One of my favorite things about jazz is just how adaptable it is. This high adaptability gives musicians plenty of room to experiment and improvise, breathing new life into well-worn classics that we only half-listen to because of how familiar they are. Kevin Bene accomplished this with his unique spin on one of the most recognizable melodies from Ocarina of Time: “Song of Storms.” The notes and flourishes he adds to the piece transform the light drizzle that we’ve come to know and expect into an exciting storm of sounds that surprise the audience and leave them thirsting for more.
The song begins normally, with the standard melody fans have heard over and over again. It reminds me of the chill background music you’d hear at a comfy coffee shop or jazz club. It’s a light drizzle against the window as you sit cuddled under a blanket with a cup of your favorite warm beverage. The storm’s just getting started.
Around the 30-second mark, Kevin begins a saxophone solo that unleashes an unexpected flurry of new notes. They snap us out of our comfortable reverie where we were only half-listening and demand that we pay attention. The way he starts off soft and tremulous before soaring into higher-pitched notes is surprising and fun. The storm has broken, with the saxophone notes serving as the strong gusts of wind that blow the rain in all directions. These musical raindrops are no longer just a familiar pitter-patter against the window pane. They’re now part of a beautifully chaotic tempest that swirls around the audience, much like the storm that envelops Link and the Phonogram Man when Link plays the “Song of Storms” to drain the well in Kakariko Village.
As the controlled chaos unleashed by Kevin’s solo settles down, the song is brought back to the traditional melody before the musical storm leaves with a light flutter of notes. Just like a real storm, the song fades away as gently as it began, leaving the audience to soak in the brilliance of Kevin Bene’s work and eagerly await the next torrential downpour.
