NRahav@ixl.com
Mon, 29 Nov 1999 11:36:18 -0500
the Galliano show was something really special. He performed with with 5
other musicians: trumpet, sax, percussion, keyboard, and vocalist. Galliano
had a laptop, sampler, mixing board, and possibly a couple other
accessories. He was laying down the grooves, basically performing the role
of rhythm section, while the rest of the band was improvising around his
beats in a structured, orchestrated way. Most of the beats had an uptempo
jazzy aesthetic, though there were a couple of slower ones. The jams lasted
for a while, and gave lots of time for each of the musicians to do their
thing. The singer was probably the one who gave the music the most
importance. She was senegalese, I believe, and was singing beautiful
melodies in an african language. I could have sworn she was Nahawa Doumbiya
from one of Galliano's Frykiwa releases, but I talked to her later and she
said she wasnt. She had a vibrant energy, and with each breath you could see
her eyes drinking in the energy of the crowd and vibing off of it.
Anyway, I was sitting next to a jazz musician and he was of the opinion that
the music sounded good, but could've sounded better if Galliano had been
replaced by a live rhythm section. I can definitely see what he was saying -
it's still obviously awkward for a producer to do live shows. He was jumping
around his different elecrtonic devices, pressing buttons, tweaking knobs,
and at the same time trying to turn around and wave his hands at the band
giving them signals of when to come in, when to come out, when to solo, etc.
And despite all his animated motions, the beats and grooves remained pretty
much static for the duration of a song.
Unlike the Jazz cat sitting next to me, I had no problem with this. I
considered it on the less pessimistic side, that yeah, he could be better if
he was a live drummer & bass player, but he could be worse if he had none of
the musicians on stage to spice up his beats.
Electronica still has a way to go before it can be as responsive as a an
acoustic instrument, there's no denying that.
That being said, the music had this rootsy, organic, housey, jazzy flavor. I
recorded the show but havent listened to the outcome. If it came out good
I'd be happy to make it available to you all.
.·´¯`·.¸¸.N·a·t.¸
-----Original Message-----
From: stephanie [mailto:nnine@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 1999 1:40 PM
To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
Subject: so? how was fred galliano (NYC)?
People, come on now. It's wednesday. I'm dying of
suspense. somebody please post a review! I was a
dumbass and putzed around the city so long that I
walked into the venue just as the crew was breaking
down. Nobody told me that "11pm" really means 11 PM!!
I was so salty about it I just went home.
I did pick up a fat stack of new records though, that
I'll try to run down in a few days. some standouts
are a mr. scruff album (goofy black and white stick
figure on the front), something off Frontline recs, an
old sci-clone track, the new(?) Reminiscence
Quartet-More Psycodelico (if you got the last one, get
this too. there are some repeats but it's worth it),
some more delicious asian breakbeat on Outcaste, and
some old Filter stuff. Surprise of the weekend: I'm
not feeling the new Photek. I feel terribly guilty
about it.
Oh, also recently got Deadbeats-Lounging and
Cinerex-Exit All Areas. the first is sublime, smooth,
like visit venus with a touch of r&b, the second is
kinda goofy and is very good and spooky-weird-mc-900
foot jesus kind of stuff...that is, when it's not
annoying. it's kinda melodramatic poetry-infused
spooky trip hop. It's like fudge or clove
cigarettes...heavenly in very small doses, but consume
too much and you'll surely throw up. :P
okey dokey, I'm out for the weekend. Happy
thanksgiving to my american sisters and brothers.
anyone in philly, looks like the place to be tonight
is fluid, king britt :) and josh wink :/. bye!
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