Jack Jack

Here's the theme from Marseille Contract/The Destructors by Roy Budd. A very cool funk/jazz/groove instrumental that reminds me of a Massive Attack song (Unfinished Symphony?) The guy was ahead of his time. Jack Jack's Jazz 1.6

Was I reading somewhere that they where hitting our shores for a new tour? Would be worth seeing. On principle I dislike a lot of RnB/Rap. It seems to be all egos and disrepectin'. Lupe Fiasco is one of the exceptions in this genre. Seems to have a real social conscience. But there is no denying Kanye West's ability to produce a great tune. I really like some of his earlier stuff. Jack Jack 2.5 I've been following a bit of NBA of late. NBA and this tune seem to go hand in hand.

I'm not sure if any of these have made it to TV, but they're great none the less. These are a few documentaries on GMO's and, more specifically, Monsanto. Very, very interesting viewing. Controlling Our Food - The World According To Monsanto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYO2k_o16E0 [censored] - GMO's Part 1 of 5

Nice work Franky & Macca keeping the thread going. I scored a few Jazz magazines whilst in the states. When I catch up on a few uni assignments I'm hoping to pick up some new stuff from the articles/reviews. In the mean time here's a bit of Benny Goodman. Jack Jack's Jazz 1.5

I seem to be in the habit of discovering artists too late. Got on to Little Birdy last year (or was it the year before?) just after they announced an indefinite hiatus. Katy Steele has such an incredible voice. Amazing song. I regularly find myself cuing up their albums with some Josh Pyke and a few other folky bands. Jack Jack 2.4

I'm over in Anaheim LA for the NAMM music show. I saw these guys the other day. Thought they were pretty good (They sound heaps better live). Jack Jack 2.3

Have we had any Zeppelin yet? I was listening to my favourite album of theirs a few nights ago, Led Zeppelin III. I don't think there was an official music video released, not sure why, but it's a fricken unbelievable song. Jack Jack 2.2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkjv9SscotY

It can hardly be a Jazz thread without the great Sachmo. The guy had such an amazing and long career, playing up to 300 gigs a year! I heard Louis Armstrong fairly regularly growing up. Both my parents were fans until my ma found out during half time (I can call it that, it's a footy forum after all) Louis would head back and have a few left handed cigarettes. That ruined it for her. But as the great Bill Hicks said "See I think drugs have done some good things for us. If you don't think drugs have done good things for us then do me a favor. Go home tonight and take all of your records,tapes and all your CD's and burn them. Because, you know all those musicians who made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the years? Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreal f$#king high on drugs, man." Hard to disagree with that. Jack Jack's Jazz 1.4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vpuFYQwZ5o One of his big hits (I'd say second only to What A Wonderful World) was Hello Dolly. It's amazing what that song achieved. It knocked The Beatles off the top of the charts and made him the oldest person to achieve the number 1 spot (60ish from memory).

Whites on ABC is pretty good. It's a few years old now and unfortunately it only ran for one season. ABC also has Last Chance To See. I read the book by Douglas Adams many years ago which is absolutely brilliant. Worth watching & reading both.

I don't have any good stories, or even just a plain ol' story, to go along with song. It's just a good song. Jack Jack's Jazz 1.3

Wow. Just finished watching Dear Zachary. Unbelievable is probably a good way of describing it. And apologies in regard to The Staircase. I'd seen it a few years ago and only noticed it recently in passing. It seems that the screening is fairly well advanced in the series. PM me if anyone wants some ideas on where to track it down.

Another good doco. SBS is rerunning the series the Staircase. From the IMDb You can watch Part 1 & 2 in full on Google Video. I think it's an 8 part series. Part 1 Part 2

Good stuff Macca. And Franky I'm always a sucker for a good story behind the music, great tune too. I mentioned this song in my opening post so I guess I'm obligated to post it. From the musical High Society. I must say that I usually don't take to musicals but this one was an exception. A seriously star studded movie with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Grace Kelly and probably a few others I've forgotten. Some terrific and very memorable songs like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and High Society. Jack Jack's Jazz 1.2 And my favourite Well Did You Ever. (He said she was Stoned!... tee hee!)

The Sunday Best series has been a real eye opener for me. Just a brilliant collection of documentaries. The last doco on Anvil was pretty good.

Here's a great song I discovered from the film Thomas Crown Affair. The song fits into the finale of the film so well, I can't imagine the film without it. It's also hard to believe that the song was recorded nearly 35 years before the film. If you haven't seen the film, I highly recommend it. I've included 2 versions. The first directly from the film and the second being the original full length song. SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't seen the film and would like to then don't watch the first version, from the movie. I know, the movie is 12 odd years old, but you just never know? I think it's Jazz? Jack Jack's Jazz 1.1 Movie Version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qie9icuHp-Y Full Length Version

A great Aussie song from a few years back. Jack Jack 2.1

Okay, you twisted my arm.

Jazz, it's not dead, it just smells funny. A great quote from the great Frank Zappa. I've recently dragged myself, kicking and screaming, into the new digital world. I purchased one of those new computerish fandangled phones. Now all the apps, trinkets, bells and whistles are pretty cool. But the major motivation was to have a convenient mp3 player that could hold more than 2.47 albums. So now I've been able to fairly extensively explore some different musical genres instead of the taste testing I've been limited to, and for some reason Jazz was the first thing I that appeared on my phone. My father was brought up on Jazz and he loved it to bits. So every Sunday morning we endured his obligatory jazz record reminiscing. Somewhere along the way I must have taken a liking to it, or, maybe I'm just doing my own reminiscing. In any case I'm really enjoying listening to some different music. Jazz Rocks! I'm no aficionado on jazz. I wouldn't have any idea on how to define it. So we'll leave it open to interpretation as to what fits. But jump on in, the waters just fine, and I'm interested to hear some new artists and songs. I was going to title the thread after the Bing Crosby/ High Society Soundtrack song "Now you has Jazz" and make it my first song, but i didn't think it was hardcore enough. Instead I've gone for a song that generally get's a run whenever I start listening to that funny smell. Jack Jack's Jazz 1.0 Edit: And a big up to macca for the idea.

Maybe it's being on leave for a few weeks, but I've been listening to a lot of old jazz and the like of late. Stuff like Dave Brubeck, Sinatra, Nina Simone, Bing Crosby, Dexter Gordon even the High Society soundtrack. But it doesn't really fit in with the rock vibe in the thread. On reflection however I'm reminded that it's a new year, resolutions and all that stuff. And invariably when resolutions are mentioned I think of turning over a new leaf, getting healthy and all that crap. I may have to give a fair old crack this year as I'm in line to be a groomsman and I don't want to be the fat one out. Anyway, when it comes to exercise music Korn seem to do it for me every time. Their Greatest Hits Vol. 1 is one hellova collection of songs, get's me pumped, motivated and angry enough that I seem to forget about pain and push through. Jack Jack 2.0 Edit: Crap. I just started listening to the album and I should have posted the song Right Now. The clip is a bit on the gross side but it's a pretty bloody good song. if anyone's interested.

Just finished watching American: The Bill Hicks Story. A very funny, very clever man. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fifayd7rIwY Still on iView for anyone interested.

I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Special mention to Macca (Nuggets) for the great thread and Nascent for putting me on to Protest the Hero. Jack Jack 1.9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-eslNwGXrI

I've had that song, mostly the riff, stuck in my head for days now and I'm still enjoying it. Reminds me a lot of this song. Jack Jack 1.8

When I first heard this song on the radio I couldn't get it out of my head. But, stupidly, I was too busy repeating it over and over in my head to bother listening for the artist and the name of the song. So it drove me nuts for ages trying to track down the song and album. When I heard it again, it distracted me enough to miss the name of the song, but not the artist. It was the late (well not at the time), great Elliott Smith. So I high tailed it down to the local music store to get the album. The only album of ES they had was his recently released Figure 8. It turns out that the song I had stuck in my head wasn't on the album. But I wasn't disappointed as Figure 8 is a brilliant album and remains one of my favourite. I later tracked down the name of the elusive song, Waltz #2. Enjoy. Jack Jack 1.6 And for good measure here's a song from Figure 8. Jack Jack 1.7 Please excuse the long post but I had to get this off my chest. It frustrates the hell out of me that there's so much good music out there and never enough free space on my MP3 player to put it. I guess a decent sized ipod classic might help the cause, but itunes gets my goat and apple is turning out to be just as big of a bully and megalomaniac as microsoft (In my opinion). But as they say in the movies "Necessity is the mother of invention"

Nice one. I've watched a couple of episodes and I don't mind it at all. It reminds me a little of Scrubs, quirky, feelgood comedy. Last Sunday's "Sunday Best" was very interesting. Followed a young Indian boy who had run 48 marathons by the time he was 4. Yes that's right I said 48 (fourty eight) marathons by the age of 4 (four). On ABC IView for anyone who missed it.

Here's an interesting article from the New York Times. Written back when the Japan disaster was in full swing. Lessons From Chernobyl for Japan "The death of a nuclear reactor has a beginning; the world is watching this unfold now on the coast of Japan. But it doesn’t have an end. While some radioactive elements in nuclear fuel decay quickly, cesium’s half-life is 30 years and strontium’s is 29 years. Scientists estimate that it takes 10 to 13 half-lives before life and economic activity can return to an area. That means that the contaminated area — designated by Ukraine’s Parliament as 15,000 square miles, around the size of Switzerland — will be affected for more than 300 years."