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Topic: Culture clash - Yo Yo Ma plays Jobim |
Andy Volk
From: Boston, MA
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Posted 3 Feb 2010 5:28 am
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I admire Yo Yo Ma's adventurous spirit in actively exploring folk, jazz and world music and his work with the Silk Road Ensemble is pioneering and often superb but this particular clip .... despite the accolades it seems all wrong to me. His feel, with those long, romantic legato lines, seems to clash with Rosa's natural, rhythmic, riding-the-wave,Bossa feel. It almost sounds like two different CDs playing at once that happen through serendipity to be in the same key. Is it just me?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiVo4sbLV8o&feature=related
Last edited by Andy Volk on 3 Feb 2010 11:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Bill Hatcher
From: Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 3 Feb 2010 8:09 am
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You are a very wise man. Also something about reading every note that is supposed to convey improv.
I would rather hear the girl singing and playing the guitar by herself. Great guitar chords and the real rhythm patterns you don't hear often enough. |
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Bo Legg
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Posted 5 Feb 2010 10:46 pm
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The cello performance was dull as most are but I did like the his scale selections notation or no. What do you expect from a cello player? You're not apt to see him jump up and smash it on the floor and set it on fire at the end of the show. Cellos are to expensive.
He will probably claim he paid more for that cello than all the other instruments combined in that video. A quality concert cello from china is over $10,000.
I would rate the sound quality of his cello on this video as "hope you can get your money back" but then again it could be just the quality of the video. |
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Nicholai Steindler
From: New York, USA
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Posted 6 Feb 2010 2:35 am
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Thanks for turning me on to Rosa Passos. She is great. Didn't need the cello really. |
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Andy Volk
From: Boston, MA
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Stephan Miller
From: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
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Posted 6 Feb 2010 9:49 pm
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Wow, tough crowd. It wasn't that bad. The mix was wrong, with the cello's volume tending to bury the guitar and take over the tune. Should have been recorded in a way that allowed the voice and guitar to lead the way. I mostly liked the cello part, but there should have been more pizzicato bits, they worked really well. And Yo-Yo Ma's obvious delight in the music was a plus.
Just curious-- can anybody see a steeler (your choice) doing better in this setting than Mr. Ma? |
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Andy Volk
From: Boston, MA
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Posted 7 Feb 2010 4:37 am
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Quote: |
Just curious-- can anybody see a steeler (your choice) doing better in this setting than Mr. Ma? |
Yes.
It wasn't the cello, it was the legato phrasing and rhythmic feel that was at odds with the bossa nova beat. Here's the ultimate example of a non-brazilian musician who internalized the beat to play the most perfect, sublime lines in solos and around the singer's lines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POXvY53pJcQ&feature=related
With the right feel. A steel guitar could sub for sax and cello quite well. Gilberto Gil used steel on some cuts on his his CD, Quanta. |
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