REWORKING THE OLD....
Last weekend I went along to see PMJ or Scot Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox. It is a group that rework pop songs into vintage genres, usually swing and jazz.
It was something new to me.
And frankly I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would (I"m not that keen on jazz). But WOW, this ensemble had some amazing voices.
The renditions of pop songs such as Radiohead's Creep, Jet's Are You Gonna be My Girl and Guns N Roses Sweet Child of Mine were awesome.
Of course this is not a new thing. Taking something, often classic, and rejigging it. Giving it an update or a new twist.
There have been so many novels (short stories and poems) using fairytales as bases. Whether it has been the traditional Cinderella or Red Riding Hood...mermaids and beasts....wicked witches and princesses locked up in towers, or Snow Queens on the hunt.
Some have worked a lot better than others. Some have been so close to the original you want to ask the question 'why bother?' Others have only a tenuous link.
It all comes down to what you do with it. And your voice. As I said before, the artists from PMJ had huge voices. Each artist claimed the song as theirs. Added their own intonation, their presentation. It added power and something unique to a known quantity...in this case a pop song.
Nothing is new. Everything is a retelling, of one kind or another. It's just up to us to capture our uniqueness and our voice to make it ours.
Vicki
It was something new to me.
And frankly I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would (I"m not that keen on jazz). But WOW, this ensemble had some amazing voices.
The renditions of pop songs such as Radiohead's Creep, Jet's Are You Gonna be My Girl and Guns N Roses Sweet Child of Mine were awesome.
Of course this is not a new thing. Taking something, often classic, and rejigging it. Giving it an update or a new twist.
There have been so many novels (short stories and poems) using fairytales as bases. Whether it has been the traditional Cinderella or Red Riding Hood...mermaids and beasts....wicked witches and princesses locked up in towers, or Snow Queens on the hunt.
Some have worked a lot better than others. Some have been so close to the original you want to ask the question 'why bother?' Others have only a tenuous link.
It all comes down to what you do with it. And your voice. As I said before, the artists from PMJ had huge voices. Each artist claimed the song as theirs. Added their own intonation, their presentation. It added power and something unique to a known quantity...in this case a pop song.
Nothing is new. Everything is a retelling, of one kind or another. It's just up to us to capture our uniqueness and our voice to make it ours.
Vicki
Comments
Post a Comment