John Kirby - Beethoven Riffs On (Symphony 7, mvt 2)

[SrpskiRumun]

It's not enough that i LOVE jazz, and that the 7th is my favorite from Beethoven, but to find this masterpiece... Just wow

[jasl3412]

This is by far one of the hippest tunes I have ever heard. Pretty much made me love John Kirby along with a lot of his other tunes that swing harder than any big band I have ever heard.

[2ndviolinist]

@jasl3412 This was when jazzers expected their audience to recognize classical tunes. Afar cry from today.

[jasl3412]

@2ndviolinist It's amazing how long classical music was considered a popular musical form and how quickly its popularity went down hill. To be honest, I knew this had a classical infusion in it just by listening to it but I didn't catch the reference until my third listen.

Thanks for putting this out there! More people need to know John Kirby's music! He is actually one of the only band leaders that would make arrangements of classical pieces for his organization to play. Absolutely giant.

[2ndviolinist]

@jasl3412 Actually, using classical music in jazz was more common than you imagine. I have a compilation album of classical, jazz style, with Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Johnie Lunceford, Raymond Scott, Woody Herman, Les Brown, Adrian Rollini, Al Donahue, Arnold Johnson, and Dolly Dawn & her Dawn Patrol. Claude Thornhill alone did Brahms Hungarian Dance #5, Schumann's Traumerei, Tchaikovsky's Arabian Dance and others. I bet you can find many more written for a more sophisticated audience.

[JACQUILLO2]

fascinating !!!

[robbourassaguitarist]

Kirby was an inspiration for Ward Swingle. This is great.

[2ndviolinist]

@robbourassaguitarist Thanks for the link. Wish there was wider range of original swingle Singers on YT.

[maxinDetroit]

one of my fav Kirby sides-

max

[2ndviolinist]

agreed

[BonMarcel]

wouah !