it's all talk
5.24.2003
day three home:
-depression's set in.
-cut my hair to cope/out of boredom.
-nabokov isnt exactly the best remedy, but what the hell.
-listening to bolero/suzanne. a lot. hearing it even when its not on the stereo.
-getting horribly anxious about actually having to interact with people here. enjoying spending my days here alone dreaming of spending my future's days as an urban hermit.
this place is too heavily laden with my past for me to be here and feel alive, now. ¶ 00:19
-depression's set in.
-cut my hair to cope/out of boredom.
-nabokov isnt exactly the best remedy, but what the hell.
-listening to bolero/suzanne. a lot. hearing it even when its not on the stereo.
-getting horribly anxious about actually having to interact with people here. enjoying spending my days here alone dreaming of spending my future's days as an urban hermit.
this place is too heavily laden with my past for me to be here and feel alive, now. ¶ 00:19
5.23.2003
i think its difficult for any rational music fan not to love ravel's "bolero."
when it comes to leonard cohen's music, however, ive never been a big fan. after trying to appreciate it a few times, i just skip his tracks in mixes every time they come up on my stereo.
but then i came home late last night (yes, i am back in california... its strange. silent. disconcerting.) and my dad, technological whiz that he is, proudly burned me my very own copy of rene marie's live at jazz standard, and had cutely placed it on my pillow.
i did some listening of the album on my own the next morning, but put it down after listening to tracks one through five. i was, however, very impressed with her voice and enjoyed her band. her personal spin on the tunes (she played "lush life" as a kind of funk, interweaved with some latin hits, for example) really caught my attention - she hears music in her own passionate way, and it shows.
after dad came home from work, he told me that i had missed the best track of the whole album - track number six.
apparently, he and my mom had received tickets to a dinner at which marie was performing as a gift from his workplace. when marie began to sing "bolero" a capella, the clink of forks to china stopped. the snare began its unmistakable pulse, the bassist plucked the horn harmonies, and marie skillfully wove cohen's "suzanne" into "bolero."
she had crafted the medley as a dedication to her father.
marie's vocals meld with her band; four musicians become an orchestra. together they pulsate, twist, stretch, grow, soar, and pull you into their embrace. the pairing of cohen's passionate lyrics with ravel's dramatics left me without words. i sat at the dining room table, chin rested on my folded forearm, eyes closed. the rest of the world disappeared for ten whole minutes.
in summary: cohen can be good. ravel will live on. never underestimate the power of a good arrangement. rene marie is the future of standard vocal jazz. "live at jazz standard" is a very accessible album; it is user-friendly but makes the listener work to understand the music; it crosses genres and blends musical idioms flawlessly. marie scats like a dream, hits everything she reaches for, and posesses a personal energy and strength to admire. five stars! yowza! ¶ 00:22
when it comes to leonard cohen's music, however, ive never been a big fan. after trying to appreciate it a few times, i just skip his tracks in mixes every time they come up on my stereo.
but then i came home late last night (yes, i am back in california... its strange. silent. disconcerting.) and my dad, technological whiz that he is, proudly burned me my very own copy of rene marie's live at jazz standard, and had cutely placed it on my pillow.
i did some listening of the album on my own the next morning, but put it down after listening to tracks one through five. i was, however, very impressed with her voice and enjoyed her band. her personal spin on the tunes (she played "lush life" as a kind of funk, interweaved with some latin hits, for example) really caught my attention - she hears music in her own passionate way, and it shows.
after dad came home from work, he told me that i had missed the best track of the whole album - track number six.
apparently, he and my mom had received tickets to a dinner at which marie was performing as a gift from his workplace. when marie began to sing "bolero" a capella, the clink of forks to china stopped. the snare began its unmistakable pulse, the bassist plucked the horn harmonies, and marie skillfully wove cohen's "suzanne" into "bolero."
she had crafted the medley as a dedication to her father.
marie's vocals meld with her band; four musicians become an orchestra. together they pulsate, twist, stretch, grow, soar, and pull you into their embrace. the pairing of cohen's passionate lyrics with ravel's dramatics left me without words. i sat at the dining room table, chin rested on my folded forearm, eyes closed. the rest of the world disappeared for ten whole minutes.
in summary: cohen can be good. ravel will live on. never underestimate the power of a good arrangement. rene marie is the future of standard vocal jazz. "live at jazz standard" is a very accessible album; it is user-friendly but makes the listener work to understand the music; it crosses genres and blends musical idioms flawlessly. marie scats like a dream, hits everything she reaches for, and posesses a personal energy and strength to admire. five stars! yowza! ¶ 00:22
