The last edition of “En el Límite” by the University of Lanús is available for download, very interesting articles here:

http://www.unla.edu.ar/public/en_el_Limite/archivo/enellimite_completo3.zip

BREATHLESS – KENNY G – ARISTA 07822-18646-2

Almost two decades ago, my girlfriend at the time came to me and said (I remember this literally) “I bought you a CD by this renowned clarinetist that I know you’ll love”. She gave me Breathless by Kenny G, and I immediately knew that it wouldn’t last much longer.

Breathless was the saxman’s sixth CD production, which became a music bestseller. The record travels the fine aesthetic line between pop music and smooth jazz, being neither of them. In Breathless, all the tunes combine the lightness of smooth jazz, with the predictability of pop. As a listener you always seem to know what is going to happen, and that is what eventually happens. The songs The joy of life, Forever in love, In the rain and Sentimental are shallow and unsurprising. Despite that, G does a technically acceptable job with the drums’ sequences, but while listening to the CD I started questioning the automatic playing of the sax. Was G just cruising through the melodies with his honey making single reed wand? This over abundance of well-known licks is unenchanting, and that is how it sounds: obvious and safe. Speaking of taking chances through a record, did you know that that same year (1992) Wynton Marsalis released Citi Movement, Joe Lovano Universal Language and Nirvana their Hormoaning?

However, I have to admit that the song G bop created some expectations (mainly for its title) which only lasted until I listened to it, nothing about bop, nor in the key of G, all about Kenneth Gorelick’s manufactured emotions. By the time this night is over could have been the least anticlimactic cut of the album. We heard Peabo Bryson’s lead voice in timeless versions of Disney movies’ songs. He is the one who sings along with Celine Dion in The beauty and the beast and in A whole new world, from Aladdin to name a few. Bryson’s participation couldn’t emerge from an ocean of commonalities. The song follows the recipe of every cloying love song, with extra cheesy saxophone fill-ins.

Needless to say, my relationship was over that night…

Uniform, interchangeable melodies in 4/4, almost at the same tempo, make a fair summary of this record. In the 20’s Eric Satie purposely wrote “furniture music” or ‘music not to be listened’, in the 90’s G wrote almost seventy minutes of it without even realizing. I can recommend this album; it is a must if you are fond of fungible music.

Disclaimer: this article was an “audition” review for a publication for which I work at the moment. Visit the Fanfare magazine archive to read my most recent work.

The Spanish version of this work will be published in the next edition of Sonic Ideas by the CMMAS, in Morelia, Mexico. Check it out!

Abstract

The present work is based on the hypothesis that the improvisational style of saxophonist Charlie Parker is condensed in the first chorus of his solo in his tune Confirmation. In order to verify this initial question, the study proposes a series of probabilistic analysis from the solo that are integrated in an algorithm in SuperCollider as a Markov chain of the first order.

Contact me if you want the full version of the paper. This research was presented at the North American Saxophone Alliance Conference in Minot State University in April.

Thank you!

http://www.nuovacultura.it/prodotto.php?ipd=1627

 Hard copies and ebook available, check it out.

SINTESIS

Los datos acústicos de un espacio cerrado ofrecen una inequívoca descripción numérica de sus propiedades sonoras. Como en la música, estas propiedades se ubican en el ámbito de la frecuencia, el tiempo y la amplitud. El presente trabajo propone un modelo para  “traducir” sistemáticamente los datos acústicos de una sala en términos musicales; datos meramente numéricos se transforman – a través del método propuesto – en la esencia del proceso creativo de una composición musical.

Vea el articulo completo aqui:

Arquitectura en movimiento

This work is a creative application of the compositional model based on acoustical measurements. Take a look at the pdf score.

Etude for string quartet

Etude for string quartet based on acoustic measurements

The architectural acoustics’ data obtained from an enclosed space provides a unique numerical description of the aural properties of that specific space. These properties – like music – are in the realm of frequency, time and amplitude. This model proposes a system that “translates” the acoustical data of a room into musical terms, transforming the merely numerical acoustical values into the identity of a musical composition.

A model for music composition based on architectural acoustics measurements