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Talking Style

Talking Style: Fire on the Bayou

Talking Style: Fire on the Bayou

“Fire on the Bayou” might just be my favorite song out of New Orleans. There is a grit and attitude about it that can only be found in New Orleans. The lyrics paint a picture of the New Orleans that I remember seeing on my periphery as a little boy growing up there – observing my uncles and other older...

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Talking Style: Mardi Gras Mambo

Talking Style: Mardi Gras Mambo

Mardi Gras Day, also known as “Fat Tuesday” is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday and is the last big blowout before Lent starts and fasting begins. Mardi Gras is actually a season in New Orleans, Carnival Season. Interesting factoid – the word “Carnival” loosely translates to “Farewell to the flesh”. An iconic song played during Carnival season is “Mardi...

Talking Style: Why I Don’t Really Like Playing the Song “Kiss”

Talking Style: Why I Don’t Really Like Playing the Song “Kiss”

It’s no secret at this point that Prince is, has been and always will be my favorite “B.A.S.E.” player – him and just about anyone who had the salt to hold the chair in his band. Yes, I’ve got my preferences out of that bunch as well, but we’ll rap about that later! In this episode I’m going show you...

Talking Style: Quartet Time/Feel

Talking Style: Quartet Time/Feel

Sometimes a simple shift in accent or change in the length of a note can really mark a particular style or genre. In this episode, I’m taking a very recognizable Dominant 7 line and shifting accents and note length to demonstrate how the exact same harmonic material sounds different in Blues, R&B and Quartet music. Follow along with the transcription...

Talking Style: I’ve Got To Use My Imagination

Talking Style: I’ve Got To Use My Imagination

One of the things that I love about doing this column is that I sometimes find unlikely pairings – like this one. I didn’t know that Bon Jovi’s Hugh McDonald played bass on this extremely funky joint, “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” as performed by Gladys Knight and the Pips. The song was written and originally performed by Barry...

Talking Style: Bruno Mars vs. Collage

Talking Style: Bruno Mars vs. Collage

Like everyone else who was hip to late 70’s/80’s music I was instantly transported back to the golden age of 80’s electro funk the moment that I heard Mark Ronson / Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk”. However, even though the aural aesthetic certainly reminded me of some of the best times of my life and certainly some of the best music,...

Talking Style: New Jack Swing Part 2 – Poison

Talking Style: New Jack Swing Part 2 – Poison

Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison” is one song from the New Jack Swing era of R&B that has certainly stood the test of time. People who weren’t even living when the song was brand new hit dance and sing to it like it came out yesterday. Two really cool things about this bass groove are that it easily serves as a...

Talking Style: New Jack Swing

Talking Style: New Jack Swing

“New Jack Swing” is an era of R&B that mixed jazz, pop and electronic dance music sensibilities with hip-hop production techniques. The “sound”, pioneered by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (former keyboardist and bassist for the Time) and Teddy Riley consists largely of synthesized bass lines, swung hip-hop beats created by the TR-808 drum machine and the SP-1200 sampler with...

Talking Style: G-Funk – Part 2

Talking Style: G-Funk – Part 2

I want to continue the “G-Funk” exploration in this episode by taking a look at the 1995 cut “Safe & Sound” by DJ Quik. This song is a prime example of having a part from a record re-played as opposed to sampling it. This gives the producer so much more freedom in terms of what elements can be added or...

Talking Style: G-Funk

Talking Style: G-Funk

G-Funk is a sub-genre of Hip-Hop that came out of 1990’s West Coast Gangsta Rap. Some characteristics of G-Funk are Parliament-Funkadelic-inspired, with mid-tempo grooves, melodic synths (high pitched “Gangsta Leads”), deep bass, and male or female vocals on the hooks. G-funk often consists of fewer, unaltered samples per song as opposed to the altered samples that are more prominent in...

Talking Style: Oh Freedom

Talking Style: Oh Freedom

I’ve been wanting to do some Gospel episodes but wasn’t sure where I wanted to start until now. The first song that we’ll look art is the post-Civil War spiritual, “Oh Freedom”. In particular, I’m going to show you some ideas on how to “hear the changes” , an extended Gospel-style turnaround and how you might approach this song if...

Talking Style: Rhumba Blues

Talking Style: Rhumba Blues

I was back home in New Orleans recently hanging out with my mom and attending my @* year high school reunion. Where did that time go??? Yeah, that’s a tale for another time! While I was there I sat in with the Marc Stone band down on Frenchman at a club called 30/90. My buddy Thomas was the bass player...