Music Update
My (almost) daily mandolin practice continues (thank you, Fran, for your patient teaching). In addition to the scales, exercises and chord practice, I’ve been working for ages on a mandolin arrangement of the prelude to Bach’s Cello Suite #1 (here’s a nice version of that), and some Mozart pieces that were arranged for recorder and piano (thanks, Fran and Amy!). The mandolin is amenable to the soprano and alto parts. Unfortunately my guitar is mostly gathering dust. My progress as a musician has been slow and I won’t be ready for prime time anytime soon.
I keep joining the local ukulele jam (thanks, Marjie!). Most recently we’ve been working our way through peace and protest songs. In addition to the Peter, Paul, and Mary standards, a favorite for the group has been Linda Perry’s What’s Up (What’s Going On). Next time, I’ll bring Woody Guthrie’s All You Fascists Bound to Lose to the gathering.
My musical plodding has made me all the more appreciative of music listening, both live and recorded. I was delighted with a recent concert by the Newport String Quartet.
While visiting family in London this past November, I went to an exhibit at the Tate Modern — “Gathering Ground” — that included Bruce Conner’s 1975 film piece, “Crossroads.” “Crossroads” consists of US National Archives declassified film clips of nuclear explosion tests that took place on July 25, 1946, at Bikini Atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Accompanying the grainy black and white films of the explosions from many different angles, was electronic music composed by Terry Riley, from his 1969 album, “A Rainbow in Curved Air.” I sat in the darkened gallery for quite a while, soaking up the horror of the atomic bombs going off, while being entranced by the inventive improvisation of Riley’s synthesizer sounds. It made want to get a synthesizer and learn how to play keyboard!
Perhaps better to spend time learning to play the recorder. It is ancient and has a beautiful simplicity. New York Aunt, you are an inspiration to me in this regard.
Shout out to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk concerts. The choice of artists is always outstanding and the sound in the sets is always impeccably engineered. Watched/listened recently and loved:
In memory of Bob Weir, the Bob Weir and Wolf Bros set from five years ago, which featured Mikaela Davis on harp. I particularly liked the interplay between her harp and Bobby’s acoustic guitar and then Stratocaster on the Garcia/Hunter composition, “Bird Song.” And who doesn’t love “Ripple”?
Marc André Hamelin, playing CPE Bach, Bolcomb, and his own composition, on a beautifully recorded and somewhat twangy upright piano.
I had never heard of these guys before, but I loved this set, which showcases just about everything I love about electric guitar: Hermanos Gutiérrez.
Happy listening!