World Famous Comics: Jason the Fogmaster Touch the Sound - A Sound Journey With Evelyn Glennie
Jason the Fogmaster Touch the Sound - A Sound Journey With Evelyn Glennie
Starring: Evelyn Glennie, Fred Frith, Jason the Fogmaster Directed By: Thomas Riedelsheimer Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.75:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC Label: New Video Group Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: May 30, 2006 Running Time: 98 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Product Description: In RIVERS AND TIDES German documentarian Thomas Riedelsheimer explored the enchanting and hypnotic "nature" art-installations of Andy Goldsworthy. Now with TOUCH THE SOUND he turns his camera on nearly deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie who experiences sound as a kind of touching or vibration. Using Glennie's unique musical sensibilities as a jumping-off point Riedelsheimer introduces the viewer to an amazing sonic realm that we all know but rarely appreciate--a world of tapping sputtering clanging rustling rhythms. The drone of a suitcase's wheels on concrete interrupted by the periodic zing of a zipper the crackling of an icy pond the echoic clang of metal scaffolding struck by Glennie's shoe--these sounds become in Riedelsheimer's skilled hands moments of revelation. Watching this film viewers will feel like they are hearing the world for the first time.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 767685975534 Manufacturer No: NVG-9755
Amazon.com: Subtitled "A Sound Journey with Evelyn Glennie," German director Thomas Riedelsheimer's exquisite Touch the Sound is nominally a portrait of the Scottish musician known as "the first full-time solo percussionist." Glennie is certainly a fascinating subject. Profoundly deaf since childhood, she disdains the use of hearing aids and sign language, relying instead on lip reading and, more crucially, on the use of all of her senses, especially touch, to "hear" with her entire body. The film reveals Glennie's extraordinary skills in a variety of settings: playing a snare drum for bemused New Yorkers in cavernous Grand Central Station; improvising with guitarist Fred Frith in an empty warehouse in Cologne, Germany (their final vibes-guitar duet is one of the film's musical highlights); working with hearing-impaired students in her native Aberdeenshire; jamming with taiko drummers in Japan, and later delighting customers in a Tokyo bar with a spontaneous workout involving chopsticks, dishes, cans, and glassware (the woman can make music with virtually anything). But Riedelsheimer, who was also the film's editor and cinematographer, has a broader agenda here--namely, to intensify our awareness of the sounds that surround us everywhere, in every moment. From the streets of New York to the beaches of Santa Cruz, from the rocky Scottish coastline to a tranquil Japanese rock garden, he links heightened audio, as clear and natural as the best ECM recordings, to a succession of gorgeous visual images to create a balance of complex detail and overall sparseness, resulting in a kind of Zen feast. Even more of the same is found in a "making of" featurette that's the highlight of the bonus material, making Touch the Sound easily one of the most rewarding documentaries in recent years. --Sam Graham
Wonderful This DVD is a must for everyone. It is an amazing revelation to the mystery of sound, percussion etc. Evelyn Glennie is just unbelievable and you just have to see to believe her amazing giftings.
Very nice. Touch the Sound (Thomas Riedelsheimer, 2004)
I've watched two Thomas Riedelsheimer films this month, and have had a great deal of trouble reviewing either one. (I had no idea this was by Riedelsheimer when I DVRed it; I knew only that it was about Evelyn Glennie.) What that says about my method of approaching the films of Thomas Riedelsheimer I don't know. What I do know is that the best way to approach them is to sit back and let them wash over you. When you lock yourself into a Riedelsheimer joint, you're going to be buffeted with a large number of very attractive, somewhat loosely-joined images. There's no denying his films are documentaries, but often they seem as if they're documentaries as such things would have been filmed by Seurat, had he access to a handheld video camera.
Touch the Sound seems to center on Evelyn Glennie's meetings with Fred Frith to record The Sugar Factory, but there's a lot more about Glennie than that short description would imply; playing in a subway station, a trip to Japan to study taiko drumming, teaching deaf school students the joy of percussion, other stuff, all surrounded by that Thomas Riedelsheimer mystique, lots of environmental shots and the like that seem to have little to do with what's going on. (They do; you just have to turn your mind a little way off-center to figure out how.)
It should be noted, however, that a lot of people's reactions to this movie seem to hinge on whether or not they like the music being produced. This, of course, makes perfect sense, given that much of the movie's soundtrack comes from the Sugar Factory recordings; if avant-garde music isn't up your alley, you may want to give this one a pass. But, like all of Riedelsheimer's films, it's a very pretty thing, and worth watching. ***
Must-Have for percussionists I do not buy DVDs. That said, after renting this one I had to have it. I have watched it twice in the last month. There is so much eye candy that you never get enough. The music is complex enough to withstand repeated listening but accessible enough for the average musician. I also enjoy refreshing my memory with some of Evelyn's words of wisdom. Recommended for all musicians and cross-discipline artists. A must-have for percussionists.
Will open your eyes to what your ears often miss I liked this. This documentary presents the concept of sound in a way those of us who can hear don't usually think about. Evelyn Glennie is a percussionist who is deaf - something you don't normally see. This video captures her work, her philosophy, her style in an easy to follow format. While deaf, Ms. Glennie can speak quite articulately, and one has no difficulty following what she is saying. Her love of her work is quite evident, and will, oddly enough, open your eyes to what our ears so often miss.
Children of a Lesser God
Superb Inspiration This DVD is absolutely riveting. It's a true inspiration for anyone -- artists, musicians, writers. Evelyn Glennie's life is an inspiration and the film brilliantly tells us why.
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