Jacob David Sudol(b. Des Moines, Iowa 1980) writes intimate compositions that explore enigmatic phenomena and the inner nature of how we perceive sound. He recently finished his M.Mus. at McGill University and currently resides in La Jolla, CA where he is working towards a Ph.D. in composition at the University of California at San Diego with Roger Reynolds, Chinary Ung, Philippe Manoury, and Rand Steiger.
Over the last five years some of Jacob's mentors in composition have included John Rea, Denys Bouliane, Philippe Leroux, Sean Ferguson, Dan Asia, and Craig Walsh. He has also participated in master classes with Danish composer Bent Sørensen and German composer Manfred Stahnke.
During 2005-2006, Jacob was the first-ever composer-in-residence for the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble under the direction of Denys Bouliane, in collaboration with the McGill Digital Composition Studio. He has also written music for the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the Contemporary Keyboard Society, percussionist Fernando Rocha, saxophonist Elizabeth Bunt, and clarinetist Krista Martynes. As an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, he composed the music for a collaborative dance project with choreographer Hillary Peterson, and he was the principal composer and pianist for El Proyecto de Santa Barbara, a chamber Latin jazz ensemble.
During the 2005 and 2007 Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques and 2006 MusiMars festivals Jacob was an electronic assistant for performances with Court-Circuit, Matt Haimovitz, Sara Laimon, Martin Matalon, Moritz Eggert, Manfred Stahnke, the Caput Ensemble, and the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble. These concerts were broadcast by the CBC and the European Broadcasting Union in over fifty countries throughout the world. He is currently a studio research assistant for Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Roger Reynolds.
During his free time Jacob takes an active interest in religious phenomenology, cinema, acoustics, literature, poetry, and visual art. As a composer and performer, he always attempts to bring insights from these other fields into his work.
Disclaimer:
All music posted on this blog is posted out of love and the idea that for the truly great music of our time(s) to be known it must first and foremost be heard. If you like what you hear please support the artist by buying the recordings, scores, and/or encouraging the performances of the music in every way possible.
If you are the composer, performer, performing organization, artist or directly represent the composer, performer, performing organization, or artist of anything posted on this website and would like your material removed please contact me and I will happily oblige.
Five years ago I popped a Parliament disc into to my old (crappy) stereo and decided to crank turned up the bass for the first time. (Before this I had previously been stogged down in the conviction that a stereo’s equalization should always be left flat.) As Bootsy Collin’s infectious rubber bass filled the room rising above the rest of the band (where it rightfully belongs) I felt a strong ebullient groove overwhelm me and had a sort of musical revelation. For the next six months or so I began to constantly listen to Parliament and Salsa (particularly Los Van Van’s ”Azucar” and Cubanismo’s ”Malembe”). During this time I found that rhythm and groove were far more than something I just wanted to dance to – they embodied the idea that one could simply embrace and exist within the positive.
Both these Parliament tracks are perennial favorites of mine. “If It Don’t Fit (Don’t Force It)” has become one of those few little creative mantras I tell myself when things aren’t working out in a composition or anywhere else for that matter. “If It Don’t Fit” doesn’t imply disappointment or resignation. You’re not supposed to give up or necessarily presume that it work at all, you’re just supposed to relax a little and simply “[not] force it.” It’s a simple message, best stated briefly. I think that if it went on any longer, it might seem as though it were forcing its perspective on you.
In contrast I could care less what “The Motor Booty Affair” is about because this song probably has the best bass line I’ve ever heard. I often wish that this song went on much longer simply so that I could hear the bass line continue. But, like “If It Don’t Fit (Don’t Force It)” maybe it’s better if infectious songs like these don’t force their presence by lasting too long – one can always just go back and revisit them.
