They Call it The JAZZ Age

For today’s Music Monday I ‘d like to ask one simple question; in what universe is the music of Jay-Z and Kanye West considered preferable to that of Duke Ellington and Cole Porter? I’m thinking it’s the bizarro world.

You are no doubt aware of The Great Gatsby movie that is currently in the theaters. In yet another film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary classic, the movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role and was directed by Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, in 3D no less. My mom and I had planned to see the movie on Mother’s Day but  at the last minute we decided to skip it. We had a lovely dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants instead. So I haven’t seen The Great Gatsby and am not here to offer a review. But film critic Rex Reed, in all his bitchy queen glory, ripped it to shreds.

What I do know is that the task of providing the music soundtrack for the film was placed in the hands of  music mogul Jay-Z and his cohorts. The geniuses in Hollywood thought it a wise decision to pass over the authentic, totally fabulous music of the Roaring Twenties – or “The Jazz Age” as it’s known – in favor of modern day hip hop. Now I’m not naive. I get it. The strategy was all about marketing and making the film more appealing to a younger demographic. Because, you know, the young people of America don’t have nearly enough exposure to Jay-Z and Beyonce. That was sarcastic, by the way

Carroll Dickerson’s Jazz Band, floor show, Chicago, 1924:

I probably sound like an old fuddy-duddy, griping about music authenticity and giving the impression that I’m incapable of opening my mind to hip new styles and contemporary reimaginings of classic literature. But I assure you that that is not the case. Jay-Z’s soundtrack for The Great Gatsby really and truly is absolute dreck. But that should come as no surprise from the guy whose biggest hit was titled “Big Pimpin”.

As proof of the incredible treasure trove of actual 1920s music offerings – the ones cast aside in favor of Jay-Z – I had a hell of a time choosing a video for this post. Between Louis Armstrong, Ethel Waters, George Gershwin, King Oliver, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, Kid Ory, and Cole Porter, it was really tough. So in a hat tip to my late father, a trumpet player, I finally decided on Bix Beiderbecke’s “At the Jazz Band Ball”. Ladies, put on your best flapper dresses, and have fun! THIS, my friends, is what The Jazz Age sounds like:

Stravinsky and Sibelius

It’s coming up on 11:00 PM and I’m suffering from a bit of eye strain, but it’s still not too late for a Music Monday. So I’m going to hand it over to two great composers doing some trash-talking about music critics.

Robert Craft: What do you mean when you say that critics are incompetent?

Igor Stravinsky: I mean that they are not even equipped to judge one’s grammar. They do not see how a musical phrase is constructed, do not know how music is written; they are incompetent in the technique of the contemporary musical language. Critics misinform the public and delay comprehension. Because of critics many valuable things come too late.

— Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Conversations with Igor Stravinsky (London: Faber and Faber, 1959), 107.

And more succinctly:

Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.

- Jean Sibelius

Any questions?

Stravinsky placing flowers at Sibelius’ grave in Finland, 1961:

Landfill Harmonic

It’s very fitting that today’s Music Monday comes to us from my friend Karla who lives in Boston and survived last week’s tense turmoil in characteristic tough-as-nails Bostonian fashion. It’s also fitting that this inspiring video is about defying adversity, in this case through resourcefulness, creativity, and the musical dreams of impoverished children who live in a Paraguayan slum. That slum, Cateura, sits atop a landfill. Thanks to the enterprising efforts of one musician and one trash collector, “The Recycled Orchestra” was born. Its members consist of the beautiful, extraordinary children of the village playing instruments made entirely of recycled garbage from the landfill: “ violins and cellos from oil drums, flutes from water pipes and spoons, guitars from packing crates.”.

The Landfill Harmonic is an ambitious project that will involve a film documentary, concert tour, and instrument drive among other things. To read more about this marvelous endeavor please visit the Landfill Harmonic Movie website. Great stuff there about the people involved and their biographies, photos of the instruments, fundraising goals, and updates. Landfill Harmonic can also be found on Facebook and Twitter. And thank you Karla!

The Phenomenal Phil Ramone

I can’t allow a Music Monday to pass without honoring the legendary music producer Phil Ramone, who died Saturday at New York Presbyterian Hospital after suffering an aortic aneurysm. He was 79 years old. As anyone in the industry will tell you, Phil Ramone left a tremendous legacy in pop music recordings. A prolific visionary, Ramone went from child prodigy to Julliard student to Brill Building songwriter to groundbreaking producer. He had a monumental music career in every way, and his list of credits and accomplishments is simply astonishing.

Phil Ramone’s philosophy about music producing was to allow the artist’s voice/sound to always remain the primary focus. He felt that the producer’s role was to draw out and capture the authentic artist while keeping intrusions to a minimum. Ramone’s approach was in stark contrast to, say, the Phil Spector style in which the producer’s imprint is prominent throughout the record. Phil Ramone’s musical instincts were impeccable. His belief in pure, unadulterated sound, freshness, and artistic integrity were admirable. And the trust and respect with which he treated musicians made him a beloved figure in the industry, both personally and professionally. My sister-in-law Gayle was a close acquaintance of Phil Ramone. At our family Easter dinner she attested, like everyone who knew him, that Phil Ramone was indeed a very warm, kind, self-effacing gentleman.

One of the finest examples of Phil Ramone’s genius can be heard in this track. The song is Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are”  for which Phil Ramone earned one of his many Grammy Awards as a producer. This was the well-deserved Record of the Year in 1979. Phil Ramone, RIP. You will be sorely missed. Thanks for the music.

 

“There aren’t enough words to express how heavy my heart is with the news of the passing of my dear friend and brother Phil Ramone. Phil was a collaborator in the studio and a friend in life for more than 50 years. Today we lost one of the true musicians, innovators and geniuses of the record industry, His immense talents were only surpassed by the gigantic size of his heart.”  — Quincy Jones

Monday Jazz

Hello friends. I just sat through a torturously long Oscars telecast – four hours of my life that I’ll never get back – and must get to bed for a long day of art modeling. But I’d like to present this Music Monday before I hit the sack. A couple of weeks ago, the jazz community lost one of their greats, trumpet player Donald Byrd. Trumpet players will always hod a special place in my heart because of my father. And Donald Byrd had some things in common with another man in my life who is very dear to me, my brother Chris. Both earned degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and both have been passionate advocates of music education, as was my father.

The photograph in this video was taken by William Claxton, who shot some of the most iconic jazz pictures of all time. It’s Donald Byrd playing his horn on the A Train in New York City. The music is “Portrait of Jennie” and was recorded at the Half Note Club, a jazz venue that was located on Hudson Street in the 50s and 60s. This is superb trumpet playing so please listen and enjoy. It can only improve your day. See you all soon

Name That Tune?

Sunday night, as the Super Bowl played out on the TV with the sound on mute, my sweetheart and I entertained ourselves with some online trivia. We did history, movies, and sports and earned pretty respectable scores. When we got to music, we narrowed the field to 70s rock exclusively. I should mention that playing 70s rock trivia with my honey is like playing quantum physics trivia with Steven Hawking. You will be shellacked. Then, after trivia, my man had the idea to administer a “Name That Tune” test for me, in which he played the opening bars of songs from his iTunes library for me to identify. I was up to the challenge, or so I thought.

In one of my all-time favorite movies, Diner, the Eddie character, played by Steve Guttenberg, subjects his fiancee Elyse to a football test which consists of 140 questions on the history of the Baltimore Colts. Elyse’s passing or failing the quiz would decide whether the marriage was to take place. It’s funny as hell. Luckily, no such high stakes exist between me and my darling. However, at one point I found myself stammering for the song name and band of what turned out to be a very well-known 70s rock anthem. I knew it. I was sure I knew it! I had heard it a hundred times! But inexplicably I drew a blank. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Dammit.

So between my being stumped by a beloved rock classic, and getting the Allman Brothers and the Doobie Brothers mixed up, and performing a truly horrifying solo dance in the middle of the room to “Disco Inferno”, my girlfriend status is on thin ice, folks. Thin. Ice.

Of course I jest My girlfriend status is just fine. But I did fail to identify the song and the band. So I will present it now for Music Monday and hopefully redeem myself, alleviate my profound shame, and rebuild my classic rock cred. This is Grand Funk Railroad and “I’m Your Captain”. Rock on, peace out, and I’ll catch you all later.

Joy in the Public Square

When the whole “flash mob” craze started a few years ago I didn’t know what to make of it. Granted, I wasn’t paying all that much attention. I just formed a vague impression that it was little more than stupid hipster/hacker/Internet-fueled/self-indulgent “performance art”/attention-seeking silliness that disrupted the public square for no worthwhile purpose. Ok, so maybe I was a little dismissive But also, I’m generally wary of the word “mob” and its implications.

While I still believe the flash mob fad is just that – a fad – I have found that these spontaneous public outbursts can be pretty special when they involve music. Not rap. Not techno. I mean glorious music that stirs the soul. I spend half my life traveling around on New York City’s transit system and am very accustomed to public music performances, many of which I enjoy, others not so much. But I would absolutely welcome a flash mob appearing out of nowhere to perform, say, Beethoven, on one of my crazy commuting days. You all know how I feel about Beethoven, right? Obsession, folks. Obsession.

Our dear family friend Karla passed along a link to the Top 6 Orchestra Flashmobs Around the World. I was already familiar with one of them, a video that has been viewed on YouTube over 9 million times. It takes place in a public square in Sabadell, Spain, near Barcelona, when members of various professional orchestras and choirs gathered flash mob style to perform, at the end of the day, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”. Obviously there was some degree of planning that went into this on the part of Banco Sabadell so I don’t know if it fully qualifies as a “flash mob”, but whatever. The children are truly the shining stars of this video. Well, after Beethoven of course Our Music Monday, friends. Enjoy!

Beneath the Raven Moon

Today is a special day. January 7th. That makes it a very special Music Monday here on Museworthy.

For my darling on his birthday, this is Native American flutist Mary Youngblood playing her beautiful touching song, “Beneath the Raven Moon”.

Happy Birthday baby, my raven protector. I love you with all my heart. Mary plays the melody, but the sweetness and tenderness are from me to you

Always,
your “little C”

Goodbye Brubeck

I wasn’t going to let a Music Monday pass without honoring the late Dave Brubeck, the jazz legend, pianist, and composer who died last Wednesday, one day short of his 92nd birthday. The California-born son of a cattle rancher enjoyed a tremendous career in music that spanned seven decades, and was very much beloved and appreciated by the public, if not always the critics. Since his death, an abundance of Brubeck articles and tributes can be found on the web, chock full of his extensive jazz contributions and biographical information. I for one had no idea that he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1980. In the New York Times obituary of Dave Brubeck, one paragraph really stood out for me:

Mr. Brubeck once explained succinctly what jazz meant to him. “One of the reasons I believe in jazz,” he said, “is that the oneness of man can come through the rhythm of your heart. It’s the same anyplace in the world, that heartbeat. It’s the first thing you hear when you’re born — or before you’re born — and it’s the last thing you hear.”

Some terrific jazz to get our week started, this is the Dave Brubeck Quartet performing “St. Louis Blues” in Belgium, 1964. Brubeck on piano, Joe Morello on drums, Paul Desmond on alto sax, and Eugene Wright on bass. Wright, by the way, is now the only surviving member of the original Brubeck quartet. Enjoy!

A Little Bromance

I gave myself two options for this week’s Music Monday. The choice was between a Christmas music video or a weird Russian painting. Since it’s not even December yet, I thought I might be pushing the Christmas music a bit early, even though the department stores are already decked out in holiday decorations! Woo hoo! Anyway, I’m going with the weird Russian painting.

I don’t like to post artwork for the purposes of mocking it, although I have done it in the past. This 1910 painting by Ilya Mashkov is just a really strange scene. It’s the artist’s self-portrait with fellow artist Pyotr Konchalovsky. Can anyone tell me what’s going on here? What I see is two buff guys in Speedos and black socks having a violin lesson in a piano room. I guess that’s it, right? Is there meant to be a homoerotic element to this or have I just walked through Chelsea too many times? Also what are those things on the floor, weights? So they took a break from weightlifting to have music practice?

Well hey, it’s certainly an original and unusual painting by a free-thinking avant-garde artist. Compositionally it’s unclear what we’re supposed to focus on. My eyes go back and forth between the sheet music and the deltoids. And the two men staring directly at the viewer is a little unnerving. But I guess a couple of artists/bodybuilders in speedos can do whatever the hell they want

A Vintage Music Mag

God help the poor soul who ever accompanies me to an antiques store, vintage shop, or collectibles joint. He or she can expect to wait a long time. I’m incapable of walking past those places without going through the door, and once inside I will browse. And browse and browse and browse. If I had more space in my house, and more money, I would buy up every old piece of memorabilia and collectible thingie from a bygone era that I could find and hoard that stuff like there’s no tomorrow. A commemorative ashtray from the 1901 World’s Fair? Hell yeah. A French perfume bottle from the 1890s? Absolutely. A tortoiseshell ladies hair comb from 1915? Bring it. A Honus Wagner baseball card? No brainer.

A few weeks ago I was in New Hope, Pennsylvania to view the “Naked in New Hope” art show. Afterwards my Mom and I strolled the town and enjoyed its many charming shops. In one of the antiques stores a table of vintage magazines commanded my attention, in particular an old music periodical from 1920 encased in a plastic sleeve. It was called “The Etude”, and at the price of a mere twelve bucks I knew I had to bring it home. It also occurred to me that it might make a nice subject for a Museworthy Music Monday. See how I’m always thinking about my readers? Faithful blogger at your service

Articles on composers, lessons in music theory, practice songs and exercises, contests, ads for conservatories, private instruction, and those cool old things called phonographs, “The Etude” is a lovely little mag. Aside from the yellowed paper and some minor tears in the pages, it’s in pretty good condition.

A Touch of Bliss

Museworthy has been a happy place lately. Unlike some other blogs this one tends to be rather author-centric, my moods and current state-of-mind often influencing the posts in topic and tone. As my readers you can feel relieved that you won’t be subjected to any angry rants or woeful despair anytime soon

It’s Music Monday, and I have to mention that New York’s classical music station WQXR is celebrating Beethoven Awareness Month. It was fabulous last November, and it’s fabulous again this year. I encourage New Yorkers to tune in and luxuriate in the sounds of his extraordinary piano sonatas, string quartets, and symphonies. Glorious listening.

And since my mood these days is playful, quirky, and buoyant, two more goodies to share that reflect said mood. First, a funny picture of Orson Welles jamming with Laurel and Hardy:

And here is a music track dedicated to a very special someone  This is “If I Didn’t Care” by The Ink Spots. Enjoy my lovelies!

Down to Earth

If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re missing one the coolest, ballsiest, most astonishing feats ever. Yesterday Felix Baumgartner made history when he successfully completed a supersonic skydive through the earth’s stratosphere, breaking the sound barrier in a thrilling freefall from 24 miles up in space. Wearing a pressurized spacesuit, he jumped from his capsule and reached a speed of 833 mph. A few minutes later, like the consummate professional that he is, he released his parachute and landed on his feet in Roswell, New Mexico. So badass.

Millions of people around the world watched Felix Baumgartner’s space jump live, and 24 hours later he’s still a trending topic on Twitter. This amazing photo of Felix standing in the open door of his capsule seconds before his jump is one for the books:

This Music Monday is dedicated to Felix Baumgartner and his record-breaking space jump. Remember these guys?

Beethoven for my Bro

There’s a great story about the multitalented American pianist, composer, and actor Oscar Levant. After being pulled over for speeding on a California highway, he reportedly confessed to the police officer that “you can’t possibly to listen to the last movement of Beethoven’s Seventh and drive slow”. Whether that quote is accurate or just a bit of lore, it’s still an awesome line.

Tomorrow the 29th is my brother Chris’ 48th birthday. Throughout our lives, Chris and I have always had each other’s backs. And because I love my brother so much, and because he is a gifted, trained composer in his own right, I’d like to dedicate this Museworthy post to him. A tremendous admirer of Beethoven, Chris has often expressed his fondness for the Seventh Symphony. I am a Ninth person myself, but Chris opened my eyes – I should say ears! – to the Seventh Symphony years ago, and how right he was about its brilliance and gusto.

The melodies of Beethoven’s Symphonies are easily recognizable. For those of you who saw the movie “The King’s Speech”, you probably recall the dramatic, gradual buildup music that played as Colin Firth recited King George’s somber speech to the nation as Great Britain entered World War II. That music was the second movement of Beethoven’s Seventh.

Enjoy this video of the last movement. It is performed in the tempo “allegro con brio” which means, appropriately, fast with vigor. It’s the buoyant, spirited section with its lively rhythms that caused Oscar Levant to hit his gas pedal hard and drive well beyond the speed limit. Under the conducting of the legendary Bernard Haitink, this is the Netherlands’ Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Happy birthday bro! Love you

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“Art demands of us that we do not stand still”

– Beethoven

Mona the Magnificent

A few days ago I tweeted an article from the Daily Mail that I thought my followers would find interesting. Sure enough it prompted a lot of responses and retweets. It seems that a campaign is afoot to bring the Mona Lisa back “home” to Italy, specifically the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. I reacted to the story with amusement, mainly because I can’t imagine the Louvre would ever in a million years hand over its most prized and popular possession. The Italians can gather as many signatures as they want (150,000 so far) but they must know that they’re dealing with the French government which rightfully owns the painting. According to art historians Leonardo da Vinci began working on the painting in Florence but left it unfinished for years. He then brought the painting with him when he moved to France in 1516 and continued working on it. After Leonardo’s death, the Mona Lisa was acquired by the French Royal family. My guess is that Mona is staying put.

The Mona Lisa  has also endured more than her share of theft and vandalism over the years. During the famous theft of the painting in 1911, one of those wrongfully accused of stealing Mona was Pablo Picasso. I have to confess I get a kick out of that But the guilty culprit turned out to be a Louvre employee named Vincenzo Peruggia whose alleged motivation for the crime was that he believed the painting belonged back in her “homeland” of Italy. Though he served six months in jail, Peruggia was still hailed as a true Italian patriot for his actions. The ghost of Peruggia is probably applauding today’s renewed efforts to bring Mona back. His “cause” refuses to die!

Hasn’t the Mona Lisa been through enough? This whole thing reminds of that crazy kid who posted the YouTube video abut Britney Spears. I say “Leave Mona Alone!!!!”

Even though I don’t think Mona is going anywhere, this story does open up a can of worms in the field of art provenance. Should every country start demanding its works back from museums in other countries? Should the United States reclaim all its Whistlers, Hoppers, and Pollocks? Should Spain demand every single Picasso from every museum around the world? Should the Netherlands retrieve all the Rembrandts and Van Goghs? When does it end?

Since I missed Music Monday two days ago (believe it or not I was still under the weather with my stomach ailment), let’s have one now, a Music Wednesday if you will. Take it away Nat King Cole!