I had a weird junior high experience when I struggled with identity, and through that time, sometimes I needed to have an escape. That came in the form of The Cinematic Orchestra’s 2001 album, Man With A Movie Camera, which I played on repeat on my home computer and my mp3 Sony Bean device. So it’s safe to say that I felt rather nostalgic when The Cinematic Orchestra took to the Jazzfest main stage to fully play that album live on Saturday night, the concluding day of Jazzfest.
I truly have only listened to two of The Cinematic Orchestra’s albums, but I never imagined I would ever experience them live. I also had no real drive to see them live because, to me, their music seemed like it was served best on recording, where you listen to the scores of imaginary movies inside of your own head. Damn, was I wrong.
One aspect you need to understand about The Cinematic Orchestra is there are a lot of moving parts; constant jazzy drums, a flourishing of synths and samples, tight upright double bass, and the pièce de résistance, the live video art created by founder, Jason Swinscoe. While the band is building the songs, Swinscoe switches between two cameras that are hooked up to a projector and manipulates his footage live; throwing on kaleidoscopic imagery, and warping effects, all shot in black in white to create a silent movie vibe. He also sometimes jams with a typewriter as the nu jazz plays in the background, the typing sound effects sometimes in tune with the drums or keyboards and narrating the projector images in real-time.
I’ve never seen a show like this and the music was fantastic, filled with a whirlwind of riffs that stay with you after a first listen, but the visual component is what’s worth writing about. Swinscoe is a master at videography, probably a guy who has hundreds of film cameras in his home, knowing when to improvise and involve the crowd. The most memorable moments happened during the encore where Swinscoe shot the crowd with a cascading effect as bodies upon bodies, faces upon faces, all slowly crashed into each other while the hit track “To Build A Home,” played. It was truly majestic and words cannot do it justice.
