I enjoy listening to jazz, but I love the blues! My favourite jazz musician is Pat Metheny the US guitarist who has been around for a long time but never stops experimenting and searching for a new line or theme. One of his cohorts is John Schofield and he appeared in Singapore last night with Joe Lavarno the saxophonist. Even though my instinct is to explore as much as I can in Asian culture, I couldn't resist indulging in this completely western event. Jazz and Asia are words not often used in the same sentence.
They appeared at the Esplanade theatre in a simple set as a quartet with a fine drummer and bassist. The audience was a mixture in roughly the same proportion of western jazz aficionados and a sprinkling of Singaporeans who find jazz interesting. This type of jazz can be confusing even for the most finely tuned ear so I was interested to understand what it was about jazz themes that attracted the Singaporean. I didn't get a direct answer but I did get a link to another blog site about the music scene in Singapore. Go visit http://www.musicartlifesg.blogspot.com/ for the latest.
Jazz can be summed up (for me) as a collection of accomplished musicians each playing an intricate piece of music that can sound at odds with everybody else but somehow comes together, at least at some point. I listen to the drum and it is playing a different beat to the tune being played by the guitar, which might even be in a different key! Jazz is like art, because it can be. There is no point in being snobbish about it - just enjoy it.
Well enjoy I did! John Schofield hunched like a mad professor in throes of discovering something or other played the guitar in the effortless way of a true master in his class. At times making the guitar sound altogether like a different instrument, sometimes angry sometimes so sweet it was melting in the mouth. He was clever in the way he integrated the guitar with a computer to produce repeated phrases so that he was accompanying himself and switching styles from heavy to light melodic often in the same tune. Then he would match note for note with Joe Lavarno (why was he wearing a janitor's smock?) and they would start playing off each other with obvious delight that comes from hours and hours of making music and melding individual styles achieving a sound that is greater than the sum of the parts. A great night.
I must mention the drummer (Matthew Watson?) was terrific. Often simple is the best and his modest percussion was completely maxed out by the skill and drive of keeping everything together. The bassist was also a first class act. Oh I wish I could play!!!!!!!!!!
They appeared at the Esplanade theatre in a simple set as a quartet with a fine drummer and bassist. The audience was a mixture in roughly the same proportion of western jazz aficionados and a sprinkling of Singaporeans who find jazz interesting. This type of jazz can be confusing even for the most finely tuned ear so I was interested to understand what it was about jazz themes that attracted the Singaporean. I didn't get a direct answer but I did get a link to another blog site about the music scene in Singapore. Go visit http://www.musicartlifesg.blogspot.com/ for the latest.
Jazz can be summed up (for me) as a collection of accomplished musicians each playing an intricate piece of music that can sound at odds with everybody else but somehow comes together, at least at some point. I listen to the drum and it is playing a different beat to the tune being played by the guitar, which might even be in a different key! Jazz is like art, because it can be. There is no point in being snobbish about it - just enjoy it.
Well enjoy I did! John Schofield hunched like a mad professor in throes of discovering something or other played the guitar in the effortless way of a true master in his class. At times making the guitar sound altogether like a different instrument, sometimes angry sometimes so sweet it was melting in the mouth. He was clever in the way he integrated the guitar with a computer to produce repeated phrases so that he was accompanying himself and switching styles from heavy to light melodic often in the same tune. Then he would match note for note with Joe Lavarno (why was he wearing a janitor's smock?) and they would start playing off each other with obvious delight that comes from hours and hours of making music and melding individual styles achieving a sound that is greater than the sum of the parts. A great night.
I must mention the drummer (Matthew Watson?) was terrific. Often simple is the best and his modest percussion was completely maxed out by the skill and drive of keeping everything together. The bassist was also a first class act. Oh I wish I could play!!!!!!!!!!
By the way Pat Metheny does NOT play music you hear in the supermarket lift or elevator!! Despite several people making derogatory comments about his style I am defiant and I challenge anybody making these ill thought comparisons!
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