As early as the 1930s, artists attempted to cultivate ideas of “symphonic jazz”, taking it away from its perceived vernacular and black American roots. Following these developments, histories of popular music tend to marginalize jazz, partly because the reformulation of jazz in the art discourse has been so successful that many would not consider it a form of popular music. Steve Drown, MECA&D’s new Assistant Professor of Music, in the newly launched Bob Crewe Program in Art and Music, has been an independent recording engineer for the last 21 years and a professional musician for nearly 30. He has a BM in music production and engineering from Berklee College of Music and works as an engineer at The Studio, which provides state-of-the-art recording, digital editing and more in downtown Portland. Steve’s forte is making good musicians sound great—often in ways they don’t expect. He has worked with James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, Ronnie Earl, Roy Scheider, Patty Larkin, Kate Schrock, and Ron Carter, among other musicians.
- Yet it is Nocturne No. 7 which sounds the most like one of his Cartas Celestas with its rumbling arpeggios and asymmetric, impressionistic melody line.
- Schools and universities use the music/art connection to enhance student learning.
- He knows this music as well as anyone and, thankfully, has his own ideas on pacing and phrasing, all of which work very well.
- Through its wind instruments, it invites one to visit other cultures and heritages.
- Although Crumb was not yet “really” the Crumb we know from about 1964 onward, it is still a creative piece, occasionally using some light microtonal effects, and played superbly here by the then-39-year-old de Saram.
The long but whimsical Ländler movement also has its surprises, again with accents and details normally glossed over. I also loved the swagger he gave to the music here; I’ve never heard this movement conducted as well. I also loved the way he did the “Rondo-Burleske,” almost making it an extension of the Ländler—but in the latter part of this movement, Rattle gets out of control. He makes up for it with a deeply-felt “Adagio,” however; this is as good as Solti’s performance. Although I get sick and tired of reviewing constantly-retreaded repertoire, I make exceptions for those few artists who are real interpreters and who have an affinity for certain composers of this kind of music. Simon Rattle is one such, particularly where Mahler or French impressionists are concerned.
Music in Art
We acknowledge that the historical relationship to the land and territories of these peoples continues to this day. When not performing, Gregory is boldly exploring compositional ideas on piano and drums, following world events, running around Mt. Tolmie, taking Arrow and Oblio on walks, and helping Justine in the garden. Scrap Arts Music is a unique Canadian project honoured to receive invitations to perform across North America and around the world for audiences from all walks of life. Having already recorded Mieczysław Weinberg’s symphonies Nos. 2 & 21 three years ago for Deutsche Grammophon, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla here presents the Third and Seventh Symphonies along with the Flute Concerto No. 1. Although all have already been recorded by others, there are clear indications to me that, if finished, this is going to be the Weinberg Symphony set. Although Russian conductor Semyon Bychkov is considered one of the finest Mahler conductors of the post-Klaus Tennstedt era, he has only recently begun recording his symphonies.
leading instrument:
Zwilich’s well-known combination of tonal, melodic music with modes and modern harmonies tossed in for flavor are clearly on display here, but so too is Zuill Bailey’s cello. In fact, except for his second recording of the Bach Cello Suites, issued a few months ago, I can’t recall hearing any other recording by him that so perfectly captures his gorgeous, manicured tone. In fact, judging just by those two recordings, I would go out on a limb and say that his tone has actually grown in richness and depth of sound. He used to sound like Emanuel Feuermann; he now sounds like Mstislav Rostropovich.
Then Witzel enters, bringing compositional order to the proceedings, and is again superb . Ho’s finest contribution to this album, however, is in his providing consistently swinging and appropriate bass lines in the left hand, supplanting the use of either a string or electric bassist. He’s so good at this that, at first, I re-read the album cover to make sure that there wasn’t a bassist in the group. And he keeps this up even when he himself is soloing with the right hand, showing that he is a fine musician if not a soloist on Witzel’s or Zinn’s level. This is a rather strange album, occupying a somewhat awkward spot between entertainment and art. Although most of these arrangements appear to be heads, Witzel and his talented group have a good read on each other’s musical ideas and bring them to fruition.
Krate Digga is committed to improving quality of lives using music as a vehicle specifically through the prism of Hip Hop culture. Whether teaching middle school or at the collegiate level, opening for Grandmaster Flash or presenting his own stage production; it is music and the power therein that’s allowed Krate to serve as a conduit for artistic & community development. Others in psychology and other fields have asserted that both music and art are separate from other innate forms of communication.