Watch this video clip with a cover version of the Weather Report tune Birdland performed by Maynard Ferguson and his big band.
Traditional Chinelo Music and Dance from the Mexican State of Morelos
This video clip shows some traditional dance music from the central mexican state of Morelos, about 80 km south of Mexico City. The music is played by marching bands and consists of short phrases which are played over and over again while the dancers walk jumping through the streets. At a certain moment, the flow of the music will be interrupted by a long note usually played by the trumpets. At the end of the long note, another frenetic melody starts and is played again and again until the next long note on the trumpets.
This scheme will be performed for hours and is a challenge for dancers and musicians. It can lead to a state of trance. Consider that the parades usually happen under the burning sun of central Mexico and that the costumes of the dancers are of heavy fabric. The participants sure need to drink a lot of beer during the parades …
Trumpet Player Dizzy Gillespie Performing A Night in Tunesia in a Show from 1958
This is a video clip showing the great jazz trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie performing the song A Night in Tunesia. The drummer on this recording is Kenny Clarke.
The song earned this title after Earl Hines suggested it to Dizzy because the melody sounded exotic and because of World War II battles, Tunisia was a well-known city in the news at the time.
Dizzy Gillespie plays a trumpet with a special form which was custom-made for him because he liked the sound he perceived when playing it. There are many legends and stories about the rare form of Dizzy’s trumpet among which the story that relates it to an accidental footstep of a guy on a birthday party seems to be one of the most believeable ones.
However, the form of Dizzy’s trumpet is not the most important thing when the conversation goes about jazz musicians and trumpet players. Nobody can have doubts about the excellent skills Dizzy shows on the trumpet. I think he is the world’s best trumpet player ever, even though I know that it is difficult to ‘proove’ this but after all it’s just a matter of taste. Some people might like Miles Davis better and still others mention Arturo Sandoval or Rafael Méndez. I would say that all of these guys are fabulous trumpet players but I like Dizzy Gillespie the best. Listen to his improvisation! You decide for yourself.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – ‘Der Hölle Rache’ – The Magic Flute
This quintet tries to play western music, a total failure though
In 1791 Mozart composed The Zauberflöte (Magic Flute), an opera in two acts which includes a chapter called Königin er Nacht (Queen of Night), and this video showed a song called “Der Hölle Rache” (Hell’s Vengance) which was played in this video by the Cassiano Brass Quintet with NH Lee playing piccolo trumpet. The performance was a regular one with some mediocre spots which we had published here for illustration of bad mediocre playing of one of the great masters of classical composition. If you wish you can go to youtube and watch this video since the publisher there has solicited a no insertion permit after finding out we had recommended this video clip on our guide. To us it seems that the correct thing would have been mailing us with asking for removal (and maybe asing youtube for no insertion too). If you like it, you can download it from there using Real Player or other downloading software. If you wish you might also contuct us for other links to download locations of this video.
Anyway, we soon will provide our readers with some Mozart Quintet and will look now for something that’s worth listening too.
Miles Davis – Soloing on ‘Footprints’
Miles Davis is along with Dizzy Gillespie one of the greatest jazz trumpet players of all times. Watch this videoclip of the jazz tune ‘Footprints’ and listen to Miles Davis playing the trumpet with his particular style.
Many of the most important classical jazz players have played in the group of Miles Davis, most of them started a solo career after their participation in the Miles Davis Band. See for example John Coltrane, the greatest tenor sax player of all times.
Music and Video Guide 