Thank you Keith at 3Bones for introducing me to Wim Mertens. Mertens, 60, is a Flemish Belgian composer, countertenor vocalist, pianist, guitarist, and musicologist. Let’s just say I’m transported.
Vocals come in at 1:40.
Tag: Piano
January Stars
This is a beautiful rendition of George Winston’s “January Stars.” Love this tune. It captures the feel of January. If do not have Winston’s album “Winter Into Spring“, you need to check it out here.
Here’s a Wiki passage:
Winston dresses unassumingly for his shows, playing in stocking feet, stating that it quiets his “hard beat pounding” left foot. For years, the balding, bearded Winston would walk out on stage in a flannel shirt and jeans, and the audience would think he was a technician, coming to tune the 9-foot Steinways that are his piano of choice. As The Boston Globe reported in 1986, “Much of his playing is introspective, mood-setting and, frequently, tranquilizing. Casting my gaze about the auditorium, I observed members of the audience with their attention fixed upon the pianist and others absorbing the music with eyes closed. Winston is not a self-indulgent performer who protracts his renditions to the point where he dangerously tiptoes between a yawn and a snore. Instead, he keeps his presentations pithy and free of excess and his audience awake.”
The Sound of Taste
“What does flavour look like? How does it sound? These are the questions that inspired herb and spice experts, Schwartz, to create what they describe as a ‘Sonic Flavourscape’. Several tons of black peppercorns, cardamom, turmeric, paprika, cumin seeds, ginger, chilli and coriander were rigged to explode in perfect sync with a bespoke musical composition. Each explosion represents an individual piano note or chord, which when filmed at high speed, creates a surreal three dimensional sound scape.”
A Great Big World
~ 26,000,000 views on Youtube in < 60 days, and somehow I’ve missed this. A cave dweller – where have I been?
The singer/songwriting duo “A Great Big World” features the talents of Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino. Formed in 2010 while they were music business students at New York University, the duo toured in 2011 playing their own songs, as well as covers by such artists as Ingrid Michaelson and Five for Fighting. The duo hit the big time after their song “This is New” was covered on Glee and when they released the single “Say Something,” a duet with Christina Aguilera. A Great Big World’s First Album titled: Is There Anybody Out There will be released on January 21, 2014. Link on iTunes here. Band’s website: agreatbigworld.com
Source: Mme Scherzo
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
Thank you Geoff Clow @ Gorgeous Company for introducing me to Ryuichi Sakamoto and this tune which can be found on his album titled 1996 at this link. Sakamato achieved his artistic and commercial breakthrough with his acclaimed score to the film of the same name: Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. The film was entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival in competition for the Palme d’Or. Sakamoto’s score also won the film a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.
If you liked this, don’t miss Sakamato’s Amore at this link and Rain at this link.