Member Since: 11/7/2005
Band Website: optimisticmusic.com
Band Members:
Influences:
The first music called Jazz originated in New Orleans
,Louisiana, United States at around the start of the
20th century. Born out of a blend of African American
musical styles with Western music technique and theory,
jazz uses blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response,
polyrhythms, and improvisation among its many stylistic
markers. Jazz has roots in the combination of West African
and Western music traditions, including spirituals, blues and
ragtime, stemming from West Africa, western Sahel, and
New England's religious hymns, hillbilly music, and European
military band music. After originating in African American
communities near the beginning of the 20th century, jazz
styles spread in the 1920s, influencing other musical styles.
Jazz as a genre is often difficult to define, but improvisation
is a key element of the form. Improvisation has been an
essential element in African and African-American music
since early forms of the music developed, and is closely
related to the use of call and response in West African and
African-American cultural expression.
MORE AT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_music
Sounds Like: Compared to funk's predecessor, the soul music of 1960s,
funk typically uses more complex rhythms, while song
structures are usually simpler. Often, the structure of a
funk song consists of just one or two riffs. Sometimes the
point at which one riff changes to another becomes the
highlight of a song. The soul dance music of its day, the
basic idea of funk was to create as intense a groove as possible.
One of the most distinctive features of funk music is the
role played by bass guitar. Before soul music, bass was rarely
prominent in popular music. Players like the legendary Motown
bassist James Jamerson brought bass to the forefront, and funk
built on that foundation, with melodic basslines often being the
centerpiece of songs. Notable funk bassists include George
Porter Jr., Bootsy Collins and Larry Graham of Sly & the Family
Stone. Graham is often credited with inventing the percussive
"slap bass technique," which was further developed by later
bassists and became a distinctive element of funk.
MORE AT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk_music
Downtempo (or Downbeat) is a laid-back electronic music style.
Often the name chill out music is used to refer to songs demonstrative
of the genre, but those names also refer to other styles of music,
and downtempo encompasses a wider variety of styles than those
terms alone would indicate. The downtempo genre draws heavily on
dub, hip hop, jazz, funk, soul, drum 'n' bass, ambient, and pop and is
often confused and/or mated with closely-related styles like IDM, trip hop,
and acid jazz. MORE AT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtempo
Electronic music is a term for music created using electronic
devices. As defined bythe IEEE standards body, electronic devices
are low-power systems and usecomponents such as transistors and
integrated circuits. Working from this definition, distinction can be
made between instruments that produce sound through
electromechanical means as opposed to instruments that produce
sound using electronic components. Examples of an electromechanical
instrument are the teleharmonium, Hammond B3, and the electric
guitar, whereas examples of an electronic instrument are a Theremin,
synthesizer, and a computer.
MORE AT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_music
Type of Label: Major