Trane" your eyes in 2 minutes!

Stephan Miller · Post by **Stephan Miller** » 10 Apr 2005 6:48 am

Check out this amazing little movie...go to http://www.michalevy.com then click on "Giant Steps", followed by "Watch Movie". The on-screen numbers go to 98, then it's showtime!

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 10 Apr 2005 7:13 am

Hey Stephan. Thanks. That was real entertaining and worth the wait on my dial-up ISP. I studied Giant Steps hard and intimately when I was a pianist in the early 70's so I was kind of thrown by the music editing but still....
I can definitely relate to the artist's architectural imagery in relation to Coltrane's construct.

Andy Greatrix · Post by **Andy Greatrix** » 10 Apr 2005 10:34 am

beautiful!
what came to mind, as I listened, was
"two five one, deja vu"!

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 11 Apr 2005 10:18 am

Gorgeous animation!

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 11 Apr 2005 11:25 am

That was superb! Thanks for the link. Reminds me to tip my hat also to the Disney animators who worked on Fatasia in the 30's and the pioneering work done by the National Film Board of Canada in the 60's.This animation builds (no pun intended) on their work.

Dave Giegerich · Post by **Dave Giegerich** » 14 Apr 2005 7:50 am

Thanks Steve, that is great.

Ron Randall · Post by **Ron Randall** » 14 Apr 2005 8:27 am

Fascinating.

Thanks

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 14 Apr 2005 11:35 am

fabulous!

I'd love to see something like that done with Emmons;Live @ ISGC '77 "At E's"

Jeff Au Hoy · Post by **Jeff Au Hoy** » 15 Apr 2005 6:48 am

Andy, is that the movie about the impact of MacDonalds restaurants in China?

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 15 Apr 2005 10:16 am

Jeff, that's the funniest interpretation of one of my numerous typos ever! [This message was edited by Andy Volk on 15 April 2005 at 11:16 AM.]

Andy Greatrix · Post by **Andy Greatrix** » 15 Apr 2005 10:46 am

Actually, Jeff, The big franchise success story in Mainland China is KFC. It's a big deal to be seen as successful enough to eat at KFC.
The rhythm of the melody of Giant Steps seems to be Saying(to me anyway) two five one, over and over.

Stephan Miller · Post by **Stephan Miller** » 17 Apr 2005 7:27 am

Guys-- glad you enjoyed this. It's really satisfying to me to see the high level of imagination of Coltrane's tune matched with such fidelity and invention. "Illustrating"
music visually...I guess it's commonplace in the world of dance...then there are "light shows"...but in film it's usually the other way around, with the sound track underlining the "action". If there's anything else this cool out there, I want to know about it.
Andy-- can you provide any more info about the Canadian Film Board stuff? I guess it was animation/short subjects also? Any titles or archive info?

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 17 Apr 2005 7:43 am

If you haven't seen it, Stephan, you will definitely want to see Godfrey Reggio's "Koyaanisqatsi" with score by Philip Glass. I know nothing about its process but it would seem to fit the category of "film driven by score".

Andy---oh yeah, it's II-V-I up the wazzooo for sure. But it runs cycles with roots based on diminished progressions. With a bass line that walks down in whole steps. It's downright mathmatical---architectural. But to me the amazing thing is that in Coltrane's hands it is not just an utterly brilliant contruction. It's deeply musical. That's a huge chasm that I never could bridge, myself. I played patterns and excercises over the changes but that was as far as I ever could get. I could impress someone by being able to navigate the changes (somewhat) but it never was actually "music". That's the certain something that separates the Tranes and the Birds from the average picker, grinner and music school grad. [This message was edited by Jon Light on 17 April 2005 at 08:54 AM.]

Stephan Miller · Post by **Stephan Miller** » 27 Jun 2005 7:36 pm

If you missed it the first time, here's another chance to catch this very short, very cool flick. --Steve

Cody Campbell · Post by **Cody Campbell** » 28 Jun 2005 7:34 pm

That is FANTASTIC. It's by far the greatest music video I have ever seen.

[And I have seen plenty of actual videos, too. (TOOL, RADIOHEAD. If you can stomach their music, the videos are cool. I was into that stuff in high school)].

This very colorfully animated, musically-inspired, short little movie is also one of the coolest things I've seen on a computer screen.

For those familiar with the tune: I found it notable how seemlessly he cut back to the head of the tune. I didn't even notice it at first, being pre-occupied with my amazement, and just not thinking about it. Then I watched it again right after it was over, showing it to my mom, dad, whoever walked by. The guy must have spliced it from the end of that solo right to the ending theme. I still can't even hear any kind imperfection/clue as to where it's cut.

I haven't gone and listened to it, but it just occured to me that the quartet might restate the theme after every solo, making it easy for the guy to cut the the stuff in the middle. He would have simply had to place the very last theme right after that sax solo.

Anyway...Very, very creative, inventive stuff. I am entertained as well as astounded. Thank you for showing it to us. -cody

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 28 Jun 2005 7:51 pm

Neat movie, but the book was better.