September Newsletter: A Review of the Month’s Culture, Arts + Trends

SEPTEMBER FULL OF HOPE

“The breezes taste of apple peel. The air is full of smells to feel. Ripe fruit, old footballs, burning brush, new books, erasers, chalk, and such. The bee, his hive, well-honeyed hum, and Mother cuts chrysanthemums. Like plates washed clean with suds, the days are polished with a morning haze.” (John Updike, September)

HOPE EVERLASTING

“We’ve got to be as clear-headed about human beings as possible, because we are still each other’s only hope,” James Baldwin said to Margaret Mead in a historic public conversation in New York City, August 25, 1970 … The twin beams of light emitted each September 11, as transcendental as any symbol of remembrance can ever be, depicts the timeless hope of which James Baldwin speaks.

ROCK STAR!

“A shooting star leaping through the sky, Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity…Burnin’ through the sky yeah” … An asteroid has been named after Freddie Mercury to honor what would have been his 70th birthday. Asteroid “Freddiemercury” is “burnin’ through the sky” in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. Per Brian May, Queen’s lead guitarist as well as an astrophysicist, “It’s just a dot of light but it’s a very special dot of light and maybe one day we’ll get there.”

BREAKFAST IN AMERICA

Former Hollywood screenwriter Craig Carlson, with no restaurant experience, recounts his dream of opening an American diner in Paris, Breakfast in America, and turning it into a popular restaurant chain in the heart of Paris.

“After a year in France, I was dying for a good ol’ American breakfast. [Back in LA] I ordered a ham steak, scrambled eggs, home-fried potatoes, and buckwheat pancakes. I stared at it wide-eyed and said, ‘Oh my God, this is the one thing I missed when I was in Paris!’ At that instant a year’s worth of eating French breakfasts replayed before my eyes. But the problem was that every breakfast was exactly the same. Croissants and pains au chocolat, croissants and pains au chocolat. I stared down at my pancakes…my heart racing as I repeated the phrase: ‘The one thing I missed in Paris’…I knew exactly what I wanted to do: open an American diner in Paris! I even knew what I was going to call it: Breakfast in America.”

KNOCKIN’ ON HEAVEN’S GATE?

Did you know that Bob Dylan liked to sculpt enormous iron gates? Yes, it’s true. After all, he was born and raised in iron ore country in Minnesota. He just built a 26×15-foot iron gateway for the MGM National Harbor casino in Maryland. Called Portal, it incorporates found objects, farm equipment, kitchen utensils, and tools … Per Dylan: “Gates appeal to me because of the negative space they allow. They can be closed, but at the same time they allow the seasons and breezes to enter and flow. They can shut you out or shut you in. And in some ways, there is no difference.” Whoa, that is so Dylan.

WHEN BAD ADVERTISING HAPPENS TO THE ARTS

Here’s a real head-scratcher. Seems that the Wells Fargo financial services company thought this was a good idea. Picture this. A smiling young woman with the caption: “A ballerina yesterday. An engineer today.” And the tag line: “Let’s get them ready for tomorrow.” Although they were taken to task for this tasteless ad campaign that they subsequently abandoned, how was it ever approved? The arts and those who choose to be artists are to be cherished, enjoyed, and encouraged. Hey, Wells Fargo, learn something about the arts from the National Endowment for the Arts and put aside some ad dollars for a donation. It’s the arts that fulfill promises and make life grand.

FULL OF AWE

Words enable us to communicate with each other. What powerful tools they are! But changes in language and in people, including interpretation, people adapting language to fit their needs, societal changes, and shifting pronunciations, affect the meaning of a word over time. Let’s look at the evolution of the word awful: In Shakespeare’s time awful had the complimentary meaning of “full of awe.” With the suffix –ful, awful means having the quality of awe. Its meanings include being worthy of, commanding profound respect or reverential fear, which may have led it to mean causing dread. So over the centuries, awful took on a negative quality – frightful, ugly, monstrous. Then awful was eventually replaced with today’s positive awesome. Note that the suffix -some is basically the same as –ful in its meaning. Since awful had such a strong negative connotation, awesome was used meaning “awe-inspiring” without the negativity. By the mid-1900s awesome went from awe-inspiring to its ubiquitous use today meaning amazing. Okay, so awesome may have reached its cultural saturation point, but its history is nonetheless awesome, right?

TRIUMPHANT NEW MUSEUM!

A new major museum is always worth celebrating! Just opened is the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in the heart of Washington DC. Its very design is crucial to the story it tells. From its lowest floor depicting the history of slavery, each ascending floor follows the journey to the civil rights movement and up to “A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond” and President Obama’s inauguration.

…AND THE BEATLES’ CIVIL RIGHTS VICTORY

In the new documentary, Eight Days a Week, director Ron Howard examines the Beatles’ touring years. Of note, we learn that in 1964 when they reached the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL, seats were segregated. They refused to perform until the venue was integrated, gaining a victory for civil rights. “We played to people. We didn’t play to those people or that people – we just played to people,” so said Ringo.

ROCK RELICS DO GOOD!

Cool pic of The Boss, right? Unless you’ve read Yvonne Sewall-Ruskin’s High On Rebellion: Inside the Underground at Max’s Kansas City (see May 2016 Newsletter), you’ve never seen it. Taken upstairs at Max’s Kansas City backstage by Lily Hou in 1973, it was one of many great items up for auction to benefit Yvonne’s arts non-profit, Max’s Kansas City Project, which provides artists grants of emergency relief for housing, medical, and legal aid.

DOG NEWS

Barkley’s incredible veterinarian Dr. Amy Attas (as well as Buddha’s and Skeffington’s!) volunteered to care for the heroic rescue dogs at ground zero. Dr. Attas and her colleagues listened to the handlers while their dogs were being treated for cuts, burns, and dehydration, prompting the vets to ask psychologists to sit with them. “A lot of the handlers told us that their dogs were really depressed, because they were search and rescue dogs and they weren’t finding anybody,” Dr. Attas told NBC News.

WE CAN HELP

The Vesey Street stairs, on site at the 911 Memorial Museum and now known as Survivors’ Stairway, is the sole remainder above ground of the World Trade Center. Gazing at it, one visualizes all those people running down them seeking safety and escape with fervent hope that they make it out. The 9/11 Memorial Museum documents the impact of 9/11 and explores its continuing significance. There we bear witness to a collection of artifacts that remind us of the people we lost and the brave souls that heroically went in to help, to save, to do their job. It is a place of commemoration.  Make a monetary donation or you can make a contribution to the collection such as pics, videos, voice messages, personal effects, workplace objects, and diaries.

Fact: Animals have a positive effect in helping people cope with traumatic events. HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response teams have been responding to crises and disasters since 2001, when they sent specially trained handlers and their dogs to provide comfort at ground zero in NYC. They calmed survivors and helped first responders and other workers relax and talk about their experiences, just as you see Tikva here at work. HOPE has since responded to major hurricanes, wildfires, train derailments, and school shootings. An all-volunteer organization, your donation helps them continue training and certifying new crisis teams.

Soundtrack to this IssueBruce Springsteen’s High Hopes

Happy Birthday to the Boss. And what a way to celebrate. Four hour concerts! A book! A book tour! A new album! … Along with his captivating, candid, and poignant memoir, Born to Run, is a compilation album Chapter and Verse which features 18 songs that reflect the themes and sections of the book and includes five unreleased songs … High hopes is surely what we are feeling, so here’s the title track from the High Hopes album:

C’mon, sing along, you know the words:

Give me help, give me strength
Give a soul a night of fearless sleep
Give me love, give me peace
Don’t you know these days you pay for everything 

Got high hopes
I got high hopes
Got high hopes
I got high hopes

Who rescued whom?

At the New York Tartan Day Parade.
So grateful for Barkley coming into my life.
Thanks to Westie Rescue of New England.

Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l

“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)

 

Sources:
James Baldwin quote: A Rap on Race (J. B. Lippincott; 1st edition, 1971)
Freddy Mercury lyrics: Don’t Stop Me Now by Freddie Mercury ©Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Brian May quote: The Guardian, September 5, 2016
Book quote: Pancakes in Paris by Craig Carlson Page 42 ©2016 Sourcebooks
Dylan’s gate pic and quote: Forbes, September 7, 2016
Dr. Amy Attas, DVM quote: NBC News/New York, September 11, 2016
Tikva at Ground Zero, NYC, 2001 pic: HOPEaacr.org
Soundtrack High Hopes lyrics: Timothy Scott McConnell ©Universal Music Publishing Group

August Newsletter: A Review of the Month’s Culture, Arts + Trends

HOT DOG DAYS OF AUGUST

 

 

How hot is it? Real Feel: 118 degrees – wow! … This has been one hot summer for most everyone everywhere. Hope you (and your dogs) are keeping cool wherever you are … Prediction: There will be snow soon enough!

 

THE BOSS TELLS HIS STORY

 

 

“I come from a boardwalk town where almost everything is tinged with a bit of fraud. So am I. By 20, no race-car-driving rebel, I was a guitar player on the streets of Asbury Park … But I held four clean aces. I had youth, almost a decade of hard-core bar band experience, a good group of homegrown musicians who were attuned to my performance style and a story to tell.” … From the forward to Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography, Born to Run, to be released in September.

 

SO HOW’D YA WRITE THAT SONG?

 

Many were mollified at the unquestionably correct verdict that, no, Led Zeppelin did not steal a lesser known band’s music for their not derived, resplendent, iconic Stairway to Heaven … Robert Plant testified in court on the song’s origins: “…I sat with Jimmy by the fire, and he began playing. And I had this little couplet lyrically that, if you like, in tempo, fitted into what he was playing. So I just started developing that into two lines, then four lines, and then on, slowly, opening it up…‘There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold, and she’s buying a stairway to heaven. And when she gets there she knows that the stores are all closed; with a word she can get what she came for.’…I was really trying to bring in that aspect of Welsh, the beauty and the remoteness of the pastoral Britain…Meanwhile, the guys were working on opening up the song and its transition into something that was really flowering and it was quite a thing as we moved on through the song, to open it up and to turn around various parts of it and see it develop into something I couldn’t even imagine.” … Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that’s how they wrote that song.

 

DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’!

 

 

The Nutcracker. Swan Lake. 1812 Overture. The celebrated Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) believed that one must keep working and working, just keep at it, and inspiration will happen … “We must always work, and a self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood. If we wait for the mood, without endeavoring to meet it half-way, we easily become indolent and apathetic. We must be patient, and believe that inspiration will come to those who can master their disinclination” … Two centuries later, producer, songwriter, and lead singer and guitarist of The White Stripes, Jack White echoes Tchaikovsky’s ideal … “Inspiration and work ethic — they ride right next to each other…Not every day you’re gonna wake up and the clouds are gonna part and rays from heaven are gonna come down and you’re gonna write a song from it. Sometimes, you just get in there and just force yourself to work, and maybe something good will come out.”

 

PEPSI-COLA HITS THE SPOT

 

 

The distinctive Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City, Queens, that faces the East River and Manhattan, is now an official New York City landmark. Its bright red swirly lettering has long been a welcoming beacon on the waterfront. Crowning Pepsi’s bottling plant at this site in 1940, its reconstruction in 1993 was faithful to the original sign. The 50-foot painted Pepsi bottle was probably replaced in the 1970s with an updated bottle design. Serving as a longstanding and well-known branding symbol, this sure is a testament to the power of a great marketing imprint.

 

READY FOR LIFT-OFF

 

 

Another should be New York City landmark are the Metropolitan Opera’s spacey chandeliers. Who doesn’t ooh and aah as the world-famous show before the show starring 12 radiant starbursts begin their ascendency as the lights fade? A gift made by the Austrian government to thank the US for its help after WWII, it was a shining symbol of the friendship between Austria and the US. Fondly named sputniks, their design was inspired by the post-war era’s International Space Race and the Big Bang. And now they have been mechanically overhauled, outdated equipment for raising and lowering them updated. Let the oohing and aahing begin!

 

YOU MAY SAY HE’S A DREAMER

 

 

“Let’s see, I think it was Jack Lemmon and Yoko Moto,” said Leon Wildes when asked the names of his new clients. With immigration and deportation hot-button issues in this election year, how timely and informative this new book is about John Lennon’s four-year battle to stay in the US. Wildes was John and Yoko’s lawyer, an expert on immigration law. Insights abound. We see that the debate about discretionary targeting of political protestors was as relevant then as it is now. Richard Nixon may have wanted John banished but, as Wildes states, “Thanks to [Lennon’s] willingness to fight, we managed to discover and helped create a remedy for impossible cases.” Funny how John’s 1972 deportation case with its societal significance and legal impact, is as essential a lasting legacy as is the extraordinary music he left us.

 

…AND SPEAKING OF JOHN’S MUSIC

 

 

Netflix’s new animated series, Beat Bugs, tells stories through Beatles songs, teaching kids life lessons while turning them on to great music! About a quintet of kid characters and their insect friends, Eddie Vedder performs as Jasper, a grasshopper who takes the insects on a Magical Mystery Tour. Pink sings Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds as Lucy the dragonfly, and yes, she has kaleidoscope eyes. James Corden sings I’m A Loser and Sia covers Blackbird. All You Need is Love is the theme song. Animated bugs singing Beatles songs? I’m taking that Ticket to Ride!

 

RIP, MENTSCH

 

 

Law & Order is just a fact of life. It permeates countless homes. Who doesn’t love feeling the palliative power of watching L&O reruns over and over again? Switching channels, we are compelled to stop when there’s an episode airing. We know the words, we know whodunnit, we know the wisecracks. Especially those pithy gems spoken by Manhattan DA Adam Schiff, Steven Hill’s character. Hill even studied the law to make his character more convincing. Born Solomon Krakovsky to Russian Jewish immigrants, he passed away August 23. A devoted Orthodox Jew, he did not work on Shabbos, which was written into all his contracts. And when Hill resigned after a decade on L&O, in the show Adam Schiff resigned to work with a Holocaust organization. Oh, and he played the rabbi in Yentl. I admired him. A great actor who stayed true to his faith, Steven Hill had a deep sense of his own purpose and a heartfelt compassion which he exuded in every one of his roles. “Take the deal.”

 

I LOVE MY DOG

I love my dog as much as I love you
But you may fade, my dog will always come through.

All he asks from me is the food to give him strength
All he ever needs is love and that he knows he’ll get.

All the pay I need comes shining through his eyes
I don’t need no cold water to make me realize that.

 

It is the 50th anniversary of Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ first hit single release, I Love My Dog in 1966. That was followed by The First Cut Is The Deepest, Wild World, Hard Headed Woman, Where Do the Children Play?, Father & Son, Morning Has Broken, Peace Train, and Moonshadow. Did you forget he wrote all those great songs? He’s on tour to celebrate his 50th anniversary as an artist – even playing New York City for the first time since 1976! Through his charity, Small Kindness, a portion of every ticket goes to UNICEF and International Rescue Committee to help children affected by the current refugee crisis. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, his most recent albums (2006’s An Other Cup is excellent!) are as notable as his early ones we cherish.

 

I LOVE MY RESCUE DOG

So there’s this cartoon about the wonders of rescuing a dog. If you’ve ever adopted a dog, you will relate to comic artist Bird Born’s simple yet right-on telling of how he welcomed home his new friend. Remember, we never know where they are from, what kind of damage has been inflicted on them, nor are we ever assured that they’ll forget their history. But, we can shower them with loads and loads of love, make them feel safe, and show them the world will be a better place for them. Born’s experience in We’ve Taken A Dog From An Animal Shelter is a mirror of our experience, too. It’s the story of fear turning into owning the couch, the bed, the easy chair, well, you know the rest.

 

WE CAN HELP

 

 

The ASPCA has dispatched its Disaster Response Team to Louisiana to conduct water rescues for animals displaced by the area’s devastating floods resulting from three days of torrential rain. Donations will help the ASPCA “give people peace of mind while they cope with this crisis by making sure their pets are safe.”

 

Soundtrack to this Issue

U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

 

One can relate to this gospel-influenced anthem from U2, especially heading into fall’s new beginnings. This is critic Jeff Jensen’s description: “[It] is my bridge over troubled water, a psalm of reorientation in times of disorientation. It embraces hopeful paradoxes: that doubt and faith are compatible, that certainty doesn’t preclude a constant search for truth … a bittersweet hymn that calls me to look up when I’m down and keep clear-eyed when I’m fogged.”

 

C’mon, sing along, you know the words:

I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you.

I have run, I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you.

But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.

 

 

 

Who rescued whom?

At the New York Tartan Day Parade.
So grateful for Barkley coming into my life.
Thanks to Westie Rescue of New England.

Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l

“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)

 

Sources:
Bruce quote: Bruce Springsteen official website brucespringsteen.net
Robert Plant trial pic: Mona Shafer Edwards
Robert Plant quote: Rolling Stone, August 16, 2016
Tchaikovsky quote: Life and Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky by Modeste Tchaikovsky (University Press of the Pacific 2004)
Jack White quote: from the documentary, Under Great White Northern Lights
Leon Wildes quotes: John Lennon vs. The U.S.A.: The Inside Story of the Most Bitterly Contested and Influential Deportation Case in United States History (American Bar Association, August 2016)
Beat Bugs pic: Netflix
I Love My Dog lyrics: Cat Stevens ©Universal Music Publishing Group
Soundtrack quote: Jeff Jensen/Entertainment Weekly August 12, 2016
U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For lyrics: Adam Clayton, Dave Evans, Larry Mullen, Paul David Hewson, Victor Reina ©Universal Music Publishing Group

 

July Newsletter: A Review of the Month’s Culture, Arts + Trends

JULY’S TEARS TURN TO HOPE

These times hark back to RFK’s commitment to racial justice. His advocacy of ending racism reminds us that his message is worth considering now, more than ever. While on the campaign trail, he revealed to the crowd that Dr Martin Luther King, Jr had just been killed, saying: “What we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness but is love, and wisdom and compassion toward one another and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.”

BASTILLE DAY

Liberté. Égalité. Fraternité … That is what Bastille Day should be all about, commemorating the storming of the Bastille, the prison that represented the despicable Bourbon monarchy, and sowed the beginnings of the French Revolution in 1789 … Growing up I remember going to the parade on the Champs-Élysées with my Parisian father, a crowded and humbling event to witness. And in our home, he proudly raised this flag, honoring La Fete Nationale.

Then day turned to night, fireworks to gunfire, celebration to tragedy, when a truck mowed down scores of people on the Promenade des Anglais in the beautiful southern city of Nice and Bastille Day celebration was no more. “The horror, the horror has once again, hit France,” said President Holland. But she is strong … Vive la France!

ELIE WIESEL

Peace. Atonement. Human Dignity … That was Elie Wiesel’s mission, his message to all of humanity. This from someone who survived the worst of humanity, not even humanity, it was nonhumanity … President Obama eulogized him, “We give thanks that Elie never gave up on humanity and on the progress that is possible when we treat one another with dignity and respect.”

STUART DAVIS

His paintings are like music. They have rhythm. Just look at Swing Landscape (1938) by Stuart Davis. The Gloucester, MA waterfront is shown in bright colors and rhythmic patterns, realistic yet abstract, a modern rendering in American pop culture terms … “For me jazz was the only thing that corresponded to an authentic art in America. I think all my paintings, at least in part, come from this influence.”

PINK FLOYD STAMPS

The Royal Mail issued a set of stamps to celebrate 50 years of Pink Floyd. The album covers made into stamps include The Dark Side of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Endless River. Another four stamps show the band performing on tour, including one photo from a concert at London’s UFO Club in 1966!

LOUDER THAN WORDS

Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s timely exhibit, Louder Than Words: Rock, Power & Politics, explores the power of rock to change attitudes about patriotism, peace, equality, and freedom. Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello: “I’d say that 100 percent of music is political, that music either supports the status quo or challenges the status quo, so every artist is political.”

MORSE CODE

Have you watched Endeavor, the latest version of PBS’s longtime Inspector Morse series that also includes Inspector Lewis? It is the story of how Morse became Morse … As all three, Morse, Lewis, and Endeavor, take place in the university environs of Oxford, the Humanities take center stage. Philosophers and historians abound. Everybody here is smart. Most of all, Morse … Even the music is smart. Composed by the great Pheloung Barrington, the music uses Morse code to give us hints of whodunit in the score … And M-O-R-S-E is spelled out in Morse code in the opening notes of the theme melody. Barrington says, “It was just a little in-joke. I put his name at the beginning and then it recurred all the way through. Although a note to The Guardian pointed out that it actually spells T-O-R-S-E, as I’d slightly lengthened the dots on the ‘M’. I mean, honestly, some artistic license please, just because I asked the violinists to play a little more legato!”

GET DOWN, GET FUNKY, GET BACK UP AGAIN

Remember that Billy Crystal line? An essential prescription for life, Keepin’ the Funk Alive, is also the name of Kool and the Gang’s tour. No JT, but original members, brothers Ronald and Robert “Kool” Bell, George Brown, and Dennis Thomas still celebrating. Also on the tour are Bootsy Collins, Morris Day and the Time, and Doug E. Fresh.

On Celebration: “We woke up one morning and they were playing Celebration on the space shuttle! We were scientists of sound!…[From] Scripture where the creator’s gonna create this human thing and the angels were celebrating him for doing so…There was never a song about a cel-e-bra-tion. Everyone around the world, come on, there’s a celebration every second of our lives. Somewhere, someone is always celebrating something.”

REASONS TO CELEBRATE

Thanks to May Pang for grabbing this pic of the coda of an incredibly heartfelt and celebratory service in honor of our great friend, Jon Marcus, longtime executive director of the New York office of the Recording Academy, the Grammy office. We were his happy minions, all enthusiastic members, ready to help whenever he called. A beautiful service, it ended with Charlie Feldman singing Satisfaction with Carlos Alomar on guitar, Jon looking upon his beautiful bride, Deb Whitfield, and all of us, his gathered friends, jumping up and singing, too. A wonderful life to celebrate.

So my Brother from Another Mother and Father (as we long ago called ourselves), Joe Perry, gave us a scare. Performing with Hollywood Vampires, his band with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp, he collapsed and was hospitalized during their show in Brooklyn. Two weeks later he was back on stage on tour with the band. Celebrating his recovery is a good thing.

Twyla Tharp’s return to the Joyce Theater included early works, Brahms Paganini and Country Dances, both with her signature hip rolls and big brash attitude. Employing classical, jazz, and pop music while blending ballet and modern dance, her artistry celebrates humanity, joy, and life!

DOG NEWS

In Shelter Dogs, photographer Traer Scott’s compassionate portraits of dogs living in shelters make a passionate and compelling appeal to dog lovers. By revealing their expressive emotions, Scott raises awareness of animal rescue causes and the need for more adoptive homes for abandoned dogs … Photographer Nancy LeVine traveled the country, taking pictures of senior dogs along her way. Senior Dogs Across America, a compilation of photos and stories, is dedicated to “anyone who has ever loved a dog, young or old.” … Garry Gross’s photography in Beautiful Old Dogs is a heartfelt tribute that may inspire you to get involved in senior dog rescue and adoption.

WE CAN HELP

Stand Up For Heroes, the partnership between the New York Comedy Festival and the Bob Woodruff Foundation, is a clearinghouse for organizations supporting wounded warriors dealing with physical wounds to long-term PTSD. Make a donation in honor of Jon Marcus to help them continue to help veterans get better and get jobs.

Soundtrack to this Issue

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’
The Tracks of My Tears

The Library of Congress is honoring Smokey Robinson with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. His 1965 classic, The Tracks of My Tears, was added to the National Recording Registry in 2007 as a “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant sound recording.”

C’mon, sing along, you know the words:

People say I’m the life of the party
Because I tell a joke or two
Although I might be laughing loud and hearty
Deep inside I’m blue

So take a good look at my face
You know my smile looks out of place
If you look closer it’s easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

Who rescued whom?

At the New York Tartan Day Parade.
So grateful for Barkley coming into my life.
Thanks to Westie Rescue of New England.

Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l

“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)

 

Sources:
RFK quote: Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon by Larry Tye (Random House 2016)
Elie Wiesel quote: Boston Globe
Stuart Davis quote: Indiana University Art Museum
Pheloung Barrington quote: crime4u.com
Kool and the Gang’s Bell brothers quote: Rolling Stone, June 29, 2015
Jon Marcus memorial service pic: May Pang
We Can Help pic: Bob Woodruff Foundation
The Tracks of My Tears lyrics: Marvin Tarplin, Smokey Robinson, Warren Moore, William Robinson, Jr. ©Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

September Newsletter: A Review of the Month’s Culture, Arts + Trends

SEPTEMBER’S MESSAGE: TALK IS CHEAP

Keith’s first solo album in over two decades, Crosseyed Heart (Republic Records), has a little of everything. Rock, blues, country, reggae – the rootsy sound we expect from him, instantly recognizable. Oh, and it was recorded on analog tape. Nice! … On songwriting, he says, “In the right mood and with the right instrument, there’s a certain feeling of being an antenna, receiving and then transmitting.” … And if you haven’t already guessed, my fave Keith album is Talk Is Cheap. Words to live by.

You already love her. You heard her sing Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) every Christmas on the David Letterman Show. This new Darlene Love album is something to celebrate! And we have Steve Van Zandt to thank. He produced a huge sound to complement Darlene’s rich voice, and he asked friends to write songs. Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Linda Perry and Jimmy Webb. In fact, Costello’s Still Too Soon To Know features a duet vocal by Bill Medley … And if you still haven’t seen the Oscar-winning doc, 20 Feet From Stardom, do it. See and hear how great this lady is and always has been.

SAME HOME, NEW NAME

At a ceremony before The New York Philharmonic’s Opening Gala Concert, Avery Fisher Hall became David Geffen Hall, in honor of Mr. Geffen’s $100M gift toward renovating the hall … Also honoring the Gala Concert, an annual major NYC event, the Empire State Building went Philharmonic Red!

MAYA ANGELOU’S ART

“Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.” … Maya Angelou died last year, her Harlem home filled with paintings and wall hangings. Part of her art collection, about 50 works, just sold for nearly $1.3 million. Her son, Guy Johnson, wrote in the auction catalog, “For my mother, paintings, sculpture, dance and music were ways of translating the intangible into digestible bites; these forms of art were ways of expressing feelings and emotions that resisted the confinement of words…Just as Dr. Angelou continues to serve as a source of inspiration for countless artists, writers and performers, she also found inspiration in the works of others.” … The painting here is by Bernard Casey (1939 – ). It is titled Music and Fruit (Songs in Eden), an acrylic on cotton canvas, circa early 1970s. Let’s see, musical notes in colorful hearts? What’s not to like.

NOTABLE BIRTHDAYS

We take note of three auspicious birthdays … Happy celebratin’, Stephen King, turning 68 on September 21. And the nice present he got from President Obama the previous day was the National Medal of Arts … Having just celebrated Born To Run’s 40th anniversary, now it’s the Boss’s turn. Happy 66th birthday to Bruce Springsteen, on September 23 … And Freddie Mercury, born September 5, 1946 (died November 24, 1991). Forever and always, our Champion of the World.

WE CAN HELP

The raging wildfires in California have destroyed homes and caused thousands of residents to flee. While firefighters fight the blazes, people have been evacuated from their homes, putting many pets’ lives in jeopardy. The ASPCA has stepped in to help save badly burned animals, check for pets and livestock left behind, and shelter displaced animals in the ASPCA’s 30-foot disaster response trailer customized to house animals in emergencies. So far, 203 animals, including dogs, cats, goats, pigs, and horses, have been rescued and brought to safety; and 37 animals have been reunited with their families after being separated during emergency evacuations. Our donations can provide much-needed assistance during this critical time.

Soundtrack to this Issue

Greatest Song of the Summer of 2015?
Meat Loaf’s You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)
From Bat Out of Hell (Epic Records/CBS Inc. 1977)
As voted on by Ultimate Classic Rock’s listeners.

Another September birthday boy, Meat turned 68 on September 27! Hey, more great news! Meat is back in the studio with Karla and Ellen. Could this mean another epic Steinman song?

C’mon, sing along, you know the words:

You hold me so close that my knees grow weak
But my soul is flying high above the ground
I’m trying to speak but no matter what I do
I just can’t seem to make any sound

And then you took the words right out of my mouth
Oh, it must have been while you were kissing me
You took the words right out of my mouth
And I swear it’s true
I was just about to say I love you

 

Who rescued whom?

So grateful for Barkley coming into my life.
Thanks to Westie Rescue of New England.

Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l

“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)

 

Sources:
Keith Richards quote: NY Times, September 17, 2015
Avery Fisher Hall pic: AP
Guy Johnson catalogue quote: Swann Galleries, September 15, 2015
Best Song of Summer 2015 pic: Ultimate Classic Rock
You Took the Words lyrics: Jim Steinman ©1977 Edward B. Marks Music Corp., Neverland Music Company, and Peg Music Co.

August Newsletter: A Review of the Month’s Culture, Arts + Trends

AUGUST’S RAP-UP

“Whether it was money, gangbanging, crack, LAPD and eventually AIDS — everything in the world came down on this group. What did we combat all that with? We had music. We had lyrics. We had hip-hop.” (Ice Cube)

You’d think the film Straight Outta Compton was based on today’s headlines. But it started in the 1980’s when five friends in Compton, CA, a city in south-central L.A. with drugs, crime, street gangs, and a high murder rate, formed a group and told their story. This biopic about the groundbreaking hip-hop group N.W.A. (original members Dr. Dre and Ice Cube are producers) beat all expectations, debuting at #1 … Their debut album of the same name marked the beginning of gangsta rap, hitting at real-life issues – racial profiling and police brutality. Rolling Stone cited the album as one of hip-hop’s most crucial albums, calling it a “bombastic, cacophonous car ride through Los Angeles’ burnt-out and ignored hoods.”  … With funky, bass-driven beats and explicit controversial lyrics, they left a lasting legacy on hip-hop music. The stories they were telling in the album were relevant then and resonate still – in this new film as well as in tonight’s evening news.

And hip-hop made it to Broadway, too. Hamilton, opening to record-breaking advance sales, is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Real history with a real hip-hop score. Sure, it’s about the birth of our nation. But its world of politics with rivalries, self-interest, integrity, even a sex scandal, mirrors our own state of the union, centuries later. Another example of hip-hop storytelling that’s historically significant yet pertinent today.

THE BEATLES PLAY NEW YORK!

Did you have one of these?

August 15 marked the 50th anniversary of the Beatles concert at Shea Stadium. In front of 55,000 screaming fans, the largest crowd in music history at the time, they were introduced by Ed Sullivan: “…honored by their country, decorated by their Queen, and loved here in America, here are the Beatles.” Then they ran on stage to open the concert with Twist and Shout.

HAVING SURGERY? BRING FLOYD!

A good song makes us feel better, right? According to new research, patients who listened to music were less anxious after surgery and needed less pain relief. In fact the lead author, Dr. Catherine Meads, said Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon helped soothe her pain after hip surgery … Dr. Hazim Sadideen from University Hospitals Birmingham also researched the role of music, “Undertaking both minor and major surgery can induce stress. Music can be used…to improve the patient journey…” … So doctor, what do the tests show? Listening to music before, during, and after an operation can help reduce pain. That’s a relief … “And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear, You shout and no one seems to hear, And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes, I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.”

BABY WE WERE BORN TO RUN

“The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves, like a vision she dances across the porch, as the radio plays…” … So starts Born To Run, August 25 marking 40 years it hit record stores. This is the original Columbia Records ad. Special place in my heart, my record company (CBS Records) and recording studio (Record Plant) alma maters. One happy tramp.

DOG NEWS

Turns out, August 15 is an auspicious date. It also marked Clear the Shelters day. About 7.6 million animals enter shelters across the country each year, 3.9 million dogs and 3.4 million cats, according to the ASPCA. Waiving most or all adoption fees, 400 animal shelters nationwide took part in the one-day event. An initiative by NBC-TV stations to help get cats and dogs waiting for new homes successfully adopted, the result? Over 19,000 adoptions and still counting! Westie Rescue Barkley straight out approves.

WE CAN HELP

Let’s show our love and appreciation for the military working dogs, who are highly trained to work side by side with their handlers in war zones as trackers or sentries, in search and rescue, and explosive detection. The U.S. War Dog Association has been sending care packages to military dogs all over the world, all year round, since 2003. You can send specific items needed by the dogs, such as cooling vests and mats, nail clippers, brushes, combs, Kongs and other heavy duty chew toys, doggles, collapsible nylon dog water bowls, and dog shampoo and treats (made in the USA only). Or you may make a financial contribution.

 

Soundtrack to this Issue

NWA’s Express Yourself
From Straight Outta Compton (Priority/Ruthless 1988)

C’mon, sing along, you know the words:

I’m expressin’ with my full capabilities,
And now I’m livin’ in correctional facilities,
Cause some don’t agree with how I do this.

I get straight, meditate like a Buddhist,
I’m droppin’ flava, my behavior is hereditary,
But my technique is very necessary.

Blame it on Ice Cube…
Because he says it gets funky
When you got a subject and a predicate.
Add it on a dope beat
And that’ll make you think.

Express yourself…
Express yourself…
Come on and do it…

 

Who rescued whom?

So grateful for Barkley coming into my life.
Thanks to Westie Rescue of New England.

Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l

“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)

 

Sources:
Ice Cube quote: LA Times, Lorraine Ali, July 30, 2015
Straight Outta Compton album review: Jon Caramanica, Rolling Stone, September 30, 2002
Beatles at Shea pic: Copyright holder unknown. (Beatles Rarities)
Music and surgery quotes: Brunel University and Queen Mary University of London music during surgery study
Brain Damage lyrics: Roger Waters ©Roger Waters Music Overseas Ltd., TRO-Hampshire House Publishing (Dark Side of the Moon, EMI 1973)
Born To Run ad: Sony Legacy Records
Thunder Road lyrics: Bruce Springsteen ©1975 Laurel Canyon Music Ltd.
Adoption results: Clear The Shelters
We Can Help pic: The U.S. War Dog Association, Inc.
Express Yourself lyrics: O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson, Charles W. Wright © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

November Newsletter: A Review of the Month’s Culture, Arts + Trends

VALOR + HONOR = SPIRIT OF NOVEMBER

Stevie Wonder honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom … Speaking of, he played his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life from start to finish at Madison Square Garden … Billy Joel is the sixth recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Who also got this? Stevie Wonder … The Concert for Valor on Veteran’s Day in D.C. featured Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, and Metallica honoring our troops …Speaking of, Bruce releases new box set Bruce Springsteen: The Album Collection Vol. 1, 1973-1984, includes re-mastered editions of his first seven studio albums, recreations of original artwork and a book of rare memorabilia … American Arts Trust launched the American Veterans Art Wall, a virtual wall where U.S. veterans can submit their own creative expressions … Queen Forever features three previously unreleased tracks with Freddie Mercury on vocals, including a collaboration with Michael Jackson … Joni Mitchell’s Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting To Be Danced contains 53 re-mastered songs spanning her career. “I am a painter who writes songs. My songs are very visual. The words create scenes.” … In her latest album, It’s The Girls, Bette Midler plays the music of girl groups like Be My Baby, One Fine Day, and You Can’t Hurry Love. Hurry and get it … Arlo Guthrie’s annual Thanksgiving concert at Carnegie Hall … Bob Marley tribute concert at the Apollo celebrates the 35th anniversary of his debut there … Guitars and good deeds: Fender Music Foundation benefit concerts provide instruments for classrooms and music therapy programs, City Winery hosts Guitar Mash, 350+ pros and amateurs perform together, raising money for music education concerts, and Wall Street Rocks concerts benefit ReserveAid, supporting reservists and National Guard members deployed abroad … Winner of the National Dog Show is Nathan the Bloodhound. “He kisses everybody he meets and doesn’t know a stranger – he makes me smile every day.”

MUSIC ON FILM

Great directors on great musicians: Martin Scorsese is producing a documentary on the Grateful Dead in honor of the band’s 50th anniversary. “The Grateful Dead were more than just a band. They were their own planet, populated by millions of devoted fans. I’m very happy that this picture is being made and proud to be involved.” … Ron Howard to direct a feature documentary on The Beatles, focusing on the period from 1960 to 1966. “These guys looked and sounded different, and were absolutely explosive to watch. The girls were screaming. It was this flash of genius and uniqueness, but they were also relate-able.” … In the Mick Jagger-produced Alex Gibney doc, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown about the Godfather of Soul’s life, career, and musical legacy, Jagger says he “tried to steal everything [from Brown] I could possibly do.”

WE CAN HELP

“Here comes the sun…” So grateful for Barkley coming into my life. Thanks to Westie Rescue of New England. Who rescued whom?

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation raising money to build a permanent national training center for search dogs on 125 acres in California … PACT for Animals provides temporary, free, in-home foster care for the pets of deployed military personnel and hospital patients and their families … Pilots N Paws is a meeting place for those who rescue, shelter or foster animals, and volunteer pilots and plane owners willing to assist with the transportation of animals.

Soundtrack to this Issue is
You Are the Sunshine of My Life by Stevie Wonder
(Stevie Wonder performing at The Motown Sound: In Performance at the White House,
celebrating Black History Month, February 24, 2011.)

C’mon, sing along:
You are the sunshine of my life
That’s why I’ll always be around,
You are the apple of my eye,
Forever you’ll stay in my heart

Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)

 

Sources:
Stevie Wonder pic: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Bloodhound pic: AKC
Bloodhound quote: The Baltimore Sun
Grateful Dead pic: stereogum.com
Martin Scorsese quote: relix.com
Ron Howard quote: deadline.com
Search dog pic: Search Dog Foundation
You Are the Sunshine of My Life lyrics: Stevie Wonder, writer/©Black-bull-music Inc., Jobete Music Co. Inc.

September Newsletter: A Review of the Month’s Culture, Arts + Trends

SEPTEMBER REFLECTIONS

Komorebi is Japanese for “the sunlight that filters through the leaves of the trees” from Lost in Translation, a collection of words without English counterparts … NYC’s CultureAID will prepare arts organizations for another Hurricane Sandy-like emergency … A newly discovered extinct swamp animal is named Jagger’s Water Nymph because its mouth structure is “a highly innervated muzzle with mobile and tactile lips.” … San Francisco’s Spoke Art Gallery pays homage to Stanley Kubrick’s glorious films with eye-catching artworks … Metallica made the Guinness World Records as the first rock band to perform on all seven continents … To celebrate the NY Philharmonic’s Opening Night Gala, the Empire State Building again glowed red … Hakuna Matata! Broadway’s The Lion King has the most box office total of any work in any media in entertainment history … New jukebox musical, Piece of My Heart, tells the story of Bert Berns who wrote Twist and Shout, Hang On Sloopy, and oh yeah, Piece of My Heart … NY Film Festival’s celebration of the wit, intelligence, and strong women characters of Joseph Mankiewicz’s films includes All About Eve and A Letter to Three Wives … Opening night at the Met Opera saw the return of James Levine leading the orchestra in a spirited and updated Le Nozze di Figaro. Bravo, Maestro! … George Harrison’s The Apple Years 1968-75 box set of his first six albums, digitally remastered from analog masters. Also an all-star tribute concert George Fest benefits the Sweet Relief Musician’s Fund … Also new Beatles Mono Vinyl box set … lullaby and…The Ceaseless Roar, Robert Plant’s 10th solo album inspired by blues, bluegrass, West African and world music, is “a kaleidoscope of sound, color, and friendship” … Introduced to music by granddad Theodore Augustus “Gus” Dupree, Keith Richards wrote Gus & Me, a children’s book with pen-and-ink illustrations by daughter Theodora … We lost Bob Crewe. You know his songs, the Four Seasons hits, Sherry, Walk Like a Man, Rag Doll, and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You … Also, Joe Sample, the Crusaders pianist, played funk, pop, dance, jazz, rock. “Unfortunately, in this country, there’s a lot of prejudice against the various forms of music. The jazz people hate the blues, the blues people hate rock, and the rock people hate jazz. But how can anyone hate music?” So true … And Bruce Springsteen turns 65. Born to run and still driving, searchin’, boppin’, and making magic. Happy birthday, Boss.

CAN WE TALK?

Who were Joan Rivers’ first guests on her Late Show Starring Joan Rivers? Cher, Pee-Wee Herman, and Elton John. Cool? Very … “I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can’t make it through one door, I’ll go through another door – or I’ll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.” … Words to live by from a person who was always relevant, who always spoke the truth, and who was always funny. Amen.

As RUN-DMC’s agent, I booked them on the Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, where they performed Walk This Way in October 1986. And yes, Joan rapped with my guys: “Well, have you heard, I’m the first and number one, Not the best, not the worst, cause my name is Run, And I’m second cause I reckon that you want to see, An emcee like D inside the place to be, And have you heard he is third and his name is Jay.” And Joan raps: “I’m Mama Joan and I’m here to say, I got my own show and I’m here to stay!”

FUNNY + INFLUENTIAL = COSBY

“My father established our relationship when I was seven years old. He looked at me and said, ‘You know, I brought you in this world, and I can take you out. And it don’t make no difference to me, I’ll make another one look just like you.’” … In Cosby: His Life and Times (Simon & Schuster, September 2014), Mark Whitaker, longtime Newsweek editor and TV news executive, reveals the man we all think we know. Still travelling to do shows more than 30 weeks each year, Bill Cosby is a celebrity without entourage who carries his own bags and says hello to everyone. Mark will make you believe that the man we invited into our homes every week, the man who made us laugh at our own foibles, this groundbreaking comedian, is the approachable man we thought he was. Thank you Mark.

WE CAN HELP

Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to career musicians who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. Donations help pay for an artist’s medical expenses, housing, food, utilities, clothing, transportation, programs, and counseling.

Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, RUN-DMC’s DJ, died October 30, 2002. The Jam Master Jay Foundation for Music provides funding and resources to support free public school music education programs. Donate to continue Jay’s legacy of creativity, positivity and community support.

Soundtrack to this Issue is
Radio Nowhere by Bruce Springsteen
From the album, Magic ©2007

C’mon, sing along:
I was driving through the misty rain
Searchin’ for a mystery train
Boppin’ through the wild blue
Tryin’ to make a connection with you

Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l
“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)

 

Sources:
Sun through leaves pic: Stout Travel Adventure
Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World: By Ella Frances Sanders (Ten Speed Press, September 2014)
Jagger’s Water Nymph quote: Journal of Paleontology (September 2014)
Kubrick pic: Tracie Ching
Robert Plant quote: from Amazon editorial review
Joe Sample quote: Los Angeles Times (1985)
RUN-DMC and Joan Rivers rap: Jam Master Jay: The Heart of Hip-Hop by David Thigpen
Cosby: His Life and Times: Simon & Schuster (September 2014)
Radio Nowhere lyrics: © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

April Newsletter: A Review of the Month’s Culture, Arts + Trends

APRIL STRONG

Record Store Day reminded us how great vinyl is and will always be. The good news is that indie stores around the country are growing. Sad news is J&R closed … Robert Moog was surely smiling down on Asheville, NC, where his great invention was celebrated at the five-day festival Moogfest 2014. Brings back memories of ELP’s Brain Salad Surgery, doesn’t it? … Welcomed into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry were the original cast recording of Sweeney Todd, Jeff Buckley’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, Isaac Hayes’s theme from Shaft, and Linda Ronstadt’s Heart Like A Wheel … Jill Sobule’s new album, Dottie’s Charms, was inspired by an old charm bracelet she got as a gift. She asked Jonathan Lethem, Luc Sante, and other authors to write lyrics based on each of the charms … Former French first lady, Carla Bruni at Town Hall singing folk-pop ballads from her Little French Songs album … Billy Joel showed up at a Long Island elementary school concert and sat in the back of the auditorium … PBS’s In Performance at the White House: Women of Soul featured Aretha, Patti, and others paying homage to their musical “foremothers” … “It’s quite nonintellectual and nonverbal; it’s just – feeling,” on his songwriting process in Bruce Springsteen’s High Hopes HBO documentary … Guys and Dolls at Carnegie Hall with Nathan Lane. Amen … Aerosmith’s Dream On remix with a children’s chorus for the Boston Marathon made for a mighty inspiring anthem … And the Blood Moon glowed crimson.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

“I’m still old-fashioned. I love dusty old books and libraries. This is Mockingbird for a new generation.” So said Harper Lee on her 88th birthday, finally allowing a Kindle version of To Kill A Mockingbird … In 2006, Lee wrote an open letter to Oprah Winfrey’s O magazine that discussed her love of books.

“[In] an abundant society where people have laptops, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books. Instant information is not for me: I still prefer to search library stacks because when I work to learn something, I remember it. And Oprah, can you imagine curling up in bed to read a computer? Weeping for Anna Karenina and being terrified by Hannibal Lecter, entering the heart of darkness with Mistah Kurtz, having Holden Caulfield ring you up–some things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal.”

WE CAN HELP

In recognition of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ exhibit Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles! in honor of the 50th anniversary of the group’s coming to America, consider making a donation to support their great efforts. Besides lots of Beatles tchotchkes, there were instruments, posters, photographs, interviews, correspondence from 1964 to 1966, and special events and films. I was thrilled to see the original promoter agreements for their American tour. The Performing Arts Library has always been a huge part of my life. Become a NYPL member, donate, or volunteer … For her 90th birthday, Doris Day asked in lieu of flowers, send a donation to her pet foundation, the Doris Day Animal League.

Soundtrack to this Issue is
Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s Still You Turn Me On
From their album, Brain Salad Surgery (great title!).
Then listen to Greg Lake’s version with just an acoustic guitar.

Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l
“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)

 

Sources:
Harper Lee letter to Oprah: May 7, 2006 published in O magazine’s July “special summer reading issue”
Beatles sneaker pic: New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

January Newsletter: A Review of the Month’s Culture, Arts + Trends

JANUARY’S PROMISE 

A new year brought a new Bruce Springsteen album. And it opened at #1 on Billboard. High Hopes indeed … The New York Guitar Festival’s month-long celebration of all-things guitar included Guitar Marathon: Las Americas, which featured artists from Latin America performing a variety of styles, the Alt-Guitar Summit, a six-hour classical marathon, and the really cool Silent Films/Live Guitars, music to silent films featuring NY … Make Music Monthly, a series of talks with musicians at the Cornelia Street Café and on podcasts, debuted with a discussion of Charles Mingus’s two-hour work, Epitaph … NY Phil’s pianist-in-residence, Yefim Bronfman, played Greenwich Village basement space SubCulture … The 10th annual five-day NYC Winter Jazzfest featured a 75th anniversary concert at Town Hall for Blue Note Records and a takeover of Greenwich Village clubs … Rolling Stone scribe Will Hermes to write Lou Reed bio, potentially called, Lou: A New York Life … Beatlemania just starting: Capitol released The Beatles: The U.S. Albums, a 13-CD set … Neil Young played Carnegie Hall, where he made his solo debut in 1970 … We wish a speedy recovery to Maestro Kurt Mazur who had to cancel his annual Manhattan School of Music conducting seminar … Although he’s not retiring until June we begin bidding our goodbye to NY Philharmonic Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, who showed his chops in Tchaikovsky’s Suite No. 3 and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. A great musician and a real nice guy. Bravo!

REMEMBERING PETE 

One of a kind. Made a mark. Not just in music. But on culture and on society. Making peace was Pete Seeger’s message. And his mission. “The key to the future of the world is finding the optimistic stories and letting them be known.” He left us with Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, If I Had a Hammer, and Turn, Turn, Turn. And he also gave us his versions of This Land Is Your Land and We Shall Overcome. In Beacon you lived. And a beacon you were, and will forever be. Bless you and thank you, Pete Seeger. We remember you well.

ADIEU + MERCI MONSIEUR MAGRITTE 

Ceci n’est pas une pipe. You know the words. Better, you know the image. The one and only René Magritte. MOMA’s celebration of the great Surrealist, Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary 1926-1938, finally came to an end. His art was representative, yet paradoxical, his images indelible. Even popular. That he shared the same name as my father made him my favorite. That he made me think, while appreciating the pretty pictures, only made me admire him more. What you see, well, is that what is?

WE CAN HELP 

The world’s largest grassroots human rights organization, Amnesty International, is a global movement of people fighting injustice and promoting human rights. And music has played a big part in raising awareness and much needed funds, and inspiring others to care.

Donate or buy the Chimes For Freedom CD featuring Johnny Cash, Pete Townshend, Patti Smith, Pete Seeger and more singing Bob Dylan songs.

Soundtrack to this Issue is Pete Seeger singing Bob Dylan’s Forever Young. From Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International.

 Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l 

“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)

Sources:
Pete Seeger pic: Huffington Post, January 28, 2014
Pete Seeger quote: NY Times, January 29, 2014
René Magritte pic: The Kiss 1951

December Newsletter: A Review of the Month’s Culture, Arts + Trends

DECEMBER = INSPIRATION + HOPE

A heartfelt thank you for your friendship, partnership, and support. I appreciate our connection. There was meaningful conversation and helpful advice. Changes, too. Which led to adapting. Which led to even more changes. Such is the cycle of our lives. I look forward to learning even more from you and sharing more news and ideas with you in 2014. Let’s continue to inspire each other!

INSPIRING MUSIC…

Always inspiring, Handel’s Messiah at the NY Philharmonic. Making his NY Phil debut, Maestro Andrew Manze, with the Westminster Symphonic Choir. And oh yes, everyone stood at Hallelujah. The soprano’s Air from Romans spoke to the season of hope: “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”…Bruce Springsteen brought us High Hopes, from his new album due January 14…And his Born to Run handwritten lyrics sold for $197,000 at auction…But wait, at the same auction, Yoko Ono’s typed manuscript (with handwritten notes) of her 1964 book, Grapefruit, sold for $485,000…Beyoncé out with a new marketing strategy, I mean no marketing strategy, no, I mean a new album – announced solely on Instagram – 14 songs, 17 videos, zero promotion. Social media + digital music distribution = a new way to do it…SeaWorld in Orlando saw concert cancellations by Willie Nelson, REO Speedwagon, Martina McBride, and Cheap Trick, over keeping whales in captivity…Remember Boston? Now it’s mostly Tom Scholz, an original techie, playing all the instruments on Life, Love and Hope. There’s a title with more than a feeling…Kennedy Center honorees included Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel, Martina Arroyo, and Carlos Santana…Speaking of. A NY institution merged with another NY institution: Billy Joel is Madison Square Garden’s first entertainment franchise. Hey, maybe some of his homegrown NY spirit will rub off on their Knicks franchise…New Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are KISS, Peter Gabriel, Hall and Oates, Cat Stevens, and Linda Ronstadt. Also, the E Street Band, Brian Epstein and Andrew Loog Oldham. Very cool list…Neil Young’s new release is really an old one from a 1970 solo acoustic tour, Live at the Cellar Door…Prokofiev’s enduring Peter & the Wolf, this one narrated, designed, and directed by the inspiring Isaac Mizrahi, set in Central Park, with the Juilliard Ensemble, and presented at the Guggenheim, a true NY holiday tradition…And Maestro Gilbert offers another NY tradition, the NY Phil’s New Year’s Eve Celebration, with classical comedy music duo, Igudesman & Joo. Bringing in the new year with laughter and music. Sounds perfect.

WHAT’S UP, DOCS? MUSIC!

HBO’s Six by Sondheim views the composer’s career through new versions of six of his classic songs, by some pretty great performers including Audra McDonald and Darren Criss…PBS gave us Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love, a view of the artist whose life was totally devoted to music. Did you know he auditioned for Juilliard when he was 6?…And our fave doc of the year, 20 Feet From Stardom, an admiring ode to the never to be ever forgotten back-up singers, is on the shortlist for an Oscar.

GOOD BOOKS

Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings resonates for all of us who went to a performing arts camp or school because it was part of our DNA and it would lead to our life’s passion and lifelong friends…The young protagonist of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch has a lot on his plate. His level-headedness and plain-spokenness keeps you riveted in his journey…In Johnny Cash: The Life, Robert Hilburn’s portrait tallies with what Bob Dylan said of Cash, “if we want to know what it means to be mortal, we need look no further than the Man in Black.”…Beatles vs. Stones by historian John McMillan makes the case for each…And Mark Lewisohn’s first volume of his Beatles trilogy All These Years, Tune In, arrived in a glorious (almost) 1,000-page package. He tracks their beginnings up to December 31, 1962. Make room on your shelf.

WE CAN HELP

The ASPCA Adoption Center does good work. Each precious dog has a bed, blanket, toys, and coat. Each is cleaned, evaluated, and cared for. Cats, too. The ASPCA Love is a Treat mug is a great way to show your love, while making a meaningful purchase. Donate to ASPCA.

LAST WORDS

Change is hard. Everyone agrees this is so. This year brought each of us changes that were expected and unexpected, welcome and unwelcome. We adapt to some. Others we struggle through. Hope gives us the strength to persevere. Friends and colleagues provide inspiration…“Strange fascination, fascinating me, Ah changes are taking the pace I’m going through. Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes.”…Here’s to changes. And here’s to welcoming them…Cheers to a happy peaceful new year.

Soundtrack to this Issue is David Bowie’s Changes

Buddha, stay. Good dog. z”l
“…live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
(Buddha)

Sources:
Marvin Hamlisch pic: PBS American Masters
Changes lyrics: words and music by David Bowie (EMI Music Publishing)