Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Night in Tunisia 1961

Selected viewer comments from

http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments&v=H_v7mUGoKDc&fromur...

(1-500 of 556 as of 1:30 pm 2/18/2010)

[Editor: one word has been deleted in the post below because of this website’s position on the use of profanity. Jambalayah has this position so that these edited viewer comment threads might be accessible in schools.]
JazzMan600 (2 years ago) Why (Not that I have anything against it) but why doe everyone play this song so … fast? Is it a habit? Does it sound better?

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(missvirgo916 (2 years ago) because it is a mixture of jazz and latin and wen you learn how to play it the jazz directors eventually make you speed it

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Gettinghitonattheban (2 years ago) Actually it's more African influenced. You'd be surprised on how Latin and African persecution have influenced each other.

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kotnascher33 (2 years ago) the real reason is because this is hard bop. hard bop comes from the bebop which is a sort of revolution by the african-americans. a type of music that white people weren'T supposed to like because of its speed and mixed impros
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coolstruttin1 (2 years ago) actually it's a mix of jazz and latin.. dizzy said so himself. not everyone takes it this fast, in fact, this is by far the fastest i have ever heard it. dizzy's direct influences were not african.

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Snuffers290 (1 year ago) The first track on Lee's "The Cooker" is Tunisia and he starts it off really slowly. It switches to double time in the bridge and during the solos, but the creeping bari-sax line and Lee's solid rendition of the melody set it up really well. It's jazz and trying to classify it further is almost useless. Whether it's hard-bop or latin is irrelevant if the song sounds best played differently (not that this one does.)
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Saxophonic (2 years ago) tenor is actually easier to go faster with, if you have enough breath, all that is different from alto is that you need a slightly less tight embochure, the fingering is the same response on both instruments
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JazzMan600 (2 years ago) I foung how to play this song by watching Wayne Shorter's finger movements.
Ded-la-ded-la-de-da. F(nat.) and Eb.
Ded-la-ded-la-de-da. F# and E(nat.)
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tnolan171 (2 years ago) good for u man. i love learning things from youtube. u should check out Wayne Shorter's solo on blues march with the jazz messengers. I'd try and do it by ear rather than visual though, its a vital skill.
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JazzMan600 (2 years ago) Uh, yeah. I tried and there isn't enough light in the clip to see.
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5471557261970 (2 years ago) Thank you for this treat. i love Art. Lee truly was a young lion here and Wayne is sheer greatness.

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padleynj (2 years ago) Lee's solos are so easy to identify! He has a style and grace all to his own!!!
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mjholloway1 (2 years ago) This is my favourite version of A night in Tunisia to date!
The ending was so intense I had to get out my sax and play the F SHARP as loud as I could!!
I would also like to point out this is NOT Hard Bop, this is Bebop. It also has the qualities of more modern and contempory Jazz pioneered in some part by Wayne Shorter. And of course the furious drumming of Art Blakey.
Also, gotta love that moment when Lee's on the trumpet and Art starts talking to him! Brilliant!
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LamontCJ (2 years ago) The JAZZ MESSENGERS!!!!
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fissure226 (2 years ago) what a classic song
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hihats (2 years ago) I've decided Lee Morgan is my favorite trumpet player.Not because of this clip...I've been listening to a lot of him w/Blakey and his solo stuff over the last year...he does it for me more than Miles and the rest...no dissing the others but I can dig Lee Morgan any time all the time.
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hunke100 (2 years ago) What about Kenny Dorham, Clifford Brown, Blue Mitchell? Lee Morgan is great though and he is also one of my favourites too, but what I can tell, he was one of several great players. Have you listened to Clifford with Strings yet, some great tracks? Depends on what rocks your boat though I suppose.
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spicyvanilla4 (2 years ago) man lee morgan is a beast and a half, but getting hip to Freddie Hubbard really puts his playing into context. all of those players are legendary to say the least tho
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blackdwarfstar (2 years ago) hello who is on drums?
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kcscene0 (2 years ago) The one and only Art Blakey, man!
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jlicona101 (2 years ago) one of the great innovators of my fav. jazz styles hard bop. art is the man
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nn18059 (2 years ago) this is music to my ears,great perfomance,stylistic players and value for money.Big up
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macvoutie (2 years ago) Hard Bop. Blakey and Messsengers burnin'. Excellent.
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LittleRedKing (2 years ago) This is an incredible tune and When Art Blakey and company played it, it was elevated even further. Just awesome.
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apsmaster (1 year ago) Lee Morgan outshined all them sukkas...the trumpet really does keep the style going but lee morgan is something else!!! i mean some may even say that he might be even better than..dare i say... MILES DAVIS? think about it...i personally can't choose between the two
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magovenor (1 year ago) ya digg!!
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TheEternalEvolution (1 year ago) They are both great...But miles...

He's something else...
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Kuthroat (1 year ago) Art Blakey is ridiculous. Long rest his soul.

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magovenor (1 year ago) Man he played those drums!!!
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tompierre3 (1 year ago) Interesting comment about Miles and Lee Morgan. Miles never spoke on Lee, and even in the bio by Quincy Troupe, Lee Morganm a contempory, is not mentioned. I love them both:RIP
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atmtree (1 year ago) who wrote this
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drumgod629 (1 year ago) This was originally written by a trumpeter named Dizzy Gillespie... I actually like this version better than his... blakey is so versitile... his rythms are mind blowing... the whole band is great.
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apsmaster (1 year ago) well actually its the same version the tempo is just faster and solos are portrayed differently
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apsmaster (1 year ago) w00t w00t go lee morgan go art blakley u guys rock!!! i wish i was there in person!
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apsmaster (1 year ago) omg lee morgan u never cease to suprise me, his chops are top notch and its like when hes on fire nothings gonna stop him wow sensational
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VirginUbiquity (1 year ago) awesome:)xxxx
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oneandonIy (1 year ago) aw man that is what i call true jazz
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punk2116 (1 year ago) Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaa....AMAZING
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swingsoulajazz (1 year ago) THE MASTERPIECE!! A GREAT WORK OF ART
Timeless...
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nickfortune (1 year ago) best thing i ever saw
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padleynj (1 year ago) Could it ever get any better than this!!!!!!!
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Chocorob (1 year ago) Thanks for putting it up, great video, Love this song
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bbhoy7 (1 year ago) Art Blakey looks so majestic on the drums. That bass solo was nice too. Wayne Shorter appears sceptical of his percussion role. But what else can I say? A superb jazz ensemble with tremendous energy.
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Phattlippz (1 year ago) Lee is playing the crap out of that cowbell! Who knew?
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am3155 (1 year ago) Incredible performance by one of Blakey's great bands. Can you believe Lee Morgan?? How old was he on this set,12, 13?? This was my favorite of Blakey's smokin bands, especially after he added my homeboy Curtis fuller on trombone. Can you imagine being a young musician back then trying to get your name out there and then you get a call from Art Blakey. He loved the music and the music loved him back. RIP, Great Teacher.
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am3155 (1 year ago) Hey phillip, I remember The Minor Key quite well. I was attending Wayne State U. and I lived on Blaine off Dexter. I'm talking early sixties. The Minor Key was actually a Coffee House. As you know, they didn't serve alcohol. I remember (just barely)one night in particular, Miles was in town and of course there was a long line of people waiting to get in. The band was halfway thru the first piece "Neo", before the guy at the door told us the set was "sold out". We caught the last set.
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LittleRedKing (1 year ago) Awesome. In every sense of the word ... this is awesome.
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68philewest (1 year ago) Classic styles ever by the a few of the greats
love it
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47nicole47 (1 year ago) Fantastic video, I am glad it was put on Youtube. It was just another testament of why I love jazz and why I love playing jazz.
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peacenik53 (1 year ago) Thanks for putting this on YouTube. This has been one of my favorite Blakey tunes for years. It is great to see it on film.
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UriAg (1 year ago) Man oh man. The best Messengers line-up with the best drummer in the world. Only one who is on the same level is Max Roach.
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congaplayera (1 year ago) I would like to add Elvin Jones to that list of outstanding drummers. Guaguanco is in the house y'all!

More viewer comments from

http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments&v=H_v7mUGoKDc&fromur... (#3)

valambiguous (7 months ago) Love that jazz!
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Nobodybeatsthebeats (7 months ago) BREAK! 2:00

It's the reason for I consider it a legendary piece of work. Roll, Mr. Parker, ROOOOOOOL! <3
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lietz13 (7 months ago) I'm pretty sure they all were thinking "I think we started this way too fast. Ah, screw it, lets go for it anyways."

Jeez, just being able to hang at that tempo is impressive.

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redSuikoden (7 months ago) Haha, I love your comment.
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ohiozj (7 months ago) gotta love the cowbell... :)

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kawaiigardiner (6 months ago) RE: ohiozj, yeah, but it could do with more cow bell :D
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Tenebro333 (6 months ago) The solos are just amazing.
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wahnano (6 months ago) Bravo..!!!!!
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JazzmanJibilla (6 months ago) Blistering pace, might even be faster than the album recording. Bass solo...knocks me out.
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wahnano (5 months ago) This is what we call M.U.S.I.C
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marleyjay01 (5 months ago) i like the song but can someone explain to me why is a night in tunisia so popular?
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lessunn (5 months ago) It's a jazz standard......and Blakey is the man!!!!!

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halo3face (5 months ago) because it was written as a written as a jazz standard by dizzy gillespie, and was not a popular song originally, as many other jazz standards were.

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WillyBotello (5 months ago) because it is Dizzy's great masterpiece gillespie.
It is a great icon of the signature big band of gillespie bebop
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mahoose6 (5 months ago) They BOPPED! Hard bopped yee
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WillyBotello (5 months ago) Art Blakey, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Jymie Merrit and Walter Davis!!!!!!
They are the best hard bop of the history, and of the best made jazz.
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firstface15 (4 months ago) Lee Morgan has the best tone i have ever heard in any trumpet player.

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dontaewinslow (4 months ago) I AGREE !!! Lee is the BEST!!
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ender2999 (4 months ago) He does have great tone! But what about Brownie?
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trumponeman (4 months ago) Blakey, my favourite drummer, storms along pushing the rest of the band to their limits. This must be fastest version there is - even faster than the original Jazz Messengers album although the arrangement is similar. I don't think anyone, including Blakey himself, has ever surpassed this version. The Paris crowd go mad of course.
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jamesintheplace (4 months ago) That was AMAZING!
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mwhita (4 months ago) My favorite jazz band ever.
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jlvyn13 (4 months ago) this is classic
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adeduction (4 months ago) Lee Morgan is good but Blakey's first Jazz Messenges with Clifford Brown I think was a better because of Clifford Brown. He was such a great trumpet player. When he died in a car crash on his way to a gig in Chicago he was only 24. Hard to believe he was so good & so young. Max Roach never quite got over the death of such a genuis player. He was like the best wine or whiskey without aging. How much better could he have become? Listen to CLIFFORD BROWN: Night in Tunisia 10:54

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[Editor: A word is edited from the following post because of this site’s policy about profanity. Jambalayah has this policy is so that these viewer comment threads might be accessible in schools.]

longfade (3 months ago) Different things. Yes, Clifford died young in a car accident; Morgan died young because his …girlfriend shot him at a gig. Which one is more tragic?? Clifford was great, Lee was great, Freddie was great, etc, They all represented great periods and changes in Blakey's lineup.
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boertush (3 months ago) play you're instrument! got to love Blakey getting impatient at his hornplayer
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mendozaman9 (3 months ago) i dont need food to give me energy, all i need is wayne shorter...
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robertclemon (3 months ago) straight ahead jazz baby!!!
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ddrl33tz0r (3 months ago) whats the instrument, the one that is like a stick hitting some wood thing or something? Kind of hard to explain, but really want to know what it is.
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Spimp2 (3 months ago) clave, it's 2 wooden cylindrical pieces of wood hit together to make a really really loud clack
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LunaLucise (3 months ago) It's called clave. Both the instrument and the beat that is played on it is referred to as clave.
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daynebry (3 months ago) Now that's music!!!!!
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plangentmusic (3 months ago) SMOKIN'!!!
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sangsaratrip (2 months ago) pretty sweet when the piano comes in around 1:03, I didn't notice the bass was playing in the background till then, the percussion distracts you in the beginning
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mahoose6 (2 months ago) How can this be so raw and so cookin' at the same time?

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djhustler100 (1 month ago) pure musicianship and in one take!
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fiddlercrab3 (2 months ago) 6:55 "Play yo' instrument"
Classic.
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[Editor: The following three comments are in response to a deleted comment that apparently took exception to the poster’s use of the word “sick” which in
American slang means “very good”.]

E72192 (1 month ago) im actually surprised that me saying sick somehow bothered you so much.....i don't think anyone else read that and thought it meant "not bad"....i think you are the only one that got a mixed message from that, i clearly meant it was awesome, and you have serious issues in life if you have to sit around and complain about how people compliment good music.
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skip2dalou (1 month ago) This music is SICK SICK SICK!....lol chill out dude, its not that serious, it was positive commentary...on another note im in a state of ear bliss as these beautiful sounds pelt my eardrums....sick indeed
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SmoothSaxBoy (1 month ago) In jazz, terms like that mean the opposite of what they are used for go way back to when Bird and Dizzy were inventing bebop. It's just been jazz culture since then. "Sick" is probably the most universal of these terms, even overused, in my opinion.
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LittleRedKing (2 months ago) Incredible musicians playing an incredible composition!
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Baltasund (1 month ago) Im old enough to have heard them live. After that I stopped playing the trumpet. Incredible music.
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Montara130 (1 month ago) if sick means good, then this is terminal.
it's great... :O)
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mexguy011 (3 weeks ago) @Montara130 nah man this is a freaking pandemic
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Tizmo0 (1 month ago) m man, what an ending. just when i thought it couldn't get any better
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dblockbass (1 month ago) why are miley cyrus videos getting mlillions of hits when there is still video evidence of music of this calibur....sign of the times i guess....
bravo.
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brejon555 (1 month ago) i love the call and response between lee morgan and the random guy in the audience. lol "play your instrument"
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thoutah (1 month ago) brejon555 - that's Art Blakey who says "play your instrument," not some random guy in the audience.
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djhustler100 (1 month ago) ii remember having the pleasure of meeting art before he passed away in a rehearsal studio in south london i had this picture in my mind of the guy i saw on the old albums but in walked this old man pot bellied bottle of burbon one hand sticks in the other sat behind his kit and then the magic happend i remember one of the other dancers saying art art can you play it faster to which he replied son if your feet can take it my hands can play it!
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BroadcastSarah (3 weeks ago) thanks for that : )
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jrduarte99 (3 weeks ago) @djhustler100 Nice story, dude. :)
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jsrarbel (1 month ago) this is one of the greatest things i've ever seen
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CasoOSU (4 weeks ago) warp speed
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chriss1152 (3 weeks ago) man these guys can play
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kumitetom (2 weeks ago) omg.. i analysed this in music class today. once you understand the structure of it following it becomes beautiful.
if only everyone know the basics of bebop and jazz, there would be far less crap pop music :)

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Baritone45 (2 weeks ago) This is also a bit more complicated, at least in the cowbell rhythm and the trumpet part of the theme, than the typical rendition of "Night in Tunisia".
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MrNegraMusica (1 week ago) No words can explain this experience.
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ale92LP (1 week ago) Great performance by Wayne Shorter, I love his music!
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mgladrummerforlife (1 week ago) My God, I'm scared; to know that I have to play it in a final.
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xuten (1 week ago) @mgladrummerforlife good luck man!!!
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PDAdrum (6 days ago) This is the music for remember !!! Simply Excelent.
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TheSchusto (3 days ago) I love Afrika ... Art blakey is great
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KingCast65 (3 days ago) 6:57 - "Play your instrument!"

Awesome.