PREMIERE | Jake Bellissimo, "The Last Block of Manhattan"
On the rooftop with Jake Bellissimo; photographed by Rocco Rinaldi-Rose.
One day in the near future the creations of Jake Bellissimo will be the talk of the off Broadway banter splayed across the pages of the NY Times’ Art & Leisure Sunday section. The Berlin by way of New York artist has been expanding methods of song craft into increasingly bombastic baroque that retains earnest senses of cryptic confessions with arrangements that elaborate upon thematic variations of musical theater conventions and subtle, evocative avant garde elements. From strings, sincerity of heart illustrated in song and more from a record about movements we make that connect, define and divide us — Jake Bellissimo announces the anticipated The Motion That We Make EP with a debut listen to “The Last Block of Manhattan”.
The beautiful string opening has the effect of a stage curtain being lifted to an NYC tale of reflection and heart. Violins accentuate the emotive highs and lows of Bellissimo’s intimate delivery, complete with glockenspiel punctuation that pings the heart’s most guarded corners. A ride on the A Eighth Avenue Express becomes a vehicle for thought processes that speed at the rate of a train car making the stops and starts in the subway as other alternate forms of transportation are mused about to reach the titular “Last Block of Manhattan”. Meditations on a lost friend and clandestine lover are remembered in a kindred reminiscence that ponders the continuum of life and death and the memories that remain of the departed (both from the artist and those that know them well). Bellissimo orchestrates a saudade aesthetic of hopefulness, heartache and a form of mourning that celebrates the life of a dear one amid the confusion of processing the mystery of loss.
Jake Bellissimo shared some candid reflections on the new EP, offering a few words on the inception and inspiration for the opening track:
What does it mean to settle? And is it possible to feel truly grounded when the world is constantly moving? These are questions that I tackle on the EP The Motion That We Make. Opening with a story about a delayed subway and the death of a close friend [“The Last Block of Manhattan”], the collection of songs rapidly changes perspective and cities, ending in Munich, Germany [“Am ende des Hoagartns”], recorded with the Neues Kollektiv München. Throughout its varied instrumentation, The Motion That We Make also features collaborations with Gerald Busby, composer for Robert Altman’s 3 Women and Kitchen, among others.
Candid conversations with Jake Bellissimo; photographed by Rocco Rinaldi-Rose.
About "The Last Block of Manhattan":
When I was 18, I would frequently travel into New York City. While there, I met someone who would become a very good friend of mine. He was a composer working on Broadway and he shared a lot with me about making music and the general life trajectory that can provide. We were intimate with each other, but what made him unique than other people I knew at the time was that when I stopped desiring that intimacy, we still kept in close contact.
I would continue to visit him a couple of times per year to share new music, talk about life, and hear about how things were going for him. In May of 2018 I visited him to ask for his insight regarding some personal and musical things occurring in my life at the time. We caught up, drank tea, and I left...2 weeks later, he passed away suddenly.
His death puzzled me. He was the first person I had been intimate with who had died, making me wonder about what happens when that intimate energy you once shared with someone is not there anymore. I also didn't attend his funeral—because our friendship was unknown to most people, I did not think it would be appropriate to. On the day of his funeral, I looked at the clock, noticed the service had already started, and began writing this song.
The Motion That We Make will be available January 24.
Jake Bellissimo peering through the mirrors of reflection; photographed by Rocco Rinaldi-Rose.