Tag: Listen to This

Listening | “Almost Like Being In Love” from Red Garland

“Almost Like Being In Love” is the fourth track on the album Red Garland’s Piano. This 4m 50s track has a bit of a lower-fidelity feel with the record white noise in the background, the that does not detract from this gem of a song.

Red Garland’s Bio from Spotify:

Red Garland mixed together the usual influences of his generation (Nat Cole, Bud Powell, and Ahmad Jamal) into his own distinctive approach; Garland’s block chords themselves became influential on the players of the 1960s. He started out playing clarinet and alto, switching to piano when he was 18. During 1946-1955, he worked steadily in New York and Philadelphia, backing such major players as Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Roy Eldridge, but still remaining fairly obscure.

That changed when he became a member of the classic Miles Davis Quintent (1955-1958), heading a rhythm section that also included Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones.

After leaving Miles, Garland had his own popular trio and recorded very frequently for Prestige, Jazzland, and Moddsville during 1956-1962.

The pianist eventually returned to Texas and was in semi-retirement, but came back gradually in the 1970s, recording for MPS (1971) and Galaxy (1977-1979) before retiring again.

~ Scott Yanow, Rovi

Upbeat piano, laid-back percussion, and moseying bass keep your attention in what has become one of my favorite songs to enjoy while writing or studying. It is a very playful song that will lift your spirits and put you in a good mood. Its…almost like being in love!

Happy listening,

~ Griff

 

Listening | “Nighttime” from Re:plus

“Nighttime” is one of the fourteen tracks on the album Ordinary Landscape from Re:plus (stage name for Hiroaki Watanabe, a Japanese pianist, trackmaker, and sound producer).

Let’s talk about the track. The first ten seconds open with a semi-intricate beat. Staccato and cut piano melody enters over the next twenty seconds; after that, though, the piano becomes legato (smoothed out) while the beat continues. Female vocals enter and become a staple of the song for the remaining three and a half minutes. The song has intriguing and mystical lyrics;

So I’ll be a fleeting sound, a lightray out on the water…
And I’ll know his secret name, and tell him about the nighttime.
So I’ll be a fleeting sound, a lightray out on the water…
And I’ll know his secret name, and tell him about the nighttime.
(Ooh, sweet family…)
(Ooh, sweet family…)
The gentle accent pulls you in…
With secrets that I know were true.
The gentle accent pulls you in,
With secrets that I know were true…

-MetroLyrics

At 47 BPM (by my manual estimation), the combination of beat, rhythm, and lush piano melody, and mystical vocals is airy and telling of some allegory. “Nighttime” is just one of several songs on Ordinary Landscape that fit this description. This track in particular feels introspective and offers a solemn yet caring mood.

Much of this album is hard to describe, so it is best to give it a listen and let me know what you think! You can hear a snippet of “Nighttime” at the top of this post, or find the complete album on Spotify. What do you think about this track?

Happy listening,

~Griff

Listening | “Formed by Glaciers” from Kubbi

“Formed by Glaciers,” by Kubbi is an entrancing blend of sounds. The artist’s simple Spotify biography “transcendental nostalgic” is highly accurate. While much of the album Ember is rather upbeat and chip-tuney (a great thing, I might add), “Formed by Glaciers is a wonderfully calm and retrospective track…

“Formed by Glaciers,” by Kubbi is an entrancing blend of sounds. The artist’s simple Spotify biography “transcendental nostalgic” is highly accurate. While much of the album Ember is rather upbeat and chip-tuney (a great thing, I might add), “Formed by Glaciers is a wonderfully calm and retrospective track.

The final track on Ember, this song is 7 minutes and 38 seconds long, and every second of it is composed perfectly. It’s like something out of a surreal and epic movie.

The beginning of the track is quiet and contemplative with no percussion, but only soft and simple piano. After a minute and a half, some simple and deep percussion takes foot. The succeeding minutes build additional instrumentation atop each other and very gradually grow in volume until they break for the calm before the storm. This little process occurs in several small segments until the song reaches its apex at around 6:30.

The Ember is primarily instrumental, “Formed by Glaciers” has mystifying vocalization that floats above the instrumentation. Organic sound effects such as wind and water are also heard, particularly when listening with higher quality devices such as in-ear monitors and/or high fidelity devices.

Ember

The parent album of this track, Ember, is a beautiful and comprehensive album that will satisfy nearly any mood you find yourself in. Happy, sad, rushed, apprehensive, or retrospective, you’ll find something for your state in Ember.

You can find Ember and much of Kubbi’s other music at KubbiMusic.com or on Spotify.