Tympanum EffectEpisode 6: Moved By Jazz

Today’s episode will focus on the smooth sounds of jazz and jazz-inspired music.  I had a tough time this past week choosing between movements of one of the great American music-forms.  Jazz, like rock, is a decades-old genre that is rich with different eras of styles and sound.

Did I want ragtime, swing and vocal jazz?  Fats Domino, The Duke, Ella?

Or should it be the fast trumpeting of Dizzy Gillespie with Charlie Parker?

Or the heroin jazz days of Coltrane and experimental ensembles of Sun Ra?

Do I explore the smooth, soulful and funky sounds of Herbie Hancock, and Grover Washington?

I felt as though if I don’t highlight each era, I’m doing an incredible disservice to the glory of what came before.  But after much further thought, I came to the conclusion that if I don’t highlight what’s been happening with jazz of the past decade or so, I’m doing a disservice to the music of today.

This episode, we’re going to explore a bit of everything, but mainly jazz that has been influenced by and made part of the electronic spectrum.  Downtempo, Jazz-influenced Hip-hop, Beat Music, with a little bit of everything else thrown in.