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R.I.P. Keith - and good luck, Chicago
9 years ago
I'm not going to try to be hyperbolic, but this was the worst news at the worst time for me.
Keith Emerson is easily, EASILY, one of my greatest heroes in music. I own the entire output ante-"Love Beach" of Emerson, Lake and Palmer on vinyl and CD, about 90% of the oeuvre of the Nice... his soundtracks, solo albums, ELPowell, the whole shebang... easily 50% of the piano pieces I perform off the top of my head are his. If any of you were at MFF over the last two years, you may have heard me pick out "Tarkus" and "Pirates" on the hotel piano...
The restless chromaticism, the chugging quartals, the racing sixteenths, the constant search for new sounds, the damage and protection you have to treat your babies with to coax the sounds out of... massive inspirations to not only my piano style but my whole way of thinking.
And to throw irony on top of irony, when I heard this, I had "Barbarian" playing on my headphones and "Hang on to a Dream: The Story of the Nice" in my bag; this week I was rehearsing his versions of "America" and "She Belongs To Me" for upcoming open mics. And I'm 90% certain I was listening to "Rondo" the moment he died. That's... that's rock star.
Christ. The first three months of 2016 and about half of my vinyl collection is dead. Ashes to ashes. Disturbing the waters of our lives.
Fuck.
I mean, nerve damage aside, it's still sad. I can't imagine losing your hands that far into a career, so much ahead of you... and I can sympathize, had it happened to me I wouldn't wait twenty years.
I would honestly say - can honestly say - that the fury, the emotion, the intelligence of his music was like 90% of my vaccine against my recurring depression over the past two years.
That someone can mitigate your depression at the same time as succumb to theirs is one of the most furious possible ironies.
I would be joining the anti-Trump protest going on several blocks away, but right now I need to play piano and cry.
*makes imaginary piano in front of her and plays "Rondo" furiously until her fingers bleed*
Keith Emerson is easily, EASILY, one of my greatest heroes in music. I own the entire output ante-"Love Beach" of Emerson, Lake and Palmer on vinyl and CD, about 90% of the oeuvre of the Nice... his soundtracks, solo albums, ELPowell, the whole shebang... easily 50% of the piano pieces I perform off the top of my head are his. If any of you were at MFF over the last two years, you may have heard me pick out "Tarkus" and "Pirates" on the hotel piano...
The restless chromaticism, the chugging quartals, the racing sixteenths, the constant search for new sounds, the damage and protection you have to treat your babies with to coax the sounds out of... massive inspirations to not only my piano style but my whole way of thinking.
And to throw irony on top of irony, when I heard this, I had "Barbarian" playing on my headphones and "Hang on to a Dream: The Story of the Nice" in my bag; this week I was rehearsing his versions of "America" and "She Belongs To Me" for upcoming open mics. And I'm 90% certain I was listening to "Rondo" the moment he died. That's... that's rock star.
Christ. The first three months of 2016 and about half of my vinyl collection is dead. Ashes to ashes. Disturbing the waters of our lives.
Fuck.
I mean, nerve damage aside, it's still sad. I can't imagine losing your hands that far into a career, so much ahead of you... and I can sympathize, had it happened to me I wouldn't wait twenty years.
I would honestly say - can honestly say - that the fury, the emotion, the intelligence of his music was like 90% of my vaccine against my recurring depression over the past two years.
That someone can mitigate your depression at the same time as succumb to theirs is one of the most furious possible ironies.
I would be joining the anti-Trump protest going on several blocks away, but right now I need to play piano and cry.
*makes imaginary piano in front of her and plays "Rondo" furiously until her fingers bleed*
Also, I had no idea that you played piano, or that you were such a big ELP fan. Both of those things are awesome.
"This isn't filling me with a lot of hope for november."
And whaddaya know
keep playin' on
I grew up listening to him; I think my mom has like everything he made before 1990.
It is a loss.