Comments on: Animation and Jazz

Animation and Jazz

ashbury — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:13:23 -0800

Disney doesn't have a stranglehold on jazz and animation. Michal Levy has, using geometric shapes, created animation to John Coltrane's Giant Steps.

She has also created a new work, entitled One. Think AVS, but different. And she's not the only one to combine music with animation. Meet Emmanuel Ho and his Owl (very slow download, but worth the wait). Jazz has touched many of us. Not enough visual goodness for you? Read about it all at jazz: animated.

By: dismas

dismas — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:17:53 -0800

The Giant Steps animation is a double, I'm sure of it. But the rest of this stuff is cool.

By: Fuzzy Monster

Fuzzy Monster — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:28:06 -0800

The best animated jazz ever: "Begone Dull Care."

By: felix betachat

felix betachat — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:34:43 -0800

I'm pretty sure that when Coltrane was improvising those gorgeous cadenzas he was, in fact, thinking about promo shorts for real estate firms.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:37:38 -0800

Wow. Neat stuff. Owl is a wonderful little animated snapshot, and One is nice eye and ear candy, too. I'd love to see something that uses Levy's shapes and adds just a teensy bit more narrative - like, keeps it abstract but adds just a few more slightly developed hints at story. Cool post, thanks.

By: Joseph Gurl

Joseph Gurl — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:38:41 -0800

Let's not forget Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries : Cunnilingus in North Korea Samsung and my favorite: Operation Nukorea

By: kozad

kozad — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:46:01 -0800

Double? I could have sworn I saw a different visual representation of Giant Steps last year, but damned if I can find it.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:52:43 -0800

And don't forget METABLAST.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:58:39 -0800

And don't forget METABLAST. Ha! I'd forgotten about that.

By: Jon Mitchell

Jon Mitchell — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 23:09:39 -0800

One is excellent. Thanks!

By: LeLiLo

LeLiLo — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 23:12:26 -0800

Double?... damned if I can find it. It was in March 2005. Still a great thing to watch the second time around...

By: maryh

maryh — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 01:23:04 -0800

You might also like the work of Oskar Fischinger, the great avant garde animator. You're going to have to pay to watch any of his really good stuff: his estate has decided (probably wisely, since low res doesn't suit his work well at all) to keep his films off the web. Also, this thing was linked from Fuzzy Monster's Begone Dull Care. It's hideous yet oddly abstract itself. Do calve muscles really look like inverted triangles? Just... gah.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 03:59:46 -0800

For visual representations of Coltrane, I think it's hard to beat Chris Raschka. (not animated)

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:20:41 -0800

> And don't forget METABLAST. Scathing indictment of Delmoi, there.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:29:54 -0800

You can purchase a Fischinger DVD here.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:53:43 -0800

I cannot find the "Giant Steps Explained" flash-video anywhere. I think it's gone from the interents. Was that the one you're thinking of, kozad? With the triangles inside triangles on kind of a brown/beige background?

By: durin

durin — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 07:32:08 -0800

The most influential jazz animation to my upbringing would be Three Little Bops There's also a great blog called jazz::animated that covers a lot of great animators and illustrators who were jazz influenced.

By: jonson

jonson — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 08:16:23 -0800

What, durin, you mean the blog that's linked in the post above?!?

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 10:42:34 -0800

his estate has decided (probably wisely, since low res doesn't suit his work well at all) to keep his films off the web I don't know if I'd call that wise so much as ridiculously controlling, given that they don't make the *one* DVD they've released so far available through Netflix, either. Seems an utterly shameful way to "preserve" Fischinger's legacy.

By: mai

mai — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:02:26 -0800

kozad: Here is a visual representation of the key changes. Also an old mefi thread.

By: kozad

kozad — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:57:08 -0800

Yes, mai. That was it. Thanks. I'm still not sure I can do justice to the song, even after trying for two or three decades, but who knows, a little visual representation might leak over into whatever connections my brain is making with my fingers...

By: progosk

progosk — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 14:12:12 -0800

Fischinger-animated funk-punk: Liquid Liquid's Cavern (u2b). Spanish, home-animated noize-jazz: 12twelve's Autobahn Polizei (30mb .avi; by the band's drummer, Javier García). Italian electro-brass: Corleone (aka Roy Paci) ft. Mike Patton Tutto Diventerà Rosso (myspaz; by Bulba). and, erm..., does Rockit count?

By: durin

durin — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:31:48 -0800

hmm, yep. sure enough that one.