I didn’t know quite what to expect on Wednesday when I went to watch Eric Lewis, a.k.a Elew, play at the Bush Hall in London.
Suffice to say I was blown away.
With raw talent that is bound to leave a solid impression on any music lover, Elew took a rapt audience into his world of music - a world filled with passion, anger, chaos, and wonder. Watching the man’s face as he plays is an event in itself - he has scored the music for horror movies, which apparently are the kind of films he really likes, and as his face contorts and his eyebrows raise in the imagined horror of something that is not quite there, his music and his fingers bring those emotions to life. Nancy Hirsch, his manager, spoke to us before the performance and said that it sometimes feels like he has six hands - which it really did to me. Elew’s fingers fly across the piano with a rapidity and technique that is impressive, and his stance - during this performance he didn’t sit down once - added to the performance.
His style of playing may not quite be up everyone’s alley, indeed it may seem a bit too mad - too unorganized - at certain points. Who reaches inside a piano and pulls its strings to make music? He’s unconventional, for sure. But then he segues into another melodious sequence, and somehow it seems justified. Watching a live performance is the only way you can really understand this.
Elew was part of the Lincoln Center’s Jazz Orchestra and toured with jazz greats like Wynton Marsalis andCassandra Wilson after he studied piano at the Manhattan School of Music, later breaking away to play on his own. Featured by the New York Times way back in 2005 and the Guardian more recently, 36-year-old Elew played at TED in Long Beach, California, earlier this year, an original composition that was intended to be ‘a tribute to ocean and sky and the vision of the TED Prize winners’, as well as a rendition of Evanescence’s ‘Going Under’. He received a standing ovation for both. He is also scheduled to play at TED Global in Oxford, UK, on July 22nd. In the meantime, people in London would do well to catch a performance of his at the Jazz Cafe today or tomorrow. To be honest, his style isn’t pure jazz, or pure rock ('rock-jazz is what he calls it himself) - bits of rock and pop and jazz all filter in at different points, but that is his selling point. From an interview with NPR last month, he said:
"The idea is that, you know, I'm taking a piece from the pop culture much the same way that Louis Armstrong played 'Hello, Dolly' with Barbra Streisand. You know, just interfacing in a certain kind of way that allows me to express my ingenuity, versatility, virtuosity without hijacking the sound of the genre and at the same time, preserving the elements of jazz, which are central and beloved."
Elew can’t - doesn’t want to be - put in a box, and if you go to see him play live, you will leave with one thought in your mind, as a friend of mine and I both did - that you haven’t seen a performance like this before. And really, unless you watch him play repeatedly, you may be unlikely to see a performer, and a performance, like his ever again.
Here is one of my favourite pieces from Wednesday's performance, Typical by Mute Math. Pay attention to what happens 2:45 onwards.
And here is a performance of his from TED in February.
In a move that will definitely help to make TV-watching more viewer-friendly for people who hate silly or irrelevant ads, like me, the U.S Supreme Court has declined to hear a case on digital video recorder (DVR) technology put forth by network programmers like CNN and TBS against Cablevision, the New York-area cable operator. Cablevision wanted to offer a DVR system whereby viewers could use DVR technology from a server provided by them instead of a separate set-top box. The network programmers submitted that this would mean the cable company would then be making unauthorised use of copyrighted programmes, because people could (gasp!) fast forward ads placed in copyrighted programmes that they run.
A lower court actually ruled in favour of the CNN/TBS lot (I'm sure that judge doesn't watch any TV), but the U.S Supreme Court reversed that decision, leading Cablevision to say that the decision may mean that DVRs could become more accessible and they'd consider, for example, allowing advertisers to insert ads into recorded content.
To me that completely defeats the purpose of the whole case. If I'm getting a DVR to avoid seeing ads, why would I buy/get access to it from Cablevision if they're going to take me back to square one just to make some money? I'd be getting shifted wouldn't I?
Whether or not Cablevision is able to put their awful plan into action, the truth is that crap ads are crap ads. By taking up the cause of advertisers and not seeing that people are likely to be ready to pay to be able to get rid of ads, they are being blind to the reality. Unless some sort of eye-sensor technology is invented that can scan the viewer's eye and automatically serve up relevant ads, people will hate most ads, period. Or alternatively if all ads cease to be ads and become less commerce and more content. TV ads, other than infomercials, are still very much based on the principle of pure commerce. Till that changes, I'd rather pay NOT to see them if I can afford it.
Found this on the rather entertaining Indexed. Holds true for me.
Perhaps it was the novelty factor (not too many of these around as far as I'm aware), or perhaps it was because I wasn't expecting it in the paper, but this advertorial for Kellogg's Nature's Pleasure made me smile.
Louis Vuitton, the world's most powerful luxury brand according to Forbes, isn't really #1 without a reason (apart from 3/4ths of Japan's female population contributing to their coffers in large numbers year after year that is): they make an effort to create a unique brand identity. This year, to celebrate six years of their association, Takashi Murakami has created a manga cartoon called Superflat First Love for Louis Vuitton. It is in keeping with rule #1 of manga: be bizarre. OK, I'm being a little harsh - my knowledge of manga extends to watching Paprika and a bit of Pokémon, if that qualifies! But you know what I mean.
The video is a bit like a weird Japanese Alice in Wonderland-meets-Louis Vuitton thing. I quite like it.
Noticed this in Soho a few weeks ago. I admit the first thing that made me look was the Woolworth's font. Except that it said 'Worthless'.....which is not too far from the truth, though I was mildly interested to know that they've relaunched as an online store following their closing down a few months ago. Anyway, this group, called the Pollocks Group is ostensibly a network of young rebels that in this instance offered to transform any old piece of junk you brought in into a piece of art, and in return only asked that you pay what you thought the finished item was worth. It was a week-long event (I saw the poster only after the event), but it got me thinking about this sentiment of pay-what-you-think-it's-worth that seems to be going around. This particular event was also 'inspired by the recession' and came about because the group was 'compelled to create something positive'.
This image has just stuck in my mind. Spotted on Fubiz again.
