Friday, December 31, 2010
2010 at moneyblows books & music
This product has become our most popular CD in 2010. We began the year selling a few of them but as the band toured, "Dynamic Sound" became a must-have for fans of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Our holdings have been expanded to include some great records coveted by audiophiles: the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) reissues and jazz' famed Mosaic Box Sets. We stopped selling books from the back of Harlan Wolfe's Record Shop in Conway, ending our first experiment in "bricks and mortar" sales. We've absorbed quite a few book and record collections this year, resulting in as much as 1/3 turnover of our entire stock. By any measure (month vs. month, year over year) 2010 has been a record year at moneyblows books & music. It's exciting that the new electronic book readers are steering millions of eyeballs to the joys of reading words on a page. When you think of how many people regard a "page" as starting with the word "home" or "web"--- or is something you find in a magazine or school text--- quite a few will be surprised that pages come in paper books, too. And, most books are easily obtained for a penny (ours are more expensive) so we expect 2011 to continue the trend of increased book sales. Similar to most small businesses, we are always looking for ways to advertise efficiently. In 2010 we advertised modestly using Google ads and Facebook ads. Nearly as we can tell, no customers came from the ads. As usual, customers find us either because they already know where to go, or they are intrepid enough to wade the morass of the Web to find us. Our message of "search moneyblows" still hasn't taken hold. It's a simple message--- type moneyblows into any search engine. It'll be easier than ever to shop with us in the coming year. Which starts tomorrow. So for now I'll sign off with the time honored greeting, "Happy Old Year."
Friday, November 12, 2010
Mosaic box sets-- great gifts for jazz vinyl lovers!
The Complete Pacific Jazz Live recordings of The Chet Baker Quartet with Russ Freeman
The Complete Blue Note and Pacific Jazz Recordings of Clifford Brown
The Complete Blue Note Recordings of The Tina Brooks Quintets
The Complete Blue Note recordings of Herbie Nichols
The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Thelonious Monk
The Complete Verve Recordings of the Buddy De Franco Quartet/quint…
The Complete Blue Note and Pacific Jazz Recordings of Clifford Brown
The Complete Blue Note Recordings of The Tina Brooks Quintets
The Complete Blue Note recordings of Herbie Nichols
The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Thelonious Monk
The Complete Verve Recordings of the Buddy De Franco Quartet/quint…
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Serving dog and mammon
I link to the current Ben Ratliff review of a Coleman Hawkins performance which, apparently, sheds new light on the classic "Body and Soul" that's one of Hawk's best known solos. You can look around and see the latest jazz news about William Savory's collection of disc transcriptions. Had they been released in his lifetime, or close to the time of recording (late 1930s and onward) they would be called "bootlegs" like famous recordings by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, etc.--- recorded performances by fans.
The big news is that the Savory survivors have sold the discs to the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Even bigger is the news that they'll probably digitize and release them commercially, after giving lip service to the various ownership conundrums. The reportage on this topic, at least in the New York Times, includes some strangely annotated excerpts on their website, and a boatload of reader comments predictably bemoaning the belated and perhaps restricted access to this material.
Ben Ratliff, a real asset to the NYTimes for the jazz world, clarifies that "Nobody is yet in any position to assess when, how or what portion of the recordings can be commercially released." Since the National Jazz Museum owns the discs, which can be easily digitized, the Times is echoing Gene Kelly "Gotta Dance!" This newspaper which clearly supports "work for hire" transparently got Ratliff to write a legal disclaimer into his review. The first article, reporting the acquisition, suggests that ownership of the aircheck music on the discs is unclear. It's worth reading the comments to both articles because the ephemera aspect of a jazz solo is well displayed. And so is another chapter in the evolution of copyright practice, using old jazz as a foil.
The big news is that the Savory survivors have sold the discs to the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Even bigger is the news that they'll probably digitize and release them commercially, after giving lip service to the various ownership conundrums. The reportage on this topic, at least in the New York Times, includes some strangely annotated excerpts on their website, and a boatload of reader comments predictably bemoaning the belated and perhaps restricted access to this material.
Ben Ratliff, a real asset to the NYTimes for the jazz world, clarifies that "Nobody is yet in any position to assess when, how or what portion of the recordings can be commercially released." Since the National Jazz Museum owns the discs, which can be easily digitized, the Times is echoing Gene Kelly "Gotta Dance!" This newspaper which clearly supports "work for hire" transparently got Ratliff to write a legal disclaimer into his review. The first article, reporting the acquisition, suggests that ownership of the aircheck music on the discs is unclear. It's worth reading the comments to both articles because the ephemera aspect of a jazz solo is well displayed. And so is another chapter in the evolution of copyright practice, using old jazz as a foil.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Mitch Miller, oboe player, music exec, host of "Sing Along With Mitch"
In our store at moneyblows.com, his legacy abounds in many wonderful Columbia Records. Mitch Miller made a huge impression, as artist and repertoire chief at Columbia (later, CBS Records) for most of the 1950s til the mid 1960s. Significantly, his employer invented the long playing record. For 3 years, he had a television show version of "Sing Along With Mitch."
He had a career any oboe player might envy. As I listen to his many contributions to popular music, whether it's the keening banjos behind the male choruses of "Sing Along" or the rocking celeste on Rosemary Clooney's hit, "C'mon A My House," I can imagine the sensitive ear of a double reed player in the agonizing quest to make a difficult instrument into a voice-like utterance.
In what I suspect is a more indirect influence, many Columbia Records of Ray Conniff and Percy Faith explore the blends of instruments and wordless vocals which have come back into fashion among some of today's big band composers.
In the big picture of things, Mitch Miller demonstrated how popular music was created in the corporate environment. It's illustrated in this story from another corporate musical creature at Columbia, Teo Macero. Teo reported to Mitch Miller while creating jazz classics such as "Take Five."
And, while it is quite difficult to gauge the role of artistry in a monolithic corporate environment, there's no mistaking excellence and quality where it appears.
As a baby boomer, born a month after Rosemary Clooney had her breakout hit with Mitch Miller, I had my formative years and ears under the spell of MOR, easy listening music, rife with smooth strings, sparkling tone colors, beautiful voices, songwriting and composing which optimized the America which was an ethnic "melting pot.". By the time Mitch was cajoling everyone to sing along, I like others in my generation were chomping at the bit. Top 40 radio was playing something else. Top 40 radio was advertising freedom from Mitch Miller, who hated rock 'n roll. We may have been rescued by Pat Boone and Marty Robbins, but at least it wasn't our parents' music.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Sentimental and melodic journey to New Britain
I was sitting at my laptop with the Finale music notation software open, composing the solo clarinet piece that was to become “Kaleenka Suite.”
Though I love composing songs, this was going to be an instrumental solo, so I started thinking about things from an instrumental standpoint. That led me to a nice group of three: melodic motion, repetition and arpeggio.
Motion was probably one of the first musical things explored as, in 4th grade, we learned how to finger middle C, D, and E with the left hand on B flat clarinet. Yup, they were each a step apart from each other.
I thought of a song from the same auditorium at Holmes School in New Britain Ct, where the clarinet was taught. At school music assemblies we sang “My Grandfather’s Clock.” I have a great Johnny Cash version on the original vinyl record and listened to it. Yes, it’s a nice melody with motion.
By 1962 or 1963, when this was going on, I was learning more music from radio and 45 rpm records than I was in school. But school was a good venue for me, I could get decent grades, etc., so I paid attention to the music there, too. White Coral Bells. Marching to Pretoria. One was a round. One was a processional. Cool stuff.
But out there in the big world, a melody got me that sticks today, “45 cents for a 3 course meal at McDonald’s.” A commercial to music! They were called “jingles” back then. What did this melody have? It was the one note samba of the commercial world, repeating the same note.
That’s probably why I still remember it today; probably why I don’t understand bebop too well but I love playing “rhythm sax.” I love the honkers who repeat notes for effect. Always have. Repetition, very nice in music when used creatively. Doesn’t hurt a commercial message. Without it there’d be no rap or hip-hop.
Arpeggio, the mainstay of the student clarinet experience. The instrument is engineered for speed but can only play one note at a time (classically speaking), so, on clarinet, chords are outlined in arpeggios. Suddenly I’m mentally in the same auditorium where we learned clarinet, again. This time, the music teacher is teaching us to sing, “Hot tamales, sure are tasty, always made from finest pastry, so delicious and nutritious, you will like them, so buy some now.” It’s been more than forty years and that melody has come to mind frequently. Have never met anyone who knew it if I sang it. Doggone thing is sure memorable, why? The melody is arpeggios.
Facebook, enter stage left. I got my laptop open to the notation program. There’s a browser open too. I’m gonna find the teacher that taught that melody and ask if she remembers where the heck it came from. My memory is so vague, but I think folk music was on the scene at the time, on the radio, along with Motown, rockabilly, Memphis and New York soul, garage bands, etc. They even brought guitars with folk music into the Catholic church, Kumbaya, etc.
Had her name been Mrs. Jones the whole idea would have faded fast. But there was Ms. Nkonoki, right there on Facebook and basically looking the same as I remember her. I messaged her, asking first if she was the strict music teacher at Holmes School in 1963, and then, did she know where that song came from?
Yes she was; she said I remembered accurately that she was strict. She remembered the “Hot Tamales” thing was a countermelody in a song called Tamale Joe. Couldn’t remember much else about it. I went on Google and found the author’s name for Tamale Joe and also that it was a pseudonym. A reference to a possible recording by Peter, Paul and Mary. That was it. No simple internet trace of a melody that sticks in your head, perhaps only because of an arpeggio.
Well, it also had syncopation. We had heard of rhythm outside of school, on the radio and records, but this may have been the first rhythm tune taught in my elementary school memory. I would have to check with Ms. Nkonoki’s predecessor to confirm that. Both of them went to the same Teacher’s College in Danbury, Ct., the only one in the state that specialized in turning out music teachers.
Whether it made any difference that Ms. Nkonoki was the first black teacher; well, it did at the time, but I don’t know that it does now. What makes a difference now is the persistence of a simple melody. If anyone is ever composing, a simple melody will be your best friend. I also like Three Blind Mice a lot.
Ms. Nkonoki is now on the education committee of the New Britain Symphony Orchestra, and when she found out I had gone on with my music education to the master’s degree level anyway, she wondered if I might like to help judge a scholarship competition, which the New Britain Symphony Orchestra has long used to encourage talented music students in New Britain and the surrounding area.
I went down from New Hampshire to New Britain, early on the day of the scholarship judging, to check out the Young People’s Concert of the New Britain Symphony Orchestra, on its home turf at Welte Hall in the old New Britain Teacher’s College, which is now the Central Connecticut State University, New Britain’s crown jewel of education.
Ms. Nkonoki was the emcee. She had a video camera and before I knew it I was helping set up the camera. I remember thinking how strange that was, because I ran the projectors and film strip machines at Holmes School in 1962-63 and here I was in the same role, year 2010, albeit down the street at the old Teacher’s College. She was busy trying to bring order to the crowded auditorium. What a way to start a Wednesday in New Britain Connecticut, to hear the city’s namesake orchestra play to a packed auditorium of fifth graders from all over! In the late 1980s I was author of a popular book teaching children about the instruments of the orchestra, “Big Ears and His Trip To Orchestra Hall.” And, I have had a children’s group perform my songs. Felt right at home.
Most amazing of all, today’s 5th graders know an anthem that first appeared around 1977, The Star Wars theme. Talk about music transcending time. It was the fitting climax to a program that began with Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.
So much had changed in my old home town, but the arts seem to survive in events such as this, a labor of love to make sure today’s students get to associate the name of their own home town, with an orchestra that plays with excellence. And with music they might remember for who knows what reason, like I remembered the countermelody to Tamale Joe.
Over at the scholarship competition later, we heard a saxophonist and two vocalists, performing some challenging repertoire in the nave of the magnificent South Church in downtown New Britain. Right out of the gate the performances were excellent. The judges had to consult after scoring individually to arrive at a decision. We were told nothing of the students, but when we agreed on the winner, we later found out the winner had some music prep education over and above regular school. She also had an artist level instrument.
Getting to know the other judges was fun. One of them rehearses his band at a local McDonald’s on Wednesday nights, if I wanted to come down, he said.
McDonald’s? My thought exactly. A band rehearsing at McDonald’s? Well, Sam Kimble was rehearsing and then some, that night, at the same restaurant mentioned in that influential melody, “45 cents for a 3 course meal at McDonald’s.” His band included folks from my home neighborhood, up near the top of Stanley Street, when Country Club Rd. was northmost. The whole neighborhood was cut out of woods and it was magical to us, and Holmes School meant we wouldn’t have to cross Farmington Avenue to go to Slater Road School.
Sam and his band let me sit in on clarinet, my first music played in New Britain since 1966. Bandleader Sam Kimble lays down a groove like nobody else, reminding me of my favorite past music experiences in Texas where I spent most of my adult life.
So maybe this is an exercise you can try at home. Think back on a simple melody you first heard in elementary school and figure out where you learned it. Or even make a “pilgrimage” like I sort of did.
Will you spend a day starting with a symphony orchestra concert and ending with a jam session at McDonald’s, all in the same town? I can’t guarantee that unless your town is New Britain.
Though I love composing songs, this was going to be an instrumental solo, so I started thinking about things from an instrumental standpoint. That led me to a nice group of three: melodic motion, repetition and arpeggio.
Motion was probably one of the first musical things explored as, in 4th grade, we learned how to finger middle C, D, and E with the left hand on B flat clarinet. Yup, they were each a step apart from each other.
I thought of a song from the same auditorium at Holmes School in New Britain Ct, where the clarinet was taught. At school music assemblies we sang “My Grandfather’s Clock.” I have a great Johnny Cash version on the original vinyl record and listened to it. Yes, it’s a nice melody with motion.
By 1962 or 1963, when this was going on, I was learning more music from radio and 45 rpm records than I was in school. But school was a good venue for me, I could get decent grades, etc., so I paid attention to the music there, too. White Coral Bells. Marching to Pretoria. One was a round. One was a processional. Cool stuff.
But out there in the big world, a melody got me that sticks today, “45 cents for a 3 course meal at McDonald’s.” A commercial to music! They were called “jingles” back then. What did this melody have? It was the one note samba of the commercial world, repeating the same note.
That’s probably why I still remember it today; probably why I don’t understand bebop too well but I love playing “rhythm sax.” I love the honkers who repeat notes for effect. Always have. Repetition, very nice in music when used creatively. Doesn’t hurt a commercial message. Without it there’d be no rap or hip-hop.
Arpeggio, the mainstay of the student clarinet experience. The instrument is engineered for speed but can only play one note at a time (classically speaking), so, on clarinet, chords are outlined in arpeggios. Suddenly I’m mentally in the same auditorium where we learned clarinet, again. This time, the music teacher is teaching us to sing, “Hot tamales, sure are tasty, always made from finest pastry, so delicious and nutritious, you will like them, so buy some now.” It’s been more than forty years and that melody has come to mind frequently. Have never met anyone who knew it if I sang it. Doggone thing is sure memorable, why? The melody is arpeggios.
Facebook, enter stage left. I got my laptop open to the notation program. There’s a browser open too. I’m gonna find the teacher that taught that melody and ask if she remembers where the heck it came from. My memory is so vague, but I think folk music was on the scene at the time, on the radio, along with Motown, rockabilly, Memphis and New York soul, garage bands, etc. They even brought guitars with folk music into the Catholic church, Kumbaya, etc.
Had her name been Mrs. Jones the whole idea would have faded fast. But there was Ms. Nkonoki, right there on Facebook and basically looking the same as I remember her. I messaged her, asking first if she was the strict music teacher at Holmes School in 1963, and then, did she know where that song came from?
Yes she was; she said I remembered accurately that she was strict. She remembered the “Hot Tamales” thing was a countermelody in a song called Tamale Joe. Couldn’t remember much else about it. I went on Google and found the author’s name for Tamale Joe and also that it was a pseudonym. A reference to a possible recording by Peter, Paul and Mary. That was it. No simple internet trace of a melody that sticks in your head, perhaps only because of an arpeggio.
Well, it also had syncopation. We had heard of rhythm outside of school, on the radio and records, but this may have been the first rhythm tune taught in my elementary school memory. I would have to check with Ms. Nkonoki’s predecessor to confirm that. Both of them went to the same Teacher’s College in Danbury, Ct., the only one in the state that specialized in turning out music teachers.
Whether it made any difference that Ms. Nkonoki was the first black teacher; well, it did at the time, but I don’t know that it does now. What makes a difference now is the persistence of a simple melody. If anyone is ever composing, a simple melody will be your best friend. I also like Three Blind Mice a lot.
Ms. Nkonoki is now on the education committee of the New Britain Symphony Orchestra, and when she found out I had gone on with my music education to the master’s degree level anyway, she wondered if I might like to help judge a scholarship competition, which the New Britain Symphony Orchestra has long used to encourage talented music students in New Britain and the surrounding area.
I went down from New Hampshire to New Britain, early on the day of the scholarship judging, to check out the Young People’s Concert of the New Britain Symphony Orchestra, on its home turf at Welte Hall in the old New Britain Teacher’s College, which is now the Central Connecticut State University, New Britain’s crown jewel of education.
Ms. Nkonoki was the emcee. She had a video camera and before I knew it I was helping set up the camera. I remember thinking how strange that was, because I ran the projectors and film strip machines at Holmes School in 1962-63 and here I was in the same role, year 2010, albeit down the street at the old Teacher’s College. She was busy trying to bring order to the crowded auditorium. What a way to start a Wednesday in New Britain Connecticut, to hear the city’s namesake orchestra play to a packed auditorium of fifth graders from all over! In the late 1980s I was author of a popular book teaching children about the instruments of the orchestra, “Big Ears and His Trip To Orchestra Hall.” And, I have had a children’s group perform my songs. Felt right at home.
Most amazing of all, today’s 5th graders know an anthem that first appeared around 1977, The Star Wars theme. Talk about music transcending time. It was the fitting climax to a program that began with Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man.
So much had changed in my old home town, but the arts seem to survive in events such as this, a labor of love to make sure today’s students get to associate the name of their own home town, with an orchestra that plays with excellence. And with music they might remember for who knows what reason, like I remembered the countermelody to Tamale Joe.
Over at the scholarship competition later, we heard a saxophonist and two vocalists, performing some challenging repertoire in the nave of the magnificent South Church in downtown New Britain. Right out of the gate the performances were excellent. The judges had to consult after scoring individually to arrive at a decision. We were told nothing of the students, but when we agreed on the winner, we later found out the winner had some music prep education over and above regular school. She also had an artist level instrument.
Getting to know the other judges was fun. One of them rehearses his band at a local McDonald’s on Wednesday nights, if I wanted to come down, he said.
McDonald’s? My thought exactly. A band rehearsing at McDonald’s? Well, Sam Kimble was rehearsing and then some, that night, at the same restaurant mentioned in that influential melody, “45 cents for a 3 course meal at McDonald’s.” His band included folks from my home neighborhood, up near the top of Stanley Street, when Country Club Rd. was northmost. The whole neighborhood was cut out of woods and it was magical to us, and Holmes School meant we wouldn’t have to cross Farmington Avenue to go to Slater Road School.
Sam and his band let me sit in on clarinet, my first music played in New Britain since 1966. Bandleader Sam Kimble lays down a groove like nobody else, reminding me of my favorite past music experiences in Texas where I spent most of my adult life.
So maybe this is an exercise you can try at home. Think back on a simple melody you first heard in elementary school and figure out where you learned it. Or even make a “pilgrimage” like I sort of did.
Will you spend a day starting with a symphony orchestra concert and ending with a jam session at McDonald’s, all in the same town? I can’t guarantee that unless your town is New Britain.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Michael and Nung music video
In my blog entries for April 2010 (this and the several preceding ones) I have documented the preparation, composition, practice, performance and documentation of an original work for solo clarinet, "Kaleenka Suite." The final document for Kaleenka Suite is the music video presented here. Michael composed and played the music, Nung-Hsin Hu composed and performed the camera.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
From "There Was A Forest" to eternity
In the previous blog I posted a selection of stills and sounds from the actual gallery reception on April 10. I played Kaleenka Suite about 3 times, beginning, middle and end of reception. The beginning take (which will be featured in a future video) had the least crowd noise. It were those eerie early moments at an art reception where in your belly you feel no one will come. Some accident of fate has happened and no one who said they would come, will actually be here. So I played. And of course people came, plenty of them.
By the third take, nearing 9 p.m., a group of 4-5 people were esconced firmly between my bass clarinet on its stand, and Loli's wall of color photos.
Like most people I dig the soundtrack to the silent movie "Metropolis" which offsets the visual.
In the third take of Kaleenka Suite, which was used on the sound collage posted yesterday, this group of people is adding their instrument. So at the end of the collage there is black over sound. Listen carefully to the conversation after the closing credits.
It's Thursday now and I-Park Open Studios is Sunday. I'll be playing my new piece "Reeverse #1" consisting of: the Saturday recording backwards through my laptop, reading a monolog or improvising, and adding some effects from my "pedal array"-- an instrumentarium including 2 tin cans, plastic pipe, glass block, and, the bass clarinet,B flat and A clarinet. I'm updating this on Friday, I wrote the monolog this a.m.
By the third take, nearing 9 p.m., a group of 4-5 people were esconced firmly between my bass clarinet on its stand, and Loli's wall of color photos.
Like most people I dig the soundtrack to the silent movie "Metropolis" which offsets the visual.
In the third take of Kaleenka Suite, which was used on the sound collage posted yesterday, this group of people is adding their instrument. So at the end of the collage there is black over sound. Listen carefully to the conversation after the closing credits.
It's Thursday now and I-Park Open Studios is Sunday. I'll be playing my new piece "Reeverse #1" consisting of: the Saturday recording backwards through my laptop, reading a monolog or improvising, and adding some effects from my "pedal array"-- an instrumentarium including 2 tin cans, plastic pipe, glass block, and, the bass clarinet,B flat and A clarinet. I'm updating this on Friday, I wrote the monolog this a.m.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Music in a photography exhibit
I was very excited to be working with Loli Kantor, whose work and method is featured in the Mar-Apr 2010 edition of LensWork. Although she just came to visit me yesterday at I-Park, we are familiar with each other's work. I knew of her theater documentation, and she knew of my jazz playing. As pointed out in the LensWork interview, Loli has been working for several years with subjects in Eastern Europe, many of whom have become her friends; and with palladium and platinum/palladium contact printing at her darkroom in Texas. In the last several years, she has exhibited in China, Ukraine ,Poland, Czech Republic and the U.S., and she opens Saturday, April 10th at the Dutch Kills Gallery in New York.
It had been several years since we saw each other, but Loli and I were able to rendezvous at the I-Park artist enclave in East Haddam, CT, where I have been working on solo clarinet repertoire. I have played solo clarinet in the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and have played with jazz trios at many museum and gallery exhibitions. Loli and I have set out to achieve some context in which the clarinet music will enhance the opening at Dutch Kills.
Oftentimes a gallery opening will have the character of a social event, and this one will be no different. But her powerful images seem to call for something bespoke. I have spent some time with an old collection of early 20th century piano songsheets, interested in extracting melodic material from them. Loli and I discussed this, and what came through, paraphrasing very generally, was that her photography would trigger the emotions, and any melodic material might enhance them. But there was no need for a "soundtrack" because the ebb and flow of daily life in Loli Kantor's work is a visual music in itself. I was seduced by this very thing as I looked through her catalog/book There Was A Forest: Jewish Life in Eastern Europe Today 2005-2008. She showed me the parts of her work featuring Alfred Schreyer, which brought to mind the klezmer sounds I fell in love with more than 20 years ago when I first learned "Gay Life in Dikanka" to play in "R. Crumb Comix" (with R. Crumb himself!) at the Hip Pocket Theatre.
We were searching for a common musical language which we knew was there. Working with a potpourri of folk melodies, I have come up with Kaleenka Suite for solo clarinet, to play at her show. The clarinet is an instrument engineered for orchestral composers, so it is the furthest thing from a folk instrument. But just as early New Orleans ragtime unlocks the key for the clarinet's role in jazz (wearing its "band instrument" hat), klezmer music unlocks the clarinet for folk music (wearing its "recorder" hat). In honor of that, I wanted my piece to begin with the A clarinet and a key signature of no sharps and flats, to make this instrument act like a folk instrument; thus the opening measures of the Kaleenka Suite are in service to the length of the tube. Many klezmers use C and D clarinets also for these reasons but I do not have those! Then, I change to B flat clarinet, a traditional orchestral instrument, back to A, and finally to bass clarinet in B flat. Going from high to low traces a breadth of range similar to Loli's in There Was A Forest. From happy to sad, from decline to revival, from celebration to work, from past to present-- the ebb and flow of daily life.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Invisible Idiot
Needless to say, this is not what I had planned for my visit here. I had planned to finish a play I had begun some years ago. Since I am so easily distracted, I brought my clarinets along to work on some solos as well. Sounds like a plan to fail but I am no Jaromir Hladik. You can read elsewhere about his success.
Back to the hole. With a hole like this, some PVC pipe, and some clarinets, the first thing that would come to anyone's mind (of course!) is, can they be joined up? Can a big sound be made? My first thought led me to the decaying waterworks of urban America. In one of my hometowns, there exist no surveys or schematics of the iron or clay sewers built as recently as the 1940s. Good thing we have video cameras, huh? I may need one. But, the first thing I have done is write to the performance artist who put these pipes in. I hope to hear back from her. I just want to know if the pipes are continuous and how they are angled. If they have holes, or open sections, it would be like putting sound into the dirt, right? Totally futile.
I don't even know if the breath from one set of lungs (or two sets in the case of a duet) can sustain a sound the 17 foot length of these pipes. But, it should would help if the PVC pipe is clear and tight. I should ask my friend if he has a sewer type video camera lying around.
On the receiving end, this wonderful hole, I would like for the hole to broadcast the sound in whatever form it comes out of the pipes. I guess the hole would need to act like a speaker, but I prefer the term "sound chimney." Anybody know how to build a sound chimney? Of course all chimneys should be "sound." But I am talking about human exhaust gas, co2, breathed through these various lengths of cylindrical bore, and vented in such a way that the music could be heard as far away as possible. Some philosophers say that music predated language. I open up this discussion: what could be put in the hole? Should the end result be a composition, a performance, or an installation? I await counsel.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Where the note ends
The last time I took clarinet lessons was in 1988, and it was with two good college professors who knew their stuff. More than 20 years later, I'm having the opportunity to study with a master musician, one of whose many talents is representing the sound of the clarinet to millions of television viewers. After hearing him on records since the 1970s, it was my first chance to see this guy (I haven't asked his permission to write about him so you'll have to guess) last month, where he was in the guitar player's group. I knew I was going to see a master sideman at work, but I had no idea how profound. He led the band without leading it and has an incredible musical partnership with the guitar player. Even better were his telegraphing of dynamics, harmonic cues and resonance. I can't begin to tell you what it is like to have a lesson with a master musician. Well, many people can tell a similar story I'm sure.
It's making me thing of resonance, which seems to have something to do with the origin of the sound, something you can have control over and even increase resonance. On clarinet, it's a great thing to imagine. But strictly speaking, resonance, is how the note is ended. "Prolongation of sound by reflection or vibration of other bodies."
Nothing does this like a violin or drum, or a harp. The thing itself is vibrating, and some of those vibrations are going to be caught by the audience's eardrums. Resonance is going to happen.
Listening to my clarinet teacher's sound on a couple of his latest CDs, there is a way to make the clarinet resonate, and he is doing it. I am hoping some of this great articulation is transferable!
I'm thinking about practicing diminuendo on clarinet. And how to make sure the note ends with resonance.
It's making me thing of resonance, which seems to have something to do with the origin of the sound, something you can have control over and even increase resonance. On clarinet, it's a great thing to imagine. But strictly speaking, resonance, is how the note is ended. "Prolongation of sound by reflection or vibration of other bodies."
Nothing does this like a violin or drum, or a harp. The thing itself is vibrating, and some of those vibrations are going to be caught by the audience's eardrums. Resonance is going to happen.
Listening to my clarinet teacher's sound on a couple of his latest CDs, there is a way to make the clarinet resonate, and he is doing it. I am hoping some of this great articulation is transferable!
I'm thinking about practicing diminuendo on clarinet. And how to make sure the note ends with resonance.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Conway NH ain't no place for the weary kind
The Oscar nominated song takes on new meaning in Anytown, USA
A Conway New Hampshire record store owner is standing up to the economy with a message that everyone can understand. It's the Oscar nominated song "The Weary Kind."
And, a connection to the movie the song is from.
I'm on his mailing list cause I shop there and have a book room in the back.
Here's a mail he just sent:
Hi, all
I'm looking forward to this Monday's Open Mic at the library, hope you are, too! Featured performer will be Andy Davis, a seasoned storyteller, sharing his global adventures in prose. Read more about Andy here!
After Andy's performance, the mic will be open to poets & songsters of all genres.
Throughout the evening, I'd like to share with you a few personal anecdotes that relate to the movie "Crazy Heart". which may win the Oscar on Sunday Night, and is currently being shown at the Majestic Theater/Conway Cafe in Conway Village. The late guitarist/songwriter Stephen Bruton collaborated closely with T-Bone Burnett in the making of the movie, in music & inspiration. Some say Jeff Bridges character was loosely based on moment's in Stephen's life, but it's all hearsay, and could be applied to any musician who struggled to make it, then struggled to maintain. Stephen died last summer during the making of this film
Back in the 70's, living in Texas, I worked a few years at Record Town, in Fort Worth, which was owned, and is still operated, by the Bruton family. You can read a bit about it here. This store was where i became enamored with the record business, and why my record shop on Main Street exists today. Listening to the theme from the movie "The Weary Kind", I'm reminded of how true the lyrics are, how they resonant to the common man, in even these times, & in this economy, in our town.
I'd like to share my rendition of this song at the end of the open mic, and would love for anyone who feels it to join me as well. There's a great YouTube link to song, with lyrics. Bring your guitar, tambourine, marxophone (Katherine?), or just sing along! And don't forget to see the movie at the Majestic this week...Joe Quirk has even offered to provide some finger foods from the Conway Cafe to us all Monday night!.
See you there,
Harlan
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Small business finance advice from 1999
A few people have asked where they can find some of my decade-old articles on small business finance. Here are the links. They are drastically in need of updating, but also contain some advice that is always timely.
Defining Key Financial Ratios
Five Severe Warning Signs of Cash Flow Problems
Action Plan: Forecasting and Cash Flow Budgeting
Key Questions to Ask a Prospective CPA
Turning Assets Into Cash
Action Plan: Debt Management and Banking
Action Plan: Using Economic Forecasts
Choosing Accounting Software
Debt Management and Banking: Establish a Contingency Plan
Establishing Credit Limits
Collection Techniques to Avoid
Friday, February 19, 2010
Vinyl Record Musing
It seems like 1-2 million new vinyl records are sold every year....up some years and down others....and who knows how many previously owned vinyl records have changed hands. In the midst of all the arguments over which has the better sound, it's easy to forget a primary distinction.
Going back in time, people used to compare radio sound, recorded sound, and live sound. All of it was "analog," whatever that means.
Consider the vinyl record. Even though it is mass produced, the sound comes from grooves cut in the record. Compared to a CD, or mp3, or wav or wma, it IS LIVE MUSIC. The record is making that music. What happened before the record was made may have involved tape or even digital mastering, but the RECORD IS PLAYING MUSIC.
The digital file, by contrast, is re-constructing music which resides in digital code. And, it's truly amazing how this has become the primary way of listening to music. People love it, while at the same time, it has laid waste to the whole business of music distribution and live performance.
The art of the club DJ was once about the vinyl record. Now software can do just about the same thing.
Selling records since 1997, we seldom know the age or motivations of our buyers. We've been selling books the same amount of time and most years, records are more popular than books.
Records--- bulky, labor-intensive, delicate--- are a big export from the USA to other countries.
And perhaps many people play them only once.
But, the intensity of that one play experience cannot be denied. The record, the music, the effort that went into it, and its cultural significance are handy stimulants available to anyone for a dollar and up.
The most fun of records is going back in time. Most people do not realize that before the late 1940s, records were mostly documents of a performance, rather than a corporate concoction in a studio that started out with the "raw materials" of musicians playing.
Many record fans are eventually led back to the 1920s and 1930s when recording was often a game of 'catch as catch can'.
Perhaps one day digital re-creations will display their lineage of romance and culture. It's probably a matter of demographics.
One artist who worked well with the detritus of analog imagery, including records and TV, was Nam June Paik.
The vinyl record has earned its place in the fields of mass production AND art.
Going back in time, people used to compare radio sound, recorded sound, and live sound. All of it was "analog," whatever that means.
Consider the vinyl record. Even though it is mass produced, the sound comes from grooves cut in the record. Compared to a CD, or mp3, or wav or wma, it IS LIVE MUSIC. The record is making that music. What happened before the record was made may have involved tape or even digital mastering, but the RECORD IS PLAYING MUSIC.
The digital file, by contrast, is re-constructing music which resides in digital code. And, it's truly amazing how this has become the primary way of listening to music. People love it, while at the same time, it has laid waste to the whole business of music distribution and live performance.
The art of the club DJ was once about the vinyl record. Now software can do just about the same thing.
Selling records since 1997, we seldom know the age or motivations of our buyers. We've been selling books the same amount of time and most years, records are more popular than books.
Records--- bulky, labor-intensive, delicate--- are a big export from the USA to other countries.
And perhaps many people play them only once.
But, the intensity of that one play experience cannot be denied. The record, the music, the effort that went into it, and its cultural significance are handy stimulants available to anyone for a dollar and up.
The most fun of records is going back in time. Most people do not realize that before the late 1940s, records were mostly documents of a performance, rather than a corporate concoction in a studio that started out with the "raw materials" of musicians playing.
Many record fans are eventually led back to the 1920s and 1930s when recording was often a game of 'catch as catch can'.
Perhaps one day digital re-creations will display their lineage of romance and culture. It's probably a matter of demographics.
One artist who worked well with the detritus of analog imagery, including records and TV, was Nam June Paik.
The vinyl record has earned its place in the fields of mass production AND art.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Toyota, chain saws, and war
I was going to put a picture of my Toyota and my chain saw side by side, but that's just dumb. You can guess which one prompted a visit to the "walk-in" clinic the other day.
I had been wondering about these facilities and how they advertise as sort of a convenience store for minor medical conditions, etc. As I walked in, around 9 in the morning, three people were having an office tete-a-tete around the water cooler in the reception area. They were drinking little paper funnels of water as fast as they could. They seemed to have come from the same workplace, but were surprised to see each other there.
One guy said, "last time, I had a week's notice." The girl said, "They just called me last night." Then she said, "I could sure use a beer right now."
That little encounter helped me speculate one use for the walk-in clinic. It helped me, too. Ever been to a walk-in clinic? First I was seen by an RN, who prepped me for stitches. Then came an MD, who declined to suture. Finally, an EMT, who gave me a tetanus shot.
The MD who wouldn't stitch together my palm wound said, "Chain saws are the next most dangerous thing to war."
Nice emphasis, doctor.
And, food for thought. Because he left out..... automobiles.
Having driven Toyotas since the early 1980s, I haven't lost any sleep over not being a "Chevy man" (default position in 1960s and 1970s) any more.
Others might prefer the safe haven of a Volvo or a Suburban but I drive "tin cans" because they use less fossil fuel.
Many Toyota owners are hearing about problems with this car company, voiced loudly by the current managers of General Motors--- the U.S. Government. It seems Toyota-- according to the U.S. Dept of Transportation-- was not too quick to take the blame for random acceleration of their cars.
Actually I applaud them for hesitating to put the blame on an inanimate object, considering tort reform is not happening any time soon. And, even considering that the inanimate object is of their own manufacture.
Word the wise: Internal combustion engines are the next most dangerous thing to war.
Stepping on a gas pedal is done by a human.
Lest we forget, there are not too many things a car can do by itself that are against the law. In some places, being in your front lawn without a current registration is one of them.
Most problems with cars seem to involve a driver.
I was sitting in front of an old glass-front 7-11 back in the 1980s, in a rented Ford Pinto. I was not very familiar with the car. I put it in drive instead of reverse, hit the gas, and you know the rest.
Got lucky and only broke the glass.
As busy as most drivers can be, doing things that do not contribute to driving, we are fair game for the notion of a "runaway car."
How do you tell if you have a runaway car? Perhaps if you turn off the ignition and it doesn't go off?
I had a fussy gas pedal once and I learned how to stick the tip of my foot under the pedal and pull it back.
OK, driving a car that is about to be recalled isn't for everybody. Nor is using a chain saw, even with all the necessary safety accoutrements.
Which I have now bought, by the way. Shout out to the folks at Windy Ridge in Tamworth.
And, I look forward to a real good deal on my next Toyota. Anybody got a Tundra they don't trust? I live dangerously.
I had been wondering about these facilities and how they advertise as sort of a convenience store for minor medical conditions, etc. As I walked in, around 9 in the morning, three people were having an office tete-a-tete around the water cooler in the reception area. They were drinking little paper funnels of water as fast as they could. They seemed to have come from the same workplace, but were surprised to see each other there.
One guy said, "last time, I had a week's notice." The girl said, "They just called me last night." Then she said, "I could sure use a beer right now."
That little encounter helped me speculate one use for the walk-in clinic. It helped me, too. Ever been to a walk-in clinic? First I was seen by an RN, who prepped me for stitches. Then came an MD, who declined to suture. Finally, an EMT, who gave me a tetanus shot.
The MD who wouldn't stitch together my palm wound said, "Chain saws are the next most dangerous thing to war."
Nice emphasis, doctor.
And, food for thought. Because he left out..... automobiles.
Having driven Toyotas since the early 1980s, I haven't lost any sleep over not being a "Chevy man" (default position in 1960s and 1970s) any more.
Others might prefer the safe haven of a Volvo or a Suburban but I drive "tin cans" because they use less fossil fuel.
Many Toyota owners are hearing about problems with this car company, voiced loudly by the current managers of General Motors--- the U.S. Government. It seems Toyota-- according to the U.S. Dept of Transportation-- was not too quick to take the blame for random acceleration of their cars.
Actually I applaud them for hesitating to put the blame on an inanimate object, considering tort reform is not happening any time soon. And, even considering that the inanimate object is of their own manufacture.
Word the wise: Internal combustion engines are the next most dangerous thing to war.
Stepping on a gas pedal is done by a human.
Lest we forget, there are not too many things a car can do by itself that are against the law. In some places, being in your front lawn without a current registration is one of them.
Most problems with cars seem to involve a driver.
I was sitting in front of an old glass-front 7-11 back in the 1980s, in a rented Ford Pinto. I was not very familiar with the car. I put it in drive instead of reverse, hit the gas, and you know the rest.
Got lucky and only broke the glass.
As busy as most drivers can be, doing things that do not contribute to driving, we are fair game for the notion of a "runaway car."
How do you tell if you have a runaway car? Perhaps if you turn off the ignition and it doesn't go off?
I had a fussy gas pedal once and I learned how to stick the tip of my foot under the pedal and pull it back.
OK, driving a car that is about to be recalled isn't for everybody. Nor is using a chain saw, even with all the necessary safety accoutrements.
Which I have now bought, by the way. Shout out to the folks at Windy Ridge in Tamworth.
And, I look forward to a real good deal on my next Toyota. Anybody got a Tundra they don't trust? I live dangerously.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Amateur on a pro stage
I've had plenty of luck, I’m just not talented. I'm suited to finding and offering items online at moneyblows books and music. I've often helped the store by playing music gigs, but the pay has gotten so minimal that my music-playing has joined the culture of "we play but don't look down on us because we have other livelihoods."
When I moved to New England at the age of 54, it was a revelation to me that music playing is divided between pros and amateurs. The point was driven home last night by the leader of the group I played with, at the Press Room in Portsmouth, NH.
There seemed to be a ritual modesty in place. The leader started out the evening with a lecture to the audience that we are a group who will play for weddings, but we mostly play for fun. When I think of playing for fun, I think Albert Ayler must have been having fun. Coltrane must have been having fun. Sun Ra must have had fun. But playing Route 66 or Girl from Ipanema for fun? Where I come from, that was for money.
I'm taken back to when playing for fun was also full of promise. There was one time when my audience actually included Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. T-Bone Burnett could tell you more about this. We actually had notice a week in advance it was going to happen. Every Friday and Saturday we played at the New Bluebird Night Club on Horne Street in Fort Worth. This would have been in 1975 or 76, when the Rolling Thunder Revue came through to play the Tarrant County Convention Center. Part of the Rolling Thunder Revue was J. Henry Burnett, a Fort Worth producer and performer who had just finished producing a live album at this location with Robert Ealey and the Five Careless Lovers. When I joined the band, it made more than five, so our lead guitarist, Little Junior One Hand, renamed the band Robert Ealey and the Drifting Heartbreaks. With no specific number we could also add Johnny Reno to make two saxes and others as needed.
The weekend before this happened, T-Bone Burnett sent word. That began a week of hell for me, wondering how I might contribute to making this a good diversion for T-Bone's illustrious friends. I could barely play the sax enough to stay on the Robert Ealey gig, and look who was coming to see it? The day they were supposed to come, I must have started drinking beer early, for I was plastered by the time the gig began at about 10 p.m. Surely enough after the Rolling Thunder Revue got off their Tarrant County Convention Center show, a limo with Bob and Joni somehow found its way down to Horne Street, in the Como section of Fort Worth, and the New Bluebird Night Club. They pulled up in front on the corner of Horne and Wellesley and came in while we were playing “Ill Take You There.” You could spot each of them, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, by their hats.
I wished for the ghost of Willie Lee Johnson to take over my sax. He was a local guy who had played with Ray Charles for awhile and was being seen sporadically around Como and the Trinity River Bottoms in the mid-1970s. He came to the Bluebird once while I was playing. I let him borrow my tenor and during his solo he threw the sax up in the air with one hand and caught it with the other. I thought, if I lose my sax to Willie Lee Johnson, there are more expensive lessons out there in life. Because that cat could wail. He didn't drop the horn but there was a second when I thought he might. After his solo he basically passed out and a few weeks later we heard he passed for good.
The Bluebird had a motto "Everybody's Somebody at the Bluebird." Nobody was pros or amateurs. I've tried to maintain that illusion about music playing, but reality doesn't bear it out. I hosted a jazz jam for many years. As time went by the students sounded more like students and the pros were astounding. Folks like B.J. Crosby or Marchel Ivery were a regular occurrence. Over time, with fewer pros out there on live gigs, the music I've played has been taken over by students and teachers. Many teachers are also pros. Last night in Portsmouth, we announced ourselves as amateurs, "truth in packaging." None of us teach or depend on venues for our groceries. And it wasn't Willie Lee Johnson who came to mind in my sax playing. I visualized a local guy, a well known sax player, who triggers excitement around these parts by playing a lot of notes. He's a pro. I thought of him and pleasing the audience the way he does.
So, I played a lot of notes. Even amateurs can play a lot of notes!!!
When I moved to New England at the age of 54, it was a revelation to me that music playing is divided between pros and amateurs. The point was driven home last night by the leader of the group I played with, at the Press Room in Portsmouth, NH.
There seemed to be a ritual modesty in place. The leader started out the evening with a lecture to the audience that we are a group who will play for weddings, but we mostly play for fun. When I think of playing for fun, I think Albert Ayler must have been having fun. Coltrane must have been having fun. Sun Ra must have had fun. But playing Route 66 or Girl from Ipanema for fun? Where I come from, that was for money.
I'm taken back to when playing for fun was also full of promise. There was one time when my audience actually included Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. T-Bone Burnett could tell you more about this. We actually had notice a week in advance it was going to happen. Every Friday and Saturday we played at the New Bluebird Night Club on Horne Street in Fort Worth. This would have been in 1975 or 76, when the Rolling Thunder Revue came through to play the Tarrant County Convention Center. Part of the Rolling Thunder Revue was J. Henry Burnett, a Fort Worth producer and performer who had just finished producing a live album at this location with Robert Ealey and the Five Careless Lovers. When I joined the band, it made more than five, so our lead guitarist, Little Junior One Hand, renamed the band Robert Ealey and the Drifting Heartbreaks. With no specific number we could also add Johnny Reno to make two saxes and others as needed.
The weekend before this happened, T-Bone Burnett sent word. That began a week of hell for me, wondering how I might contribute to making this a good diversion for T-Bone's illustrious friends. I could barely play the sax enough to stay on the Robert Ealey gig, and look who was coming to see it? The day they were supposed to come, I must have started drinking beer early, for I was plastered by the time the gig began at about 10 p.m. Surely enough after the Rolling Thunder Revue got off their Tarrant County Convention Center show, a limo with Bob and Joni somehow found its way down to Horne Street, in the Como section of Fort Worth, and the New Bluebird Night Club. They pulled up in front on the corner of Horne and Wellesley and came in while we were playing “Ill Take You There.” You could spot each of them, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, by their hats.
I wished for the ghost of Willie Lee Johnson to take over my sax. He was a local guy who had played with Ray Charles for awhile and was being seen sporadically around Como and the Trinity River Bottoms in the mid-1970s. He came to the Bluebird once while I was playing. I let him borrow my tenor and during his solo he threw the sax up in the air with one hand and caught it with the other. I thought, if I lose my sax to Willie Lee Johnson, there are more expensive lessons out there in life. Because that cat could wail. He didn't drop the horn but there was a second when I thought he might. After his solo he basically passed out and a few weeks later we heard he passed for good.
The Bluebird had a motto "Everybody's Somebody at the Bluebird." Nobody was pros or amateurs. I've tried to maintain that illusion about music playing, but reality doesn't bear it out. I hosted a jazz jam for many years. As time went by the students sounded more like students and the pros were astounding. Folks like B.J. Crosby or Marchel Ivery were a regular occurrence. Over time, with fewer pros out there on live gigs, the music I've played has been taken over by students and teachers. Many teachers are also pros. Last night in Portsmouth, we announced ourselves as amateurs, "truth in packaging." None of us teach or depend on venues for our groceries. And it wasn't Willie Lee Johnson who came to mind in my sax playing. I visualized a local guy, a well known sax player, who triggers excitement around these parts by playing a lot of notes. He's a pro. I thought of him and pleasing the audience the way he does.
So, I played a lot of notes. Even amateurs can play a lot of notes!!!
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