Hilary Again

Fresh from our mention the other day, Hilary Hahn appeared on the radar again last night when the PBS Newshour did a piece on her collaboration with composer Jennifer Higdon, which you can see here. (Here is a most interesting NPR (National Public Radio) interview on the same subject, also.)

A plus was Hilary's bonus performance of Bach's Sarabande in D minor...



You might also like to check out one of the earliest interviews with Hilary I heard back in 2004 on NPR. Over the years, NPR has included Hilary in quite a few pieces, which I encourage you to explore on its site.

Finally, I must turn you on to one of my favorite CDs ... Bach: Violin and Voice in which Hilary accompanies Matthias Goerne and Christine Schafer in a variety of Bach cantatas and selections from the Mass in B minor and the St. Matthew Passion.

The Jazz Loft

If you are interested in jazz history, this piece from the ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) is a must-read. And, if like me, you also have forever admired and been inspired by the photography of W. Eugene Smith, you gotta read this story.

http://www.ascmag.com/blog/2010/05/10/w-eugene-smith-david-x-young-and-the-jazz-loft/

Hilary and More

Profound disappointment. This weekend Hilary Hahn (remember her from this post?) will be performing with the Oregon Symphony. And I won't make it. Here is a piece from The Oregonian on Hilary.

Other good things went down in Portland this week. Arcade Fire was in concert, with Calexico as its opening act. Holy cow! I understand that Calexico was even covering Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" something that brings back my hours of listening in punk-era Los Angeles, with and without Kim. Again, The Oregonian (by way of Jeff Baker, its book editor) comments.

My typical Saturday night at home, searching out musical treasure on the Internet, has now at least these three ways to go...Wonder if that Joy Division cover is out there somewhere? But, of course:




Can't stop there, of course. Joy Division itself:



Now that that is taken care of, I am going to return to violin and Arvo Part's Spiegel Im Spiegel, which I was hearing when I read about the Hilary concerts ...

Six Years of Noah

I tried something like this in the pre-digital 70s, but, alas, couldn't get past the first 30-some days.



Lots of people do this, I guess. Here's another one, a bit less ambitious:

An Offer From David Byrne

All The Pretty Little Horses

I've been listening to and exploring the music of Odetta today, triggered by the previous post on Water Boy. In doing so, I came upon her rendition of All The Pretty Little Horses, said to be an old slave lullaby sung by a mother who had to leave and lost her child to tend to the master's children:



I'm a pretty big fan of Calexico, so was delighted when I then found their take on this song:



Next, here is Laura Gibson's recent rendition. Gibson is gaining a big following here out of Portland:

Water Boy

Have been away for nearly three weeks in the Midwest with my brother and sister, dealing with our mother's funeral and its run-up and aftermath. While going through her belongings, we came upon a CD mix that brother Dennis has custom-compiled for her some years ago, including Odetta's Water Boy. When we were playing the CD, he mentioned that his favorite rendition was Don Shirley's, but he had been unable to locate or hear it for years. So, returning home, I can now present the Don Shirley Trio, circa 1962, with Water Boy:




This, too, was one of my favorites, nearly once forgotten (by me). The trio's (piano, cello, string bass) playing is wonderful, subtle, moving stuff.

Of course, Odetta's take on this is very special itself: