1- Gary Moore

Gary Moore is an Irish blues guitarist and singer. As I’ve already mentioned in my older posts, Gary has always been my guitar idol since my very early guitar experience. His guitar tone is unique and warm. I never watched him live yet, but I will definitely do. I guess it’s still very early for him to quit the blues world. What really makes this guitarist amazing is his bendings! they’re just perfect. His music is very easy to assimilate due to the pattern he always follows but in the same time, you cannot expect the next note.

My favorite tunes for Gary Moore are “Still Got The Blues”, “Parisienne Walkways (watch my video)” and “Story of the Blues”.

2- Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong, a cornet, trumpet player and singer, is the king of Jazz Ballads. When I listen to Louis, I can think of a bottle of wine, a cheminee or an old cosy house in the mountain :). Louis’ topics are all based on optimistic romance unlike the blues musicians. His music is very joyful and goes straight to the heart. One funny thing about Louis is that he had always claimed to be born on the USA Independence day (July 4, 1900), but in fact, he was born on July 4, 1901 and he was recorded as an illegitimate black child. Louis died on July 6, 1971.

My favorite tunes for Louis Armstrong are “What a Wonderful World” and “A Kiss to Build a Dream on”.

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Hello friends,

Have you ever wondered why most people find the Jazz tunes kinda weird or dissonant? Have you ever been listening to a jazz tune and felt like the player is improvising out of tune or scale? Actually, nop! they’re not dissonant, it’s just how your ears percept them. Since you were born, you’ve been listening to some kind of simple music (classics, rock, oriental…) where the artists focus on a limited set of harmonies (1-3-5). Let’s get to the point directly!

What are the 1-3-5?
Let’s say we’re playing a C major scale (Do) which contains these notes: C D E F G A B C. The 1-3-5 would be C E and G and they form the C Major chord! But why the hell 99% of the chord we hear nowadays are built over the 1-3-5? didn’t we miss the 2nd (aka 9th = 7+2), the 4th (aka 11th = 7+4), the 6th (aka 13th = 7+6) and the 7th note which is the most used harmony in jazz! So my friends, it’s a matter of perception. Your ears are not used, yet, to those harmonies because you have not been hearing them enough on radio stations. Jazz has no limits. Jazz artists focus a lot on these unused harmonies and once you get used to them, you’ll notice how void the other styles of music are! Get your guitar or piano and play: 1-3-5-7 (aka C E G B) and you’ll get the C major 7th! Kinda cool… isn’t it? Same thing for minor and dominant chords! I hope you find this post useful in case you’ve ever wondered “what is jazz?“.

Stay tuned…

Hey friends,

I’ve been looking for Norman Brown guitar books and transcriptions, but I couldn’t find anything! Anyway, I’m presenting you My Favorite Jazz Lick ever I transcribed from the Third World song (Better Days Ahead album):

Me Playing Jazz Lick From Norman Brown -Third World

Jazz Lick From Norman Brown-Third World

Tablature:

Enjoy it!

Hey friends…

This is the worst improvisation I have ever played for Autumn Leaves!

Download here: Elie Khoury - Autumn Leaves

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Make sure you watch this video!!!

When I was searching for some new artists on the web, I found “Paul Brown”, I listenned to samples of his album The City. Wow!! really amazing… I encourage you to get this album as soon as possible!!

This album contains 11 tracks:

1. Cosmic Monkey
2. Hello Again
3. Side Steppin’
4. The City
5. Las Vegas
6. Old Friends
7. Winelight
8. Jumpin’ Uptown
9. Food For The Moon
10. Real Mutha For Ya
11. The City

To hear a song sample, click on “Listen” by that sample. Listen to some samples and tell me what you think!!!
If you’re not a jazzer… just drop this post