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OCR01050 - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past "Waltz for Zora"


djpretzel
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Very nice... At first, due to the melody and rhythm being so much like the original (in the opening) I wasn't hooked immediately... But that changed fast. I usually don't review stuff, but right now it's 6:45 am... And aside from be having nothing to do, this just had a great vibe and flow to it. Really nice work, a genuinely interesting and fun jazz piece on a beloved composition we all know.

Well, enough from me...

EDIT: If you haven't got it, after downloading this one, go snag their other Zelda jazz work on the site, djp links to it in his write-up. It's good stuff too!

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well, at the present moment i'm on my fourth consecutive listen, and I think I might just have to divulge in a fifth listen until I unevitably have to leave for Sunday morning church :roll:

This is some sweet stuff. I can't really say very much because djpretzel has covered most of what would be my review. But I must say, I've followed jazz closely for many years, and this is as enjoyable and professional as any other material available in the genre. I've also studied jazz in university, and it's clear that Neskvartetten is well studied in in performance and the theory of its composition. Which brings me to saying this - Dude you rock my sox! NIIIIIIiiiiiiiice. :P

You control that sax like a master. And as a drummer myself, I have to say that that brush work is very suitable, so energetic, and always remains appropriate with respect the instrumental parts being played around them. The guitar is tamed nicely and helps round out the piece for a nice, overal textural blend. The bells are just as sweet!

Well, I can't say enough about this fine piece. I'm just gonna have to zip my lip now and have a sixth listen.....

doooo deeee doooo... da da....

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this is a really groovy song, although i feel like the beginning is a little sloppy for some reason. perhaps i just dont understand true jazz.

nice song.

wow, this is the same guy from 'linkgoestoneworleans?' wow, this guy(s) has some talent. yeah, i liked his last one more, but this one still isnt bad.

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Wow, I really enjoyed this. I've only listened to it once, but it felt like the improv got better as time went on. As an avid jazz fan I have to say the horn work was quite enjoyable. I'm a big Trane fan myself, so the neat lines were not lost on me.

Surprisingly, also, I liked the organ, and I don't usually like organ at all...something about the sound disturbs me. This organ kinda sounded like the one they use in Phish sometimes. Guitar was a nice feature on this track too. Understated as it was, I wish there had been more focus on it. Bass kept things moving and certainly articulated the chord changes as the rest of the tune did its things. I was happy about the drums as well.

Nice to see some real musicians on this site, as more often than not we get good production and weak overall content. I would love to see this "remixer" dig into some more obscure stuff...like the Elle theme from Terranigma (random, I know). Chrono Trigger would benefit from a jazz interpretation too.

The only thing I would have to say, though, is that these cats should play more in the classic jazz style like when Miles Davis was playing with Coltrane around the time of "Kind of Blue" and "Miles Ahead". That would eliminate any residual "elevator" feel that the tune might have had.

As for my song requests, it doesn't have to be those specifically, but dig through the archives and find some more interesting songs where you can really cut loose. I know, however, that actually finding five people that are actually real musicians AND enjoy obscure video games is next to impossible. You don't get as good as these guys by sitting in your room and playing Bubble Bobble all day.

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Whoa. What an awesome breath of fresh air. I listen to a respectable amount of jazz and am trained as a jazz drummer first and foremost and I have to say I really love what you guys do. I can't even get my band to do a version of the Mario 2 song and here you guys are with two jazzy OC Remixes.

Man, this is just some sweet ear-candy...

I Love you guys. :nicework:

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Well, I respect the effort it takes to make a live recording like this, but for some reason I didn't dig this one too much.

I'm not totally unacquainted with Jazz, but I'm not really into it or knowledgeable about it either, so that might be the problem.

I guess more than anything I would have preferred more focused grooving from the organ and guitar. Sometimes it sounds to me like everyone's doing their own thing a little bit too much. Maybe that's my problem actually -- this might just be a style that I don't understand very well, or just don't like :P

Anyway, the sax sounds GREAT. It's played beautifully and recorded beautifully. Same thing goes for the drums. I agree as well that this sounds deliciously like coffeehouse music. In fact, it's making me want coffee, and as such I'd better stop listening to it cuz it's past midnight, and if I have coffee now, I'll never get to bed.

I'm rambling.

Anyway, I'm gonna give this one at least a few more listens and see if it doesn't grow on me.

Fray.

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8O

This is the mix i've been waiting for. My hat's off to you guys.

I'm gonna have to disagree with analoq's use of restraint and say to the "OCR masses": if you can't appreciate this track, then your musical taste is lacking. Not bad, just lacking. If you feel like you don't understand the appeal of this ReMix, then you need to be listening to a wider variety of music.

If you wanna get turned on to jazz, go out and buy (or download if you have to) Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. In addition to that, check out Dave Brubeck, Joshua Redman, Chet Baker, Bill Evans, Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea, just to name a few.

All I have left to say is, Neskvartetten, if you do another jazz piece for this site, I'll be eternally gratefull.

Nice Work. :nicework:

-JTT

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GREAT STUFF NEV... the sax... man you sure you arent Bill Clinton cuz he played the sax... ;-) jk... anyway... awesome... always love OCREMIXERS interpretations of a song I hum at work all the time... great stuff. 9.5/10 better sound quality... only thing that would make this truly perfect.

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Being a jazz artist myself, I really appreciate it when I hear stuff like this. Sax is wonderful (your licks sound like the ones my friend plays a lot). But damn, this is some really good stuff. Some of it sounds like it could use some tightening up, but that's no biggie. And to Kamikaze Noodle, if you wanna hear a nifty SMB2 big band mix, search for Estradasphere here on OCRemix. It doesn't have those crazy trills, but it still rocks (and the chords sound almost identical to Take the A Train).

I love this mix and I know that I will be listening to it for awhile. Good work Neskvartetten.

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incredible. what a take on this beloved song. the sax is just too cool and smooth. beautifull. this is just perfect wonderfull jazz. the battery is perfect, and all in all its too sexy. indeed, one of the best, if not the best, rearrangements in OCR, and of course the best one there is for this song. A-MA-ZING.

Cano

been listening to it for about an hour, and it wont stop.

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As a newcomer to the forums (long time OC fan tho) i'd have to say, I seriously dig this piece. It is very well arranged, and the only thing i could say that i would have liked to see towards the end, around 3:15, would be a drum and/or bass solo improv before returning to the main theme. In my opinion, that would have been a nice touch :) But as i said, I dig the piece. Overall, I think the piece is well constructed, and is a most enjoyable listen :) *saves to his HD* ^_^

-Caldy

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I've got a friend who works in a jazz/blues bar here in the city, and compared to the stuff I've heard in there, this remix lacks "zing." This is really mellow, smooth jazz...not bad at all, but something I would feel inclined to talk over, instead of sitting back, shutting up, and paying attention to. Lovely background chill-out jazz, but I was hoping for something with more of a groove like Neskvartetten's "Link Goes To New Orleans." Anyway, it's definitely a well-produced and well-played piece, and excellent for what it is.

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Without question one of the best remixes on the site. We be JAZZ!

That sax is SEXY. Consummate musicianship. Brilliant improvisation. As djpretzel points out, once machines can do THAT, we musicians are really out of place. The live renditions are almost /always/ my favorites and this one's awesomeness is... super great.

Leah brings up a good idea... I started imagining this as bop instead of something cool and smooth as done here. I think that interpretation has even more promise than this one! (Maybe it's because I just got done watching Cowboy Bebop? You tell me. :-P)

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I love this one! Such a smooth, jazzy mix of the original. I had to have ths one! I will say, however, when listening to this piece it is indeed lacking "something," but I'm not too sure what. It just seems a bit bland. It's very good, still. A welcomed addition. There's a lot of Zelda jazz here. Hmm...

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  • 3 weeks later...

Heh, this is nice. I was introduced to jazz at an early age, so I have pretty much grown up with it. This is a pretty good jazz tune, and being a Legend of Zelda fan I am, this worked out great. Nice to see a jazz tune every now and then on the site.

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  • Liontamer changed the title to OCR01050 - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past "Waltz for Zora"

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