Apr 11, 2023 10:47 AM
Brad Mehldau Tells His Story
At the tail end of 2022, Brad Mehldau took advantage of a New York sojourn to play piano with old friends at Smalls…
A series of short films paired with portions of saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff’s Path Of Totality (Whirlwind) are set to be released through June.
(Photo: Evan Shay)Saxophonist Quinsin Nachoff and his troupe Flux recently issued Path Of Totality (Whirlwind), a recording praised in the February issue of DownBeat as being “a stunning, deep dive of an album, the sort of music in which one could spend hours submersed.”
In addition to issuing that recording, the bandleader has sought out a number of filmmakers to interpret the music in a batch of short films. Below is the debut of the film for “Splatter,” an animated work by Udo Prinsen, who also has collaborated with Dutch drummer Han Bennink.
“I wanted to do something different than a music video, and I’ve always loved animation and film,” Nachoff said of the visual component to Path Of Totality. “The compositions on this recording are very expansive and cinematic in scope; they lend themselves well to a creative visual. I provided each filmmaker the background inspirations for their piece and gave them a lot of freedom in their approach. It’s been fascinating to see how each of them interprets the music—both the differences and similarities.”
Other contributors to the short-film series are _eljka Blak_i_, JiYe Kim, Trent Freeman, Lee Hutzulak and Anne Beal.
For additional information about Path Of Totality, visit the Whirlwind website. DB
“Perhaps that’s a key to what makes me tick — a very strong curiosity, which makes me a perpetual fanboy of whatever I’m discovering,” Mehldau says.
Apr 11, 2023 10:47 AM
At the tail end of 2022, Brad Mehldau took advantage of a New York sojourn to play piano with old friends at Smalls…
Ahmad Jamal (1930–2023) with his trio at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago.
Apr 18, 2023 9:44 AM
Pianist-composer Ahmad Jamal passed away April 16 in his home in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts, after battling prostate…
“Remember to be a warrior, not a worrier,” Shorter said, 10 days prior to his passing on March 2.
May 9, 2023 12:02 PM
Sadly, the formative giants of jazz are passing the torch and joining the ancestors. But such cliché and dwelling on…
“When I first emerged on the scene, I was dealing with working with a certain trumpet player who shall remain nameless,” Reed said. “It was very much an indoctrinating, dogmatic point of view, but it was all I knew.”
May 16, 2023 3:15 PM
As a piano-playing prodigy, Philadelphia native Eric Reed performed gospel music in his father’s church at age 5. By…
Piazza IV Novembre at the Umbria Jazz Festival, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this summer.
Apr 27, 2023 11:22 AM
For many, it’s been a long, hard winter, and we could just as easily be talking about Los Angeles as the Midwest or…