Donna Coleman - Piano Sonata No. 2 (Charles Ives)
Donna was my regular teacher during the period 2009-2012. She helped me reinvent my piano technique after I developed intersection syndrome (a kind of RSI) in both my arms. Learning from her has deepened my understanding and love for the piano and music in general. This recording of Ives' most well-known piano work is made all the more significant for me knowing how deep Donna researches and considers everything.
Brian Eno and David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
I've only just started listening to this, but I'm enjoying the playful strangness on this album. It keeps it from becoming over self-concious. Talking Heads was a band I was into in highschool; I remember being struck by how strange they all looked and sounded . . .
Dr. John - Locked Down
I love Dr. John's album Gumbo, everytime I hear it it makes me feel good . . . Locked Down might not be so straight-down-the-line funky, but I think the rhythm-section playing and overall production is fantastic.
Magnet - Steve Magnusson
To me this sounds like an album that has been laboured over, in the best possible way. The attention to detail, in the playing and production, makes this album an instant favourite of mine.
Showing posts with label listening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label listening. Show all posts
Friday, May 3, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Things of Inspration, Pt. 2
Recently at one of tutorials I run at Monash Unversity, a student asked me about my music collection. I don't think very much of it, as it's grown as I've come across more and more music, but nevertheless the student asked if I could start a list of my listening so that he might be able to track down new things to check out.
A new one in this series of posts will hopefully be up every week or two.
Recent listening:
James Blake - Overgrown
I enjoy Blake's first record a lot. I like it's "roughness." At first listen the new album seems a little too polished for my taste, but it's growing on me.
Craig Taborn - Chants
Taborn is one of my favourite improvising pianists, and I'm loving this album. I've heard some of the music before on bootlegs from Europe and NY, but it's great to here that repertiore brought together under one album.
Daniel Barenboim - Piano Sonatas No. 31 and 32 (L.V. Beethoven)
Although I find Barenboim's renditions a little boisterous, I'm currently in a period of learning more and more about composers I'd only previously taken a token interest in. I was inspired to check out these piano sonatas after reading some of Richard Taruskin's The Oxford History of Western Music in Five Volumes (see my series of posts with an identical label).
Claudio Arrau - Piano Sonata No. 21 (F. Schubert)
See blurb above, although I love Arrau's playing.
Bjork - Biophillia
Not a new album, but I still love the unexpected turns this album contains, the holistic approach Bjork has to music making, and the production.
Lee Konitz/Lennie Tristano - The Complete Atlantic Recordings, Subconcious-Lee and Palo Alto
I'm on another binge of learning Tristano/Konitz. So far it's been Subconcious-Lee, Background Music, April, 317 East 32nd, Wow and Hibeck. Simply amazing music, to my ears.
J-Dilla - The Lost Scrolls
Not too much to say about this . . . gets me everytime.
More soon . . .
A new one in this series of posts will hopefully be up every week or two.
Recent listening:
James Blake - Overgrown
I enjoy Blake's first record a lot. I like it's "roughness." At first listen the new album seems a little too polished for my taste, but it's growing on me.
Craig Taborn - Chants
Taborn is one of my favourite improvising pianists, and I'm loving this album. I've heard some of the music before on bootlegs from Europe and NY, but it's great to here that repertiore brought together under one album.
Daniel Barenboim - Piano Sonatas No. 31 and 32 (L.V. Beethoven)
Although I find Barenboim's renditions a little boisterous, I'm currently in a period of learning more and more about composers I'd only previously taken a token interest in. I was inspired to check out these piano sonatas after reading some of Richard Taruskin's The Oxford History of Western Music in Five Volumes (see my series of posts with an identical label).
Claudio Arrau - Piano Sonata No. 21 (F. Schubert)
See blurb above, although I love Arrau's playing.
Bjork - Biophillia
Not a new album, but I still love the unexpected turns this album contains, the holistic approach Bjork has to music making, and the production.
Lee Konitz/Lennie Tristano - The Complete Atlantic Recordings, Subconcious-Lee and Palo Alto
I'm on another binge of learning Tristano/Konitz. So far it's been Subconcious-Lee, Background Music, April, 317 East 32nd, Wow and Hibeck. Simply amazing music, to my ears.
J-Dilla - The Lost Scrolls
Not too much to say about this . . . gets me everytime.
More soon . . .
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Listening
It's probably all of the Goehr/Subotnik/Adorno-type reading I've been doing lately, but I've been hearing music kinda differently lately....
Also, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (M.I.J.F.) was on recently, and allowed to me ponder what I was hearing and why I did/didn't enjoy it.
This is not the time (I haven't understood enough yet) to plunge the depths of Adorno's philosophy of music. One thing I have gleamed, however, is that he thinks music/art should reflect the individual's relationship with society. For example, Adorno is often quick to point out what he identifies as the totalitarian philosophies of some music practice; something he sees as troublesome if that society is striving for democracy.
So, we live in a world were practically everything is available to us. Post-modernism seems so much a part of the norm today; anything is available and able to be used, with or without irony.
Here I think about Gary Peters' description of the modern improviser as a "junk-yard inventor." The scrapheap of history lies behind us, and we assemble parts of this, parts of that, in our own way, heading into the future. If this is the case, and I think it is, surely improvisers should make music that reflects how they perceive themselves as part of the world.
At the M.I.J.F., I felt Jason Moran's set did this very thing. Sure I could talk about the evolving sound of the piano trio, the lineage from Jaki Byard, Monk, Herbie Nichols and Andrew Hill, the harmony, his left hand, the sound etc. etc., but one of the main reasons I enjoyed this set so much was that, in the end, all of the music was presented as coming from Moran's life. The use of sampling as integral to the gig, for example, whether it be Africa Bombaata, Bille Holiday singing or Monk tap-dancing, reflects his identifying with hip-hop sample culture. His manner on stage, detached from the quiet reserve normally adopted by jazz musicians in the concert hall, was, to my mind, part of Moran's efforts to free jazz from the stifling that usually occurs in such venues.
The other set that did this was Chiri. Scott Tinkler, Simon Barker and Bae Il Dong's collaboration has already received attention, but no one seems to talk about the nature in which these men play together. Listening to this gig I felt that, while there is obviously overlap between each one's interest, (Simon's interest in Pansori and his connection with Scott have both been documented, while Scott and Il Dong's crossing over point relates to gesture and power of tone) each musician was free to realise their personal vision of music making while simultaneously contributing to the collective, greater, whole.
I felt that the collaboration between Barker, Tinkler and Moran did something similar, but less successfully.
So when I say I'm hearing music differently, more and more this is what I am listening for, in my own as well as in others music.
The other thing I'm listening for is virtuosity. Now, "hang on just one minute, you can't expect everyone to be a virtuoso" some of you might say. Well, I certainly have high expectations, I expect people who are presenting at an international festival to have their stuff down, so to speak. For anyone working seriously on music, though, I imagine this is not such a daunting idea: you already spend hours a day on your instrument, you're listening to plenty of music and working hard on whatever it is you are into. I suppose my point here is really that, whatever you do, you better have a solid command of it.
I'm not thinking of anyone in particular, nor am I wanting to define what 'virtuoso' means (please don't bring up that stupid Miles Davis argument). All I'm saying is, mediocrity is not an option.
Somebody, talking to me about a lesson they had with New York pianist Aaron Goldberg concluded a discussion regarding differences in aesthetics with something along the lines of:
" . . . but he's just really into playing the instrument well." This is can get into. Mainstream improvisers such as Goldberg (this is by no means a slight) pride themselves on their technical prowess. I see nothing wrong with this. Where my thoughts on music making seem to move off on a slight tangent is that I don't see why, in order to be a great player (whatever that means) one must adhere to that style of straight ahead jazz playing. Sure, there are certain things (strength of tone, time, basic knowledge of rhythm and harmony) that this schooling will give you, but I truly see this as a means, not an end. As an end this ends up being music that resembles a routine, rather than reassembling and represting the 'junkyard materials' in a novel way. Putting a jazz standard in an odd time, or series of odd times, doesn't cut it, to my mind, even when done well.
So the trick, as far as I am concerned at the moment, is to take the good parts from 'learning to tradition' and combine them with an approach that more reflects Adorno's concern of art and it's place in society.
We'll see how that goes...
Also, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (M.I.J.F.) was on recently, and allowed to me ponder what I was hearing and why I did/didn't enjoy it.
This is not the time (I haven't understood enough yet) to plunge the depths of Adorno's philosophy of music. One thing I have gleamed, however, is that he thinks music/art should reflect the individual's relationship with society. For example, Adorno is often quick to point out what he identifies as the totalitarian philosophies of some music practice; something he sees as troublesome if that society is striving for democracy.
So, we live in a world were practically everything is available to us. Post-modernism seems so much a part of the norm today; anything is available and able to be used, with or without irony.
Here I think about Gary Peters' description of the modern improviser as a "junk-yard inventor." The scrapheap of history lies behind us, and we assemble parts of this, parts of that, in our own way, heading into the future. If this is the case, and I think it is, surely improvisers should make music that reflects how they perceive themselves as part of the world.
At the M.I.J.F., I felt Jason Moran's set did this very thing. Sure I could talk about the evolving sound of the piano trio, the lineage from Jaki Byard, Monk, Herbie Nichols and Andrew Hill, the harmony, his left hand, the sound etc. etc., but one of the main reasons I enjoyed this set so much was that, in the end, all of the music was presented as coming from Moran's life. The use of sampling as integral to the gig, for example, whether it be Africa Bombaata, Bille Holiday singing or Monk tap-dancing, reflects his identifying with hip-hop sample culture. His manner on stage, detached from the quiet reserve normally adopted by jazz musicians in the concert hall, was, to my mind, part of Moran's efforts to free jazz from the stifling that usually occurs in such venues.
The other set that did this was Chiri. Scott Tinkler, Simon Barker and Bae Il Dong's collaboration has already received attention, but no one seems to talk about the nature in which these men play together. Listening to this gig I felt that, while there is obviously overlap between each one's interest, (Simon's interest in Pansori and his connection with Scott have both been documented, while Scott and Il Dong's crossing over point relates to gesture and power of tone) each musician was free to realise their personal vision of music making while simultaneously contributing to the collective, greater, whole.
I felt that the collaboration between Barker, Tinkler and Moran did something similar, but less successfully.
So when I say I'm hearing music differently, more and more this is what I am listening for, in my own as well as in others music.
The other thing I'm listening for is virtuosity. Now, "hang on just one minute, you can't expect everyone to be a virtuoso" some of you might say. Well, I certainly have high expectations, I expect people who are presenting at an international festival to have their stuff down, so to speak. For anyone working seriously on music, though, I imagine this is not such a daunting idea: you already spend hours a day on your instrument, you're listening to plenty of music and working hard on whatever it is you are into. I suppose my point here is really that, whatever you do, you better have a solid command of it.
I'm not thinking of anyone in particular, nor am I wanting to define what 'virtuoso' means (please don't bring up that stupid Miles Davis argument). All I'm saying is, mediocrity is not an option.
Somebody, talking to me about a lesson they had with New York pianist Aaron Goldberg concluded a discussion regarding differences in aesthetics with something along the lines of:
" . . . but he's just really into playing the instrument well." This is can get into. Mainstream improvisers such as Goldberg (this is by no means a slight) pride themselves on their technical prowess. I see nothing wrong with this. Where my thoughts on music making seem to move off on a slight tangent is that I don't see why, in order to be a great player (whatever that means) one must adhere to that style of straight ahead jazz playing. Sure, there are certain things (strength of tone, time, basic knowledge of rhythm and harmony) that this schooling will give you, but I truly see this as a means, not an end. As an end this ends up being music that resembles a routine, rather than reassembling and represting the 'junkyard materials' in a novel way. Putting a jazz standard in an odd time, or series of odd times, doesn't cut it, to my mind, even when done well.
So the trick, as far as I am concerned at the moment, is to take the good parts from 'learning to tradition' and combine them with an approach that more reflects Adorno's concern of art and it's place in society.
We'll see how that goes...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Listen
As I've mentioned in one of my previous posts, I've been getting back "into" Jazz. Not that I was every supremely disenchanted with it, it's just I think I kind of painted myself into a corner. Let me explain:
As a student of creative music, I think we all spend a significant part of 'early' learning in building up some kind of aesthetic template. We then use this template to create, to define our musical identity and (often) to listen to music. It is a two-way cycle: all of these acts help us create, reinforce, morph and develop our template. So, as somebody who has always been concerned with having a strong 'musical-template', I think I had maybe gone too far in one direction. Don't think for a second I regret it though, this is 'extreme' behavior is actually quite consistent with my person as a whole, and I think was a necessary product of working hard on 'my own sound'.
So, there are things I know I like to have in my own music. They are my music aesthetic, my musical identity.
The trouble for me had become, though, that I ended up not really liking any music that didn't have at least (or maybe even all) of these things. Needless to say, it made me not want to listen to very much music, and even made me not enjoy certain playing situations which were actually quite good (see previous post).
But now, friends, now it's all changed. Lately I've actually found myself to be able to listen to alot of music, not of all of which check off my criteria for 'good' music, and just pick out things which I like. These things may not be influences in a direct sense, but definitely broaden and strengthen what I already have.
What I think this truly says (if I may be so bold) is that I am getting to a stage where I am comfortable enough in my own beliefs that now I'm not worried about being 'corrupted' by listening to music that isn't very close to my own ideal music. Either that or I've realised it doesn't matter anywhere near as much as I thought!
So anyway, while before all I was really listening to was Elliott Carter, mid 60's Coltrane, Herbie Nichols, Karakudi R Mani and Bach, no I've also been getting into (or back into) Horace Silver, Keith Jarrett, Lennie Tristano, 50's Miles, Weather Report, Brain Wilson, The Roots, Dave Holland, D'Angelo, and Paul Bley.
Some of these guys I re-discovered, while others I either discovered for the first time, or have been drawn into them much more recently, without worrying about becoming a 'clone'.
Long live stregnth in yourself and the thirst for more knowledge!
As a student of creative music, I think we all spend a significant part of 'early' learning in building up some kind of aesthetic template. We then use this template to create, to define our musical identity and (often) to listen to music. It is a two-way cycle: all of these acts help us create, reinforce, morph and develop our template. So, as somebody who has always been concerned with having a strong 'musical-template', I think I had maybe gone too far in one direction. Don't think for a second I regret it though, this is 'extreme' behavior is actually quite consistent with my person as a whole, and I think was a necessary product of working hard on 'my own sound'.
So, there are things I know I like to have in my own music. They are my music aesthetic, my musical identity.
The trouble for me had become, though, that I ended up not really liking any music that didn't have at least (or maybe even all) of these things. Needless to say, it made me not want to listen to very much music, and even made me not enjoy certain playing situations which were actually quite good (see previous post).
But now, friends, now it's all changed. Lately I've actually found myself to be able to listen to alot of music, not of all of which check off my criteria for 'good' music, and just pick out things which I like. These things may not be influences in a direct sense, but definitely broaden and strengthen what I already have.
What I think this truly says (if I may be so bold) is that I am getting to a stage where I am comfortable enough in my own beliefs that now I'm not worried about being 'corrupted' by listening to music that isn't very close to my own ideal music. Either that or I've realised it doesn't matter anywhere near as much as I thought!
So anyway, while before all I was really listening to was Elliott Carter, mid 60's Coltrane, Herbie Nichols, Karakudi R Mani and Bach, no I've also been getting into (or back into) Horace Silver, Keith Jarrett, Lennie Tristano, 50's Miles, Weather Report, Brain Wilson, The Roots, Dave Holland, D'Angelo, and Paul Bley.
Some of these guys I re-discovered, while others I either discovered for the first time, or have been drawn into them much more recently, without worrying about becoming a 'clone'.
Long live stregnth in yourself and the thirst for more knowledge!
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