This week’s music to brew to arrived in my inbox a few weeks ago, thanks to Gregg Kallor, a regular at Joe’s Coffee here in New York. But his music is far from regular – it’s pretty extraordinary. He composed the piece below prior to his debut at Carnegie Hall, as part of piano suite called “A Single Noon” that he describes as “a musical tableau of life in New York City, told through a combination of composed music and improvisation.”
I love the frenetic, but still carefully balanced composition. It’s a nice aural metaphor for the feeling of energy, clarity, and slightly unstable drive we all know, love, and expect from our first coffee of the day. The video does get a little repetitive on the drinking contest motif, but don’t let that detract from your enjoyment. In fact, the video was filmed at Joe’s, a specialty cafe using Ecco coffee at multiple locations here in New York, and those lovingly shot espresso closeups were actually made by two Joe baristas.
This ode to espresso was inspired by Gregg’s own experience:
“Joe the Art of Coffee opened a shop near my apartment a few years ago. I began going every morning, and soon twice a day. One day I was there in my early-morning pre-caffeine stupor, and as I sipped from my 4 oz. cup of deliciousness the world came slowly into focus – colors became more vivid, sounds more resonant – and for those precious few moments, my entire world was infused with that wonderful little caffeine buzz. In that blissed-out state, I thought: I have to make a music video about this! I called a friend of mine – Alan Smith – a brilliant filmmaker whose obsessive coffee needs rival my own. He, of course, loved the idea – so we got to work.”
All baristas should take heart in the fact that they are providing a bit of creative fuel to untold numbers of people every day.
Just for fun, another performance. I was more familiar with Nina Simone’s rendition, but I enjoyed this take too:
Hope you’re inspired too! Have a great week, and if you have any recommendations for music to brew to, tag ’em on twitter with #m2b2 :)
