Simply difficult
November 07 2010
Nature is pleased with simplicity - Isaac Newton, Principia.
The longer the Pianobabbler plays piano, the more he grasps how it takes great mastery to achieve great simplicity.
Art is choice (see Pianobabbler 59.) Musicians face an infinity of choice. Permutations and combinations of notes, rhythms, styles, tempos, beats, instruments, whos, whats, this, that, what not, why not, kitchen sink.
Many musicians make wondrous music by making wondrous choices. Bach's Prelude and Fugues, Phineas Newborn's World of Piano, Take Six's anything.
Some musicians make wondrously simple choices. Music with a minimum of everything. Little of anything. A small something.
I don't mean minimalist music. I mean music where the player makes a little go a long way.
For example: Count Basie. The Count led a big band from the 1930's until his death in the 1980's. Mostly simple riffs on simple harmonies. But oh good Lord, the band could swing. Swing so hard it made your body shake. And speaking of simplicity- where others used chords Basie used notes, where others used notes, Basie used space. Exquisitely distilled piano playing. Hear it in this small ensemble version of his celebrated One O'clock Jump.
The Pianobabbler came across a 2003 video of Italian singer-songwriter Vinicio Capossela singing his bone simple tune Ultimo Amore. Seated on a stool, on a bare stage, with only an acoustic guitar, Capossela delivers the tune with tender ease and haunting grace.
Beside Capossela sits the Italian actor and comedian Antonio Albanese. With the slightest gestures, and only a flower as a prop, Albanese deepens the song with a visual dimension as filled with emotion as it is with humour.
The Pianobabbler has been haunted by this video. By the beauty of its simplicity, and the simplicity of its beauty. If Newton was right, Nature would be pleased.
The Pianobabbler has babbled.
The Pianobabbler is a RonDavisMusic production. The Pianobabbler's blog posts appear weekly at pianobabbler.com. Please remember to leave your comments and thoughts below. Subscribe to the RSS feed. And subscribe to RonDavisNews by clicking on the Mailing List link, above right. And follow us on Twitter.
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