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Musicians: Feels Nothing Like Teen Spirit

Jamie Cullum (A) is globally very successful, has had a wide variety of live performance experiences including non-traditional venues, and his music draws from multiple genres but provokes mixed reactions. Michael Bublé (B) has found great commercial success performing old dance music from the 1930s-40s and sees his music as an alternative to modern popular styles. Katie Melua (C) denies being conservative despite drawing from older genres like jazz, folk and blues, and uses her platform to write politically-minded songs for young people. Marcella Puppini (D) includes a supermodel among her fans and performs retro-style covers of 1940s songs with her classical music-trained musical trio

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Mohamed Haridy
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130 views

Musicians: Feels Nothing Like Teen Spirit

Jamie Cullum (A) is globally very successful, has had a wide variety of live performance experiences including non-traditional venues, and his music draws from multiple genres but provokes mixed reactions. Michael Bublé (B) has found great commercial success performing old dance music from the 1930s-40s and sees his music as an alternative to modern popular styles. Katie Melua (C) denies being conservative despite drawing from older genres like jazz, folk and blues, and uses her platform to write politically-minded songs for young people. Marcella Puppini (D) includes a supermodel among her fans and performs retro-style covers of 1940s songs with her classical music-trained musical trio

Uploaded by

Mohamed Haridy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MUSICIANS

STARTER ACTIVITY
What types of music do you associate with the instruments in the box? (For example, the trumpet
and saxophone are played in jazz bands.)Add any other instruments you can think of.
country disco folk heavy metal hip hop Jazz
R&B Rap reggae rock salsa swing

accordion acoustic guitar banjo clarinet


electric guitar flute harmonica harp
key board piano saxophone sitar
table drums trumpet violin xylophone

Skim the text to find out what kind of music genre each person is known for.
Jamie Cullum Michael Bublé Katie Melua Marcella Puppini

MAIN ACTIVITY

You are going to read an article about young musicians who are well known for music that was
popular in their parents' or grandparents' day. For questions 1-10, choose from the people (A-D).
The people may be chosen more than once.
Which musician….
1 is globally very successful? 6 plays music which is a mixture of different genres?
2 has a celebrity following? 7 was trained as a classical musician?
3 has had a wide and varied experience 8 uses music as a political message?
of performing live?
4 likes to dress up when doing a show? 9 receives a mixed reaction from music lovers?
5 admits to not being fashionable with 10 wanted to offer an alternative to the usual music
younger fans? on offer?

FEELS NOTHING LIKE TEEN SPIRIT


A when Jamie Cullum was a teenager, music was his hobby and he worked his way through
college doing every kind of gig possible - weddings cruise liners, parries and playing in every
band going from heavy metal to freestyle hip hop. Backed by experienced professionals on
double bass and drums, the charismatic vocalist and pianist brings a contemporary approach
to jazz 'what l'm doing isn't pure jazz. pop, rock, dance, hip hop - everything gets thrown
together' He covers heroes of his own generation like Coldplay and Radiohead, as well as those
of the past by doing jazzy new interpretations of their songs but also writes songs of his own
with modern themes in old styles. A gifted but self-taught performer Cullum provokes extremes
of love and loathing amongst record buyers and jazz purists.

B Michael Bublé has gone from strength to strength since he achieved over a million worldwide
sales for his first album of old dance band favourites from the l93Os and 40s. He discovered
swing through his Italian grandfather. 'While I was growing up, this music would be everywhere.
Of course, I heard modern stuff too but there wasn't enough melody for me. Swing is all about
rhythm. When I was grow ng up, kids were not given any choice, so this was my rebellion. I like
rap pop and R&B but for too long there's only been room for that and nothing else.'

C At the age of -19, Katie Melua spent most of the year at number one in the charts. Her music is
not easily categorized but she laughs at the idea that she is conservative. 'lf everyone else was
doing jazz, blues and folk in the charts, then you could accuse me of this. But everyone's doing
R&B and hip hop.' Haven't some of her contemporaries accused her of being a little unexciting?
'Ok, it happens not to be hip and cool but l'm not suddenly going to get an electric guitar out
just to attract the kids. Perhaps my music appeals to an older generation because I myself listen
to artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Dylan and Eva Cassidy. When I heard Cassidy's Over the
Rainbow, it opened my eyes because it sounded old fashioned but also fresh and new.' So would
she ever consider using her fame to write a song about the wrongs of the world, as Dylan did?'
I already have. This kind of protest can be a powerful tool with young people and it's been
neglected in the current popular charts.'

D Being in a band which does cover versions of old songs is rarely cool or glamorous but Marcella
Puppini includes supermodel Kate Moss amongst her famous fans. Marcella met the other two
'Puppini sisters' at the Royal College of Music, where they followed a traditional course in
singing and learnt to play various instruments, including the piano, saxophone, violin, harp and
accordion. All accomplished musicians in 2004 they decided to turn the clock back 60 years to
form a three-part harmony group. As well as creating up to-date interpretations of favourites
from the 1940s, they also translate 'modern ‘songs and reinterpret them in the -1940s style.
Helped by the present vogue for all things retro, they have achieved a cult following in the
coolest, trendiest clubs and festivals in the UK, wearing clothes and make-up in keeping with
the songs they sing.

CLOSURE
What kind of music do you like? Why?

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