Weekly Music Spotlight: Zelda Meets Jazz
Posted on February 04 2015 by Jeffrey Edelstein
Hello and welcome back to our Wednesday Weekly Feature: The Weekly Music Spotlight! In this feature, we’ll be presenting a YouTube musician showcasing their abilities through a Zelda-related composition or cover. Last time, we took a look a trip into the realm of the acoustic, but this time we’ve decided to take a genre-centric. The artists featured this week also excel in composing and performing arrangements of video game arrangements, but with a jazzy twist. Links to each artist’s social media and music can be found at the end of this post.
Our first featured artist is actually a group of talented video game aficionados, making up a jazz sextet complete with keyboard, double bass, drums/percussion, guitar, and saxophone. We’ve featured them twice before, once for their Dark World theme arrangement and just recently for their take on Saria’s Song from Ocarina of Time, and they’re well worth another look.
The Sydney-based band is made up of saxophonist Tim Teylan, pianist Julian Sanchez (Also known for his piano arrangements as Zorsy/ The Legend of Zorsy) , double bassist Jonathan Gamra, Percussionists Mark Joya and Dean Thompson, and guitarist Anthony Rodrigues has been on the YouTube scene since June of 2014, and has released video covers of over a dozen video game tunes, from Final Fantasy, to Street Fighter, to Super Mario World, to Kingdom Hearts, to Pokemon, to Phoenix Wright, to (of course) The Legend of Zelda, all in a jazz or funk style. The video above (or rather, audio track) was released early this week in anticipation of the group’s first EP, set to release next Sunday, February 9, and featuring 5 brand-new tracks, as well as mastered arrangements. If you’re looking forward to it as much as I am after taking a listen, visit their website for a chance to win one! Additionally, if you happen to live in the Sydney area, you can visit their launch gig at live music venue and restaurant, The Vanguard, on the day of their EP’s release. If you have any questions you’d like to throw their way, hit them up at theconsoulsband@gmail.com.
Today we’re also featuring an old favorite of ours: insaneinthetainmusic (Insane in the rain music). A YouTube musician who impresses with both the saxophone and the piano, Carlos has composed and performed dozens of jazz covers of video game and anime favorites, including more than a few Zelda renditions. Among those on his channel are arrangements of Outset Island, the Market theme, Hyrule Temple, Song of Storms, Ballad of the Wind Fish, and the Overworld theme, as well as the Link’s Awakening Medley above. I highly recommend checking out channel if you’re an avid fan of other Nintendo themes, as there are a plethora of covers of Mario, Pokemon, Donkey Kong, and other series’ music available for your listening pleasure. There’s even a number of gems such as a Cave Story cover of the indie game’s main theme, and a lovely arrangement of Kingdom Heart‘s “Dearly Beloved”. If none these tunes groove with you, he also takes commissions at carloseienesax@gmail.com.
What’s your take on these smooth musicians and their sensational tunes? Will you be checking out the Consouls’ EP when it arrives next week? Have you sifted through insaneintherain’s immense library of fantastic covers? Find any new favorites for the week? I’m stuck on the former’s Lost Woods Theme featured above and the latter’s Song of Storms arrangement. Let me know in the comments below, along with any suggestions you have for future featured artists!
