Possible Fusion of Certain Genres - Term Paper Example

Title: Critical Assessment of Two Music Reviews about ‘The Pursuit’ by Jamie Cullum A deeper look into an evaluation made by Sally Feller for ‘The Pursuit’ generally feels like Jamie Cullum has reached a sufficient mastery of his craft with jazz and the possible fusion of certain genres to it in several respects. As a consequence, the album appears to have acquired themes that gather to an aesthetic substance from which to infer on Cullum’s surprising ability to vary his musical styles through instrumentation with pop, classic, soft rock, and some influences both past and contemporary, he might have thought to rightfully fit in his jazz-filled creation (Feller). In her review, Feller recognized ‘The Pursuit’ under an aesthetic criteria based on how Jamie Cullum was able to improvise with the chosen original compositions and her critique feels that Cullum made his own version direct a totally unique course so the music, as in Cole Porter’s ‘Just One of Those Things’ comes out familiar yet strangely phenomenal. The article reflects a cheerful acknowledgment of the ways pop, Broadway, R&B, hip hop, club jams, and classics become ingredients that dish up the album in the fashion Jamie would prefer to give shape to his own rendition of a few covers whose chief elements have not neglected to show their origins even as Cullum placed them on his special diversion (Feller). As such, Feller acclaims ‘I’m All Over It’ which to her sounds both heavy and energetic with piano and drums respectively, so much so that the sad content of the lyrics overpowers and brings a notice less significant than instrument work. According to her, this establishes a good introduction of the musician’s profile and personal selection while ‘Wheels’ was made for the audience to be insightful about the apocalypse in which the abrupt pacing with the piano play makes the lyrical turn highly volatile to affect a listener’s mood with progressive wildness. ‘You and Me are Gone’ in the same manner passed the reviewer’s scrutiny as she takes delight in sounds that pull off the swing in the typical 1940s setting and dance attitude at the time. There even is a point when a jazz waltz by tradition melts with songs that are rather expected to comprise the atmosphere in a chill out lounge. More uplifting remarks are given to ‘Mixtape’ which is a track that’s presumably competent of implying to the audience what ‘The Portrait’ is made of, as in the touch of an inner impression such album ought to be planned by the composer. Within pop tune, Sally’s assessment speaks of a collection that depicts Cullum’s contrasting preferences but whose blend provides distinct identity for the musician as the song presents how well the latter has been capable of unifying genres that are impossibly miscible by nature. She further acclaims melodic simplicity in ‘If I Ruled the World,’ a cover of a Leslie Bricusse song, which when combined with the complex voices of Cullum yields a ballad type that is unexpectedly laden for a classical piano. On the other hand, reviewer minorsecond forms a more critical evaluation of ‘The Pursuit’ by first briefly stating his progress of the knowledge with the potentials that Jamie Cullum possesses through ‘Pointless Nostalgic’ and ‘Twentysomething’, which are second and third of collections by Cullum before minorsecond skips Catching Tales to shift focus to explore on other jazz artists for a change. Perhaps due to his vast experience as a part of the consistent audience of jazz performances, he manages having to point out which tracks of ‘The Pursuit’ might or would not be looked forward to after the first encounter by a jazz lover in his curious and professional mode of listening (minorsecond). To him, the train effect of the beat that goes along with ‘Wheels’ is seemingly repetitive and may receive a justified response to boredom despite Cullum’s percussive efforts. While minorsecond and Feller both agree on being sensible at determining the main strengths of Jamie Cullum that lead mostly to an aesthetic merit with his experimental tasks, the former still observes musical patterns and instrumental sections that manifest subject more clichéd than getting identified as one of its kind. In particular, he catches ‘Love Ain’t Gonna Let You Down’ with random and lame recognition of rhythm. His review, like Feller does to some extent, figures that the presence of ‘We Run Things’ and ‘Not While I’m Around’, a Sweeney Todd ditty, would certainly spark interest of common trippers yet only a slight approval from the jazz culture where much genius is anticipated on the horn sections regardless of vibe solos and other components whether or not prominently indicative of the prevailing themes (minorsecond). By marking 3.0 on his assessment of ‘The Pursuit’, minorsecond somewhere fairly measures in similarity with the opinions raised by Sally Feller. With ‘Don’t Stop the Music’, they converge at liking to mellow with Cullum’s own nostalgic making of the song Rihanna could not have foreseen to get better with a jazz expert’s increasing wonder with piano work. Additionally, even if minorsecond admits the idea in ‘Mixtape’ to have been carried out several times over, it is the subject of the music, of the wonderful difficulty of trying to win someone over, that has enticed the reviewer to buy into this track. Similarly, he shares an equivalent, positive sentiment on recognizing ‘I Think I Love’, ‘If I Ruled the World’, and ‘You and Me are Gone for which he gets less severe on concentrating into the technical side to go in hand with the lyrical pieces. Backtracking with a Tony Bennett original and rowdy swings driven under exquisite vibrato and along inspiringly rendered piano solos, microsecond accepts these portions of ‘The Pursuit’ beyond ordinary appreciation (minorsecond). Overall, he builds verdict for the album around Cullum’s unconscious failure of taking more pop than the much-desired jazz into the scene. Discography inclusive of: 1. Just One Of Those Things 2. I’m All Over It 3. Wheels 4. If I Ruled The World 5. You And Me Are Gone 6. Don’t Stop The Music 7. Love Ain’t Gonna Let You Down 8. Mixtape 9. I Think I Love 10. We Run Things 11. Not While I’m Around References Feller, Sally. CD Review: Jamie Cullum/The Pursuit. Retrieved from http://theywillrockyou.com/2010/02/cd-review-jamie-cullum-pursuit/. Minorsecond. Jamie Cullum The Pursuit. Retrieved from http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/35820/Jamie-Cullum-The-Pursuit/. Read More