Looking for 2 instrumental pieces (Jazz/Dark Ambient)

RioBravo · 03-31-2023, 11:24 AM

Hi I have searched YouTube for years on these. Any help would be much appreciated..

There are 2 pieces I am looking for.

The first one is a jazz instrumental piece I recorded off the radio in 1986. It sounds similar to “Ludwig” by Bob James, in fact for awhile I thought it was part of the same song because I had recorded them one after the other. But I have searched just about every other Bob James song and none even come close to sounding like this.
The piece is somewhat fast paced. It has a piano and horns, possibly trombones, percussion, and synth sounds with “space” sounding noises occasionally throughout..
I don’t know if you would call this jazz fusion, jazz funk, or possibly free-form jazz. It sounded very modern like it had been produced in the 80s or possibly late 70s. Possible other artists I’ve checked are Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, T-Square, Duncan Lamont, but so far no luck. If I had to describe it another way, it would sound like a mesh of Bob James’ “Ludwig”, Chick Corea’s “Spain”, and Duncan Lamont’s “Pressure Point”. The piece mostly features the piano with repeating horn “chorus” I guess you’d call it. And the “spacey” synth noises also was a distinguishing feature.

Ok, 2nd piece. This was a dark ambient piece that my friend recorded off the radio around 1987. It had a very creepy sounding organ and percussion. The song was slow paced and very rhythmic. At one point during the song the music stops and you can faintly hear a voice speaking but it’s reversed (speaking backwards). I’m sorry this is the best I can describe it because there were no lyrics. But it creeped me out and had almost a demonic sound to it.

I’ve tried asking chatgpt and it wasn’t particularly helpful. It would ignore certain prompts I gave or give suggestions that were recorded after the timeframes i gave (mid 80s or earlier). If anyone can help me I would be grateful. I’ve been trying to find the names of these pieces for over 30 years now.

Saulaac · 03-31-2023, 05:36 PM

Hi RioBravo, welcome to MB!

Sorry, I don't know who this is (unless it is perhaps Dave Grusin, Joe Zaniwul, Miles, Brecker Bros, Mike Stern, Lee Ritenour, John Patitucci..), but there are lots of jazz fans on here so somebody might know.

Anything else you remember? Electric bass or acoustic? Was it more a large band or a quartet?

Do you still have the recordings? Are you able to convert them to audio format and upload them here?

03-31-2023, 11:24 AM	#1 (permalink)
RioBravo Groupie Join Date: Mar 2023 Location: Texas Posts: 1	Looking for 2 instrumental pieces (Jazz/Dark Ambient) Hi I have searched YouTube for years on these. Any help would be much appreciated.. There are 2 pieces I am looking for. The first one is a jazz instrumental piece I recorded off the radio in 1986. It sounds similar to “Ludwig” by Bob James, in fact for awhile I thought it was part of the same song because I had recorded them one after the other. But I have searched just about every other Bob James song and none even come close to sounding like this. The piece is somewhat fast paced. It has a piano and horns, possibly trombones, percussion, and synth sounds with “space” sounding noises occasionally throughout.. I don’t know if you would call this jazz fusion, jazz funk, or possibly free-form jazz. It sounded very modern like it had been produced in the 80s or possibly late 70s. Possible other artists I’ve checked are Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, T-Square, Duncan Lamont, but so far no luck. If I had to describe it another way, it would sound like a mesh of Bob James’ “Ludwig”, Chick Corea’s “Spain”, and Duncan Lamont’s “Pressure Point”. The piece mostly features the piano with repeating horn “chorus” I guess you’d call it. And the “spacey” synth noises also was a distinguishing feature. Ok, 2nd piece. This was a dark ambient piece that my friend recorded off the radio around 1987. It had a very creepy sounding organ and percussion. The song was slow paced and very rhythmic. At one point during the song the music stops and you can faintly hear a voice speaking but it’s reversed (speaking backwards). I’m sorry this is the best I can describe it because there were no lyrics. But it creeped me out and had almost a demonic sound to it. I’ve tried asking chatgpt and it wasn’t particularly helpful. It would ignore certain prompts I gave or give suggestions that were recorded after the timeframes i gave (mid 80s or earlier). If anyone can help me I would be grateful. I’ve been trying to find the names of these pieces for over 30 years now.

03-31-2023, 05:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
Saulaac Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2022 Location: Montauban, France Posts: 132	Hi RioBravo, welcome to MB! Sorry, I don't know who this is (unless it is perhaps Dave Grusin, Joe Zaniwul, Miles, Brecker Bros, Mike Stern, Lee Ritenour, John Patitucci..), but there are lots of jazz fans on here so somebody might know. Anything else you remember? Electric bass or acoustic? Was it more a large band or a quartet? Do you still have the recordings? Are you able to convert them to audio format and upload them here?