Monday, April 8, 2013

Terrason's Gouache; Branker's Uppity - Bob Stewart



Making a bold statement in the worlds of art or music demands the use of tools and mediums that strike the observer immediately. Painters like Henri Matisse have used gouache paint, a heavy opaque watercolor, for its strong, dynamic color and consistency for a striking visual effect. Highly regarded pianist and composer Jacky Terrasson has decided to mirror these pronounced effects with a well-selected assemblage of musical tools-songs and musicians-to appear on his new CD, "Gouache." Terrasson performs a number of originals alongside classics by Erik Satie and Sonny Rollins, which contrast with new classics from Amy Winehouse, John Lennon and Justin Bieber.
Anthony Branker is director of Jazz Studies at Princeton University. As a composer, his music has been featured at festivals, concerts and clubs all over the world. All About Jazz describes him as "...a serious composer who does a lot more than write tunes...his music is steeped in the deeper sources of jazz." While addressing such themes as intolerance, hate and prejudice, Branker's new CD -- "Uppity" -- strives to remind us of the power and resiliency of the human spirit as we continue the struggle for a truly tolerant and color-blind society. Along with his band Word Play, Branker has created a thoroughly musical work that will certainly be considered one of his more important projects to date.

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