In the Fat Jazz big band (in which I play piano), one of the tunes we are working on is called Poppin’ Fresh by Les Hooper. It turns out that Les Hooper is a prolific composer and arranger who also does work for TV, Movies, Cartoons, Commercials, and more. His web site has some incredible and amazing sounds samples. If you don’t have time to surf around, just listen to his Cartoon track (click here) and you’ll get an idea of his amazing composing skill!

It’s actually my dream to one day write music for movies and TV. I’ve been slowly putting together a portfolio. Click here to listen to a one minute orchestral intro that I wrote for a friend’s indie movie. Also listen to my Piece of Quiet composition (click here) which I think is very suitable for an emotional climax to some kind of romantic movie.

On saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenon, Branford Marsalis said, “I listen for musical intelligence. Lots of jazz musicians spend their lives studying and then trying to make music out of academics. Miguel just grabbed the music. He was able to take something intellectual and make it sound organic and natural.” Zenon, who is only 26, has had a rather illustrious career so far in the world of jazz. This Boston Globe article talks a bit about Zenon’s background. On his snazzy web site, Zenon generously provides lots of samples of his music, including three full length tracks recorded live at the Jazz Gallery in NYC. These are enjoyable performances all around: I especially enjoyed the judicious use of space in the solos (particularly the first half of the piano solo by Luis Perdomo).

With all the cheap camcorders and video editing software out there, there’s bound to be a few creative people who actually make interesting videos, and put them on the web. It’s easier said than done, but one website I found that has some really funny and original stuff is “Douggpound“. My current favorite is his video entitled “Sports Drinks“. Douggpound also does music (a creative fellow he is), and an example of some crazy electronic music is an MP3 entitled “Laguna”.