Beatles into Jazz
During the 60’s and 70’s the Beatles inspired a new wave of music setting up culture as we know today, of course along with a whole plethora of other groups and bands doing their bit. They not only inspired and influenced culture, fashion and other music but today we see a rise in the conversation of old classics into other genres.
Joey Alexander – Blackbird
What we find most profound about this video is that we discover an 11 year old genius turning a Beatles number into an incredible jazz piece. Jazz has always been a very strongly rich music genre and many people think that jazz is dead but when you see that today a child is composing his own jazz, we know that not only is jazz alive and well but it may only just be at it’s infancy stage like this boy’s career. Can’t wait to see what he creates next!
Take home message, be and create whatever you wish, without boundaries, without the negative influence of others, without form. Just be your true self. Be a genius in your own right!
About Joey Alexander:
Joey Alexander Sila was born in Bali, Indonesia, to parents Denny and Fara Sila, who ran an adventure tourism business. His father was an amateur musician, and both parents were fans of jazz music, particularly the works of Louis Armstrong. Alexander learned about jazz by listening to classic albums his father gave him. By age six taught himself to play piano using a miniature electric keyboard his father brought home for him, learning by ear compositions like Thelonious Monk’s ‘Well, You Needn’t’ and other songs from his father’s jazz collection. Alexander later said learning the instrument came naturally for him; his parents, who are Christians, consider his talent “a gift from God”. Alexander considers Monk, John Coltrane, Harry Connick, Jr., Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock among his musical influences, ad also particularly admires Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Lee Morgan, Horace Silver and McCoy Tyner. Due to the unavailability of formal jazz training where he grew up, Alexander began playing in jam sessions with senior musicians in Bali and Jakarta, where his family moved after disbanding their tourism business so Alexander could live near Indonesia’s top jazz musicians. Alexander played for Hancock at age 8 when he was visiting Jakarta as a UNESCO good-will ambassador. Hancock told Alexander he believed in him, and Alexander later described that at “the day I decided to dedicate my childhood to jazz. At age 9, Alexander won the Grand Prix at the 2013 Master-Jam Fest, an all-ages jazz music competition in Odessa, Ukraine, which included 43 musicians from 17 nations. Watch out for this guy, he’s going to turn ears on!
Rai Thistlethwayte – Come Together
Musicologists all around have analysed this song as being a political inspiration about the legalisation of marijuana but then evolved into a song about bringing the people together, it also has it’s sexual connotations… We will here slant over to the side of the people in that we are all connected and we see the way Rai Thistlethwayte has made the connection to this piece. Here is his brilliant evolutionary rendition of Come Together
About Rai Thistlethwaite:
Australian rock, pop and jazz musician and songwriter. Rai is an accomplished pianist, guitarist, and vocalist. He is the lead singer and primary songwriter in the Australian pop rock band Thirsty Merc. Since 2004, Thirsty Merc have released a string of hits in the Australian Music Charts including ‘Wasting Time’, ‘My Completeness’, ‘Someday, Someday’, ‘In The Summertime’, ‘When The Weather Is Fine’, ’20 Good Reasons’, ‘The Hard Way’, ‘Those Eyes’, ‘Homesick’, ‘Mousetrap Heart’, ‘Tommy And Krista’ and ‘All My Life’. He is currently based in Los Angeles. As a solo artist, Rai performs under the name ‘Sun Rai.’ He started learning from his mother, a classical piano teacher, before his fifth birthday. His father, Ian, is a language teacher and a bass player and guitarist who played bass in a Sydney-based band called ‘The Plebs’, which formed under the name ‘The Centaurs’ in Sydney in 1963. In his early teens, Rai listened to classic rock and early metal, then blues and jazz. He started writing songs around the age of 15. After finishing high school in 1997 he was awarded a scholarship to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where he commenced a Bachelor of Music in jazz piano in 1998. Some of his early musical influences are listed as The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, Deep Purple, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Iron Maiden, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Prince, Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson, Claude Debussy. He now continues to incorporate jazz into his brave modern music, using his sweet yet powerful voice and his various incredible musical talents.
