Elvis Presley (1935-1977) was the King of Rock and Roll, and as king he led not just with his hips, but by example. Below is one of these examples that's been getting some play around the internet lately where Elvis, "Mr. Everett", shares his thoughts on atonality in jazz music. I want to believe that like Tom Cruise, Elvis Presley only played himself in his films and that this conversation was exactly how Elvis really felt. His facial expression in the moment before his quip is priceless. Long live the King. You dig?

Good afternoon Dig Nation. I spent the morning digging through the interwebs admiring videos from one of my favorite female singer/songwriters Laura Gibson when I found a new video for her beautiful song Milk-Heavy, Pollen-Eyed. The song is from her album La Grande which can be purchased here.

Regardless, watching this video set me off on a bit of a diatribe about the clarinet that starts at Laura Gibson and weaves through Glenn Miller, Eric Dolphy, and the Low Anthem. Read on for lots of clarinet laden music listening and then hit up the comments section to let us know what your favorite song featuring the instrument is. You dig?

Recently, friend of the Dig as well as badass free thinking cellist for The Ballroom Thieves Rachel Gawell sent me a video she shot of the Sirius Quartet performing a composition entitled Spidey Falls. The piece was written by Fung Chern Hwei who is also the first violinist in the quartet. The additional members of the ensemble are Jeremy Harman, Gregor Huebner, and Ronald Lawrence. 

In his astounding biography, Fung Chern Hwei writes that although he is a traditionally classically trained violinist, he grew up deeply influenced by Chinese pop, Indian Bollywood tunes, Malay dance music, and in his younger years even took to imitating the sounds of the electric guitar and saxophone on his violin. With this in mind, I have always believed that one of the major components necessary for success in the field of classical music in the 21st century is a breadth of language. Truly successful musicians are the ones who are not limited by their language or technique, only their creativity. Nevertheless, it is sometimes the case that trained musicians will sacrifice language on behalf of technique and become compartmentalized in their thinking and ability to compose or improvise. This is not Fung Chern Hwei. This is not Spidey Falls, and this is absolutely not the Sirius Quartet.

Read on for my full thoughts concerning, the quartet and the composition. You dig?

If imitation is the greatest form of flattery than 19th century pianist and composer Frederic Chopin has a lot to feel flattered by. The wealth of his compositional language has been a source of great inspiration to artists since his death in 1848, but a rather unusual homage came about in 1950 when song writers Bob Russell and Paul Weston teamed up to pen a song entitled No Other Love for the popular singer (and Paul Weston's wife) Jo Stafford.

I call it an homage because the song is essentially Frederic Chopin's Opus 10 Number 3 Etude for solo piano reset to feature orchestration and Bob Russell's lyrics. Released in 1950, the song reached all the way up to number 10 on the Billboard charts but has been seeing a resurgence of interest today thanks largely to its use in the trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson's new film The Master.

Read on to hear pianist Garrick Ohlsson performing the original Chopin etude, Jo Stafford's recording of No Other Love, and finally the trailer for the film in which the song is featured.  

Garrick Ohlsson: Chopin's Etude Op. 10 No. 3