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MusicPalaver: A Newish Take on Christmas Tunes

There's no shortage of Christmas songs to be heard on the radio this week, but if you're sick of Paul McCartney simply having a wonderful Christmas time and you like dreamy and slightly melancholic women's vocals (who doesn't?!), I recommend Winter Songs, a compilation by the Hotel Cafe.  Released last year, it's a mix of classics, such as KT Tunstall singing "Sleigh "Ride" and Fiona Apple's tremulous version of "Frosty the Snowman," and new songs by female singer-songwriters.

You can find an animated video version of the title track by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson here (I warned you about the melancholy part).  They're not all sad, though.  You can listen to samples of the tracks (or buy from iTunes) here -- the third song, Lenka's "All My Bells Are Ringing," is downright cheerful.  And did I mention Fiona Apple singing "Frosty the Snowman"?

HistoryPalaver: "We Are One" Debriefing

I'd hesitated to head down for the We Are One concert and inauguration kick-off event yesterday, but I'm so glad I did.  Due to our lackadaisical attitude (and aversion to standing in the cold for hours before the concert), we got there too late to get into the secured area around the reflecting pool, but we staked out space on the Washington Monument grounds just about a minute before Springsteen kicked off the concert.  I felt a bit ridiculous taking photos of performers on the jumbotron, but it was great just to be in the half-mile presence of the Boss . . .

and the Boss . . .

When U2 came onstage -- a primary reason I made the trek -- we had a suddenly obstructed view.

We'd move a few feet into a sudden gap in the crowd on the right, and there he'd be. A few feet to the left, and again . . .  STURGILL!  I was envious of the view these nearby tree climbers had until I uploaded the photo . . .

and saw how tired and uncomfortable they look.  Enormously tall hooded men who appear from nowhere aside, the show was great.  It moved along at a fast clip and I even enjoyed performances by artists I don't care for that much.  The highlight for me -- surprisingly, since I went for Bruce and U2 -- was Mary J. Blige's rendition of "Lean On Me."  It's a wonderful song, and the crowd turned into one big dance party (well, we were really just bopping, since we were bundled up like Ralphie's little brother in "A Christmas Story").  Other highlights were the whole Mall dancing along to "Shout" (sung by Garth Brooks), and Stevie Wonder's keyboards on "Higher Ground."  The crowd was such a mix of ages and races, and it was funny to hear someone say "who's he?" when James Taylor (for instance) took the stage (though I admit I wouldn't have recognized Will.i.am in his non-hologram form).  There was something for everyone, though, as shown by the two dudes pumping their fists to John Cougar (Mellencamp?) singing "Pink Houses" and shouting "You've still got it! You've still got it!"

As we made our way east on the mall and looked back on the dispersing crowd . . .

I resolved to face the cold and the crowds tomorrow and watch the swearing in (albeit on a jumbotron) in a crush of deliriously happy people.  I'll just wear more layers.  In the meantime, if you want to see some actually good photos of yesterday's happenings, check out these great shots on my friend's blog, brettstyle.

HistoryPalaver: We Are One

This morning, as I was planning out the optimal way to go down to the Mall to see the We Are One: Opening Inaugural Ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial with the least amount of exposure to cold, waiting, and porta-potties, I was reminiscing about President Clinton's inaugural festivities, including going to a concert at the Lincoln Memorial.  I remembered at the end the whole crowd walking toward the Memorial Bridge, where the Clintons were walking to or from Arlington National Cemetery.  I remember my friend Andrea clamping her hand on my shoulder and announcing to our group of friends we had to form a human chain so we wouldn't be separated in the throngs of people. (I think of this every time I'm in a massive, moving crowd -- "form a human chain!")  What I don't remember is the cold, or the wait, or the hassle.  I don't know if that's a trick of memory, or just the result of my having been 16 years younger, and lower maintenance.

As with all rosy memories like this, I was second-guessing whether this really happened or I imagined it, but some photos on a Smithsonian website confirm what I remember.  Above is a photo showing: an "aerial view of the Lincoln Memorial during the 'Call for Reunion' a two-hour outdoor concert kicking off the Clinton/Gore Inaugural. Hundreds of thousands of people crowded onto the Mall for the free concert which featured such entertainers as Aretha Franklin, Michael Bolton, Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross and rapper L-L Cool J."  Below, "the Clintons and the Gores lead a procession of thousands across the Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington, Virginia on their way to the Bell Ringing Ceremony which was part of the kick off of the Clinton/Gore Inaugural. The procession and bell ringing followed a Call To Reunion concert at the Lincoln Memorial."

 

Finally, the photo below shows an "aerial view of the 'Reunion on the Mall' held as part of the Clinton/Gore Inaugural. With tents stretching from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, it was reported to be the largest festival ever held on the Mall. This photo was taken from a U.S. Park Police helicopter hovering so the top of the Monument is in the foreground of the picture."  I worked as a volunteer at the festival, but instead of being assigned to one of the tents featuring musical acts like Los Lobos, Robert Cray, or Little Feat, I was assigned to the Family Fun tent, where Raffi and the muppets performed, and my most difficult job was trying to placate parents who got their children there too late to see Big Bird.  (Big Bird came out and did another impromptu performance.)  I still have my red baseball cap reading "SECURITY AID The 52nd Presidential Inaugural." I wonder if that'll get me special treatment today?

If you're not going to the Mall today, HBO is showing the concert live (starting at 2:30) and on tape (at 7:00 tonight), and I understand some cable systems and satellite operators will be making it available to those subscribers who don't subscribe to HBO.  You can also watch on HBO's website.

MusicPalaver: Shine a Light for Keith's Birthday

Today was Keith Richards' 65th birthday.  (This is one of those pieces of information that takes up space in my brain where an understanding of global warming should be.)  I'll mark the occasion by urging you to go out and buy Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary, "Shine a Light," for any Stones fans on your holiday gift list.  The film shows a private benefit concert celebrating Bill Clinton's 60th birthday at the Beacon Theatre in New York, interspersed with some backstage footage and television clips from the '60s.

After I saw this at the Uptown Theater last spring I was bursting with thoughts I wanted to post, but it only remained in theaters another five minutes, so I abandoned it.  Here's what I remember: 

• The clip of Mick being interviewed in the '60s on a Granada television show by a group of very serious-looking clerics with titles like the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• Keith singing a gorgeous version of "You Got the Silver" and then, instead of letting the moment speak for itself, saying "Cool, huh?" (I think Charlie then did an incredulous double-take, though it's hard to say since he always looks like he's doing an incredulous double-take.)
• Mick's duet with Jack White on "Loving Cup" was amazing; his duet with Christina Aguilera on "Live With Me" was kinda icky.
• Ron Wood's big expensive-looking wristwatch; I mean, does he have somewhere he has to be?
• Are those fishing lures hanging from Keith's hair?
• I am in love with Bernard the back-up singer.
• Though at the beginning there are scenes of the Clintons meeting the Stones (including Hillary's mother getting a smooch from Keith), we mercifully never see the former President doing the white man's overbite in the balcony.
• I forgot about the song "She Was Hot."  What other songs have I forgotten?  I should get a new turntable.
• Keith Richards still has a nice smile.

Last week Dubliner gave me the DVD of the movie.  I just watched Keith singing "You Got the Silver." I have to admit it wasn't as moving on my substandard TV as it was on the Uptown's big screen.  You might want to add an HDTV to the package if you give this as a gift.  (Hear that Dubliner?)

By the way, getting back to Keith, did you notice back in March I managed to post a photo that showed both Rufus Sewell and Keith Richards?

MusicPalaver: White Christmas, Drifters Style

Here's my annual musical Christmas card to my father.  I wish I had an animation of his reaction when a friend sent this to him a few years ago.  Merry Christmas Dad!

MusicPalaver: Lots of Doings at the Folger

As an English major at Georgetown University, I was delighted to go to a performance of a Shakespeare play -- I don't recall which one -- in the beautiful Elizabethan theatre at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Capitol Hill.  Since then the Shakespeare Theatre Company has moved to Penn Quarter, but the Folger continues to put on exhibits, plays, and musical performances.

The Folger Consort is a chamber music ensemble, performing music from the twelfth through eighteenth centuries.  This week it celebrates Valentine's Day with "Seven Songs of Love," a program of love songs from the 13th Century, running February 15 to 17:

A rich and varied assortment of lyric song including the Gallician poet/singer Martin Codax's Seven Songs of Love, Western Europe's first song cycle.  Treating love in all its guises, the songs of the troubadours and lively dances for fiddles, harps, citole, and percussion celebrate the joy of love requited.   

In April, fans of Scotland and Shakespeare will have a treat in store with "Highland Ayres":

Macbeth's enchanted homeland has a fascinating musical tradition dating back to the Middle Ages. This trove of Scottish riches -- traditional and courtly, simple and sophisticated -- is explored with medieval accounts of battle, songs from the 16th and 17th centuries, distinctive Scottish music for pipes and fiddle, and music from the French allies of the Scots, preserved only in Edinburgh.

This musical event, running April 18 to 20, complements the Folger Theatre's production of Macbeth, which runs from February 28 to April 13.  Here's an interesting tidbit about the play:  one of its directors is Teller, of Penn & Teller, and includes magic designed by him.  (P.S. Teller is the quiet one.)  For those of you up in New Jersey, the play is running at the Two River Theater Company in Redbank until February 17.

If history is more your thing, check out the Folger Shakespeare Library's current exhibit, "History in the Making:  How Early Modern Britain Imagined Its Past":

This exhibit considers the ways in which the early modern British made, and remade, their own history. "Making History" focuses on how key events, such as the controversial execution of Mary Queen of Scots or the murderous Gunpowder Plot, were interpreted in the period, as well as on crucial ideas that helped shaped those interpretations.

It also examines some of the period's most important figures, both real (Charles I) and imaginary (Shakespeare's Falstaff), and the roles they played in the making of British Renaissance history.

"History in the Making" is on display in the Folger Great Hall until May 17, Monday through Saturday, from 10 am to 5 pm.

Folger Shakespeare Library
201 E. Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC  20003
(202) 544-4600

MusicPalaver: U2! 3D! IMAX!!!

I hadn't been giddy at a rock concert since seeing the Stones at Brendan Byrne arena in 1982, but when "City of Blinding Lights" starting pulsing through Madison Square Garden in 2005, I was exhilarated. I still well up every time I hear that song start up.  Now we can all experience it at our neighborhood IMAX theaters.  Here's what The Washington Post's Desson Thompson had to say:

Billed by its producers as the first film to be totally shot, edited and presented in digital 3-D, "U2 3D" doesn't just reprise 14 great tunes from the band's Latin American tour of 2006. Co-directors Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington practically put us behind the mike with Bono. And when we're not experiencing that electric primacy, we're huddling with his devoted followers as they wave, sing and raise their cellphones in LED reverence. In many ways, watching the movie is better than concertgoing. We can enjoy that buzzy feeling of community without the fist-pumping biker obscuring our view. And we can pound our feet to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" without anticipating the post-gig trudge to Parking Lot Hell.

Or, as Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic put it, "At times, it's sort of like getting a lap dance from Bono." (I'll leave it up to you whether that's a good thing.)

In DC it's playing at the Johnson IMAX theater at the Natural History museum.  You can buy tickets for the DC show online (for $12.50 each) here.  To find an IMAX theater near you, check out fandango.

MusicPalaver: UK? Not so much.

I was in Starbucks a couple of weeks ago and saw their new CD, "Across the Pond."  It says it includes music by "The UK's Best and Brightest."  I was delighted.  I like UK artists, particularly the best and the brightest.  I might quite like this CD.  So I picked it up.  And saw that it includes a track by Damien Rice.  He's Irish.  And by The Guggenheim Grotto.  They are Irish. (Though,truth be told, I'd never heard of them.)

Note to Starbucks:  Ireland is an independent republic -- an independence earned from hundreds of years of hard-fought struggle.  It is not part of the United Kingdom.  I emailed Starbucks to bring this to their attention.  They assured me that my feedback is very important to them.

Maybe if you buy the CD and open it up you'll find more accurate artist info on the liner notes.  (Do they still call them liner notes?)  I did not. If you did, let me know.

MusicPalaver: This Week He'll Be Saturday Night

Don't forget to set your VCR or DVR or tune in live at 11:30 this Saturday night to see Jon Bon Jovi host Saturday Night Live.

That's right -- I just plugged Jon Bon Jovi.  I can't believe it myself.  Seriously. But I hope it'll make the day of one loyal friend of Palaver.

I aim to please.

DCPalaver: Opera on the Mall

You sometimes hear people lamenting about young people's lack of enthusiasm for opera.  Given the cost of tickets, it's not surprising that it's a tough sell.  Here's a chance for the hoi polloi to get a taste of opera -- and spend a beautiful first-day-of-fall day on the mall -- for free.

Tomorrow at 2 pm, the Washington National Opera will present a simulcast of Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème at its third annual Opera on the Mall.  The event will take place on the Washington Monument grounds at Constitution Avenue and 15th Street, NW.  (The forecast calls for 80 degrees and sunny:  bring sunscreen!)  It will be simulcast to colleges and high schools around the country.  It is also being shown at the AFI Silver Theatre and Old Town Theater here in the DC area, but the AFI simulcast is sold out (so it would be wise to call the Old Town Theater in advance at 703-683-8888).  If you'd rather see La Bohème in a more traditional setting, the production continues its run at the Kennedy Center until September 30.  Though a quick glance doesn't show many tickets left, I've lucked out before by calling the Kennedy Center on the day of performance, when they sometimes release additional tickets.

And now a note for our lower-brow audience:  I was going to include in this post a photo of Opera Man.  I googled "jon lovitz opera man" under the mistaken assumption that Lovitz played that Saturday Night Live character.  Turned out Lovitz played Opera Man's brother in one episode, but Adam Sandler played Opera Man himself (how could I be so wrong?!).  I included a photo of Sandler in a previous post, so I don't dare do it again lest you think I'm Sandler-obsessed. But the search turned up a Wikipedia article about SNL characters that included this bit of Opera Man's shtick.  My favorite part is Wikipedia's explanation of the joke.

Tom Hanks-o, nominato,
second time-o, you're-a great-o!
Next year vacacion, go to France-o,
Give someone else a freakin' chance-oh!

(A movie poster of Billy Madison appears, which Adam Sandler clearly is joking that he is not Oscar worthy material given his heavy dependence on sophomoric humor.)