A personal, curatorial & bilingual Blog about: Artistic Movements, my Art, Creativity, Innovation, Design, Leadership, Empowerment, Sustainability, Science, Jazz, Movies and other cool pursuits - Blog personal y curatorial bilingüe sobre: Movimentos Artísticos, mi Arte, Creatividad, Innovación, Diseño, Liderazgo, Empoderamiento, Sustentabilidad, Ciencia, Jazz, Películas y otros temas.
Today´s concert is one of World of Jazz (on You Tube) great collection.
A great testament to a golden time. The full concert of The Oscar Peterson Trio with Ella Fitzgerald, from the ‘Jazz at the Philharmonic’ tour 1957 (this recording is from May 5, 1957) in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, in the Netherlands.
The concert is introduced by Norman Granz himself. First he introduces the Oscar Peterson Trio with Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar and Ray Brown on bass. Later they are joined by Joe Jones on drums and Roy Eldridge on trumpet. Half way the concert Stuff Smith joins on violin. Finally, Ella Fitzgerald joins in, with Don Abney on piano.
I believe that in times like the present, where the pressures of the pandemic, plus our general economic hardships, added to the lockdowns that still exist around the world, there is nothing better than making a bit of popcorn on a Friday night and watching an old… a very old movie.
It can be in black and white or color, although, I love black and white and mono sound movies. They bring your brain down to a level of simplicity in terms of “processing power”, that is hard to beat.
For a start, the monochrome picture is asking a lot less to decipher from your brain. A full blast color 7 channel surround movie will exacerbate your brain functions so as to deal with all that complex, multi-layered information. A B&W mono sound movie just floats in, and relaxes you, while still being entertaining. On top of that, the stories are from a reality that is not our own in this day and age, so as we watch, it will feel a lot more like one of those stories mom or dad used to read to us before we went to bed.
The end result, is utter satisfaction, relaxation, and the discovery that these stories turn out to have a lot more in common with our lives that we expected, albeit far from the technological wizardry, and imbued in certain innocence that seems so distant from of our contemporary daily lives.
So, I hope you enjoy these popcorn Fridays.
TODAY´S MOVIES
This time is a war time drama. A play by John Steinbeck which became a movie in 1943.
THE MOON IS DOWN by John Steinbeck is a wartime novella about a how occupying German soldiers in Norway learn that peaceful townspeople do not like being told what to do. Taken by surprise, a small coastal town is overrun by an invading army with little resistance. The town is important because it is a port that serves a large coal mine.
Hoy, 25 de Mayo, aprovechamos este hermoso día para recordar al gran Astor Piazzolla.
“Omaggio ad Astor Piazzolla” fue realizado por la Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina entre el 25 y el 26 de Julio de 2016, en las instalaciones del Museo Nazionale del Bargello, en Florencia, Italia.
El Director es Giuseppe Lanzetta
Bandoneón: Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi
La música que escuchamos es de Lorenzo Maiani, Ennio Morricone, Astor Piazzolla, Roberto Molinelli, Luis Bacalov, Nicola Piovani.
Today´s concert is dedicated to the band of the multifaceted Jerry Gonzalez (congas, trumpet and flugelhorn). It is as much an introduction to me as it is to most of you.
I was not acquainted with this band until my dear friend, respected Argentine producer Roby Aldenbaum, pointed my nose their way.
And I have to say that I am sad and regretful. Mostly because I cannot believe that for so long (they have been around since 1994) I was unaware of their existence. Jerry has a huge career spanning decades as a session player and as a band leader, while his father was a singer and master of ceremonies during the Palladium years. I am really grateful to Roby also for finding this live concert online. This is definitely a great, tight, and world class ensemble.
Your time is not worth my explanations, particularly when you can see and hear them playing live in this great video.
Band Composition: Jerry González (Congas, Flugelhorn, Trumpet), Joe Ford (Sax), Larry Willis (Piano), Luques Curtis (Bass), Steve Berrios (Drums).
I believe that in times like the present, where the pressures of the pandemic, plus our general economic hardships, added to the lockdowns that still exist around the world, there is nothing better than making a bit of popcorn on a Friday night and watching an old… a very old movie.
It can be in black and white or color, although, I love black and white and mono sound movies. They bring your brain down to a level of simplicity in terms of “processing power”, that is hard to beat.
For a start, the monochrome picture is asking a lot less to decipher from your brain. A full blast color 7 channel surround movie will exacerbate your brain functions so as to deal with all that complex, multi-layered information. A B&W mono sound movie just floats in, and relaxes you, while still being entertaining. On top of that, the stories are from a reality that is not our own in this day and age, so as we watch, it will feel a lot more like one of those stories mom or dad used to read to us before we went to bed.
The end result, is utter satisfaction, relaxation, and the discovery that these stories turn out to have a lot more in common with our lives that we expected, albeit far from the technological wizardry, and imbued in certain innocence that seems so distant from of our contemporary daily lives.
So, I hope you enjoy these popcorn Fridays.
TODAY´S MOVIES
This time we are going for a double feature. First, definitely a classic ,plus some crazy noir.
Frank Capra´s “MEET JOHN DOE” (1948). A man needing money agrees to impersonate a non-existent person who said he’d be committing suicide as a protest, and a political movement begins (you may have seen a more recent remake a few years ago). Director: Frank Capra. Writers: Richard Connell (based on a story by Robert Presnell Sr.). It stars Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, and Edward Arnold.
Next it is the turn of “THE AMAZING MR. X”. A very underrated film in which a woman is haunted by the specter of her dead husband and soon becomes involved with a spiritualist… Director: Bernard Vorhaus. Cast: Turhan Bey, Lynn Bari, Richard Carlson, Cathy O’Donnell. From 1941.
Today´s concert is dedicated to Argentine Trio “Trio Volatil”.
A band of respected session and band musicians, these trio is made up by well known composer and soloist Joaquín Sellan on piano y keyboards, Uruguay born Fabian Miodownik (Trio Oriental) on drums, and the great bassist Jorge Rabito (session musician with a long list of work with other well known artists and bands, such as César “Banana” Pueyrredón, Rio Arriba, Maria Volonté, Cecilia Milone and Maria Paula Godoy amongs others).
This little concert is made up of a compilation of different recordings available online.
I believe that at times like the present, where the pandemic related pains haunt us, there may be nothing better to do on a Friday evening than making a bit of popcorn and watching an old movie.
It can be in black and white or color, although, I love black and white and mono sound movies. They bring your brain down to a level of simplicity in terms of “processing power”, that is hard to beat.
For a start, the monochrome picture is asking a lot less to decipher from your brain. A full blast color 7 channel surround movie will exacerbate your brain functions so as to deal with all that complex, multi-layered information. A B&W mono sound movie just floats in, and relaxes you, while still being entertaining. On top of that, the stories are from a reality that is not our own in this day and age, so as we watch, it will feel a lot more like one of those stories mom or dad used to read to us before we went to bed.
The end result, is utter satisfaction, relaxation, and the discovery that these stories turn out to have a lot more in common with our lives that we expected, albeit far from the technological wizardry, and imbued in certain innocence that seems so distant from of our contemporary daily lives.
So, I hope you enjoy these popcorn Fridays.
TODAY´S MOVIE
This time it is Noir with an art twist.
Today we watch “CRACK-UP”. Art curator George Steele experiences a train wreck…which never happened. Is he cracking up, or the victim of a plot? Directed by Irving Reis, written by John Paxton and Ben Bengal. It stars Pat O’Brien, Claire Trevor, and Herbert Marshall. The movie es from 1946.
This may be a discovery for many of you, so it is not completely live but still, a non-stop trip through many of their songs and performances.
From their website:
Club des Belugas is one of the leading Nujazz bands in Europe, perhaps in the world. They combine contemporary European Electro, Lounge & Nujazz Styles with Brazilian Beats, Swing and American Black Soul of the fifties, sixties and seventies using their unique creativity and intensity.
Since 2002 they released 11 studio albums, a 2CD live album, a live DVD, 15 singles and 1 EP.
I really enjoy them, and I hope you do too. They are a lot of fun.