Because I composite images - a big part of my creative life involves sitting at a computer - not my favorite sport. What helps is my use of music as an evocative creative aid. I saturate my spirit with music, and time disappears while I live inside my images. As I work, the music creates an immersive experience that helps me pull imagery together - looking for similar frequencies in different images, so that when they are edited together it feels seamless.
I have a few playlists on iTunes that I occasionally use for working, but my best tool is my record player. Yup, vinyl is a big part of my studio time. Not only is the music wonderful, but it also acts as a timer, making sure I move and shift my visual focus every 20-25 minutes when I have to get up and turn the record over. Instrumentals work best, but I’ve also got some vocals that work well. I especially love soundtracks because that music was specifically designed to amplify visuals, allowing me to get lost in where the image is taking me.
There’s a part of this experience that is also rooted in ritual - a series of steps that prepare me to step into a creative space. Turning on the tuner, selecting the album, pulling out the record, feeling the weight balanced on the edges as I turn to find the best side, then placing it on the turntable, lowering the needle (with a satisfying echo in the speakers) and finally, hearing those first few notes bounce off the studio walls. While it probably pales in comparison to Bob Fosse’s alter ego Joe Gideon’s morning ritual, it’s mine - and my brain knows it’s time to get its ass outta bed and get ready to work!
Here are a few of my favs:
Instrumentals
Jon Batiste: Beethoven Blues: side one is the most played, it’s got “Fur Elise,” “Moonlight Sonata” and “American Symphony Theme”…side two is a bit intense.
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone: I tend to play sides A & B the most. Some of these are perhaps the most beautiful melodies ever written.
Chet Baker & Bill Evans: Alone Together - these are ballads. You’ll recognize many of the songs, but the two of them really take me to another world.
Miles Davis, Kind of Blue: my son gave me this - said it was a foundational album for jazz, and I agree.
Verve, The Genius of Coleman Hawkins: originally I had this on CD and it was one of the first vinyls I searched for when I got my turntable.
Shirley Scott: Hip Twist with the help of Stan Turrentine - this is such a dreamy, jazzy space, I can’t recommend it enough!
John Coltrane Quartet: Ballads - some I knew, others were way before my time. I would like to call out the amazing portrait/album cover though. That’s something you miss with digital music - getting to devour the album from the cover through to the liner notes while you listen.
Stewart Copeland, Rumble Fish: great soundtrack, energetic and very percussive (obviously).
For Vocals:
The Moderns: soundtrack that I play when I’m imagining I’m living in Paris. There’s an especially scratchy, lovely “Parlez-Moi D’Amour” on side two.
Phoebe Snow: Both Phoebe Snow (her first) and Second Childhood have her beautiful voice and flowing melodies. On Phoebe Snow I start with side B - “Take Your Children Home” is a dream.
Frank Sinatra: In the Wee Small Hours: from the back cover “as he sang, he created the loneliest early-morning mood in the world.”
Joni Mitchell and the L.A. Express Miles of Aisles: this live album was recorded at Universal Amphitheatre in the ‘70s…side four is my fav, but I play the whole double album.
Coldplay: Moon Music - more contemporary and joyful
Verve: Great Women of Song, Astrud Gilberto - OMG, she’s beyond cool. “The Girl from Ipanema” with Stan Getz on tenor sax is such a classic song - definitely in the joyful category. Love both sides.
Sade: Promise - I’ve loved this forever, her beautiful voice is beyond atmospheric.
Suggestions?
Your image is so evocative, otherworldly, spiritual. Beautiful!
Great article and I Love the Musical Choices! Thanks for sharing