when this old world has let you down
categories: music
tags: Wynton Marsalis
posted by asstral at 12:19 am
June 19th, 2007
Thanks to devout, faithful and totally brainwashed reader Meg for finding this video of Dexter Gordon & Wynton Marsalis. A man that speaks through his horn. This one minute video has layers.
I’m only posting this here because words would have only distracted.
“devout??, faithful??? ” yes that is true “totally brainwashed??” no, not unless that would be brain ‘Washed in the Water’
All the many layers present in that clip are what grabbed me so much I had to post it originally.
Wait…how does he do that? The music keeps playing after the horn is taken away from Wynton’s lips. Magic.
I am reading Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man at the moment, a book with an abundance of passages which are centered on music. They slip in at odd moments, supporting the narrative almost like little decorative, but essential, columns.
My favorite so far is a description of a kind of ‘trip’ the narrator has as he’s listening to a recording of Louis Armstrong playing “What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue?” The speaker has smoked some questionable weed given to him by someone in the street, and while listening to the music he has an experience which he describes as a descent into the music. Asstral’s mention of the layers of the video made me think of it.
“So under the spell of the reefer I discovered a new analytical way of listening to music. The unheard sounds came through, and each melodic line existed of itself, stood out clearly from all the rest, said its piece, and waited patiently for the other voices to speak. That night I found myself hearing not only in time, but in space as well. I not only entered the music but descended, like Dante, into its depths.”
This all just seems so timely, especially given the earlier discussion of Leonard Cohen, playing the analytical side of music against the emotional side. Sorry to ramble. I’ll go blog about it now.
What a great face Dexter Gordon has, by the way.
Of course Meg, “washed in the water” sense. Washed in the musical waters that is.