modern” singers think that singing in a 42nd Street style, using far more vibrato than needed, and covering up every horn lick is the key to success. Too bad that they can’t hear themselves sing.

 

[Pacman]

"Almost nobody plays the right changes" - spare of thought for those of us trying to figure what to improvize over the chord changes..

Of course, before Frank there was Ella...Question is, will there be anyone else?

Really good article, thanks for sharing.

Kurt Elling, Karyn Allison, Esperanza Spalding, Samara Joy, Jane Monheit, etc, etc, etc. There are plenty more.

 

[mambo4]

At one point it became apparent to me that pianists and (some) guitarists were literally improvising the changes, concocting harmonies, extensions and alterations on the fly , derived from a more basic understanding of changes to the song. Jazz language painted on top of language of early 20th century pop, blues, and showtunes.

Since realizing that, I have tried to follow Ed Fuqua's Advice and seek out the most basic dead simple version of any changes to a standard I am learning. Rather than go for the "as recorded by.." version, I like the basic meat and potatoes version like from jazzstudies.us

 

[AndyMopley]

Kurt Elling, Karyn Allison, Esperanza Spalding, Samara Joy, Jane Monheit, etc, etc, etc. There are plenty more.

All great artistis, in their own right, no question. But It feels like the "just wing it" spirit of icons like Ella Fitzgerald orSarah Vaughan has faded. Nowadays, jazz singers seem a lot more guarded and polished—almost like they're overthinking it. The focus has definitely shifted from raw, gutsy improvisation to neat, pre-planned arrangements. All subjective of course.