Editor’s note: Please be advised that some of the music listed contains explicit and/or inappropriate content.

Welcome back everybody,

To get right into things, this song has almost instantly become one of my favorites of all time. It’s so simple yet so intense, powerful and thought provoking. It’s called My Love By Sorrow. Click the link and take a listen as you read on! When I hear this song, a vivid image appears in my mind. The sky is white and rain is falling. I’m nestled up near a window, holding one of my favorite books in my lap while staring out the window. Although it may be rainy and cloudy, I begin to see much more. The beat of the song kicks in and the trees explode with color. The rain bounces off the ground, lands on warm colored leaves and dribbles down. As the song goes on, my worries seem to wash away, and the song fills me up with simple, warm happiness. No matter how many times I hear the song, the journey is still as vivid and magnificent as the first time I heard it.

To me, jazz is one of the most expressive and impressive forms of music. I know it isn’t a very desirable genre for most to listen to, but I hope to change your opinions on it. I can see how billions of seemingly random notes, an absence of vocals and few catchy hooks can sound unpleasant to most listeners, so I’m going to try to share some music that will help open up your ears to jazz.

A Tribe Called Quest is an early 90’s rap group that frequently integrated jazz samples into their beats, the song jazz (we’ve Got) samples 5 different jazz songs.Their mood and style is very laid back yet precise.

Now I’m sure most of you have heard the original version of this song. Flashing Lights by BadBadNotGood is a Kanye West cover, but when you hear it, I’m sure you’ll agree they do more than just try and sound like the original. This jazzified version of a Kanye tune starts out sticking to the melody of the original, but then they venture away from it around 2:56 for a completely fresh sounding solo section.

If you liked the two songs above, check out Jan Jan By Grant Green. It’s a super-funky, blues-y jazz tune that will get you swaying to the beat. It is nine minutes long because it has a fairly long solo section, so feel free to listen to the head, and then skim through the solos and see if anything catches your ear. I’m getting ahead of myself, using jazz lingo already, so I’ll fill you in:

The “head” of a jazz tune is the melody, or like the main theme of the song. It is most commonly in the AABA form, which means you play one part twice, and then go to a different, contrasting part of the melody; then back to the first part one last time. After that’s done, the song is usually opened up for soloists. The rhythm section plays the chords and groove that are often written into the music while individuals play their own ideas over it. This is the part of jazz which allows for the most creative freedom and musical expression, because you can play whatever you want.

Thanks for reading everybody! Check back next week and feel free to comment, leave me a suggestion or ask me a question!