From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V4 #355 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Monday, October 5 1998 Volume 04 : Number 355 Today's Subjects: ----------------- old Happy discs [neal copperman ] At long last, live! -- Heather Nova in Cincinnati 10/3/98 [Greg Dunn ] Invading the East Coast ["Xenu's Sister" ] Re: Rearmament ["Tim" ] OAC: Little review of Heather Nova's Cinci show / meeting Heather [00jnwe] Re: At long last, live! -- Heather Nova in Cincinnati 10/3/98 [Riphug@aol] Y Kant Tori Read [Mark Lowry ] Re: At long last, live! -- Heather Nova in Cincinnati 10/3/98 [Riphug@aol] I need a Danish translation, please ;-) [Riphug@aol.com] Re: I need a Danish translation, please ;-) [Goran Larsson ] Practical Magic (update) and a mea culpa [Philip David Morgan philly contingent [Joseph Zitt ] Re: world music, Fela, Naftule, and klezmer (was Re: The Nields...and world music) [Joseph Zitt ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 23:54:58 -0600 From: neal copperman Subject: old Happy discs I've been exploring the independent stores here in Albuquerque (and finally bought MWABT, the second Happy disc I bought in this town. It was the first place I could find BtC when I was moving from CA to MD years ago too.). Anyway, I ran across a fair selection of Happy discs, including many of the old ones that are no longer available. If I remember correctly, I saw II, Warpaint, and Equipoise (and possibly more). Some used, some new. (Unfortunately, used seems to mean $10, and new seems to mean $16, which might make me consider Best Buy and Borders, something I'd never do in Baltimore.) If anyone is looking for old Happy and can't find them, I'd be willing to pick them up. Neal np: Noa - Calling nr: The Sportswriter - Richard Ford ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 01:38:50 -0500 (EST) From: Greg Dunn Subject: At long last, live! -- Heather Nova in Cincinnati 10/3/98 It's been 4 years or more since I first started listening to Heather Nova's music, and in all that time I have never had the pleasure of seeing her perform; she skipped my part of the country on her last US tour. Finally, that has changed; after tonight's concert I can die happy. :-) But for a chance Email I received Thursday, I might have missed this one, though; thanks, Jessica! Concert announcements are often lacking important information , and I was stunned to find out that Heather would be opening for another infrequent visitor to these shores, The Church. Bogart's in Cincinnati, the venue, was a place I had often wanted to go but circumstances never lined up until now. A quick flurry of Email messages later, I determined that I could shoehorn the show in between other obligations. After all, when might I get the chance again? So I took off from Columbus about 3 PM (yes, I live near Indianapolis -- long story). Knowing the Cincinnati area moderately well, I drove to the venue without a wrong turn and scoped it out. A slow drizzle was all that remained of the constant rain, but it as enough to make the weather somewhat uncomfortably cool. I paced to keep warm, chatting with a few others waiting in line until at last Jessica and Jill arrived. Amusingly, they missed the brief excitement that occurred while I was standing around. As I was talking to someone, a slim brunette and her female companion stepped into my field of view. The shock of recognition jarred my vocal cords into activity. "Heather!!!" She turned quizzically in my direction. "Er, Hi. How are you?", I finished lamely. She smiled and said, "Fine, thanks." She and Nadia, it turned out, were locked out of the venue -- a problem quickly corrected by the lady at the ticket window. As the door closed behind them, I turned to the others and we all sort of gasped simultaneously. Well, at least we knew she was here for the show! Doors-open finally came, and as our little group surged into the theater, I saw Jill streak ahead and claim one of the "Siren" promo posters on the wall. In a matter of a few seconds, the rest of us copied her actions and the walls were bare. One of the venue employees, seeing our determined assault, turned to a coworker and yelled "Run!". :-) We immediately staked out the front row, and I got a spot slighty left of center -- in my experience, the best place to be, as the performers usually move right or left of the mic when performing, and I knew Nadia would be on my side of the stage too. After a wait made tolerable by good conversation, the lights finally dimmed and Heather's band took the stage. They handled it well, starting with a beat and turning it quickly into an instrumental introduction which built to a crescendo -- and Heather, amid a flurry of lighting, bounded onto the stage with her guitar in time for the first verse of "I'm the Girl." The band was loud but very tight, and I had no problem picking Nadia's cello or keyboards out of the mix. Heather started out in good form, but rapidly picked up energy from the band and audience; she was in true rock 'n' roll mode by the end of the show. In approximate order, they played "Maybe An Angel", "Island", "Heart And Shoulder", "Walk This World", "Paper Cup", "London Rain", and finished with "Sugar." Nadia seemed to keep an even disposition throughout, filling and placing counterpoints as beautifully as always. Heather really let loose with those superb and heart-rending high notes on "Island" and "Angel", sounding as though it was an everyday occurrence to make one's vocal cords emit impossible sounds. After a brief warm-up, her astounding guitar player proceeded to nearly steal the show from Heather; why haven't we heard from this astonishingly talented lady before? Her chordal arpeggios matched Heather's rhythm parts perfectly, and when it came time to rock, she let loose with some truly shredding riffs in the solo breaks. Needless to say, the band had a plan and marched through the set list with the intent of taking no prisoners. While the dynamic range was definitely there, most of the tunes were strongly uptempo and fitting the band's strengths. I missed hearing Heather solo or with only Nadia as accompanist, but overall the effect was powerful and affirmative. Perhaps the ultimate moment in the concert was saved for last. Clearly the most dynamic version of "Sugar" I've ever heard, accented by Heather and her guitar player independently standing right smack in front of me, leaning over and playing straight in my face, inches away from our outstretched hands! The effect was literally overpowering and I nearly backed away from the intensity. Jill later commented, "She almost touched you!" As the song cranked into the improv after the last verse, Heather took off her guitar and strolled off stage; the guitar and bass players struck notes and started to unwind the low string on their instruments... ultimately, as Nadia and the drummer stopped, the descending drones started to generate extremely bizarre sounds through the effects boxes, and finally faded out. The crowd went berserk, and I thought we might actually wring an encore out of the band. Alas, their time was up, and the venue lights came on. With hopes of getting a chance to talk to Heather, we zoomed over to the stairs leading down to dressing-room-land. After a brief consultation with the security people (who in turn consulted with Heather), we were told that since there were only about 8-9 of us, we might as well come down to the dressing room instead of having Heather walk out into the noisy and cramped hallway. And indeed, we were escorted down to Heather's room and permitted to go in, 4 at a time. I was in the second wave, so I missed Andrea, Jill and Jessica's deathless conversations :-) but I managed to just avoid babbling and drooling when I entered. There was the entire band, sitting around on couches, waiting for us. I had a short chat with Heather, hopefully emphasizing how much I enjoyed the show and thanking her for her kindness, while she signed my poster and CD inserts. Nadia seemed bemused that I singled her out for praise, but she signed my poster as well. Ditto the rest of the band; they were quite happy to be included in the adulation. What an ensemble; obviously, their time on the road has turned them into a unified musical group. All too soon it was over; with a last "thanks" to Heather, I exited and floated up the stairs. Goodbyes to the other fans, and back to the highway. What an evening! I expect that the adrenaline will soon fade and I'll have to get some sleep; but it was worth every erg of energy I expended today. Heather said they were trying to get a second US tour set up after the new year; if she does, maybe I'll get to enjoy another show before the glow fades from the memory of this one... - -- | Greg Dunn | And all you touch and all you see | | gregdunn@indy.net | Is all your life will ever be. | | gregdunn@aol.com | Pink Floyd | | http://www.indy.net/~gregdunn/ | | ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 03:04:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Ofer Inbar Subject: Re: world music, Fela, Naftule, and klezmer "Jeffrey C. Burka" writes: > > For Shirim, he teamed up with Betty > > Silberman, an excellent klezmer singer. Naftule's Dream is the same > > band without Betty. > > Or with Betty, as the mood seems to strike; the Naftule's Dream track on > the Jewish Alternative Movement sampler features her, as does a > track on the first ND disc. Point. I've never seen Betty sing with them at a show that was listed as "Naftule's Dream", though. I *did* once see them do a Shirim Klezmer Orchestra show without her, which was rather strange. And it was a strange show to begin with: there's this annual concert at the Jorge Fernandez Cultural Center in Boston called "Salsa with Chutzpah", where they have a klezmer band (Shirim) and a salsa band alternate sets. Imagine a crowd of Jews and hispanics dancing a three circle hora with a salsa band on stage... > > Shirim also plays around the area sometimes. They do an > > annual concert at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, on the > > afternoon of Christmas Day (what better day to go to a Klezmer > > concert? :). > > Sounds good -- but you have to eat take-out chinese after the show, right? Heh. Well, it *is* Coolidge Corner, Brookline. Chinese is certainly not hard to find (5 Chinese places within 3 blocks, last I recall). But this is also an area where most of the stores are closed on Saturday and open on Sunday. They don't close down for Christmas. np: Actually, I'm frantically trying to open this new box that just arrived from Music Boulevard... ahhh! Alison Brown - Look Left (yes, I already had this, I keep giving it away :) Richard Shindell - Sparrows Point Ani Difranco - Living in Clip Andreas Vollenweider - The Trilogy (Behind the Gardens, Caverna Magica, White Winds, + parts of Pace Verde & Eine Art Suite) David Lanz - Skyline Firedance Happy Rhodes - Equipoise (my second Happy purchase) Cusco - Apurimac III RAM - Puritan Vodou Three of these are 2-CD sets, so that's 11 new discs. -- Cos (Ofer Inbar) -- cos@leftbank.com cos@polyamory.org "I was your Fountain of Youth, and you were my Mountain of Truth, But you have drunk me dry, and I'm afraid of heights..." -- The Nields, "Fountain of Youth" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 00:58:44 -0700 From: just plain damon Subject: Re: old Happy discs hello... >Anyway, I ran across a fair selection of Happy discs, including many of the >old ones that are no longer available. If I remember correctly, I saw II, >Warpaint, and Equipoise (and possibly more). Some used, some new. >(Unfortunately, used seems to mean $10, and new seems to mean $16, which ha, i can top that. :) although i haven't been to check on this myself, kevin-who-used-to-be-on-the-list mentioned that a local second-hand type shop had "multiple copies of most of happy's albums" (cds, up to btc) for, i believe, $5 each. so i'm quite willing to act as a conduit for these cds if anyone is interested. i don't actually know how many there are, but if anyone's looking, let me know and i'll go purchase however many i can to hand out on a first-mailed-first-served basis. hmm... i also have packages i need to mail to sherlyn and neile. this could end up being quite a post office run. i should also probably purchase myself an extra set for use as future birthday presents, or something. :) on a completely unrelated note, and for those who knew i was looking, i found a new job. unfortunately it'll be at $15/hr for at least the first six months, which for supporting two people living in vancouver is about sustenance level. :P so i'll be doing whatever contract work i can find on the side, if anyone happens to have any to offer me. :) - -damon Damon Harper des Jumeaux _/\_ "I'm Canadian, actually. damon@pobox.com __\ /__ That's like an American, Les Jums: jumeaux@pobox.com \ / but without the gun." http://pobox.com/~jumeaux/ |/||\| - Kids in the Hall ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 05:12:07 -0500 From: "Xenu's Sister" Subject: Invading the East Coast Well, we went and bought our plane tickets to the East coast. Various problems prevent us from going to the Bearsville show (mainly, not knowing what to do with ourselves in the 5 days between Bearsville and Philly, and not wanting to leave Harvo, who'll be boarded at the animal hospital, for 8 or 9 days), but we'll be going to the Philly, Troy and NYC shows. We found an *AMAZING* deal through a wonderful travel agent (Burnham Park Travel, Chicago, I think they deserve the credit) flying on United at $144.00 round trip, per person! The only hitch, a small one, is that we have to fly in and out of Newark. Here's our plans: Saturday 10th Flying United flight #636 (lv 7:30am) from Chicago O'Hare to Newark, NJ, arriving NJ 10:23 am. We'll have to figure out how to get from the Newark airport to Philadelphia, but assume we won't have any problems. If there are no busses that go directly to Philly, we'll probably take a bus into the city and take an Amtrak to Philly. We don't yet know where we're staying in Philly. Sunday 11th Happy's concert in Philly. Monday 12th Taking Amtrak train #172 (8:25am) to New York City (arriving 9:55am). We'll have just enough time to get some br/lunch in NYC. Taking Amtrak train #251 (11:55am) to Albany (arriving 2:25pm). Happy's concert in Troy. We don't yet know where we're staying in Troy/Albany. Tuesday 13th Taking Amtrak train #250 (9:10am) to New York City (arriving 11:40am). Happy's concert. We don't yet know where we're staying in New York. Wednesday 14th Flying United flight #663 from Newark (8:15pm), arriving Chicago (9:35pm) Needless to say, we have to get going on finding hotels. It turns out that besides being a holiday, there's some big conventions in Philly that weekend, so all the downtown hotels are booked solid. We might be stayiing out by the airport, maybe even on the New Jersey side, which wouldn't be a problem as long as we can get to the venue easily. I can't imagine that finding a place in the Troy/Albany area will be problem. NY will be a problem, because it's hard finding something that falls in between a flophouse and a waaaaaaay too expensive hotel. If anyone has any suggestions, we're willing to listen. I'm getting excited too! Vickie ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 20:55:47 +0000 From: "Tim" Subject: Re: Rearmament - ---------- >From: "Kevin D. Highnight" >To: afinney@ozonline.com.au >Subject: Rearmament >Date: Wed, Sep 23, 1998, 1:41 PM > >I'm sorry for being so late - I was on vacation and just read your post >from mid-August on Ecto about MY favorite Happy album! I love them all, >but I agree as well that "Rearmament" is the BEST of the early Happy >material. All the songs are just to DIE for! "Til the Dawn Breaks", "The >Issue Is", "Baby Don't Go", "Be Careful What you Say", "Crystal Orbs", the >WHOLE ALBUM! I agree that this album DID indeed showcase her AMAZING voice >much better than some of her other albums. I LOVE the early electronic >material, as well as the acoustic. 'Rearmament' gave the perfect blend of >both. And in past "Rhodeways" reader surveys, 'Rearmament' was always >voted for in the top 3 favorite albums. Nice to know that so many people agree with me on this. Now everybody, isn't it time that we revised the opinions stated on Ectoguide? If I hadn't been persuaded to ignore them by ANOTHER advocate of Rearmament, I doubt I would ever have bought the album, and I would probably never have fallen in love with Happy (as I can't imagine any other album, except perhaps now MWABT, doing the trick for me). How many Ectophiles have been turned off by those lukewarm assessments? Regards, Tim ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 12:37:13 -0500 (EST) From: 00jnweiser@bsuvc.bsu.edu Subject: OAC: Little review of Heather Nova's Cinci show / meeting Heather Hey guys, Finally got the chance to see Heather Nova last night in Cincinati... We were earlier and got to stand directly under the stage. Heather and her band are *incredible*! I can't remember the entire set but I was blown away by "Island" and "Sugar" (favorite song of hers, I think). Words can't even explain how powerful that song was... she is *tiny* and looks like she sings and plays effortlessly... The crowd was mostly The Church fans and Heather rolled her eyes several times at the people talking in the audience...there was n real interaction with the audience which disappointed me a little... But she was great and her band rocks... later we talked to her tour manager and I told him they need to play Indianapolis ;) We were able to go downstairs to meet her and have her sign a poster, and...I was excited because I've liked her for so long and think she's incredible. We went into the room where she and her band sat (and Nadia the cellist ate chinese food:) and she signed our stuff and ... seemed (to me) completely uninterested in talking to us. I got a really bad vibe from her and when we said stuff she just sort of forced a laugh...maybe this was just my perception of her, but...I don't know. It was very different from the other artists I've met in the past.. Maybe she was tired or whatever, but...I don't know. I talked to the bassist and guitarist about something they did during "Sugar" while she signed everyone else's stuff and then we left... Anyway, the show was amazing and I'm glad she did a few older songs ("Walk this world" "Island") as well as material from _Siren_. If you get a chance to see her on this tour--go! :) jessica n. weiser http://adam.nettfriends.com/Jess NP: Sheryl Crow "The Globe Sessions" NU: Bic Runga "Drive" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 14:54:32 EDT From: Riphug@aol.com Subject: Re: At long last, live! -- Heather Nova in Cincinnati 10/3/98 I'm confused. I found this information at heather's website at http://www.epiccenter.com/EpicCenter/custom/artistbio.qry?artistid=982 **In order to achieve the fresh, virtually untempered sound she wanted for Siren, Nova collaborated with experienced musicians. "This record is more raw than Oyster. I wanted the production to be less of a process and more an art of capturing the moment, with a lot more spontaneity and room for improvisation," said Heather. Her "dream team" of players included Paul Sandrone of Raissa on bass, Nicolaj Juel of Addict on guitar, Nadia Landman of Nova's live band on cello, and Geoff Dougmore of Killing Joke on drums. ** However, the names that were signed on my poster last night are Heather's, Nadia's, B*** Fridahl, Ba*** J or G, and Laurie Jenkins (who I assume must have been the fantastic guitarist). So who are these people? Jill :D ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 15:04:21 -0500 From: Mark Lowry Subject: Y Kant Tori Read A friend of mine wants to see his vinyl copy of Y Kant Tori Read, just because he has it on CD now and wants the money. If anyone's interested, make an offer. It's in mint condition. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 16:06:31 EDT From: Riphug@aol.com Subject: Re: At long last, live! -- Heather Nova in Cincinnati 10/3/98 Ok.....answering my own question here: **"Nadia Lanman, the celloist, is still in your touring band. Who are the other band members currently touring with you?" "I kinda been looking for my ideal band ever since I started, and I think I finally found them, and I hope they feel the same way (laughing). I have a Danish Bass player. His name is Bastian Juel. A Danish guitarist, a women, named Berit Fridahl. I have a English Drummer and his name is Laurie Jenkins and then there's Nadia.** Another mystery solved..... Read the complete interview at: http://snowcrash.cogsci.kun.nl/heatherinterview.html Jill ;D ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 16:48:48 EDT From: Riphug@aol.com Subject: I need a Danish translation, please ;-) **Recensionen publicerad i VLT 970827 Bitch boys Bitch boys Mega Scandinavia En dansk superkonstellation bestående av Anne Linnet, Jette Schandorf, Berit Fridahl och Rikke Veth bildar Bitch boys. Det rockar så mycket som en mogen publik tål, och kvaliteten kan bara vara hög. Men kul? Nej. Valet av cover, Kinks You really got me, understryker detta. LOTTA KARLSSON ** I'm trying to figure out if Heather Nova's guitarist, Berit Fridahl, has any albums of her own or appears on any other artists' cds...... Jill :D ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 23:32:18 +0200 (MET-DST) From: Goran Larsson Subject: Re: I need a Danish translation, please ;-) On 4 Oct, Riphug@aol.com wrote: > **Recensionen publicerad i VLT 970827 Bitch boys | **Review published in VLT [newspaper] August 8, 1997 Bitch boys > Bitch boys | Bitch boys [group/band/gang/whatever] > Mega Scandinavia | Mega Scandinavia [record company] > En dansk superkonstellation bestående av Anne Linnet, Jette Schandorf, Berit | A Danish superconstellation consisting of Anne Linnet, Jette Schandorf, Berit > Fridahl och Rikke Veth bildar Bitch boys. | Fridahl and Rikke Veth form Bitch boys. > Det rockar så mycket som en mogen publik tål, och kvaliteten kan bara vara | It rocks as much as a mature audience endures, and the quality can only be > hög. Men kul? Nej. Valet av cover, Kinks You really got me, understryker | high. But fun? No. The choice of cover, Kinks You really got me, emphasizes > detta. | this. > LOTTA KARLSSON ** | LOTTA KARLSSON ** That wasn't so har was it? Almost a one to one translation... Btw, the text isn't in Danish at all. It is Swedish. - -- Goran Larsson hoh@approve.se I was an atheist, http://home1.swipnet.se/%7Ew-12153/ until I found out I was God. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 17:42:30 EDT From: Riphug@aol.com Subject: Re: I need a Danish translation, please ;-) In a message dated 10/4/98 5:36:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time, hoh@lorelei.approve.se writes: << That wasn't so har was it? Almost a one to one translation... Btw, the text isn't in Danish at all. It is Swedish. >> I feel so unworldly :( So I've gotten the impression that the BitchBoys are kind of punk/hard rock kind of stuff? Well.....in any event, Berit sure can play a mean guitar! Jill :D Thanks for the translation! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 19:26:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Philip David Morgan Subject: Virtual Story Swap (fwd) - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 18:55:51 -0400 From: Heather Forest To: STORYTELL@VENUS.TWU.EDU Subject: Virtual Story Swap Well.. if there's still a spark to kindle, let's stoke up the fires and let the tales spin on... Here is a story I shared at Rosh Hashanna services last week.... The Prayer of the Heart The prayer of the heart sometimes has no words, It is spoken on the wings of a sigh. It needs nothing but a pure intention… The Hasidic storytellers tell of a shepherd who did not know how to read Hebrew. On day, however, he longed to pray. And so he came to the temple and began to passionately chant "Aleph Bet Gimmel Aleph Bet Gimmel..." The first three letters of the Hebrew alphabet "What are you saying!" scolded the scholars around him… "I am praying," he replied. "Praying?!" they scoffed, "That's nonsense..you are reciting the alphabet!" The scholars pecked him like birds… The shepherd simply replied, "Surly God is smart enough to put these letters together and figure out the words." Happy New Year, Heather Forest http://www.storyarts.org ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 19:32:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Philip David Morgan Subject: Practical Magic (update) and a mea culpa Good Evening, Everyone: Please disregard the "virtual story swap" message that was sent to Ecto in error. I am working in UNIX-land tonight, and I hit the wrong keys and sent the wrong message. Very sorry indeed. What follows is what I really wanted to send. It's from the Michael Nyman mailing list, and is a _Practical Magic_ soundtrack update. If true, then Warners will have to live with their scoring decision. As for the comments regarding the rest of the album, you may disregard them as easily as the story swap message. Philip David (who's tuckered out from a day in the company of local artistes, including the ecto-ish Marci Geller - yeah, right, another lame excuse) 10/4/1998 - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 11:21:57 -0400 From: Alan Andres Reply-To: Michael Nyman Mailing List To: NYMAN@LISTSERV.GRIFFO.BE Subject: Practical Magic (update) Here's more from the Film Score Monthly website: "From: wilson@teleweb.net (Jeff Wilson) For those interested, the Practical Magic soundtrack comes out on Warner/Sunset this Tuesday, and it has two tracks from Michael Nyman's rejected score, along with a wasteland of pop tunes dealing with mysticism, witches, etc. I assume this CD was well along in production when Nyman's score was rejected, since he is still listed as composer on the back of the CD where the film credits are listed. " ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 19:45:13 -0400 From: Joseph Zitt Subject: Re: dc -> philly contingent Jeffrey C. Burka wrote: > > so, like, is it time for us to start making plans? who all is going, > who's driving (I've got a car), who's staying the night, blahblahblah. I just got my ticket in the mail! So what's da scoop? Due to annoying 9to5ingness, staying the night might be counterindicated, but otherwise I'm open to anything... - -- - ---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------- |||/ Joseph Zitt ===== jzitt@humansystems.com ===== Human Systems \||| ||/ Maryland? = <*> SILENCE: The John Cage Mailing List <*> = ecto \|| |/ http://www.realtime.net/~jzitt ====== Comma: Voices of New Music \| ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 19:43:41 -0400 From: Joseph Zitt Subject: Re: world music, Fela, Naftule, and klezmer (was Re: The Nields...and world music) Jeffrey C. Burka wrote: > > Shirim also plays around the area sometimes. They do an > > annual concert at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, on the > > afternoon of Christmas Day (what better day to go to a Klezmer > > concert? :). > > Sounds good -- but you have to eat take-out chinese after the show, right? ROTFL! (Oy...) - -- - ---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------- |||/ Joseph Zitt ===== jzitt@humansystems.com ===== Human Systems \||| ||/ Maryland? = <*> SILENCE: The John Cage Mailing List <*> = ecto \|| |/ http://www.realtime.net/~jzitt ====== Comma: Voices of New Music \| ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 22:59:10 -0400 From: Joseph Zitt Subject: Re: world music, Fela, Naftule, and klezmer (was Re: The Nields...and world music) Ofer Inbar wrote: > The term "world music" is being misused when it's simply referring to > anything that is not "ours". If we in the USA can call Gamelan "world > music", then the Javanese can call cowboy poetry "world music". In > that sense, the only music that isn't "world music" is the music that > comes from the same culture as the speaker. Or, perhaps, music that > isn't roots. That makes for more convenient marketing categories (the > people who want to hear Fela are much more likely to want to hear > gamelan than the people who don't want to hear Fela), but it makes the > term useless musically. It's devoid of musical meaning. There's a really good (though a little dated) critique of "world music" titled "There is no they there", by Jody Diamond, online at http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/ReadingRoom/Newsletters/EthnoMusicology/Archive/diamond-essay > I've since talked to a Nigerian friend-of-a-friend. He grew up in > Nigeria, and told me about seeing Fela. It sounds just like what I > thought it would be like. Never seeing Fela live will probably always > remain one of the greatest regrets of my life. Have you seen the video "Fela Live"? If memory serves, it's available from Shanachie. > If you're in the Boston area... Naftule sometimes does shows at Toad > in Porter Square. Small, crammed, intimate setting, no cover charge. > A very cool place for certain kinds of music, Naftule's Dream being > one of them. Shirim also plays around the area sometimes. They do an > annual concert at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, on the > afternoon of Christmas Day (what better day to go to a Klezmer > concert? :). It usually sells out in advance. One of these years I have to get to Boston.... For several years, I ended up going to Jewish-related movies on Christmas Day. I didn't plan it that way, it just kept happening. The years that I worked for Chassidic-owned firms in Brooklyn (much of the 80s) I went to work as usual. It was amazing how much work we could get done without customers calling :-) n.p. On Wings of Song: From the Goddess/Oh Great Spirit: Uh, er... well-intentioned, no doubt, but the part that I'm listening to is a supposed Native American chant in an arrangement that sounds like the Lawrence Welk Singers fondling crystals. Oh well, it was only $2.99... - -- - ---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------- |||/ Joseph Zitt ===== jzitt@humansystems.com ===== Human Systems \||| ||/ Maryland? = <*> SILENCE: The John Cage Mailing List <*> = ecto \|| |/ http://www.realtime.net/~jzitt ====== Comma: Voices of New Music \| ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 22:59:10 -0500 From: Richard Subject: Re: Practical Magic (update) and a mea culpa Philip David spoke thusly: > Good Evening, Everyone: > > Please disregard the "virtual story swap" message that was sent to Ecto in > error. I am working in UNIX-land tonight, and I hit the wrong keys and > sent the wrong message. Very sorry indeed. You're sorry for that elegant little message that leaked into the ecto mainstream?? I, for one, enjoyed a bit of folk wisdom here, so not to worry. belated Happy New Year, r ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 22:53:02 -0400 From: pauly on the shore Subject: Re: world music, Fela, Naftule, and klezmer (was Re: The Nields...and world music) >> Shirim also plays around the area sometimes. They do an >> annual concert at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, on the >> afternoon of Christmas Day (what better day to go to a Klezmer >> concert? :). > >Sounds good -- but you have to eat take-out chinese after the show, right? altogether now... tis the season to be jorry fah rah rah rah raaaaah fah rah rah rah *ahem* (apologies to all, but that movie "a christmas story" is a time-honored tradition in my family...) woj n.p. sinead lohan -- no mermaid (still listening, still deciding...) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 23:04:18 -0400 From: pauly on the shore Subject: Re: OAC: Little review of Heather Nova's Cinci show / meeting Heather also sprach 00jnweiser@bsuvc.bsu.edu: >We were able to go downstairs to meet her and have her sign a >poster, and...I was excited because I've liked her for so long >and think she's incredible. We went into the room where she and >her band sat (and Nadia the cellist ate chinese food:) and she >signed our stuff and ... seemed (to me) completely uninterested >in talking to us. I got a really bad vibe from her and when we >said stuff she just sort of forced a laugh...maybe this was just >my perception of her, but...I don't know. It was very different >from the other artists I've met in the past.. Maybe she was >tired or whatever, but...I don't know. since seeing heather earlier this week, i've been mulling over what i thought of the show and your experience touches on the biggest problem i have with ms. nova: she seems to be just going through the motions. i still get that feeling from her songs, which seem rather formulaic to me, and her on-stage personality, which is disinterested at best. during the infamous acoustic show at lee's in toronto (which was unplugged by canadian customs which refrused to let most of the band into the country!) where she introduces the song "truth and bone" as "this song is about tearing through all the bullshit". maybe she's fallen from the path since then, but that simple statement tells me, hopefully, that my instincts are wrong. anyways, i enjoyed her show, though not as much as meredith as don, apparently. "sugar", however, was easily worth the price of admission. i just wish she had played "mother tongue" too. woj ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 23:14:31 -0400 From: pauly on the shore Subject: mary lydia ryan also sprach neal: >np: still Mary Lydia Ryan (this is a tape that Neile made for me some years >ago. Comes from the overlooked pile, which I've been enjoying a lot. Could >someine (Neile? Jeff?) tell me something about her?) one album that i know off -- which is self-titled. sounds like you already have it and know what she's like, but for the benefit of anybody else who is curious, here is what i posted about her way back when: >i just got a copy of her disc last weekend as well. she has a try-before-you- >buy arrangement: she sends you the disc and you have one week to decide what >to send her back: $15 or the disc. i've already mailed my check, so it's at >least that good. ;) neile and steve were talking about her recently and i >basically agree with what they were saying. she's a decent pianist and has a >soft, warm voice which a little-more-than-vaguely reminds me of lynn >canfield's. her songs tend towards the moody and contemplative. they're >fleshed out by a full band, but the piano subtley takes center-stage. she has a website at with samples and additional information. there is no biography, but judging from the long-out-of-date show listings, she's based in or around seattle. woj ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V4 #355 **************************