Performance > video mapping with music scores, drums, piano, 02 speakers (aprox. 1h per instrument)
Solo is a piece that deals with the learning process in music, more specifically in the jazz tradition. It seeks to unveil
to the public what hides
behind all those moments
of free improvisation
in concerts: namely, a routine of solitary,
repetitive, non-creative,
and often frustrating
practice by musicians.
Practice that is often based on learning solos from past masters.
One at a time, professional jazz musicians are invited to play themes whose solos have become iconic on their respective instruments. With no prior knowledge of the tracks, they rely solely on the reading of the score, projected in large format and synchronized with the original recording, which is transmitted through speakers. The exercise is repeated as many times as necessary so that the notes played live coincide with those heard by the audience on the recording. When the present and the past begin to merge, and the recording and the live performance overlap, the piece ends.
The title, Solo, evokes both the solitude of the musician offstage and the counter-intuitive nature of the task of faithfully reconstituting in the present what was in the past sheer improvisation.
One at a time, professional jazz musicians are invited to play themes whose solos have become iconic on their respective instruments. With no prior knowledge of the tracks, they rely solely on the reading of the score, projected in large format and synchronized with the original recording, which is transmitted through speakers. The exercise is repeated as many times as necessary so that the notes played live coincide with those heard by the audience on the recording. When the present and the past begin to merge, and the recording and the live performance overlap, the piece ends.
The title, Solo, evokes both the solitude of the musician offstage and the counter-intuitive nature of the task of faithfully reconstituting in the present what was in the past sheer improvisation.
Video teaser > performance at Ateliê 397 / Galpão Cru, São Paulo, BR
> Portuguese only
+ Critical reviews > Solo: uma partitura para descompassos
by Ana Paula Lopes and Cadu Gonçalves