hrndnwmn's Open Salon Blog

My life as a man - Kathy Riordan's open call

Mon, 6 Sep 2010 10:09:22 -0400

I was raised in an old-school Catholic home, groomed to be a wife and not much else. I was discouraged from working and doing anything that would not prepare me for my inevitable role. I had to do it all on my own for the most part.

If I were a man, I would be very different.

I would still play music, but probably would have started earlier since my guy friends would have accepted me more easily into their circle. My dad, who played sax, would have supported me playing more of a guy instrument. (I was told I could play piano. I started playing bass in my 30's.) I would probably play more often because music is a guy business. (Sorry girls, I really think this is true.)

I would have had a more technical career, since my dad would have been more of a mentor and showed me more guy things. (I'm good with guy things, but was always told to leave them alone when I was a child. I also thought, "Why bother, they're not for me.") I might be an engineer or work in one of the trades.

Consequently, I would not have been so poor during my 20's and 30's. I would have traveled more as a young man. I would probably have sought out traveling as part of my work.

I would probably have married in my 30's, and would still be married. My wife would be a easy going person who works and we would raise a family.

In sum, I would be much like my male bass playing friends. They're great people. Many are hands-on workers or techies who play part time. I feel such a kinship with them. (With many thanks to Victor Wooten and his bass/nature camps, where I was very pleased to meet so many of these lovely people.)

I have no ill feelings towards my upbringing, but gender roles in that world were so rigid. It's no wonder women of my era embraced feminism so readily. Girls these days don't know how good they have it!

Jazz – From the Sublime to the Not So Exciting

Sun, 4 Oct 2009 09:10:51 -0400

I’m a huge fan of the United States Air Force Airmen of Note. Started by Glenn Miller during WWII, the band carries the legacy of jazz forward with monstrous joy. (I’ve posted about them before, so will spare you the history here.)

Friday night, they played with Joey DeFrancesco, a master of the Hammond B3 organ. Halfway through the show, the audience was standing up for each performance. There are many things to love about the Airmen, but one is that when the music is good you can see it on the faces of everyone in the band. And it was GOOD! That kind of joy is contagious and the audience becomes enraptured. Oh, and Joey was pretty wonderful too. There’s something about a well played organ and a big leslie cabinet . . .

Coming away from this show I was pleased to hear that a Grammy award winning jazz band was playing at a nearby festival. I went and was disappointed. The music was technically perfect, but it was boring. I was thinking about why one performance I saw was marvelous and one was so the other way. I wrote and re-wrote this until I got to the main point. One band was having a great time. The other didn’t appear to be having any fun at all.

Solos by the Airmen were technically perfect, and some of them lightning speed and many were a little out, i.e., jumping out of the key for a little while and then in. (Non-jazz initiated ears find this hard to understand sometimes.) You could see the band reacting to each solo, supporting the soloist, enjoying the solo. The other band’s solos were all lightning speed and technically perfect, but passed into wallpaper quickly. The other band members stepped out of the way, moved around the stage, just waiting for their turn. They were just getting through an hour long festival performance. I looked around and didn’t see too many listeners paying more then perfunctory attention. Didn’t see many people at the CD table afterwards either.

It’s unrealistic to expect every band to have a great performance, and maybe it was an off day for the other band. But it got me to thinking how support for each other translates to support from an audience. Both were playing great music, but one was successful, the other not so much. I wonder if the other band would sound better another day, but I’m not sure I’d be inclined to try.

I’m a jazz musician, a bass player and vocalist, so I think about these things. Perhaps it’s not appropriate to post this on Open Salon, but here it is anyway. I think this observation could apply to other kinds of endeavors as well.

And I do appreciate the support that OS members provide for each other. Y’all are a good bunch of folks.

In Praise of Live Concerts

Sun, 5 Jul 2009 10:07:42 -0400

Saw two performances over the weekend.

First was the InternationalYouth Orchestra at the Reston Town Center. This is a group of highly talented 8 to 21 year olds from the USA and South America who come together to play performances. Here's the set list:

- Carmen Fantasy, Pablo de Sarasate
- Bacchanale, Camille Saint-Saens
- William Tell Overture, Gioachino Rossini
- Alborada, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
- Light Calvary Overture, Franz von Suppe
- Malambo, Alberto Ginastera
- Danzon No. 2, Arturo Marquez

It was wonderful. The kids played their little butts off with intense energy. By the end of the performance, we were all standing on our feet swept up in that energy.

An interesting thing about this performance was that it was outdoors under a clear pavilion and unamplified. I moved up because I had a hard time hearing the violin soloist, who was terrific. There is a fountain behind the pavilion, and at times that noise was louder than the orchestra. Also, causal walkers-by tended to talk over the music, as if they were in a bar. But the energy was so intense that by the end everyone was wholeheartedly with them.

Second was the United States Air Force Band playing at the Air Force Memorial in Arlington Virginia. It was the first time the band had a 4th of July performance at their new venue, and I knew it would be good.

But first, a little history. My dad and grandfather (Tata) were musicians, with Tata having played in the US Army Band from the 1920's until the 1950's. Dad loved packing us all in the car and driving into DC to hear all the service bands at the Capitol, the Jefferson Memorial, or the Watergate (a concert barge on the Potomac river before all the hoo-ra in the 1970's). I have to admit that I liked the music, but it wasn't all that exciting to me. They played lots of marches and symphonic pieces, and a show tune or two. (But I think it may have helped develop my love of wide harmonies and chords with a touch of dissonance. That always gave me chills.)

Move forward to last year. I saw that the Airmen of Note, the Air Force's Jazz band, was giving a free performance with Kurt Elling as the guest. I LOVE Kurt Elling, but tix to see him at the Kennedy Center are very expensive, so I never saw him live. A free performance -- I'd be there with bells on. So on the day of the performance Hurricaine Hanna blew through town. Big rain, wind, etc. and I was thinking that the performance would be cancelled. But then things cleared up. I decided I would trek alone to the show and take my chances. There were only about 70 people in a large auditorium, but the show went on.

I sat in the 3rd row on the aisle, and didn't know what to expect. I'd heard that the Airmen of Note were great, but remembering my experience with the service bands when I was a kid, I didn't expect much. The show opened with Duke Ellington's Cottontail, and the band swung so hard I nearly fell out of my chair. They were magnificant. I was dumbfounded. A sargent named Page sang a couple standards, and she was one of the best singers I'd heard in ages. Kurt Elling was wonderful. I left feeling like the gods of music had shined upon that small audience.

I went back for other performances not only of the Airmen of Note, but of the other Air Force Band configurations. All were wonderful. So I wasn't going to miss the 4th of July at the new Memorial. I called my mom and we grabbed Eddie, our 92 year old drummer friend who lives on her street. We got there early and set-up our chairs in the front row.

Here's the synopsis from their web site: "At the Air Force Memorial, the Concert Band and Singing Sergeants will present "Red, White and Boom!" at 8 p.m. This will be conducted by The Air Force Band's new commander, Lt. Col. Alan Sierichs. He has chosen several patriotic favorites for this program, including "This Land Is Your Land," "America the Beautiful" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Euphonium soloist CMSgt Ann Hinote will be featured playing Buckley's "An American Portrait." The concert will end with Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." Come enjoy an inspiring concert and a front row seat for the National Capitol fireworks!"

Highlights: The Euphonium solo was beautiful. It was a montage of familiar patriotic melodies and when she played America the Beautiful, it was perfect. The Singing Sargents were fab. They sang America the Beautiful channeling Ray Charles with a little extra country, and we were all supposed to sing along. I couldn't; I was tearing up. They ended with the Stars and Stripes Forever, and the fireworks started before they were done. Then it got interesting.

The band was playing with their backs to the view. Mom, Eddie and I held hands and walked right in front of the band to get a better view. But then a small group of people started walking around the back of the band - which I'm sure did not make them happy. We followed suit and ended up standing on the top riser that the Singing Sargents had used, with a beautiful view of the entire show. Eddie was feeling a little unsteady so he held on to my waist the whole time. There was something perfect about this. The band didn't seem to mind, but I think they were a little surprised that we'd be so bold.

So that's the end of the post - sorry it got a little long. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

4th of July - When Patriotism Rules

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 17:07:22 -0400

The Fourth of July is my second favorite holiday. What I love about it boils down to two things:

Bald patriotism is OK on this day. The cynics quiet down, and we all take at least a minute to acknowledge that our country is a good place to live. It's flawed, full of double standards, greed, poverty, unfairness, struggles and strife. But it's also as free as a country can be with lots of opportunity. When I join the crowd and sing America the Beautiful and the Star Spangled Banner, it's not a prelude to a ball game or a ceremony of some sort, it's sung from the heart for its own sake. It's a really good feeling.
FIREWORKS!!!! I love fireworks. I love to go to displays and sit as close to them as I can. I want the ashes to fall on my face as the sky is filled with color and the booms resonate in my chest. I also love that whole communities come together to watch. It's a gentle, sweet experience that I go out of my way to have every year.

This year I will forego standing downwind of a display to hear the Air Force Band play at the Air Force Memorial, which will provide a beautiful view of the fireworks over the Washington Monument. Gonna be sweet!!

Buying a used car - something to watch

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 10:06:34 -0400

Just a quick post to let you know something that happened to me when buying a used car.

I sealed the deal. Came home and went to the internet to find the posting and lo and behold, the cost on the internet was $1,200 less than I paid.

I called my salesperson and he checked into it. Seems that they didn't update the web posting after they did their certification routine and determined that the car was worth more than they initially thought.

They paid me the difference. Woo Hoo!!!