Nostalgia

https://www.instagram.com/p/CceYOhMDHvN/ 

Much like photographs, an audio recording is also nostalgic in that “it views backward, and its inclination is to preserve…It promotes calm over change and solid stillness over fluid movement” (Jurgenson 26). I played the first half of the melody to “I Didn’t Know What Time it was”, a ballad by Richard Rodgers, played by jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter in 1963 on an album called Ugestu by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. The recording I referenced represents a time in my adolescence marked by moments of bliss and personal discovery, as my passion for jazz music ignited rapturously. Playing this song brings me back to those memories. Reading about the different aspects of nostalgia and the act of documenting a moment in time has made me consider audio recordings in a new light. Jurgenson prompts me to wonder about what is beneficial and what is dangerous about a recording to me as an artist, as it can keep me bogged down in the comfort of the past but can also bring me a sense of rekindling.


Comments

  1. NaomiApril 17, 2022 at 8:33 PM

    I like the idea of playing only the first half. I don't what your intent was with that, but it creates an unfinished-ness which suggests that your youth isn't over yet, or that there is still space to add to that feeling/ experience that you reference.

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