Throwback 2020’s, the new jazz age

 

Some of the most famous melodies of today were played by pianos, saxophones, and trumpets, but what if those instruments were always incorporated into the music?

This idea was incorporated into the music of musician Scott Bradlee, who’s Band plays popular rock, rap and pop music in jazz style.

The band is called Postmodern Jukebox and has brought the works of artists like Drake, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Adele, and Radiohead, into the genre of jazz.

They are called Postmodern Jukebox, because as a postmodern band, they bring sounds from past eras and apply that style to the music of today into amazing mix of sound.

Although they primarily play jazz, they also play many different styles of music as well, such as Vaudeville, Motown, cabaret, Latin style, and orchestral. Their first video came out on YouTube on Feb. 11, 2013, and was a ragtime cover of Macklemore’s hit song Thrift shop.

However, they were not really popular until putting out a doo-wop cover of Miley Cyrus’s We Can’t Stop; they then began to get interviewed by news outlets such as NPR, Time magazine, Billboard magazine, and PBS News Hour, which lead to them performing live on Good Morning America and Fuse.

Since then, they have covered over 130 songs, such as Hotline Bling, Bad Blood, Creep, Thong Song, Love Yourself, Ignition (remix), and Hey There DelilahPostmodern Jukebox has been elevating the music of today, and has created something really special.

As the composer and leader of the group, Bradlee has been fascinated with jazz since the age of 12, and has been working on the band since 2004.

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Courtesy of Postmodernjukebox.com

He has been combing and experimenting with music his entire career up until 2013, where he began to work more seriously in developing Postmodern Jukebox.

The vocal talent is incredible, including such singers as Joey Cook and Casey Abrams of American Idol, Grammy nominated singer Tim Kubart, Natalie Angst of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and Puddles the Clown of Broadways Sleep No More.

The band currently has ten albums, the first was released on Jan. 31, 2014, and was titled “Twist is the New Twerk.” Their latest album, called Pmj and Chill, was released on Feb. 18, and features covers of Adele’s “Hello”,  Elle King “Ex’s & Oh’s”, Drakes “Hotline Bling”, Justin Biebers ”Love Yourself”, and many more.

Their new album really combines the styles of the past decades and integrates them with the lyrics and melodies of today. The most bought song of the album is their Motown version of Justin Bieber “Sorry”, which features heavy saxophone, backup singers, and the singer Shoshana Bean, from the musicals Hair Spray and Wicked.

One of my favorite songs from the album is a 1940’s jazz rendition of R. Kelly’s “Remix to Ignition.” In the song, Bradlee arranges the piece so that the horns play a combination of melodies reminiscent of Nelson Riddle (a famous jazz composer) and Dr. Dre.

Both composers helped to define their genres and were a key player in their development, so to include them in the song was really amazing. They will be preforming at the Dubai Jazz festival, and then are touring Europe and the United Kingdom for the next four months.