A Glimpse at Robert Glasper, Jazz Pianist

Every once in a while a friend will turn me on to a new artist, and instead of just giving it a quick listen, I find myself listening to track after track, nearly hypnotized.

And hypnotic really is the word for Robert Glasper's music. He's a jazz pianist, but beyond the basic realm of standards and bebop (in which he is undoubtedly well-versed), he manages to break out and modernize jazz in an accessible, quasi R&B style. He obviously has chops - he knows how to play - but in the recordings I listened to, it was apparent that Glasper made the effort to harness back. He seemed to be lulling the listener into a state of relaxed awareness, vamping on a mellow, extended form, and then suddenly moving into a section of intricate technique. The contrast makes for a truly engaging listening experience: since the listener knows Glasper's ability, their ear is naturally drawn in with expectancy during the mellower moments. 

Check out his version of Stella By Starlight, recorded live at Capitol Studios:

Besides his trio work, Glasper is involved in an array of genres. He has released a couple of R&B/Hip-hop albums, which don't showcase his technique, but still highlight his musical ingenuity. You also may have heard him on Kendrick Lamar's newest Grammy-winning album, on which he consulted and recorded background jazz piano. 

Artists like Robert Glasper show that the energy to reignite jazz in the 21st century exists. They are proof that musicians want to push the boundaries and take what came before them in a new direction.

Even More Great Film Scoring: The Genius of Joe Hisaishi

I suppose I've been on this movie music kick for a few weeks now, but I couldn't stop without making mention of Joe Hisaishi.

One of the soundtracks that most moved me as a child, one whose melodies have stuck with me, and one that adds so much nostalgia to the film itself is Hisaishi's score for Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away.

Hisaishi is a Japanase composer, and his style is naturally different than the American sound of John Williams and the like. Hisaishi's score for Spirited Away is much more introspective - and honestly, much more delicately gorgeous - than a lot of American film scores. In fact, the movie opens with the isolated notes of a sole piano, and while the music rises and develops throughout the film, the returning use of piano remains a consistent motif. 

The use of delicate piano in this way seems to tell the tale of the film through the eyes of the protagonist, a young girl named Chihiro. The melodies mirror her experiences: when she feels alone, the piano, too, is solitary. When she's frightened, the piano plays in a low register and exudes the same anxiety. The piano almost seems to have a voice of innocence, wordlessly relating the inner thoughts and feelings of a young girl far from home.

The score is genius in many other ways. Hisaishi's themes paint Spirited Away with lush brushstrokes of sound, adding so much depth and emotion to what is an already beautiful work of art. 

His score is truly a triumph. 

More Great Film Scoring: "Inception"

A couple of weeks ago I started looking at the genre of film composition on this blog. I hope to eventually delve into the inner workings of the film scoring industry, but for now I'd like to just look at another score that I consider influential to me:

Hans Zimmer's original soundtrack for Inception.

This recording marked the first time I fell in love with a film score before even seeing the movie. As I perused iTunes one afternoon in 2010, I saw that the Inception soundtrack had already been released at least two weeks before the film was due to premiere. Since I was eagerly anticipating the movie, the score's early appearance intrigued me and I decided to listen to all the available samples.

Even before I'd seen the film, the music alone managed to take me on an aural journey. Sure, the titles (like "Dream Within a Dream") were evocative and inspired my imagination, but the music told its own story - one of intense thought and focus, even of confusion and disorder.

Having heard the soundtrack before hand, watching the movie was all the more exciting; it was fascinating to see just what events the music was juxtaposed over. The marriage of music and film here was so cohesive - each one enhanced the other and combined to form an amazing result.

When I experienced the effect of the soundtrack in this way (i.e. listening before seeing the movie), I realized again that movie music, when done right, can be a force of its own.