Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Nashville Electric: Orson's Folly

10

Nashville Electric: Orson's Folly

By

Sign in to view read count
Nashville Electric: Orson's Folly
This is not an ambient-electronic, celestial voyage or new age type gala. In fact, it's a scoring of actor, director Orson Welles' "Four Men on a Raft" sequence from his 1942 documentary It's All True. This was a film that the US Government expected to be sugarcoated as part of a cultural exchange program with Brazil. In turn, expectations were not met and the film's budget was severely hacked leaving Welles with black & white footage without sound. Therefore, Nashville Electric provides a backdrop of sorts, complete with synths, effects mechanisms, violin and guitar that comprises the band's instrumental makeup.

Not having seen the film, I'm guessing the quartet tried to instill a musical portraiture paralleled by some of Welles' innovative camera techniques and lighting processes within the scope of their somewhat angular soundtrack developments and insinuated imagery. The band executes layers with intersecting effects amid a polytonal array of powerfully rendered sound-sculpting maneuvers on these three extended works. With streaming synths via a few vivid dreamscapes and burgeoning bass lines, guitarist Ed Pettersen and violinist Tracy Silverman add a zesty electro-acoustic element throughout. Various activities project a sense of time travel as the artists fuse wavy and reverberating passages rather seamlessly.

Silverman's cyclical staccato notes on "Orson's Folly Part I" helps establish a shadowy vista among the eerie electronics permutations, where a primary theme seems to evolve out of nowhere. But the final bonus track was recorded in concert/film screening at The Stone Fox venue in Nashville, TN. Overall, this is electronic music that is a tad more experimental than the norm, complete with multidimensional excursions and a horde of persuasive schematics.

Track Listing

Orson's Folly Part 1; Orson's Folly Part 2; Orson's Folly Part 3 (Closing credits-live at the Stone Fox, Nashville TN)

Personnel

Tracy Silverman: electric 6-string violin and effects; Ryan Norris: keyboards and effects; Dylan Simon: EMI, 101 synthesizer and Echoplex; Ed Pettersen: guitars and effects.

Album information

Title: Orson's Folly | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Edgetone Records

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.
View events near Nashville
Jazz Near Nashville
Events Guide | Venue Guide | Local Businesses | More...

More

Sensual
Rachel Z
Over and Over
Tony Monaco Trio
Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.