Jacob Collier: Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough (2018 single)

Overlays himself with a grand piano that can loop, re-creating the vibe of Michael Jackson’s original using purely acoustic sound. Wild funky solo and lush harmonies as always. During the halfway point he goes into a time signature that I can’t figure out; anyone know?

Michel Camilo, Anthony Jackson, Horacio (El Negro) Hernandez: Calle 54 (2000)

An excerpt from the documentary about Latin jazz featuring some ways of playing the piano I haven’t seen before. The beginning more resembles something you might hear elsewhere, but I’m starting at the mid-section which has some very intense improvising with Latin rhythms. Impossible to sit still as they have too much fun creating this from nothing.

[It's hard to see how funny-shaped the box is from inside.]

I like people who can take pleasure in ordinary experience.

[The 'diamond model' describes expanding to generate lots of ideas without judgement, followed by the convergence towards making choices about what is pertinent.']

Information wants to be free but rent isn't.

[I don't apologize.]

If you're feeling intimidated, let them stretch you.

Pongo: Bruxos

At COLORSxSTUDIOS (2021). Massive sound in this body-shaker, both in the powerful voice and in the beat. The synthy flute about halfway in is a timbre I don’t hear often.

Carpenters: Top of the World

From A Song for You (1972). Caught me by surprise to hear this while looking for something in a local Asian supermarket—my mom used to sing it as a kind of showpiece and even recorded it once in a studio. Listening more closely, I hear for the first time that there’s electric piano everywhere, orchestral strings, and these cool IV-I cadences before the verses start.

Hundred Waters: Particle

From Currency (2017). Starts with delicate acoustic piano tones and chords. I usually find it interesting when to use blocky (predictable) patterns from techno music without the music feeling too repetitive; the constant contrast here makes it always dynamic and alive. Lots of triplets and dotted rhythms throughout, twice used in the melody to create this feeling of continuously moving, dropping (for example, around 57s). The lyrics and melody help evoke a sense of flying, soaring, falling.