Ivan Orr
Ivan Orr plays in the Go-Go group Ebony Groove, works as a music teacher at the Front Porch, and performs as an independent jazz musician. His gig on March 13, 2020 happened just before everything shut down. But Ivan was also one of the first musicians on the virtual music scene, collaborating with The Front Porch and WTJU on the Save the Music series in the first months of quarantine. Ivan used the pandemic to connect with other artists and found a positive outlook on reaching new audiences: “With everyone at home, that means everyone is theoretically accessible.”
In early May, Ivan was hospitalized because of Covid. “I was left to rely on my ears,” he says of his hospital days, which dramatically improved his “perception of pitch and surrounding hearing.” After his recovery, he incorporated deeper listening practices, such as “slowing down, and patiently downloading music into my operating system.”
Ivan reexamined his values. “We have time and I can be patient, just doing things that really fulfill me.” He was grateful to have time “just about every day to write something new, or refine some idea that I've already put down.” Making music during the pandemic has felt like exercise. “I’ve been playing a lot and I want to maintain it, and the horn is not going to play itself.”
“East Land” is a collaboration with longtime friend Ian Gordon.
Ivan also collaborated with BJP’z World of Music on the video to their cover of Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are.” Each shot their section of the video separately when experimenting with virtual performances in the beginning of the pandemic.