9/3/10
Passing Notes - The Labor of Music
Labor Day was made an official holiday by President Grover
Cleveland in 1894. Cleveland was trying to appease labor organizations and
unions in the United States after another tense nationwide strike. Of course the September date of Labor Day was
far far away from May 1, International Workers Day, the celebration of the
labor movement so chosen because of another ugly event in US labor history, the
Haymarket Affair in Chicago in 1886. You
can look all this stuff up, of course, but the point is, the American Labor Day
is, you know, different, exceptional, when you think about it in relation to
what other countries do. Sort of like
how we still use inches, feet, gallons, and miles and the rest of the world
uses the metric system.
Part of the working world in the past – and in the present –
is made up of working musicians, those singers, instrumentalists, arrangers,
and conductors who produce live music.
Back in the day before all of this newfangled music technology there
were lots and lots of musicians who played music live for all kinds of
occasions: dances and drinking, public and private occasions, parades and
promenades, religious services – you name it.
Who knew that with the arrival of the player piano in the
1870s, the writing was on the wall—however faitly? The days of many working musicians were
numbered. The number was very large, but
you get the idea. Now, in the early days of sound recording, the playback
quality was so bad that musicians didn’t really have to worry too much about it
as a threat to their livelihood. The
vaudeville halls and even the silent films kept many musicians gainfully
employed well into the 1920s, but with the arrival of the talkies – sound
pictures, radio pictures -- in the
1930s, tougher times were ahead. When
the talkies hit New York, for instance, they put 3200 pit musicians out of work
in the space of a few years.
Jazz as dance music survived pretty well –in its more
consumable forms both as rhythm and blues and swing – but over the late 1940s
and the 1950s jazz became more a music to be listened to than danced to. Instead of entertainment, many jazz artists
insisted that what they were doing was art.
Fair enough. Art it is. It is art.
For a while, people sat down and listened. That was a great period in the music. In New York, again, 52nd Street
came alive famously with music night after night.
Of course, most working musicians had to deal with low
wages, lousy conditions, secondhand smoke, and, in New York again, the highly
discriminatory Cabaret Card system, which allowed city officials to revoke the
right of musicians to perform, sometimes for the most arbitrary reasons. Television, radio, hi-fi systems, and
suburbanization all helped to kill jazz and other live music venues. In New
York, by the time the cabaret card system was abolished in 1967, jazz venues
were few and far between nationally – and rock was ascendant.
It was the worst of times for jazz and for many working
musicians. Some dropped out, some burned
out, some fled to Europe. Census statistics show that during the 1970s the
percentage of American workers who called themselves professional musicians was
at an all time low. Among the people, saturated
with hundreds of choices of hits old and new, music fans could listen to
whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, at whatever volume they liked.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the record store. Starting in the 1980s, some people had had
enough. Live music – of all forms – slowly
became something in greater demand.
People wanted the live experience – excitement, presence, energy,
creativity. Again, if you look at the
Census statistics, from 1980 to the present, there has been a slow but steady
increase in the percentage of Americans who identify themselves as working
musicians. Go figure. And the downloading digital age has
accelerated this trend – with more types of music available much more cheaply,
the live experience -- with just the right music for you – is all the more
sought after. There’s nothing like
hearing it in person for the first time.
So, this Labor Day, honor the working musicians in your
life, your neighborhood, your city. Go
to a gig. Listen. Maybe you can dance. Enjoy the unique magic of that singular
experience. Then go home and practice
your instrument. You might be America’s
next live music star. Just don’t expect
a big record deal.
9/1/10
Reader's Notes - Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics
-- due out November 9 -- looks to be a combination of tribute to the heroes and narratives of the stories of their creators. Goodness knows with the lawsuits over the years between DC and the creators of Superman and Batman, this film could be whole heaps of wrong. We'll see.8/31/10
PNodcast - The Mighty Mos Def
8/30/10
Review of Suresh Singaratnam's Lost in New York on eJazzNews
8/29/10
Eater's Notes - Peanut Butter, Bacon, and Jelly
 |
| Three bites to get to the center of a PBBJ |
Much of what I've been talking about with my students this week is the writing process -- that is, the possible ways in which one moves from idea to draft to revision to final product. One of the concepts that we cover in the discussion of drafting is to "Kill the Censor," to avoid ruling out any idea as unacceptable, unworthy, or unpalatable for the reader's consumption. The openness to suggestions has always been the key concept in what is awkwardly known as brainstorming (my apologies to The Imagination Movers). In an attempt to illustrate killing the censor, I offered up some unusual sandwich combinations -- peanut butter, bacon, and jelly being one of them. My students will tell you, by the way, I speak often and speak fondly of sandwiches.
Later in the week, after I had finished my lunch and was leaving the dining hall, two of my students came rushing up. Preston -- for the sake of the story, let's call him "Preston" -- and Andrew, let's call him "Snake Eyes" -- claimed that they had done the empirical research into the theory of the PBBJ and had reached encouraging culinary results. Inspired by their example, I rushed to the sandwich station and got to work.
Two slices of white bread, a tablespoon on smooth peanut butter, and a tablespoon of apple jelly -- NOT GRAPE -- provided the foundation for a generous layer of REAL bacon bits from the salad bar. The apple jelly and bacon were highly complementary, and the saltiness of the bacon and the generally savory character of peanut butter really worked as well. We will have to procure bacon strips for further experimentation.
I can suggest a couple of websites if you're interested in extreme foods or eating, or just bacon in general.
Allow me to encourage comments on the most interesting, odd, but delicious sandwich ingredient combinations.
PN Feedburner - PN iTunes - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Video
8/28/10
@TweetArchEnemy
@TweetArchEnemy schemes to destroy the Twitterverse. His plan? The diabolical #InfiniteReTweet. Will he succeed? Only you can decide.
8/27/10
Barcalounge Skipper - Big Fan
You know how Netflix makes those recommendations, but you never really believe that you're going to like the movies suggested to you? The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock? Really, Netlfix?
But one film in particular had been stalking me from week to week on Netflix, last year's Big Fan, directed by Robert D. Siegel and starring Patton Oswalt. Now, Oswalt is an extremely funny comic, so I expected a funnier film than what I got from Big Fan, but I was far from disappointed.
Oswalt's character, Paul, is an obsessed New York Giants fan who spends most of his time listening to sports talk radio, waiting to hear the latest challenge from his archnemesis, Philadelphia Phil, a trash-talking Eagles fan played by Michael Rappaport. Paul is in his mid 30s, works as a parking garage attendant, takes public transportation each day home to where he lives with his mother. He waits on hold for hours most nights just to have his one minute of sports talk radio glory, when he can praise the Giants and, in particular his favorite player, linebacker Quantrell "QB" Bishop. Paul even has a poster of QB hanging over his bed, and the homoerotic subtext is clear enough. Big fan? When the Giants play at home, Paul and his buddy Sal (Kevin Corrigan) drive their crummy car to the parking lot of the stadium and watch the game on a portable TV perched on the trunk. Paul's traditional Italian-American family want him to grow up and get a life.
One night, when a chance encounter with QB leads Paul and Sal to follow the Giant into a Manhattan strip club, Paul tries to approach the football star, but ends up being beaten by his idol. Paul ends up in the hospital, QB ends up suspended pending further investigation, and Big Fan only gets more twisted from there.
This film has a few funny moments -- more funny odd than anything else -- but it's really just endlessly creepy, sad, and truly fascinating. Oswalt gives a surprisingly subtle and effective performance, and the movie has one of the truly great penultimate scenes I can remember. The final confrontation between Paul and the detested Philadelphia Phil is both excruciating and exhilarating. Big Fan is the Taxi Driver of sports movies.
PN Feedburner - PN iTunes - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Video
But one film in particular had been stalking me from week to week on Netflix, last year's Big Fan, directed by Robert D. Siegel and starring Patton Oswalt. Now, Oswalt is an extremely funny comic, so I expected a funnier film than what I got from Big Fan, but I was far from disappointed.
One night, when a chance encounter with QB leads Paul and Sal to follow the Giant into a Manhattan strip club, Paul tries to approach the football star, but ends up being beaten by his idol. Paul ends up in the hospital, QB ends up suspended pending further investigation, and Big Fan only gets more twisted from there.
This film has a few funny moments -- more funny odd than anything else -- but it's really just endlessly creepy, sad, and truly fascinating. Oswalt gives a surprisingly subtle and effective performance, and the movie has one of the truly great penultimate scenes I can remember. The final confrontation between Paul and the detested Philadelphia Phil is both excruciating and exhilarating. Big Fan is the Taxi Driver of sports movies.
PN Feedburner - PN iTunes - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Video
PN 128 - Brother Duke by Adam Scholer
We talk with Miami writer Adam Scholer about the demon-dog of his novel, Brother Duke.
Permalink for PN 128 - Adam Scholer - Brother Duke
PN Feedburner - PN iTunes - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Video
Passing Notes - Brother Duke by Adam Scholer
PN Feedburner - PN iTunes - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Video
8/26/10
PNodcast - Capturing Sound by Mark Katz
From the archives, a review of Mark Katz's fascinating study on the history of sound recording.
PN Feedburner - PN iTunes - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Video
PN Feedburner - PN iTunes - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Video
Reader's Notes - Franzen Backlash
Jennifer Weiner are Jodi Picoult are among writers who are critical of the mainstream US media's coverage of Jonathan Franzen's yet-to-be-released novel, Freedom. Franzen, whose previous novel, The Corrections
, which I enjoyed very much but did not review anywhere, stirred up some ill-will when it was chosen as one of Oprah Winfrey's Books of the Month. When the Winfrey TV crew showed up to do a profile of Franzen, the author balked at the endorsement and was critical of how Winfrey's producers wanted to present him and his work. The substance of this wave of backlash again Franzen is not so much against him, but against the perception of sexism, and perhaps racism, in the laudatory coverage in Time and The New York Times. Picoult, whose Tenth Circle
I thought was quite interesting, went so far as to bash the Times for its overemphasis on "white male literary darlings." Fascinating developments, and ones that are likely to turn more and more unpleasant as the release date approaches. Do we still agree that there's no such thing as bad publicity?PN Feedburner - PN iTunes - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Video
8/23/10
RIP: Star Hustler
South Florida legend Jack Horkheimer died last week, a man known for running the planetarium at the Miami Museum of Science and, more famously, for his PBS show, Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer, begun in 1976 and still available on its own YouTube channel.
Like many people, I always thought Jack was a little more than odd in his enthusiasm for observing the heavens, as much as I enjoyed astronomy myself. More than most kids, I was obsessed with the stars. I had a star chart taped to the wall next to the window in my room, the window that gave the best view of the night sky. I had a telescope, through which, on a really clear cold night in Maine, I might be able to see Jupiter's Great Red Spot. I knew the names of most constellations. I can still find the Pole Star in a few seconds if the night is clear enough here in the burbs. But Jack was in another galaxy as far as I was concerned. I always watched, and I always learned.
The particularly surreal aspect of watching Star Gazer is how in the early days - when it was called Star Hustler -- it used to air as the last show before sign-off -- back in the days when the broadcast day ended with the national anthem, the test card and tone, then white noise and snow. When I stayed up late watching PBS in the late 70s and early 80s, it was always to watch two shows: Monty Python's Flying Circus and Doctor Who, both of which had a profound impact on my sense of humor and taste in science fiction. When, after all the silly walks and robot dogs, Jack Horkheimer appeared, preceded by that electronic cascade of Debussy and the announcer reciting, "Some people hustle pool,/Some people hustle cars,/But have you ever heard about/The man who hustles stars?" -- well, I wondered at first if it wasn't part of the BBC fare somehow. But this guy talked Murican. And Jack sat on the rings of Saturn and laid it all out for us -- the universe. And it was good.
Rest in peace, Jack -- hopefully you're hanging around the rings of Saturn. You were our glorious geek. Now, I gotta figure out where I left my telescope.
PN Feedburner - PN iTunes - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Video
The particularly surreal aspect of watching Star Gazer is how in the early days - when it was called Star Hustler -- it used to air as the last show before sign-off -- back in the days when the broadcast day ended with the national anthem, the test card and tone, then white noise and snow. When I stayed up late watching PBS in the late 70s and early 80s, it was always to watch two shows: Monty Python's Flying Circus and Doctor Who, both of which had a profound impact on my sense of humor and taste in science fiction. When, after all the silly walks and robot dogs, Jack Horkheimer appeared, preceded by that electronic cascade of Debussy and the announcer reciting, "Some people hustle pool,/Some people hustle cars,/But have you ever heard about/The man who hustles stars?" -- well, I wondered at first if it wasn't part of the BBC fare somehow. But this guy talked Murican. And Jack sat on the rings of Saturn and laid it all out for us -- the universe. And it was good.
Rest in peace, Jack -- hopefully you're hanging around the rings of Saturn. You were our glorious geek. Now, I gotta figure out where I left my telescope.
PN Feedburner - PN iTunes - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Video
8/22/10
Playlist - The Jazz Cafe
Here's the playlist from this morning's show on WDNA. I was very rusty the first hour, but found the groove in hour two.
Guest Hosting Jazz Cafe on WDNA
On Sunday morning from 7 to 9 am I'll be filling in for Ed Blanco on the Jazz Cafe on 88.9 FM in Miami. I'll play a mix of new jazz from my CD stack and my favorites from the voluminous WDNA archives. Tune in for a little music to go with your morning coffee and paper.
PN Blog - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Feedburner - PN Video - PN iTunes
PN Blog - PN Twitter - PN Facebook - PN Feedburner - PN Video - PN iTunes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)