Today is the concert day in Marshalltown. Yesterday David and Daniel touched a lot of people and I know tonight will be like Wil in Spencer said in his blog entry: "Everyone will walk away with a smile on their face."
Daniel gave me a gift: his cd Duets with Ghosts. I hadn't had a moment to listen to it until today. I had to go to Des Moines to look at some new software and I used the trip to listen to Daniel's music. I had no idea what a gift he had given to me. It is an amazing piece of work. I have to write just a bit about it. I hope many will get a copy and really delve into it.
First, a couple of caveats. I am going to record some quick thoughts on first hearing. I know Daniel has been reading this blog so I hope I don't say anything offensive or stupid. But I love this cd. Second, I listen to lots of music, have my likes and dislikes, and am pretty much not very knowledgeable about music. I would say I am eclectic and ignorant. But I love this music.
So on to this music. All I know about it is that it is Daniel Kelly's compositions and he performs it with his group. I know that the impetus for this was to connect with some early recordings he found of his grandfather. But I haven't read the liner notes yet so this is just my reaction. Could be way off base. But I love this music.
Okay, so the cd starts off with "Dada Mechanica" which includes some of the early recordings. Immediately I thought of the music that accompanies a wonderful little film from the Dada movement by Leger called Ballet Mécanique that I most recently saw at the Figge in Davenport. This music sounds like what I remember from that film with contemporary mechanical and electronic sounds. I have no idea if there is a connection but that is what came to mind. And it is just as magical as that film was to me.
Cut 2. "Early" sounds like it uses repeated early recordings, to create something that seems like early 20th century work songs. Like field laborers might sing together to endure the work. Creating a very regular beat that ties it all together and builds over that with rock/jazz sound.
Three. "Amadou." I don't know what the title refers to. There was a blind musician with that name but... In any case, this is one of my favorites on the cd. It is a gentle, beautiful jazz piece that I could listen to over and over.
"58 years" follows. Again, a piece including the dialogue with the "ghost" recordings. I know there must be stories here that the liner notes will help out with. But on this first hearing, it is an amazing piece. Daniel's composition on this one seems to create a space for the early recordings to exist in--an environment, a frame for the dialogue. It seems mysterious, personal, meaningful, and beautiful.
Number 5: "Sixth Sense." Whew. This one seems to yank us into today full-speed. Almost kicking and screaming. And stops. And stops again. And continues to anchor us in the here and now. Maybe the most obscure, most abstract. No less interesting.
The 6th cut is, on first hearing, my favorite. It is the most accessible and gives me goosebumps. It is from a Beethoven symphony and is simply very gorgeous. It takes us deep into the melody and delivers us, in the end, in our time in the 21st century. I can only hope he considers making an entire album of this classical interpretation.
Next up: "Scratch." The contrast once again pulls us from complacency and into a contemporary place. Almost a tribal beat with electronic tune over. It ends with a melodic return to the work song idea of the second cut. Complex. Enigmatic. Abstract. Interesting.
Finally number 8 is "Hammer Ring" and again the early recording takes us into a place of history and provides the base for amazing, very contemporary music. Beautiful and rich. The cd ends with clearly a duet with the ghosts.
Later. I have now listened to this perhaps nine or ten times. It gets better and better. I think listening to the whole album is good. I think it is a journey. I am sure most cds are composed with decisions of what follows what (What do I know?) but this one seems to really be a unified single piece. Like a series of paintings to be viewed in order.
So, I love this music. I was surprised to be so taken by it. I sometimes have a hard time coming into music that pushes limits. But in many ways this music is like how I approach visual arts. It is interesting and complex and abstract and beautiful and I didn't worry about understanding it. I just listened in my own naive way and came alive.
And that's the he and the she of it.
Ron
