Transcript Pe`z copy - WordPress.com

Gallop
Jazz in Japan
by Casey Chambliss
What do you get when you cross...
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•
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• These guys!
• Pe’zmoku
• Also nicknamed the Samurai Jazz Band!
• I challenge you to find a more interesting jazz
band than this one.
Why?
• This group played the ending theme for some of my
favorite T.V. shows from Japan such as Bleach and
Valkyria Chronicles
• I decided to check them out and see what else they
do
• This is what I found...
English Translation
A sound that connects beats against my eardrum,
Conveyed words are shaking in my chest,
Flying lights, twisted shadows,
Rhythm of a color that runs wild,
Standing and dizzy in the middle of the night,
If you let it all go,
If you've cried all your tears,
You have no reason to keep staring at the ground.
The sky whose morning burns, you who wake up,
Start carving a day that is certain,
In that time, don't you feel my voice echoing?
If you do hear me, if my voice carries,
Show me by holding your hands up,
Yet its small and seems like it will overflow in this light.
Run!
Using my cleared ears, using my eyes that were opened,
I won't take in this atmosphere again,
In a vision that I realized, as well in the present, it is breaking
If my heart keeps screaming out
To where things like mistakes aren't.
The technical stuff
• This song is more of a blend using popular music
styles and blending it into a pop style.
• Jazz instruments are present in full force: piano,
upright bass, drums, a guitar (which is acoustic), a folk
singer, and those blazing jazzy trumpets.
• It mixes between major and minor chord progressions,
includes some bass movement by step with secondary
dominant chords, and uses some famous jazz sounds
that are not hard to spot when listening actively.
The song itself
• I love the lyrics to this song, as they convey the
message to get up and hear! The song speaks of
answering with action and realizing you are not alone.
• I realize that this song sounds very different from
conventional jazz or pop music.
• It is literally impossible to find a sheet music
transcription for this song. I did however find many
covers and by ear performances across the vast
reaches of the internet.
What to take from this
• I want all of you to have been exposed to jazz from
another country.
• You don’t necessarily have to like it. I’m just special.
• If nothing else, it is an interesting combination of
styles, and the lyrics are quite beautiful.
• If you did enjoy this song or are interested in finding
more music by Japanese jazz bands or composers, try
Toshiko Akiyoshi.
Owarimashita
My resources are The Great Wikipedia, Bleach,
Valkyria Chronicles, www.garciamusic.com, and the all
powerful Google search engines.