Friday Night YouTube Music #5
My journey into the very diverse online music library of the 2nd most popular website in the world
I’ve probably been watching YouTube videos for close to 15 years. Early on, I took advantage of the fact it was a great repository of how-to instruction: how to replace the keyboard on my laptop, for instance, or how to use a router when I was building a wooden bookcase. It wasn’t until 2014 that I got involved with the wealth of music on the site.
I had begun taking part in weekly jam sessions at a local studio. The sessions were based upon traditional jazz and standard tunes, music I’d heard most of my life but never attempted to play. I am a self-taught electric bassist who’d begun with blues and rock. I had no formal instruction and do not sight-read written music. The leaders of the sessions would provide a list from week to week of the tunes we would play at the next session. In order to learn them, I searched YouTube for versions. At the same time, I also found many “how-to-play-the-piece” videos, including many specifically for the bass.
And so, I realized that a great resource was within a few mouse clicks… Which led to me finding a YT channel called Studio Jams.
Studio Jams is a creative, up-close and inside look at the art of making music. Each episode features a diverse group of accomplished jazz, rock and blues musicians, gathered together in a recording studio for the sole purpose of having fun and creating fresh, new music. Many of them are meeting for the first time ever. Episodes are shot in a number of different studios around the world. Viewers see what goes into making music, how the musicians communicate with each other, what goes into creating an arrangement, the building of a song, etc. You watch them rehearse and then perform. It is a unique, interesting and fresh approach to presenting music to the public.
If I recall correctly, this version of Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” (made famous by Mongo Santamaria in the 1960s) was the first Studio Jams video I found:
There were unexpected surprises, too, such as this rendition of Freddie Hubbard’s modal-jazz classic, “Little Sunflower”:
And this modern take on a Duke Ellington’s Classic “In a Sentimental Mood”:
While most of the episodes involved “session” or “studio” musicians, often established artists would take part. If you go through the channel, you’ll see people like the bassist Victor Wooten, guitarist Derek Trucks, banjo virtuoso Bele Fleck, and many more putting in appearances. You will also make discoveries: it was where I first saw 23-year-old saxophonist Grace Kelly. Grace is now a budding star- check out her cover of Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean Thing”:
Whether it’s finding multiple versions of the same piece, like Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints'“ (Studio Jams #26 and #55), or a tribute to a recently deceased artist like 1Bill Withers, you will find really good music on this YouTube channel.
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