Song of the Day

J.S. Bach's Chaccone in D Minor for Solo Violin, performed by Hilary Hahn

More and more, I am randomly shuffling with my iPod as I walk to work, letting it discover pieces I had almost forgotten. This one -- Bach's Chaconne for Solo Violin -- is shaping my entire day, and here is a YouTube version:


IMHO, this is one of the most incredible pieces for solo violin ever. When I get a little more time, I must hunt down performances by Yuhudi Menuhin, Pincas Zuckerman, et.al.

And go here to learn more about the wonderful Hilary herself ... http://www.hilaryhahn.com/

(I remember when Hans -- a gifted graphics designer and fellow music lover who worked for me a few years ago -- and I thought we heard a snippet in a then-new Radiohead piece that reminded us of something we had heard in Bach, so some research ensued -- and we found Hilary.)


Here is Itzak Perlman:




And Menuhin, this said to be from around 1935:

Song of the Day

Walking to work this morning, I set the iPod to random shuffle mode and out came the late-great Otis Redding and I've Been Loving You (Too Long ...), which I hadn't heard for-almost-ever. Here is a visual version, live at Monterey, from quite a few years ago:



Otis died in a plane crash around 1967, but he remains -- in my mind -- the absolute quintessential soul singer.

Farewell, Odetta

Today I learned that legendary folk singer Odetta died Tuesday at age 77. Hers were among the first folk records I started collecting in the late 50s or early 60s, along with Peter, Paul and Mary, et. al. I first saw her live, soon after I moved to Los Angeles in the mid-sixties, at the Troubadour on Hollywood Boulevard where she nearly blew me out of the house with her huge voice. It was my first time at that venue, and I was on my own, barely knowing a soul in L.A.

Odetta was especially noteworthy as a voice of the civil rights movement and influence on people like Bob Dylan (whom she famously covered) and Joan Baez. Let's try something-- Water Boy -- roughly from that period of time:




Sometime quite a bit later; I don't have the date for this take on The Midnight Special:



And very recently:



Odetta is said to have been scheduled to sing at Barack Obama's upcoming inauguration. A shame that won't be.

UPDATE 12/4/08:
Seems that NPR has a nice page with a wealth of interviews, music and information about Odetta.

Will She Run in 2012?

Arguably the best-known photographer of our times, Annie Liebovitz has done an upcoming Vanity Fair cover starring the best-known political impersonator of our times, Tina Fey. This sneak preview is making the rounds of the Internet:

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.