My schedule is scrambled so instead of my prattling enjoy to tremendously talents Melody Gardot
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Tag Archives: Music
Brain can’t brain
I can’t seem to conceive a new essay today so am off to edit some fiction and I will leave for your enjoyment a music video from one of my favorite singers, Caro Emerald. (If you cant sing acoustic you’re not a real singer.)
The Concert That Wasn’t
Yesterday I held a ticket for Olivia Newton-John in concert at a local casino, Pala. I hadn’t seen her in concert in more than thirty years and was looking forward to the evening. My sweetie-wife is not a fan and so this was to be a solo night out for myself.
The Casino/hotel complex is on a reservation and took about 45 minutes to drive to. I arrived early enough to had a quick meal, the largest chili dog I have ever seen at a very decent price, they certainly want your money at the gambling and not the cafe, and then went to the concert hall.
It was well attended, perhaps sold out I am not really sure. Only a few minutes late Olivia appeared on the stage and started singing Have You Ever Been Mellow. I can tell you definitively that she does not lip-synch her concerts. One, from my seat I could see the person operating the teleprompter with the lyrics, two, she was sick and is showed in her voice.
Before she completed the song she stopped, waved the band silent, and apologized to us that her voice was croak-y after catching something overseas and that she would do the best that she could. She launched into her next song, but the sore throat prevented her from getting to the high notes and she again stopped the show, this time letting us know she couldn’t perform. It was clear she was mortified and ashamed by her failure and I felt very bad for her. This is one of the real differences between a performance art and other arts. A writer can polished and edit and even not release a piece if they feel they are not hitting their marks, performance artists do it live and their failures, even when it is not their fault, are live.
She didn’t send us away, she stayed on stage chatting with the audience, answering questions, and making arrangments with the hotel for photo opportunities. She also promised she would try to come back soon. I stayed for about half an hour of the chatting and questions, then left for home.
This morning the refund notice arrive in my email box, so I am happy the venue acted promptly, but I am sad I did not get to see her show.
Barry Manilow Concert 04/11/2015
I have been a fan of Manilow’s songs and singing since I was a teenager in the 1970s, however I have never had the opportunity to attend a concert until this evening. He is one his final concert tour, though it looks like he may still play in residence at Las Vegas and I am quite happy that I was able to catch this show in San Diego.
For someone whose career started in the mid 70’s as a pop singer his popularity remains surprisingly high. I saw people as young as ten or twelve in the audience. And from the photo you can see that this attendance was not minimal.
I was very happy to hear that his voice is still in excellent shape. Despite being a man 20 years my senior I have no doubt that his lung power far exceeds mine. He sang the songs with power, control, and emotion. He is a man who either loves performing or is a far better actor than his limited screen appearances would have indicated. He brought the audience to their feet several times with his infection energy and passion for his art. My seat was quite good, though I was unprepared for just how loud it was going to be.
I tried to take a few photos but with my iPhone skills the images are nearly all blurred beyond recognition. Here is the most acceptable of the lot.
He sang all the hits that I have known so well and that reside on my iPhone to this day. These are songs that still touch me, move me, and speak to me.
I did experience once curious and unexpected emotional reaction to the performance. As I sat there watching a man in his 70s talk about his career, sing about love, loss, and hope, letting us know that he always believes in hope, I thought about the uncertainty I am currently experiencing in my own artistic attempts. Now word yet from the agency, but during the concert I felt no anxiety over it. This was one book, one agency, one point in time. There will be more books. There will be more attempts. In that I found a measure of peace. So I had a very good night, a lot of fun, and a new emotional state. Not bad.
E.P. Review: Without You Renee Olstead
First let me say that I have no formal training in music, musical theory or criticism. I know what I like and I know how it makes me fee and it will be from that perspective that disc this recently released E.P. by Ms. Olstead.
Renee Olstead is a singer/actress with a dazzling voice and a love of jazz. I discovered her as I slowly discovered my own appreciation for Jazz and bassa nova music.
Without You a crowd-sourced E.P. featuring 4 covers, all in a airy jazz style.
First up is Blue Moon. Being a cinephile I principally am aware of this song from it’s prominent use in the comedy horror film An American Werewolf in London. Renee’s voice and the arraignment give this cover a haunting dreamlike quality that makes this version stand out as a new take on a standard song.
Next is Leaving On your Mind. Patsy Kline made this song into a country hit back when country music didn’t go around a rock roll’s lesser cousin. Renee’s take on the song is so different that as I listened I had a hard time remembering just where it was I knew the tune from. Again the over all impression is one that is ethereal and nearly spectral in its floating vocals.
Without You a song where I am unfamiliar with the original or other covers, so I can’t compare what has changed, but as she typically does woth Love song, Renee’s fills this rendition with heart, soul, and longing.
The E.P. ends with the song Everything. Another piece where I have no knowledge of the source material, but continues in the floating, haunting vocals.
I thoroughly enjoyed this mini-album and throughout my listened I was repeatedly struck by how well these songs and this performance would have fir onto the soundtracks for either Blue Velvet or Twin Peaks.
Getting introduced to Pink Floyd’s music
I’m nowhere near Pink Floyd’s biggest fan. I own several albums, (The Wall, Dark Side of The Moon, and Wish You Were Here) and enjoy them very much, but as you can see there is a lot I do not have. What this story is about is how I first listened to Pink Floyd.
It was the mid 1980s and I was an usher at a movie theater, UA Glasshouse 6 – no defunct and long out of business. I was involved with a lovely redhead and she and I were going through rough times. My shift had ended at the theater, but I really did not want to go home. I suffer from depression, and already in a black mood I knew it would get worse because she was not going to be there.
A life lobe love of movies had given me the avenue of escape through film. A good movie was my preferred method of getting away from my troubles and out of my head. It was late at the theater and the midnight movies would be starting soon. Free movies as an usher was the best benefit for working at the theater. I scanned the titles and found nothing I knew and flt strongly about, still I knew I did not want to go home.
hmmm, The Wall, My pal ray had told me that The Wall was a very good film and he and I tended to have similar tastes, so The Wall it was.
I was not prepared for a film that was entirely music and visual, but I settled in and let the film wash over me. Quickly disturbing parallels between ‘Pink’ the subject of The Wall and myself revealed themselves. We both lost our father’s when we were young, a devastating event, we were both artistically inclined, we both kept most people at a distance, had lovely redheaded girlfriends, but relationship troubles, and both given to wild mood swings. (ahh yes, One Of My Turns is a song I very much identify with.)
This movie was NOT cheering me up. I felt like I was drowning in a sea of depression and that to quote another song, “he was killing me softly.”
I made it through the screening with my wrists intact, and my head throughly spinning. The music stuck with me. The songs reverberated in my skull and while my depression lifted, as it always will do given enough time, the impact of that film and those songs did not.
Being horribly depressed is not my recommended introduction to Pink Floyd and The Wall, but it did work for me.