A little Easter Monday music

It’s been about three weeks since Don Miller posted this video by Iron and Wine under his “Sunday Morning Music” series. Since then I have played it a number of times and it continues to grow on me.  The music has a kind of slightly hypnotic quality to it that I find appealing – and the Latin flavour to both the music and the video. For those who didn’t catch it on Don’s blog, enjoy.

Goldie and the social impact of music

Last year it was orchestral conducting, then it was being one of the celebrity wannabe ballroom dancers on Strictly Come Dancing. Goldie is certainly a very talented bloke, with some very influential connections, it turns out. His latest televised project has been assembling and mentoring a band for a royal concert.

The three programme shown on BBC2 over the past three Saturdays have been quite inspirational. The young people taking part were all selected on the basis of their musical talent and from a wide variety of musical genres, including rock, gospel, blues, classical, rap, jazz, a sitar player and even a beatboxer. But the other common thread was that all of them had had some kind of trauma or abuse in their personal backgrounds – and it often showed in the intensity of their performances. For all of them it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to connect with a wider audience.

Goldie had also selected a number of other well-known musicians to help with the mentoring process, and it was what happened when the young people came together that fascinated me. Workshops were arranged for different combinations to make music together. For some of them, this was the first time they had really made music with other people. And when they were later encouraged to co-write or to allow their solo songs and pieces to be arranged (either formally or through jam session) there was a palpable air of unease among some of them at the prospect of losing a degree of control over their own work.

As time wore on, though, trust was established with the mentors and with the other members of the group and some firm relationships were established. Those who had been most suspicious of collaborating with others found that it had become an enjoyable experience. Towards the end of the process, some said it was like being part of a family – something that had been conspicuously absent from the lives of some of them.

The concert itself was a joyous affair. I watched the recording last night having returned from the last of my church annual meetings for this year. It certainly provided some inspiration an the fusion of different styles of music, different performance styles and personalities made some incredible musical moments. I particularly noticed the way in which just three or four notes gently played by the harmonica at a key moment added real colour to a particular song. Players who had their turns in the spotlight then selflessly, it seemed, stood aside to support their colleagues in their big moment.

The key to all this is, of course, relationship: the relationship of Goldie and the other mentors with the young musicians and the mutual trust that developed betwen the musicians themselves. There have always been the divas and prima donnas, but much of the best music-making arises from being part of something much bigger, whether playing in an orchestra, or a jazz combo, or singing in a choir. The social aspects of music have been well documented but are worth coming back to. My biggest concern is that this project does not just leave these young people to go back to where they were, but will help them move forward, to build on what they have been given.

Good job, Goldie.

Doctor Who and Belgian Jazz

Talking with the younger sapling last night, the subject of the inimitable Bill Bailey came up. We both felt the urge to listen to one of my favourite pieces of his – accompanying a very clever edit of clips from the various series of Doctor Who. Sci-fi meets cool piano jazz meets O-Level/GCSE French in a very witty way. What’s not to like?

Or for those who prefer a live performance, try this:

First Fifteen Music Meme

Thanks to Phil Ritchie for alerting me to this meme. It works like this:

1) Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer.
2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.
3) Write down the first 15 songs that come up–song title and artist–NO editing/cheating, please.

(Image courtesy Filomena Scalise)

So I did this with my iTunes library and these are the results:

1) Elgar Cello Concerto (2nd movement)

2) The Great Silkie by Trees (an electric folk band I listened to in the 70s)

3) Make Love by Angie Stone feat. Musiz

4) Winter from The Seasons by Haydn

5) Dirty Mind by Jeff Beck feat. Imogen Heap

6) Mahler Symphony No. 5

7) Free Loop by Daniel Powter

8) Autumn from Haydn’s The Seasons

9) I’ve Got to See You Again, Norah Jones

10) Gorecki, Three Pieces in Old Style (III)

11) Gorecki, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (1st movement)

12) Office de l’Exaltation de la Sainte Croix sung by the Benedictine monks of St. Wandville de Fontenell

13) Groove Armada, If Everybody Looked the Same

14) Getting Scared, Imogen Heap

15) Flicks, Frou Frou

Just one edit/cheat on the list – No. 8 first came up with a 4-year-old sermon from a Canadian church (The Meeting House in Oakville, ON), but hey! this is supposed to be a MUSIC meme, right? (And should it be a coincidence that WordPress interpreted this number as a smiley?)

Well there’s a fair bit of classical music on the list, with Haydn and Gorecki both represented twice, Elgar and Mahler, and even some slavonic liturgy.

Imogen Heap and Frou Frou appear courtesy of recommendations from my two sons. I have to take full responsibility for the rest.

Finally, the meme works by “tagging” someone else to pass it on. Anyone reading this who hasn’t already been tagged should consider themselves to have been tagged  now.