Jakez Francois plays jazz harp - Take Five (Paul Desmond)

French Harp Days
Moscow, May 2009

[@anatolyveitsenfeld9801]

wow! I was the FOH sound engineer of this concert at Moscow Composers House! It was too difficult to miking and reinforcing harp.:) I didn't knew about video capturing of that show... Nice to remember.

[@CanadianRetro]

This is so freaking awesome. Usually when I hear the harp it is that full sweeping kind of sound ... which is cool and all but this is so much more groovy.

[@Laey_iSasuOcchio]

Not to arouse any musical ignorance but I'd not thought of Take Five a piece that could be played professionally on a harp.

[@kirbyculp3449]

You should see Amy Turk playing Bach's Fugue!

[@SuperAlexAlexander]

I would love to be able to play this on my harps but they are both lever. Is it possible and where do I find the Music?? Alexa Alexander

[@BruceTheSillyGoose]

he joins a long line of jazz harpists starting way back when with casper reardon and going forward through adele girard, gene bianco, dorothy ashby, corky hale [and many others], up to the present with carol robbins et al. and whatever occasional raggedness in timing is just what happens when you have humans and not machines playing music.

[@michaelwootenmusic]

i dont know what im more impressed with: the jazz harp or the crazy piano solo

[@MrSaemichlaus]

*Steps up to imaginary harp. Strikes random string. Thinks "Uh, wrong one" xD

[@fiddlercrab3]

@IsuckYoungBlood There's a reason it's not done much... it's really difficult to pull off jazz harp well. DiabolicBadger's grievances are still valid, though-even regarding the placement of an individual note with respect to the beat, there are some things worth improving.

[@markporter9912]

Brilliant! I think this is the first jazz harp I have heard.

[@huntrrams]

Mark Porter Check out Dorothy Ashby's or Alice Coltrane's jazz harp if you're interested in this type of jazz

[@markporter9912]

Actually I have heard Alice (I forgot!), but Dorothy is new to me - thanks for the ref.

[@georgewilson6232]

Harp is cool, but man can that pianist play!

[@AnnaMullerintunecoaching]

I Love it! Those people who feel they have to criticize obviously feel they need the attention themselves. This is a very fun arrangement.

[@Mistywingz]

Excuse you, this is one of the most famous Jazz pieces ever written.

[@lucydunn729]

I started playing Celtic harp a couple months ago (eventually I'd like to advance to pedal) but this is really cool and sounds AMAZING! I've never heard jazz harp before and I honestly like it more than classical music❤I hope I can play like this one day

[@juliasykes-turner5223]

Fabulous, Jakez! I'm so glad to be able to hear you play - missed out on hearing you in Tasmania but this rendition of Take Five is mesmerizing.

[@gregorylightcatcher1058]

Jakez really gets it! But all the other musician groove too, particulary the pianist

[@TheMrChamallow]

The piano guy is good !

[@EverdyingCreation]

Nothing is off-time.

[@slappy09]

Standing up at the end clapping!!! WOW!!!

[@DiabolicBadger]

Classical musician's timing... too bad. I'd love to see harp used in contemporary jazz more often

[@dianemelody5609]

Just genial

[@ehhhwhatsupdock]

Yeah kinda like "riders on the storm"

[@dsfschamane839]

Great stuff!

[@fabiobonetta5454]

my oh my

[@sunidak]

The harpist himself would be the first to agree that he is not a jazz harpist and that there are so many things to learn about jazz for which it would take him a life time. What he wants to do is to promote the harp as an instrument that is great for playing jazz.

[@MTJLT]

Lovely ... incredible ... a bit of musical heaven.

[@EinherjarLucian]

This is absolutely amazing.

[@harpenedo]

Muy lindo, Felicitaciones desde Rio de Janeiro.

[@mircez]

piano kills the harp

[@BruceTheSillyGoose]

reminds me of dorothy, he is the jazz harpist of TODAY NOW.

[@DiabolicBadger]

@IsuckYoungBlood I'm sure it's difficult, but it is quite possible. I think it has more to do with the way harp is studied. Very little attention goes to rythm and timing (like many classical music studies, actually). Though, this is just my impression, I don't play harp myself.

[@na27der]

Wonnnnderful!!!

[@Eduard0Pimentel]

Sasano mentioned you in a Twitch Live stream and I came here to appreciate your work. ☺

[@bananaswag45]

this is an amazingly refreshing take on a classic brubek joint. much deserving of the women bearing flowers at the end, cuz this guy is an amazing musician.

[@SekkMuddle]

Wouldn't you bop with Diz and bird, explore with monk and brubek, swing with Duke and Basie and relax with Miles?

[@kpskfi]

i love those blue harps *-* i hope i can afford one someday. they suit jazz music really good.

[@HammondB200]

Dude the timing is just sooooooooo off. Haha

[@vincentbarkley9121]

Amazing. I also hear some "Riders on the Storm" in there. What could be better than that.

[@SportsGuru1924]

It's in 5/4. This, and everything in the album this is on (Time Out), was revolutionary because it wasn't just in boring 4/4 (More so songs like Blue Ronde a la Turk which was in 9/8). Please, explore with Davis Brubeck and Miles Davis, swing with Duke Ellington and Count Basie, and bop with Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. Dive into jazz, it is extremely expansive and simply beautiful

[@Rachelhkharp]

Love this ! Been wanting someone to do a version for yonks !

[@ndl9764]

How do you do the pedal settings on a Jazz harp??? You only have 8 strings for the octave? Are you pitching it a half tone up and down every octave?? Seems logic to me that you need 2 harps to do really jazzy stuff??? But with one?

[@chas5131]

7 strings per octave-tuned in flats. Each can be brought up to natural or raised to sharp

[@IsuckYoungBlood]

@DiabolicBadger I wonder if you know what it means "timing" when you play harp... I guess that, with all that pedals, improvisation must be a real pain in the ass!

[@Oskarius84]

OMG! This is brilliant! Awesome performence!

[@brentbreault7606]

Is that Jam from parks and rec

[@jakisnot]

What is it then?

[@KobieDuPlessis]

lovely Jake! well executed and I like the music!

[@Willihier]

you sir, have no idea

[@Scimonetti]

I love it!

[@antoniofigueiredo5669]

Diferente !! Sem dúvida...lindo.

[@dosalline]

Like !

[@JugglingForCake]

for the record, impeccable is a good thing =P

[@miramardream]

Impecable? No. Fun? Yes!

[@chas5131]

WOw

[@DistantSkies]

Question: does pedal-harps have damper pedals, or is it only for tuning the strings? Wouldn't a damper pedal improve performances of this kind?

[@timfuneral2031]

the pedals dampen-the levers give you sharps and flats-

[@lydiabain4697]

a harp usually has either pedals or levers, not both! they're both used to sharpen and flatten notes. a harp of this size would definitely use pedals. as for dampening, there's a great deal you can do to alter your tone on a harp- especially on such a beautiful electro-acoustic like this (e.g. playing closer to the soundboard). but harps, like any other instrument, are so diverse, it wouldn't surprise me if there were one with a dampening pedal out there somewhere!

[@bored_person]

sorry, but this jazz.

[@PATISHAH]

pfff sooo dirty game is a lot of mistakes...

[@miramardream]

You do know that sharps & flats are really accidentals. Just enjoy it. A fresh take on an old classic.

[@fingerhorn4]

Sorry but this is NOT jazz. There is no understanding of jazz harmony and not much in the way of rhythm either. This is a reasonable attempt with a classical technique. Nothing wrong with that but it isn't jazz and nor are the other clips from this player. Very few "jazz" harpists play jazz at all. David Snell is a UK exception. His jazz harmony knowledge was excellent and his now rare recordings are on a different planet. Fine composer too.

[@aeabottss22]

The way he plays makes it sound very close to an acoustic guitar which leads me to believe this would sound much better if it were on guitar instead of harp. It's an interesting instrument to use, but I think acoustic guitar would be a much better instrument for this type of rendition.

[@88Marchiano]

hmmm.... there is really nothing impressive here, as for me. Plus this sleepy tempo... Of course it is difficult to play modulations and accidentals due to harp's nature, but if you dare then do it well, no?