Ma davvero si sentono le influenze di Billy Holiday, Bessie Smith e Van Morrison nella musica di Mary Coughlan? E di altri noti musicisti come Cole Porter, Leonard Cohen e Jacques Brel o Elvis Costello, George Gerwin e Tom Waits? E – sperando di non aver fatto errori – vi piacciono i suoi album Tired and emotional, Mary Coughlan sings Billie Holiday e The House of ill repute? Magari preferite «Strange Fruit» di Billy Holliday, se non ho sbagliato a scrivere qualcosa.

Ci sarete al «Milano Music Club» al Teatro Dal Verme? Mi chiedo, peraltro, dove sia la via S. Giovanni sul Muro (forse vicino a  Cordusio) e se siano molto bravi i suoi musicisti Brian Condor, Rod Patterson e Conor Brady. Qualora frequentiate per la prima volta questo blog, sappiate che potete votare successi della Coughlan o dei suoi notissimi modelli più sotto.

24.08.09 Cosa ne pensate? Soddisfatti? Esce oggi – lunedì 24 agosto – «One love», l’album David Guetta. E come vi sembra «When Love Takes Over» con Kelly Rowland o il suo video? A quanto pare, – si è appreso dai media – avrebbero collaborato a questa sua opera i «Black Eyed Peas» e tali Estelle ed Akon.

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Vi piace No baggage, il nuovo album di Dolores O’ Riordan?

17.08.09 Il musicista Moby a Stoccolma per la Commissione europea e sul cambiamento climatico… Il 20 agosto al Teatro Rival dale 21… Puoi registrarti in questo sito e spedire una mail con la scritta «Moby» nell’oggetto. Cosa c’è in palio, prima che me ne dimentico? Un pass per l’esibizione…

Ah, dimenticavo… Potrete seguire tutto su Mtv ed in rete… Ed, inoltre, l’«ambasciatore» dell’iniziativa in Italia – «Play to Stop: Europe for Climate» («Suona per dare uno stop: l’Europa per il clima») – è la presentatrice tv Paola Maugeri.

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Gli utenti internet sarebbero – ovviamente – consapevoli dell’esistenza dei virus in rete. Ciò risulta da una ricerca Eurobarometro della Commissione europea, secondo la quale gli utenti consapevoli in Italia raggiungerebbero una percentuale del 99% rispetto alla media Ue del 97%.

22.09.09 «A’ bella, ma la smetti co’ tutti questi capricci?» Anche se non siete laziali, non vi verrebbe voglia di dir questo alla cantante pop Madonna? Secondo quanto si è potuto leggere o sentire, la tipetta avrebbe chiesto tavolette del wc rigorosamente nuove ed una suite a parte per le trenta valigie che possiede. La signorina ha cambiato, inoltre, uomo ed ha registrato a New York due nuovi singoli, «Celebration» e «Revolver», le uniche due novità di una raccolta di grandi successi che sarà pubblicata venerdì 25 settembre in Italia e lunedì 28 in America. Madonna «Veronica Ciccone» avrebbe cantato «Celebration» nel corso dello «Sticky & Sweet Tour» che sarebbe addirittura la serie di concerti con il maggiore incasso nella storia per un cantante solista. Poi mi direte, peraltro – e magari – cosa ne pensate del videoclip di «Celebration» girato il sedici luglio a Milano durante una festa di due stilisti dopo un concerto.

14.07.09 Ebbene sì… La cantante pop Madonna stasera, martedì 14 luglio, allo stadio San Siro di Milano e, fra due giorni, giovedì 16 luglio, allo stadio Friuli di Udine. Non mancherete?

08.07.09 I Simply Red suoneranno all’Arena Santa Giuliana di Perugia il 12 luglio; al Teatro D’Annunzio di Pescara il 13 ed all’Esedra di Palazzo Te a Mantova una sera dopo. Ci sarà anche Sarzana allo Stadio Miro Luperi l’11 agosto dopo Karima.

08.07.09 – Lenny Kravitz. Concerto di Lenny Kravitz a piazza Napoleone, a Lucca, sabato 11 luglio dalle 20.30 per il locale Summer Festival. Kravitz tornerà in Italia sabato 25 luglio a Brescia, in piazza Duomo, e domenica 26 al Palalottomatica di Roma. Enzo Avitabile (vedere sotto) sarà, invece, a Summonte, in provincia di Avellino, l’11 luglio dalle 21 per il festival Sentieri mediterranei. Godetevi il concerto – che vi consiglio – perché l’ingresso è libero…

- A proposito di Avellino: eccovi il sito di un cantante, Mc Gerry.  Non so molto di lui….

Quanto al Summer Festival, mercoledì 15 luglio toccherà al campano Enzo Avitabile dalle 21.30 con i Bottari e la Scorribanda per un concerto gratuito in piazza Napoleone. Poi, giovedì 16 luglio tocca a James Taylor alle 20.45 preceduto da Amos Lee. Sempre in piazza Napoleone, anche in questo caso, e con due prezzi da trentacinque e cinquanta euro.

Moby e… Sabato 18 luglio sarà la volta di Burt Bacharach dopo Karima alle 20.45. Per assistere a questo spettacolo di piazza Napoleone si dovranno pagare, anche in questo caso, trentacinque o cinquanta euro, mentre costeranno trenta euro l’esibizione di James Morrison ed Amy Macdonald (piazza Napoleone, venerdì 24 luglio alle 21.30) e trentaquattro quello di Moby (sabato 25 luglio alle 21.30, ovviamente in piazza Napoleone). C’è, tuttavia, un concerto gratuito – una Summer Giovani – giovedì 23 luglio alle 21.30 e si chiude, infine, con John Fogerty domenica 26 luglio alle 21.30 (trentadue euro più prevendita ed in piazza Napoleone).

A proposito di Amy Macdonald, se siete svizzeri o vivete al Nord, sappiate che canterà a Locarno lunedì 14 luglio nella locale piazza Grande.

I Radiohead. «In Rainbow», l’ultimo album del gruppo britannico dei Radiohead, offerto in internet in due modalità (offerta libera ed edizione lussuosa e costosa), sarebbe stato, ciò nonostante, molto scaricato da internet in maniera illegale.
Il significativo  download illegale di questo lavoro è stato sostenuto da due società – una di valorizzazione musicale, la «Mcps-Prs», e una di ricerche di mercato, la «Bigchampagne» – che hanno realizzato uno studio dei cui risultati riferisce l’articolo «Flop dei download legali di musica» della versione online del quotidiano Financial Times Deutschland. Secondo Eric Garland, capo della «Bigchampagne», l’apprezzamento per l’album avrebbe comunque regalato al gruppo un’enorme richiesta di biglietti per il tour di quest’anno.

- Crema al cacao con nocciole ed anacardi, cioccolato fondente con nocciole o gianduia con nocciole intere oppure al latte con nocciole e nocciole intere

- Località turistiche straniere (Vota)

- Quale di questi monumenti italiani vi piace di più? (Vota)

- La musica. Quale il vostro brano preferito? (Vota)

Spreadthesign, dizionario e linguaggio dei segni. Commissione europea – Istruzione e formazione

Un browser europeo – Opera – e Mozilla o i sistemi operativi di Linux ed Apple. Neomedia.it

5 agosto ‘08 – aggiornato 26 novembre ‘09

calogeromira.wordpress.com – e-mail

Risparmio energetico (forse)?

Don’t Fence Me In is a particularly good Roy Rogers picture. Directed by John English (who with William Witney directed some of the best Republic serials of the late ’30s and early ’40s), it’s a well-paced, exciting, and thoroughly enjoyable B western.

The film opens with a western montage, accompanied by the Cole Porter song from which the film gets its title. After the credits roll, we’re treated to a cheap-looking Boot Hill set with a matte painting background that looks as if it’s about two feet away. A narrator tells us that “Once upon a time, as a matter of fact nearly forty years ago, there was a notorious western outlaw named Wildcat Kelly. He didn’t want to be fenced in either. But they stuffed him into a pine box and buried him six feet under the sod, on Boot Hill.” A masked man rises from behind Kelly’s tombstone, carrying a gun and a Wells Fargo case. The narrator, sounding surprised, says, “Wait a minute, that looks like Wildcat Kelly. It is Wildcat Kelly. There’s something mighty strange about this. I think we’d better investigate the story of Mr. Wildcat Kelly.”

And investigate we shall, but the job will fall on the pretty shoulders of a girl reporter named Toni Ames (Dale Evans). Toni has enough moxie to make an 800-pound gorilla stop dead in his tracks. When we first meet her, she’s performing the song “A Kiss Goodnight” while dancing on the table at a hot party in a big city, displaying her shapely gams to maximum effect. She’s doing it all for a story, though. A reporter for a tabloid called Spread magazine, Toni is undercover, secretly snapping shots of the party’s guest of honor, a dirty old cad named Cartwright (Andrew Tombes) who’s running for mayor as an incumbent.

The plot eventually takes Toni out west to the R Barr Dude Ranch to investigate the legend of Wildcat Kelly, who it turns out faked his own death nearly 40 years ago and has been living as a regular western Joe named “Gabby Whittaker.” He’s played by George “Gabby” Hayes, and it’s a good part for him. In a lot of these pictures, Hayes was able to just coast on his ornery persona, but Don’t Fence Me In actually gives him something to do.

Rogers plays that charming and laconic singing cowpoke character called “Roy Rogers” that he played in dozens of movies. Roy is Gabby’s friend, and the only person who knows his secret. He tries to convince Toni not to publish what she knows about Wildcat Kelly, but she goes ahead with her story, and that’s when things get interesting.

There are a group of gangsters whose motives are shadowy, but who clearly want Kelly dead once it’s revealed he is still alive. One of them is played by the great character actor Marc Lawrence, who had a very long career as a sinister-looking hood.

This is a fine showcase for all of the regulars from the ’40s Roy Rogers pictures. Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers back Rogers up both musically and when it’s time for fisticuffs. And the wonder horse Trigger does a high-stepping dance, with Rogers astride him, to an instrumental version of “Don’t Fence Me In,” and even takes a bow when he’s finished.

Roy and Dale’s relationship is more antagonistic than in many of their other pictures, but it’s still fun to watch. When she first shows up and tries to stow away in the boot of a coach, Roy tosses a hunk of stinky Limburger cheese in the back with her and takes her on a bumpy ride. She later pays him back by pushing him into a swimming pool.

Don’t Fence Me In ends with a delightful rendition of the title song performed by Roy, Dale, and the Sons of the Pioneers, with a few lines added at the beginning about Wildcat Kelly to tie the whole thing together.

LOVIN’ LAS VEGAS: Don’t know why I thought that Lily Tomlin and Sin City were not a natural fit. Turns out they are. La Tomlin premiered her new

TOMLIN & WAGNER: Viva Las Vegas

one-woman show, Not Playing With A Full Deck, at the MGM Grand, and reportedly loves Las Vegas! Lily’s partner and personal muse, the unabashedly brilliant humourist Jane Wagner, is the mighty pen behind her new show as well as such previous Tomlin megahits as The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe and Appearing Nitely. Lily’s new show is a mix of Greatest Hits – the characters her fans still can’t get enough of, like Ernestine and Edith Ann – and new characters, and

SHORT: Damages control

new technology. Tomlin’s new show ‘try-out’ played in MGM’s Hollywood Theater, which seats about 2,000 people at each performance. And when Tomlin isn’t hanging out with her Big Business co-star and Caesars Palace headliner Bette Midler (The Showgirl Must Go On) or trying to coax Jane (“it’s come down to begging, really,”) into writing a new Broadway show for her, she’s commuting to New York to shoot her scenes in the new season of Damages with Glenn Close. In it she plays the matriarch of a powerful family determined to destroy shady legal eagle Close. Assisting Lily in this mission are Martin Short as her high-powered attorney and Campbell Scott as her son. And yes, she confesses, she and Marty did misbehave one day on the set, when

MIDLER: The show must go ... off

she read her lines as Ernestine and he did his as Ed Grimley. “But never when the cameras are rolling!”

THE SHOWGIRL MUST GO OFF: P.S. for Vegas-bound Bette Midler fans: Your heroine ends her two-year residency at The Colloseum – aka The House That Céline Built – on January 31. Says Bette: “These legs have had such a great run in the desert, it may be time to haul them to places with more humidity and fewer slot machines.”

GET OUT YOUR HANDKERCHIEFS: Yes, it’s true, the latest YouTube sensation is a recent audition for Simon Cowell’s British talent show The X Factor. The singer is a 40-year-old cabinet-maker named Daryl Markham. Markham has his own website now, and is now a household

MARKHAM: YouTube sensation

name for millions of people all over the world. But can he sing? You be the judge. To see his now-historic audition, just click here.

NO BIZ LKE SHOW BIZ: Leave it to Reg Hartt to find a copy of the sumptuous MGM musical Kiss Me Kate, with Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel and young hoofers Bob Fosse & Tommy Rall competing for Ann Miller’s machine-gun taps., in — wait for it — 3D, its screen original format. Cineaste extraordinare Hartt unspools the classic Cole Porter musical this Sunday and next at 5 pm at his Cineforum HQ at Bathurst & College. Adds Reg: “Bring your own popcorn and we will zap it for you.”

WILLIAMS: ReelWorld decade

Hmmmm, wonder if Stratford’s Kiss Me Kate star Juan Chiorian, now on stage at the Factory Theatre in The Madonna Painter, has ever seen this version? … fan faves Colin Mochrie & Deb McGrath guest with Ron James tonight at 8 pm on CBC Television …  the Kate Rogers Band performs live tomorrow morning on CBC Radio One’s GO! Show. “Tickets are free and everyone is welcome!” sez Ms Rogers … speaking of tickets, you can still snag some for this weekend’s performances of the National Ballet’s spectacular Sleeping Beauty revival before it closes Sunday .. and can you believe that Tonya Lee Williams’ ReelWorld Film Festival, the little movie marathon that grew, celebrates its 10th anniversary next spring? Ms Williams, of course, is currently stationed in Washington, D.C. — on screen, at least — in The Border. And BTW, the ReelWorld call for submissions has already started. So if you have a feature, documentary, short, music video or animation from the Aboriginal, Asian, Black, Latino, Middle Eastern, South Asian or other multi-racial community, click here and fill out the submissions form.

Happy weekend!

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http://reelworld.ca/

Since the villa is now almost completely renovated we have decided as a family to take a trip down to the Riviera to enjoy a summer break for a few weeks. So Mama, Papa, Aunt Mimi, Sir Oliver, Millie and Henri and I take the overnight train and then drive to Cap d’Antibes in two cars that we have rented.

The Villa, Cap d'Antibes

When we arrive the lorry with masses of furnishings has also arrived from Paris and there is also Lorenzo who has been persuaded to come and join us from Italy and keep me company. We have a wonderful day emptying the lorry and placing all the furniture. I am thrilled to be able to hang all the paintings that I bought from Montparnasse. They cause a bit of a debate of course but I prevail. We have employed several local people as cook, housekeeper and gardener but they do not arrive until tomorrow. It is lucky Lorenzo is here because he had the good sense to bring with him in his car boxes of Italian delicacies and he cooks us the most amazing supper. He is such a resounding success that even Papa says “well my boy I suggest you get to London and open a restaurant.”

We take a few days to sort ourselves out, and Lorenzo and the cook argue in the kitchen each night. Papa and I discuss the landscaping of the garden and grounds and the building of a swimming pool with the gardener who will arrange and organise everything for us.

Interestingly, the older generation are not good at simply relaxing and doing nothing. Despite excellent food, brilliant sunshine, amazing surroundings, the gramophone, Mah Jong and charades, they miss the hustle and bustle of big city life and start complaining. I on the other hand have got Lorenzo, so I am perfectly content with doing very little. I have enough of a distraction. Millie and I also spend a lot of time teaching Lorenzo new dance steps and generally improving our own dancing technique. However, to ease the discontent, during the day, we start taking a few trips and take leisurely visits to Juan Le Pins and Antibes. But since most places are closed there are more outbursts.

One day we head for the sandy Plage Garoupe shaded by umbrella pines. We meet the American family of Gerald and Sara Murphy. Millie reminds me that Yvette, Henri’s sister, had told us that the Murphy’s had been here last summer with Cole Porter.

‘We are staying at the Hotel du Cap, Eden Roc’ Gerald tells us.

‘The hotel is usually closed from May to September but we persuaded the owner Antoine Sella to keep the place open with a skeleton staff this summer.’

He is thrilled when we tell him that we have bought and renovated the villa near to the hotel and suggests we join them for dinner, which we graciously accept.

We spend a pleasant afternoon swimming and lounging around and the Murphy’s extol the virtues of sunbathing. Lorenzo, Millie, Henri and I are appreciative but Mama and aunt Mimi huddle under a vast umbrella afraid of the sun. Gerald and Sir Oliver have a lot in common as they are both artists and converse for ages.

We have a delightful dinner at the Hotel du Cap. I had forgotten what a beautiful place and setting it is. This is where we came to sign the contracts for the villa back in February.  However, as the pleasantness of the dinner recedes, the grumbling gets too much and we are forced to leave early. Lorenzo comes with us. On our way back to Paris we take a detour to the luxurious surroundings of Aix-Le-Bains, or as all us Brits say ‘Aches and Pains’.

Poster for Aix-le-Bains

We arrive and check into the Splendid-Royal on the Rue Georges, just up above the main centre of the town next to the Excelsior. The more salubrious first-class hotels occupy commanding ledges that give sweeping views and a fresh mountain breeze that comes down from the pine covered peaks above. The Splendid-Royal is a model of architectural perfection and gets Aix’s smart summer crowd. It has a richly carpeted lobby, lined with heavy, blue marble columns, showcases from the best Paris shops and double-sized elevators, originally built to accommodate handicapped guests.

Splendid-Royal Hotel, Aix-le-Bains

Aunt Mimi tells Lorenzo ‘this hotel has become a favorite with Americans, because they find the usual match-box French elevators claustrophobic.’

I share a room with Lorenzo which is vast with big windows and a balcony, roomy enough for a cozy breakfast in the morning that opens onto a white alabaster terrace with a fabulous view. We congregate for lunch in the splendid dining room with impeccable service on metropolitan standards, which is full and lively and rather like being in a fashionable Parisian café.

View of Aix-le-Bains towards Lake Bourget

‘Ah this is much better’ says aunt Mimi glancing around nodding to people she thinks she knows.

‘I have no idea why you like that dreary spot on the Riviera at this time of the year’ says Mama. ‘This is where we should be. It is a perfect mix of elegance, good weather and correct company.’

‘Well’ says Millie with a sly smile ‘looks like you and Lorenzo will be spending the summer down there all alone next year.’

One of three Aixes in France, Aix-le-Bains of Savoy in the lower ranges of the French Alps is delightful and picturesque and I love being here. Perched on the banks of the beautiful Lac Bourget, which is eleven miles long and therefore the longest lake in France, it has become most fashionable mountain resort in Europe full of rugged crags hovering over deep wooded valleys.

View of mountains, Aix-le-Bains

In the afternoon we take a short stroll down into the town through some quaint streets that wind down the hill with some scenic views and the alpine rooflines behind us. Since Lorenzo has never been here before Mama and Aunt Mimi have taken it upon themselves to introduce him to Aix and I tag along. We reach the thermal establishment which is a veritable palace appropriately designed with a classic Roman façade but fitted with every modern up-to-date device to aid the natural powers of the waters.

Thermal establishment, Aix-le-Bains

Mama steps into guide mode as we wander around and says, as if we haven’t noticed…. ‘the Romans founded this health resort because of the spa and the natural powers of the waters in 122B.C. More recently, the King of Sardinia laid the foundations for another thermal spa in 1776. This new structure was created in 1857.’

She continues ‘Over a million gallons of water pour from Aix’s spring every day, hitting the surface at nearly 115 degrees. It provides the foundation for all treatments which vary according to the condition being treated from gout, nervous disorders, rheumatism, faulty blood circulation or arthritis.’

‘Of course all the ‘cure towns’ including Evian and Vichy have been made so luxurious, expensive and fashionable that many think ‘How can I be chic though sick?’ offers Aunt Mimi.

‘So you have to have the right kind of ‘chic’ malady?’ asks Lorenzo.

‘Of course. Overeating, overdrinking, insufficient use of the legs and too much wear and tear of the grey matter are chic’ replies Aunt Mimi with a laugh.

‘You see Lorenzo’ I say ‘ all the hotels are filled during the season with more or less perfect cases of overindulgence.’

In the centre of the town, just below the thermal establishment and opposite the town hall or Hotel de Ville, stands the arch of Campanus commemorating that illustrious Roman general’s soujourn here.

Place de Ville, Aix-le-Bains

Clustered around the sources, the park and the fountains are other hotels including the Villa Victoria. We walk further and wander around the delightful gardens and terraces associated with the entertainment centres of the Casino and the Villa des Fleurs. The Casino also called Le Grand Cercle was built in 1824 and is a large comfortable, rambling building with a multitude of rooms inside.

The Casino or Grand Cercle, Aix-le-Bains

The Villa de Fleurs is an equally sumptuous building. Both host excellent restaurants, a theatre, ballrooms and salons. We sit and take tea on the terrace at the Casino listening to a concert which is given daily and browse the programme of events for both venues.

Villa des Fleurs, Aix-le-Bains

Mama continues her lecture ‘Not only is it a cure town but Aix offers the most amazing array of entertainment since there are always many notable quests staying here. Of course Aix has many royal connections. Queen Victoria was a frequent visitor as was Victor Emmanuel II, Napoleon III, Wilhelmina, George of Greece and Leopold of Belgium. There will be fetes, galas and many dancing opportunities for you boys all with the right kind of girls.’

That night we have cocktails at the hotel and then make out way to the Casino for dinner. I am hugely delighted to see that Sielle and Mills, who we caught at L’Ours cabaret in Paris a few weeks ago, are the cabaret and they are once again magnificent. As the older generation drift off, we dance the night away in wonderful surroundings. Our earlier polishing of our dance routines in the villa, pays dividends and we are highly sought after as dancing partners for  a succession of charming ladies. It is very early in the morning and almost breakfast time when we walk up the hill to our hotel and we notice other people walking down the hill.

Henri says  ‘You see one half of Aix-les-Bains goes to bed about the time that the other half ventures to be parboiled and massaged.’

The next night we have dinner in the Villa des Fleurs and spend a great evening dancing in their ballroom. But in Aix-Le-Bains the dance craze doesn’t let up. Besides the casino and the villa there are always dances every night at each of the hotels and at La Polonaire and the Castel Bisolet.

Interior of Villa des Fleurs, Aix-le-Bains, during a gala night

We have a busy and pleasurable stay taking in the air, walks, boat rides on the lake, frolicking on the landscaped sandy beach and enjoying all the evening entertainment, not to mention a steady flow of impromptu invites to private cocktail parties and soirees. Obviously we do not make the regular early morning trek of mountain climbers with their knapsacks, spiked canes and long alpenstocks but do partake of some light tennis in the afternoon and watch boule. But, all too soon, it is time to leave and return to London via Paris.

Poster for Tank Girl; image courtesy of 24hourstomidnight.files.wordpress.com

So I was originally gonna roll up all cavalier-like and blurt out my opinions on Tank Girl, which I watched for the first time a few nights ago. I had some pre-conceived notions about the movie and what I’d think of it, as the film adaption of the beloved Jamie Hewlett comic is widely regarded as a commercial and critical flop.

Now I’m not entirely sure how to approach the subject matter, because a) I’m not sure how to read this movie, as it is disjointed and oftentimes inscrutable, b) I didn’t realize going into my viewing that several friends were fans of both the movie and the comic, and c) . . . I haven’t gotten around to reading the comic. I’m more than willing to read it, especially since I’m a fan of Hewlett’s work with Damon Albarn on Gorillaz and am interested in their ongoing professional relationship. I simply haven’t had the chance yet, as I just finished Truman Capote’s super-dense In Cold Blood and started Margaret Atwood’s promising The Blind Assassin. If anyone has a copy they’d like to push into my hands, my palms are flat and open.  

I'll gladly read this; image courtesy of hero-trailers.blogspot.com

But I still wanted to see the movie and write about it because:

1. Lori Petty stars as Rebecca Buck and I wish her career had taken off instead of stalling around the time of this movie’s 1995 release. While she’s recently run into some legal troubles and I still haven’t seen Point Break or Prey for Rock’N'Roll, I’ve long had a soft spot for this tough, mouthy, gender-queer tomboy ever since her turn as Kit Keller in A League of Their Own. It’s too bad that she was replaced by Sandra Bullock in Demolition Man and that Gwen Stefani sounds just like her, with both women having more visible, financially successful careers.

2. Speaking of Stefani, did she rip off Tank Girl’s style to cultivate her own look, because oh my damn do they look alike. 

But maybe I’m being unfair in pitting Petty/Tank Girl against Stefani against one another and instead should remember the cultural context from which they were formed. I’m reminded of my thesis adviser Mary Kearney, whose dissertation focused on contemporary discourses around girlhood and youth culture. Joy Van Fuqua draws on Kearney’s work in her essay ”‘What Are Those Little Girls Made Of?’ The Powerpuff Girls and Consumer Culture.” In her discussion of the show’s popularity, Van Fuqua borrows from Kearney to suggest that, like many other girl characters during the 1990s, Bubbles, Buttercup, and Blossom had to embody both genders in order to succeed in athletics and other male-dominated activities.

Buttercup, Blossom, and Bubbles are gonna fuck yr shit up; image courtesy of msdn.com

3. Speaking of promising actresses, Naomi Watts plays her sidekick and was a total nobody in the states when the movie was originally released. She’s also rockin’ a brunette bob haircut, which I appreciate.

4. Speaking of wacky ladies, Ann Magnuson makes an appearance as a madame who runs a state-of-the-art brothel where folks like Iggy Pop run around in drag and the talent break out into Busby Berkeley-esque routines to Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It.”

5. Speaking of musicians, the soundtrack is an alternative rock behemoth. Hard to imagine many of the artists represented here got radio play in 1995. Alternative was commercially successful, allowing rock music to splinter off in various, musically diverse directions. Hootie was of course a major player, but Pulp could get a hit single. Beck was at this point a one-hit wonder, but was working on an era-defining record that would come out the following year. The bubble hadn’t burst yet. Man, 1995 was a strange and amazing time. Bush, Björk, Veruca Salt, L7, Belly, Portishead, Hole. They were all on commercial radio playlists and they’re also on this soundtrack.

6. Speaking of Hole, note that Courtney Love was the movie’s music consultant. Now, I’m not entirely sure what her title means here. Titles like “music consultant” and “music supervisor” tend to be flexible. The latter term is usually held by people who work closely with the director, the editor, and multiple representatives from various record labels, as well as help tend to legal matters like acquiring publishing rights, and clearing songs to be used in the movie and often the accompanying soundtrack. 

Courtney Love, 1995's burgeoning hyphenate; image courtesy of rollingstone.com (Ouderkirk/WireImage.com)

My hunch is that Love’s duties were picking what songs she liked and would work with the movie, but had little involvement in the production. After all, she was a busy lady who was trying to heal from the death of her husband, raise her daughter, become a respected actress, and headline Lollapalooza with her band Hole. I don’t think she had time to field phone calls with label execs, although I’d like to imagine what those conversations might be like.     

7. Oh, and since the first six points all involved women, let’s add the cherry on top. Tank Girl was directed by a woman named Rachel Talalay.

But as far as reading this movie . . . hummina. I don’t know what I saw. I know it takes place in what is now a not-too-distant, dystopian future and involves our fearless heroine leading a rag-tag group of girls and mutant kangaroo boys against a corrupt faction that control the earth’s water supply. Still with me? Here’s the trailer.

So, things I enjoyed or found interesting about the movie.

1. Naomi Watts kicks ass as Jet Girl. At first shy and fretful, she learns to embrace her intellect and technological savvy and develops the confidence to take charge of the crew and help beat the cast of baddies.

Jet Girl holding it down; image courtesy of kideternal.com

2. Tank Girl has strong relationships with Jet Girl and Rebecca, Tank Girl’s boyfriend’s young daughter. Homosocial bonding and female mentorship, holla!

3. OMG, the costumes. They could be a chapter in a dissertation on third-wave feminism’s fragmentive, performative, and self-reflexive relationship with fashion (note: if such a chapter exists, I want to read it). Tank Girl never wears the same outfit or hair color twice, and her wardrobe toys with historical periods, film genres, youth culture movements, often playing with age, gender, and race as well.

What are you wearing, Tank Girl?, image courtesy of theage.com.au

4. I can’t tell if Ann Magnuson’s Madame, who briefly kidnaps and attempts to employ Rebecca, is a sex-positive feminist, a critique against the then-timely rise of media’s interest in d0-me feminism, or just morally bankrupt.

And then there were things I hated.

1. While Tank Girl’s costuming is fascinating, that’s really the extent of her characterization. Much of this seems to be the fault of the writing. Petty is engaging enough, but Tank Girl is written as less a complex action heroine and more of a buzzword-and-slogan dispenser. Thus, she brings to mind characters like Itchy and Scratchy’s Poochie, who was created to make fun of corporate-friendly extreme, in-your-face, subcultural cash cows. Perhaps her perceived lack of depth speaks to the awkward process of adapting a comic book into a movie, but her cinematic flatness betrays the torpedo bras.

Torpedo bras don't always provide dimension; image courtesy of mermaidligan.blogspot.com

2. Tank Girl also kicks a disappointing lack of ass here and has questionable methods. I can’t speak to her defense strategies in the comic, but the movie repeatedly has her lure disgusting men with her feminine wiles. Sometimes they get kicked in the balls, but she still shows them her bra or promises sexual favors beforehand.

3. Man, how did Malcolm MacDowell fool people into thinking he could act? He’s the villainous Kesslee here and is making himself quite the ham sandwich. Some may want to bring up Al Pacino and note that some actors deliver progressively broader performances as they age, but I think MacDowell’s accent played a role in snowing audiences as well. I think his Britishness even convinced people he was better in If . . . and A Clockwork Orange than he actually was. Charismatic and handsome? Yes. Once a great actor? I don’t think so.

4. I feel like there’s something racially problematic about the mutant kangaroo soldiers who take up with Tank Girl’s crew. Thoughts?

In short, Tank Girl makes for a maddening but interesting spectatorial experience. Now to get a hold of the source material . . .

Amy Regan is a New York-based singer-songwriter with a big voice and even bigger dreams.  Just a short time into her career she has an EP available on iTunes, has played hundreds of shows and has been named one of Music Connection’s Hot 100 Unsigned Artists.  Influenced by a wide spectrum of musical veterans, her poppy folk sound speaks for itself.  On the road to major success, her music has just the kind of genuine soul we need on today’s conveyor belt of  mediocre pop music.  I got the chance to chat with Amy about a variety of things and brought the conversation here to share with you all the details.  Hear how she describes her music, her views on the music industry’s current state and who she dreams of co-headling a tour with.  Also find out if Amy plans on releasing a holiday album anytime soon and how you can get her brand new tunes for free.  That’s right, I said free.

If you had to write a review of your own music, without using the names of artists you may sound like, what words would you use to get the point across?  And who might want to listen to your music?

Hmmm.  I would say it’s pop music that takes influence from folk, rock and a little bit of jazz at times.  Some of my songs are lighthearted and playful, while other songs are introspective or soothing.  Young adults in their late teens, twenties or thirties who like smart but accessible music [would probably listen to my music].

How did you get your start playing and singing?  And when did you have your “ah-ha” moment when you realized you wanted to be a professional musician?

My first musical experiences were in musical theater.  I started doing community shows when I was ten and I think even at that point I knew I wanted to be a performer, even though back then I had dreams of Broadway.  I kept singing in school choirs, took voice lessons and when I was thirteen I started taking guitar lessons because I already had a few song ideas and wanted to start writing.  So within a few months I was writing songs and sometime around then I knew it was what I was meant to do.  I started piano around then too.

Was there any musical history in your family?

My grandmother was a singer, so that’s where I got my voice from, and I had a great-grandfather who was a multi-instrumentalist but my parents aren’t musicians at all.

That’s really cool.  Getting to the artists that influence you, there are always some obvious ones and some not-so obvious ones.  Who would you say influences you and is there a difference between the artists that influence you as a person and the artists that influence your music?

I’ve always loved Joni Mitchell, and a lot of people mention her when they hear my music.  I’m also a big Beatles fan.  I love jazz standards by George Gershwin and Cole Porter.  I think some of my slower songs definitely show that influence.  But I love all kinds of music, I studied classical music for many years so that also inspires me.  I also love rock bands like Radiohead and Coldplay.

Yeah I definitely heard Joni Mitchell the first time I heard you.  What’s your favorite Beatles album?

It’s so hard to have one since they are all so different.  Probably Sgt. Pepper’s [Lonely Hearts Club Band].

They are definitely all very different.  When people ask me that I say I have two; Please, Please Me and Abbey Road – one of their firsts and one of their lasts.

Yeah it’s just a big jump between the two.

It is.  So give us a look inside your songwriting process.  How does one of your songs come to be born?  Do you start with music or words?  Does it happen on its own or do you have to sit down and say “okay, now I’m going to write a song?”

They always start on their own.  Some finish on their own too but some others I need to sit down and work on for a bit.  Usually an idea for a chorus or melody pops into my head, sometimes with lyrics, sometimes without.  But my process continues to change over time, and I think that’s okay and actually good for you as a writer.  When I first started out I would always write the chord progression on guitar on piano first and then add a melody with lyrics simultaneously.  My more recent approach is more to start with a melody and then work in lyrics and finish the versus, bridges, etc.  So I haven’t written much with lyrics first, but recently I’ve had tons and tons of ideas of just lyrics without melody though they come with a very distinct rhythm.  So now I’ll have to find a way to finish those songs in this new way of writing.

Do you or have you shopped your music to the majors?  Or even smaller labels?  Is it a goal of yours to be signed or are you happy playing, recording and traveling on your own?

It is definitely a goal of mine to be signed but at the right time and with the right company.  I’ve been shopping my music a bit, developing relationships with labels so we will see how things progress.

What do you think about the music industry in its current state?  Are you hopeful for its future (and yours) or does it make you nervous?

I’m incredibly hopeful.  I’m always optimistic and I think good things can happen at any time.  I think the industry is still struggling to adjust to all of the recent advances in technology, but eventually it will figure out how to rebalance itself and artists will still be able to make money.  How long that will take or how artists will make money is a different question, but I know this is what I need to do so I’m just going to hope for the best and keep on going!

What do you think of the demise of physical music?  If there was ever a protest to save vinyl, would you make a sign and go join the crowd?

I actually don’t have a record player but I’ve been meaning to get one and start listening to records.  I’m starting to adapt to the digital age.  Now  that iTunes albums come with digital booklets with artwork, lyrics, etc, it’s essentially the same thing as owning a physical copy except it takes up  less space and gives you less of a headache when you’re trying to clean out your closet 5 years later.  So although I’m always going to look fondly upon the days when I would lay on my bed curled up with a CD booklet, I also look forward to curling up with my laptop!

Tell us what a day in the life of Amy Regan is.

Well it’s different every day.  Today I spent some time in the studio working on some production ideas for a few tracks.  Then I worked on some college booking follow ups, went for a run and now I’m talking to you.  But other days could be spent traveling, then playing a show or rehearsals or meeting with a label, music industry person etc.  It definitely never gets old.

Who was the first person to tell you that you were crazy for trying to pursue music as a career?

Hmm.  Let’s see.  My high school guidance counselor wasn’t too happy when I tried to convince him I really didn’t need to take a higher level of science because I was going into music anyway.  He was super concerned that I wasn’t going to get into a good college and didn’t seem to take seriously the fact that I knew I wanted to be a musician.

Well that’s interesting.  Usually when I ask that question people say “no one!  Everyone was very supportive.”  I don’t buy it, there had to be someone along the way that was like “um.. you sure about that?”

[Laughs] yeah it was hard to think of.  I mean even though a lot of people were supportive I come from a pretty conservative town so pretty much any adult would look at me when I was younger and say “oh that’s great you want to go into music.”  But they would have this look on their face like “you’re never going to  make money and your life is going to be a living hell.”  But I’m pretty confident I’m going to prove them wrong.

I think you will.  Did you end up going to college?

Yes I did.  I graduated in ‘07 from Skidmore College.

What did you major in?

Music [laughs].  My one and only.

I should have known.  You play Rockwood Music Hall a lot, is there a particular venue out of every venue you’ve played that you absolutely love?

I play Rockwood and the Living Room a bunch, and I love them both.  They both have really different feels.

Do you travel for shows outside of New York City much?

Yeah I play a lot in Philly, DC and upstate NY.

Do  you have a favorite city or crowd to play for?  What was your best show ever?

I like different shows for different reasons.  A few of my Living Room shows have been really great, to play for a completely packed house with new and old faces, and to have the energy of a full band.  But sometimes it’s the shows I least expect to be my favorite that really remind about why I’m doing this.  I played at a bar in Philly last week and I really didn’t know what to expect.  I didn’t know if I’d be playing for 2 people or 20 people or if they’d even be paying attention.  It turned out the place was totally packed but it was a really relaxed atmosphere so they were all quiet and attentive and I felt I really had the chance to connect with them.

Nice.  If you could tour or perform with any artist(s), living or not, who would it be?

My dream is to open for John Mayer – or co-headline, I mean if we’re dreaming here.

I would buy a ticket to that show.  So I know you’ve got new songs happening and singer-songwriters are generally not the first to jump at this, but would you ever consider doing a holiday album?

Definitely!  I love holiday music [laughs] just not at this point in my career.  I’d definitely want to be further along in my career to do that.

That makes sense.  What would you want to put on it?  I’m not even a musician but I hear Christmas music and I’m always like “oh man, I’d definitely sing that on my holiday album!”

Hmmm.  A lot of great classics like “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire),” “White Christmas,” maybe “All I Want for Christmas is You.”  There are so many.

Good choices.  So what’s next for you?  Any big ideas coming along?

I just finished two new singles which I’ll be releasing very soon, in fact my show at Rockwood Music Hall on December 7th will be my Singles Release Show and everyone who goes will get a free copy!  And then I’ll be working in the studio this winter and spring and will be releasing a full album in the spring/early summer of 2010.  And I’m playing a bunch of shows in New York and all over the northeast, too!

You can see Amy at Rockwood Music Hall at 9pm on December 7th (and get your free copy of her new singles) and you can purchase her current EP And Then There is This on iTunes or amazon.  For more tour dates, videos and information on Amy Regan, visit the below links.

Amy’s:
MySpace
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Blog

Elis Marsalis (piano), pai de Branford e Wynton, mostrando porque a música está no DNA da família. A peça é o standard cult de Cole Porter, “What’s This Thing Called Love”. Formando o trio perfeito, Jesper Lungaard (contrabaixo) e Clarence Penn (bateria).

Lyrics | Cole Porter – You’re The Top lyrics

As for the question that prompts such an answer? “Is the internet stifling new music?”

Via BBC no less.

The article is written by once-rock star John Taylor, former bass player for Duran Duran and Power Station. The man has been pelted by his share of female undergarments while performing live, and it shows:

When artists today are asked to Twitter their every thought, their every action, to record on video their every breath, their every performance, I believe they’re diluting their creative powers, their creative potency and the durability of their work.

And in the long run I believe they’re also diluting the magical power and the magnetic attraction that they can or will ever have over their audience.

Right. So the inaccessible rock god has given way to the singer-songwriter who shares a campfire with us all. That has long been established. But why exactly is the internet stifling new music today?  What makes the situation now any more dire than it was ten years ago?

My stepson is at New York University (NYU) and he was telling me how he’s currently into Cole Porter, music from the 1920s and swing music from the 40s. So the availability and accessibility of music on the internet today is truly incredible, and I applaud anything that can inspire interest or curiosity in anyone.

But this also means that those of us who before would have been looking towards the current culture for inspiration are now often to be found, like my stepson, in various backwaters of older music.

This relative lack of need for current, innovative culture can cause, has caused, is causing – maybe – the innovative culture to slow down, much as an assembly line in Detroit slows down and lay-offs have to be made when the demand for a new model recedes.

Gotcha.

It’s great to have a theory. It’s even better to have a little data to support it. As we go to print, the 1962 cast recording of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes (re-released in 1990) stands at #48,447 on Amazon’s music bestsellers. Not bad. You could do a lot worse. For example the “beautifully imaginative … magnificent” LP The Snake stands at #162,064. He just might have a point.  The internet (better said: the internet age) might be disincentivizing creativity.

But one release is 19 years old, the other has only a few months of promotion behind it. By point of reference Radiohead released Pablo Honey in 1993, and Amazon ranks that album at #5,070. Too pedestrian? OK.  Try, well, OK Computer at #729. Looking for something in the double digits? How about The Killers at #23?

It’s great that new listeners are uncovering old jazz, and it’s a shame that a rock übermenschlich has been forced to come down from the ivory tower (/sarcasm). But arguments with two data points are two dimensional, simple as that.

Para mim, David Byrne é um dos maiores gênios da música mundial!

Esta versão que ele fez de Cole Porter, é definitivamente MARAVILHOSA.

Enjoy!

Bjos e Abraços

(Saudades…)

Aunque esto parezca una declaración de amor, no lo es. Ya que “I love my wife” lejos de ser un grito lanzado al aire por un corazón arrebatado es el título de una de las obras cumbres que la humanidad produjo en la década de los 70s; y recordemos que la humanidad no iba muy sobrada de obras cumbres en una década en la que se inventó la música disco. “I Love My Wife” es el título de un disparatado musical, y aquí amamos los musicales sacados de madre, que reflejaba el loco loco loco mundo urbano de liberalidad sexual y drogas que era lo más moderno del momento. Un musical pre-SIDA lleno de canciones con letras de Michael Stewart (“Hello Dolly”) y con música de Cy Coleman (“Sweet Charity,” “On the Twentieth Century”) todo aderezado por un argumento que, ya les digo, echa para atrás:

“En Trenton, dos antiguos colegas del instituto de New Jersey, Wally (ahora un ejecutivo de las RRPP) y Alvin (un empleado de mudanzas) discuten la posibilidad de meter un poco de picante en sus vidas haciendo un trío. Alvin sugiere a su mujer Cleo compartir la cama con Mónica, la mujer de Wally. Pero Cleo piensa que disfrutaría más compartiéndola con Wally. Ambos llegan al acuerdo que aquel que entre antes por la puerta será su compañero de cama, pero la pareja acaba cruzando la puerta a la vez. Los tres discuten la situación una vez que Mónica ha abandonado la casa y deciden hacer un cuarteto en Nochebuena (…). Demasiado excitados para comer se quitan la ropa y se meten en la cama a fumar hierba para relajarse. Mientras Wally sugiere ideas sacadas de un manual de sexualidad, el grupo las rechaza (…). Cada pareja se va por su camino pero continuando la amistad que comparten”.

Ese argumentazo, como decía, se ve salpicado de canciones como “Love Revolution,” “Sexually Free,” “Married Couple Seeks Married Couple” y, la que hoy nos ocupa, “Sniff Swig Puff”, que bien podríamos traducir por “Esnífate algo, échate un trago, pega una calada”. Una canción ab-su-lo-ta-men-te deliciosa que imita el estilo del gran Cole Porter, incluyendo entre los instrumentos que la ejecutan, ¡oh Dios!, un ukelele. Pero si ustedes están pensando como yo que una pieza no podía ser más perfecta, esperen a  ver la interpretación que les traigo. Una en el que dueto protagonista es interpretado nada más y nada menos por Beatrice Arthur esto es Dorothy Zbornak de Las chicas de oro, actriz ganadora de varios premios Tony, y, OMG!!!!, el gran Rock Hudson. Si esta canción en la que un matrimonio de mediana edad habla de los viejos tiempos en los que los problemas se solucionaban yendo al cine y no metiéndose todo tipo de drogas, si esta canción, como decía no es el momento más gay de la historia de la televisión mundial, yo, sinceramente no sé cuál es.

La canción empieza con estos versos:

“For some it’s grass, for some it’s coke
For some it’s powder, for some it’s smoke
Everybody today is turning on!
For some it’s dust, for some it’s weed
For some it’s acid, for some it’s speed
Everybody today is turning on!

Para algunos es la hierba, para algunos la coca/ Para algunos son los polvos, para algunos es el humo/¡Todo el mundo se coloca hoy en día!/Para algunos es el polvo, para algunos es la maría/Para algunos es el ácido, para algunos es el speed/¡Todo el mundo se coloca hoy en día!”

But now it’s pills, and now it’s pot
And now it’s poppers, and God-knows-what
Sniff, swig, puff, and your cares are gone
Everybody today is turning on!

“Pero ahora son las pastillas, y ahora es la hierba / y ahora son los poppers, y Dios-sabe-qué/ Esnífate algo, échate un trago, pega una calada, y tus problemas se habrán ido/¡Todo el mundo se coloca hoy en díaaaaa!”

For some it’s grass, for some it’s coke
For some it’s powder, for some it’s smoke
Everybody today is turning on!
For some it’s dust, for some it’s weed
For some it’s acid, for some it’s speed
Everybody today is turning on!

Time was when if a fella felt depressed
He simply got it off his chest
By callin’ on a preacher
Talkin’ to his teacher
Coughin’ up a half a buck to see a double feature!

But now it’s pills, and now it’s pot
And now it’s poppers, and God-knows-what
Sniff, swig, puff, and your cares are gone
Everybody today is turning on!

The simple life it must have been
When “smoke” was Luckys and “high” was gin
One pink lady and how it turned ‘em on!
“Junk” was trash, “speed” was swift
Glue was pasted instead of sniffed
Coke and aspirin, and wow it turned ‘em on!

Those days whenever folks were feeling low

They knew that they could get a glow

And chase away vapors

Laughing at the carpers

That Mutt and Jeff were cuttin´in the Sunday funny papers!

But now it’s sniff and down it goes
Around your windpipe and up your nose
Sniff, swig, puff, and your cares are gone
Everybody today is turning on!

Remember when “high” was up and kicks were tame
And “amyl nitrate” was some guy’s name?
Holdin’ hands and smoochin’ was turning on
“Horse” was ride and “roach” was bugs
“French connections” were foreign plugs
Jivin’ to Eddie Duchin was turning on!

Those days when if your nerves were kind of shot
Instead of going right to pot
You prayed to hold it steady
Kept a Bible ready
Took advice from Rabbi Weiss or Mary Baker Eddy!

But when the world is so amiss
How can a whiskey beat cannibis?
Sniff, swig, puff, and your cares are temporarily gone
Everybody today is turning on!

Remember when “hash” was fried and “T” was brewed?
Someone “pushing” was merely rude
But once a week you cut the grass
And too much acid just gave you gas
Sniff, swig, puff, and your cares are temporarily gone
Everybody today is puffin’
Into fudge look what they’re stuffin’
Hold it, Ma, don’t touch that muffin
God knows what your grandpa’s snuffin’
Everybody today is turning on!

No en serio, ¿esto es real?. Quiero decir, Rock Hudson cantándole al popper mientras Dorothy de “Las chicas de oro” imita el ruido de meterse una raya de un dedo de grosor. ¿Es esto real? O hemos caído en el lado oscuro de la cultura popular, en el Reverso Tenebroso de los Musicales, el lugar donde las ideas musicadas más enloquecidas van a morir. Dios mío, te doy gracias cada día por youtube.

Coincido con este blog del que he robado la mayoría de ideas que la mejor línea de una canción llena de aciertos es: “Amyl nitrite was some guy’s name”. Fantástica.

La idea de la narcolepsia recuerda la confusión de la noche y el día, confusión que pocas cosas son capaces de provocar –las vacaciones, el desempleo, el alcohol, el amor…  Esta madrugada mientras releía un ensayo de Paz (en el post de mañana explicaré por qué) puse en el iTunes la lista de jazz y me topé con una de mis piezas favoritas: Night and Day.

La canción es de Cole Porter (1935), quien asegura que durante un viaje a Marruecos se inspiró para su composición en la llamada a la oración que realizan los imanes en el Islam. La versión que más disfruto es de Ella Fitzgerald (1956). La narcolepsia siempre provoca ensoñaciones amorosas… de noche y de día…

Cole Porter

Like the beat beat beat of the tom-tom
When the jungle shadows fall
Like the tick tick tock of the stately clock
As it stands against the wall
Like the drip drip drip of the raindrops
When the summer shower is through
So a voice within me keeps repeating you, you, you
Night and day, you are the one
Only you beneath the moon and under the sun
Whether near to me, or far
It’s no matter darling where you are
I think of you
Night and day, day and night, why is it so
That this longing for you follows wherever I go
In the roaring traffic’s boom
In the silence of my lonely room
I think of you
Night and day, night and day,
Under the hide of me
There’s an oh such a hungry yearning burning inside of me
And it’s torment won’t be through
‘Til you let me spend my life making love to you
Day and night, night and day
Under the hide of me
There’s an oh such a hungry yearning burning inside of me
And it’s torment won’t be through
‘Til you let me spend my life making love to you
Day and night, night and day

This is a list of 5 of my favourite musicals of the 1940s. Anyone who is even vaguely interested in musical theatre should know about these shows and if you don’t… well, there’s no better time than the present to begin!

1. South Pacific

South Pacific is my favourite of the Rodgers and Hammerstein shows. To take a couple of short stories and weave them into a full length musical is no mean feat, but to do it with a book that really stands on its own feet dramatically and a score in which there are no bad songs is simply amazing. Only one minor problem exists in the last half of the second act, when the score tapers away to allow the action to wrap itself up, but the montage of scenes that tells what what happens with De Beque and Cable is probably the only way that part of the story and the reprises probably serve the show better by reinforcing theme, character and development than introducing a number of new songs would. It’s perhaps the prefect representation of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

2. Oklahoma!

Oklahoma! It’s all about a picnic, right? A simple romance with the lovers working at cross purposes until they finally get together before the final curtain falls. I suppose that’s the easy way to look at it, but in the hands of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Oklahoma! transcends its humble narrative and becomes and allegory for a time in American history that was fraught with conflict and uncertainty, the mileau against which the show itself is set. What else does it have to offer? One – a charming score with songs that sound so much like the American landscape that one wonders at the fact that they didn’t exist before Rodgers and Hammerstein created them for this show. Two – a mode of storytelling that uses dance as an inextricable part of the action, not just in the famous dream ballet but throughout the show. Three – when it’s done right, a show that really rises to the mark in terms of dramatic tension; just who is going to win that auction on the picnic basket? Don’t know? Well go and buy the DVD of the RNT production and find out!

3. Carousel

Carousel offers us the rawest emotional experience of any Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. As in Oklahoma!, we have a largely excellent score and an engaging multi-modal storytelling experience. It’s true that perhaps some elements of the show fall just short of knitting into a perfect whole, but almost perfect is good enough for me. The highlights of this show are breathtaking: the opening “Carousel Waltz”, the flawlessly constructed bench scene, Louise’s heart-wrenching ballet in the second act and one of Rodgers’ most dynamic scores. If you don’t have a cast recording of this show, you need to get at least one. Not sure which? Read this blog which compares the various recordings of the show and get one now!

4. On the Town

“Finally”, I hear you say, “We are out of Rodgers and Hammerstein territory!” And the show that gets us there is On the Town. On the Town is haunted by two tragedies: firstly, the original Jerome Robbins choreography was never notated so all we have on record is what he could remember when he reconstructed his work for Jerome Robbins’ Broadway and, secondly, the film version chucked out the heart of the score leaving us with all entertainment and no enlightenment and hoofing instead of dance. (That said, the film version is very entertaining, but it is so different that it is an entirely separate entity.) Leonard Bernstein’s score (with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) is by turns thrilling (“New York New York”), comical (“Come Up to My Place”, “I Can Cook Too”) and deeply moving (“Lonely Town”). It’s the classic show from the 1940s that perhaps deserves more recognition that it receives.

5. Kiss Me, Kate

Last show on this list is another not quite perfect show: Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate. What’s wrong with it? Well, conceptually, there’s no real clear choice made regarding what the show within the show is supposed to be, resulting in some moments in which require one to push to the limits of one’s suspension of disbelief, not the least of which involves two gangsters suddenly performing a musical number within the scope of the show within the show. That’s one of the very few things the film adaptation got right, shifting the song into the alley behind the theatre as a non-diegetic piece of advice for leading man Fred Graham. But once you’re that conceptual flaw, there’s a great love story being told here with a great score, offering some of Porter’s most moving work (“So in Love”) and some of his wittiest lyrics (“Wunderbar, “Tom, Dick, or Harry” and “Where is the Life that Late I Led?”). It’s a gem.

” Chance is the fool’s name for fate “

[ The Gay Divorcee ( 1934 ) - Η πρώτη τους ταινία ]

One of the many pleasures of the 2009 Jazz at Chautauqua was hearing Petra van Nuis and Andy Brown perform in front of a live audience, and I think the performance clips I’ve posted are solid evidence of their talents.  I was hoping that the duo’s new CD would provide the same experience.  Sometimes, of course, magic dissolves in the recording studio amid attempts to make recordings flawless.     

But I need not have worried.  Petra and Andy’s new CD is splendid.

Where to begin?  (Once we’ve taken in the picture of the happy good-looking couple above . . . )  The songs on the CD are DESTINATION MOON, FAR AWAY PLACES, FROM THIS MOMENT ON, I’LL NEVER STOP LOVING YOU, CARAVAN, BORN TO BLOW THE BLUES, LET’S DO IT, BIM BOM (a solo for Andy), A COTTAGE FOR SALE, HOW LITTLE WE KNOW, INVITATION, ME MYSELF AND I, WITH A SONG IN MY HEART. 

That song list speaks to a wide-ranging and discerning knowledge of the great songs of the last eighty or so years, a delight in itself: Porter, Ellington, Robison, Rodgers, and some delightful oddities.  I know, for instance, that DESTINATION MOON is attached to a film of the same name and it even appears on a Lester Young live date c. 1950, but how many people have ever recorded it?  (If you don’t know the song, imagine IN MY MERRY OLDSMOBILE updated to the era of fantasy rocket travel.)  And BORN TO BLOW THE BLUES is associated with Marilyn Moore — but I haven’t heard it in ages.  But this CD isn’t a high-toned musical archeology lesson, either.

Andy Brown, first: barring a half-dozen I admire, most jazz guitarists have become entranced, Narcissus staring at their own reflection in the shiny body of the Gibson or Macaferri, with the endless possibilities of their own technique.  (You could blame Charlie Parker or Jimi Hendrix for this, but we’re here to celebrate.)  So the notes pour out in what sound like endless streams; the fingers fly.  Few guitarists seem to understand the value of space, of breathing pauses, of logical solo construction — with music delivered at an intelligible rate.  Andy could cover the fingerboard, digits a blur, if he chose to.  But he knows better.  So his playing unfolds beautifully in its own song, no matter what tempo or what chords.  He loves melody; he can swing any band several steps closer to Heaven with his chordal strum, and he is an absolutely flawless team-player, never fixated on the limelight.  Accompanying a singer isn’t easy, either, but Andy is rather like a tactful, energized conversationalist at the party: he has things to tell us, he has comments to offer and support by the bucketful, but he never tries to outshine Petra.

And Petra?  The first thing I noticed about Petra (before I had heard her in person) was the focus she brought to her songs.  She isn’t one of these gospel whoopers; she hasn’t channelled Aretha or Billie; she isn’t a Broadway belter.  All to the good, let me assure you.  It means that she doesn’t overact, that she fits the word to the deed and the notes to the emotion, never smudging a lyric to appear hip, never landing in the wrong place.  She can romp very happily (her enunciation is flawless, even in fourth gear) and she has a speaking presence.  And before I had heard this CD, I would have praised Petra for avoiding the dramatic excesses I hear from so many singers.  But then I heard her version of A COTTAGE FOR SALE, and I was just about stunned by its great dramatic range, mixing ruefulness, poignancy, and loss — without overacting so much as a hair.  It was pure feeling, captured beautifully.  I might never hear that song sung so heartbreakingly again.      

Both Petra and Andy get first place in my imagined TALENT DESERVING COSMIC RECOGNITION category!  Check out their websites — www.petrasings.com., and www.andybrownguitar.com – to find out such useful information as “May I hear some audio clips?” and, following quickly,”How can I buy these CDs?”

Psst!  Want something for free?  Go to Petra’s site and you’ll be able to see many more clips of this duo and other combinations . . . and you can listen to a four-tune demo CD of Petra with her RECESSION SEVEN, which is a sort of well-behaved small swing band (think Eddie Condon – Lee Wiley – Teddy Wilson – Mildred Bailey) including legendary Chicagoans Kim Cusack and Russ Phillips.

Now, if you’re blue
And you don’t know where to go to
Why don’t you go where fashion sits
Puttin’ on the Ritz
Different types who wear a daycoat
Pants with stripes and cutaway coat
Perfect fits
Puttin’ on the Ritz

Dressed up like a million dollar trooper
Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper
Super-duper

Come, let’s mix where Rockefellers
Walk with sticks or umberellas
In their mitts
Puttin’ on the Ritz

      — Irving Berlin, “Puttin’ On The Ritz”

Morehouse College, one of the flagship HBCUs in the country and the alma mater of generations of prominent African-American males, including Martin Luther King, recently conjured up some controversy by establishing a dress code on campus.  The new policy prohibits do-rags, hats, sunglasses, hoods or offensive clothing in class.   It also bans such items as “decorative orthodontic appliances” (A white female friend who is much more “Black” than I am tells me that these things are known, in the vernacular, as “grillz.”), pajamas, sagging pants, and bare feet.

However, the part of the policy that has drawn the most attention from the media — including a certain Philadelphia Negro – states “No wearing of clothing associated with women’s garb (dresses, tops, tunics, purses, pumps, etc.) on the Morehouse campus or at College-sponsored events.”

Some believe, and I think that they are correct, that this policy is a not-so-subtle attempt by the College administration to control homosexuality and transgender identification on campus.  Homosexuality is one of the most sensitive issues in the so-called Black community; and it is an open secret that Morehouse has a large population of gay men.  For the record, I do not believe that Morehouse is atypical in this regard.  College is (or should be) a place of experimentation and exploring boundaries.  If we expect intellectual awakenings on a college campus, why should we be surprised that sexual awakenings occur there, as well?  Given the generally conservative orientation of Black society, the freedom of expression generally associated with the college campus can be even more powerful for young Black men who do not define themselves — openly or otherwise — as heterosexual. 

By choosing to implement a dress code that at least appears to target a specific population of the College community, Morehouse is treading on difficult ground: the fault line between individual expression expected in an academic setting and the culture of conformity — including the “rules” of what it means to be a Black man.   Though I have certainly ranted against the extreme informality of undergraduate dress and — in my angrier moods — have even advocated a dress code, I find that ultimately, I cannot support this kind of regulation.   While being a “Morehouse man” does carry a certain mystique — in more ways than some would care to admit — attending Morehouse is not, or should not be, like joining the military.   The latter needs to engender conformity in order to prepare its members to undertake the serious business of killing people.   (The armed services can talk all they wish about education and training opportunities; but the bottom line is that they train people to inflict harm upon our enemies as quickly and efficiently as possible.)   Like other institutions of higher learning, Morehouse should encourage the creativity and diversity of its students — even if it means that a few of them look rather stunning in a nice frock.    

Each day I am more conscious of the fact that I am from a different time than the one I share with my students.  I wear button-downs and khakis, and whistle Mozart and Cole Porter.  I voted for Ronald Reagan.  The Establishment works for me.  I like it.   Would I prefer more “conservative” apparel on campus?   Yes.   But fighting for this is a waste of powder.   Morehouse would be wise to invest its resources in the development of young men of character and not the regulation of cravats.    

Ultimately, the late Bart Giamatti said it best when he chose to call his book about the purpose of the university Free and Ordered Spaces.   He believed that on a college campus (and everywhere else), freedom should not be subordinate to intolerance disguised as discipline.   He was right.

Today I’m tackling the 1956 musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, High Society, starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra.

As I said last week, I was completely expecting to hate this movie because of it being a remake of a movie I love. While The Philadelphia Story is indeed a better film, this wasn’t completely awful.

The first thing I noticed was that the film has an actual bona fide Cole Porter overture. Sadly, I don’t think people today would have the patience to endure six minutes of music before the movie actually starts.

Immediately thereafter, we have Louis Armstrong and his band act as the Chorus, filling us in with what’s going on with the Lord family. As much as I like Louis Armstrong, the opening scene of The Philadelphia Story sets this up better with Katherine Hepburn tossing Cary Grant out on his ass.

A quick rundown would sound something like this: A rich socialite, Tracy Lord (played by Grace Kelly) divorces her imperfect husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (played by Bing Crosby) two years ago. Presently, it’s days before Tracy is to marry a “man of the people” (sounds kinda communist, doesn’t it?) and C.K. has found himself staying at the Lord’s  manor since his plush estate is being used for a jazz concert. A writer and photographer from Spy magazine (Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm) are permitted to cover the wedding in exchange for not publishing a scandalous article involving Tracy’s father, Seth Lord. Hijinks ensue, and Tracy must choose between her ex husband, her fiancé, and the photographer.

I have to hand it to Bing Crosby. He plays a fantastic C.K. Dexter Haven and his pipes are heavenly. Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra, though? Not so much. Throughout much of the film, it seems as if Grace Kelly is trying her hardest at doing a Katherine Hepburn impression and Frank Sinatra is trying his damnedest to do his best Sam Spade for the first half of the movie.

Grace Kelly’s best scene was a flashback scene aboard the True Love, the yacht she and C.K. Dexter Haven used on their honeymoon. I think this is probably because there was no corresponding scene in The Philadelphia Story, so there’s nothing to compare it to.

Overall, the movie stays very true to the original, down to using many of the same lines. Of course, that’s not exactly a good thing and my 21st century upbringing makes me balk at some of the things said. For example, chiding Tracy by saying, “26 and no kids? Tsk, tsk, tsk,” sends up all sorts of red flags for me. I just find it sort of creepy.

A few final things. Early in the film, Tracy refers to jazz singer ex-husband C.K. Dexter Haven as a “juke box hero” as if it’s some sort of insult. Maybe she was seeing something I wasn’t, as I didn’t see stars in his eyes and he certainly wasn’t wearing the Foreigner Belt.

Bing Crosby’s a great singer and all, but he shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near jazz music. The dude’s about as white as Perry Como or Pat Boone. Thank God he didn’t  attempt any Louis Armstrong or Louis Prima style scat. That would have just been embarrassing.