I heard about Postmodern Jukebox on NPR a little while ago and finally remembered to find them on YouTube. Wow! First, they are crazy talented from the leader of the group, Scott Bradlee, to the excellent singers, and all of the instrumentalists.
Without saying too much I will let Scott Bradlee speak for himself:
"Growing up as an aspiring jazz pianist, I wasn’t interested in listening to anything that might appeal to those that I deemed to possess a less than refined palette of musical taste."
“What I found is that, despite my initial aversion to the stuff I was hearing, I was unable to truly categorize this as ‘bad music’ without first defining a set of arbitrary, culturally-defined criteria."
"My goal with Postmodern Jukebox is to get my audience to think of songs not as rigid, ephemeral objects, but like malleable globs of silly putty. Songs can be twisted, shaped, and altered without losing their identities–just as we grow, age, and expire without losing ours–and it is through this exploration that the gap between 'high' and 'low' art can be bridged most readily."
Good writer, excellent points, and great music!
Each song that Postmodern Jukebox performs is in a different style from mariachi, to 20s New Orleans Jazz, 60s Doo-Wop, R&B from every decade, 40s swing, et cetera. Each song is brilliant with great arranging, solid musicianship, loads of creativity, and a good touch of humor.
I am highlighting “Burn” originally performed by Ellie Goulding but to get the Postmodern Jukebox experience you have to plugin and start listening.
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