Tonight I listened to an evening of an older Louis Armstrong singing lone songs. It was a contradiction of sounds but, listening to the lyrics could not contradict the emotion behind those lyrics.Even the gravel voiced Louis had those lyrics caressing the listener with the feeling of love in all its facets.Often he was accompanied by none other than Oscar Peterson and his trio who were all legends in jazz (Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, Louis Bellson on drums, and Oscar Peterson on piano).
What was most striking in the numbers played were the lyrics in the love songs. One could actually clearly hear and understand all of the lyrics.The musical genre of the 40's and 50s, the Swing Bands and the Big Bands with their magnificent vocalists were a great loss when Rock and Roll came in with its 3 chords on guitar (with occasional capo added). Gone were the classically trained musicians like Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Dave Brubeck, Gunther Schuller, Andre Previn and so many more.
When music began to change, so did the content of lyrics. The sad part is that most lyrics heard in today's music market require a written copy of the lyrics for them to be understood. Some might even be lovely but I wouldn't know as I can never hear them. Today we have New Age, Reggae, Tropical, Latin, Blues, Jazz, Bluegrass, Country, Folk, Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, Rap, R&B/Hip-Hop, to name a few. It is not surprising, then, that many classically trained students who don't go into classical music, and symphony orchestras go into jazz. Most music genres of today seem to last through the adolescent years and quickly become 'Golden Oldies'.sold on the Internet.
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