As far as I am concerned, and as far as jazz goes, there are two songs that leap to mind. The first is from the notorious Concert of 1964 and is a classic live version from his album “Kind of Blue.” The tune is called “So What” and the way it is played live here will blow you away (and if the player won’t play, you can visit this link).

As for the second song you MUST have, well, there just isn’t any jazz collection that can be complete without Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five.” This comes from one of the greatest jazz albums of all-time “Time Out.” It was the tune that Dave and the rest of the band wasn’t even sure they wanted to put on the album, and then decided to do so at the last minute so their drummer would have a piece that featured him. So, of course, it became the biggest hit.

As for the others in the world of b5media, you should check out their suggestions for tunes you need to add. I am putting their links below:

Flyleaft and Nelly

Miles and Ella

Austin Sounds to Add to your iPod

Metal Martyr

Oz Music Scene

Big Apple Music Scene

Toronto Unplugged

Our Digital Music

Rock Dose

Christian Music Fan

Ear Sucker

Crooner Culture

Rock Relic

New Age Vibe

Industrial Addiction

She Plays Music

News in Punk

Hippie Sounds

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

Then I got an e-mail forwarded to me from a guy I wrote about when I wrote about the schedule for the Chicago Jazz Festival.  He sent the message indicating his name had been spelled wrong to b5media instead of to me.  This is fine, of course, since b5media is the company that ultimately controls this site, but the fact is, this site is essentially a one-man operation and that one man is me.

So, who the heck am I?  Why am I suddenly supposed to be the expert on the Chicago jazz and blues scene?  How did I end up writing this blog anyway?

Well, first off, my name is Bryan W. Alaspa and I am a full-time freelance writer in the Chicago area.  My  normal area of writing is not music.  I write a lot of website content for various website developers.  I wrote press releases and business writing.  I write movie reviews.  I write novels and have my first non-fiction book coming out by Schiffer Publishing this month.

However, I also have a love of music, particularly jazz.  Of course, this was not always the case.  There was a large portion of my life when I did not listen to jazz and found both jazz and blues painful to listen to.  You may have had the same situation when you were growing up.

I grew up in Chicago.  I had always wanted to be a writer.  However, the parents always said I needed to find a career to get into in case the writing thing didn’t work out.  So, I thought I would take a detour into journalism.  I soon found out, however, that I hated writing for newspapers.  At the same time the school was getting a campus radio station up and running.

The first station Webster Univeristy started was a simple AM, carrier current radio station that, essentially, broadcast to the dorms across the street from the studios.  The format was essentially rock and pop.

By my third year, however, the university had entered into an agreement with the St. Louis Public School.  See, they had an FM radio station at 91.5 FM that covered the entire St. Louis area.  They were thinking of selling the station and the license, but they needed the station to stay on the air while the considered what to do with it.  So, Webster agreed that they would put content on the air while the public school system figured out what to do with the license.

There was one choice to be made:  classical or jazz?

The decision was for the station to broadcast jazz.  Thus, I became the music director and afternoon drive host of a jazz radio station that covered the entire St. Louis area.  It was a music I hated when I started, but I was anxious for the exposure.

Then came the day that not only changed my views about jazz, but my views on music all-together….

…to be continued… 

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

Hey, you can always stand to learn about another Jazz musician, plus it’s a great reminder about the iPod contest that b5media is holding.

Click here for a link to the story about Jazz music, airplanes and winning an iPod.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

Well, right now they have a contest going for you, the dear reader, that could help you win an iPod.  It’s a great way to bring all of your favorite jazz and blues music with you wherever your go and, well, it’s a contest, so it’s a great way to get a free one.

I am going to stick the link for his over to the right as well, but I wanted to post about as well, because it’s cool and you should know about it.

Here’s the link, but look for it to the right side of the page later on.

Thanks!

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge