Music has a unique ability to convey emotions that transcend written or spoken language. Things lost in translation cannot be lost in sound. In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Music is the universal language of mankind.” Because of music’s cross-cultural power, it is easy to minimize a particular work’s origins. After all, if music […]
Tribute albums have been an ubiquitous part of modern music. They generally fall into two categories. Some honor a specific recording, with artists hoping to put their own spin on a landmark work of years past, whether the George Benson covering the Beatles [The Other Side of Abbey Road (A&M, 1970)] or Nels Cline and […]
As a vehicle to facilitate group improvisation – or collaborative creation in the moment, as some artists refer to it- musicians have long relied on the concept of a “head” piece. A precomposed melody, the head provides a set baseline for free creation. Often, these pieces have been standards, frequently reused songs penned by others. […]
In a musical environment that too often propagates concepts of genre, one label in particular often stands out as problematic: “folk music.” What exactly is folk music? A cursory definition would state that the form is music “of the people.” In the abstract, this idea seems sensical. When Béla Bartók transcribed the works of Transylvanian […]
Here is a fun exercise for a reader’s consideration. Consider these two quotes: “[It is] just a bunch of notes thrown together without melody or soul—hardly what I’d call music” and “[It’s] not music… [it] doesn’t require musicianship….” What genre of music are they referring to? Here is a hint- the music grew organically through […]
Although instruments like the Teleharmonium plugged in as early as the late Nineteenth Century, it was not until the 1970s that electronic sounds would meet the depths of human improvisation-based music by the name of jazz. At the height of fusion, synthesizers added to the works of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, and others. […]
There is a particular power in the creation that comes out of long-term artistic relationships. While there is an excitement in the novelty of working with new collaborators, often it is within the comfort of the familiar that artists are most able to expand and conquer new realms. It is within this space with a […]
Catholic saint Thérèse of Lisieux once stated, “If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness. There would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gay.” To some degree, we perceive something as beautiful because of its ability to step outside of the ordinary. But how do we do […]
In 1835, German instrument makers Wilhelm Wieprecht and Johann Moritz patented the first tuba as a brass instrument that could carry the bassline for a marching band. By the end of the century, it could be found in orchestras through scores by Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, and others. Jazz was also not immune to the […]
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