Re: Ari Hoenig Digestion Suggestions
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:17 am
i love ari and am pretty addicted to that arrows 'n loops cd. loooooove lines of oppression.
for me, the short answer to appreciating anything is to just keep listening. when i first heard tain i was very wtf, but was so disturbed that i had to keep listening. i still couldn't tell you technically what he's doing--sometimes i can't even make out the time--but what i latched onto is that he plays the living bejeezies out of the melody. in a way that's totally different from how ari might do it.
ari looks like he has MS when he plays and this is probably something i like about him. but most times when i go see him play, i am closing my eyes or looking the other way. there's something odd about watching musicians that makes me uncomfortable, especially when they're sitting so close to you. i watch his hands and feet, not so much his face. and i try to be chill about taking pics. i find all these things to be distracting and disrespectful to the performer, even though they might be used to it or so in the moment they're not paying attention to the audience. but usually i think they are well aware of the audience.
a lot of more modern jazz can be difficult to digest, but i guess since i came at music from a very proggy/fusiony place to begin with, it feels less arduous for me. and sometimes you just have to turn it off and get something else on. the issue i find myself having now is that i don't have the physical skill to play the music i like, so i have to start at a lot of the swing basics and it kinda bores me. not coz i can't appreciate that music, but i know what's musically possible beyond it, and i start to lose my patience. it's like the blues. i'm doing this blues gig once a month and while i'm grateful for it, i just hate playing blues. i don't feel i do it authentically and i have never liked that style of music. but i think it's just something i have to get behind coz fact is there will be more blues than fusion gigs awaiting me as time goes on...
for me, the short answer to appreciating anything is to just keep listening. when i first heard tain i was very wtf, but was so disturbed that i had to keep listening. i still couldn't tell you technically what he's doing--sometimes i can't even make out the time--but what i latched onto is that he plays the living bejeezies out of the melody. in a way that's totally different from how ari might do it.
ari looks like he has MS when he plays and this is probably something i like about him. but most times when i go see him play, i am closing my eyes or looking the other way. there's something odd about watching musicians that makes me uncomfortable, especially when they're sitting so close to you. i watch his hands and feet, not so much his face. and i try to be chill about taking pics. i find all these things to be distracting and disrespectful to the performer, even though they might be used to it or so in the moment they're not paying attention to the audience. but usually i think they are well aware of the audience.
a lot of more modern jazz can be difficult to digest, but i guess since i came at music from a very proggy/fusiony place to begin with, it feels less arduous for me. and sometimes you just have to turn it off and get something else on. the issue i find myself having now is that i don't have the physical skill to play the music i like, so i have to start at a lot of the swing basics and it kinda bores me. not coz i can't appreciate that music, but i know what's musically possible beyond it, and i start to lose my patience. it's like the blues. i'm doing this blues gig once a month and while i'm grateful for it, i just hate playing blues. i don't feel i do it authentically and i have never liked that style of music. but i think it's just something i have to get behind coz fact is there will be more blues than fusion gigs awaiting me as time goes on...