September 2013

夢枯記026 Larry Gray | Gravity

contrabass solocdgraywater records2004
http://www.larrygraymusic.com/

026larrygray
Yumegareki 026
Larry’s performance demonstrates stability proven by his skills. It is an ardent embodiment of his concentration and elation emitted in the form of jazz. It is appealing but somewhat different from the impression I got from Charles Mingus in my twenties. I was much absorbed in Mingus’ play with my body and soul at that time. Whereas Larry makes me observe his performance from the external form, gradually bringing me inside the music.
I associate this to the discovery of Higgs particle with a theme of “Gravity.” According to the theory of modern physics, Higgs particle dictates a mass of a matter. Observations and the theory led to the discovery of the reasons why the matter exists. It seems I take a position in listening to his performance focusing on the development of the sounds, without any consideration to the form of the music.
This style of listening may be the original form of the response of our ears to the external sounds, irrespective of what form the music may have. I try to capture how the sounds vibrated from the body of the performer begin to possess a mass when it hits the world, which supposedly is filled with Higgs particles, and how an infinitesimal broken vector transform the space-time, so that I can identify the volume of the vectors and its orientation.
This suggests that any music can be appreciated if we are careful enough about the way we listen. Just like a mass acquires weight, if we listen to every primitive resistance of the space-time and its struggle to move in space, we will be able to capture the resistance of sounds that are liberated from constraints.


連休に東京の中野を訪れた。東中野から歩いたのだが、古い住宅密集地ですごく味わい深いところで写真を撮った。夜はLPがたくさんおいてある古いバーのような小さな良いお店で友人としばし過ごし話をした。壁にはスリーマイル事故後のロックミュージシャンたちのライブ録音「No Nukes」というLPがさりげなくおいてある。この店でセロニアス・モンクのLP、「Monk’s Dream」を聴いて新鮮な音の匂いと色に触発され、ジャズ、いやモンク独特のタイミング感には改めて驚いた。ベースで言えばむかしチャーリー・ミンガスやチャーリ・へイデンを音にかじりつくように聴いていたのも、彼らの地声に耳を傾ける感が非常に強くて僕の身体がそれを求めていたからだ。しかしミンガスもいつしか日本のスターバックスでペラペラのベースの音質でかけられていて、しかもフェードイン/アウトだったのを耳にして、違う意味で驚いたこともある。友人に聞くとこれも客の出入りの回転に影響する効果…もっと読む... Read more...

夢枯記025 Felice Del Gaudio | La via lattea (dal contrabbasso al cielo)

contrabass, cello, and otherscdrescd2006
http://www.felicedelgaudio.it/

025felicedelgaudio
Yumegareki 025
It sounded like a visual story by a bassist, depicting one of the contemporary dreams. Many were performed jointly with a cello. But within its storyline, a traditional singing voice was inserted effectively enough to appeal to my ears. The voice continued to resonate at a certain interval. Each time I felt like being pulled back to the beginning of the music. It made me feel as if I were brought back to when I was a child surrounded by unlimited time. I got a feeling that this music must be written with an awareness of the mother earth and children. The natural voice of the song sounded like the threads gathered all the way from the bottom of the earth, reminding me of an unheard vibration before the music starts. The vibration seemed to be in contrast with the reverberation that resonated at the end of the music. Without realizing it, my mind drifted to envision the wax and wane of the moon. In Japan, we will soon enjoy the harvest moon. If we are destined to live the reverberation of the age of human beings now, there should be a music that flows as if it were falling out of the complex reality, together with a voice of the wax and wane, which is seemingly idyllic but permanent in motion.

ベース音楽というよりは、ベース以外の音とともに一人のベーシストが一つの現代の夢を描いた作品に聴こえる。チェロとの合奏やトラディショナルな歌をモチーフとした曲がちりばめられ、映像のない映画を見ているように思える場面もある。聴き始めたはじめのほうは興味がなかなかわかなかったのだが、次第にシーンを変えた音楽的な物語のような曲順に素直に耳がついていくようになる。最後のトラックは赤ん坊の泣き声から始まり、短く小川のせせらぎのような効果音とともにフェードアウトしていくが、これでおわるのだとわかってしまうのが最後としては正直やや残念に思えて、何となく何分くらいのアルバムだったのだろうと考えてしまった。CDプレーヤーは35分24秒を指しているけれど、もう少し長い気がしたのはなぜだろう。結論から言えばきっとヴォーカル、人間の歌声というより地声の存在感がひと際大きく感じられ、それが聴こえてきた一瞬の時間が僕を音楽の始まりへと常に連れ戻していたからだと思う…もっと読む... Read more...