The music by Bright Eyes in “Triple Spiral” fairly rampages. It could be liked by rock music lovers everywhere. “The currents will carry you along, until you’re just like everyone,” is a thought that is stated in “Beginner’s Mind,” a statement that counts as promise and warning, as comforting or disturbing, depending on who you are. The search for spiritual enlightenment usually begins with both awareness of who, what, and where one is and then forgetting those same things (and then remembering them again in a different way).
Tag: music
Friendship and Love: Jodie Levinson, In the City
The sound of Jodie Levinson is that of a sweetly sensual, warm woman, influenced by blues, jazz, and rock, and her voice is distinctive, though there are times when one hears echoes of Laura Nyro, Rickie Lee Jones, Vanessa Williams, and Mariah Carey. The song “Quand Va T’il Arriver (When Will He Come),” which presents a picture of a woman waiting for a man, actually has a relaxed groove, and “You Make Me Smile” is both girlish and sultry. It is a cliché that men and women want different things—men want easy and quick sexual contact and women want a relationship, and the charm and conversation between them are enjoyed with different purposes in mind.
Compassion, Desire, Fury, and Thought: Play On, an album by The Picardy Birds, featuring Emelie Guidry
The life and career of an artist, like that of an intellectual or critic, can be much more precarious than anyone can guess: meals and message and momentum can be much less predictable than one would like. One returns to the work in exhaustion and hope and hunger and inspiration, and against circumstance and all the odds of neglect and rejection one is sustained by the work itself—again and again and again.
Ardoin as Ancestor and Artist: Mama, I’ll Be Long Gone by Amede Ardoin
Was Amede Ardoin poisoned by a jealous musician? Was Amede Ardoin relegated to a madhouse, in which he died? Questions remain. What we know is that Amede Ardoin, a Creole singer with a high, plaintive sound and an accordionist with a bold blare and songs of family, longing, struggle, adventure and pleasure, performed with Cajun fiddler Dennis McGee (born January 26, 1893, died October 3, 1989); and Ardoin’s work influenced both Creole and Cajun music—previously, for one thing, the accordion had not been considered a prominent part of Cajun music.
Challenging, Thrilling Music as Modern Art: Manto and Madrigals by Thomas Zehetmair and Ruth Killius
One has an experience that is challenging, frightening, thrilling. On Manto and Madrigals, one can hear musical lines that evoke mathematics more than melody and the unlikely appearance of folk music and the classical swell of strings. Beneath the work of Thomas Zehetmair and Ruth Killius is the timeless revelation that there may be nothing more demanding, and more terrifying, than freedom, and nothing more necessary.
Exploring Mood: Lee Konitz, Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian, Live at Birdland
In what is the body of the piece, the piano and double-bass offer what might be a fleeting semblance of the song’s original melody, and the saxophone’s now robust playing is less easy to mistake—its singing more recognizable. That is what I hear: is that what is there?
Daughter of the Blues: Shemekia Copeland, Deluxe Edition
Shemekia Copeland, who has performed with B.B. King, Koko Taylor, and Buddy Guy, has been welcomed by critics and the blues audience in clubs and at festivals, and has appeared on television and in film. Alligator Records’ Deluxe Edition of Shemekia Copeland’s work allows a more attentive listen for those who know her work less well: the anthology contains sixteen songs taken from her albums.
African Griots of Joy: Mamadou Diabate and his Courage; and the Owiny Sigoma Band, featuring Joseph Nyamungu
Instrumental music can be beautiful, have meaning, and bring joy. In Mamadou Diabate’s “Humanity,” written out of concern for the troubles of the world, there is drama, though no words are used. The tones are drawn out, and the great weights of the notes achieve emphasis and suspense.
Weird Enough to be Symbolic: The album 100 Lovers by DeVotchKa
It is easy to be lost in the world and lost to it—brilliance and love can move one beyond easy paths, as can ignorance or hate, but art provides a map, a beacon. It can be a shock to youth to realize that some people do not care if the maps exist—or worse, enjoy shooting out the lights. It can be a shock to the old too. Those who care about a certain kind of civilization must be vigilant.
Permanent Culture: Zuill Bailey and Awadagin Pratt, Brahms Works for Cello and Piano
Zuill Bailey studied at the Peabody Conservatory and Juilliard; and early in his career Bailey was a featured participant in the American premiere of Miklos Theodorakis’ “Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra” and Bailey performed Beethoven’s cello sonatas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Zuill Bailey, known for both his charismatic personality and expert technique, has performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the Kennedy Center, and with symphony orchestras in Chicago, San Francisco, and other American cities, as well as abroad—including in China, England, France, Israel, Jordan, Russia, and Spain.