If you’ve ever visited the famous cantina on the planet of Endor, you’ve probably wondered, “What kind of music does the Star Wars cantina band play?” There are a number of options for this question, from Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes to Jizz and Jatz. If you’re not sure what you’ll hear there, check out this documentary.
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Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes
When you think of cantina bands in Star Wars, you probably don’t picture an all-Bith band. However, there is one group that has a very interesting history. The Modal Nodes are an all-Bith band that was a member of the Intergalactic Federation of Musicians. This organization was established to protect the interests of musicians by promoting their commercial interests. In this issue, they’re playing Star Wars cantina band music!
You can hear the cantina band music in the movie “A New Hope.” You can hear the jizz genre from Figrin D’an and the Modal Notes, who are Bith aliens who are also the regular in-house musicians at Mos Eisley’s Cantina. These characters are good negotiators but terrible decision makers, and they play the role of the cantina band perfectly.
Jizz
In the Star Wars franchise, the Cantina Band is called the Figrin D’an. The band’s name comes from the Bith race and the main musical number is “Mad About Me.” The music of the Cantina is influenced by jazz. The band members’ names are a tribute to the music of the galaxy’s most famous cantinas.
The Max Rebo Band is led by a stocky Ortolan keyboardist named Max Rebo. The group plays the Red Ball Jett, a reed organ with clavinet characteristics. Rebo was the founding member of Evar Orbus and His Galactic Jizz-wailers, which had a hit single in the movie Return of the Jedi in 1997.
While there are several cantina bands and jizz-wailers in the Star Wars universe, most of them only exist in video games and online mini-adventures. The video’s producers did not attempt to verify the source of the term ‘jizz.’ However, they did mention that the term ‘jizz’ has roots in the Expanded Universe. The term may have originated in a proof-reading error in a Return of the Jedi novelization, or it could be an intentional play on jazz, as it contains sexual connotations.
Jatz
The “Jatz is the music that the Star Wars cantina band plays” parody song was written by Mark Jonathan Davis and released in 1997 as a bonus track on the Dr. Demento radio show. The parody song was later covered by various artists, including Rick James and Cindy Lauper. In this piece, Williams pays tribute to the music that inspired many of the films in the Star Wars franchise.
Jatz is also adept at recruiting wealthy backers. It is so well-known that they once sued a droid window-cleaning business for plagiarism. This band then spent most of its career spreading the word about Jatz throughout the galaxy. They even had a sponsorship deal with a fast food chain! However, Jatz has faced many challenges over the years.
Hard rock
While hard rock isn’t the type of music you typically hear in a Star Wars cantina, it certainly isn’t out of place. While hard rock isn’t necessarily a bad choice, it wouldn’t have been George Lucas’ first choice. His movies mostly featured classical music, which doesn’t detract from the scenes and isn’t obtrusive. While classical music works well for the movies in this regard, hard rock can sometimes make the situation seem more serious.
While not the type of music you’d typically hear at a Star Wars cantina, “Cantina Band” has appeared in video games. It’s often part of the soundtrack, and features prominently in Star Wars: Battlefront II. It also makes a cameo in LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, where it plays on an endless loop while the player uses Force to move chairs.