Hi Everyone,
I’m back with possibly the most complicated cover I’ve ever attempted! As you may know La La Land opened in cinemas recently and has been taking the world by storm. I was lucky enough to see an advance screening of the film and like many others was absolutely blown away by it. La La Land, amazingly written and directed by Damien Chaszelle and starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling tells the story of a struggling actress and a jazz musician both trying to make their way in the world in modern day LA. Given that I work primarily in musical theatre I particularly loved all the song and dance numbers, especially Someone In The Crowd, and it wasn’t long before I set to work recording my own version of the song.
Being an actor and musician myself, Someone In The Crowd hits home a lot as you do tend to feel your just waiting for someone really important to notice you in the hope that they can catapult you to the next level. It’s a crazy whirlwind of a song and one I thoroughly enjoy listening too. It was certainly a challenge to record as the arrangement I put together included no less than 4 trumpets, 3 saxes, 2 french horns, a trombone and even a tin whistle! I hasten to add that before making this video I didn’t play the french horn – so go easy on me!
I also decided to record Someone In The Crowd using my beautiful upright piano which hasn’t featured in many videos yet. Hopefully it will be making more of an appearance throughout the year but I’m certainly glad it made it into this one, if only for the aesthetic.
If you haven’t seen La La Land yet I really recommend you go and see it while it’s still in cinemas. It really is a great film and features fantastic music by Justin Hurwitz. If you enjoyed my cover of Someone In The Crowd please do check out the other covers I have on my YouTube Channel, and if you have any ideas for future videos let me know on Twitter and Facebook.
Enjoy!
Josef Pitura-Riley - News 