Just a quick little commentary on something that has been on my mind for a minute… I was inspired to write this post because I have been giving a lot of thought to why some music after it receives its initial adulation sometimes can receive a negative connotation as soft, sappy or less than. Listen, I love hard rocking three chord montys as much as the next person, but I also love beautiful melodies, lush harmonies and productions that ooze sophistication.
It’s sort of like clothes: I wear certain clothes to cut the grass, play ball, go to work, go to a wedding, and on and on you get the point. I gravitate to the sonically sophisticated not as an aural elitist but because I like pretty sounds, just like I like gritty sounds. So today I will celebrate and not malign the Sonic Sophistication of these three selections. There are many more, that we will explore together.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
