2010s – Page 8

PeakFiddler | Tam Lin (Glasgow Reel)

Regular contributor JB writes: “While the production values of this video are nothing to write home about, the musicianship is top notch. There are places where you would swear that the performer dubbed in a second violin track, but it’s a single track, with very skillful (and unobtrusive) use of double-stops and aural illusions (your ear hears a given element of a chord as continuing even when it’s not).

The same performer also recorded the guitar and banjo parts, but since he apparently views them as mere backdrops for the fiddle, he didn’t bother to use the ‘Hollywood Squares’ style of video. If you can listen to this tune without your heart rising and your pulse quickening, you’re probably deceased…”

PeakFiddler has no website, but does maintain some of the usual social media channels, all furnished with the same videos of live performance. But there’s no accompanying bio information to be found anywhere — other than that he’s “a musician living in the Northwest of England.” After a start in D minor, the tune transitions to A minor at 1:50.

Eleanor McCain | Up Where We Belong

In 2017, as a celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, Toronto-based singer Eleanor McCain released her sixth studio album, True North: The Canadian Songbook, a collection of 32 songs on CD, along with a stylish, bilingual coffee-table book. Each song was written by a Canadian, and ten different Canadian orchestras provided the lush musical accompaniment. The songs run the gamut of Canadian popular music, including covers of tunes by Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, k.d. lang, and The Guess Who. McCain’s classical training is evident throughout the performances.

The selection here, “Up Where We Belong”, was composed by songwriter, singer, and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie, along with Americans Jack Nitschke and Will Jennings.

We’ve featured the original version of the song, by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, from the An Officer and a Gentleman soundtrack. The original version features one modulation towards the end; Joe Cocker’s gruff vocals couldn’t be more different than McCain’s polished delivery. In this version, McCain is supported by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. There’s a whole-step modulation from D major to E major for the chorus at 1:32, followed by a reversion to D major for the next verse at 2:07. The pattern holds for the second verse and chorus. 3:24 sees a shift to G major for the bridge, then another transition into F major for an instrumental chorus at 3:39 before settling into Ab major for the duration at 3:23.

Franz von Chossy Quintet | Perpetual Lights

“Franz von Chossy was a Munich native who began playing the piano when he was 6,” (JazzInfo). “His mother introduced him to classical music and encouraged him to learn folk music. Franz went to Amsterdam to study at The Conservatoire of Amsterdam. He then moved to New York to attend the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Kenny Barron and Garry Dial, Dave Liebman and John Taylor. He also studied film composition with Edward Green in New York.

Franz has released numerous critically acclaimed CDs under his own name, as well as his quintet and his trio. Franz has played in Europe, America, Canada, Asia, India, Jordan, and Syria as well as Africa (Tunisia and Morocco) and Asia. Franz is a valuable member of jazz groups such as the Pascal Schumacher Quartet or Arifa. His ability to improvise … allows him seamlessly switch between styles …”

“The new suite from the Franz von Chossy Quintet, When the World Comes Home, is a musical interpretation of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise,” (JazzSick Records). “Von Chossy’s evocative piano playing moves between jazz and classical music and infused with fresh, contemporary accents by his band. Inspired by his collaboration with the Metropole Orchestra, he composed a cinema-like suite with Adam, Eve, and the fall of man as its points of departure … When the World Comes Home features an extraordinary line-up of piano, drums, cello, violin and clarinet.”

“Perpetual Lights,” the album’s opening track, is an ambitious piece of more than eight minutes in length. One of the few through-lines from start to finish is a restless subdivision of each beat into 16th notes — softly stated by the percussion or carried only by the piano. At other times, the 16ths grow into an overlay for something close to a straight-ahead rock groove, all the more noticeable because the melody often features sustained notes and phrases. The unusual instrumentation jumps out here and there: we hear a cello where we’d expect a bass; the violin and clarinet speak as one at first, then jump into dialogue. The piece starts in Eb, shifts to Bb minor at 1:09, then changes to C minor at 1:28. More changes in tonality follow.

Lauren Alaina | Pretty

Lauren Alaina was the runner-up on the tenth season of the American reality TV show American Idol, and “Pretty” is the final track on her 2017 album Road Less Travelled.

“This album is everything about me,” Alaina said in an interview with iHeart. “I didn’t really get to write the first album because I was at American Idol, I came off the show, and I was using that momentum to try to get the album out as fast as possible, to use that momentum. And this album I wrote for four years and had a lot of big changes in that time. My parents went through a divorce, and my dad’s an alcoholic and he went to rehab, I overcame an eating disorder — lots of really big changes. I moved to Nashville, I fell in love, all of these crazy life-changing things happened, and the whole album is about all of that. I feel like I’m really introducing myself to the world officially with this album, so hopefully they like me.”

The song is in F and modulates up a step to G at 3:25 for the final chorus.

Crazier Than You (from “The Addams Family”)

“Crazier Than You” is from the 2010 Broadway musical The Addams Family, with a Tony-nominated score by Andrew Lippa. The song, sung by Lucas and Wednesday in Act 2, gives them an opportunity to express their love for each other.

The verses of the tune are set in D while the choruses modulate down to different keys: the first chorus, at 0:41, is in Bb, and the second at 1:26 is in C. The third chorus returns us to Bb at 2:07, and the final chorus subverts expectations by shifting up a half step to B at 2:24.

The Piano Guys | Arwen’s Vigil

The Piano Guys, a piano/cello duo featured on MotD before, describe the genesis of Arwen’s Vigil on their website as follows:

“When Aragorn was abroad, from afar Arwen watched over him in thought” –Lord of the Rings

“After signing with Sony we were putting together our first official release. Just before the deadline, we looked at the song list and all agreed the album needed to include a new original piece. But we had 48 hours…

As we prayed for help Jon recalled a tune he had almost included in a solo album, but for reasons he couldn’t remember he had not finished it. It was just the compositional catalyst we needed. Al, Steve, and Jon had the track written, recorded, mixed, mastered and handed off to press with minutes to spare. It needed a name. We felt like the tune was the personification of a storybook character – someone that was in need or in distress, but who harbored an inextinguishable hope. We went through several drafts and notions, finally arriving upon Arwen, daughter of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings. The Gaelic, Celtic feel that had naturally eventuated in the music sounded as an “elven” edge that seemed to fit this beautiful story – of Arwen’s timeless devotion to Aragorn as she waited for him to return for a mission that seemed doomed from its beginning. Convinced by her father to abandon her vigil for her own sake she turned back to wait once more as she saw in vision her future child, her son with Aragorn.

We filmed this in the Italian Gardens at Thanksgiving Point in Utah. As we write and as we film we try to find the “flow” – letting composition and cinematography lead out as much as possible. The autumn weather proved extremely volatile. One minute we had the sun, then the next rain, then snow, then sun again. We used this as best we could, letting the constant battle between clouds and sun match the conflict between despair and hope in the story and in the music. We furthered this dichotomy with day and night scenes – representing intense longing keeping faith in the future alive.”

The track starts in E minor and modulates up a step to F minor at 1:52.

Da Capo | You Don’t Know Me

*This is the fifth and final installment of a weeklong series featuring covers of the 1956 song “You Don’t Know Me”*

The Da Capo singers were a barbershop quartet based in DC; according to the group’s Facebook page, they disbanded in 2017. This performance of “You Don’t Know Me,” arranged by Jim Clancy, was recorded live in 2016 at the Barbershop Harmony Society International Convention, held in Nashville, Tennessee. It begins in D and modulates up to Eb at 2:34.

Brenna Whitaker | Black and Gold

Brenna Whitaker, an L.A.-based vocalist, released her eponymous debut album in 2015, which features “Black and Gold” as the lead track. Whitaker counts Peggy Lee and Etta James among her influences, and her voice caught the attention of David Foster, who helped her develop her sound and produced her record.

Black and Gold, originally written and recorded in 2008 by Sam Sparro and Jesse Rogg, was a top-20 hit across Europe and was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the Grammy Awards. Whitaker’s cover begins in C minor and shifts up a half step to C# at 3:33.

Haley Reinhart | The Letter

“The Letter,” originally written and recorded (and a #1 hit) in 1967 by the American rock band The Box Tops, is featured on Hailey Reinhard’s 2017 album What’s That Sound?

Reinhart, whose career jumpstarted with her third-place finish in the 10th season of American Idol in 2010, said in an interview with Variety that the song “is such a cool, timeless tune. One of my earliest memories is crowding around my grandma’s piano listening to my Aunt Janice and Uncle Tom sing and play it. My uncle can sound just like Alex Chilton and the Box Tops with his guttural, sandpaper-like tone, while my aunt would harmonize with her soulful pipes. I thought it would be really neat to bring it up a couple of keys and give a woman’s take on the tune. It’s such a unique, upbeat song with gritty vocals, horns and sweeping strings. It’s become a pop standard to many and I’m so happy I got to put my own spin on it.”

Reinhart has performed and toured with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, and is preparing to tour on her own later this year.

The track is in D minor and briefly shifts up to Gb major at 1:41 for the outro.

Safer (from “First Date”)

“Safer” is from the 2013 Broadway musical by Austin Winsberg (book), Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner (music and lyrics). The song comes about halfway through the show, as Casey is wondering if she is getting in her own way in looking for a relationship. The track, performed here by original cast member Krysta Rodriguez, begins in Ab and modulates up a half step to A at 2:25.