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Overlooked: Aural Illusions (Audio)

Mar 22, 2024
Hosted by Rob Saffer.

This pre-recorded edition of “Overlooked” will explore fast music that appears to sound slow and slow music that appears to sound fast. Many listeners are aware of an optical illusion known as 'wagon wheel effect’ in which the spokes of a wheel appear to rotate more slowly, or appear stationary, and can even appear to rotate in the opposite direction (‘reverse rotation effect’). Though host Rob Saffer is unaware of a word to describe its aural counterpoint, he has had similar sensations of auditory illusions, and will use two performances from 1981 by pianist/composers Cecil Taylor and LaMonte Young to try and elicit similar reactions from listeners. For that to occur, it’s best to to play this program loudly and to listen very closely to musical details.

Playlist:
Overlooked Theme/Vitus Labrusca - Ben LaMar Gay
Garden I - Cecil Taylor
Garden II - Cecil Taylor
The Well Tuned Piano Part 4 - LaMonte Young

After the local news at noon, “Overlooked” is a show focusing on overlooked and under-heard jazz, improvisational, and other fringe music, from early roots to contemporary experiments, a mix of familiar to rare, classic to weird. Live from the shadow of Overlook Mountain in Ulster County.

Host Rob Saffer is the former Executive Director and Producer of the Creative Music Foundation. While living in Brooklyn for 25 years, he served on advisory boards for Celebrate Brooklyn and Symphony Space. He also curated the Brooklyn Museum’s summer jazz series and helped found The Mingus Big Band.

Overlooked Playlist Archive