Whiplash , Buddy Rich, and Visual Virtuosity in Drum Kit Performance
2022; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 19; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1017/s1478572221000268
ISSN1478-5730
Autores Tópico(s)Theater, Performance, and Music History
ResumoAbstract The 2014 film Whiplash depicts successful jazz drumming as an athletic exhibition of speed and endurance, in a manner that reflects its protagonist's idolization of Buddy Rich (1917–87). The crowd-pleasing virtuosity of Rich and Whiplash has drawn critics’ ire, but this article interrogates the ideas of musical authenticity that underpin their complaints, and offers a more productive analysis of the film's drum kit performances and their inspiration, informed by a range of jazz, film, and performance scholarship. Specific attention is drawn to the performances’ visual attractions. Whiplash 's fast editing style and shots of exertion – grimacing, sweat, blood – give non-expert viewers a sense of drumming's physical and mental demands, and much the same is true of Rich's exaggerated movements and expressions, whether seen live or (as is commonly the case) amplified by a screen's mediation.
Referência(s)