Great opening riffs

[White Knight]

I'd like to start a discussion in which I can get feedback from my fellow members in both the jazz and rock and progressive rock forums weighing in with their feelings/opinions about which jazz or rock songs have the best "hooks": where the second the song opens it literally grabs you by the cajones and says/demands " LISTEN TO ME!" . Ok, I'll start and in no particular order: Rock: "Can"t You Hear Me Knocking"- Rolling Stones; "Memo from Turner"; Mick Jagger and Ry Cooder from "Performance"; "Tarkus", "Tank" and "The Barbarian" by Emerson Lake and Palmer ; "Hold Your Head Up", Rod Argent. And now some jazz:

"74 Miles Away" and "This Here" by Joe Zawinul/Cannonball Adderly Quintet; "What I Say" from Miles Davis; "Tom Thumb", Wayne Shorter; "Now he sings, Now he sobs" Chick Corea and "Walk Tall" again by the Cannonball Adderly Quintet. I'm looking forward to hearing from others in the forums regarding what they think of my choices and adding their own. p.s.. I'd like to add one more to the progressive rock list: "Pirates" by ELP from Vol 1 of "Works". Anyway, Ciao for now.

[Mat]

Hi White Knight,

An interestng question you raise, though I must say - not many riffs spring to my mind. I should probably hear something first to say: "Yes, that's it!" and realise that I've known it from the very beginnig.

Now to your question. First I thought of the short intro to Ellington's Take The "A" Train. Then there's Hancock's Cantaloupe Island, Davis' Someday My Prince Will Come, most of Chick Corea intros from his Live Acoustic Band album, Peterson's intro to Stormy Weather from the album he recorded with Perlman and intro to On Green Dolphin Street from The Sound of The Trio, piano intro to One For My Baby, Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Money and of course High Hopes, Sting's An Englishman In New York (soprano sax intro!! and a solo that is to be heard at the end of the song), absolutely delightful Jazz Waltz closing each episode of Saturday Night Live (it's unbelieveable what Lenny Pickett can play on his saxophone). That's it for now.

Gee, it turns out I remember more than I thought

Cheers

[Dorsetmike]

Steve, text in black on blue background is not easily visible, especially for some of us "senior citizens".

As for the discussion point, I'm still thinking!

[White Knight]

Mat, thanks so much for your feedback. How I could have forgotten to include Hancock's "Cantelope Island" (which is one of my all time favorites) is beyond me. . Peace and happy holidays to you and your family, White Knight.

[Mat]

Thanks, WK. Same to you, of course.

Now, that Cantaloupe Island was brought up, I think we should mention Watermelon Man as well.

Oh, I forgot one, too. Moanin' by Bobby Timmons.

[White Knight]

Mat, Absolutely spot on especially regarding the Bobby Timmons piece!

[Mat]

Thanx. There's just so much music out there, just waiting for us to discover it and mention it in this thread. I'll try to think of some more riffs and if I come up with sth interesting, you can be sure I'll post it.

[gord]

hi steve, louis armstrong- west end blues {1928} always did it for me. also i get a kick out of bunny berigan-i cant get started {1937}. in rock, i always liked the introduction to lucille by little richard. gord

[Mat]

Forgot about this one.

[teddy]

One of my favourite artists Mat

teddy

[Mat]

Actually, I wanted to link to a recording made by Joey DeFrancesco (Hammond) and Grover Washington (sax) but couldn't find it, so I went with Cannonball. But I'm glad you liked it, though.

[White Knight]

Mat, a truly great choice; one can never go wrong listening to either Cannonball or his brother Nat!

[JHC]

What is the difference between a repeated phrase and a riff??

[teddy]

I know my wife uses repeated phrases a lot

teddy

[Mat]

Play some blues chord over it and you might just get a real blockbuster, Teddy