Sir Jeffrey Tate, the first principal conductor of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, once noted that “the most perfect expression of human behavior is a string quartet.” Where a string quartet can sound serene in one moment, it may reflect panic or morosity in the next. As Tate’s original career choice was medicine, it […]
Our conversation with Bill Summers (part one available here) continues with a further discussion on the Headhunters, how percussionists are often treated differently, the symbolism behind batá drums, and why “Latin rhythms” is a mischaracterization. PostGenre: Do you feel the emphasis many put on the bottle part on “Watermelon Man” minimizes your contribution to Head […]
The obsession of many in the music industry to categorize art frequently overlooks the shared tree upon which so many “styles” branch. In reality, so much of today’s music, including “jazz”, “hip hop”, “R&B” and “rock” reach back to tried and true concepts and ancient rhythms. On Forward Back, Vol. 1, percussionist Bill Summers asks […]
We continue our conversation with Stuart Bogie on The Bogie Band featuring Joe Russo’s The Prophets in the City (Royal Potato Family, 2022) by diving deeper into his compositional approach, the importance of improvisation, the contributions to the album by Joe Russo and Colin Stetson, and inspiration from David Byrne. Check out part one here. […]
The big band concept has existed for well over a century. Throughout that time, dance has always been an essential part of the music. In the 1910s, artists used the format to support polka and waltzes. Thirty years later, the big band was the essence of the rage of swing music. While artists have continued […]
For the second part of our conversation with Michael Leonhart on The Normyn Suites (Sunnyside, 2022), we discuss Elvis Costello, the Avant-Garde, scoring Red Dead Redemption II (Rockstar, 2018), and how the beauty of “Catharsis” with Bill Frisell came to life. Check out part one here. PostGenre: How did Elvis Costello get involved with The […]
Sometimes the most complicated things in life are those that appear deceptively simple. We all understand, at a surface level, our emotions. We learn, from an early age, what it means to be happy, sad, or angry. But the reality is that these sensations are often far more complex than they seem. While we all […]
We continue our conversation with Jim Anderson (click here for our prior discussion with him and Ulrike Schwarz on immersive audio) by covering some of his prior recordings. Our selections show that while Anderson defines most of his work within the jazz tradition, that category is broad. Its breadth encompasses everything from a funky lost […]
On the interplay between music and technology, discussions generally emphasize two areas. The first is the emergence of new instruments, from the electric guitar to the synthesizer to the turntable. The second couches itself in terms of formatting; how streaming overcame physical media or the arguable resurgence of vinyl. But technology’s influences go deeper. Another […]
Who exactly is Pat Metheny? “Smooth jazz” enthusiasts claim him as one of their own. But the guitarist eschews that label and has even eviscerated their king, Kenny G, on several occasions. Metheny has ties to the avant-garde – recording albums with Ornette Coleman and John Zorn, and his own Zero Tolerance for Silence (Geffen, […]
