The first JAmes Hall Albulm is it really all that?

[diverse379]

love his music, the band, the Brooklyn sound, the jazz infusion, classical infusion, avant garde, gothis ctyle, the whole nine yards!! I CAN'T WAIT until his new album drops!!!!!
Posted on: June 26, 2006, 07:32:33 PMPosted by: diverse379 

This is what makes the brooklyn sound and james hall so unique there is this classical element
the jazz element is definitely there  then there is this avante garde thing going on

cab calloway zoot suit type stuff

and of course the gothic sound which sometimes i think is a little too much for me

but you cant say the crew doesent bring it cuz they do

[Muziqmann]

I must admit my mom bought the Institutinal Album One More Day in (I think) 1971 and I was hooked and I was only 6 years old but learned how to play the drums with that album.  So of course they became my favorite choir. With Bibleway Mass and Jeffrey White a close 2nd and 3rd.   By the way talk about 2 musicans who were so good that they were playing on everybodys album coming out of NYC, Jeffery White (on bass) and Bobby Walker(on drums).  These guys were like were in their early teens (13, 14, 15) when they were playing on Institutional, Bibleway, Benny Cummings, and Tribobro Mass.  I tell you what these guys and a lot of the old school guys were really unbelievable to be so good, so humble and so young!

Yeah Jeff White is a BEAST on the bass and so is his son Jeff Jr.

[bobby1361]

Hey Loopy if you like Jame Hall & WAP then you have got to get your hands on a copy o f the late GREAT Benny Cummings and the Kings Temple Choir and also the Benny  Cumings singers.  If you think that Hames Hall had so sick arrangements then this guy will blow your mind and just think this was around 1977 - 1981.  I wish there was some way I could let you hear his music, you wouldn't believe it!  His classical arrangements were awesome.  Also for a large choir don't forget Institutinal Radio Choir and some of Butch Heywards calsssical arrangements .  They had some very difficult songs to play as well but they were great to listen to!
Today however nobody can touch James Hall sound!   

[diverse379]

i dont know why yall be teasing us with these albums and records that are nearly impossible to get 

but the history is nice to read for sure

[Metronome]

The James Hall sound is a required taste.  A lot of the intermediate cats from down in the city have that same sound but the NICE cats all have their own distinctions.  But thats the same in all areas so it really shouldn't be that bad.

[SirTJ]

I love where this post is going

one thing that metronome said about taking a progression making it minor and then making it diminished is very true indeed a lot of what we hear in hjames hall and hez is different harmonic treatments to a melody

when I was studying with melvin I heard him say every bass note can go with any chord it all depends on how you are resolving where you are going to or coming from and it is this thought process that confuses the theoretical musician like myself because it is completely out the box

Hate to bump an old topic, but this really interested me. Anyone wanna elaborate?

[diverse379]

Hate to bump an old topic, but this really interested me. Anyone wanna elaborate?

I am a little further along now than I was then

The alternate bass line thing is cool

simply you can take any chord tone and use that as the bass note

you can also use any note from a substitute chord like a tritone sub

you can also use notes from the related diminished chord

you can also drop two or four from each chord and use that note as the bass

that covers a little over half of your possibilites

[musiqisme26]

I am a little further along now than I was then

The alternate bass line thing is cool

simply you can take any chord tone and use that as the bass note

you can also use any note from a substitute chord like a tritone sub

you can also use notes from the related diminished chord

you can also drop two or four from each chord and use that note as the bass

that covers a little over half of your possibilites

What did he just say??

[trinatrine]

Well the "God Is In Control" album along with the rest that I own certainly got my attention back in the 90s

[diverse379]

What did he just say??

What did he just say??

Sorry I was in a rush Ok here is a break down of what I mean

if you take a chord
lets take a c chord lets make it dominant so we can really have no limitations
we are doing a two chord progression
to F7

the notes in this chord are C E G Bb y
any one of these notes can serve as the bass note for the chord
now you can also use any of the extentions
such as the ninth and the 13th
so you now have As bass note possiblilites C D E G  A Bb

you can also use the tritone substitution which is F# and use that as a bass note
I said you can use any chord tone in the substitute chord
the notes of the F#7 is F# A# (Bb) C# and E
the only one of these notes we havent used yet is the C#
this is a funky sound and not in a good way because the C3 is a half step above the real root of the chord it is very dissonant however you can invert the chord to E G Bb
and play the C# without really playing the C natural
or better yet play the C move to the c# then play the F7

what is the related diminished chord
this is the diminished chord built on the D or the 2nd scale degree

those notes are D F Ab B
try this out
C/DFABB
D/CEGBb
E/BDFAb
F/ACEbF



my goodness are their any notes left out
nope we just covered every note of the scale
so you see any note can substitute for the bass note of any chord

now that you have that information
take a song you know well
and try this out with a two chord progression
that you always do
and see if you can use one of these bass note substitutions
the idea is to keep the bass line smooth or melodic
it doesent make sense to substitute a bass note if the sound isnt going to improve because of the substitution

[pianomanbaby]

Anything from James Hall is going to be all that!!!

[musiqisme26]

Anything from James Hall is going to be all that!!!

Sad to say that is not true and i consider myself to be a very great big james hall fan (Live at Foxwoods)

[williamsmarvin]

All i can say is that the first album was ALL THAT AND THEN SOME!!!! I promise

[fmason3]

What did he just say??

I'm gonna do a youtube video on it soon.

[kenlacam]

Here's a clip of Benny Cummings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgaUIyfC36k

[docjohn]

any links to clips/examples of what you're talking about?

[under13]

Awesome thread! I just started listening to JH a few months ago. His music is now on Itunes and amazon.com on MP3 format, so we no longer have to pay crazy prices for it.

And I also enjoyed the history lesson. Everybody says that NY was crazy back in the day. I look at the young artists and musicians now, and though there are some really good ones out, I dont think that in 20 years we'll be talking about them the same way the older people talk about Benny Cummings, Anthone White  and others. But who knows.

As for the Brooklyn style, some Pastors and church people absolutely hate it and say that it sounds sad and scary... lol, but others love it. I rarely use it, but I'll throw in a few of the moves when I have a chance.

[T-Block]

I love James Hall's music, but I wouldn't go so far as to say he's all that on any album. Just because something is hard and full of phat chords & runs doesn't automatically make it all that. It's all in your perception of things.

whe I was studying with melvin I heard him say every bass note can go with any chord it all depends on how you are resolving where you are going to or coming from

CO-SIGN!!!

To add on to that, any chord and note can be played in any key as well, it just depends on the overall progression of the music.

[diverse379]

I love James Hall's music, but I wouldn't go so far as to say he's all that on any album. Just because something is hard and full of phat chords & runs doesn't automatically make it all that. It's all in your perception of things.

CO-SIGN!!!

To add on to that, any chord and note can be played in any key as well, it just depends on the overall progression of the music.

this concept sounds almost ludicrous
if it werent for the fact that you said it.
or even me you may think us insane

and
i dont think you can just say to someone who doesent know theory or is not advanced because there are so many wrong choices to make,

i think however starting from the basics and slowly adding alternate tones and substitutions helps.

I wish we could have our own lgm conference where we do a lot of shedding.
choir stuff

[T-Block]

this concept sounds almost ludicrous
if it werent for the fact that you said it.
or even me you may think us insane

What concept u talking about? The playing any chord or note in any key?