Fado and Mariza

Fado is a 200-year-old musical genre that is said to blend African slave rhythms and Arabic influences with Portuguese traditions. Typically, it is performed with a singer and accompanying guitar, but can be backed by string quartets and even full orchestras. Thanks to the pop music critic of The Oregonian, Luciana Lopez (I highly recommend that you add her blog to your RSS reader), I learn about Mariza, who recently appeared in Portland in concert with the Oregon Symphony, and you can see an example of her work here:



And here:



Somehow, I suspect that Rohit, living in Portugal last year and in Brazil now, is all over this stuff. But it is new to me and I like it and I have to share.

Damon Winter and the Pulitzer

This year's Pultizer Prize in feature photography was won by Damon Winter of the New York TImes for his work covering the Obama campaign. Read about Winter and see a gallery of his work.

Let's Slow Things Down A Bit

This is said to have been mostly done at 1000 FPS ...


I-Movix SprintCam v3 NAB 2009 showreel from David Coiffier on Vimeo

Cassini Exposed

The Boston Globe's Big Picture today is publishing the most gorgeous images I have seen yet from NASA. These document the Cassini spacecraft visit to Saturn.



Also see NASA's Cassini pages.

The Monkey Chant

Rediscovered during my recent dive into my ancient vinyl collection in storage, the 1969 Nonesuch Explorer recording by David Lewiston of Balinese performers doing "Ketjak: The Ramayana Monkey Chant" is as stunning and riveting as the first time I heard it. One of the more apt descriptions I've heard is that it "... exists as a Hindu liturgical drama backed by a beatbox orchestra ready for war". As you might guess, I immediately ripped this to 320 kbps MP3 for the iPod and FLAC for the online networked household library. Here is the cover art from the album, along with a photo of the performers.




Thanks to YouTube, here is a tiny snippet of a Monkey Chant performance. Now imagine the mesmerizing effect of the original Nonesuch high-fidelity twenty-plus minutes audio-only version. Better yet, go to Amazon.com for a preview and an MP3 download (three-minute excerpt) for only 99 cents.

WWII and LIFE.com

Getting lost looking at photos on life.com again. Here is the famous Alfred Eisenstaedt photograph of the sailor and nurse at Times Square, celebrating the end of World War II in August 1945.



This image, and some others from that era, have remained in my mind since, as a very young child, I first saw them published. Among the Life photographers from WWII that later would inspire me with their work, and I get to re-explore now, would be W. Eugene Smith and Margaret Bourke-White. Also, you might want to check out Life's photos of Marlene Dietrich with the troops then.

OMG ... Throbbing Gristle

I had no idea that TG was still around. First discovered its music on a late 70s noontime walkaround at my UCLA job. My rediscovery came in a most unexpected way: while reading blogs this morning on the subject of CF/Flex/Railo/Air programming, an off-topic post by a kindred programmer from San Francisco mentioned that he was going to attend a reunion concert next week of these legendary (perhaps to a rather small cult-ish following, including the art world) punk powerhouses. And, as you might guess from the band's name they also had some memorable album cover art -- if I can find mine or some somewhere, I will consider posting a scan, but it might be a bit intense ... Anyway, take a listen here, and you will see that Throbbing Gristle was probably way ahead of its time, and a big influence on music to follow:



TG's label, Industrial Records, makes this statement:

Industrial Records began as an investigation. The 4 members of Throbbing Gristle wanted to investigate to what extent you could mutate and collage sound, present complex non entertaining noises to a popular culture situation and convince and convert. We wanted to re-invest Rock music with content, motivation and risk. Our records were documents of attitudes and experiences and observations by us and other determinedly individual outsiders. Fashion was an enemy, style irrelevant.

Here's what the Ann Powers says in the Los Angeles Times:

Throbbing Gristle: Coachella is known for helping reunite alternative-rock elders, but rarely is a returning group as foundational to a style of music as is this English outfit. More than 30 years ago, Throbbing Gristle basically invented industrial music, melding synthesizer music with found sound and provocative, sometimes repulsive imagery to push punk into its darkest future. Its members continued to shape the genre in groups such as Psychic TV and Chris & Cosey, but this return to the source allows fans to participate in a collaboration that's essential and consistently inventive.

To learn more about TG, visit their website.

YouTube Symphony Orchestra

Tonight, the long-awaited first performance of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra came together at Carnegie Hall. Led by renowned conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas (now director of the San Francisco Symphony), the orchestra consists of musicians from throughout the world, in an online collaborative effort that got underway earlier this year. Musicians uploaded videos showcasing their talents and styles, and were selected in part by the online YouTube community. Here's the first video -- nearly 60 minutes --of the event:



Go to http://youtube.com/symphony for backstories, lots more information, and videos from successful auditioning performers.

Looming Large

Mark your calendars now for Storm Large's Crazy Enough musical. In Portland from March 31 - June 7: http://www.pcs.org/crazyenough/

More here:
http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2009/04/portland_entertainer_storm_lar.html

And here:
http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2009/04/storm_large_answers_question_a.html

Maybe you know Storm Large from her performances with Storm Large and the Balls, or from her TV reality-show participation in Rock Star: Supernova, or maybe not at all. When I first came upon her a few years back, I was immediately hooked by her sort of meld of Bette Midler and Janis Joplin and Mae West and who knows what. She has been described as a six-foot-tall, sailor-mouthed Glamazon. I would say that she has to be one of Portland's cultural (albeit at least R-rated) treasures. A powerful voice, a big brain, a wonderful sense of humor and a warm heart. Storm does a great cover of the Sex Pistols' Anarchy in the UK, by the way.

Here is her Ellen Degeneres interview:



Recommended: watch all of the videos at her site: http://www.stormlarge.com

Brubeck Meets Adams

While visiting NPR's music site in connection with my previous post on Record of Singing, I came upon an unexpected connection.

In earlier posts, we mentioned how Ivi was turned on to Dave Brubeck's classic Take Five and the "Time Out" recording from 1959 and how Overdub had done a mashup of Take Five with Radiohead.

Well, it turns out that Brubeck -- now 88 years old -- together with his son is composing a tribute to Ansel Adams and his photography. You can hear some of this music and interviews, along with statements from the late Ansel, at NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102656153

When I studied with Ansel in Yosemite in the early 70s (where I got to work in his darkroom at one point!), he was fond of comparing photography with performing and composing music, and often regaled us with tales of his early experience as an aspiring concert pianist. (see regaling photo)

So, once again, an opportunity to thrust Ivi -- on the heels of her critical examination of the Time Out album -- into a connection with my library of photography books, including my autographed copy of one of Ansel's.

Record of Singing

During breakfast this morning, listening to NPR radio, up came a nice surprise -- a feature on the history of opera as presented by NPR's classical music producer. He was discussing a new 20-CD (!) collection of recorded opera from 1899 to now, the latest in EMI's "Record of Singing" series.

You can hear a podcast of this piece and read the story here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102728168.

This inspired me to immediately drag out my EMI CD of Enrico Caruso's Milan recordings of 1902-1904. And I plugged Ivi and her headphones into Caruso's "Elixir of Love" so she could listen from my FLAC library at her own computer. I came in late to the NPR broadcast, and didn't realize that they had played that very piece a bit earlier, until I fully read the page linked above.

Definitely listen to the podcast and also learn more about the collection at EMI's own site:
http://www.emiclassics.com/releaseabout.php?rid=47773#

The two set collection includes (1) earliest recordings from 1899 until about 1952, the end of the 78rpm era, and (2) 1953 - present, encompassing the vinyl era to CDs and the digital era.

Looks like this one has to go on my wish list immediately. I see that the each of the two sets of the collection is priced around $60 (what a bargain!), based on a quick look at Barnes & Noble:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/The-Record-of-Singing-The-Very-Best-of-Vols-1-4-From-1899-to-the-End-of-the-78-Era/e/5099922895622
and Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Record-Singing-1899-1952-Very-Vols/dp/B001PPLJAE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1238865473&sr=8-1

Life In Beta

Life.com is now in beta, I have discovered. Guess it's okay, but it somehow doesn't have the impact for me that opening a paper issue did when I was a child.

UPDATE 4/4/09 - There is an incredible wealth of images here (including Getty Images), with constant additions happening. (Most recently, I have been seeking out W. Eugene Smith photos from World War II.) I think I could start living at this site. The Library of Congress should be as easy and fast to use ...