Soul In Horns

Antidote to Fake Music

The first aspect of Beauty that I’ve been considering is basically the soul of the horn. Every once in a while I find myself hearing Pick Up the Pieces by AWB and it never ceases to get me going. And although I grew up as a big funk phreak, there’s something more to horns than that. This morning this is the thing that crystalized it.

Aside from the dynamism, where we go as listeners or as players from the low steady drone to the crisp crescendo, there is the layering. There’s something about the ragged edges of forty people doing something almost exactly in unison and then some stepping in and stepping up while others tone down and step out. Listen for it and it amazes every time.

I can remember, and you probably could too, listening to the throne room theme from Star Wars go all majestic and pompous then in tweaks cute little R2D2 and it draws to the climax and BOOM we blast in trumpets for the main theme. Just magical. Jerks tears just describing it.

This is an astonishingly emotional two minutes, because we know the story. There’s honor, earnestness, flirtation, humor, joy. One thing I’d make a long bet on is that humanity will be playing John Williams’ music 100 years from today. The Imperial March / Darth Vader’s Theme will not fade from memory for a long time.

When I think about funky horns and what they do that no other instruments manage is to complement the voice by laying in a thick thematic chorus behind the melody and then punctuate it at just the right times. Nothing quite illustrates this like this short set on the Tiny Desk with Tower of Power. If you have 20 minutes, treat yourself.

If you don’t, well come back tomorrow when you do. What’s hip today just might become passé, but if it’s great, it will come back.