Finals week! O boy, O joy! Papers to read, tests to take, decisions to be made - let's see what the contributors to this post believes will keep us from spinning into the vortex. Personally speaking, Hanukkah is, as I write this, just about over for this year but the spirit of light, freedom, and friendship should get us through the long, dark, nights of Winter. Music helps!
Luciano Pavarotti - "O Holy Night" - One of my favorite Holiday songs! (T. Williams) (Editor's note - The late, great, opera artist has that kind of voice, like Aretha Franklin, that can transport a listener beyond the everyday. Yes, it's theatrical and there are times when emotions are faked but there are some artists who, on certain sings, transcend! RBK)
Marconi Union - "Weightless" - I recently found this mesmerizing, magical and relaxing video and sent it to Michael. I’d like to share it with you for the blog. If you don’t watch and just listen you will feel your heart rate slow down and your breathing will become rhythmic and easy.... music to dream by, meditate to, zone out with. (B. Rosenbaum)
Paul Simon - "Under African Skies" & Peter Gabriel - "Don't Give Up" - Lord knows (pun intended) I’m not much for the holiday season… but it’s a good time of year for songs of beauty and of hope, so here’s one of each - two artists who manage to accomplish real tenderness without it ever being contrived (as it so often is), and with these songs do it in a legitimately multicultural and inclusive way befitting a neglected spirit of the season. Paul Simon’s “Under African Skies” is the best moment of his "Graceland" album for me - it’s such a beautiful, seemingly authentic moment from all the musicians involved. This live 2012 version is particularly sweet without being saccharine.
And Peter Gabriel’s always been a guilty pleasure of mine; he wears his heart on his sleeve in a way that only he can, and does it with so much integrity. This version of “Don’t Give Up” (originally written as a duet with Kate Bush), from Gabriel’s "Secret World" live album/tour justifies Paula Cole’s entire career - I could take or leave her solo stuff, but her voice was made for these moments. (K. Saulnier)
Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) - "Christmas Is All Around" - Not a real a holiday song, but what about Christmas is all around us from the movie, "Love Actually?" It’s snarky and funny and really campy! Love it. (C Hakala). (Editor's note - It took a day or two but I finally figured out that this sweet, albeit treacly, tune (hilarious video) is a rewrite of The Troggs 1967 smash "Love Is All Around", a treacly song recorded by the same group who did "Wild Thing" and "I Can't Control Myself.")
Bleachers - "Don't Take The Money" - Spotify released my top 100 most listened to songs, so I figured I would suggest my most listened to: "Don't Take the Money" by Bleachers. I have been listening to Bleachers for a while but have never really known much about them. In looking them up, the release of his first single as Bleachers was "I Wanna Get Better" was in 2014. However, he is part of the band Fun, which is more well-known for a couple of songs that got on the radio. "I Wanna Get Better" is the first song by Bleachers that I found, and I still listen to today. I was immediately drawn to "Don't Take the Money" when I first heard it because there is something about the chorus that I instantly fell in love with. I have never been able to figure out why, but I find it okay to indulge in ignorance from time to time. (M. Winslow)
Young People's Chorus of New York City -"Let There Be Peace on Earth" is a song written by Jill Jackson-Miller and Sy Miller in 1955. It was initially written for and sung by the International Children's Choir created by Easter Beakly and Arthur Granger of the Granger Dance Academy in Long Beach, California. The song's composers led a number of rehearsals for the children's choir from 1955 to 1957, and the song continues to be the theme for this group of children who represent a host of nations and who sang in Washington, DC at the JW Marriott next to the White House in 2002. The song was also performed at the 9/11 Memorial attended by Pope Francis sung by a children’s choir. (J Gaffney)
Lady Gaga & Joseph Gordon-Levitt - "Baby It's Cold Outside" - There's been a lot of discussion about whether this song promotes date rape and excess drinking, etc. but, there are many songs in the Great American Songbook that are worse than this (and no, I won't post them). This particular version turns the tables and the woman is doing the inviting. Whatever, just take a look at the lyrics, then the video, and judge for yourself. (RBK, suggested by T. Williams)
The Felipe Salles Interconnections Ensemble - "Lullaby #1" (live at The Jazz Gallery in NYC on 11/08/18) - As the semester comes to a close, I am also working on my Best of 2018 list of recordings. This was a really good year for big band/large ensemble albums. My Top 10 includes three, one each by Jim McNeely, Dafnis Prieto, and "The Lullaby Project" from saxophonist and composer Felipe Salles. OEWO contributor and large ensemble leader Kyle Saulnier is co-producer. The track below is from a showiest month in NYC. (RBK)
Thanks to all the contributors and to the readers - we'll be back in the Spring Semester. In the meantime, have a wonderful Holiday season, a Happy New Year, and a great break!
When one is in the middle of the semester, it often feels like time is dragging. In my experience, we come back from the Thanksgiving Break and I feel as if we've run out of time and there's so much still to do. In this ever-changing world, that feeling has yet to leave me; even now, in my ninth year, as the temperature dips below freezing and the trees are bare, that feeling hangs on.
But, in the midst of the ever-darkening days (the Winter Solstice is around the corner and the light will begin to increase), the Holidays have begun and this post opens with a modern Hanukkah treat.
The LeeVees - "Applesauce vs Sour Cream" - Hard to believe it's been a decade since I first played this rocking tune from a band that was put together on a whim. Who are these guys? From the bands website: Two nice Jewish guys have taken up the important task of writing a bunch of great, rockin’ Hanukah songs. Adam Gardner (Guster) and Dave Schneider (the Zambonis) have joined forces and started a band called the LeeVees, and they have a new album of sweet and rockin’ indie-pop songs solely about Channuka called “Hanukkah Rocks.” Yes, every song is about Chanuka. Some say such a concept is a bit obsessive but Adam and Dave prefer the phrase “extremely focused.” Yes, it's goofy and, yes, they spell Hanukkah in two accepted variations and, yes, it's about food (lots of Jewish songs have the simple theme of "We were attacked, we fought, we won, and now we eat!" (RBK)
Alessia Cara - "Growing Pains" - My song choice this week is "Growing Pains" by Alessia Cara. Alessia Cara is one of my favorite artists because she is 22 and writes a lot of songs that speak to people around her age. She got very popular quite quick, but she stayed very humble through it, which is apparent in interviews with her. She wrote all the songs on her new album "The Pains of Growing" which I believe allowed her music to better relate to the young people listening to it. Writing her own songs also shows that she truly is passionate about music and wants to share her experiences with others through her art. I specifically chose the song "Growing Pains" because she puts a very clever spin on the use of the phrase. Normally, when someone says growing pains they are referring to the physical pains that come with growing quickly, but in this song she uses it to describe more of the emotional and spiritual pains that come with maturing. She beautifully talks about the hardships without making it overbearing and heavy because she balances it with a glimmer of hope and positive attitude, which is what I think makes her music so appealing. She can talk about something that many people have a difficult time with, yet doesn't have the attitude of allowing it to grow stagnant and consume a person. This gives her music more of a feeling of healing than pain, and this is what makes her music so enjoyable. I also believe that many young artists don't quite capture this in-between stage of a person's life where they're not too young to be totally dependent, yet are not old enough to be independent. I think that Alessia Cara beautifully captures this stage in life where you have life experience, yet are still so new to being an adult and are still learning to cope with the normal fears of being independent and struggling through a time when a lot is changing. (M. Winslow)
Dave Evans - "Pretty Green Hills" - I stumbled upon a Bluegrass station and am hooked. The songs are all lively, fun, and each tells a story. They're as American as apple pie. What a delight! (T. Williams)
Dave Evans (1950-2017) - from his obituary: He started his bluegrass music career in 1968, with Earl Taylor and the Stoney Mountain Boys. Then, in 1973, he joined Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers before starting his own bluegrass band in 1978, known as Dave Evans and The River Bend. Dave is also a former member of The Boys from Indiana, Lillie Mae and the Dixie Gospelaires and Melvin Goins. Dave was also fascinated by earlier bluegrass performers, such as Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe, and Jimmy Martin. He created his own style of bluegrass music. Dave began writing and singing his own songs, including, "One Loaf of Bread", "Highway 52", and "Be proud of the Grey in Your Hair."
Andrea & Matteo Bocelli - "Fall On Me" - Beautiful! (B. Rosenblum) - Andrea Bocelli is one of those rare "crossover artists" in that he crossed from opera to "adult mainstream" and became world-famous. (Keep in mind - the first million-selling recording artist in the vinyl record era was Mario Lanza!) Here he sings a duet with his 21-year old son Matteo. The story goes that the father did not discover his piano-playing son could sing until a few months before the 2017 recording session for Dad's new album "Si." A new star is born! (RBK)
John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band- "So This is Christmas (Happy Xmas - War Is Over)" - Here is a Christmas song released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. The lyrics, by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, are set to the traditional English ballad “Skewball”. It was the seventh single release by Lennon outside his work with the Beatles. The song reached number 4 in the UK, where its release was delayed until November 1972, and has periodically reemerged on the UK Singles Chart, most notably after Lennon’s death in December 1980, when it peaked at number 2."Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was the culmination of more than two years of peace activism undertaken by John Lennon and Yoko Ono that began with the bed-ins they convened in March and May 1969, the first of which took place during their honeymoon- Wikipedia. (J. Gaffney)
The Beatles - "Good Night" (take 10 with guitar part from take 5) - 1968 celebrates a number of 50th anniversaries. Not all of them are happy. But, just in time for the Holiday Season, Apple Records has issued this massive seven-CD package of "The White Album" (or, really, just "The Beatles" and the original cover was all-white). For those who do not want to spend their entire pay check, there's a three-CD version, a two-Lp version, and four-Lp version. Included in the biggest package are several CDs of "demos", including the earliest rehearsal takes (known as "the Escher Demos" recorded at George Harrison's home studio) and three CDs of outtakes and rejected takes from the Abbey Road Studio sessions. Those studio sessions stretched on for nearly six months and charts the dissolution of The Fab Four. The early demos show four musicians really having a great time working, playing, and singing together and are the trumpet revelation of the package - these guys really like each other. By the time of the final takes, there are no vocal duets (most often heard on the Lennon-McCartney songs). The song I chose is the final song of the second album, the 30th tune. On the album, there's a large string and brass orchestra, replete with harp and musical saw (!), a large mixed chorus, a production out of a '30s musical, and the affectionate voice of Mr. Starr. The version below features Ringo backed by two guitars and the chorus of John, Paul, and George. It is so pretty in its simplicity and sound. (RBK)
We'll have one more post for Finals Week! May the next two weeks go well for all!
