You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - Critiquing the Music of the Inauguration

Episode Date: January 28, 2021

On this week's episode, Peter and Adam pick apart the various performances from the 2021 United States Presidential Inauguration, and discuss what they liked and didn't like.Interested in more music advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase. And be sure to check out our All Access Pass - every course from Open Studio on every instrument.Let us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel.Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, Adam. Yes. Did you see the inauguration last week? I saw it. Yes, I did. Yeah. Did you hear it? I heard a little bit, yeah. Okay. Well, we're about to do a critique of it. Okay.

Let's do it. Let's do it. I'm Adam Anis. And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the You'll Hear it podcast. Music, advice, and criticism. Well, critiqueism. Criticism is criticism, I think.

Is it? Yeah. I believe so. Constructive or otherwise. Yeah. You know, when you came to me with this idea of critiquing the music from the Biden inauguration. I was floored. I was like who, how are we not? Hello,

can we go? No, this is good stuff man. Because this is America. Yeah. We should critique that. It's track sometimes. It is not America. It turns out. It's America. Yeah. And so we kind of get to see what this new administration wants to put their

first foot forward because this is like, this is their first artistic choice, right? As a group of people. It is. Although I would say that I think this year we have, you know, obviously we have some extenuating circumstances, several of which. So we might want to give, in case we do, you know, trend towards the more criticism side of things. There was a lot going on. So like, who's going to be playing and, you know, I mean, they're battling the pandemic, the attack on the capital.

They're just trying to keep the play safe. So perhaps the exact musical decisions and like what the time signature on the Star-Spangled banner was going to be was not foremost on their minds. They were just trying to make, they were just trying to make a smooth transition. We should do a critique on the critiques of the Star Stangled Banner. There's a couple of good ones I can think of.

There are some good ones. Yeah. But yeah, no, I mean, I think that this is, look, there was some good stuff and there was some, you know, let's get into it and say, because I don't want, and nothing was bad. And there was certainly some,

the production was really good. And given all the hoops they had to jump through this year due to the pandemic, due to the security. I mean, it's really amazing what they did. And we're going to be checking out and listening to some things from the actual inauguration. We're going to start there. Cool.

And then we're going to go all the way into the evening because they kind of had a new thing this year where they had the what would normally be entertainment. There's usually these big balls, right? The big balls that are not really necessarily open to the public. They're more of a donor situation. Although I would love to play. There's one moment from a previous inauguration ball that I would love to play because it stands out as a really good musical moment. Is it from the beehive by any chance? It might be from the be.

Okay, I got you queued up on that already. Good, good, good. Okay, so first we're going to start with Garth Brooks. Welcome to our jazz podcast. Featuring Garth Brooks. Well, no, but this is Amazing Grace. And this is a song that is certainly was wonderful that it was chosen, especially at the position during the inauguration, a very prominent.

Yeah, you've chosen this as something to kick off your performances every Friday night almost, almost every Friday, right? Well, I haven't done it in a few months, but I'm going to bring it. Oh, no, I did it last week for the first time in a while. Yeah, I'm kind of bringing it back. But, I mean, Amazing Grace, it's almost like, I would say it's our country's spiritual anthem,

for sure. You know, very much. But if we could list the number of people that we would be thinking up to sing Amazing Grace, would Garth Brooks be on that list? Perhaps not. Although he made the cut somehow. So let's just check it out.

Here we go. This is Garth Brooks at. Joseph Robinette Biden's inauguration. So Garth is walking up to the podium now. He has blue jeans on and a nice Armani jacket, it looks like. He's taken off his cowboy head. The trumpet player.

I wonder, can we just pause it here? So this is the trumpet player from the president's own, which is the Marine Band. Marine Band 1. And I know we actually have a listener who was in this band, Jeff Strong. That's right. Who's now with the L.A. Phil.

Yes. And Jeff, if you know who this trumpet player was, please reach out to the podcast. Yeah. Well, and he's killing it. I'm wondering. Now, these guys are ridiculously good. This Marine band is unbelievable.

They're like at the level, if not beyond the top brass sections of the best orchestras. For sure. For sure. But now I'm wondering, because, you know, from what my, the little bit of insider information that I do have, and it's not even that insider, all this is pre-recorded, even if, like, they are lip-in. I think so. I don't know if these guys are.

It was cold. Maybe Brooks is. I don't know. Yeah, maybe not. But if you check it out, listen to this. We're going to get really... Is that an echo then? Or is he not playing?

Because it could be that it's pre-recorded, but then... Because a lot of times when they do this, the artists want to play live. Yeah. And certainly this gentleman... And Garth Brooks, everybody here can certainly pull this off playing live. It's not like they can't do it. But a lot of times the production's like,

we're not going to take a chance. We can't control the sound. We've got 100 million people watching this thing. I don't know. But you hear that? Well, I hear it, but that could be bouncing off of anything. That's true. That's live.

I don't know. That's live. Well, this is... How sweet the sound. He would never let that happen. Is it a little pitchy? Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, it's not horrible. It's not wonderful. But now, but now I see. Okay, let's pause it there. So let me just say, he can sing. There's no doubt about that. Well, I mean, he's one of the biggest pop stars in the world. Yeah, and I'm not hating here.

It's just something, eh. You know, it's not your thing. It's not my thing. Keep going. I think this is life. I like his outfit, though. I think this is life. He's got like a smooth jazz outfit on.

He does. He's wearing all black. But with blue jeans. Yeah. When. There 10,000 Bright shining

And you know what it is? It's just so straight You know? Can we get a little bit of a vibe going on it? The sun Is this America or what? There you go. Now he's getting a little vibe going.

To see God's praise. Then when we first become. I can ask you to sing this last verse with me. Not just the people here, but the people at home. This is nice, that's. In church, we're in church. Yes.

United. That was nice. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. God got singing along here. Kind of. Yeah. She's not miced up yet.

She's not miced up yet. Oh, wretch like me. How they're going to sing along with that, with that, with that, with you doing that addition, Garth, though. Yeah. Keep it. Now's where you should have kept it straight, Garth. Yeah.

So, I mean, look, it's good. And you know what? My hat's off. This was a little bit of a reach across the aisle, perhaps. I think so. Which I love that, you know, bringing the country together. And honestly, you know, hats off to Garth for, this is not. This does not, like, I think, do him well by his fans to sing at the Biden.

Yeah, and I know nothing about Garth and his politics or... We got to finish it, man. You can just skip in the head. Well, no, no, because we got a lot of things. But check this out. This part I really like. So now he's going around. He's shaking hands.

Everybody's in masks, except for him, of course, because he's just singing. But this next part is pretty... Oh, okay, they didn't show it. He went up to, like, every... He went to Obama and Clinton, like, every president. And gave him hugs. Oh, Garth. Come on.

I thought the Secret Service was going to tackle him. I'm sure he was tested on his way in. I think this was sung live just because you can hear him. You can hear. So when you're singing and you're nervous, I know from experience, you don't tend to tape these deep breaths. And this is Garth Brooks. I can't believe that he would be nervous.

But if you're ever going to be nervous, even if you're a massive, massive star, it's when you have one shot on a tune that you don't sing very often, you know, which he probably doesn't. And it's like just you in front of the whole damn country. And there's 50,000 National Guard troops there with their guns, you know, saluting, not you.

You got slick Willie two rows behind you. That's right. There's reasons to be nervous. I think he sounds, you could hear the shortness of breath in his singing, and I don't think he would have recorded like that in a studio. And then when he spoke, and when he asked the audience to sing that last verse, it was obviously pretty seamless.

Well, it would have been, if they had done it, would have been mixed in anyway. You'd still be singing live and they'd be mixing it back and forth. It's normally the way something. But look, my thing is like if he's lip syncing, that's hard. That's actually harder than singing live. Especially when it's a cappella out of time. Roboto.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, but typically that would be some kind of a mixed in situation. But anyway. I'd like the show, man. This is a good episode for us. Okay. So now we're going to jump to, okay. We're going to go to Jennifer Lopez.

and okay did I get a little jailer okay here we go this land is your name strange choice of tunes right this land is my land from California

to the New York from the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream this land was made for you. You and me I think this might have been pre-recorded. I agree.

Because she's, her pitch is pretty good on this. Yeah, a little too good. Well, yeah, you're nervous, you're outside, you can't hear. This is a little, kind of a whack arrangement. Does the Marine Band have strings? I haven't seen them yet, I guess. It's just so sanitized, though. It feels a bit Disney-ish, does it?

Oh, this is a medley, too. Oh, Medley, get out here. People playing there, but I'm hearing instruments that I'm not seeing, too. I don't know what's going on. A little let's get loud. There you go. She's singing well.

A little let's get loud. There you go. Sure, sure, sure. And you see, yeah. And I mean, look, she's singing, she's singing well. Okay. I mean, it's not, I mean, it's not, I mean, compared in a way, like, technically compared to Garth book, Brooks, she's singing better.

Maybe that's because this is pre-recorded. I feel like I enjoyed the Garth Brooks more than this. I think I did, because it was more human. Like hers, it's just so straight and down the middle. And look, Jennifer Lowe's just. Jennifer Lopez incredible entertainer, incredible artist. She's a great dancer. She can do it all.

But when she's in the situation and her color kind of sitting there. She's a huge pop star. She's a huge pop star. She's a huge pop star. She's a huge pop star. She's a huge pop star. Celebrity. And that doesn't necessarily translate, I think, to some of these occasions.

Yeah. When you need someone who can actually, like, her show, if you go to a Jennifer Lopez concert, is not like this. No. You know what I mean? It's not. And I think. the best versions of these are when the people who are performing,

it's like they can just knock it out of the park with themselves in front of a microphone. And, you know, can we speak on the arrangement really quick? Because, listen, they're not skrimping on the arrangement. I'm sure this was done by someone who was like a better arranger than you or I, right? Some coastal, liberal elite arranger, Hollywood arranger. Some Hollywood arranger, exactly, who's a killing craftsman or whatever. But that is boring. It was so boring.

So boring. I mean, that feels like an arrangement by committee a little bit. Yeah, it was just, yeah. Like, we'll put the exact right, you know, reharmonization here. We'll go to the minor. It was literally the opposite of the John Clayton, Whitney Houston, you know, of course, famous Star Spangled Banner. So speaking of Star Spangled Banner, looks like we got something queued up next. We do.

Okay, now now we're getting into, you know, something. Something else. Here we go. This is Lady Gaga, or as she's known, Lady Gaga. When's Nick Payton coming on? Earpiece is dope. Yeah, it's like gold. Yeah, her in-heirs are killing.

Nice. It's a little better arrangement. This is a good arrangement. Oh, a little dominic chord there, nice. But you know what? That's a little whack to me. You know what? I don't know.

I don't know. So this. What's whack? The dominant chord? Yeah, the placement of it. Check it out. It's just like. Like, the way it's juxtapost.

Like. But do you see where it goes? Hold on. Do it again? But let it play out. Let it play out. It's out of balance. This arrangement is out of balance. Back it up, back it up, back it up.

I'm going to disagree with you. Listen to where the Dominic curve resolves. Sharp 9. Yeah. It's okay. Check it up. It's very dramatic. What's Gaga?

I mean, especially. Something about this is out of balance to me. Orchestrations. Wow. Come on. It's just like thrown together a little bit. Great stuff thrown together. And then I,

You know, stylistically, she's kind of all over the place. Like singing, I mean, look, she can, she's an amazing singer. And so now we're getting- She's got a cool voice. Yeah, and after, you know, Garth Brooks and- She's better than J-Lo at singing. Hello, Captain Obvious. But I mean, to me, like, she goes into that very kind of soulful affectation,

but then she goes out of, I don't know, it's just, it's a little bit jumbled. It was a little bit jumbled, for sure. I do say, though, so the orchestration I didn't enjoy, it was, there was too much glitter on it. The arrangement I enjoyed, obviously there's some, as Adam Neely pointed out, there's some Whitney Houston influence there.

There's a little, yeah, the John Clayton. Can we just listen to a little by that? I'm sorry, my soul needs it right now. This is the Super Bowl. Yeah, this is Whitney Houston,

John Clayton, the great jazz bassist and composer and arranger. To me, this is just like... We could have done a whole episode on our favorite national anthem, American National Anthem versions.

Yeah. But the balance of the balance of, of this. It's not just, you know, people geek out on the oh my God, he's doing a Y flap over, hey. I mean, that's whatever. But, okay, man. And now to. Throughout the world. Sorry, I didn't have this.

Followed by a Air Force base. We don't need that. Boom. Here we go. The balance of this arrangement is so much better. Like, this is starting out really. By the way, this is definitely being recorded. Oh, yeah.

And not because Whitney couldn't sing it. It's just, what the what? But effortless. But the dynamics, then it's the balance here. Slick. Yeah. Come on. Come on. America.

It's the best of America right there. American excellence. What do they call it? Exceptionalism. American exceptional. Whitney's exceptional. But the way Clayton goes in and out of the more standard way. Yeah, that's how you do it.

And then the L.A. Hollywood stuff. But at the right time. And it gives her the space for the phrasing. Just Whitney and her maximum cuteness, too. She's so cute. This, everybody copies those chords. But I would just say, the audience there knew what was going on?

You think they're like, I don't know, but I would just say that Clayton, the other thing I love that he doesn't, to keep it this in balance. Like, he hits these beautiful slick chords, but he doesn't sit there and pat himself on the bat. About the slick cords. No, you know what I mean?

Like, it's not like, ah, he doesn't, he just, I mean, the balance of this whole thing. Beautiful. And no, Clayton, he probably, like, wrote this in two hours. You probably just sat down, you know, it was like, yeah. But that's, but we digress because that was from 91. And we're talking about 20, 21. This is a whole other time.

That's good to hear. It's good to hear. So what else you got queued up? Okay, so let's go now. I think that's all I have from the actual inauguration. So now we're going to jump to the evening. Okay. So this was like the video presentation afterwards.

Right. This was the, what did they call this? The boom boom. They call it the, the, the, um, the inauguration. Celebration. Celebrating America here. Yeah, Biden inauguration performance. Okay, so this, you would think that I would hate because it involves

Justin Timberlake. Why would you hate that? I mean, it's a jazz podcast, right? But this is Aunt Clemens or is that how you say his name? I wasn't familiar with this artist. Aunt Clemens, Aunt Clemens. Aunt Clemens. Like Anthony, I think. Featuring Justin Timberlick. I didn't know this song or anything, but I love this. Part of it is

the video of it. So if you check this out, I love the way, and I love Stacks records in Memphis, I love this neighborhood in Memphis. I love the way it looks the whole thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But this is them doing a song, Better Days, which I really thought they did a good job. So here you go. Memphis train tracks, come on. drummer, an obligatory mask. That's how we do it. There's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Keep your eyes on the road ahead. But if you feel it lost in the night, it's okay. The obligatory just as long as you hold your head, because we're on our words ahead. Biggest worst for it's been. The obligatory Justin Timple, walking into the studio shot. Studio A, in case you were wondering. These lyrics were really... It's good.

Light at the end of the tone. So the lyrics were not written for, they released this last year, but it kind of fit for the inauguration, you know, the way things played out. I like that bass drum. Yeah. The mix is killing. Ooh, the organ. It's got a little of Memphis sound, for sure.

Ooh, the Tom. I didn't notice that, though. They're taking it to the streets. They go out to the street. It's safer out there. Better ventilation. They're leaving the band behind, though. That's kind of weird.

Yeah, that's why. So they're going out onto the street. Stacks records from Memphis. Stacks record company. Lights. Biden Harris on the marquee. Come on. satellite record shop

it looks like a Hollywood set actually it does look like it but that is I mean I've been on this street the band's still stuck inside the band sounds good the band is killing the lyrics

see how it fits in yeah oh happens to be a gospel choir on the street corner that worked out well it's Memphis right and the drummer made this way out before them with the drum set

and you know what Justin Tumberley Justin Tumberley Justin Timberlake, I thought he kind of did good on this. You know, he fit in. I don't know. This, I enjoyed. Like, Justin, what else do you want from a pop star?

Exactly. Justin Timberlake has given you over his career. He's given you a good pop career. Yeah, he did. And this, you know, I don't know, he just, he fit in well without taking over. It's just a nice thing. It was a nice thing. It was inspirational, I thought.

That was good, man. I liked a lot of that. The only thing, I feel like an old man, but the way, what's my man's name in the Red Cap and Clemens. And Clemens. The only thing that kind of bugged me was his vocal production. You know what I mean?

Like it was overproduced. You could hear and I know it was like Heavy auto tune. Heavy auto tune meant to obviously intentional and I feel like this is where I definitely feel like a 42 year old man where I'm like I don't like all that auto tune on it.

Right. You know, right? And you know what? Actually I found, I like they got the upright piano outside. The, the choir's going. So there's a. a remix of this with

I'm spacing on who it's with anyway I'll tell you in a second that's good yeah I like that stuff yeah see that's what I'm talking about yeah okay honestly the only thing I haven't really dug so far was Jailow to be honest everything else is pretty good for something like this it's like when people complain about

the Super Bowl right it's like they want prints every year well you know what there's only one prince right and Kirk Franklin they got a remix with Kirk Franklin is this killing that's good it wasn't from the inauguration earlier no I agree So everything you dug, well, let me give you a little challenge then, sir, because you're about to check out some John Bon Jovi right now. Uh-oh.

I feel like this is where it's going to make a turn. Well, okay, this is, so for some reason he was doing this, I think it's in Miami, which was cool. Visually, this is amazing. They're out on this pier over the water. They aren't even really trying to pretend like it was live because there's like nothing hooked up. It doesn't look like. But I love this song. I don't know if this is my favorite version, but I'll let you be the judge.

Oh, God. Give it a chance Don't ruin this Bro Stop it Really? This is offending you more than the This is

More than the J-Lo? I love the J-Lo? You know how much I love the Beatles? But look at that beautiful set Miami Beach North Miami Beach Whoever they are Okay, keep going

Okay, he's not It's not totally like The guitar is nice, right? It's got a violin John's looking healthy. Look at him. He's older, but he's looking. He's a good-looking man.

The hair is not a good-looking more. No, of course. The finest looking. It's a little weird. Now that I'm hearing, it's just strange. Is the sun setting or is it rising? We don't know. But you know what?

Nice that John Bon Jovi did this song, which fit, you know, lyrically. I can tell you don't like the rendition, but with the moment instead of one of his, you know, power ballad hair hits from the mid-80s. you know he's he's one of those dudes man he is such a good guy you know he like does he has this whole kitchen where he feeds homeless people and yeah yeah in jersey and Philadelphia and all these in every and other places and I just I've never liked any music that he's ever made okay

sorry I apologize John I know you're a fan of the podcast but big shout out to jump he seems like a really cool dude yeah no I think so okay so let's move on to something I think you may like because I believe you're a fan this is right from your time period so We talk about, we have a lot of music in common, of course, because of the jazz and just the stuff we listen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we're a little bit different in age enough. Well, let me ask you a question. Did you grow up in House Springs, Missouri in 1995?

I did not. How would you know this? Well, no. I mean, this, I was, what was I in 95? I was in New Orleans. Yeah. But this made us way down there, too. But I was like playing with Joshua Redmond in 1995.

Yeah, so it had a little different impact. I was cruising to the House Springs McDonald, listen to some food fighters. So this is a foo fighter. I don't know where they were, but this was a cool setup where they were and the sound is killing it stuff, so here we go.

By the way, can I just say, I love the food fighters, just in general. I know, that's what I was, I said it up, I was saying, I don't know if you're going to love this.

Taylor Hawkins, you know what I'm saying? Oh. Okay, hold on. So just imagine Peter, just like, it's 1997. Yes.

You're at a club. There's a really cute girl. She's wearing like a choker. You know what I mean? Maybe some big shoulder pads. No, that's your area. Oh, that's all right. No, she's got some flared jeans.

Oh, flare, right, right, right. You know, I'm wearing a huge shirt la Chandler Bing from Friends. All right, keep up. Nothing's fitting. I'm just setting the mood here. I was wearing the same outfit, but playing with Joshua Redmond Quartet. I don't think of it. DK&Y for life. Now, they're really playing insane.

But I think they presented this as a recording thing. Dude, they're killing. I don't care what anybody says. No one said anything. I know. I feel like I'm on the defensive here. It's the reason. I mean, your Garth Brooks' approval.

That should put you on the defensive. This was a big hit of theirs. To teachers everywhere. Thank you. Yeah, they actually said a really nice thing. This was a dedication to the front-line teachers. I love that over-driven organ sound. Yeah.

Did I see something Melatron over there? Is that what that is? Maybe. This dude looks like he's familiar. I'm going to look this guy up. It looks like he's supposed back. And that's Dave Dave Gold, yeah

Dave Grohl, right? This phrasing and vibe is happening. Yeah, what is that keyboard there? I think it's a sampler. Is that Dave Duccovney playing keyboards? In the Exiles?

Yeah, it looks like them. Wait a second. Did they bring in a stunt double? Oh, maybe that's one of those Nord. It is a Nord. Yeah. It sounds killer. Dave Grohlup.

Got a little weight going there, didn't he? Buddy, it's hard out here in your 40s. He might be a 50. It's hard out here for an overly primped rock star. Nice set design. All the sets have been different, all really good, right? Okay, cool. You want to hear more?

Sorry. No, that's good. Is that weirdly where it goes? Does the band ever come in? I don't know. It looks like it. Oh, yeah, that's right. They start hitting hard.

Rock and roll, man. I love the rock guys that. like make it to this age. It's awesome. They're survivors. You got to give Dave. I mean, he was in Nirvana. You know what I mean?

No, he's a bad dude. It's a bad dude. A little patch near there. Yeah. The drummer. Who's the drummer? Taylor Hawkins. Oh, Taylor.

That's right. Killing. He sounds like he's playing a huge, like, Billy Cobham 70s. He said it's not that big. Kick drum looks pretty big, actually. Yeah. I mean, not that many. Oh, yeah, there's not that many pieces.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I like that. I mean, I know I know that I'm, I know that I know that I'm a gen X man that I should like that but I love that. We like to call you the world's oldest millennial or maybe the youngest gen Xer. See, that's the thing.

That's the same thing about being my age is I'm kind of right in there in the middle. That's right. That's right. Right. Okay, cool. So we're coming up to now we're going to come to something next. I wanted to put in because I had never heard of these guys. They're kind of weird.

But it's kind of, I don't know. I didn't go into a deep. But I know that you probably don't know them either. so this will be a good time for some older folks, like you said, some showing our age to get hip to what's happening. This is the black Pumas. Okay. Oh, we're the black Pumas.

See? Congratulations to President Biden. They look like they're at Austin City Limits. Yeah. On this historic win. I think it is. We hope you enjoy the music. I like that introduction.

I like the hat. Yeah. I walk up to the morning sky first. There we go. Baby blue. That's all we want. There's a lot of good stuff happening in Austin, by the way, music scene like.

For sure. Lighting wise, too. What do you call this groove, Adam? Let's do a little groove analysis real quick. This is almost like... Yeah. But it's almost like that... What's that thing, like that Texas swing?

It's got a little bit of that Texas swing in it, right? Or is that an... southwest Oklahoma swing, sorry. Because it's got a little country in it, not like modern country. There's a little Memphis going on here, right? There's a little soul thing happening. For sure. Unique, though, right?

I'm such a sucker for this Sonic palette with a whirly and a telecaster. Diminished chords. I love it, man. Like, don't you just want to be in this band where you just get to lay in the cut? You know what I mean? Oh, man, like every tune you don't even have to shed on because you just hear the chords. Yeah, I mean, it's got some stuff in it, but you can just slide right in. Listen to the, that Worley sounds hip.

Oh, I thought that was pedal steel, too, was it? Definitely Worley, but I thought I heard it. A little promo for the band. Okay, that's probably the Worley on the Nord, huh? He's got a Nord on a Rhodes. The Nord is just a rack for them. Okay, see, now you know a new band, Black Pumas. Dig it.

Love it. Sucker for it. There you go. Okay, so we have, would you like to hear some more of this by any chance? You've got to make it stop. Oh, no, we got that already. That is Jennifer Lopez. Okay. Between that and the here comes the sun with the bon Jovi.

Here comes. It's just, it's like. Okay. Man, I was listening to, by the way, can I just, can we just do a little? Of course. I know they're, they need some of our attention. But the Beatles, man, I just listened to the entire White album yesterday. For the first time, you know, it's like one of those.

albums where you might pull out once a year, once every two years maybe? Because after you've heard it a billion times, it is a stroke of genius, that whole album. I mean, that whole period where they went from like Revolver Rubber Soul through, you know, I mean, their whole career basically as a band, which was not that long, actually. It's like about as long as we've been doing this podcast. That's right. But like not the whole podcast. I mean, this particular episode.

No, I think it's good. We should really start helping out, you know, forgotten bands like that. by promoting their music. You know, we shouldn't just... I mean, that was nice of John Bon Jovi. I think that's why I... Apologies again to John Bon Jovi. That's why I had such a sour taste

when they started that song because I was just in such a... Your whole mood changed. I was in such a Beatles high and then I just feel... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sprung that on you. Okay, well, you're going to like these last two days.

Okay, cool, cool, cool, because we're going to actually jump to two of my favorites, and I think, I know one of these, well, you mentioned it already is one of your favorites, but these are from inaugurations past. We couldn't find anything else good from this.

We could barely find anything good from this one, as you see. So we had... By the way, I don't think anything that we've picked from the Biden inauguration, inauguration will hold a candle to these two. I don't think so either... Or the Whitney Super Bowl anthem. No, no. I think just the inauguration, though, and the wonderful young poet, Gorman,

Amanda Gorman... She was the best part of that show. Yeah, I mean, that's going to be... That's what people are going to gravitate towards, I think. She killed it, by the way. Can we talk about that? She crushed it. I mean, that was like, you know, Maya Angelou did it, I think, 2008.

She did a reading that was incredible. Garth Brooks has been selling out stadium since 1990. He sounds nervous. This 22-year-old gets up there and just like crushes. Right. But that's a good lesson, though. She was doing her thing, seeing, reading her poem that she just wrote. Absolutely.

You know, now the fact that she killed on it, that's just next level. But it was in her real house. I would just like to add to that we don't make enough new music for our country anymore. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Why are all the songs like 100 years old? Why can't we have any new songs? Right.

I understand tradition is important, but let's have some new stuff in there. That's right. You know what I'm saying? That's right. Okay. So we're going to check out two things. The first is what you mentioned, Beyonce or Beyonce. Beyonce.

Beyonce. Queen of the beehive. What the podcast listeners don't see is the hand gestures that go with your French accent. The flesh. They can't have one without the other. This is a thing. I'm actually, contrary to popular belief, my wife and my kids like to tease me, they think I'm a huge Beyonce fan because one time

she came on TV or something Who's not a Beyonce fan? Well, no, no, no, I mean, I'm a fan but I'm not like a super fan. You know what I mean? But years ago, she came on stage, I mean, on the TV, and you know, she's fine.

Let's be honest. I kind of said something like, damn. I mean, that's like calling water wet. Yeah, yeah. So I just did a, whoa, damn. Yeah. And so Kelly has been teasing me.

She's your girl, right? Yeah, exactly. But a little salty, too. A little salty. Sure. So, but I mean, I'm fine. I like, I mean, I think she's an amazing performer, great singer, but, you know.

That's funny how that happens with spouses. Because you do that the other way, too. I mean, and Heather will do that. I remember, like, we were dating once and I said Natalie Portman was pretty. Again, you've never heard that. The sky is blue, and now Natalie Parton's my girlfriend. She's talking about this morning, right? Yeah, I think she's, she is pretty, but I'm like, yeah, come on, like, lay off me.

Kelly's one big one now. Kelly and Rachel, my daughter is Jason Momoa. Oh, yeah, they all like, yeah, Jason Momola. I'm like, isn't he like this big, like, is he human? I mean, knows. Yeah. Yeah, whatever.

Punk. Try to come on my podcast, Mamoa. He actually seems like a cool guy. Dang, I hate it. I know. I know. Okay, so this is Beyonce singing at last. This is killing.

Yeah, and I didn't pre-screen this one because you brought up right before, but I'm really looking forward to hearing this is that. This was just also one of those. 2009 inauguration. This was one of those great moments. Yes. I think. You know, we're like Barack and Michelle. They're dancing.

You know what I mean? And they obviously, this is his first inauguration, they are in love, they look like they're in love. They also look like a married couple, how you would kind of be like, can you believe this is happening right now? You know what I mean? Yeah, very much reminiscent of Donald and Melania. No, no, okay, maybe not. Sorry. Okay.

No, and it was such a historic moment for the country. And it was, you know, what was it not? Yes, I can't. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yeah, I mean, it was just an inspired for whatever your political beliefs are. you know, I don't really care about that, but you talk about the history of the moment. Plus, that was like a time when we could still embrace that, even with political differences.

You know, and hopefully there was a hint of us getting back to that where you can celebrate something, you know, the first African American president, young guy from, you know, the whole story. There was a lot of hope in this moment. There was a lot of hope in this moment. Quickly dashed by Mitch McConnell. Shortly thereafter, shut them down like a, like a. Like a teenage party. Anyway, we digress. And let's check out Beyonce

and a little at last, the Edda James classic. She didn't write this, though, did she? She sang it. No, actually, I knew this. It's going to be by like Cole Porter. So, here we go. See, you know what I'm saying?

Keep that arrangement proper. You know? Written by Matt Gordon and Harry Warren. We're not even in HD here on the video. Young, Beyonce, young. That's just 2008, man. It was 12 years ago. 13 years ago.

So you see, you can say. Yeah. Yeah, so I mean, the whole thing is like this. It's great. Check out the video. Houston and the house. Yeah, definitely. Good stuff.

It's awesome, man. And then I don't mean to cut this off. We could listen to this whole thing. We're just trying to give. We're jumping back in time. So it's like a little retrospect. So what's the last one we have? Oh, it's the Yo-Yo-Ma.

Yes. This is very, very good. This is kind of the one that I always thought was just such a moment. And even though I found out shortly thereafter that this was pre-recorded. Well, but it wasn't this? It was like seven degrees. It was like in the teens for, this was Obama's first inauguration at the inauguration. This was that same day as at last, right, at noon or whatever.

Yeah, yeah. I remember seeing this live and thinking what a moment. Of course, all the history of that year and that, you know, the first Obama presidency and the history behind that. But it was also such a thing of like where culture was maybe once again or maybe for the first time in my memory or my lifetime where you had culture elevated to a point. There's a part of this video like in the public's consciousness and it seemed very much to come from the Obamas and their people. And, you know, having had a little bit of experience later on, I didn't know it at this time of getting to play for them in the White House. I can tell you that their appreciation for culture is genuine. Or if not, they're pulling it off really well.

No, it definitely was, I think, for me, one of the highlights of the Obama presidency was, you're right, having art so prominently displayed in as of importance in the White House. The man had his own playlist on Spotify. Yeah, he still does. And it was genuine. I still check it for like, wait, let me check some stuff up. And just their official White House portraits that are just so different and beautiful

and actually, you know, seem to be concerned with the art that's being. made. Yeah. I mean, the relevance of that. As an artist, it makes you feel, you know,

scene for lack of exactly. Exactly. It makes you feel part of it. And it also just, I think as someone, you know, it's actually making me kind of

bummed down about the Biden one now. Well, I know, that's why I'm, I'm giving him a passive because I know that he's very, he loves, he loves jazz,

you know, and we will have to talk about another episode, Kamala Harris and her husband. Oh, yeah. He named his kids Ella and Nat after Ella Fitzgerald and Natt and he's got to be in that.

Yeah, she has another jazz connection. too. But anyway, so I remember this moment though, and it was something I experienced a couple times later seeing the Obamas know how to appreciate culture. You can tell, like there's a, there's a point. I don't know if they're going to show it in this video, but where they turned around and the way they were watching Yo-Yama, Isaac Perlman, and Anthony McGill and Gabriella Montero, this is a pianist. Yeah. Anthony McGill is, I mean, he was young. I actually got to work with him one time. He's in one of the most incredible clarinetists, which, full disclosure,

are not my favorite instrument. Yeah. But in the hands of a master. He's in the New York film. Yeah, he's principal in New York Phil. He's killing, yeah. And so you talk about some masters playing, and they're playing John Williams,

a beautiful piece of John Williams. Kind of a slouch there. Yeah, but it's not the theme from Star Wars. And I remember I was like, wow, this is so cool. They have John Williams, who's one of our greatest composer. He really is. But they don't have him doing some schmaltzy J-Lo singing

the theme from Jurassic Park or something. Big shout out to J-Lo. Let's not bring that out. Let's not bring that back. Come on. But you know what I'm saying? Like they got kind of a challenging and beautiful piece.

And now John Bon Jovi sings the theme to Shindler's List. Oh, come on. So, yeah, so this was just, it was a moment. You know, it was a moment of kind of cultural clarity. And I don't mean to bring it way dark, but what did Trump do at his inauguration for? Oh, man, it was, no one would go.

I mean, they tried to get, I mean, they were going to get anybody good, but they were going to try to get, they were trying to get the same, you know, like J-Lo and they were trying to get the big stars but they wouldn't do it. So should we check this out? Yeah, go ahead. Okay. That picture look, Obama's turnaround looking at them. I mean, this is not you know, this is classical. This is not the pocket belt canon either, you know.

Gorgeous. It's freezing a. F. I mean, this is a beautiful playing artistry, beautiful music, but it's kind of, I mean, this is sort of like challenging stuff, you know, I love it. I mean, it's like four hours, four minutes and 40 seconds. I love it. I love it. I love it. I mean, it's like four hours, four minutes and 40 seconds. I love it. I love it, man. That's great.

Anyway, big shout out to all of the performers and John Williams. Can I just say? And Steinway and Sons for letting the piano go out in that weather. Shocking. Probably had to throw that thing away. Just looking up Trump's inaugural ball. And whatever you think about it, it is very Trump. The first dance with Melania was to My Way.

And it was performed. Actually, it was performed by Aaron Bow-M, who I only know because I used to play with Aaron Bodie. and no relation people used to get those two American jazz singers confused there you go well just to cancel that out let's listen to a little more of this you'll hear it killing