Art Review

Art Review

Ethan Honeywell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP_-wwU-KQ8

This piece of work that I chose to reflect on was one created by Brian Blade. Brian Blade is an american jazz drummer who is around 45 years old. He plays a lot of Jazz fusion and plays in a quintet. The piece of art that I am referring to is a concert that he played in his quintet. The concert ran for around an hour and a half. Each time I listen to it I feel more connected with the piece. It is hard to understand what it is about because it covers so many ideas. I view it as a long journey that can not be described in words. The reason why I chose this piece of work was because of the depth and deepness they went into. During certain parts of the music, all of the musicians are so into it that they start to yell. Now just by me saying that they are yelling takes away a little bit of the magic that goes on onstage. I started listening to this piece of work around a year and a half ago. Brian Blade was a very interesting musician for me at the time and I was constantly trying to find something that I liked in his performances. This genre of music was also one that I was really interested in and still am. It is the genre of pure interactive storytelling through music. Now all music is storytelling but this specific kind is extremely interesting. In jazz, if you can’t tell a story through your music then you are doing it wrong. Jazz is all about conveying a message to your audience. Whenever I play jazz, I always try to invent new things for myself and induce creativity. It has proven to be really hard but annoying to try to be actively creative.

Miles Davis - Bitches brew

This is sought out to be one of the most in depth pieces of music. I respect it, but I hate it. Bitches Brew is almost entirely improvised while all of the musicians have a common storyline that they are following.  This story ties in with the witches in macbeth and their brew as well as being an interpretation of a journey. I find this piece extremely challenging as it tests an artist's ability to interpret the situation. This is why I hate it yet respect it. I first learned about this piece of work when talking to Brad Turner, a trumpet player who studied at North Texas and lives in Vancouver. The juno award winning player told me why he loved it so much and his path starting out with the piece was very similar to mine. He hated it at first but it later grew on him. The piece being almost entirely improvised has inspired me to think more about pure improvisation. The creativity also flows through this piece. Whenever I get into the zone of this piece, it melts into a story  and my mind starts making connections of how the story is going. It could be as vague as a strawberry trying to jump over potholes but always missing. I love this piece but I struggle to understand it, and the struggle helps me grow.