ArtSpeak is an essential book for the Fine Arts enthusiast. It
is basically a encyclopedia of all the art movements and ideas from 1945
to the present and is currently in its third edition. This is one of
those great books that serves well as a reference but is also a
fascinating book to browse. Each topic is categorized in a who, when,
where and what format. For instance, If we turn to the entree on Pop Art
we find that its primary artists include Andy Warhol, Claus Oldenberg
and other, it thrived in the 50s and 60s mainly in America and England,
and the movement uses commercial symbols and icons as expression. Of
course, the book says this in much more detail and more entertainingly.
It is nicely illustrated with full colored photos but they tend to be on
the small side. The text is what matters here. It also includes a nice
timeline correlating world history with art history. Anyone who enjoys
art will find this book worthwhile. As for me, I received mine from the
publisher for review in a PDF format. I definitely plan to buy the real
honest-to-god book.
In case you wondering why I placed this in my music book review blog,
it just seems like music lovers and art lovers often go hand-in-hand.
However, it you find that excuse weak, the book does reference some
musical artists that intersect both fields like Yoko Ono, Laurie
Anderson, and Pussy Riot. So there!
Background music: Laurie Anderson - Strange Angels
D. H. Peligro was the drummer for Dead Kennedys and briefly the
drummer for Red Hot Chili Peppers. He later fronted the Band Peligro,
which along with Fishbone and Bad Brains, became one of the few black
performers in the punk rock movement. Peligro's autobiography, Dreadnaught,
chronicles his work with these bands but also give good insight on what
it was like being black in a musical environment that was predominantly
white. His biography seems to be a basically honest account. Peligro
doesn't hold back when he discusses his own personal issues. He speaks
with frankness and isn't afraid to bring up his demons. For instance
when he writes about being abused by his step-father , he communicates
an uncomfortable mixture of terror and childhood vulnerability...
Sometimes
when he was really drunk, he would wake me up out of a dead sleep and I
would be staring into both barrels of his twelve-gauge shotgun pointed
directly in my face.
"What yo' sweat? Are you a man?" he would
ask me. I can still feel his hot alcohol breath on my face and hear his
hoarse, sloppy whisper in my ear.
"Wake up! Are you a man?"
No, I'm a kid. I would think to myself.
He
writes with this same frank honesty as he discusses his past drug use
which resulted in 27 rehabs. He writes about his anger at his band
mates who he blamed for his hardships while, in hindsight, acknowledging
that he was essentially his own worse enemy.
The problem with
most rock autobiographies is that the road to stardom to drug addiction
to eventual redemption is so common most of us have memorized the tune.
However, Peligro's account does have some unusual twists. I was
surprised to hear that Dead Kennedys were very anti-drug. Also, Peligro
had an unusual musical history compared to many punk rockers. Many, if
not most, punk rock musicians got into the lifestyle first, then became
musicians and learned music as they performed. The joke that the
difference between New Wavers and Punk Rockers is that New Wavers can
actually play their instruments has a ring of truth. However Peligro had
quite a bit of musical experience before he entered the punk rock
scene. His Uncle Sam, who played with the legendary bluesman Robert
Nighthawk, was influential in Peligro's decision to learn drums and
guitar and D. H. played progressive rock and metal before he gravitated
to the San Francisco punk scene. It is these little bits of information
that keep Dreadnaught from being just another
rags-to-riches-to-rags rock tale. His outlook on the punk scene in the
late 70s and 80's is a nice addition to the scores of other
autobiographies out there and feels a bit more real than the glittery
excesses of a Pete Townsend or Rod Steward. D. H. Peligro stayed in the
trenches.
If you have any interest in punk rock, Dead Kennedys,
or the Punk counter-culture, you should enjoy this book. Three and a
half stars.
Background music: Dead Kennedys -Plastic Surgery Disasters.
I expected ex-Talking Heads front man and eclectic solo artist David
Byrne would have some interesting things to say about music. But I was
impressed by the scope and range of How Music Works. Byrne
covers nearly every aspect of creating and enjoying music from the first
steps of composing and to the nuances of performance to producing and
promoting. Plus he puts it in sync with the world we live in never
forgetting that music is a vital and ever-changing aspect of existence.
Byrne
approaches music in what I call an ethno-centric view. Perhaps
"Techno-centric" may be a better term considering how much he focuses on
the modern recording aspects. Byrns uses the term "creation in
reverse." He does not see music as arising from just the emotional
interior of the creator's mind but through an interactive process that
is affected by our surroundings; social, cultural, politically,
technological, and physical. He discusses how certain types of music
responds to certain surroundings. When you think of it, it makes sense.
It is hard to think of punk rock rising from the symphony hall and much
easier to see it coming out of dark crowded clubs such as New York's
CBGB. His style of writing is fairly meandering but he structures those
meanderings in chapters like Technology Shapes Music", "In the Recording
Studio", "How to Make a Scene" (about performing live), and even
"Business and Finances". By the end of the book you not only have a good
sense what goes into that MP3 you just downloaded but how that music
has changed from the day of live performance only before music could be
recorded.
While not an autobiography, Byrne relies strongly on
his own experiences, giving the reader an intimate look at his own
creative process both in and out of the studio. He uses his own story to
illustrate his various ideas of creation in reverse. One of the things I
found revealing is his description on how the various forms of
recording affects the way we perceive music. The limits of the sound and
durations of the first Edison discs gave the early 20th century
listeners a different experience than the LPs, cassettes and CDs we are
used to, not to mention the revolution of digital files. Byrne's
assertions about our expectations of recorded music vs. live music was
quite insightful. We tend to think of the recording of a song as the
"real" version in that we expect the artist to recreate it in his live
performances. Yet the recorded version is a frozen moment of time aided
by the technical constraint of the recording studio, whether analog or
digital The artist's live performance may be different but just as
authentic relying on all the cultural and aural surroundings of the
moment.
Byrnes' impressive book is notable for the way it causes
the reader to reassess modern music. He asks us to take in more than
just sounds and pay attention to the way we receive the music in its
social and natural settings. There's a lot to take in here yet the
author manages to keep it exciting and relevant. I would recommend this
book to anyone who cares about music.
Background music: David Byrne and Brian Eno - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Back when I was a music major in college, I took a class in chamber
music. We formed a woodwind quartet and our professor was a stickler for
tone. We would practice one note for an hour and a half every week,
tuning and playing, tuning and playing. We were about to mutiny when all
of a sudden as we played that one C note, another tone in perfect
harmony (the third interval E for you musicians) resounded in our ears
as clear at if it was being played externally. We knew we all heard it
from the shocked looks on our faces. The professor jubilantly exclaims
"Now that's what I was listening for!". We continued to play that one
note for the rest of the session marveling in the harmonic sound. The
realization that our ears could generate perfect harmony from the
playing of one perfect pitch was like a spiritual revelation...one of
those mysterious yet enlightening experiences we rarely get.
So
you must forgive me if I do not find Algernon Blackwood's assertion that
sound is the key to the mysteries of the universe in The Human Chord
all that far fetched. Chanting certainly has been used throughout
history to find enlightenment and to become one with nature. Also, that
one's true name is all-powering or that the true name of the gods hold
vast powers if you know it and can harness it is another hypothesis
resonating since ancient times. Blackwood uses these ideas in this
enchantingly dark novel that pits the main protagonist in the choice
between being like the gods or fulfilling more humble joys in the world
as he knows it. Of the early 20th century writers of horror fantasy, I
find Blackwood to be the most original because his horror is based on
the secrets of the universe being awe inspiring and world-changing
rather than the "Unspeakable horrors" of Lovecraft's ancient ones or
Machen's ideas of nature as evil and decadent. Blackwood's own
fascination with the occult plays heavily here but so does his love of
nature and his interest in Zen and Cabalist thought. This is the first
novel I've read of Blackwood's but I have read many of his short
stories. As always, Blackwood relies on atmosphere rather than pure
scare to disorient the reader's perceptions. The author's
characterizations are also central to his tale. The three main
characters embody different parts of our humanity. Spinrobin is the
everyman who is dissatisfied with his reality but doesn't know why,
Miriam is the embodiment of innocence, and the Rev. Skale (Scales?? I'm
sure the pun is intentional) is a version of Captain Ahab, an obsessive
seeker of a goal that can easily destroy him as well as make him equal
to the gods. The Human Chord can work on many levels beside just being a good fantasy tale which is the very definitive of a classic in horror or fantasy.
Back in the late 70s, I was given tickets by a friend who worked at a
radio station to see drummer Buddy Rich at the Starwood, a club in
Hollywood. I was a big jazz fan but I tended to gravitate to the modern
stuff a la Coltrane, Miles, and Coleman. In my mind, Buddy Rich was a
relic of the Swing Era. I found out I was wrong. His big band was great
but Buddy Rich was incredible. It was like watching a magician and
thinking, "How in the hell can he do that?". There may have been more
innovative drummers but on a level of pure technical virtuosity, Buddy
Rich was to the drums what Art Tatum was to the piano and Buddy Defranco
was to the clarinet. If you know anything about jazz, you know that is
high praise indeed.
Traps - The Drum Wonder:The Life of Buddy Rich
is written by his long-time friend Mel Torme, a jazz giant in his own
right. He also proves to be an excellent writer. Torme exhibits a great
fondness for his friend. But unlike other biographies written by friends
and family, Torme is not afraid to examine The drummer's darker side
which could be quite dark indeed. Rich was known for being abrasive, an
immature practical joker and a scrapper. His scrabbles with Frank
Sinatra are legendary and he once got into a fist fight with Dusty
Springfield! But he was also a contradiction from the jazz man
stereotype. He rarely drank, didn't use drugs except for marijuana and
he was generous to a fault. What I didn't know about him was that he
became a star on the vaudeville circuit at the age of two. That was
where the vaudeville stage name of Trap the Drum Wonder came into being.
He was the highest paid child star in the early 20s, only topped by
Charlie Chaplin's prodigy Jackie Googan in the mid 20s. (Yes, that would
be the same Jackie Googan that played Uncle Fester in The Adams
Family). In his late teens, he took up the occupation as a jazz drummer
much to the disfavor of his father who wanted him to continue in
vaudeville. Soon he was highly in demand with the up and coming swing
bands and later started his own band.
Buddy Rich's Big Band was
unusual in the fac that its greatest success was in the 60s and 70s well
beyond the pinnacle of the big band era. Mel Torme, who was not a bad
drummer himself as well as being a great jazz singer, charts Rich's
career from the early bands of Artie Shaw and Tommy Dorsey to his
success with his own band. The author also has a deft knowledge of music
and drumming and explain why Rich is important to the jazz scene. Torme
also has a good grip of Rich's infamous wit. In the middle of his first
heart attack while being wheeled into the operating room, a nurse asked
him if he was allergic to anything. "Yes", he replied, "Country and
western music."
This is one of the better music biographies I
have read with a good balance of personal recollections and musical
insight. Highly recommended to drum aficionados, jazz fans and music
lovers.
As a parting gift, I leave you with a clip of a duel between Buddy Rich and my second favorite drummer.
"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"
I
know very little about Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians. What I do
know is that my father liked them. When I was a kid he would start
singing the above ditty every time we went into a Baskin-Robbins. It is
amazing that I survived something like that.
The other thing I
know about Fred Waring is that there is a major thoroughfare just down
the street from me that dissects the Palm Springs area called Fred
Waring Dr. to which most people, on telling them to make a right on Fred
Waring Dr., says "Who's Fred Waring?"
Fred Waring had a very
popular band in the 20s and onward. Mr. Waring continued into the 70s
with his band yet they are virtually unknown now. When I saw this now
out-of-print biography in the library I decided to find an answer to the
question, "Who is Fred Waring?"
When people write the history
of American popular music, you will see names like Duke Ellington, Louis
Armstrong, and Jelly Roll Morton. These men are truly innovative giants
in American music. But what the history books do not tell you is that
the bulk of Americans back in the early 20th century didn't fill their
pop charts with music of these giants. The really popular musicians were
men like Paul Whiteman, Rudy Vallee, Guy Lombardo and Fred Waring. Like
today, the bulk of American don't listen to jazz, blues, or any of the
other genres that are deemed quality American music. The pop music of
the masses is a mainstream sound that usually was geared to the lowest
common denomination and often sounded like it was manufactured. You
could dance to it and not have to think too hard. Just like the
mainstream pop music of today. If Fred Waring was alive today, he would
be Justin Beiber.
Fred Waring's music is pleasant and very
professional. His gamut ran from light classic to traditional American
folk to dance tunes to novelty numbers, all well arranged, cotton
candied, and geared to sound alike. Virginia Waring, the author of this
book and Fred 's third and last wife, gives us a fairly comprehensive
account of Waring's life. Waring's most important contribution to pop
music according to Virginia Waring is that he popularized the chorale or
glee club sound (and you thought that was done by the TV show GLEE
didn't you?) and combined it with an orchestra and big band sound.In
the foreword which is written by the great chorale master Robert Shaw
who was himself a Pennsylvanians in his early years says, "It is certain
to me that tours in the United States of the Bach B Minor Mass and the Mozart Requiemwould
not have been possible had not Fred Waring help simulated and helped to
create an audience for choral music." I would find that an utterly
ridiculous statement except for the fact that it comes from the man who did present classical choral music to the modern masses.
It
would have been nice if Ms Waring spent some part of the book on why
she thinks that Waring's music is so important. She doesn't but she does
spend much time on everything else and mostly on his business sense,
which was quite remarkable, and his family. But don't expect any gossip.
According to this book, The Warings makes the Nelsons seem like the
Osbournes. There is even a full chapter that is written solely to prove
that Mr. Waring was not anti-Semitic! By the time the book was through, I
was convinced that Waring's major claim to music is that he learned
how to make a major corporation out of a musical organization. And that
is still a talent you can see in our music moguls today.
There
was one amazing fact I learned. Fred Waring invented the Waring blender
and used it to make daiquiris on the road for Rudy Vallee!
There
was another thing I found rather curious. If you look at the musicians
that came out of the bands of the 30s and 40s including the highly
popular easy listening Paul Whiteman Orchestra, you would have an
impressive list of some of the best jazz and pop musiciana to grace the
American music scene in the mid 20th century. In perusing the names of
musician that came out of the Waring Orchestra I found no memorable
names with the exception of Robert Shaw.
One very nice touch to this book is an accompanying 28 track CD of the music of Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians.
Overall,
this biography is very entertaining.It does give you a good look at the
music entertainment scene in the early 20th century. But I do not think
it really add much to the mosaic of American music.
This 600 plus page book of letters by and to American
composer/conductor/pianist Leonard Bernstein is a revelation. The first
thing that becomes obvious is that Bernstein is a really good letter
writer. The second thing is how well structured and thought-out this
epistemological work is. The editor Nigel Simeone organized the lettesr
chronologically and in divisions emphasizing phases of the composer's
life. Then he provides a biographical summary for each phase. There are
plenty of footnotes clarifying the things and persons mentioned in the
letter which are just as fascinating as the letters themselves. The
result ends up almost like a autobiography in that it covers most of the
important aspect of his life. This is one of the few books of letters
that I read enthusiastically from cover to cover.
Leonard
Bernstein was a complex individual and the letters reveal this. There is
much written about his music but there is also much revealed about the
man's own personality, strengths and weaknesses. The letters begin in
1932 when Bernstein was 14 and continue to his death in 1990. The first
letters are interesting in that they show a young protege in transition
as he converses with his family and mentors. I was amused at all the
important persons in his life that urged him to specialize in one thing
rather than to stretch himself thin in the areas of composing,
conducting, and performing. Bernstein did not take their advice and in
hindsight we can say he made the right choice. The letters become much
more revealing as he develop and is considered an equal by his peers.
The letters between Bernstein and Aaron Copland are especially
affectionate. In some ways they are more intimate than those between his
wife in later years.
Which brings up a particular issue in his
life. Bernstein came out about his homosexuality in the late 70s. Yet
these letters, especially the earlier ones, show a man who was at times
uncomfortable with his sexuality. The letters with his partners show
much affection yet the 40s and 50s were not a time to be honest and open
about this issue. Not to mention that the House of Unamerican
Activities had their eye on him for many of his social concerns which
they deemed suspicious. Some of the letters address this including an
affidavit by the composer sent to the HUA that is disturbing in that any
one would be so accused and expected to defend themselves in this way
just to be able to continue to make a living. Later Bernstein's
sexuality and habits became aa problem his marriage and these are
addressed only briefly in later letters.
There are specific areas that I especially found interesting. There is an entire chapter on West Side Story
mentioning many of the aspects that were involved in bringing this work
to light. Being a clarinetist, I was very intrigued in his early
Clarinet Sonata and his dialogues with clarinetist David Oppenheim. The
sonata was Bernstein's first published work. There is a lot of good
information on Bernstein's compositions and how they came about. If you
are a music fanatic who likes to analyze compositions, you will have a
field day here. I also enjoyed hearing about Bernstein's Mass
as I was attended the Los Angeles premiere in the 70s at the Mark Taper
Forum. But there are also plenty of letters that are simply casual and
gives you a look at his daily life. One of the more endearing letter is a
short one by 10 year old Yo Yo Ma inviting Bernstein to his cello
recital.
Nigel Simeone does a surperb job organizing these
letters and placing them in a context that not only educates but
entertains; not a modest feat at all. If you enoy the music of Leonard
Bernstein or have a love for 20th century classical music then this book
is a must.
Background CD: Leonard Bernstein, Kiri Te Kanawa, Jose Carreras - Leonard Bernstein Conducts West Side Story
