melancholy in jazz

[arthroceph]

Excuse me if I'm not very enlightened on the Jazz front, and maybe ask for something not appropriate.

I was looking for recordings of improvisations of a melancholic nature.

Now there are standards with melancholic melodies, though often I find they're rendered in many different interesting ways, sure .. but often too upbeat for my ears.

It's possible of course, that only some bits are melancholic. For example in the way the Theme and Variations format might have some melancholic and then happy parts.

Just wondering if anybody might have jazz pieces of this sentiment to suggest for me?

[rauschwerk]

Bluette, the second track on Time Further Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. It's an uneven album to say the least, but this is one of the best tracks.

[Jazzrook]

How about this, arthroceph:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8x-2-Zq3FQ

JR

[arthroceph]

thanks rauschwerk and Jazzrook for those suggestions.

I think I can berate myself now, got caught in a mental funnel of some sort ... I forgot about the whole blues connection and now quite a few pieces are coming to mind ... I think I got caught chasing up some sad melodies and seeing how they can be turned upside down when improvised upon, which I suppose is the whole point. I know where to go now, thanks!

[Ian Thumwood]

Probably the easier place to find melancholy jazz music is on the ECM label which is not exactly known for it's levity. You can probably discover something to your taste quite swiftly because of the availability of samples on line and the lack of variance that this label puts out. The Thomasz Stnko recordings of the early 1990s are particularly good in this respect.

[Serial_Apologist]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OUD2AAPA84

Q: What do you call stomach pains from eating too much melon?
A: Melon colic.

[Quarky]

Excuse me if I'm not very enlightened on the Jazz front, and maybe ask for something not appropriate.

I was looking for recordings of improvisations of a melancholic nature.

Got me thinking, within my limited capabilities.

Of course any music based on the blues has a melancholic component, by definition.

The immediate musician to come to mind is Charlie Parker. I find his his improvisations are through and through melancholic or just plain bluesy. May be that's why I didn't immediately gell with him in my youth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pVxWdnInWY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubmw5jvRvZU

To compare with Johnny Hodges:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pesnDgKRkUQ