JAZZ

[y0da777]

Is there any kind of klingon jazz?

[Klythe]

     As far as I know there is not any pure jazz, but there is Klingon Klezmer.  Klezmer is a fusion of Jewish Traditional music, Jazz, Bluegrass, Electronica and other modern genres, often with a heavy dose of Comedy.  At least half of the Klezmer bands I've ever heard about have a pun in their band name.   Klingon Klezmer is a pun as Kling is Yiddish(from German I believe) for to ring a bell or play an instrument.  So they Kling on, play on and on and on.  Their fist Album "Honey would you be Mehsuga tonight" is also a pun, Meshuga is a yiddish word that means crazy.   They recently release their second album "Blue Swede Jews".   Klingon Content is fairly light actually...   But if you want to give it a listen, allow me to offer a link to  some samples.

[qoSagh]

I just listened to some of those samples, while I will be the first to say I am no expert in what is and is not Klingon music, I can say that nothing jumped out at me and shouted KLINGON the way such music should in my opinion.

[Klythe]

    Sadly I can't disagree with that assessment.  In my defense I would state that the expectation for any existing Terran music style to be used by aliens hostile to Terran and most other cultures is excessively unlikely, particularly Jazz which ranges from highly energetic brass to cool rhythmic beats and sax...   I'm trying to think back to my "History of Jazz" class back in school of any style of Jazz that would sound even vaguely Klingon.  It's been quite a while, but I'm coming up blank.   Klingon Klezmer was the best I could come up with.

    So far the only things we have been told are Klingon are semi-tribal chants or are operatic in nature.   Battle themes sound Klingon to us and often play when Klingons come on screen, but they aren't canonically Klingon music(i.e.  Music written and performed by Klingons for Klingons) per se.

     So let's discuss this...   What aspects of Jazz might Klingons enjoy?

[y0da777]

Im not sure. No clue. Nodda.

[SoplaHtaHwI']

The only element in Jazz I can somehow call Klingon is maybe the noise... 8-)

[Klythe]

    Perhaps We all could use a refresher on some of the elements and techniques found in Jazz.   Perhaps if we find enough stylistic points we could formulate what a Klingon Jazz would sound like. 

    How about "Call and Respond"?   Calls and Responses could be used to convey the feeling of predator to prey or warrior to kuve, as a male and a female seeking to make the other their mate, two warriors arguing or as a leader to a subordinate. 

    I have to ask, Yoda, since you started this... What made you associate Klingons and Jazz in the first place to bring the question to your mind and to these forums?

[y0da777]

I just love to listen and play jazz and wondered if the klingons had it.
also jazz is awesome! Do klingons like to improvise?

[qoSagh]

Not that all music isn't emotional, but when I think of Jazz I think of music that evokes emotions such as joy. It is definitely music that one could be introspective or meditative to. In this regard I think Jazz is certainly no less Klingon than any other music we have hear on Earth.

As for not adopting the music of one you are hostile towards, I would disagree. We have seen in many human cultures how artforms have been taken on after conquest or at least taken from dead societies and are now revered in modern times. I also remember a source (I think it was a FASA supplement) dealing with food, that said a Klingon Commander would feature local foods at a banquet to show how well he knew the planet he had conquored. I can easily see this being extended to music and other art forms. In that as long as it was not something obviously un-Klingon, I think it would have a fighting chance amongst the crew if the Captain chose to play it for them.

[Klythe]

    I would hope all music would at some level be full of emotion.  I would go so far to put forth the opinion that all *good* music inspires some sort of emotional response.  We see Klingons quite joyful in their opera and their own songs, especially Gowron.  Jazz in no way can cannot claim to be the only style to invoke 'joy', one of the most common and easily accessed emotions, in it's listeners.  In fact I think most forms of Jazz tend more towards "Jubalint" than "joy".

    I think part of the problem is that Jazz is a very complex and modern style(with no confirmed apperance before the 20th Century), while what we are presented with for Klingon Culture is decidedly simpler and primative, such as chants and opera.   How do we bridge this gap if we were to make a bona fide jazz song that would appeal to the Klingon ear?

    qoSagh, if you have some examples of Terran Jazz that does shout "KLINGON!" better yet speaks forcefully (Speaking forcefully is more Klingon than shouting), I would love to hear it.  Admittedly I'm not a big fan of Jazz, but I haven't really heard any that more than mumbles Klingon.  And I think that would be more vocal Jazz like Sachmo, but that's still rather too relaxed and soft to my ear...  Klingons are known for not likeing soft, and I think this applies to music as well.  Dizzy Galespie is too brassy, John Coltrane? hah!    Yoda, as a fan of Jazz, maybe you could suggest some jazz that might fit some of the criteria?

    Do Klingons like improvization?  I would say yes, any intelligent species needs creative outlets, especially a cunning warrior race.  In fact Curse Warfare, a verbal battle of wits, is known to be popular in places where Klingons drink.  Could there be a form of Klingon jazz that invokes the feel of a bout of Curse Warfare?

[ter'eS]

To add to the uncertainty, you have to be careful about imposing your own subjective opinions about the emotions evoked by music on other humans, let alone other species.  For example, joy is about the last emotion that jazz evokes in me. Bebop jazz makes me feel disjointed, dixieland is too hyper, some slower forms make me feel peaceful but kind of melanchony, etc., but I can't think of a single form that makes me feel joyous, with the exception of some big band music, which probably isn't really jazz anyway.

So, if not even humans can agree about the emotions evoked by music, how can we possibly decide how Earth music would affect aliens?

[y0da777]

   
    Do Klingons like improvization?  I would say yes, any intelligent species needs creative outlets, especially a cunning warrior race.  In fact Curse Warfare, a verbal battle of wits, is known to be popular in places where Klingons drink.  Could there be a form of Klingon jazz that invokes the feel of a bout of Curse Warfare?

The only thing i can think of right now is like trumpet battles, improv battles, and trade fours.
The first two are kind of obvious in meaning, but im sure mst of you dont know what trade fours are so ill try to explain.
a bar in music is a measure(a measure can differ in length because of the time sgnatures)which is most commonly 4 beats. Trade fours iswhere a musician improvises for 4 measures then a drummer for four then someone else for for then the drummer for 4 and so on and so forth.

  I personally like bebop and hard bop for their challenging rythems as a musician but everyone has their thing i guess.