God Bless the Child

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Gandalfe

“Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.” ~ Eric Sevareid

My young grandchildren are so excited about the arrival of Christmas. You can just feel the joy, high expectations, and anticipation. It’s a time that is really all about the kids. So here is a not so Christmasy (is that a word, it should be) song that Robin Hilt sang last week:

Sky Notes Orchestra

Two of my grandchildren will be visiting today. I plan to tease them both about the holiday. My children love Christmas for the traditions and signs of the season, such as making snowmen or bringing home a tree, and of course the Christmas ritual of opening gifts. From the anticipation of what will await them on Christmas morning to the excitement of leaving hot cocoa out for Santa, whether it is the material aspect or just the thrill of opening up colorfully wrapped boxes, there are many reasons we have come to love this holiday season.

imageThe benefit I luv about giving Christmas gifts to children is that it stimulates their imagination. Our kids and grandkids look so forward to receiving gifts that for weeks leading up to the big day that they make lists of things they want weeks or months in advance. And the art of writing a compelling letter to Santa should not be overlooked.

I have found that the idea of what they might receive on Christmas morning is more exciting than actually opening presents. This boost in imagination is a positive connection that my children will always make with the holiday. I chuckle at the Facebook posts where young wives write breathlessly about their husband squirreled away in the den with the sound of wrapping paper to help build up the excitement.

So I don’t ask for forgiveness about how exciting the Christmas holiday is to so many. I just enjoy the sublime pleasure of being allowed to give gifts, watch them being opened, and seeing the joy in the recipent’s eyes. God Bless the Child indeed.

Posted in Christmas, Family, Female vocalists, Holiday, Music, Quote, YouTube | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Liberalism Defined ~ Joe Conason

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Gandalfe

America the Beautiful

If your workplace is safe; if your children go to school rather than being forced into labor; if you are paid a living wage, including overtime; if you enjoy a forty-hour week and you are allowed to join a union to protect your rights—you can thank liberals.

If your food is not poisoned and your water is drinkable—you can thank the liberals. If your parents are eligible for Medicare and Social Security, so they can grow old in dignity without bankrupting your family—you can thank the liberals…

If people of all races can share the same public facilities; if every has the right to vote; if couples fall in love and marry regardless of race; if we have finally begun to transcend a segregated society—you can thank the liberals.

Progressive innovations like those and so many others were achieved by long, difficult struggles against entrenched power. What defined conservatism, and conservatives, was their opposition to every one of these advances. The country we know and love today was built by those victories for liberalism—with the support of the American people.

~ Joe Conason

Posted in advice, Education, Government, Heroes, Politics, Quote | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Gershwin, a Lovely Voice and Bari Fun

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Gandalfe

As part of the “In the Mood” show I got to play bari sax on this lovely Dave Wolpe arrangement of Gershwin’s “Summertime”. The vocalist was the lovely and talented Robin Hilt. It is very rare for me to get to play in a hobbyist band with musicians of this caliber. Not surprising is that many of these folks are music education professionals.

Featuring Robin Hilt as Lark Meadows for “In the Mood”

The joke line before this song was by Lark Meadows, played by our vocalist Robin Hilt, where she said she wanted to sing a seasonal piece… that she started working on six months ago. <wink>

YaniB991There were many places in this arrangement where I got play out the pedal notes. And in one place I get to stomp on a low Bb. There are also three mini solos for the baritone sax in this song. The sax section was very strong and sounding good is much easier when the whole section is tight. The bari parts are typically not noticed by the audience because of it’s low range. But I got some great comments from this performance.

My sax is a Yanagisawa B991 which includes the low A keyworks. I have tried a lot of mouthpieces but keep coming back to the Yanagisawa #6 rubber piece that came with the instrument. With a nice open chamber, making this baritone sax sound good takes a lot of air but is sooo worth it. Depending up how many soft passages I have, I tend to move between a La Voz med soft (2.25) to a Vandoren ZZ 3 reed. And I use the Vandoren Optima Lig on all my reed instruments because I luv the easy to access one-screw adjustment.

I also wanna call out the bass trombone player, Bob Snead who backs me up on much of the low stuff. He is one of the rare cats who can play that low and be in tune. So sit back and enjoy the Sky Notes Orchestra rendition of Summertime.

I did end up taking the bari in for tweaking this week. My friend John Werth is putting in a kangaroo pad for my low C# which sticks and fixing some leaks. I could tell there were leaks when I tried to decrescendo on a low A. That’s the acid test for a baritone sax.

Posted in Band, Big Band, Community, Female vocalists, Hobbies, Music, Music Instruments, My World, Theater | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why Don’t You Do Right?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Gandalfe

Suzy and I spent a couple of months of practice and five weekend daze doing this year’s production of “In the Mood” with the Sky Notes Orchestra. How much fun is that!

Suzy covered tenor sax and clarinet and I played the alto sax, bari sax, and bass clarinet. The group of musicians, actors, and directors were a fun group. The show’s jokes and humor were penned by Terry Simon. For example, two snowmen were talking and one said, “Hey, do you smell carrots?” One of the musicians didn’t hear the snowman part of that joke and asked what the joke meant. That became a running joke throughout the production.

In this song Sam Samano performs as the lovely vocalist Carmen Delgado and Jamie Clark provides the delightful clarinet solo. “Why Don’t You Do Right” is a Kansas Joe McCoy composition here arranged by Mel Powell.

Posted in Band, Big Band, Community, Gigs, Holiday, Jazz, Music Instruments, Theater, Vintage | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Sexy Movie Review ~ The Thomas Crown Affair

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Gandalfe

imageAnother of my many, many favorite movies, the Thomas Crown Affair, is not for prudes. It is however a lovely heist movie sans the murder and violence that many movies of this kind include. For me the best part of the movie was the music which captured the spirit and helped tell the story in a unique and interesting way.

The movie has been done before and starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. Faye makes an appearance in the remake. But the original didn’t have near the box office appeal and was markedly different, told in a different style and provided a totally different ending than this lovely remake.

Spoiler Alert! This following video is one of my favorite parts of the movie based on the painting called the The Son of Man by René Magritte. It is an example of the excellent juxtaposition of music, script, and art that is a big part of why this movie was such a hit.

The soundtrack was composed by Bill Conti and features a variety of jazz arrangements which harken back to the film’s original version. In addition, the film ends with a reprise of the Academy Award-winning song “Windmills of Your Mind” sung by Sting. Throughout the film, segments are used of a song by Nina Simone called “Sinnerman“. Many of the non-vocal parts are used (hand-clapping and piano riffs), but in the final scenes, where Crown returns to the scene of the crime, Simone sings “Oh sinnerman, where are you gonna run to?“

image

Okay, moment of truth here, I enjoy the movie for the use of nudity and adult situations too. Rene Russo was 45 when this film was made. You have respect a woman who is happy and confident enough to allow the kind of footage in a movie at her age.

Movie makers typically like to use nubile young women for nude scenes—not that there is anything wrong with that. <smile> But how sexy is Russo on the dance floor rumba-ing seductively in a see-through dress with her prime suspect? At that point in the movie, Pierce Brosnan becomes an extra.

Anytime a movie uses nudity en lieu of violence, love instead of murder… well that movie has a much higher chance of getting my attention. When a story becomes more about the violence than the story line we should vote with our dollars and feet.

Posted in Man stuff, Movies, Music, Nude, Panties, review, Sun bathing, Too Spicy for some, Video, YouTube | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Fall 7 times, Stand up 8

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Gandalfe

Fall“Be Determined. Stand Back Up. Life Isn’t Easy, It’s The School Of Hard Knocks And It’s The People Who Can Pick Themselves Up Repeatedly, Punch Drunk, Bloodied And Wobbly, Who Will Succeed In The End.” ~ CycleGear.com

This week my dawgly, sweet Amelia, alerted on the cutest white husky who had a lovely lady in tow. She rushed out and started barking, fortunately her tail was high and wagging. But I don’t allow my dogs to do this to people.

imageI was up on a ladder, jumped down and then missed the second step on my new porch. The porch I lived in the last 11 years had one step. The next thing I knew I was flying forward and planted my self, face first, on the sidewalk. Ouch!

Fortunately we had a lot of Band-Aids and triple antibiotic cream. And I was very happy that my injuries will not make playing the theater gig this Friday through Sunday any harder.

But still, how embarrassing. Part of me, that very dark part that I try to hide from my family and friends, wonders if this is a sign of getting old. Ten years ago, would I have seen the extra step? Once I started falling, would I have caught myself when I was younger and somehow managed to roll or protect my hands and face?

So seeing this shirt on the Two Spoke forum just made me laugh. We are all so human.

Posted in Bicycles, Dog, Health and wellness, Humor | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Sold: Buescher TruTone Albert-keyed Bb Silver-plated Clarinet ‘28

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Gandalfe

I listed this instrument on eBay today. This treasure is a very hard to find professional metal Bb clarinet made by Buescher in 1928 (estimated). It has a tunable barrel and screw on bell. Anderson plating did the replating. Mills Music’s Steve Nelson did the complete overhaul with a fabricated right-hand thumb rest, new pads, corks, and some springs replaced.

DSCF2116   DSCF2114
This very rare Buescher Albert-key instrument comes without a case. It plays flawlessly and looks like it just came out of the factory. This is a clarinet that dreams are made of.

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See more and larger pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gandalfe/sets/72157622189183608/.

Update: It sold the next day with the buy it now price. Thanks for looking.

Posted in Clarinet, Music Instruments, My World, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bicycle Goals for 2012

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Gandalfe

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. ~Oprah Winfrey

I try to get my New Year’s resolutions down in writing so that I can check and see how I’ve done a year later. I don’t always make New Year resolutions, usually because I am so busy. But my goals last time were for my hobby as a musician. This year I thought I’d try to focus on another area of endeavor.

imageThe TwoSpoke Forum guys are talking about Cycling Goals for 2012 already and it got me to thinking. You might remember I lost 11 lbs doing our move last month. Shows you how out of shape I am. The new city I live is is much flatter with fewer hills than Redmond is. Every time I got on the bike I had to face a half mile steep incline, no matter which way I went.

So with some embarrassment, here are my modest goals.

1.  Get the 2-speed kickback sprocket put on the Schwinn Wasp.
2.  Break 100 miles *this year* in road time. I know, sad.
3.  Attend the Edmonton Tweed Ride 2012.
4.  Go on the Fremont Solistice  Parade with Suzy.

One of these is a joke; I’ll leave the selection up to you as an exercise. I would like to see more signs like those mentioned in NPR’s Haiku Traffic Signs Bring Poetry To NYC Streets. Here are my favorites:

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There are many more in the original article. And I liked this quote, “Morse says one delightful and unexpected consequence of the project is that it has brought some haiku poets out of the woodwork. “One of the joys of doing this sort of thing is how many people have responded to it with their own haiku,” Morse says. “There’s just a plethora of haiku coming out. It’s so exciting.”

What are your goals for 2012?

Posted in Bicycles, Community, Health and wellness, Hobbies, Holiday, Quote, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Once

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Gandalfe

I discovered a tasty little morsel of a movie last year that I have seen twice more since the find. The movie is called “Once”. This is one of many songs from the movie.

Delightful, fluffy, and interesting could describe both the movie and this video.

imageIt turns out Glen Hansard is an Academy Award–winning principal songwriter and vocalist/guitarist for Irish group The Frames and one half of folk rock duo, The Swell Season. He is also known for his acting, having appeared in the BAFTA winning film The Commitments, as well as starring in the film Once.
 
His song “Falling Slowly” from Once, co-written with Markéta Irglová, won the Academy-Award for Best Original Song in 2007, and earned him ten other major nominations or awards between 2007 and 2008.

imageI posted this video on my Facebook profile page and my sister Debby decided she wanted to explore this singer a bit more. I also imagine my cousin Margaret Davis who is a singer, Celtic harper, and flutist and who has dedicated her life to performing original arrangements of Celtic and Medieval music, sounds a lot like this. So I thought I’d post this up here as a reference.

Posted in Movies, Music, Music Instruments, Vocalist, YouTube | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Pete Thomas: Midnight in the Naked City

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Gandalfe

quotemarksA Sleazy Night Out: Naughtier than a pocketful of firecrackers, seedier than the back of a bike shed and more life-affirming than an ice-cold shower…quotemarks

From one of my fav Brit sax men, Pete Thomas, comes a new CD titled Midnight in the Naked City. I only aspire to play the way that Pete does, growling through some very sexy charts, unabashedly exposing the inner thigh of Jazz, generating the heavy breathing of the audience, and exposing the raw passion that is the Blues. Listen to some cuts here:

Pete is the author of TamingTheSaxophone.com as well as the musician’s forum CafeSaxophonel He is a professional saxophone player and TV/Film composer, has featured and recorded/broadcast for REM, Elton John, Joe Jackson, Richard Thompson, Fats Domino, Jimmy Witherspoon and many more.

imageAs Pete sez on his website, “All profit made here is donated to charity. The whole lot, not just 5% or 10%. Currently money is going to Band on the Wall in aid of disabled musicians.” Having purchased his last CD and the dots, note that full transcriptions are available for this work. So get your blues on and in style.

But don’t just take my word for it, give the CD a listen and then see if you don’t agree. Playing sax can be fun, especially if you are passionate about good sound and the satisfaction that comes from playing music the way it should be played.

Posted in Jazz, Music, Saxophone | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment