Over the past five years I have had an annual photo shoot with my dear friend and trainer Teresina. Here are two (of the 500) from our most recent photo shoot. Teresina is passionate about her stationary bicycle, so this is a sexy pose with her buddy, the bike. The second one shows her surrounded by her beloved pit bulls. Any questions as to who is the pack leader here?
Welcome to SoCal brother Blake!
Young cellist, Blake Oliver, has just moved to LA and has started a blog, called Shake It and Bake It!, chronicling his adventure. Here is Blake playing the David Popper, Etude No.4 for solo cello.
I recently graduated from Northwestern University, where I studied with Hans Jensen. Ja. Now I’m a freelance cellist, which a nice way of saying that I’m unemployed.
One of my favorite 20th century artists has been the virtuosa theremin player, Clara Rockmore. I first got to know her on an LP (now on CD) called “The Art of Clara Rockmore.” I always play her performance of the Rachmaninov “Vocalese” for my young electronic composers as an example of EXPRESSIVE electronic playing. Too many synthesizer players, especially in pop music, play one dynamic: loud. Clara’s sound is somewhere between a soprano operatic voice and a violin. The style of vibrato she uses was typical in both violin and operatic singing in the early 20th century. The effect of her performance to me is somewhere between a seance and slo-mo Tai chi. I feel her singing intensely, inwardly, as she plays. Notice how she “breathes” with her instrument. And that’s Dame Edna playing piano.
Alex Ross’s blog is worth $179,523.72.
How much is your blog worth?
Roger Bourland’s blog is worth $27,092.97.
How much is your blog worth?
Yesterday I seemed to see more of it than I have in quite a while. One student is terrified that if he doesn’t pass my class, his entire life and goals will be for naught. Another is terrified of an operation she has to have tomorrow. I heard from a colleague about another’s desperate actions so that people will like him. Another student is excited but nervous about going away to grad school: I offer big brotherly advice.
I will be working on a new film whose main characters are autistic. The director told me some shocking figures: in 1990, 1 in 100,000 children were autistic. Last year, 1 in 106 boys were autistic, and 1 in 160 girls are. What is going on?? And at the end of the day, one of our dear friends found out that her mother has developed a very virulent form of leukemia, and it is looking more and more like this is the end for her. Very sad. To finish the day, she told me “all the bees are dying.” You wouldn’t know from the thousands of bees all over the flowers outside my window, but if it’s true, I mourn mankind’s technological obliviousness.
Despite my altruistic compulsion to join Al Gore’s drive to save the planet, I realize and remember music’s power: to give us inner strength, to offer a background where we can sing through our tears and over the rage, to calm whatever volcanoes are bubbling up in our inner selves. How does this happen? I have no idea, but I’m happy to accept the mystery of what music is and what music does. Music can be like a multi-vitamin: something that is good for us in a variety of ways, there are different components that sooth us, or excite us, or strengthen us or heal us.
So after a day like I had yesterday, I need to sing to exorcise the emotional static that has built up in my body and spirit. I am fortunate to have such an outlet. I think I’ll go sing for the bees.
Cher Hector,
My true nature as a hermit coupled with Rufus Wainwright’s hectic touring schedule has led me to the conclusion that I am not the right teacher for him. i am happy to hear that your opium habit is now in the past and would like you to reconsider taking him back as you have clearly done a great job thus far. And, I must confess, I have a very hard time being around him as I am so, so attracted to him. I wish I had a real body so that I could touch him, and that desire gets in the way. So, I am fated to stay here in purgatory, loner that I am. I know the gods wanted me to deal with my refusal to teach my craft, but I will have to try it out on someone else, someone not gay, not cute, not distracting to me.
Please send my love to Harriet, and do send me via cloud-mail, your latest piano piece. I can’t believe that you have taken up piano composition!
Je t’embrace,
Maurice
[Painting: Harvey Dunn, "Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique" (1918) ]
“I’m Telling You Now” came out the same year HELP! did. Songs like this spelled the death of wholesome or naiive rock n roll. The psychedelic movement was about to happen. The Byrds had just released “Mr Tambourine Man” and things were starting to get very cool. The Beatles were about to go acoustic on RUBBER SOUL.
The move they are doing is called “The Freddy” and there is another song called “The Freddy” where they teach us how to do it (you really need to have both hands free to do it properly).
One interesting possibility is that Henry Kissinger appears to be playing guitar for the band (center). Note the numerous leaps for joy (not cool) and silly screams (oh puhlease).
A common conversation I have with well meaning wait staff and bartenders is as follows:
Roger: “I’ll have a Tanqueray martini straight up with an olive.”
Waiter: “Ok, that’s a TanGERay martini straight up with an olive. No problem.”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been “corrected” about its pronunciation. I look at the bottle and it is a Q and not a G, and thought that perhaps the Dutch pronounce their Q’s like G’s.
Resolved to get the question answered once and for all I wrote a customer service person at Tanqueray and got the following reply:
We value consumers such as yourself and we appreciate your enthusiasm. The
correct way to pronounce Tanqueray is Tanker-ray.
I am vindicated.
Oh dear. I’m sorry but I am obliged to share two version of Pete Seeger’s campfire classic “Where have all the flowers gone” sung in English AND in German by that great folk singer, Marlene Dietrich.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Sag Mir Wo Die Blumen Sind
I stumbled across a treasure trove (or something like that) of a 2 CD collection of rejected and unused scores. I made tremendous efforts trying to find whether it was ever actually published or whether this was something privately created by a film fanatic who has an enormous collection of film music. I’ve been sitting here for the past few hours listening to not-quite-good enough music by major film composers. Even though I have no idea what this music is being played with on the screen, there is something in each one that is, well, kinda irritating, or hack. We all need to take a break every once in a while, but what in your an in-demand film composer, you don’t always have that luxury. But sometiimes you get a wake up call. All film composers have had to do rewrites, but I am amazed that there are no John Williams scores here. [If you are curious here are two film blogs that can kill the cat. La Leyenda de Star Wars and You Don't Have to Visit this Blog.]
Rejected & Unused Scores, Vol.1
01. Jerry Goldsmith – [#01] – Two Days In The Valley [8:33]
02. Alan Silvestri – [#02] – Mission Impossible [6:37]
03. Winton Marsallis – [#03] – Rosewood [2:42]
04. Ennio Morricone – [#04] – What Dreams May Come [6:40]
05. Alex North – [#05] – 2001 [4:06]
06. John Ottman – [#06] – Holloween 20 [6:30]
07. Graeme Revell – [#07] – People Under The Stairs [4:26]
08. Coil – [#08] – Hellraiser [5:55]
09. Paul McCartney – [#09] – The Family Way [3:09]
10. Marco Beltrami – [#10] – Texas Rangers [7:43]
11. John Barry – [#11] – The Appointment [4:22]
12. James Horner – [#12] – Streets Of Fire Suite [11:52]
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