Self-expression lies at the heart of all art. Creation that fails to reflect the artist’s spirit will never be able to connect with an audience perceiving it. As a result, dreams, hopes, and fears are all poured into the best art. But while every person has their own ideas and preferences, they do not exist […]
Albert Einstein once remarked, “Art is standing with one hand extended into the universe and one hand extended into the world, and letting ourselves be a conduit for passing energy.” This perspective rings true regardless of the particular format taken by such art. However, a specific magic can emerge when two or more art forms […]
The second day (check out day one here) of the 2023 Newport Jazz Festival, Saturday, August 5, 2023, can be seen as a masterclass on the intersectionality of tradition and innovation. Specifically, the day emphasized different artists that take traditional jazz ensemble settings, and stretch them into new areas. In so doing, the musicians proved […]
Great artists have honed a sound that is identifiable regardless of the environment surrounding them. The truly brilliant, however, are not satisfied with a mere voice. Instead, they create their own language entirely. This is best seen with Ornette Coleman and the invention of Harmolodics, a system that frees musical compositions from needing a tonal […]
Throughout the ages, some of the greatest composers have gifted to the world pieces not meant for their time. Often such artists are unappreciated until decades after their death. In other cases, the artist recieves recognition, but their controversial work is written off as some wild aberration. In both cases, however, time often proves the […]
From the 1940s through the 1960s, even into part of the 1970s, instrumental music reigned supreme in the popular consciousness. The swing era brought the music of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller to large audiences. Even as the end of World War II brought about rock and roll, many widely recognized groups still […]
Far too often, people perceive music as a solely auditory experience, something heard but which does not affect the rest of the listener’s body. The reality, however, is far more complex. One can physically feel the energy of acoustic waves. It is a large part of why the audibly impaired still appreciate music, even when […]
Joann Wolfgang von Goethe once remarked, “Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music.” But the philosopher is hardly the first to notice the shared facets – terms rhythm, texture, harmony, and proportion – between musical and physical blueprints. Some architects have attempted to examine their works’ connections to music. With 3+3 (Cuneiform, 2024), cellist […]
Artists have long written compositions that express emotional depths possible only through music. These songs can bring the listener to tears, cause goosebumps, make them want to move or call them to action. But some of the best music is not so heavily preplanned. For one, Miles Davis’ classic “So What” (Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959) was […]
The love song is one of the oldest and most primal forms of musical expression, dating back to ancient Greece, if not earlier. Charles Darwin even theorized that the love song was the first form of human musical expression. Of course, the emphasis on romance in songs has continued to the present day. It is […]
