My final papers are all submitted, and this is the official end of this blog.
I would like to extend my thanks to Dr. Gilbert, Ji-Yun, and all of my classmates for a thought-provoking, inspirational experience this semester.
I am grateful for having the opportunity to interrogate the idea of Expanded Music with you, and I wish you all wonderful holidays and the best of success in your future endeavors!
I believe Amy Winehouse was one of the most talented vocalists of our time. She was a perfect example of someone who crossed boundaries and collaborated with whomever she felt artistically connected to.
She was a big fan of Nas, who respected and collaborated with her in turn. Amy had left some tracks behind that she was working on, and her producer worked with Nas to whip up this piece and video after Amy's passing. I find this video to be visually stunning and evocative of the longing that Amy Winehouse seems to convey in her music. Absolutely breathtaking:
This is Jerseyband, a group of extremely talented alumni from the Eastman School of Music. I'm proud that some of these players are my former classmates. As you can hear, they are absolutely phenomenal- beatboxing on the baritone saxophone? Yes, please!
These guys are really pushing the envelope and are conversant in just about any genre imaginable. I like to play their work for my students:
I've been thinking a lot about how Music History courses are approached- lectures, drop the needle exams, written exams, essays, and papers.
I've taught a History of Jazz course for a few times, and I continue to refine my approach. I am seriously considering an internet-based constructivist approach to some of the assignments, and Expanded Music has inspired me to really consider and explore this option for the spring.
I am also seriously considering teaching the course backwards: starting with the music of the present, which has so many fantastic fusions between jazz and hip hop, jazz and heavy metal, and so on. This could help my non-music students better connect to the course.
Expanded Music has given me the courage to break the mold and perceive of different approaches in my practice.
If you're curious about the fusions I've referenced, check out this one!
Robert Glasper Experiment with Lupe Fiasco (The drum part is also a great example of expanding our concept of a steady beat at 3:11):
Barbara Freedman does some absolutely outstanding, pioneering work in electronic music at Greenwich High School in CT. She has found a way to expand the students involved in her music program- it goes far beyond the traditional band, chorus, and orchestra offerings!
A number of students each year create original electronic compositions, and do live performances- it's quite amazing and challenges the notion of what a musical ensemble can look like.
I am on a rampage this evening, interrogating alternative ways to produce and experience music.
I first read about Tralala Blip in the International Journal of Community Music. It is a group of developmentally challenged teens that compose and improvise electronic music in Australia:
I think their video settings have blocked me from posting them on my blog, but if you search for Tralala Blip in YouTube, you will find them.
I think this is completely awesome and empowering. It really forces us to reconsider the limitations that mainstream music educators put upon students who don't necessarily follow our societal norms.
This ASL interpreter is redefining what it means to experience music in a concert setting. This is a juxtaposition of the kinesthetic aspects of enjoying music with a challenge to consider vibrations and visuals as part of a performance. Perhaps a future expanded music concert could experiment with touch!
