If two are better than one, how good be four B3?

Once you get past the windy intro by Paul Schaeffer, this is a rare specimen of musical awesomeness. The music starts at 2:05. Thanks to Bryan for leading me to this - ENJOY!

Shocking Amazon Purchase

I got this tip from Alex Ross' blog - The Rest Is Noise. I just purchased from Amazon UK the COMPLETE Stravinsky on CD - 22 CDs in all - on Sony, including shipping to my house from England for US $30.11. That's right: THIRTY DOLLARS. I'm in shock. The CDs are set to arrive next week. If you are a fan of 20th century classical music, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. When I was in college I drooled over the library's copy of this very set, which at that time would have cost several hundreds of dollars. If you're interested, check it out here. Thanks for the tip, Alex!

My brother and sister-in-law's photography

I hope my brother Matt and sister-in-law Enna will forgive me for lifting this amazing photo from thier blog - it is a picture from a bar in Anguilla where they watched Obama's inauguration. After all, I'm posting it here to tell all of you what wonderful photographers they are, and to go check out their work. I'm a very proud big brother. And this is an amazing picture of an even more amazing moment.

Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"

Late last night I finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In 2007 the book won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature - but don't assume it's a challenging read. It is beautifully written without being overly complex. And the story is compelling. The core of the book is about being a parent - in particular being a father - and therefore it resonated strongly with me. I won't spoil the book - go out, buy a copy (at RiverRun Books on Congress Street in Portsmouth if possible!), and read it before the movie comes out (I'm worried the movie will destroy it). In fact, I'll say very little about the actual story. What is facinating me at the moment is the book's structure, its form. What struck me is that the ending of the book was not very powerful for me - what was amazing was the journey that got you there. And as a parable on life, that seems fitting. So many books are driven by a constant buildup to an inevitable climax. This was far from the case in The Road. It is a story about a journey, about life, and while reading it you may think it is about the end goal - but then you come to realize, like in life, it isn't. And in that simple fact, it is quite beautiful.

New PMAC Radio Ad coming

This spring a new radio advertisement for PMAC will be airing on WFNX thanks to a donation by my brother, a photographer who shoots the WFNX Halloween Party every year. I am proud to announce that two well-known rock musicians have stepped up and recorded voice-overs for the radio ad - Al Barr of Dropkick Murphys and Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls. Amanda is about to head to Europe on tour for her solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, which I highly recommend. Al is also on tour, currently in Australia. AND, we are awaiting a possible third rock star to lend his talents - I've got my fingers crossed I'll have more on that very soon...

R.I.P. John Updike

John Updike has passed away at the age of 76 from lung cancer. Read more here.

Tim Webb and friends at The Press Room

Last night Katie and I caught bassist Tim Webb at The Press Room with three PMAC faculty members, Mike Effenberger on piano, Matt Langley on saxophones and Mike Walsh on drums. They were joined by saxophonist Titus Abbott, and both Jim Clark and Chris Klaxton on trumpet - though Jim and Chris shared one horn, never playing at the same time. We arrived for the second and final set of the evening and were treated to a solid 75 minutes of pure, free, creative jazz exploration - completely improvised. There were some stunning moments - Titus and Matt going at it in what was less a saxophone duel and more an intricate conversation. Throughout the evening, Webb laid down a foundation that provided just enought structure, yet plenty of freedom. His contributions were key.

It is exciting to hear this happening in Portsmouth - I'd become accustomed to such events when in Chicago or Baltimore, but it is an unfortunately rarer occasion here. An inspired evening to say the least.

And if anyone reading this managed to catch The Molenes' unplugged set at The Red Door last night, let me know how it went. I couldn't tear myself away from The Press Room, so unfortunately missed my good friends right around the corner.

Spring Semester Begins Today

Today is day one of the Spring Semester at PMAC - which runs for 18 weeks and ends mid-June. We have a lot planned for this semester - here are some highlights:

• Wendell Purrington will take the podium and lead the Portsmouth Men's Chorus this semester. This group is open to all adult men who wish to "raise their voice in song." No audition required!
• The PMAC jazz faculty will present the second annual PMAC JAZZ NIGHT on Saturday, Feburay 7th. Two shows: 7 & 9 p.m. Get your tickets today!
• In addition to being Music In Our Schools Month, March will feature our fifth annual Practice-a-thon. Sponsor a young student as they work to build solid practice habits!
• The Bow Street Youth Orchestra will collaborate with Ballet New England in March to present a dance performance at Portsmouth High School. This is a first and is sure to be a wonderful time.
• The second annual Spring Fever for the Arts will be at the Discover Portsmouth Center on Friday, April 3. Don't miss PMAC's marquee fundraiser!
• The PMAC Youth Jazz Band will play this year's Jazzmouth Festival in Portsmouth!
• Several of our adult ensembles will be performing at Kittery Estates this Spring!
• The sixth annual Jumpin' in June faculty concert will be on Friday, June 5th at South Church.
• AND...we have an exciting Summer planned for 2009 - details coming soon

This is just a small bit of what we'll be doing this spring. Come join us!

Theme Song

As I read rapidly through Cormac McCarthy's "The Road", I can't help but think that Yael Naim's song Lonely fits the story extremely well. It would be a great song to license for the upcoming film.

This book is an amazing, fast read. A very touching story about being a father. I'm nearly half-way through and just began it yesterday evening. I guess I really needed a weekend of pleasure reading.

A Sunday Morning Playlist

Song Title - Album - Performer

B.O.A.C. - Bicycle Operator and Coach - Chris Weisman
Dark Come Soon - The Con - Tegan and Sara
Cologne - The Way To Normal - Ben Folds
I Want You, But I Don't Need You - Ping Pong - Momus
20 Years of Snow - Begin to Hope - Regina Spektor
Motion Picture Soundtrack - Kid A - Radiohead
Lonely - Yael Naim & David Donatien - Yael Naim & David Donatien
The Point Of It All - Who Killed Amanda Palmer - Amanda Palmer
Unravel - Homogenic - Bjork
Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine - Elephant - The White Stripes
Girl Sailor - Wincing the Night Away - The Shins

Simultaneous Reading

I can't seem to just read one book at a time. I get four or five going simultaneously and it sometimes seems like it takes forever to get through one - though I sometimes have spurts where the finishing of four or five books happens nearly simultaneously. So, as I continue to read Alex Ross' The Rest Is Noise (loving it) and Don DiLillo's Underworld (really enjoying it as, on pg. 350, I am approaching the half-way point), I've just added Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, I just can't resist apocalyptic fiction. Maybe I'll finish one of them by the end of February? I do have to say that reading Miss Liberty's twittering about all the reading she's been doing has been inspiring. But there are still only so many hours in a day and so very little I can devote to my love of reading.

Ashlee Simpson would be proud

Yo Yo Simpson? Apparently, the weather on inauguration day was just too much. Rather than risk a snapped cello, violin, or piano string (what an embarrassment!) the inaugural quartet of Yo Yo Ma, Itzak Perlman, Anthony McGill and Gabriella Montero played along to a recording of the newly commissioned John Williams piece "Air and Simple Gifts" during Tuesday's ceremony. That's right, the instrumental equivalent of lip syncing.

Perlman told The New York Times: “It would have been a disaster if we had done it any other way...This occasion’s got to be perfect. You can’t have any slip-ups.” Yada, yada, yada. Not the best symbolism for the occasion. It seems that how everything "looked" was of the utmost importance. In this age of amazing technology including jumbo trons and live feeds, why not honor the music and simulcast the performance from the congressional rotunda? I personally thought the setting, outside, high up on the Capital Building seemed a bit absurd. But I guess it is easier to take the relatively few snickers of musical purists like myself, days afterward, than the ridicule of a full nation (and world) in the moment. Though I like to think people would have been very understanding. I for one am disappointed that the use of Ma's exquisite instrument really was just for show - not even needed for the music. That, in my opinion, was a big mistake. Forgive me for expecting more from our classical icons.

See the full New York Times story here. Thanks to Katie for sending it along!

Amorphous Band at Muddy River

Caught The Amorphous Band at the Muddy River Smokehouse tonight with Dani and Michael. Small crowd - cold and mid-week - but they were rippin' it up. Great mix of funk, r&b and jazz. The guitar player in the picture is a former PMAC student, Charlie, who was sitting in for part of the first set. Charlie's new band, Superfrog, will be at The Blue Mermaid in Portsmouth this Saturday night, Jan. 24th. If you're out and about, be sure to stop by and hear whas going on with the next generation of local musicians.

And, lest I forget, the incomparable Mike Effenberger was on the keys tonight, wailin' away.

A Simple Gift

In case you missed it, Yo Yo Ma (cello), Itzak Perlman (violin), Anthony McGill (clarinet), and Gabriella Montero (piano) perform at today's Presidential Inauguration. I'd be interested to hear this group play Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. I don't think it a coincidence that John Williams chose this instrumentation.

Emiliana Torrini

Somehow, Emiliana Torrini has eluded my radar for the past decade as she has built an impressive career. I came across her on the Brooklyn Vegan Blog. I can't say I'd never heard her sing before, since she is probably best known for singing "Gollum's Song" from Peter Jackson's The Lord of Rings trilogy. But that is not really representative of her music. She sounds like a cross between Bjork (but not as adventurous/experimental) and Feist (but not as upbeat/quirky). She, like Bjork, hails from Iceland. I'm going to need to spend some time listening to her music - not sure if it's for me. But I'm definitely intrigued.

Let Freedom Ring!

The full, historic speech:


Exceprt from the September 11, 2005 performance of Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait with President-elect (for 24 more hours) Obama as narrator.

The Joke is on those "in the know"

Emanuel has an axe to grind...Emanuel Ax that is. The concert pianist and conductor recently devoted a blog entry to the antiquated tradition of audiences remaining silent between the movements of classical piece. Many of us have experienced this - the orchestra, or pianist, or chamber group finishes a magnificent, boisterous first movement of a classical piece of music, and then a small group of audience members bursts into enthusiastic applause, only to find the rest of the audience - those "in the know" - glaring back at them, letting them know quite clearly that a terrible faux pas has been committed. Yet in reality, this is a strange tradition that was adopted long after the lives of Mozart and Beethoven. The idea that one can not judge a work, or a performance, even with applause, until the final note falls silent is a construct of the late-Romantic period, when composers like Richard Wagner took their music far too seriously. Some composers such as Richard Strauss solved the problem by writing epic single movement "Tone Poems" rather than symphonies.

Well, in my opinion the tradition has become rather absurd. Particularly when it comes to the flashy showpieces that the opening movements of concertos are. But also in the world of symphonies. I agree with Ax - that the music should direct the response. Conductors can convey this to an audience - though some refuse to - showing when the silence between movements is really not a break, but part of the mood. And by welcoming the joy that comes with an appreciative audiences response to a spectacular performance - even between movements.

In the world of jazz, audience response often comes during the music - applause for soloists, shouts of appreciation for amazing licks, cheering for dramatic moments of ensemble virtuosity. This is a world where the audience is a part of the experience - not just a passive listener. That's the world I want to live in - even at Symphony Hall.

Read Emanuel Ax's blog post on inter-movement applause here. Read the Boston Globe article that further elaborates on the topic here. And thanks to Chip Noon for bringing this to my attention via a Twitter comment!

Let The Right One In

Katie and I just went to The Music Hall where we saw the Swedish film Let The Right One In. It was one of the best vampire movies I've ever seen - with an absolutely amazing and original screenplay. Brilliant! It's playing at The Music Hall for a few more nights, I think, so if you get a chance, check it out. Not one for the kids. While a bit bloody (it is a vampire flick, after all), it is not a horror movie so much as a drama/thriller/love story. It is about the relationship between a 12 year old and a "12 year old" vampire. (She says she's 12, but that she's been 12 for a very long time.) Beautifully directed, the script is so faithful to vampire lore, it is quite spectacular, without being grandiose. Second film I've been to this year, and I have to say the best by far. (OK, the first was Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler - one for the kids.)

The final plane has left the island

Ricardo Montalban has passed away at the age of 88. Fantasy Island was required viewing for my brother, sisters and I in the 1970s - immediately following The Love Boat on ABC every Saturday night. Simpler times...Read more here.

New Release by The Bad Plus

The Bad Plus is releasing a new CD on February 3rd (the week of PMAC's Jazz Night, FYI), titled For All I Care with vocalist Wendy Lewis. I am really eager to hear this CD, as The Bad Plus are phenomenal. I'm a bit nervous as early reviews on the net are not great. But I'll wait to hear the recording before forming an opinion. They'll be at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston on April 3rd. If you haven't seen them live, I HIGHLY recommend it.