While Returning to Work After Lunch Today ...

Jazz: Expectations Exceeded

For a couple of my college years, I regularly went to bed with a jazz album playing on my trusty old portable suitcase-style stereo. Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, Miles Davis, Herbie Mann, et. al. Later on, when I frequently flew to Washington, D.C. as a manager in GAO, I often went to area jazz clubs where I saw and heard the likes of Ahmad Jamal, Charlie Byrd, Cal Tjader and others. And then there was Hambone's in Hollywood that I often visited on weekends at home, where you could be fed soul food breakfast if you hung out all night.

But into the mid and later 70s, I found myself listening to more and more rock (especially punk), classical and "new music". Jazz no longer was a regular part of the diet. Now, when we are a mere one block distant from a campus venue that offers all manner of music, theatre and art, live jazz opportunities are not to be missed, even (or maybe especially) if the program and performers are not familiar.

Tonight, our neighboring university (Eastern Oregon U.) sponsored a night of jazz in a small, intimate theater that lacked only smoke-filled air and bourbon on the rocks to bring back those old memories. The event opened with some Duke Ellington, Charlie Mingus and other numbers, performed very nicely by EOU's Eastern Jazz Combo.

The Eastern Jazz Combo, pictured above, is William Morris (alto sax), Erin Marinelli (piano), Neal Facciuto (guitar), Alan Arnson (electric bass), Tucker Murphey (drums and vibes), Trent Shuey (drums and vibes), and Dr. Matt Cooper (director).

And on to the main event (and a few handheld long exposures I was able to get off):

Michael Waldrop

Matt Cooper

Brian McCann

The main event was a three-man set comprised of Matt Cooper on keyboards (Dr. Cooper is an absolutely wonderful jazz and classical pianist, who as an EOU music professor, also directs the Eastern Jazz Combo). and two other gentlemen totaly new to me: Brian McCann on bass/bass guitar and Michael Waldrop on drums, vibraphone and just about anything percussive, both Visiting Artists from Eastern Washington University.

This group blew me, and most of the rest of the audience, away. I was really unprepared for how astonishing their performance was. Especially notable for me was Dr. Waldrop, whose drum work had me riveted. (No big surprise here, if you recall my drumming blog entries back in February on Cozy Cole and Buddy Rich.)

Here is a bit from the printed program on Waldrop:

Michael Waldrop is currently the professor of percussion at Eastern Washington University. He teaches jazz drum set, classical percussion, percussion ensembles and percussion methods at EWU.

He has a Bachelors degree in percussion performance from the University of North Texas, a Masters in Jazz Studies from the University of Memphis and a Doctorate in Performance fromt eh University of North Texas. He has been a professional musician for the past 25 years.

Dr. Waldrop's career has been extensive and varied, ranging from rock and jazz styles to performances with two major symphonies in the United States and abroad. He was a member of the Grammy nominated One O'Clock Lab Band and recorded two CDs with the group and has been on several tours, including a European tour of the Broadway production "42nd Street", and a tour of Turkey with Prix di Rome prize-winning composer, Kamran Ince, and his ensemble. In addition, he has performed with Maureen McGovern, Della Reese, Randy Brecker, Marvin Stamm, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, Eliane Elias and Slide Hampton.

Dr. Waldrop's previous appointments include Director of Jazz Studios and Percussion at Mesa State College in College (1994-2004) and professor of percussion at the University of Toledo (2004-2006). He endorses Yamaha percussion instruments and Vic Firth sticks and mallets, and is a clinician for both conpanies.

Some more on Waldrop:

Monica Huggett and PBO

Tonight, public television OPB-TV broadcast a piece on Monica Huggett and her leadership of the Portland Baroque Orchestra. Click here to enjoy it for yourself! She is doing Vivaldi, but it is her Bach that I most remember.

I think I first heard Huggett and her violin when I used to spend hours and hours in my darkroom in Venice Beach with KPFK and KCRW music programs playing almost around the clock. At the time, there was great interest in interpreting 17th and 18th century music in a more "authentic" manner using period instruments, and some of the DJs at those stations were all over the stuff. The difference in sound, compared with the more usual contemporary arrangements and instrumentation, was astonishing, and very obvious even to a non-musician like myself. Ton Koopman of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra was a leader in this movement -- as was Monica Huggett, and others whose names escape me at the moment. Huggett's personal violin, I have heard, is an Italian Amati made in the 1600s. Monica is English, absolutely world class and a tremendous gift to us to have as a neighbor in Portland.

Top 50 WTF Moments In Comics

Just stumbled across this one. A fascinating site it is. Among other things, I learn that Captain America was fighting the Nazis at least a year before the United States entered World War II.

Back in the 70s, in my SPARC days (more about that sometime), I worked with a cartoonist, Rich, who was a Hanna-Barbera refugee. In his spare time, he was creating comics and turned me on to some really obscure stuff, mostly politically-oriented. I will have to dig that out sometime. Also a note to myself to search (in my infamous basement/garage storage spaces) for my copy of the allegedly first comic book created entirely on a Macintosh. Done in the mid-80s, what was it -- Shatter or something like that? While I am at it, I also should resurrect my old photo-based comic strip, done to celebrate the birth of my son. Watch this space.

UPDATE: 11 November 2008

There is some controversy swirling about in photography circles concerning the Callie Shell work (see The Big Picture, Again post of 11/11/08). Some believe it is clearly inspired, if not a direct rip-off (particularly, Shell's Whistle-Stop Tour piece), of photographer Paul Fusco's 1968 work on the RFK Funeral Train. Judge for yourself.

Revisit Callie Shell's work in a Time photo essay (Time.com has a number of other great photo essays worth a long look) on the Obama campaign, including this great view of the Obamas watching Bruce Springsteen perform:

Tango Week

Luciana Lopez, pop music critic for The Oregonian newspaper, declares this to be "Tango Week". Visit her blog for daily postings this week of some great tango MP3s you can hear online, plus lots of tango lore. (Not a bad blog to follow anytime for tracking with pop music of any stripe, too!)

Bravo!

Many, many years have passed since I seriously tried learning to play the piano, and what I did learn never exceeded a pretty primitive level. But that was when, as a child, I first heard the music of J.S. Bach, and that fascination stuck. You may recall that I considered Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier a leading candidate for my "desert island top ten" (Top Ten?). Plus my previous remembrances of my aspiring classical-pianist-roommate Michael, whose piano (Cello and Beyond) in our front room inspired me to wander through the pages of his collection of those Preludes & Fugues (which explore every major and minor key), slowly picking out the notes (but only when I was comfortably alone in the house!).

David Stabler is the classical music critic for The Oregonian (and he is one critic I always look forward to reading). Today's Sunday edition carries an article by Stabler, describing his year-long project to learn each of the 48 preludes and fugues that make up the Well-Tempered Clavier, after his years of absence from professional piano performance. You can follow his progress on his blog, which is also a terrific source of information about all manner of Things Classical.

Stabler has a great description of a Bach fugue:

I love how fugues start with the grain of an idea and a second strand joins in and then a third, and it gets bigger and begins rolling, gaining momentum, adding density, largeness -- always largeness with Bach -- until it's unstoppable. Listening to a fugue is something else entirely, like trying to track simultaneous conversations at a cocktail party. Bits and pieces drift in and out of earshot.

While we are at it, let's listen to the ubiquitous C Major Prelude No. 1 from Book 1, this performance attributed to the ever-controversial late Glenn Gould (something that is so wonderful about the Preludes & Fugues is how strikingly varied they can sound in the hands of different interpreters):



You can download the score here, in Adobe PDF form.

Probably should be doing the associated Fugue as well, but this post could go on forever, as there is so much to hear and compare and savor. Maybe I will do more along these lines in a future post on the Preludes & Fugues. In the meantime, do check out David Stabler.

Ivi and Olivia in the 19th Century

Hiroshima: The Lost Photographs

My friend John passes on a link to an amazing post at DesignObserver. Thanks, John, for pointing this out and helping me discover the very wonderful DesignObserver.

The Moon, Restored

Forty-two year old lunar images are being restored and enhanced in a special project between NASA and a team of data recovery specialists. Here's an initial example:



Also check out:

http://www.moonviews.com

http://nasa.gov/ames

(Wall) Street Art

The Big Picture, Again

The Boston Globe's The Big Picture site keeps on delivering fabulous imagery. This time, Obama.

Also see these remarkable Callie Shell photographs. About Callie Shell, from The Digital Journalist:

Four years ago Time photographer Callie Shell met Barack Obama backstage when she was covering presidential candidate John Kerry. She sent her editor more photographs of Obama than Kerry. When asked why, she said, "I do not know. I just have a feeling about him. I think he will be important down the road." Her first photo essay on Obama was two and half years ago. She has stuck with him ever since.

UPDATE 11/19/08: There is some controversy swirling about in photography circles concerning the Callie Shell work. Some believe it is clearly inspired, if not a direct rip-off, of photographer Paul Fusco's 1968 work on the RFK Funeral Train. Judge for yourself.

Click here in case you missed Scout Tufankjian photographs from an earlier post.

Mama Africa Bows Out

Miriam Makeba passed on at age 76 yesterday. Here is a performance of the earliest piece I heard her do back in the late 60s.




I think it is time to visit my basement vinyl storage area and dust off some of her music, and maybe convert some for playback on the trusty iPod.

Song of the Day

Along the Way by DeVotchKa

DeVotchKa, still one of my favorites after all these months ...

Only x Shopping Days Until Christmas

Last night, I came upon Chika's really great looking new reusable shopping blogs ("BOTES"). Immediately made a mental note to Shop Chika for holiday gifts. Sustainability and green!

Then a few minutes later, PBS's Newshour with Jim Lehrer triggered a suggestion for yet another source, when the World of Good company and its founder, Priya Haji, were featured in a piece about how the company sells messenger bags, handicrafts and other products with the aim of employing people in impoverished parts of the world and spreading social awareness among U.S. consumers. Listen to the audio for this feature:

World of Good Segment MP3

Finally, there is one of my very favorite gifting ideas -- gift certificates to invest in a microfinanced third-world entrepreneur: http://www.kiva.org/.

Front Pages

See this story from the National Press Photographers Association.

And check out yesterday's Newseum entry: Wednesday, November 05, 2008. 719 front pages from 65 countries

Scout Tufankjian

She is a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn who has covered the Obama campaign from day one, and is said to have made over a million exposures in doing so. See more of her superb Obama images here. Tufankjian is also known for her photographs from Gaza.

Also, see this NBC News video clip.