DFelon204409
09-15-2008, 01:19 AM
It's time for another competition. The sputnik database has a few reviews for jazz and classical albums, but they are usually pretty tedious and poorly informed. The goal is to fill in the database with quality reviews in underrepresented genres.
Rules:
•Can be of any rating 1-5
•Has to be submitted to the review site within the timeframe from Sunday, September 14th to Sunday, October 5 (that gives you thre weeks)
•No soundtracks allowed
•The album you decide to review must be approved in advance (just post it in this thread and I will comment within the post). The only reason I do this is because certain borderline genre albums (e.g. Frank Zappa as jazz fusion wouldn't count) undermine the point of focusing on jazz and classical. However, within those larger traditions, music of different movements will count (that is I won't discriminate between modern classical vs. romantic or between bebop and modal jazz). Classical/jazz music from non-Western traditions are not enthused (saving that for another competition).
•Artist/composer tags in the database can be confusing with classical music. I don't know if the convention on the site is to make the artist the composer or the ensemble that plays the piece, so run it by here first if you're adding it to the database so people can voice suggestions.
Genre-specific Suggestions:
For jazz...
•Most jazz albums are live cuts. That means most of the things you hear will be improvised and or at least unique to that recording. Try to capture why the individual recording has value. Some jazz albums have alternate takes or will have live recordings, etc. so it's valuable to consider that a track can be played in many different ways at different times/venues.
•Jazz groups are usually arranged with a director conducting the tracks. S/he interprets the original track and gives his/her take on the piece. Imagine a director bringing a screenplay to life. Whether the direction wrote that screenplay themselves or not, they need to visually represent that. Think of a director in the same way. Direction matters.
•A jazz group's performers will often change from album to album, sometimes even recording to recording (live sessions included). Consider how important an individual musician's style is to the song, the director's conducting decisions, etc.
•Jazz usually goes over a chorus, then enters solos, and then brings it back to the chorus. Consider how the song structures are balanced. Do they have varied solo orders? Do they just use stale techniques?
•For a little background on jazz theory and performance practices, check this out: http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org/TheRoad_noFl/pdf/Jazz101.pdf
For classical...
•Like a jazz album, any classical album is going to have a conductor and members of the ensemble. Whereas in jazz groups, the director usually plays an instruments in the group, in classical music, conductors are the dudes waving those sticks around in front. Consider that they too work off of sheet music and are giving their interpretation of the piece as well. The same director/screenplay analogy holds, probably even more importantly for a classical composer. Ensemble performances will rarely be as distinctive as a jazz ensemble member's performance, largely because in most classical music there is little improvisation. While Miles Davis gets his own 2-minute long trumpet solo where he improvises the whole thing, a lead violinist with a solo of equal length is much more under the conductor's control and so the merits of their individual performance are more under the conductor's decision making. Consider the roles and how that changes the performance.
•You are reviewing both the originally composed piece, and the particular recording of the piece. The orchestra/ensemble/whatever that plays the piece is just one version of the written music. Try to balance statements about the composer with those of the ensemble/conductor (e.g. "The use of Neopolitan chords in Beethoven's blablablablablah is super cool" vs. "The expressive violin playing carries the slower parts of the third movement").
•Some classical albums are recorded live at an event such as a symphony hall, whereas others are given studio cuts. Consider what that does to the overall sound or even the power of the piece.
•A last general suggestion, nobody wants to read a review for a really common or popular classical piece unless you're bringing a new view of the piece or performance to light or if you're giving a really detailed refined review. On the flip side, nobody wants to read a review for a super super obscure that was chosen for the sake of being off the beaten path. Find an interesting album but don't go weird for its own sake.
Prizes:
•The obvious large avatar if the winner does not already have one.
•Major brownie points for staff/contributor applications. A good jazz or classical review is really hard to pull off, and if done well will really speak to your merits as a writer.
•Review will be featured on the front page
Good luck everybody.
Accepted Reviews:
•marksellsuswallets - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Live at the Quick - http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=27238
Rules:
•Can be of any rating 1-5
•Has to be submitted to the review site within the timeframe from Sunday, September 14th to Sunday, October 5 (that gives you thre weeks)
•No soundtracks allowed
•The album you decide to review must be approved in advance (just post it in this thread and I will comment within the post). The only reason I do this is because certain borderline genre albums (e.g. Frank Zappa as jazz fusion wouldn't count) undermine the point of focusing on jazz and classical. However, within those larger traditions, music of different movements will count (that is I won't discriminate between modern classical vs. romantic or between bebop and modal jazz). Classical/jazz music from non-Western traditions are not enthused (saving that for another competition).
•Artist/composer tags in the database can be confusing with classical music. I don't know if the convention on the site is to make the artist the composer or the ensemble that plays the piece, so run it by here first if you're adding it to the database so people can voice suggestions.
Genre-specific Suggestions:
For jazz...
•Most jazz albums are live cuts. That means most of the things you hear will be improvised and or at least unique to that recording. Try to capture why the individual recording has value. Some jazz albums have alternate takes or will have live recordings, etc. so it's valuable to consider that a track can be played in many different ways at different times/venues.
•Jazz groups are usually arranged with a director conducting the tracks. S/he interprets the original track and gives his/her take on the piece. Imagine a director bringing a screenplay to life. Whether the direction wrote that screenplay themselves or not, they need to visually represent that. Think of a director in the same way. Direction matters.
•A jazz group's performers will often change from album to album, sometimes even recording to recording (live sessions included). Consider how important an individual musician's style is to the song, the director's conducting decisions, etc.
•Jazz usually goes over a chorus, then enters solos, and then brings it back to the chorus. Consider how the song structures are balanced. Do they have varied solo orders? Do they just use stale techniques?
•For a little background on jazz theory and performance practices, check this out: http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org/TheRoad_noFl/pdf/Jazz101.pdf
For classical...
•Like a jazz album, any classical album is going to have a conductor and members of the ensemble. Whereas in jazz groups, the director usually plays an instruments in the group, in classical music, conductors are the dudes waving those sticks around in front. Consider that they too work off of sheet music and are giving their interpretation of the piece as well. The same director/screenplay analogy holds, probably even more importantly for a classical composer. Ensemble performances will rarely be as distinctive as a jazz ensemble member's performance, largely because in most classical music there is little improvisation. While Miles Davis gets his own 2-minute long trumpet solo where he improvises the whole thing, a lead violinist with a solo of equal length is much more under the conductor's control and so the merits of their individual performance are more under the conductor's decision making. Consider the roles and how that changes the performance.
•You are reviewing both the originally composed piece, and the particular recording of the piece. The orchestra/ensemble/whatever that plays the piece is just one version of the written music. Try to balance statements about the composer with those of the ensemble/conductor (e.g. "The use of Neopolitan chords in Beethoven's blablablablablah is super cool" vs. "The expressive violin playing carries the slower parts of the third movement").
•Some classical albums are recorded live at an event such as a symphony hall, whereas others are given studio cuts. Consider what that does to the overall sound or even the power of the piece.
•A last general suggestion, nobody wants to read a review for a really common or popular classical piece unless you're bringing a new view of the piece or performance to light or if you're giving a really detailed refined review. On the flip side, nobody wants to read a review for a super super obscure that was chosen for the sake of being off the beaten path. Find an interesting album but don't go weird for its own sake.
Prizes:
•The obvious large avatar if the winner does not already have one.
•Major brownie points for staff/contributor applications. A good jazz or classical review is really hard to pull off, and if done well will really speak to your merits as a writer.
•Review will be featured on the front page
Good luck everybody.
Accepted Reviews:
•marksellsuswallets - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Live at the Quick - http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=27238