Quirky enough that you can vibe to it without having to be the “weird chick/guy” that no one makes eye contact with, this track has a sweet rhythm that all too easily gets stuck in your head.

Although they haven’t released an official music video for this track, this one is EPIC. Somehow or the other the creator found some seriously old footage of two of the greatest tap-dancers of all time that fits the song perfectly. The part where they are leaping down stairs over the top of one another to fall into the splits every time is some seriously crazy shit. Seriously.

GOT ME IN TROUBLE AGAIN

10/10

We talked a bit about how her more grown-up, womanly role in this movie may have been one of the reasons audiences were split over liking this movie. Fans of the time, wanted Dorothy to stay a young girl, with only hints of romance in the film. The Pirate shows Garland as both the seduced and the seducer, which may have turned them off. The other point that came up in the featurette that we talked about was how 1940s movie goers were thrown off by having Gene Kelly play a pirate instead of his usual good-looking guy next door who just happens to dance. And while he dances up a storm in the movie (almost literally!) there’s no tap dancing – which was the mainstay of all musicals at the time. For these and other reasons, we felt critics were correct in seeing this film as being ahead of its time.

Some other innovations noted were: broadening the scope of the setting beyond the closed, “staged” feel one gets with earlier movies. The tradition of staged scenes is included in The Pirate but only within the troupe that Kelly’s character (Serafin) performs in. It also included a classic Kelly dream sequence where Judy is imagining what Serafin/Macoco would be doing on his pirate ship. We also talked about how this, and other scenes confirmed the idea that Fred Astaire dances with elegance, while Kelly is athletically acrobatic, a style seen as more more “manly” that would go over better in the 1950s musicals that were waiting in the wings… Everyone is interested in doing another short series of musicals to track the musical into the recent decades.

We talked about the careers of Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, mainly centering on the timeframe of this film. We learned that Gene Kelly came to Hollywood in 1941 after making a hit in Pal Joey on Broadway. He’d only planned to make one film to fulfill his contract and then head back to Broadway. The “kindred spirits” at MGM convinced him to stick around. We contemplated what a loss it would have been had he not stayed: there would have been no American in Paris, no On the Town – and no Singing in the Rain!!

The Pirate was Judy Garland’s come back film after giving birth to Liza Minnelli. Still suffering from postpartum depression and drug-related illness, she was one of the factors that delayed the release of the film, which added to its costs. Still, members agreed she gave a superior performance in this film. Many film critics consider it to be one of her best as well.

Members also got a kick out of the tongue-in-cheek lines and pirate film spoofs that proliferate in this movie. There’s a reason why the most memorable song is “Be a Clown” and Garland’s “Mack the Black”. One highlights the humor while the other celebrates the adventures of pirates.

Another idea that looking at musicals inspired seems to have potential for our August meeting (where we pick out next year’s films) This theme is: The Soundtrack “Made” the Film. The idea would be to have films where the soundtrack plays a key role in how much you get or like the film itself. As part of the discussion we would identify key scenes that demonstrate the soundtrack’s support of the story, etc. and then play those scenes without sound.

One final moderator note: Patti would love to hear people’s opinions on and theories about why Judy Garland is dressed early in the film in a dark yellow polka dot dress with a red and white plaid hat? It was such a garish faux pas compared to all her other outfits… What do you think? Please share any other comments you’d like to make about the films, the starts, or our American Musical series!

Last year, I showed my brother this clip.  At first he didn’t pay any attention as brothers do saying “oh, that’s nice”.  He then did a double take and added “How long did it take you to learn that then?”,  bearing in mind he is a professional musician and that he had never seen me tap before.  ”A couple of hours” I cooly replied.  I just love the one-up-womanship in the fratrie, don’t you?!

Well of course I was extending the truth.  Yes, it took only a couple of hours to learn the routine.  But it also took some years, just doing all of the drills to loosen up the ankles and relax in the body weight shifts which make this art look so effortless.  ”Look” being the operative word.

Here are a few clips to give you an idea of the kind of people who influence and inspire me.  I just want to say, I’m no way near the beauty or artistry of these guys.  Maybe one day my feet will be worthy of waters of their peppermint oil laden foot baths.   Perhaps…(!).  In the meantime, ENJOY . NB: Needless to say, tomorrows effort may not yield the same artistic results but I’m sure we’ll have just as much fun.

Condos Brothers

Dorothy Dandrige and Harold and Fayard Nicholas

Sean and John

Walter “Sundance” Freeman the one with the du-rag.  Had the pleasure of crossing paths with him a few years ago during a festival, he was tapping I was struttin’, boy, my man can hoof!

And this wonderful, crazy lady from SWEE-DEN with appropriate accent Catrine Llunggren 

not forgetting Mr Franky Lee Swing himself

Yup, no “Jazz hands” here, just masterful feet.

and this…well, I had a tchoon that I wanted to work from time but didn’t know if it would roll (vernacularly speaking).   Now these guys have totally led the way.  Ta muchly to The Tapmen

While I was working at Capezio, I had the exciting pleasure of meeting Fayard Nicholas of the famous “Nicholas Brothers”. Of course, by that point, he was practically senile and probably didn’t even know his own name, but to meet him was still exciting.  By the way, if you’re not a tap dancer, but I’m assuming most of you are, the Nicholas Brothers were some of the pioneers of tap dancing. They were absolutely amazing. They were main attractions at the famous “Cotton Club” and because of that, they ended up in Hollywood movies.

  AMAZING! You have to watch this video!

While writing this, I just saw a promo for the upcoming show “Smash” and Anjelica Houston is in it. She also came into Capezio one time. She was very cool, quiet and kept her exceptionally dark sunglasses on the whole time, but it suited her. I think a lot of celebrities who act celebrit-y are annoying, but she was just cool.

Where's my jazz shoe?

Anyway, this one time, Katie Holmes comes strolling in, and this was before she was Tom Cruise’s beard, I mean “wife.” Katie was in the market for some jazz shoes. Why? I don’t know. I was fetching shoes for her and if I remember correctly, she has pretty big feet. She’s tall, about 5’9, very thin, very pretty… and I’m not saying she’s dumb, but she did leave the store without one of her shoes. I mean, how do you come in to a store with the intention of buying a pair of shoes, and only leave with one of them? After she tried the shoes on, I went over to the cash register to ring her up and it wasn’t until she left that I realized she had left one of the jazz shoes behind. She had the box, but only one shoe. Who does that?

Katie Holmes Cruise, that’s who.

She never came back to get the other one either. Do you think Suri seems happy? I’m concerned for her .

help!

Renee Zelwegger came in once too, and this was while she was dating Jim Carrey. How do I know this? Because I read the rag mags in line at the grocery store like the rest of you. She bought Jim Carrey a pair of Jazz shoes too (and I’m sure he was grateful for that Renee). She was really nice though, even though she looks like she’s eating a lemon and looking at the sun at the same time.

Halle Berry came in while she was filming the Dorothy Dandridge movie, and she is as beautiful in person as she is in movies (in case you didn’t know, Dorothy Dandridge was married to Harold Nicholas.) Beautiful skin, really sweet, and possibly unstable. At least that was the vibe I got. We sold dance videos at the store, including ballet, salsa, jazz, tap, etc. She spotted a video called “I Love To Tap” by Bonnie Franklin. If you’re not a child of the 70’s, Bonnie Franklin played the mom on “One Day at a Time.” Who knew she was also a tap dancer? They should have worked that into the show. Single mother by day, burlesque tap dancer by night. Anyway, when Halle saw Bonnie Franklin’s video, she said, “Oh, I love Bonnie Franklin. I loved One Day at a Time.” I said, “Oh really?” because I liked it too way back when. Then she said (in a whispery, nostalgic, weird, dreamy voice) “That was my reality. A single mom, without a father, raising two daughters and trying to make it on her own.”

Whoa! Okay, settle down Halle, this isn’t a therapy session.

I found it so odd that she would just tell a stranger at the cash register some personal info like that, but hey, that’s me. I keep my weird shit to myself…unless of course, I’m on stage or writing a blog. But aside from seeming on the verge of a nervous breakdown, she was really sweet. Remember when she lost it when she won the Oscar? I love award season.  Well, I couldn’t find that clip but this is when she won for Dorothy Dandridge. Beautiful and ummm….stable? You decide. (fast forward to about the 1:04 mark)

Have a maniacal Monday!

He started off as a simple dockworker, segued into bootlegging on a large scale, and was known and the “King of the Rum Runners.” Big Bill Dwyer made so much money, he was partners with known gangsters in several swanky New York City nightclubs. Dwyer also owned two professional hockey teams, including the New York Americans, and was owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers football team. However, in the end, when Big Bill Dwyer passed away, he died out of the limelight, and flat broke.

William Vincent Dwyer was born in 1883 in the Hells Kitchen area on the west side of New York City. Two gangs, the Hudson Dusters and the Gophers, ruled Hell’s Kitchen at the time, but Dwyer avoided joining both gangs, and instead took a job on the docks as a stevedore for the International Longshoremen’s Union (ILU).

While working on the docks, Dwyer started his own bookmaking operation. After the Volstead Act was enacted in 1919, banning the distribution of alcohol, with the money he made from bookmaking, Dwyer branched out into the bootlegging business. Dwyer purchased a fleet of steel-plated speedboats, each with a mounted machine gun, in case crooks tried to hijack a shipment. Dwyer also purchased several large rum-running ships, which were needed to offload the illegal hootch from whatever boat was supplying it.

Dwyer traveled to Canada, England, and the Caribbean to establish ties with those who sold him the liquor he needed to smuggle into the United States. Then Dwyer set up a system whereby his ships would meet the ships, that were supplying him the liquor, many miles out at sea. There the booze was transferred to Dwyer’s ships, then quickly transported to Dwyer’s speedboats, which were closer to the shore of New York City.

The speedboats were unloaded at the docks, which were protected by Local 791 of the ILU, of which Dwyer was a charter member. From the docks, the liquor was moved to several warehouses in the New York area. When the time was right, trucks filed with illegal alcohol, and protected by convoys of teamster members, transported the booze all over the country: with heavy shipments going to Florida, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cincinnati, and as far away as New Orleans.

Dwyer was able to smuggle large amounts of booze into New York City because he knew one simple fact: you had to bribe the police and the Coast Guard if you wanted to be successful in the bootlegging business. And that Dwyer did, handing over thousands of dollars to whomever needed to be greased.

Paying off New York City cops was easy. The cops who didn’t have their hands out for graft money were far and few between. However, Dwyer was especially skillful in recruiting Coast Guard members to look the other way, when his speedboats were entering New York waters.

Dwyer’s first contact was Coast Guard Petty Officer Olsen. Through Olsen, Dwyer met scores of Coast Guardsmen, “Guardies” he called them, who might be willing to take bribes. Dwyer would bring these Guardies into the bright lights of New York City, where he would feed them sumptuous meals, take them to Broadway shows, and even get them a swanky hotel room, occupied by the lady of their choice, whom Dwyer would pay for too. Once a Guardie took a bribe from Dwyer, he was informed that he could earn hundreds, and sometimes thousands of dollars more, if he could enlist other Guardies to help protect Dwyer’s shipments.

Soon, Dwyer was making so much money through bootlegging, he was considered the largest distributor of illegal alcohol in the entire United States of America. However, Dwyer had one huge problem, which he needed help in solving. Whenever one of his trucks left New York to distribute the booze to other parts of the country, they were vulnerable to being seized by the hundreds of hijackers who operated throughout the country. Dwyer knew to stop this from happening he had to take in partners – members of the Italian mobs, and the Jewish mobs. Since he was raking in millions in profits, Dwyer didn’t mind, and certainly could afford to share the wealth. The problem was, Dwyer considered himself no more than a businessman, and wasn’t a gangster himself. Dwyer needed someone in the underworld who could make the contacts Dwyer needed to continue to operate without fear of being hijacked.

Almost by accident, that person fell right into Dwyer’s lap. In 1924, two of Dwyer’s shipments were hijacked in upstate New York. Dwyer leaned on the cops on his payroll to find out who was responsible for the hijackings. Word soon came back to Dwyer that the perpetrator, who was arrested for the hijackings, was none other than Owney Madden, an Irishman himself, who grew up in Liverpool, England, before he emigrated to New York as a teenager. Madden was a vicious con nicknamed “The Killer” and had once ruled the murderous Gopher’s gang in Hell’s Kitchen.

Dwyer paid whomever needed to be paid to get the charges dropped against Madden, with the order, “Get me Owney Madden. I want to talk to him. I’ve got a business proposition we need to discuss.”

Madden got the word who his benefactor had been, and that a meeting with Dwyer was expected of him in return. The two men met at Dwyer’s office in the Loew’s State Building in Times Square. There is no recording, or transcript of this meeting, but T.J. English, in his masterpiece on Irish gangsters called Paddy Whacked, said the conversation between Madden and Dwyer might have gone something like this:

“You’ve got a problem,” Madden would have told Dwyer. “Gangsters have been picking off your trucks like sitting ducks and what are you going to do about it?”

“That’s why I called you here.”

“You gotta organize the shooters and the cherry-pickers, not to mention the bulls (cops) and the pols (politicians).”

“You’re right. I need the hijackings to stop. I need a place to make my own brew right here in the city. Protected by the Tiger and the coppers. And I need outlets – speakeasies, nightclubs, you name it.”

“You need a lot, my friend.

“Are you with me, you Liverpool mick bastard?”

“Give me one reason why.”

“I can make you rich.”

“Pal, you and me are two peas in a pod.”

And that was the start of the New York City Irish Mob, which would then unite with the Italian and Jewish mobs to control the bootlegging business throughout the United States of America. The grouping of the three ethnic mobs was known as the “Combine.”

With Dwyer’s millions, Madden oversaw the creation of the Phoenix Cereal Beverage Company, which was located on 26th Street and 10th Avenue, right in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen, where both Madden and Dwyer had grown up. This red-brick building, which comprised the entire block, was originally the Clausen & Flanagan Brewery, which was created to produce and sell near-beer, which no true beer-drinker would ever let pass their lips. The beer produced at the Phoenix was called Madden’s No 1.

With Dwyer basically the money man behind the scenes, Madden became the architect who created and nurtured their empire. Madden brought in a former taxi business owner named Larry Fay as the front man for several high class establishments, that were needed to sell Madden No. 1, plus all the scotch, rum, vodka, Cognac and champagne that the Combine was smuggling into the city. One of these places was the El Fay at 107 West 54th Street.

The main attraction at the El Fay was Texas Guinan, a bawdy cabaret singer/comedienne, who was later copied by May West. To entice Guinan to work at the El Fay, Madden and Dwyer made Guinan a partner. Guinan was famous for her wisecracks, which she belted out between clacks from a clacker, or toots from a piercing whistle, while she was sitting on a tall stool in the main room. Guinan’s signature saying was “Hello Sucker,” which is how she greeted all the well-healed El Fay customers.

When a singer or a dancer finished their performance at the El Fey, Guinan would exhort the crowd to “Give the little lady a great big hand!”

One day, a prohibition agent, who couldn’t be bought by Madden or Dwyer, raided the El Fey. He marched over to Guinan, put his hand on her shoulder and said to his fellow agent, “Give the little lady a great big handcuff.”

Dwyer did what he did best, Guinan was released from prison, and the El Fey was soon hopping again, making everyone involved very rich indeed.

Madden and Dwyer also partnered with former bootlegger Sherman Billingsley at the very fashionable Stork Club on East 53rd Street. The two Irish gangsters spread their wings to the north part of Manhattan when they bought the Club De Luxe from former Heavyweight Boxing Champion Jack Johnson. They inserted Big Frenchy De Mange as their operating partner, and changed the name to the Cotton Club. At the Cotton Club, De Mange instituted a “Whites Only” admittance policy, despite the fact the waiters, dancers, and headline entertainers, like Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and the Nicholas Brothers, were all black.

Still, the Cotton Club was wildly successful with the big spenders from downtown, putting tons of cash into Dwyer and Madden’s pockets.

In 1925, Dwyer was arrested for attempting to bribe Coast Guard members during a sting operation headed by the Prohibition Bureau. Dwyer was sentenced to two years in prison, but he was released after 13 months for good behavior. With Dwyer in the can, Frank Costello took over Dwyer’s bootlegging business.

While he was in prison, a despondent Dwyer said to one of his cell mates. “I wish I had never seen a case of whiskey. I spent years in daily fear of my life, always expecting to be arrested, always dealing with crooks and double-crossers, and now look at me. My wife is heartbroken and I am worse than broke.”

As we shall see, that was not exactly the truth.

When Dwyer hit the streets again, he eased out of the bootlegging business, leaving the rum-running operation to Costello and Madden. To pass his time, Dwyer started investing in legitimate business, especially sports teams.

In 1926, boxing promoter Tex Rickard conned Dwyer into buying the Hamilton Tigers of the National Hockey League. Dwyer did so, and he moved his team into New York’s Madison Square Garden, and re-named them the New York Americans. As smart as Dwyer was in running the bootlegging business, he was just as dumb in running a hockey team. His pockets bursting with bootlegging cash, Dwyer’s strategy for winning was basically to over-pay everybody on his team. With the average hockey player making between $1500-$2000 a year, Dwyer gave Billy Burch a 3-year $25,000 contract. Shorty Green also got a huge raise, when Dwyer awarded him a $5000 a year contract.

Being an old crook at heart, Dwyer took an active part in running his team, even going so far as to try and rig the games. Dwyer paid off goal judges to rule his team had scored a goal if the puck just touched the goal line, instead of completely passing the goal line, which was the rule.

At a game in 1927 in Madison Square Garden, the goal judge, whom Dwyer had in his pocket, for some unknown reason started taunting Ottawa goalie Alex Connell. Connell responded by butt-ending his hockey stick into the goal judge’s nose. Dwyer became incensed at the Ottawa goalie’s actions (You don’t manhandle one of Dwyer’s employees), and Connell was told to leave town quickly after the game. A police detail took Connell to the train station, and protected him until the train was safely out of town. After the train left the station, a man asked Connell if he was the Ottawa goalie Alex Connell. Connell afraid for his life, told the stranger no. And, as a result, he lived to goalie other hockey games.

Bypassing a league rule that a person can’t own two hockey teams, in 1929, Dwyer, using ex-lightweight boxing champ Benny Leonard as his front man, purchased the NHL’s Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1930, Dwyer inserted his grubby fingers into the newly-formed National Football League too, by buying the Dayton Triangles for $2,500. Dwyer moved the team to Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, and renamed them the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In three years, Dwyer, again overpaying all his players, began losing so much money, he sold the Brooklyn Dodgers to two former New York Giant Football players: Chris Cagle and John Simms, for $25,000. Even though he sold the team for 10 times more than he had paid, Dwyer estimated he still lost $30,000 in the three years he owned the team.

In 1934, having his fill of America sports teams (he stilled owned the New York Americans, but they were bleeding money), Dwyer bought the famed Tropical Park Horse Racing Track in Miami, Florida.

However, the roof fell in on Dwyer, when in 1935, he was indicted on a gambling charge. Dwyer beat that case, but then the government did to him what they did to Al Capone: they hit him with tax evasion charges. Those charges stuck, and Dwyer was stripped of all his assets, except the New York Americans, and a house in Belle Harbor, Queens. Almost penniless, Dwyer no longer had the money to keep the New York Americans afloat.

In 1937, the National Hockey League temporarily took control of the New York Americans. To show the NHL that he was financially solvent, Dwyer borrowed $20,000 from Red Dutton. However, instead of paying his team’s salaries, Dwyer decided to try to multiply his money in a craps game. That didn’t go over too well, when Dwyer busted out, and lost the entire twenty grand. Unable to pay his team, and unable to raise any more capital, the NHL booted Dwyer out permanently, and took final control of the New York Americans. Broke and despondent, Dwyer retired to his Belle Harbor home.

On December 10, 1943, Big Bill Dwyer, the “King of the Rum Runners” died at the age of 63. Dwyer was reportedly penniless at the time of his death, his only asset being the roof over his head.

Being dubbed number one is nothing new for Gramaitk, as his Street Bangerz Volume 1 album reached number one on Chill Out’s Top 100 and sold more than 27,000 tracks in under six months on Beatport alone.

Gramatik’s Hit That Jive samples jazz legends John Alston and Skeets Tolbert’s composure, Hit That Jive Jack. Hit That Jive Jack has been sung by several great singers over the years including Diana Krall, Joe Carroll, and Nat “King” Cole. It is hard to discern exactly where Gramatik’s inspiration came from, but blends the famous song perfectly with his hip hop background.

The current video online exemplifying Gramatik’s masterpiece is an edited barrage of performance from renowned tap dancers, The Nicholas Brothers, and the Cab Calloway Orchestra, that interestingly contribute hints from big band style as well.

Gramatik also offers news and FREE REMIXES on his Facebook:

Click to download:

Stairway To Heaven Remix

Knights Of Cydonia Remix

Cut Like A Buffalo Remix

Wild Boys Remix

I love musicals to an absurd degree.  Especially older ones.  Singing in the Rain is one of my favorite movies of all time.  OF ALL TIME.  I love the shit out of that flick.  It makes me stupid happy.  And when I found this clip from 1943′s Stormy Weather, well…just watch.

But watch out! Over the past few decades there has been a group of women that has taken Tap Dance by storm and have helped shape this art form into a monumental hard hitting, musical, rhythmic experience. These ladies dance in heels. These ladies hit just as hard as their male counterparts. These ladies are sensational.

It’s not what you expect when you think of women in tap. This isn’t any Rockettes Christmas Show! You see talent beyond belief, creativity so unique, and a lifetime of hard work and dedication.

For the next few weeks I would like to recognize some of these women who have helped the female persona of Tap evolve into what it is today, and who have given me inspiration to be a feminine, hard hitting, rhythmic Tap Dancer.

Today I would like to spotlight Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards.

Dormeshia has a style all of her own. She hears music and rhythm that is beyond what we know. She is incredible talented and to watch her perform is a sight to see! Her energy with her musicians and her audience draws you in and keeps you wanting more. I’ve had the pleasure of working with her at Tap City this past summer, and the kinds of things I learned from her I will keep to work on for a long time. I want to share a few videos so that you can get a glimpse of how she has helped to revolutionize Tap. I have also included a clip I found where she breaks down Pullbacks (excellent if you are one of my students and need to review). Enjoy.

For a more complete bio, click on the links provided in the text. Check out Harlem Tap Studio for class info.

The Nicholas Brothers were a famous African-American team of dancing brothers, Fayard (1914–2006) and Harold Nicholas (1921–2000). With their highly acrobatic technique (“flash dancing“), high level of artistry and daring innovations, they were considered by many the greatest tap dancers of their day. Growing up surrounded by Vaudeville acts as children, they became stars of the jazz circuit during the heyday of the Harlem Renaissance and went on to have successful careers performing on stage, film, and television well into the 1990s.

Late

As always, it seems I am running late.

I don’t think I used to always be late for everything.

During my first year of college I lived with my chronically late sister and her husband. I remember being really very angry with her that we were late for my grandfather’s funeral. (No matter what, she always blamed being late on her husband. Now her ex-husband.)

I think I was better when I was on my own, but then I got married. Great guy, everybody loves him (even me) but he brought new meaning to the word “late”.

He seemed really brilliant when he pointed out that it’s better to arrive late than to get in a car accident and possibly not arrive at all. Of course, after decades of being late for things (to the point where people seriously contemplate lying to us to ensure we don’t miss the wedding, say…) here I am blaming my husband. But it IS him. Really. It should have been a clear tip off when we were dating and arranged to meet at the movie theatre where we were supposed to see a double bill with a group of friends. I ended up sitting in the lobby for two– count them two — movies. And I married him anyway, go figure.

Yes it’s frustrating. And sometimes it is my fault that we’re late. But not usually.

The advantage is, when things I am doing take longer than I think they should/will etc., my “late” husband understands. Awesome.

That seems to happen more and more. Maybe it has to do with getting older, time sure seems to be whizzing past at an awesome rate. I seem to be awfully busy doing so many things and yet everything takes longer to get done. Like my novel. Still not finished the first draft, but I will be soon. Really.

This post was ACTUALLY supposed to be a review of Ann Towell’s “Grease Town”, but I’m not finished reading it yet. It isn’t a big book, not like Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon (thanks Pavel), which I’m pretty sure will require a much larger investment of active thinking. I’m holding off on that one until I can give it full attention after my first draft is done. Gone are the days when I can juggle a half dozen books and eight subjects in and given school day.

In the interests of getting the first draft finished, this will be my last blog post, with the possible exception of my promised review.

my music

My last post was my personal look at Country Music, which was the music I grew up with. Today I want to talk about the music that I listen to now.

Although I’m happy to be in the audience, music is really important to me. I must have music to write to. Music can help lift me out of crankiness, or it can lay down the mood I need to write. You know it’s a good sound track when you have no idea there was one after the movie is over. Soundtrack albums are excellent music to write to. If it’s a good soundtrack, it is perfect for laying down a background in my mind.

Fun, upbeat music is always a bonus. I love the Arrogant Worms and Jimmy Buffett for fun alone. I love music with good and clever lyrics… I’m a word person after all. Annie Lennox and Paul Simon have some of the most beautifully crafted lyrics going. It can be a story, or it may be words or pseudo words that sound good together. And I’m just learning about Zydeco and Acadian music.

Like much of the rest of the world I discovered Scott Joplin and ragtime with the movie The Sting, but still I only just heard of Stride Piano last summer when I heard Michael Kaeshammer for the first time at the The Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival. That was when I first heard Julie Crochetière sing too. She’s such a versatile performer that dozens of different words are used with varying degrees of accuracy in attempts to label her.

Because although I like a lot of different types of music, really, my very favorite music is jazz. Naturally.

In the 1940′s musicals were the equivalent of the rock videos of today. I wasn’t born yet, but I grew up watching black and white movies on TV.

This is one of my favorite musical sequences of all time. Beginning with rakish young Cab Calloway (hubba hubba) performing one of his standards (well it is now, it may not have been then) and introducing the Nicholas Brothers in one of the most spectacular dance numbers ever seen on film.

Although himself no slouch on the dance floor, Cab cleverly yields the stage to the Nicholas Brothers because he knows nobody can touch them.

Since the film clip from Stormy Weather is of decent quality I recommend watching it in full screen format.

I’ve always wanted to be able to dance.

Somehow when I hit my self-conscious teens I lost any ability I may ever have had. This sad reality was compounded in college where I avoided having to dance because I spent parties tending bar. (So that I wouldn’t have to hit the dance floor.)

I love music (well. hey, somebody has to be the audience) and I have great rhythm sitting down where I can bop til I drop… until I stand up that is. That’s when the “bop” evaporates.

I’ve been told that my inability to dance is all in my head and that I can’t possibly be that bad… until people try to dance with me.

When my friend John worked on the movie Mrs. Soffel with Mel Gibson, every woman John knew begged and pleaded to be his date for the wrap party.

This was when Mr. Gibson‘s popularity was on the rise– the Year of Living Dangerously poster graced my living room wall at the time.

That is still one of my favorite movies… thank you Peter Weir.

Now you have to understand that John is a natural dancer. Grace and rhythm flowed out his pores…. he could dance like magic because he loved to dance. Even so, because we were such good friends John agreed to take me– two left feet and all– to the wrap party (woo hoo!).

But only on the condition that I learn to dance first. Eeek.

John drilled me and made me practice and miracle of miracles got me to the point that I wouldn’t embarrass him. Thanks to John — this amazingly terrible dancer — me — not only had the opportunity meet Mel Gibson (who was actually a very nice guy) — but I even got to dance with him.

Thanks John!

Sadly without regular drilling (John moved far away and my husband is not a good enough dancer to rise above my failings) my dancing has fallen into even worse limbo… Hmmm, perhaps “limbo” isn’t not the best choice of words. Anyway, my husband and I have talked about taking ballroom dancing lessons for years. Maybe now is the time.

Maybe its time while we still have moving parts.

One last bit of inspiration:

Cab Calloway and his Orchestra in a Fleischer Studios Betty Boop cartoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eppLgX87v7Y

Do jornal O Dia, 26.06.2009

The Sepia Rose

She had a creamy & smooth complexion that I am in awe of. Her face was sweet but seductive & her body was the quintessential hour-glass shape. Beauty like that can’t be bought, packaged, or sold. Only God can create this type of splendor & exquisiteness. God broke the mold when he made Dorothy Dandridge. I mean, she was so beautiful that it took my breath away the first time I ever saw “Carmen Jones.” Her life was filled with so much tragedy & drama that it seemed destined for the screen. Her life & death was comparable to Marilyn Monroe. That’s why she is known as the “Black Marilyn Monroe.” Forgive me for saying so, but I believe that Dorothy Dandridge was much more beautiful & talented then Marilyn Monroe was. But, that’s just my opinion.

So, it came as no surprise to me when so many black actresses were dying to portray her on film. She  lived from Nov. 9, 1922 – Sept. 8,1965. Dorothy Dandridge was the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. So, I thought it was quite fitting forHalle Berry to portray her. It was almost eerie that she then went on to become the first African-Amercian woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Maybe Dorothy looked out for Halle because she depicted her life so beautifully in the biopic “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge.” Even Halle Berry said that she felt Dorothy Dandridge’s presence during the making of that movie. Read this article to find out more about her : http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Dorothy-Dandridge