When it comes to being a jazz musician, having the ability to play by ear is vital.
This talent was truly showcased when drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. and his band Generation Y were tasked with interpreting Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" after only listening to it once.
In a recent spontaneous musical challenge, Owens, a jazz instructor at Juilliard, found himself once again tasked with covering a Nirvana song on the spot. He previously played "In Bloom" as part of Drumeo's famous "For the First Time" video series.
In a recent release from Musora, a branch of the Drumeo community, Owens is introduced to a Nirvana song that is completely new to him. Surprisingly, his fellow band members from Generation Y also seem unfamiliar with the song "Heart-Shaped Box."
After the sound engineers stopped playing the Nirvana song, Owens joked he "don't know s**t."
Upon first listening to the source material, Owens' ensemble springs into action, led by the powerful horn section seamlessly weaving in the vocal lines. The group harmonizes flawlessly as Owens signals for the chorus, impressing even the Musora studio engineers.
With just a few practice rounds, the band effortlessly delivers a polished instrumental jazz rendition of the iconic "In Utero" song.
Owens confessed how the experience felt "incredible."
"I don't get nervous often, especially in the company of my band. But I was nervous because you guys throw a lot of things at people conceptually."
"I was wondering, 'I don't know what they're gonna do, but how does it fit in the context of what we do?'"
He then concluded, "We took an incredible song, an incredible band, an incredible concept, and we meshed it with who we already are."
