Although there are plenty of distinct genres of music, one of the best things about the internet is how people can remix and reimagine them.
Whether it’s street performers uploading their covers to YouTube or independent artists promoting themselves on social media, there are so many new ways to get discovered these days outside of the major media outlets.
But in addition to the new ways to pump out music to the masses, there are also new ways to actually make music that are spreading online as well.
And the performer we’re talking about today is a master of them.
For those who don’t know, Jacob Collier is a young musician who has been making quite a name for himself online.
Although he was born in August 1994 in England and is still relatively young, his jazz-influenced, multi-instrumental style has definitely struck a chord with some major talents.
Although he has since signed to Quincy Jones’ management company and has even done a jazz collaboration with Herbie Hancock for a Wired video, Collier really cut his musical teeth by loading up homemade performance to YouTube.
And the one we’re talking about today went online in February, 2016.
The clip is ostensibly a cover and a new arrangement of “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder—but it’s actually much more than that.
Although the original version is a masterclass in beautiful and catchy harmonies, Collier decides to take it in a new direction entirely. Instead of replicating the original melody, he completely reinvents it by re-harmonizing it and singing six different parts—all by himself!
Although this would be impressive for any musician of any age, what’s even more impressive is that Collier managed to do all this when he was only 18 years old.
As is made quickly obvious in this video, Collier’s style was already fully-formed and all his own.
Right as the clip begins, the song is introduced and the screen is split into six different squares with Collier’s face.
As it begins, all six versions of himself do some scatting motifs over the main melody of the song before breaking into the lyrics.
In the beginning, the whole song is a cappella and he sings both the very high and the lowest low notes almost perfectly. But even though the singing is great, soon enough he adds his own piano skills in as well and it takes things to a new level.
Needless to say, Collier has a very unique musical voice!
Although it doesn’t sound a whole lot like the original song, Collier does some truly incredible things with it.
By the end, Collier sails through the chord change and ends on an unusual note. Since the video was uploaded, it has been viewed more than two million times on YouTube—and his status as a prominent artist has definitely risen all around the world.
Although it’s great to love and respect the original versions of songs, it’s great to see newer generations engaging with old art and finding new ways to make it their own. Even if it’s not what Stevie Wonder would’ve done, it’s still a testament to just how creative people can be.
Congratulations to Jacob Collier on this awesome video! Be sure to watch the entire performance in the link below:
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
