Halloween Music
Just in time for All Hallow's Eve, our resident Scare Queen (and senior classical music analyst) Michelle Alexander looks at some of the scariest music ever written, ranging from the ominous organ music of Bach and Beethoven through Liszt and then into 20th Century composers like George Crumb and Gyorgy Ligeti. She thrusts her hands into the muck of musical fright and dredges up the dissonance and challenged expectations that make for aural horror. (9 mins.)Here's the link to Haunt Your House, the Halloween mixtape created by Michelle Alexander and Russell Johnson.
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Jamming, part 2
Part two of our Improv show, in which we explore directed improvisation and how musicians support each other when in the sea of spontaneity: Guitarist Lebo from ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra), pianist Trevor Garrod from Tea Leaf Green (pictured here), and guitarist Jeremy Korpas from Big Light.Recorded and edited by Tyler Brown at Bellboy Recording in Richmond CA. (20 mins.)
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Jamming, part 1
Three Left Coast jamband heavyweights weigh in on the art and science of purposeful improvisation: Guitarist Lebo from ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) (far left, pictured here), pianist Trevor Garrod from Tea Leaf Green (center right), and guitarist Jeremy Korpas from Big Light (far right).Recorded and edited by Tyler Brown at Bellboy Recording in Richmond CA. (20 mins.)
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The Marriage of Classical and Jazz, part 2
Pianist Bill Mays returns to lead us step by step through a recent composition of his called "Fantasy, Movement One." He shows us the motifs and elements as they progress, calls out where improvisation led the players away from the printed notes, and introduces us to the tones of the other musicians on the session, who are Alisa Horn on cello and Marvin Stamm on trumpet and flugelhorn. (9 mins.)Continue reading "The Marriage of Classical and Jazz, part 2"
The Marriage of Classical and Jazz, part 1
Pianist Bill Mays has had an illustrious career mixing jazz improvisation with classical composition, and his albums in the third-stream movement have helped move the genre forward. Here Pandora's Steve Ginsberg and I talk with Mays about the relationship between classical and jazz, and about Mays' history with both, starting with the night he heard Miles Davis live in the late 1950s. The music in this piece is provided by the Inventions Trio, featuring Marvin Stamm on trumpet and flugelhorn, Alisa Horn on cello, and Mays on piano. (10 mins.)
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IDM and Glitch
When he's not analyzing industrial and metal albums for the Music Genome Project, Will Redmond is often out on tour as BlipVert, performing his twisted and hyper-intense take on IDM. This is electronic music at its most challenging, where samples and microsamples are arranged like chips in a mosaic or dots in a pointillistic painting. Standard beats are thrown out entirely, discarded in favor of fractured chunks, bits of signal, and electronically damaged sound. IDM can be exquisitely beautiful, disturbingly jarring, or beautiful and jarring at once. Here is the website featuring Will's work as BlipVert, called Synapse Compound; he dubs this site "a nice place for noise." (9 mins.)Continue reading "IDM and Glitch"
Gypsy Jazz
If you are familiar with the films of Woody Allen, you've heard examples of gypsy jazz, a French variant on American jazz begun by Django Reinhardt and others in the 1930s. Pandora engineer and lead guitarist Vic Wong brings in other hot club players to demonstrate how gypsy jazz is played: bassist Ari Munkres, rhythm guitarist Jack Fields, and violinist Benito Cortez. Hear how this drummerless swing style is presented with rhythmic flourishes, shorter upright bass tones, and heroic guitar work. (10 mins.)Types of Metal
WARNING: this episode is not for the faint of heart. We tear into the gristle, meat and grisly bones of Metal on this one. Our guests are guitarist Ava Mendoza, bassist Kurt Kotheimer and drummer Weasel Walter, and they show us the musical components of various metal genres: grindcore, metalcore, black metal, death metal, thrash, hair metal, and more. If you've ever wondered about the dark side but were too afraid to ask, dive in here and get your hands dirty. (12 mins.)Continue reading "Types of Metal"
Holiday Music
'Tis the season: snow, jingling bells in swing time, and choirs aplenty. Acoustic guitarist and Pandora music analyst Todd Haemmerle comes in to talk about holiday music with host Kevin Seal. They look at the swing origin of much modern Christmas music, talk about minor and major tonality in carols, and get into word painting and vocalizing. Did you realize that the "NFL on Fox" theme is really a line from "Sleigh Ride"?
Click here to hear and see more, and for some Holiday Music stations.
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Electronic Dance Music, Part II
Pandora's Dance Music Genome teacher Chris Horgan continues his talk about electronica with host Kevin Seal. (If you haven't heard Part I of this show, you should start there.) This time, the DJs are spinning Breakbeat, Drum and Bass, and Downtempo. Chris and Kevin count out the tempos and beat patterns used in these styles, discuss the chill-room settings that helped Trip Hop flourish, and shine a light on the beat pioneers who innovated in these genres. (10 mins.)Click the "Continue reading" button below to hear examples of these specific styles, and to see the musical terms we discuss in the episode.
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Electronic Dance Music, Part I
Our podcast series makes its first foray into electronica, as host Kevin Seal welcomes Dance Music Genome teacher Chris Horgan. Chris programs beats, does production, and plays live drums for the downtempo group Beatropolis. They will talk about the stylistic elements that help define House, Trance, and Techno, explore the music's roots in disco, minimalism, and Ghanaian drumming patterns, and explain how dance music is experienced vertically, not horizontally. (11 mins.)Click the "Continue reading" button below to hear examples of these specific styles, and to see the musical terms we discuss in the episode. When you're finished, be sure to check out Part II of this show.
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Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady and Dub
In episode eight, the Soul Captives show host Kevin Seal how to bubble and skank. They lay out the differences between bluebeat, ska, rocksteady, early reggae, roots reggae, and dub, while providing historical context. Guitarist and Pandora engineer Vic Wong mixes a live dub session for us, after he and organist (and pianist and Pandora music analyst) Ray Jacildo, drummer Jayme Arredondo, and bassist Mark Allen-Piccolo (pictured) perform in a variety of Jamaican rhythmic feels. (10 min.)Click through to the next page to hear examples from the original Jamaican artists, to see session photos, and to view the lingo and slang talked about in the episode.
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Elements of Salsa
Pandora music analyst, trumpeter and bandleader Marina Garza of Orquesta D'Soul comes in to talk about salsa music in Episode Five. She and Kevin are joined by Orquesta D'Soul's bassist Mike Lazarus, pianist Jason Moen and percussionist Patricio Angulo (on timbales, bells and congas). They break down the different percussive patterns played in mambo and salsa, look into the music's Cuban roots in cha and son, and show the 2:3 and 3:2 son clave patterns that form the backbone of the groove. (9 mins.)
On the next page, see a list of the musical terms defined in this podcast, and listen to classic and modern songs that demonstrate the different salsa rides.
