We have never limited ourselves at Quite Great by dedicating ourselves to working with artists from just one background or musical discipline. Music is an organic, living breathing thing – it exists because of the imaginations of creative artists and also because of their audiences. Like the old puzzler, “if a tree falls over in a forest and there is no-one there to hear it, does it make a sound?”, music can only exist with an audience and to have an opportunity to influence others, creating a chain reaction which can see a pop musician influence a classical composer; an opera singer influence a death metal band; a jazz guitarist influence a reggae artist. Without this, music becomes stale and ordinary, the one thing music should never be. Today we lost arguably the greatest and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th Century, Ennio Morricone, a true modern-day Mozart who’s invention, bravery and abandonment of convention has influenced musical artists as varied as Burt Bacharach, Michael Nyman, Faith No More and Wu-Tang Clan.
Ennio Morricone was born into a musical family, picking up the trumpet and beginning to study music seriously from the age of six. As was convention, he studied at a classical conservatory and set out initially to follow in the classical tradition. As with many musicians, then, now and forever in the future, life does not always follow a linear path. Changing circumstances for classical musicians, unexpected opportunities and chance meeting led Morricone to compose for film, television and theatre. This was undoubtedly a risk and music and art will ALWAYS be a risk. You cannot control the media or what people think of your music but you can, with perseverance, talent and collaboration, allow your music to be heard and to grow from the feedback and to learn what works and what doesn’t.
Over the years, Quite Great has worked with many artists who have not conformed to convention or who at any given time seem out of step with the mainstream – Ladysmith Black Mambazo; Michael Nyman; Stevie Wonder; Burt Bacharach…artists with musical styles at odds with what was popular in the charts or who looked different to your atypical ‘pop star’ or who had a resolutely distinctive style. It takes education and the backstory of the music to help audiences get to grips with the unfamiliar and to disarm them of their prejudices. Likewise, Morricone frequently found his music coupled with films which bombed at the box office and only found their audience some time after. When was the last time someone watched the film, The Mission? Decorated by the Academy at the time, it is now the music which has entered the public psyche, just as Millennials will recognise the coyote cry of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly but will have no knowledge of the film, nor even the inclination to see it.
Ennio Morricone’s music fits perfectly in many areas – classical; pop; jazz; folk; world; rock; dance and hip-hop (don’t kid yourself as to how much Ennio’s music has been sampled), he helped to make it cool to accept music for art, for enjoyment, for contemplation and for debate. Ennio Morricone doesn’t just influence individuals – he has influenced all of us at Quite Great to embrace these ideals – to never give up; to take the time and care to understand those whom we work with; the challenge ourselves to look beyond the expected and to uncover ever stone. To every Ennio Morricone out there, in whatever field you work – we can’t wait to meet you.
skype – quitegr8
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