A recurring question here at RAMH — thanks to its proprietor’s stubborn innocence of just about all art forms and languages other than written English — is: How does art/music/dance work, in the first place? It never fails to amaze me that our brains are wired somehow to respond emotionally, even physically, to artificial sensory stimuli — that is, to those which have no counterpart in the “real world.” And we respond that way cross-culturally; it’s obviously not really learned behavior, right?
NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts” series invites musicians and entire bands to perform “at the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen in the NPR Music office.” (“All Songs Considered” is the name of another NPR feature.) The above session featured Ballake Sissoko and Vincent Segal, who play, respectively, the “Malian kora” and the cello.
Says the page at the NPR site where I found this:
When the performance began, a hush came over the NPR crowd. Western ears don’t hear the kora often enough, and its natural beauty — combined with Sissoko’s mastery of the instrument — stunned those in attendance. But Segal wasn’t content to play, well, second fiddle. Halfway through the duo’s second song, “Balazando,” Segal adjusted his fingering and the angle of his bow, and all of a sudden, his cello turned into an African flute. If we’d had a third camera facing the crowd, you would have seen jaws hit the floor.
Yeah, I picked up on that, too: “don’t hear the kora often enough.” Like I’d heard it before at all. Still, that moment with the cello is indeed a jaw-dropping one.
[Thanks, Jules, for the heads-up to this video!]
Nance says
Randomly…
Sometimes I hear something that makes me think I’ve never really heard music before. Live performances by Joshua Bell are like that. Live performances by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and also his video, “Throw Down Your Heart”…some instruments and some sounds that were brand new to me on that film. And this, which fulfills a musical need I didn’t even know I had. Now, of course, I have to subscribe, download the video, and get that thing I always want when I encounter something sublime: more, more, more.
A couple of years ago, while walking down the street in Asheville, NC–a town I adore for both music and food–I met a kid walking toward me with a huge instrument I’d never seen. I had to stop and ask, learning it was a kora, which had just been shipped to him from Africa. He said he couldn’t play it yet, had only seen one played, but I asked him to try. He made beautiful sounds without even knowing what he was doing.
And, now, off to send this link to my son, the audio engineer with an exquisite ear. He’ll run it through his mystical system and take it in through his pores. I’ll be his hero today.
DarcKnyt says
I like jaw-dropping musical moments, I have to confess. My first wife was a musician, and I learned a great deal about music and subtleties I never thought about. But jaw-dropping moments are still cool.
And, I can even watch the video now, too. :)
The Querulous Squirrel says
Hauntingly beautiful music to start my day. Thanks.
John says
Nance: “…fulfills a musical need I didn’t even know I had.” Lovely way to put it.
And Asheville — a magic word around these parts. The Missus and I have been there only a few times, but it’s one of those “significant” places in our life together, a real touchstone. (My brother owns some land up there, too.) I can easily picture the scene you describe happening on a street there!
John says
Darc: Oh, man, I’d love to know somebody who could explain even a thimbleful of the stadium-sized block of stuff I don’t know about music. :)
Big grin at your Internet video-watching… technology to stop our forefathers in their tracks!