Mark Ronson
Is it just me?
I don’t know if you agree but isn’t Mark Ronson doing great for music! This is the man behind Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and many other artists.
Until a little while ago I was a Trombone player, trying to break in to the industry to make a living. Admittedly it was a pipe dream but I had the opportunity to try. At that time brass in my opinion was dead in mainstream music, no one seemed to use the unique sound created by a brass section in their music.
What Mark has done
To me it seems he has breathed life back into brass (excuse the pun) with artistic input into Amy Winehouse’s Cover of Valerie (The Zutons) and also the original Back to Black produced by Mark, Not forgetting the Hit he had with Lily Allen Oh My God (Kaiser Chiefs) And Apply some pressure (Maximo Park) In my opinion he made this song excellent!
Take a look at these videos taken from you-tube one being the track featuring Paul Smith from Maximo park, the other being the version written and performed for BBC Electric Proms with the BBC Concert Orchestra in October 2007.
Above Mark Smith on Vocals
Above Same track plus 58 musicians from the BBC Concert Orchestra.
So What has happened to Brass since Mark Ronson came on the scene?
Well I know a few fellow “horn” players are being asked to play “That Tune by Mark Ronson”! This is great due to the now nearly extinct Brass bands (although still going strong in Cornwall and other places in the West country. A lot of younger people see this as “Uncool” so Mark is helping bring the Brass sound band to mainstream music just as Amy Winehouse has introduced people to Jazz again and Lily Allen doing the same with Ska/two tone.
I think that Dance (Electronica) is stepping out of the spot light at last and letting real music come back through.
Looking at the Artists in the mainstream now you have; Coldplay, Elbow, Ting Tings, Duffy, so many now are “human” bands not a few people on stage with machines (making great tracks too) but actually performing and writing lyrics and melodies that you sing along too knowing the words and so on.
I hope it continues
- Mark Ronson and Lilly Allen (Oh My God)
But What is your opinion – Is this revival in Brass and Human Acts simply a flash in the pan please let me know!
