SOUNDTRACK: GABRIEL GARZÓN MONTANO Tiny Desk Concert #623 (May 26, 2017)
I have no idea who Gabriel Garzón Montano is. The blurb suggests that even if I don’t know, others certainly do.
I was, admittedly, thrown for a loop when Gabriel Garzón-Montano told me that he wanted to perform unaccompanied, just him and a piano. The meticulousness of his work is clear on his debut album, Jardin, a three-year creative process in which Gabriel plays most of the instruments, tracking them to two-inch tape, layering its overall sound. Jardin takes its title as an umbrella; fruits, bugs and other plants are the driving metaphors tying together this dense work, which blooms over successive listens. Garzón-Montano doesn’t necessarily wear his heart on his sleeve — he forces you to listen and peel the layers back.
Garzón-Montano’s career trajectory veers wide — living with Philip Glass for a year while his late mother played in the composer’s ensemble, sitting under the minimal maestro’s piano as he practiced; Lenny Kravitz making possible his first tour experience; while Drake exposed Gabriel’s sound to the masses.
That decision to go it alone at the Tiny Desk made sense, though, the moment he started to play; his talent is left elegantly exposed in this unadorned performance. He says his visit to the Tiny Desk “with just piano and vocal reminds me of what is lost when a song is fully produced and arranged — it was an exciting and vulnerable experience. I was nervous for this one.”
Here then, are three songs from Jardin, along with the song that introduced Gabriel to the world… laid bare.
When I listened to this the first time I thought he played 2 longish songs but indeed, there are 4 shortish songs.
I really love the piano sound he gets but the r&b style of pop singing is not my thing and so many “babys.”
I singled out a few things in the songs. The line in “My Balloon” “I’ll get back on my balloon and meet my baby on the moon” I find endearing even if it is kinda dumb. I enjoyed the way “Long Ears” came seamlessly from the first song. It starts with a high note and falsetto vocals. It’s much more interesting than the first song. And the second half of “Long Ears” is quite interesting, almost dissonant–although I could do without the you you you section.
I thought the first line of “6 8” was “fuck me real slowly,” which was disconcerting. Especially since a later line was “I’m just like a baby drooling over you.” But I believe it is “rock me real slowly.” It segues cleanly into the final song, “Crawl.” I think he stars in the same falsetto but then switches to a deeper voice. I love the bouncy middle section that sounds like a musical. Although once again there’s too much oo ooo ooo ooo.
All of those vocalizings sound especially flat during an under produced occasion such as this.
[READ: April 26, 2017] “You Are Happy?”
This story was fairly straightforward, but it opened up a cultural aspect that I had no idea about.
The main character is Laskshman, an Indian boy living in the United States. As the story opens, we see Lakshman’s grandmother telling Lakshman’s father that he should break his wife’s arms and legs to prevent her from getting to the bottle.
Lakshman’s mother is an alcoholic, and, apparently, there is no greater disgrace for an Indian woman. At parties–parties that were usually segregated–she often joined the men and drank and gave her opinions, to the disgust of all present.
She had begun drinking was Lakshman was 8 and they moved to America. But by the time he was 9 she was drinking during dinner. When he turned 11 she was drinking during the day. His father had had enough. He stated matter of factly that she was a drunkard. Their marriage had been arranged and they never grew to love one another. This certainly didn’t help. (more…)
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