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Styles Archives - Page 2

Talking Style: Prince’s “Uptown”
Talking Style

Talking Style: Prince’s “Uptown”

It has now been one week since my hero passed away. Like everyone else on the planet I am still in great shock and disbelief. Even though I had another episode “in the can” and ready to go I thought that it would be most fitting to share with you the first bass line that I ever learned, “Uptown” by...

Talking Style: The Tresillo Rhythm
Talking Style

Talking Style: The Tresillo Rhythm

The tresillo is derived from the fundamental Latin music groove called “habenera”. It can also be thought of as a variation on the Afro-Cuban son clave. Ragtime pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton famously called the tresillo that “Spanish tinge” that is a necessary ingredient for New Orleans jazz. The prominence of the tresillo in African-American music traditions and, particularly...