10 Seconds: Naomi Gee Wright
1. Terence Blanchard - Fu Montage (4'15" - 4'25")
from ‘25th Hour’ OST ( 2002)
"A masterclass on writing with strings, and on playing.
I just love the way Terence’s sound rises up and out and cuts through the strings so beautifully and movingly.
A total inspiration."
2. The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (0'32" - 0'42")
from The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed (1969)
"Keith Richards' iconic guitar riff…it is suspended in air ,almost as if it has been playing forever yet so rooted and earthy. I love the power that the piano bass note brings to the groove and the way this opening builds so brilliantly into the start of the song.
The late 60’s, early 70’s feeling is visceral but yet it feels so timeless and deep. I love how just a few seconds can make or break a song. I also love how Keith’s guitar sound is so connected to Mick Jagger’s voice when he starts to sing a few seconds later.
3. Ry Cooder - Paris, Texas (3'50" - 4'00")
from Paris, Texas OST (1984 )
"In these 10 seconds, I can feel the space and expanse of the desert. All at once a loneliness but at the same time, a confidence in that feeling and a comforting warmth and a kind of inevitability about life. I can see the tumbleweeds and the long desert roads but also a huge humanity. The genius of it having been made for film but standing so beautifully as music in its own right. So inspiring."
4. Prince - While My Guitar Gently Weeps (3'28" - 3'38")
from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction Ceremony (2004)
"Well what can I say… it’s Prince.
This is how to solo, to build a solo and own your sound, to play music, to show yourself as an artist all in these few seconds. It's like he’s saying "I’m here" with meaning, "I know what I have to say and you will listen", and it’s all done with such ease."
5. Benjamin Britten: Suite For Cello No.1, Opus 72 Bordone, Moderato Quasi Recitativo (1'43" - 1'53")
played here by Mstislav Rostropovich (composed in 1964)
"A truly great composer played here by a truly great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. I hear so much in these seconds of music.. firstly , writing these techniques for cello at the time was unusual ( Just a few seconds before this, he uses a drone with left hand pizzicato) and the use of a drone D underneath feels like many folk musics - Middle Eastern, Indian, Irish. There is such an improvisatory quality to this.
How Britten’s energy can produce this whole magical dark and deep sound world, so edgy like it is living in some kind of underworld.. all this for the solo cello is astonishing to me. It cuts through genres I feel, and into something completely new for its time, but it still stands the test of time."
6. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Tumhein Dillagi Bhool Jani Paray Gi (8'50" - 9'00")
from Bewafa Se Bhi Ayar hota Hai
"His technical ability, virtuosity and control, but also his ability to express a human emotion beyond words is captured here. I am drawn in my thoughts and feelings to firstly the possibility of what our voices can achieve and how at the same time as this vocal mastery a kind of sufi, mystical spiritual rapture and depth is produced.
7. Bjork - Joga (0'14" - 0'24")
from Bjork - Joga 1997)
"The sound of only Bjork’s voice with the cello (and possibly viola) 5ths is hauntingly beautiful.. I get goosebumps every time hearing this. The sound of cello and voice works so beautifully together and
in these few seconds you can feel nature rumbling away,,, those volcanic landscapes of Iceland. Yet it feels so deeply personal like it is about our inner landscape. Just brilliant."
8. Earth, Wind & Fire - Fantasy (00'09" - 00'19")
from Earth, Wind & Fire - All ’n All (1977)
"The bright atmosphere set up by the harpsichord..it is cosmic 70’s, mysterious and also so uplifting, positive and exciting for what’s to come next in the song when the groove kicks in. I love how the music slows down into the cadence and how the groove then picks up and is lifted by the strings.
So much detail and utter cleverness here. Makes me smile and dance every time."
9. Egberto Gismonti - Palhaco (00'08" - 00'18")
from Egberto Gismonti - Circence (1980)
" Such a soulful and almost crying melody but at the same time, uplifting and positive. So voice like. This particular few seconds is searching but in such a reassuring way. You kind of know it will be alright."
10. Joni Mitchell - In France They Kiss On Main Street (3'06" - 3'16")
from Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1976)
"The way Joni can tell a story and depict a feeling of a scene is extraordinary and completely unique.
I can just see her vivid descriptions so clearly but also her voice at the end of this track in these 10 seconds has such incredible vocal control, range and tuning and the little turn at the end of her upwards glissando. So amazing. The end of this always reminds me of the start of the next track on this album...they are wild and so is Joni in her sophisticated and graceful way."
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