Back! I'm going to revive and maintain

Rebecca and Jessica Lovell
Originally uploaded by alienpodgeranium

I had the most amazing weekend.
Thursday night I went up to Asheville to The Grey Eagle. I got to see The Lovell Sisters. Their band is made up of 3 sisters all under the age of 25, and some younger than 20, plus a guitar player and bassist.
I also got to see Asheville's own Kellin Watson along with her band and friends Zach John Blew, whose twin identical I later embarrassed myself in front of, and Tania Elizabeth of The Duhks.
The Duhks played a killer set on Thursday night. It was supposed to be a "seated" show. But Leonard Podolak, banjo player and preverbal glue for the band, managed to quickly get everyone on their feet. By the end of the night the audience had removed all the chairs in the front along with couches so they could stand and dance.
Afterwards I got to meet both Leonard and lead singer Sarah Dugas (she's french canadian...doo-gah). They were so sweet. I told them I would be there for the Friday night show too and that I was bringing family.

Friday night at The Neighborhood Theater the floor was already set for people to stand and dance. (someone learned) I stood stage left again so I could see Leonard and Sarah. I was able to get great pictures all night. I didn't have the space at The Grey Eagle.
At the end Leonard made a thanking, bowing gesture to me from the stage and mouthed "thank you for coming again." He almost walked off the stage where there were no steps. We had a little quiet giggle.
I introduced my dad and uncle, got to chat with all of the band and have them sign my t-shirt.

A few my photographs from the weekend that I am so proud of. View the rest on my Flickr







I also met The Lovell Sisters. Jessica gave me her email so that I could send her my pictures.

Interview with Nathan Angelo

Back in November I wrote an interview with musicians that played for Wild Wednesday in hopes of getting to start a sort of regular thing promoting the Wild Wednesday events and give me a chance to do some paid and published writing. They had a very small edition of the paper that month, so my article didn't get published.
So here it is.
Interview with Wild Wednesday Artist, Nathan Angelo


I had the chance to spend a few minutes the most recent artists at SAC’s Wild Wednesday, Nathan Angelo and his drummer Matt Linton. In the midst of students playing air hockey and ping-pong after the show in Loafers, we were able to have conversation about music and Nathan’s experience.

Mb: What has been your funniest/favorite show moment, since you’ve been on the road?
Nathan and Matt: We played a costume show.
Mb: For Halloween? What were you?
Nathan: Yeah. I was old time jailbird, with the black and white stripes. He [Matt] played the drums the whole night with a full mask on, like an old man…like the guy in Kill Bill with the beard. Someone else was a clown. It was fun.

Mb: You’ve been compared, at least here in our publicity, to other performers and musicians like Billy Joel, with your piano skills, and of course, Gavin DeGraw with your voice. How do you feel about those?
Nathan: I think it’s fine when people don’t know who I am. “Oh, if you like this person, then you’ll like this… Saying, “Hey, if you like John Meyer, you’ll like this guy.” I wouldn’t mind because I like John Meyer. Some I like more than others, but I’m not really offended.

Mb: What’s your inspiration? Who do you consider your musical mentor of sorts?
Nathan: Ray Charles. I love his playing and the passion he brings.

Mb: Does the old stuff ever get old?
Nathan: Not really. I feel like every month I listen to another recording and get something new out of it.

Mb: You played several songs about change and “doing good” in the world. Can music save the world?
Nathan: No, I don’t think it can necessarily change the world. There’s a lot in what we say as musicians and in songs. No—I don’t think it can, but I think it can certainly impact it.

Mb: And one last thing, my friend wants me to get you for Christmas. How do you feel about that?
Nathan: What, about being someone’s present? Sure, I’d love to be someone’s Christmas present.

Post 10: FAQ

This entry isn't so much about music as it is about The Rest is Noise, Alex Ross, and the class itself. So, consider it a sort of supplement to the course evaluation.
As I finished up The Rest is Noise I ran into Dr. Doug Jensen in Montgomery, oddly enough I've gotten to know him during my time at Converse, even though I haven't had a single science class. He was asking me about the book. I could tell him all the content but not really about Alex Ross and the book itself. On his blog I came upon his bio, the book FAQ, and the book summary and video. I found the video interesting, because it was of Ross just candidly speaking about his experiences. The book FAQ answers things that I remember us briefly touching on and dancing around in the early days of the class. Especially the issue of the book's audience. It appears designed to be as accessible as Ross wants to present 20th century music as, but also as rewarding to the trained ears and minds as the most challenging works of the century. I think he captures the essence, the essential oils if you will, of the 20th Century. We talked about why he didn't include certain composers in class. In the FAQ he explains what we seemed to reach a conclusion about, that being the need for it to be readable and to preserve the principle themes that Ross is conveying. One other interesting fact that is mentioned in both the video and the FAQ is the title.
Ross describes it eloquently saying,
"It's a reference to Hamlet's last words, "The rest is silence." I had in mind the widespread perception that classical composition devolved into noise as the twentieth century went on. What may sound like noise on first hearing may reveal hidden beauty if you give it a second chance."

To me, both phrases evoke thoughts of John Cage, silence and noise. Cage also happens to be who Ross thinks is the most pivotal of all during the 20th century, who epitomized the stretching of boundaries. An interesting connection.
The passion that I have found for the subject of this class, and really for the class as a whole, is probably as much just my love of the cerebral stuff, but also the thoughtfulness of both Ross, and my professor. I don't think I would have had the same experience if either had been absent. It's probably crazy sounding to say that I think I have found my calling in studying the music of the 20th Century, but it certainly would be a course I would like to teach one day. Something for my list of goals, or my bucket list.

Post 9: Rothko Chapel

It's one of those pieces, like Ross says, is an event every time it is done. Like The Ring Cycle, or a Mahler symphony, it is always a big deal.
Listening to it in class was cool, following the score, figuring out what was going on. But really this is more than just a music event, but a spiritual one as well. Hearing the clip of Feldman speaking about his work is quite moving. He speaks of it with passion not only as a composer, but as a spiritual man.
I clicked on the link in the blog to WNYC's page about the Musica Sacra concert. I listened to the concert which also included Arvo Pärt's Stabat Mater. It's part of a great series called New Sounds Live. Both pieces are certainly more spiritual than sacred. Sacred tends to imply, for me at least, a worship usage. These "mystical" pieces, as they are described, push themselves off the grid of sacred or art music. Not only does Rothko Chapel stretch the gap between art, the sacred, and the mystical, but so does the Chapel for which it was written. I think it captures is entirely. I'd like to visit one day and know for sure.

Feldman was an Amazing individual and there are a fairly large amount of materials available to learn about his life. One interesting tid bit is a conversation between Feldman and Cage.

Post 8: The Arts and Public Policy

I noticed Ross' recent entry about the resignation of New York City Opera's ambitious impresario due to funds that never materialized. He also mentioned one other company that has recently closed down, Opera Pacific. 

I've been terribly concerned and disheartened lately over Prop 8 in California, so one of my main concerns in thinking about the President-Elect was researching his platform on gay marriage. Then it dawned on me when I saw Ross' entry that my livelihood is partially dependent on his platform on the arts. I quickly Googled "obama arts funding" and came across a PDF on his website. It calls Obama and his vice presidential pick, Joe Biden "champions of the arts." I wondered what qualified someone or a group to be champions of the arts. Is not Alex Ross a champion as well? 

Luckily for my musical future, they claim to want to start and Artists Corps. Like the Peace Corps, except for artists. Woot!!! I'm excited to see that day. I'll be first in enlist. The platform also makes a point of including health care for artists as well. My demographic, starving young artists who are fresh out of the best arts programs in the world are the largest uninsured groups of Americans. Statistics show that 18-34 year olds have the greatest percentage of uninsured. Also, childless adults, usual the career oriented men and women who are more "free-lance," newspaper columnists and piano teachers.  

Someone is coaching the Obama crew well. I hope that they can follow through.

Class Post 7: Copland will rock you

Queen and Copland have a little in common it seems. Ross points out the melodic similarities between the chorus "we will rock you" and a portion of the melody from Fanfare for the Common Man, which is now included in his Audio Guide. (Scroll to the bottom.)
I decided to look for more similarities like this, and I remembered that The Beatles actually included parts of the Brandenburg Concertos in It's All Too Much. I went to dig that up, available here.
It was difficult to find other examples of classical tunes being used or being similar to rock n roll tunes. However there are a few examples like that of The Beatles, integrating them into the production of songs. I came across a blog entry in my Google search about the same idea. A review of classical musicians playing rock n roll. It works both ways I guess.
Similarly I was lead back to Ross' blog where I knew there were examples of classical composers writing jazz laden music, and once again found Copland. I guess that fundamentally, at some level, being an American composer made him closer to popular forms than others. Perhaps.

Class Post 6: Batter My Heart

John Donne

74. "Batter my heart, three person'd God; for, you"

BATTER my heart, three person'd God; for, you
As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow mee,'and bend
Your force, to breake, blowe, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurpt towne, to'another due, 5
Labour to'admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weake or untrue.
Yet dearely'I love you,'and would be loved faine,
But am betroth'd unto your enemie: 10
Divorce mee,'untie, or breake that knot againe;
Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I
Except you'enthrall mee, never shall be free,
Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.


John Donne certainly had a way of verbalizing the intense relationship that Christians often have with their God. It is very much the style in which Song of Solomon is written, if it is interpreted as pertaining to the relationship between God and His people. It is vivid and moving, with references to sex and marriage in a more explicit sense than that of the parables in the New Testament.

It was interesting for me to find the link from Ross's blog to the snippet of audio on The New Yorker website. The link to Batter My Heart is the link to a piece from Doctor Atomic by John Adams based on the words of John Donne. Ross's latest article for The New Yorker focuses on the opera's recent arrival at the Met.

On my recital are three pieces by Dorian Le Gallienne that are settings of three Divine Poems of John Donne. One of these is "Batter My Heart". It is set remarkably similar to the aria in Doctor Atomic, most likely because the poetry so strongly implies certain accents and rhythms. Naxos Music Library has a good recording of the Gallienne pieces. I went back and listened to it, just to get a sense of how similar they are.

Class Post: Fun with words

I had fun playing with the new online Glossary with audio.
It was more than just a Glossary with audio clips, Ross when above and beyond to not only explain a little about where the clips came from, but in some cases went on give a little more background and other interesting related information.
I went through all twenty-six letters of the alphabet. I was originally going to choose just M and B to look at.
It's great sometimes because he has clips of several different aspects of terms. For example the added-6 chord has 3 different examples, some abstract, and others in context. I had not noticed that the repetitive motif in Mack the Knife was structured around an added-6 chord, but after hearing it, it made perfect sense.

Other fun parts are in the links that you would necessarily pay attention to in the glossary, the ones that include the record label, and catalog number. I clicked on a few of those.
Certain other links in the glossary correspond directly to the book's companion audio samples online. Ross's blog for his book has certainly become more than just a blog. It's like having a CD-ROM or something for a text book. His passion for the book and the topic are evident in the amount of time he seems to spend. He almost creates his own little The Rest is Noise world.

Class Post (9-30-08): Ludwig Van

Ross' Stockhausen in Berlin Photojournal lead me to a film called Ludwig Van, by composer Mauricio Kagel, who died just this month. I scrolled down to the film, and watched the incomplete version online. To me, the film was curiously interesting, but made very little sense to me. I had never heard of Kagel, so I did a little research. Ross mentioned this article from The Guardian. It gave a good basic understanding of Kagel and his work.
Kagel was serious about music in a humorous, tongue-in-cheek way. His music was a commentary on music. It is obvious from his films that he knew the power of music, but he didn't forget that it is possible to not let music take itself so seriously. Reading the description of his works, one of which was a performance piece for 111 bicyclists,
I was reminded that P.D.Q. Bach did much the same thing, only in a more "popular" way. Peter Schickele, the man behind PDQ, has the same ability to consider ideas from the Baroque and Classical eras objectively, and then humorously apply them to composition.
The author of the article in The Guardian, Tom Service, went so far as to say that Kagel "should be essential listening for anybody interested in new music." It appears to me that he might be worthy of a listen, or a watch in the case of his films, for anybody interested in music history at all. Kagel was a musicologist. He was able to extract ideas about music history, digest them, and present them from an original point of view. He makes an interesting study into the way people think and understand music and it's history.
It's not surprising that he studied philosophy and literature in Buenos Aires, and that one of his lecturers was writer,Luis Borges himself. The fact that he was schooled and raised on the geographical periphery of classical music is definitely a reason for his ability to simultaneously remove himself from and be present in music.

Class Post (9-23-08): Top 10 Classical Summer Hits

Scrolling down the home page of Ross' blog, I came across links to Top 10 lists. There's one for each year beginning in 2004, and continuing to 2007. When I clicked on the link that said summer hits, I chuckled inside, because the title of the entry is Top 10 Classical Party Hits. It made me think of how my "Party Shuffle" feature in iTunes likes to put all my classical music in there along with Norah Jones and System of a Down.
I suppose the casual implication of the word "party" is evident in Ross' intentions for the list. He says that it is a casual list of things he recommends, not a serious end all be all list of the greatest recordings of all time. He goes on to point out that he was recommending the cheaper discs. Therefore he seems to suggests as well, that the recordings themselves are not as important in the music. This supports what he mentions earlier in the paragraph about how he feels the cultural decline of music occurred simultaneously with the gaining popularity of recording.
In addition to the list, which features mostly famous "hits" of well known composers, he mentions that while not complete, there is a complete book on recommended recordings. So I googled that, the New York Times Essential Library: Classical Music to see what it had to say.
As an student in a post post-modern world, I get hung up on what is popular being labeled as "great." It seems that often we are encouraged to question, and form our own ideas of what is great, based on what we have learned about history and aspects of quality. I remember how many of the visual art students in high school professed to despise Andy Warhol, when many, and especially pop culture in general, hail him as a great modern artist.
In reading the description of the book I was reminded of Ross' casualness. The description appears to focus almost equally on the recording and the performer as it does on the work and composer. This is especially true at the mention of Bach's Goldberg variations recorded by Glenn Gould. What is interesting is that Gould's eccentricities make the recording unique, in addition to the caliber of his playing.