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Mellotronjazz View Drop Down
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    Posted: 11 Sep 2018 at 5:29am
What do you know about jazz words/slang used and created by the big artist of jazz.

I've been looking for another word they used to refer to musicians other than cats. i know that Cab Calloway brought a book or did a speech on the jazz lingo. but i still cant find another terms other than cats or alligator. i was just wondering if anyone knew of anything that could help me and if you do, do you know the meaning behind them.

thanks   
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote js Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Sep 2018 at 7:29am
Some other terms used over the years:

Long Hairs - a term for classical musicians long ago because they tended to have long hair. The term was then applied to jazz that was classically influenced, or avant-garde as in 'long hair music'.

Moldy figs - a term used long ago for musicians who were resistant to new things in jazz.

Hep cats - jazz musicians and fans.


Edited by js - 11 Sep 2018 at 7:54am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote js Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Sep 2018 at 3:53pm
I remembered some more:

Clams - wrong notes played during a solo.

Blow - play or solo
Blow through the changes - taking a solo over the chord changes of a song

Chops - someone's musical skills.

Licorice stick - clarinet


Edited by js - 11 Sep 2018 at 5:28pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mellotronjazz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Sep 2018 at 1:52am
that's great thank you, i hadn't heard of any of those second lot you sent so that very useful information. I really like chops haha it flows so well!

do you know if jazz musicians today still use these terms?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote js Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Sep 2018 at 3:18am
^ Clams, blow, chops, those are all still very common, the other terms belong to another era though.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mellotronjazz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Sep 2018 at 3:20am
well that's good to know. thank you for your help
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote js Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Sep 2018 at 6:41am
Take a ride - play a solo
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mellotronjazz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Sep 2018 at 6:44am
that's an interesting one. i would have thought something like 'take a ride' would have been to do with drugs. But i like learning new things thanks.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote js Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Sep 2018 at 6:57am
By the way, some threads got moved around, let me now if you can't find anything.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mellotronjazz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Sep 2018 at 7:04am
i will do thanks! still trying to fully understand and navigate this website :') but i'm getting there!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mellotronjazz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Sep 2018 at 7:11am
Also what would your definition of ragtime be?

Besides the early piano genre which i know what an early genre of jazz (which is what i used to think it was only referred to) i've now found it used to describe early dixieland and also types of tap dance (from the film musical Oklahoma!)

In terms of it as dixieland where does the difference in the two come or is there one at all or is this just another term used both having the same meaning?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote js Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Sep 2018 at 7:30am
Ragtime comes before jazz. Early jazz is sort of ragtime mixed with blues. Dixieland is a form of jazz that comes along later.
Have you checked our site's genre sections. We have sections for ragtime and dixieland where you can hear samples and read a brief definition. You can also go to a source like allmusic and read in depth definitions.
It would take a lot of typing to answer your question in depth right now.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mellotronjazz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Sep 2018 at 7:37am
i will check it out now ive been looking for a reliable site or source of information as every site i go on says something different to the last one so at least with this i will know. thanks :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote js Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Sep 2018 at 8:05am
The info on our site should be accurate, allmusic is usually real good too. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shrdlu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov 2018 at 2:50pm
If you are talking about jazz slang, you must consider Slim Gaillard and Lester Young.

Slim made up an insider vocabulary called Vout A-Rooney. A small dictionary of it was published in the 1940s. Quick example: On "Slim's Jam", a Gaillard classic from 1945 with Bird and Diz, Slim mentions a "reety vooty", which is a burrito.

Prez hid behind a lot of his own insider terms. He called cops Bob Crosbys. Few people today know that he introduced the word "cool", and "bread" (pay) was one of his.
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