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The Monday Morning Memo

Confession: My use of the term “vamp” is unique.
In other words, I'm the only person on earth who uses that term to describe a job or a person.

Invitation: Why not join me? Then there'll be two of us.
One might argue that my use of the term “vamp” is just another word for “agent” or “promoter,” but those words are too passive for my definition. The enthusiasms and convictions of a vamp are highly contagious. The vamp is a vibrating, electric showman, forever pointing to the poodle.

Official Definition: In music, a vamp is a repeating musical figure, section, or accompaniment used in jazz, gospel, soul, and musical theater. – Wikipedia

“Most popular music today is vamp-based. The bass and drums repeat the same two- or four-bar phrase for the duration of the song. This repetitious groove is infectious and easy for dancers to follow.”
– Wynton Marsalis
Moving to Higher Ground, p.34-35

Vamps are also found in rock, funk, reggae, R&B, pop, country, and post-sixties jazz. Vamps are usually harmonically spare: A vamp may consist of a single chord or a sequence of chords played in a repeated rhythm. Vamps are generally symmetrical, self-contained, and open to variation. The equivalent in classical music is an ostinato. The equivalent in hip hop is the loop. – Wikipedia

 

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“My manners, abominable at times, can be sweet. As I grew older I became a drunk. Why? Because I like ecstasy of the mind. I'm a wretch. But I love love.”

- Jack Kerouac

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