For anyone wondering why the piano innards were exposed and why he placed tape on some strings for the second song (from the video description): And I love that The Bad Plus is also mentioned in...
For anyone wondering why the piano innards were exposed and why he placed tape on some strings for the second song (from the video description):
During his setup, GoGo Penguin's pianist Chris Illingworth asked if he could remove our piano cover to "access the inside" and, after a few rotations of a screwdriver, he soon handed me a long plank of black painted maple, which has no convenient place to rest in the NPR Music office. If you look closely at the piano innards during "Bardo," you can see a strip of black tape stretched over a few strings, opposite Illingworth's bobbing head. It mutes a group of strings, turning them into percussive jabs and dividing the instrument into more explicit rhythmic and melodic sections. What you can't see: GoGo Penguin's audio engineer a few feet to the left of frame, dialing-in reverb effects on the piano, which we heard in the room. These two elements, in tandem with bassist Nick Blacka's precise canvasing and drummer Rob Turner's charged and delicate pulse, have heavily contributed to the sonic identity of this trio - a signal to jazz jukebox listeners that, "Ah yes, that's a GoGo Penguin tune."
And I love that The Bad Plus is also mentioned in the video description, which is one of my favorite contemporary/avant-garde jazz groups. IMO their cover of Aphex Twin - Flim!! is especially fantastic and shows off just how phenomenal a drummer David King is.
p.s. paging @boredop ... since I am curious to hear your thoughts on avant-garde jazz/jazztronica/nu jazz given your expertise and experience with classic jazz.
I listened to this Tiny Desk Concert and enjoyed it. Great playing, very tight and creative. But with jazz like this with a strong electronic influence, it hits me more in the head than in the...
I listened to this Tiny Desk Concert and enjoyed it. Great playing, very tight and creative. But with jazz like this with a strong electronic influence, it hits me more in the head than in the heart. I don't really seek out jazz that incorporates that stuff, although sometimes I'll stumble on something in that vein that really knocks me out (for example, Donny McCaslin) ... Without the blues influence and strong sense of swing, the music doesn't usually tickle the part of my brain that goes nuts for jazz. BUT, I do also like some prog rock and metal and African music and other things, so music from Go Go Penguin or Snarky Puppy can still connect with me on that level.
As for The Bad Plus, a lot of their stuff leaves me cold and I think it's mostly from Ethan Iverson. He's a great player but his style is kind of heavy and ponderous. I have heard him with other groups and got the same impression. I'm curious to hear how TBP changes with Orrin Evans in the piano chair. And yes, Dave King is a great drummer, no doubt. I have one of his solo albums and liked it a lot.
That's understandable. But for me it's pretty rare for jazz to tug at my heartstrings unless it has really strong vocals (E.g. Fitzgerald, Armstrong, etc), which probably stems from my love of...
it hits me more in the head than in the heart
That's understandable. But for me it's pretty rare for jazz to tug at my heartstrings unless it has really strong vocals (E.g. Fitzgerald, Armstrong, etc), which probably stems from my love of Chanson (e.g. Charles Aznavour, Édith Piaf, etc)... but for purely instrumentals I actually prefer it be more compositionally interesting, thought provoking and/or make me want to dance/tap my foot (e.g. Moon Hooch).
I was actually not familiar with Donny McCaslin before his work on Blackstar but I became a fan afterwards. Beyond Now is a really great homage to Bowie and I have even mentioned it a few times before already on Tildes in ~music comments.
And I can totally see how you would feel that way about TBP and Ethan Iverson especially, he was definitely the weakest of the trio, especially at improvisation. But something about their style of music always hit me just right. And if you're curious about TBP with Orrin Evans at the keys you should give Never Stop II a listen, it's a really great album IMO... but it's definitely still a TBP album, so if you aren't a fan of their downtempo, somber style then it probably still won't be your cup of tea even with the change. ;)
For anyone wondering why the piano innards were exposed and why he placed tape on some strings for the second song (from the video description):
And I love that The Bad Plus is also mentioned in the video description, which is one of my favorite contemporary/avant-garde jazz groups. IMO their cover of Aphex Twin - Flim!! is especially fantastic and shows off just how phenomenal a drummer David King is.
p.s. paging @boredop ... since I am curious to hear your thoughts on avant-garde jazz/jazztronica/nu jazz given your expertise and experience with classic jazz.
I listened to this Tiny Desk Concert and enjoyed it. Great playing, very tight and creative. But with jazz like this with a strong electronic influence, it hits me more in the head than in the heart. I don't really seek out jazz that incorporates that stuff, although sometimes I'll stumble on something in that vein that really knocks me out (for example, Donny McCaslin) ... Without the blues influence and strong sense of swing, the music doesn't usually tickle the part of my brain that goes nuts for jazz. BUT, I do also like some prog rock and metal and African music and other things, so music from Go Go Penguin or Snarky Puppy can still connect with me on that level.
As for The Bad Plus, a lot of their stuff leaves me cold and I think it's mostly from Ethan Iverson. He's a great player but his style is kind of heavy and ponderous. I have heard him with other groups and got the same impression. I'm curious to hear how TBP changes with Orrin Evans in the piano chair. And yes, Dave King is a great drummer, no doubt. I have one of his solo albums and liked it a lot.
That's understandable. But for me it's pretty rare for jazz to tug at my heartstrings unless it has really strong vocals (E.g. Fitzgerald, Armstrong, etc), which probably stems from my love of Chanson (e.g. Charles Aznavour, Édith Piaf, etc)... but for purely instrumentals I actually prefer it be more compositionally interesting, thought provoking and/or make me want to dance/tap my foot (e.g. Moon Hooch).
I was actually not familiar with Donny McCaslin before his work on Blackstar but I became a fan afterwards. Beyond Now is a really great homage to Bowie and I have even mentioned it a few times before already on Tildes in ~music comments.
And I can totally see how you would feel that way about TBP and Ethan Iverson especially, he was definitely the weakest of the trio, especially at improvisation. But something about their style of music always hit me just right. And if you're curious about TBP with Orrin Evans at the keys you should give Never Stop II a listen, it's a really great album IMO... but it's definitely still a TBP album, so if you aren't a fan of their downtempo, somber style then it probably still won't be your cup of tea even with the change. ;)