You know damn well most of the nerds here main experience with jazz is Cowboy Bebop
Yup, that one right there was the one that got me into jazz.
One could write a book about the parallels between the music and the stories in that show.
The Mario series actually has a ton of fantastic jazz. Jump Up, Superstar legitimately brought me to tears the first time I heard it.
Oh, for sure. Koji Kondo is a legit genius.
Every “jazz fan” I’ve encountered has gone “This is great you should listen to this” and they put a gigantic headset with a 1/4" jack on my head and play me a ride cymbal, a muted trumpet, a piano and an upright bass all having simultaneous yet unrelated seizures. And when informed that - through my ears that have been around power tools and airplanes for approaching 4 decades - it sounds like TV static to me, they react like a Christian fundie watching you tear a bible in half. I’ve been cut out of people’s lives for this.
Guys, I’m American. I’ve been exposed to Jazz music before. A lot of the slower more mellow stuff is very nice as calm, pleasant background music for a dinner party or cocktail lounge but you climb up above 200 bpm and you just lose me.
To jazz fans reading this: When trying to introduce it to new listeners, please remember it’s an acquired taste. Coffee lovers don’t serve double shots of extra bitter espresso to newbies, Capcaisin addicts don’t serve reaper poppers to beginners. Start someone off with something a little more melodic, something that has verses and refrains and a melody they can hum later, let them get a taste for that before giving them a taste of freestyle.
To jazz fans reading this: When trying to introduce it to new listeners, please remember it’s an acquired taste. Coffee lovers don’t serve double shots of extra bitter espresso to newbies, Capcaisin addicts don’t serve reaper poppers to beginners. Start someone off with something a little more melodic, something that has verses and refrains and a melody they can hum later, let them get a taste for that before giving them a taste of freestyle.
I agree with this, but it also frustrates me, because it could be seen as backstopping the real snobs (like that one guy who showed up in this thread, already), who will look at the awesome music in the games people are mentioning in this thread and say “ahhh, yes. The fact that you jazz neophytes are able to listen to this jazz-ish music and enjoy it? That only proves that it’s low-level trash. One day, you’ll be ready for the training wheels to come off, and we can get you onto some REAL music. Then you can go back and listen to the soundtrack from Bully again, and realize it’s disgusting bubblegum nonsense.”
I don’t want anything to validate that attitude.
Only jazz I’ve been able to stand is single-instrument varieties, like Keith Jarrett. I like seeing what can be done with an instrument, but when you put them together, it sounds like 4 cats being put in a bag together and lightly pummelled to stir them up.
Yeah but that’s the good jazz
See, that’s my actual opinion, also. But I’m not sure if it’s objectively correct. The speed of upvoting on this meme makes me think I’m not wrong, though.
I think it’s less “good jazz,” and more ‘jazz that fits the mood.’
I don’t want to listen to thrasher metal when I’m sitting in an italian restaurant, introducing my date to the family, and I don’t want to listen to jazz when it’s inappropriate.* I remember reading the blog of the Doom soundtrack, and he talked about the difficulty in creating soundtracks because you have to take music that was meshed to visual, auditory, and psychological happenings and create ‘just’ a piece. Going the other way, how difficult must it be to take musical compositions and match them well to gameplay… it blows my mind that there are people out there who do it so well, because there are definitely games that I loved because it was just a perfect combo, and others where they were saved from mediocrity with the addition of the right sound.
*Aside, I was trying to think an example of when jazz in a game was inappropriate, and couldn’t. Take from that what you will.
Smooth, sensual Kenny G. jazz at your grandma’s funeral? John Coltrane while your parents argue with you about the gay agenda? Herbie Hancock over 9/11 footage?
Huh. The funeral isn’t far off from reality, but all I can hear for the other two are really weird sounding sad tracks.
Gundam Thunderbolt. Great free jazz.
“When you hear jazz, you know I’m coming”
I think that’s pretty much an exact quote hahaha.
Okay you got me. The films? I’m gonna order them on BD if the jazz is good
They do have an actual series (6 episodes I think) but they condensed them into a couple movies. The jazz I’m thinking of is from Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky.
I’ll link the soundtrack via YouTube music:
I think all of the songs come from December Sky.
Pokemon Diamond & Pearl
The devs had too much fun once they got their hands on 33khz speakers and enough processing power to play clear waveform audio.
Toy Story 2 on the PS1
I never played that, but now I’m going to have to boot that shit up, in EmuVR.
I put it on my notepad list of PS1 games to try, that I never tried back in the day, because I didn’t have a PS1.
It’s the quintessential PS1 game for me, and I also think it’s one of the best platforms despite its “of-the-time” controls and camera
Halo 3 ODST
Sim City 3000 unlimited
Don’t forget 4 as well. The music in these games brings back some great memories, and I still catch myself listening to them every now and again.
I started to mention that one.
Ink Long Dry. FFXIV’s soundtrack has just about every genre in it.
Also, ska is so fucking back!
…vocoder thrash ska? I think that’s what I just listened to. And I’m fucking digging it.
IT NEEDS TO BE A WHOLE-ASS GENRE.
Not a game, but Class of 3000 has one of my favorite jazz songs: My Mentor
“Hard Bop” is the only jazz I listen to. Jazz Fusion or Smooth Jazz (what most people think is jazz) is an abomination. 🙄
Edit: context
Okay? Are you trying to admit that you’re a snob? Or do you somehow think that’s not what you’re doing?
Help us out, here.
My intent was to alert Jazz-haters to a style of jazz unlike the stuff they think of when they hear what most people consider jazz. (In hindsight, I could see where that mighta come off dickish. My bad.)
No worries. Thanks for clarifying. Makes a lot more sense in that context.
