Sooo Funky
February 24, 2009 11:49 AM Subscribe
29 year old Hiromi Uehara first mesmerized the jazz community with her 2003 Telarc debut, Another Mind. 4 albums later she continues to astonish and inspire. On February 3rd, she released the album Duet, a collaboration with Chick Corea, having first played with Corea at age 17. A graduate of the Berklee School of Music, Hiromi tours relentlessly with her crack band. I defy your jaw not to drop at their performances here, here, and here.
I would have linked directly to the tour dates on her website, but her sites inner pages all reflect the same main URL. Enjoy.
I would have linked directly to the tour dates on her website, but her sites inner pages all reflect the same main URL. Enjoy.
Damn those are some hot jams!
I verified this with my Hot Jam Checklist:
-Drummer looks like he's working out a difficult math problem? check.
-Bassist looks like he's going to puke? check.
-Band leader looks scandalized while simultaneously shaking her booty? check.
posted by mannequito at 12:06 PM on February 24, 2009 [15 favorites]
I verified this with my Hot Jam Checklist:
-Drummer looks like he's working out a difficult math problem? check.
-Bassist looks like he's going to puke? check.
-Band leader looks scandalized while simultaneously shaking her booty? check.
posted by mannequito at 12:06 PM on February 24, 2009 [15 favorites]
She's pretty jaw dropping talented, but her band seems mostly just another noodly fusion band with neil pert cheese fills. I'd like to see her get genuinely weird, but I am allergic to fusion so there's that.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:23 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:23 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
She is simply amazing. Being at a performance and having her describe a song as "new york city" and then actually feeling like I was back in NYC was astonishing. IMO one of the best Jazz artists in modern times.
posted by savagecorp at 12:24 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by savagecorp at 12:24 PM on February 24, 2009
Eh she's OK. Sounds like a million other people who noodle in odd-times. But she's cute. That's it.
posted by ChickenringNYC at 12:31 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by ChickenringNYC at 12:31 PM on February 24, 2009
Bah--she's got nothing on Belinda Bedekovic.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:33 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:33 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
I listened to "Hiromi's Sonicbloom" and stopped right away because I cannot stand fusion for more than a few seconds. De guts of the bus are not where you stand 'em.
posted by everichon at 12:36 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by everichon at 12:36 PM on February 24, 2009
This is proof that songwriting talent and performing skill are very seldom found in the same individual. I mean, everyone on that stage has chops out the wazoo, but good grief, where's the SONG? This stuff reminds me of something I read in an interview with Jon Lord from Deep Purple, where he said that at some point, the band wasn't playing songs anymore - they were just vehicles for musically jacking off.
posted by deadmessenger at 12:40 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by deadmessenger at 12:40 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
I think that if she were a middle aged overweight balding guy this would get much less attention.
posted by Justinian at 12:42 PM on February 24, 2009 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 12:42 PM on February 24, 2009 [3 favorites]
I love fusion noodles in odd-time sauce.
posted by fuq at 12:45 PM on February 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by fuq at 12:45 PM on February 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
Um... dudez? Jazz is boring.
Just a heads-up.
posted by MeatLightning at 12:53 PM on February 24, 2009
Just a heads-up.
posted by MeatLightning at 12:53 PM on February 24, 2009
I think that if she were a middle aged overweight balding guy this would get much less attention.
That middle-aged overweight balding guy is Chick Corea. So, no.
I don't much care for jazz, I despise jazz fusion, and yet I cannot deny that Uehara's playing is profoundly funky.
posted by Jon_Evil at 1:01 PM on February 24, 2009
That middle-aged overweight balding guy is Chick Corea. So, no.
I didn't say that middle-aged overweight balding guys don't get attention if they play well, I said that Uehara wouldn't get this attention if she looked like Chick Corea. That's not the same thing at all!
posted by Justinian at 1:05 PM on February 24, 2009
I didn't say that middle-aged overweight balding guys don't get attention if they play well, I said that Uehara wouldn't get this attention if she looked like Chick Corea. That's not the same thing at all!
posted by Justinian at 1:05 PM on February 24, 2009
Chick Corea gets attention because he's a Scientologist.
posted by box at 1:07 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by box at 1:07 PM on February 24, 2009
Also, I think somebody should make a good Lafayette Gilchrist FPP.
posted by box at 1:09 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 1:09 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
I love it when people say they hate all jazz fusion, but forget to include how they only listen to classic country, early Can/Pink Floyd, authentic proto-punk, Mississippi blues, and of course, straight-ahead 1950s bebop. It's not a freakin' contest.
posted by swift at 1:12 PM on February 24, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by swift at 1:12 PM on February 24, 2009 [4 favorites]
YES. Love it. I'd totally love to jam with her. I enjoy Japanese fusion/jazz players a lot, because they tend to be unabashedly cheesy and indulgent. Something about the culture seems to foster and encourage this.
posted by jake at 1:15 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by jake at 1:15 PM on February 24, 2009
bloopy de bloopy doop de doop doop doooop! doopity boobity boop boob be doop!
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 1:19 PM on February 24, 2009 [5 favorites]
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 1:19 PM on February 24, 2009 [5 favorites]
I'm torn on this. I love some of her chops, and some of the ideas in her "Sonicbloom" pieces are great, but it is missing something. Listening to the duet with Chick is much better, because she's got someone with better overall musicianship holding her in, channeling her talent into a better place.
posted by Saxon Kane at 1:23 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by Saxon Kane at 1:23 PM on February 24, 2009
There's not enough big hair in jazz fusion, but I agree with Saxon Kane that something is missing. Maybe glowing eyes?
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:31 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:31 PM on February 24, 2009
Is that Rush? I dig her talent but Fusion just ain't my thing...
posted by GratefulDean at 1:37 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by GratefulDean at 1:37 PM on February 24, 2009
Her playing is reminiscent of Keith Emerson
thats a great track you posted. I love Tarkus,a nd yes she does use patches reminiscent of the aquatarkus movement, doesn't she?
posted by 5imian at 1:38 PM on February 24, 2009
thats a great track you posted. I love Tarkus,a nd yes she does use patches reminiscent of the aquatarkus movement, doesn't she?
posted by 5imian at 1:38 PM on February 24, 2009
Yngwie Malmsteen has chops too.
Chops are not enough.
posted by Joe Beese at 1:40 PM on February 24, 2009
Chops are not enough.
posted by Joe Beese at 1:40 PM on February 24, 2009
Hiromi is my headphone buddy for my morning commute. She makes me smile, which scares the hell out of the other Tube passengers.
posted by Optamystic at 1:40 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by Optamystic at 1:40 PM on February 24, 2009
Not too shabby. Something new to load into Rhythmbox, thanks!
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:50 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:50 PM on February 24, 2009
Why don't people like jazz fusion? When you say "I hate jazz fusion and I vomit if I listen to more than a minute of it, and I'll die if I have to hear a whole song" please say why. Is it because it isn't the Velvet Underground?
Seriously, do you really hate Herbie Hancock and later Miles Davis?
posted by fuq at 1:55 PM on February 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
Seriously, do you really hate Herbie Hancock and later Miles Davis?
posted by fuq at 1:55 PM on February 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
For a crack band they're pretty good.
posted by found missing at 2:04 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by found missing at 2:04 PM on February 24, 2009
Not bad but I think I still prefer the original.
posted by jim in austin at 2:11 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by jim in austin at 2:11 PM on February 24, 2009
Why don't people like jazz fusion? When you say "I hate jazz fusion and I vomit if I listen to more than a minute of it, and I'll die if I have to hear a whole song" please say why.
Because humanity didn't roll off a factory floor?
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:12 PM on February 24, 2009
Because humanity didn't roll off a factory floor?
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:12 PM on February 24, 2009
Fuq, it's mainly because of the busy overly-clean drum sound and compressed bland guitar tone. It robs two fundamentally raw rhythm instruments of their strongest appeal.
I really don't like much later Miles or Herbie, even though they still have songwriting chops, but 70s fusion at least was saved by the dirtier sounds of funk recording. Once that vintage, slightly distorted filter was removed, everything is clean and antiseptic and unsoulful. Fusion takes two great but diametrically opposed impulses (the intellectualism of free jazz and the guts of funk) and muddies them up with what can only be called wankery: the desire of the individual musician to prove how many difficult things s/he can do. Combine that with a lack of innovative chord changes and/or a paucity of appreciation for rock's simplicity, and it makes the majority of fusion much less fun to listen to than the crappy majority of other genres. I can listen to basically any be-bop album from any time period (even a Marsalis!) and enjoy it. I can't do that with 90% of fusion, because the purpose of most (not all) fusion records is wankery.
Now this is not that--especially not her piano playing, which goes into wonderfully odd melodic territory-- but as long as she's got those rattling cliches as beats and chorus pedal chromatic scale wandering as her chord changes, she's not gonna escape the righteous marginalization of Fusion Island. I want to hear Duets, I may like that.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:16 PM on February 24, 2009 [8 favorites]
I really don't like much later Miles or Herbie, even though they still have songwriting chops, but 70s fusion at least was saved by the dirtier sounds of funk recording. Once that vintage, slightly distorted filter was removed, everything is clean and antiseptic and unsoulful. Fusion takes two great but diametrically opposed impulses (the intellectualism of free jazz and the guts of funk) and muddies them up with what can only be called wankery: the desire of the individual musician to prove how many difficult things s/he can do. Combine that with a lack of innovative chord changes and/or a paucity of appreciation for rock's simplicity, and it makes the majority of fusion much less fun to listen to than the crappy majority of other genres. I can listen to basically any be-bop album from any time period (even a Marsalis!) and enjoy it. I can't do that with 90% of fusion, because the purpose of most (not all) fusion records is wankery.
Now this is not that--especially not her piano playing, which goes into wonderfully odd melodic territory-- but as long as she's got those rattling cliches as beats and chorus pedal chromatic scale wandering as her chord changes, she's not gonna escape the righteous marginalization of Fusion Island. I want to hear Duets, I may like that.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:16 PM on February 24, 2009 [8 favorites]
Because humanity didn't roll off a factory floor?
I guess I should have said "please say why in a way that makes sense rather than a subjective metaphor that doesn't mean anything to me."
posted by fuq at 2:17 PM on February 24, 2009
I guess I should have said "please say why in a way that makes sense rather than a subjective metaphor that doesn't mean anything to me."
posted by fuq at 2:17 PM on February 24, 2009
I defy your jaw not to drop at their performances
Not only did my jaw not drop, but I watched all three clips and thought it was some of the most insipid garbage I've ever heard. Just saying.
posted by ornate insect at 2:22 PM on February 24, 2009
Not only did my jaw not drop, but I watched all three clips and thought it was some of the most insipid garbage I've ever heard. Just saying.
posted by ornate insect at 2:22 PM on February 24, 2009
I guess I should have said "please say why in a way that makes sense rather than a subjective metaphor that doesn't mean anything to me
Alright, let me be plainer: everyone has different tastes in music is why. Now I'd like to know why the choices are jazz fusion or the Velvet Undergound.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:24 PM on February 24, 2009
Alright, let me be plainer: everyone has different tastes in music is why. Now I'd like to know why the choices are jazz fusion or the Velvet Undergound.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:24 PM on February 24, 2009
Not only did my jaw not drop, but I watched all three clips and thought it was some of the most insipid garbage I've ever heard. Just saying.
Thanks, ornate insect. Been waiting for someone to make that comment. Insipid garbage, eh?
Thanks for bringing what you bring to the party!
posted by Roach at 2:25 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Thanks, ornate insect. Been waiting for someone to make that comment. Insipid garbage, eh?
Thanks for bringing what you bring to the party!
posted by Roach at 2:25 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Interesting, but not my cup of tea.
Instead of hollering at you kids to get off my yard, I will now go listen to "Kind of Blue".
posted by willmize at 2:29 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Instead of hollering at you kids to get off my yard, I will now go listen to "Kind of Blue".
posted by willmize at 2:29 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
I like Fusion and I like this.
p.s.: Arguments like Potomac Avenue's against fusion are helpful and constructive, because they take legitimate points to do with the music and show why so much of fusion is problematic.
Saying that she's only successful because she's cute, without offering any other supporting points is misogynstic and just... awful. Please stop.
posted by Alex404 at 2:30 PM on February 24, 2009 [3 favorites]
p.s.: Arguments like Potomac Avenue's against fusion are helpful and constructive, because they take legitimate points to do with the music and show why so much of fusion is problematic.
Saying that she's only successful because she's cute, without offering any other supporting points is misogynstic and just... awful. Please stop.
posted by Alex404 at 2:30 PM on February 24, 2009 [3 favorites]
Now I'd like to know why the choices are jazz fusion or the Velvet Undergound.
Because those are the only genres of music that exist.
posted by fuq at 2:31 PM on February 24, 2009
Because those are the only genres of music that exist.
posted by fuq at 2:31 PM on February 24, 2009
I like most jazz up to a point, but if this is fusion, then I find fusion too busy and combined of a series of seemingly unconnected riffs. These are obviously played beautifully by people who have enormous talent, but musically I don't feel like it's connecting with me.
I was relatively excited for the Chick Cornea collaboration, because I know he has a great reputation, but even listening to their interpretation of the great Summertime left me feeling cold.
That being said - she looks like she's having a really good time, and not in a smug way. I have enormous respect for that.
posted by Magnakai at 2:34 PM on February 24, 2009
I was relatively excited for the Chick Cornea collaboration, because I know he has a great reputation, but even listening to their interpretation of the great Summertime left me feeling cold.
That being said - she looks like she's having a really good time, and not in a smug way. I have enormous respect for that.
posted by Magnakai at 2:34 PM on February 24, 2009
What made the era that produced the standards so great was that divine stratospheric musical talent was required to submit to the mundane demands imposed by the taste of the general public, while that taste was educated and uplifting by the quality of the musicians. Now the general public gets "Buy U a Drank" and the great musicians noodle.
posted by daisydaisy at 2:50 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by daisydaisy at 2:50 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
I don't listen to jazz fusion when I'm at home, I don't fire it up in the mp3 player, and don't go to concerts.
But goddamn I can recognize real talent when I see it. This is wow. Suck it, haters.
posted by chimaera at 3:03 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
But goddamn I can recognize real talent when I see it. This is wow. Suck it, haters.
posted by chimaera at 3:03 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Guys, seriously, relax. Why not try something smoother?
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:15 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:15 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Other than:
1) a long, flat strip of pasta, or
2) a slang term for human head "I got a bump on the noodle"
can someone define "noodle" for me?
posted by arcticwoman at 3:21 PM on February 24, 2009
1) a long, flat strip of pasta, or
2) a slang term for human head "I got a bump on the noodle"
can someone define "noodle" for me?
posted by arcticwoman at 3:21 PM on February 24, 2009
the desire of the individual musician to prove how many difficult things s/he can do.
I look at it this way: Acrobats have the trapeze, gymnasts have floor exercises, musicians have various forms of progressive wankery. I don't see why it's bad to appreciate listening to insanely dexterous instrumentalists showing off. It's amazing to watch them go.
When I want to FEEL something, obviously, I put on other stuff. This is not for that. I just don't get the reflexive disdain people have toward rapid movement, whether between notes, sections, or time signatures. It's something I've always wondered about, whenever I hear people dismissing "widdly" stuff.
posted by jake at 3:29 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
I look at it this way: Acrobats have the trapeze, gymnasts have floor exercises, musicians have various forms of progressive wankery. I don't see why it's bad to appreciate listening to insanely dexterous instrumentalists showing off. It's amazing to watch them go.
When I want to FEEL something, obviously, I put on other stuff. This is not for that. I just don't get the reflexive disdain people have toward rapid movement, whether between notes, sections, or time signatures. It's something I've always wondered about, whenever I hear people dismissing "widdly" stuff.
posted by jake at 3:29 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
can someone define "noodle" for me?
Improvisational playing, emphasized as directionless, half-hearted, incohesive. Think Jerry Garcia.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:34 PM on February 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
Improvisational playing, emphasized as directionless, half-hearted, incohesive. Think Jerry Garcia.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:34 PM on February 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
Why don't people like jazz fusion? ... Seriously, do you really hate Herbie Hancock and later Miles Davis?
Musical dualism - for some, the heart and head cannot reside in the same place at the same time.
Also, noodle = messin' around
posted by eclectist at 3:38 PM on February 24, 2009
Musical dualism - for some, the heart and head cannot reside in the same place at the same time.
Also, noodle = messin' around
posted by eclectist at 3:38 PM on February 24, 2009
My jaw did not drop - just the opposite. It pulled me up in the air and I'm levitating as I type. Seriously, there's something disturbingly spineless about this style of jazz, fusion I guess? I wouldn't normally comment, I would just pass this by, but you defied me not to drop my jaw! Gah.
posted by rainy at 3:38 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by rainy at 3:38 PM on February 24, 2009
It is entirely possible to recognize Miles and Herbie as geniuses, while despising their output from 1970 onwards. I'd guess fusion appeals to a far greater proportion of musicians than it does to non musicians. It's music stripped of its melody.
She may be very talented. She may float your boat but she's no Oscar Peterson.
posted by Keith Talent at 3:52 PM on February 24, 2009
She may be very talented. She may float your boat but she's no Oscar Peterson.
posted by Keith Talent at 3:52 PM on February 24, 2009
Thanks for linking back to the Smooth Jazz thread, which is a great discussion, but especially for introducing me to this comment from fourcheesemac. Don't know how I missed it the first time around, but it is fantastic!
posted by Roach at 3:55 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by Roach at 3:55 PM on February 24, 2009
Music is about communication.
All that most fusion communicates is "I got top marks in theory at Berklee".
posted by Joe Beese at 3:59 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
All that most fusion communicates is "I got top marks in theory at Berklee".
posted by Joe Beese at 3:59 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
So maybe I didn't listen long enough, or maybe I'm just a snob. But the first two linked Youtube bits made me think she's basically the Yngwie Malmsteen of funky fusion jazz synth.
posted by Nelson at 4:16 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by Nelson at 4:16 PM on February 24, 2009
It's music stripped of its melody.
It most certainly isn't. The melody is changing and conversational, sure, but it's definitely not stripped or missing. It just goes by really fast, and you have to be ready to jump tracks when the player does, to follow along. Just because something doesn't have a recognizable repeating hook doesn't mean it is non-melodic.
Joe Beese: You're not listening the same way I am, then. I won't presume to make judgments about your musical tastes, because we probably have lots in common, but just because you're not feeling the message doesn't mean it's not there. What do you guys gain from being so spiteful and negative?
posted by jake at 4:38 PM on February 24, 2009
It most certainly isn't. The melody is changing and conversational, sure, but it's definitely not stripped or missing. It just goes by really fast, and you have to be ready to jump tracks when the player does, to follow along. Just because something doesn't have a recognizable repeating hook doesn't mean it is non-melodic.
Joe Beese: You're not listening the same way I am, then. I won't presume to make judgments about your musical tastes, because we probably have lots in common, but just because you're not feeling the message doesn't mean it's not there. What do you guys gain from being so spiteful and negative?
posted by jake at 4:38 PM on February 24, 2009
(and to clarify, the "spiteful and negative" is directed at nobody in particular. It's just the general feeling I perceive whenever most modern music is discussed. Your favorite band sucks, Your favorite era of your favorite band sucks, etc.)
posted by jake at 4:40 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by jake at 4:40 PM on February 24, 2009
Pyrotechnic keyboard funk fusion...well, half the posters here seem to like it. I'm in the other half, but, congrats for the hard work all of these musicians have put into putting together a well-produced cogent product.
posted by kozad at 5:16 PM on February 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by kozad at 5:16 PM on February 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
I saw her at the Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba in 2005 and was blown away, I have always wanted to see her again, but will she come to Honolulu? Alas, no
posted by kanemano at 5:18 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by kanemano at 5:18 PM on February 24, 2009
I don't like this style of playing. It's a million rhythms without any rhythm at all vs a million notes which don't add up to a memorable melody. The length of each note is always the same--ie as fast as humanly possible--and there is no quiet or anything, making everything sound busy busy busy.
posted by dydecker at 5:19 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by dydecker at 5:19 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Ah, six (five?) string bass. Haven't seen that since Jack Bruce in 1970!
posted by TDavis at 5:30 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by TDavis at 5:30 PM on February 24, 2009
How come people don't play bass way up against their armpits anymore, like that guy from Level 42? I want fretless, thumb-slapping, finger-popping bass back!
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:37 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:37 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Funky? Hell no.
Skillful execution? Yes. Talented? Yes. Monster technique? Wow. A stand-out among peers? Check.
But not funky.
Jazz like this is to music as Eve Online is to fun: mad respect is due to those who play well but... wouldn't you prefer to a) dance or b) fuck?
posted by Moistener at 5:46 PM on February 24, 2009
Skillful execution? Yes. Talented? Yes. Monster technique? Wow. A stand-out among peers? Check.
But not funky.
Jazz like this is to music as Eve Online is to fun: mad respect is due to those who play well but... wouldn't you prefer to a) dance or b) fuck?
posted by Moistener at 5:46 PM on February 24, 2009
To a theory nerd, listening to solos is like watching porn. It's so intensely personal. Might as well be naked up there on stage.
So.. c) play along at home!
posted by jake at 5:56 PM on February 24, 2009
So.. c) play along at home!
posted by jake at 5:56 PM on February 24, 2009
jake: "Joe Beese: You're not listening the same way I am, then. I won't presume to make judgments about your musical tastes, because we probably have lots in common, but just because you're not feeling the message doesn't mean it's not there."
I'm not sure I agree. Because there are performers whose communicative power I can acknowledge while remaining stone cold towards them. To choose as an example the safest target I can think of at the moment: Celine Dion, who for that matter also has admirable facility on her instrument. When she looses her rampaging melisma on a piece of Diane Warren product like "Because You Loved Me", I don't doubt her fans are as moved by it as I am by Sarah Vaughan's version of "The Man I Love". And should I get snobby about what I perceive to be disparate levels of taste displayed by the respective singers and songwriters, I suppose the Celiniacs are entitled to tell me to shove it up my ass.
Now if you pinky swear that fusion fans are having an emotional response to something like "Return of Kung-Fu Champion" and not just marveling at how cleverly she modulated out of the mixolydian or whatever, I'll take your word for it. But I'd also be interested to hear them describe what that emotional response consists of.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:31 PM on February 24, 2009
I'm not sure I agree. Because there are performers whose communicative power I can acknowledge while remaining stone cold towards them. To choose as an example the safest target I can think of at the moment: Celine Dion, who for that matter also has admirable facility on her instrument. When she looses her rampaging melisma on a piece of Diane Warren product like "Because You Loved Me", I don't doubt her fans are as moved by it as I am by Sarah Vaughan's version of "The Man I Love". And should I get snobby about what I perceive to be disparate levels of taste displayed by the respective singers and songwriters, I suppose the Celiniacs are entitled to tell me to shove it up my ass.
Now if you pinky swear that fusion fans are having an emotional response to something like "Return of Kung-Fu Champion" and not just marveling at how cleverly she modulated out of the mixolydian or whatever, I'll take your word for it. But I'd also be interested to hear them describe what that emotional response consists of.
posted by Joe Beese at 6:31 PM on February 24, 2009
This music just seems bland to me. My favorite musician is Tom Waits... maybe that causes bias.
posted by sonic meat machine at 6:35 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by sonic meat machine at 6:35 PM on February 24, 2009
My jaw did not drop, but it was being held up by my good taste in music. Does it still count?
posted by JeNeSaisQuoi at 6:48 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by JeNeSaisQuoi at 6:48 PM on February 24, 2009
I would argue that there is a hell of a lot of emotion in here, and the fact that it comes through the music without throwing off the technical precision just adds to my own responses as a listener ... just look at that third video, about 2:30 in, when she is literally punching the keys with one hand while playing the melody perfectly with the other.
Emotional Response? I feel excited about life, plain and simple.
posted by mannequito at 7:05 PM on February 24, 2009
Emotional Response? I feel excited about life, plain and simple.
posted by mannequito at 7:05 PM on February 24, 2009
But I'd also be interested to hear them describe what that emotional response consists of.
Here was my response: "Wow, this sounds a little bit like something my brilliant friend Sam would play -- I wonder how he's doing?" "Sounds almost like a grown-up version of something that would be in an oldschool Konami game, lots of pentatonic riffs. I remember the first time I heard the TMNT music, I almost cried, it was so complex to my 8-year-old brain.."
As I said above, I'd never approach this music with the intention of feeling an emotional response; it's an acrobatics show. But it touched me nonetheless, because it hit home with a familiar frenetic / schizoid musicality that I can dig. There are so many disparate, changing melodies and chord movements in there -- some of them hit familiar, comfy places.. others don't.
I don't think music needs to be communicative in any prescribed way. A player's personal expression may not make sense or carry any meaning to the listener, but people can assign their own significance to what they're hearing.
I'd like to figure out how this works, once and for all. Not least as a composer, but also as a guy with picky, opinionated music-nerd friends. My pet theory is that people have a "widdle threshold" past which they just tune out and refuse to even try to follow. Like the uncanny valley of note density / thematic adherence. I dunno.
posted by jake at 7:14 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Here was my response: "Wow, this sounds a little bit like something my brilliant friend Sam would play -- I wonder how he's doing?" "Sounds almost like a grown-up version of something that would be in an oldschool Konami game, lots of pentatonic riffs. I remember the first time I heard the TMNT music, I almost cried, it was so complex to my 8-year-old brain.."
As I said above, I'd never approach this music with the intention of feeling an emotional response; it's an acrobatics show. But it touched me nonetheless, because it hit home with a familiar frenetic / schizoid musicality that I can dig. There are so many disparate, changing melodies and chord movements in there -- some of them hit familiar, comfy places.. others don't.
I don't think music needs to be communicative in any prescribed way. A player's personal expression may not make sense or carry any meaning to the listener, but people can assign their own significance to what they're hearing.
I'd like to figure out how this works, once and for all. Not least as a composer, but also as a guy with picky, opinionated music-nerd friends. My pet theory is that people have a "widdle threshold" past which they just tune out and refuse to even try to follow. Like the uncanny valley of note density / thematic adherence. I dunno.
posted by jake at 7:14 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Now if you pinky swear that fusion fans are having an emotional response to something like "Return of Kung-Fu Champion" and not just marveling at how cleverly she modulated out of the mixolydian or whatever, I'll take your word for it. But I'd also be interested to hear them describe what that emotional response consists of.
While I was listening to the song, it tended to progress like this. You had this little funky progressions, which had a story like quality to them (like a Kung-Fu champion returning or something), then the crazy would get turned up to 11. Then, STOP.
ROCK. And my jaw drops, and I'm all like BAM BAM BAM.
And then the rock stops. More kung-fu returning. But this time it gets really funky (Champion fighting 100 mooks?) my head bobs really fast. Faster. Faster. ROCK.
Since this is fusion, each of these transitions last like 10 seconds, or maybe an hour. I can't tell.
But I can sure feel it. As a non-musician, I don't care that much about sophisticated technique, I just know this music kicks my ass.
So can people at least believe that there's one unpretentious fusion listener out there (me)?
p.s. The existence of one negates your universal quantifiers, so stop using them, okay?
posted by Alex404 at 7:18 PM on February 24, 2009
While I was listening to the song, it tended to progress like this. You had this little funky progressions, which had a story like quality to them (like a Kung-Fu champion returning or something), then the crazy would get turned up to 11. Then, STOP.
ROCK. And my jaw drops, and I'm all like BAM BAM BAM.
And then the rock stops. More kung-fu returning. But this time it gets really funky (Champion fighting 100 mooks?) my head bobs really fast. Faster. Faster. ROCK.
Since this is fusion, each of these transitions last like 10 seconds, or maybe an hour. I can't tell.
But I can sure feel it. As a non-musician, I don't care that much about sophisticated technique, I just know this music kicks my ass.
So can people at least believe that there's one unpretentious fusion listener out there (me)?
p.s. The existence of one negates your universal quantifiers, so stop using them, okay?
posted by Alex404 at 7:18 PM on February 24, 2009
I tried very hard for years but I still hate Jazz. I can't stand any kind of Jazz jams.
posted by zouhair at 8:08 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by zouhair at 8:08 PM on February 24, 2009
Room for many tastes at the banquet of Jazz. I guess I'm more likely to go back for seconds of Toshiko Akiyoshi.
posted by cairnish at 8:22 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by cairnish at 8:22 PM on February 24, 2009
Another female Japanese pianist: Keiko Matsui
posted by netbros at 8:44 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by netbros at 8:44 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
she's intense and joyful - and she actually plays that stuff as if it means something DEEP to her - being a mere mortal who can't even play boogie woogie, much less psychotic boogie woogie from the planet mathrock, i'm tremendously impressed with her technique, but it's the soul that she puts into it that makes it happen
crap, she's fucking pounding the piano with her goddamn fist at one point - that's not noodling, folks, that's rock and roll
generally, i got over this kind of music a long time ago, but it was hardly ever played with this degree of sheer exuberance
oh, and it's sometimes quartal, sometimes hexachordal, sometimes just all over the chromatic place but hardly ever pentatonic
posted by pyramid termite at 9:38 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
crap, she's fucking pounding the piano with her goddamn fist at one point - that's not noodling, folks, that's rock and roll
generally, i got over this kind of music a long time ago, but it was hardly ever played with this degree of sheer exuberance
oh, and it's sometimes quartal, sometimes hexachordal, sometimes just all over the chromatic place but hardly ever pentatonic
posted by pyramid termite at 9:38 PM on February 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
p s - she is, at times, funky, too
posted by pyramid termite at 9:39 PM on February 24, 2009
posted by pyramid termite at 9:39 PM on February 24, 2009
Wow. That duet is something! Watching the two of them react and play off one another, lead and follow. Great playing.
I can see why people find some of her stuff a bit directionless, but I can't see how you'd fault her playing with Corea.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 10:12 PM on February 24, 2009
I can see why people find some of her stuff a bit directionless, but I can't see how you'd fault her playing with Corea.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 10:12 PM on February 24, 2009
Just a point of contrast for those who think this is "funky" or that all fusion is "noodley" or tuneless.
Here's Stratus, by Billy Cobham, which is an example of classic jazz fusion that is deeply in the pocket, tuneful, and about as far from the links in this post as you can get and still be considered part of the same genre. No slap at Hiromi Uehara, but, as Nelson said above - if she's Yngwie Malmsteen, this guy's Stevie Ray Vaughan. Still awesome, just a very different kind of awesome.
posted by deadmessenger at 10:42 PM on February 24, 2009
Here's Stratus, by Billy Cobham, which is an example of classic jazz fusion that is deeply in the pocket, tuneful, and about as far from the links in this post as you can get and still be considered part of the same genre. No slap at Hiromi Uehara, but, as Nelson said above - if she's Yngwie Malmsteen, this guy's Stevie Ray Vaughan. Still awesome, just a very different kind of awesome.
posted by deadmessenger at 10:42 PM on February 24, 2009
deadmessenger: thanks for that link to Billy Cobham. I'd never heard of him before, but that is a man who knows how to play a rhythm.
posted by dydecker at 2:51 AM on February 25, 2009
posted by dydecker at 2:51 AM on February 25, 2009
As a comparison to illustrate the kind of production and playing style that has changed since the 70s, check this out: Return to Forever 1976.
The drums are low in the mix, the guitar is acoustic, there's a cello, there's an acoustic bass, and the composition has some space in it rather than being jammed with wankery. I can listen to this. I pray that people like Hiromi finally figure out that when you play rock-like music you have to pay attention to the sound of the instruments, not just the music. I think this is because rock (and funk) is based on recorded music, while jazz comes from the stage.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:42 AM on February 25, 2009
The drums are low in the mix, the guitar is acoustic, there's a cello, there's an acoustic bass, and the composition has some space in it rather than being jammed with wankery. I can listen to this. I pray that people like Hiromi finally figure out that when you play rock-like music you have to pay attention to the sound of the instruments, not just the music. I think this is because rock (and funk) is based on recorded music, while jazz comes from the stage.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:42 AM on February 25, 2009
And by "cello," I meant "Stanley Clarke bowing his double bass." Sounds pretty cool anyway.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:44 AM on February 25, 2009
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:44 AM on February 25, 2009
Um... dudez? Jazz is boring.
Just a heads-up.
Um... dudez? I'm a moron and don't care who knows it.
Just a heads-up.
I tried very hard for years but I still hate Jazz. I can't stand any kind of Jazz jams.
Thanks for dropping by to shit in the thread!
posted by languagehat at 7:06 AM on February 25, 2009 [2 favorites]
Just a heads-up.
Um... dudez? I'm a moron and don't care who knows it.
Just a heads-up.
I tried very hard for years but I still hate Jazz. I can't stand any kind of Jazz jams.
Thanks for dropping by to shit in the thread!
posted by languagehat at 7:06 AM on February 25, 2009 [2 favorites]
swift: I love it when people say they hate all jazz fusion, but forget to include how they only listen to classic country, early Can/Pink Floyd, authentic proto-punk, Mississippi blues, and of course, straight-ahead 1950s bebop. It's not a freakin' contest.
Recently I've learned to appreciate early fusion, so I'm nothing if not consistent.
posted by cobra libre at 9:06 AM on February 25, 2009
Recently I've learned to appreciate early fusion, so I'm nothing if not consistent.
posted by cobra libre at 9:06 AM on February 25, 2009
Well, to chime in on the side of "this is awesome", I've been playing "XYZ" every so often for the past few days because it's got a groove a mile wide and a foot deep. I think people who listen to jazz on a regular basis will more easily get into her music, though, because they're used to odd time signatures, atonality, the use of dissonance and so forth. When I first got a real exposure to jazz, after being a bassist for the better part of a decade, it hurt. Where was the melody? Where was the harmony? What the hell was this traffic wreck? Why did everyone sound like they were doing something different? BLECH.
About a month later, I was irretrievably hooked. Part of that was because of "Kind Of Blue", but a large part of it was simply that my ear and brain needed time to readjust to what I was hearing: my musical ear had been reared on pop music that largely proceeded along standard lines from the Beatles and the classical repertory, and it had to readjust.
I look at it like eating new foods: very often, my initial reaction to something new is wrong, and I try to give any new thing a fair shake before I decide I don't like it. Because deciding I didn't like something, and "trusting my gut", I made the following decisions in my life, every single one of which caused me to miss out on an awful lot of wonderful things. And every single one of which I deeply regret:
posted by scrump at 12:34 PM on February 25, 2009 [2 favorites]
About a month later, I was irretrievably hooked. Part of that was because of "Kind Of Blue", but a large part of it was simply that my ear and brain needed time to readjust to what I was hearing: my musical ear had been reared on pop music that largely proceeded along standard lines from the Beatles and the classical repertory, and it had to readjust.
I look at it like eating new foods: very often, my initial reaction to something new is wrong, and I try to give any new thing a fair shake before I decide I don't like it. Because deciding I didn't like something, and "trusting my gut", I made the following decisions in my life, every single one of which caused me to miss out on an awful lot of wonderful things. And every single one of which I deeply regret:
- Deciding in eighth grade, on no basis whatever, that New York City was a horrible place. This meant I didn't go to New York until I was well into my 30's. When I did, of course, I loved it.
- Deciding, in high school, that jazz was just not my thing, and it was just wankery and noise. Thereby cutting myself off, as a musician, from one of the richest and most vibrant musical traditions.
- Deciding, as a child, that because fractions were hard for me to understand, all math was bad and terrible and something to be endured. As a result, I've struggled with math for most of my adult life for no other reason than that I'd dismissed it.
posted by scrump at 12:34 PM on February 25, 2009 [2 favorites]
Here's Stratus [yt], by Billy Cobham
Yeah, Massive Attack lifted this belt, brace and blinkers.
posted by Wolof at 6:19 PM on February 25, 2009
Yeah, Massive Attack lifted this belt, brace and blinkers.
posted by Wolof at 6:19 PM on February 25, 2009
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