john coltrane, yo-yo ma, cecilia bartoli, tord gustavsen

my favorite things

what do the four musicians have in common? well, not much, if anything, it sounds like perhaps the start of a very obscure musical joke, i.e. "john coltrane, yo-yo ma, cecilia bartoli, and tord gustavsen walk into a bar..."

really though, they are what i have been listening to lately.

in musical terms, they are very dissimilar - at least on the surface. what they have in common, though, is that they are all steeped in their respective traditions, and bring a high amount of artistry to their sublime music.

like many who came up in the late 70's and early 80's, the diy aesthetic of punk rock has influenced my own view of art. in fact, it has influenced my own photos and drawing. i *know* i am not a skilled professional - but the one thing that punk rock showed is that passion and expression is valuable more than empty technique. that being said, the ultimate of course, are those who have both the passion and technique to express it effectively.

the for artist named above certainly are in that mold. classical music is not the style i listen to most - if anything, the purity of it is sort of a sorbet i use to cleanse my musical pallette from time to time. i am struck in listening to bartoli and to yo-yo ma, how different their playing is to, say, coltrane - yet in some respects, there are similarities - the best improvised jazz solo's such as what coltrane plays have a logic that is also fond in the best of classical music - though they sound different... yo-yo ma playing bach's celo suites, is telling a story - a story that was partly written by bach, centuries ago, and finished by yo-yo ma. first of all, how beautiful is the timelessness of that - coltrane, on the other hand, whether playing someone else's song, or an original, is improvising - composing, recomposing and reinterpreting - the process is different and the form is different - contrast the precise rhythm and intonation of most classical music, with the expressiveness of tone and rhythmic flexibility of jazz - yet still, at their best, bith take me to the same place...

like most american's - my early exposure to opera was from bugs bunny cartoons. i don't listen to it much. however, that being said, it is indeed stirring and i love bartoli. it's funny that trane's sax and yo-yo ma's cello are both often described as being similar to a voice - people, i think, are predisposed to the human voice - bartoli's voice is so expressive and powerful..

tord gustavsen is the most recent scandinavian jazz musicians i've listened to...now, one might think "scandinavian jazz musician" is a contradiction, like "jumbo shrimp"...actually, there are many great scandinavian jazz musicians - in fact, there is a book titled "is jazz dead? or has it moved to a new address", whose thesis is that the best, most progressive jazz is no longer made by americans. this book is, you might imagine, very controversial - which almost guarantees there is some validity - ye olde "protest too much" theory...anyhow, i've ordered the book from the library - a full review to follow...anyhow gustavsen plays i a piano trio somewhat reminiscent to bill evans or keith jarrett (happily, without the grunting...) - his music is clean - has a bit of the austerity that one might expect from a scandinavian - jazz is a very malleable form - it always has been able to embrace outside influences - it originated as a blend of european and african elements - and to this day, is absorbing influences from around the world - there are those who say that this waters down the essence of jazz, but i feel it keeps it vital - european jazz musicians such as gustavsen, along with asian jazz musicians (say, vijay iyer) and latin jazz musuicians (say, danilo perez), bring their own culture into jazz and make it richer. jazz has always been able to incorporate other influences - whether it be dizzy gillespie and his collaborations with latin percussionists, chano ponza - or jazz musicians playing popular songs - like, say this entries namesake - coltrane playing my favorite things...

and lest you think i am some sort of snob - i really don't put jazz or classical *above* pop music. there's something to be said about the simplicity of music and lyrics that are immediately engaging to so many - like, say, the music of jack johnson (um, the surfer guy, not the miles davis record) - i mean, i'd never put say trane's A LOVE SUPREME on when i'm sitting around the fire with my friends, as i would johnson's work...does that mean one is better than another - of course not - it just means there are all kinds of good, and being exclusive and picking one over another denies you the pleasure that other styles offer...