“Colin is able to work with people at any level, make them look good and feel like a pro. As an arranger, he’s able to look at a piece for the multiple ways it can be experienced. You give him one song, and he instantly visualizes how it could be a solo, duet, or a full blown, hundred person multi-media live performance. I asked him to take an Usher song, make it work for a drum corps, and he did it overnight. Then I asked him to take a Prince song, and make it a jazz vibraphone duet for me to play with Questlove. We performed it at Carnegie Hall. These are not typical asks, but there is nothing typical about Colin. His chops as an arranger are top notch. Both of these projects were high pressure for me. As a collaborator, he gets your head in the game, and puts you at ease.”
Don’t Look Down
Music arranger and director for music video featuring actress Janina Gavankar (The League, True Blood, The L Word, The Mysteries of Laura) and the Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps.
The music is an arrangement of the Martin Garrix song, featuring Usher, “Don’t Look Down”
Janina approached the Jersey Surf, looking to do a music video with a drum corps. Within 4 weeks, the music was written, 3 simultaneous recording sessions took place in Los Angeles, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and the video was shot. It was the most intense and fast paced project I’ve ever taken part of. Numerous amounts of talented people came together to make Janina’s vision come to life.
Behind the Scenes of Don’t Look Down
The production of Don’t Look Down did not have a precedent to follow. Recording multiple sessions and producing a music video with a drum corps is not something you see often. On top of that, I was coordinating all of the moving parts with Janina while she was simultaneously shooting Mysteries of Laura in New York, and flying back and forth to LA to record her vocal tracks. This made for the ultimate logistical challenge. Jersey Surf corps director Bob Jacobs and Assistant Operations Manager Rich Klimowicz worked in tandem with Janina and I to make all ends meet. Many past students of mine, as well as friends and colleagues, are in this video. It’s touching to see everyone come together for something so special. Nobody tells the story better then Janina herself. Check out this behind the scenes video to see how we did it.
Questlove and Janina Gavankar at Carnegie Hall
Shortly after creating the music video with Janina, another opportunity came about. Questlove invited Janina to join her in a performance at Carnegie Hall. The benefit concert was for Best Buddies New York, and was called “Elaine Kwon and Friends'“. It was headlined by the founder/creator of the show, classical pianist and MIT Music Lecturer Elaine Kwon.
Janina and Questlove wanted to perform the music of Prince. I wrote an arrangement of Diamonds and Pearls, for a vibraphone/glockenspiel multi-percussion setup, drumset, and keys. I ended up playing the keys myself! The experience was amazing. I can’t share the arrangement, but the story is noteworthy and special. You never know where one project can lead!
Music and Art
Composing to the Art of Jay Alders
Jay Alders is a truly unique artist, as well as a long time friend and colleague. Internationally renowned for his unique style, Jay has been an unmistakeable brand in the world of modern art.
Jay is an active artist in the Web3 space. He animates his beautiful paintings, and I compose original music for them. It’s a special opportunity, and a chance to connect with his art on a deeper level. His art conjures up vivid soundscapes that I enjoy bringing to life.
You can check out Jay’s art here. If you are interested in NFT art, click the link below each video, and you will be taken to his NFT marketplace.
On the Wire - Wavy Lines
Wavy Lines is David Fowler and Colin Bell. Both are long time friends and colleagues in music, and toured with the reggae band Echo Movement for a number of years. David was the songwriter, producer and keyboardist of Echo Movement, and Colin was the drummer. This is where David and Colin began their musical partnership. Wavy Lines is a continuation of that musical friendship. Wavy Lines releases a new project on a seasonal basis. The featured video here, "On the Wire", was a unique artistic collaboration. David captured numerous photos of birds on a set of power lines that resembled a musical staff. After capturing a number of photos over a season, David and Colin sought to discover the music that existed within the pattern of how the birds were positioned on the wire. They created a melody on a marimba, based on the pictures, and wrote the song. Following this, they collaborated with videographer Alexander Pudov to create this unique music video, which shows the creation of the melodies, from the photos.