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Did Big Happens Here Do Digable Planets?

I know that many traditional jazz players, especially in the early and mid-1980's, would not likely latch on to a short phrase, repeat it many times and make this small and almost "throw away" motif into something big. This tiny melodic gesture, in the hands of an outsider (with respect to a musical tradition), could become the most important part of the melody, or sometimes the only melody that matters to someone from outside of that tradition. This "how does a foreigner view our music" idea is one I will explore later. I'll include myself in this - how and why did I get into hip hop, or Senegalese, Malagasy, Brazilian or Cuban music.All of this to get back to that famous Digable Planets song that samples some jazz.

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Big Wind - a set list for Hurricane Sandy

In honor of The Big Wind (and Rain), I thought I’d compile some of my favorite songs about wind into a set list. These songs are carefully arranged by my mood - what I want to hear and what feels right following each song. The styles often don’t flow according to those who restrict themselves to a single style or two. But I restrict myself to music and sound that I can perceive - I love as many varieties of music as I do varieties of food, people and geography.Here goes:1. Florida Hurricane - St. Louis Jimmy2. The Wayward Wind - I have & love 3 versions - Neil Young, Gogi Grant & Patsy Cline

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Igor Got Game: A Musical and Legal Comparison of The Beastie Boys and Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” (1918) drew heavily upon music composed by Giovanni Pergolesi and others in the early 18th century. The Beastie Boys, an extremely popular rap/hip hop music group since the mid-1980’s, in their best-selling CD, Hello Nasty (1999) drew upon the music of Stravinsky by means of the digital sampling of Stravinsky’s “Firebird.” Both of these “borrowings” share important similarities and differences. Furthermore, these borrowings shed light on several seemingly unrelated disciplines and fields of study. These include music composition and the nature of creativity and originality, the intellectual property law of different times and societies created to protect authors from appropriations of their original works, the means by which borrowed music may be used and transmitted (sampling, digital streaming, MP3, etc.), and the business (financial, licensing, retail, broadcast, etc.) considerations involved in such borrowings.

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Baseball and Music - The Right Songs for the Right Season

I thought of calling this post, "15 Songs for the Soul." But that thought lasted for two seconds. Elvis Costello's great lyric from "Alison" came to mind, and rescued me: "I'm not going to get too sentimental like those other sticky Valentines."I also liked the title, "I see St. Peter wave ," but decided against that too. If you don't know, that is a short phrase from a song by They Might Be Giants. "I see St. Peter wave" then led me to the rest of the song which burrowed its way perfectly into this post. And I love the messages the songs below convey. They are perfectly suited for this day, don't you think?

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Angie Aparo v. Five For Fighting (Part 3 of 3)

PART 3 of 3We left off in this cliffhanger with the promise of an ending in this highly abbreviated fictionalized account of what could have been a copyright infringement action brought by Angie Aparo and affiliated parties against Five For Fighting and affiliated parties.Plaintiff: What country song features 1-2-3-5?Defendant: “Tomorrow Never Comes” by Ernest Tubb does. Conway Twitty’s “I’m Not Through Loving You Yet” also features 1-2-3-5.Plaintiff: What rock song features 1-2-3-5?Defendant: “I’ll Follow The Sun” by The Beatles.” The Beatles‘ “You Won’t See Me” also features 1-2-3-5

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