SHOOT!!

I wrote a really cool blog (or so I thought) about Glee and, damn it, it posted with it's original date of December instead of yesterday's date. So, if you'd like to read my thoughts on Glee and the current popularity of a capella singing, scroll down a bit to December 16 (I think) and the title of the post is "Can I Call it a Comeback?".

It's Been a Long Time....

I have TOTALLY neglected this blog for a very, very long time. About 4 months, to be exact. But I've recently been inspired by a friend to pick it back up for a number of reasons.....

I've realized that I let my "life" take over and I've gotten sucked into things that don't bring me a lot of joy. In fact, all that they have brought me is a whole lot of stress and a bunch of head aches (OUCH). So I'm going to get back into the swing of things and start doing some of the things I love to do...music being one of them. Expect this to be updated instead of just sitting here stagnant and I'm also going to start a new blog that will be more "life" oriented, that way my "life" doesn't overshadow the purpose of this blog...which really is to just give my two cents about all things music. I'll continue to give my honest opinion on anything that I write about and you can feel free to post back, even if you don't agree and you think I'm full of crappola. It's possible, you know. I am not perfect, even though I did have the best hair in the dining hall in college. : )

BTW - if you want to check out my other blog, it's called "Back to One" (the address is http://back-2-1.blogspot.com/). I had it up a while ago but deleted it because it just wasn't working for me. But now, I think I need to do some writing to get stuff out of my head and to help figure stuff out. So feel free to pop over there and take a look and respond back as much as you like.

Thanks for stopping by!

"I Want to Soak Up the Sun"...???

Here we are in another wintery season here in the North East. I should be used to it by now, but every year I cringe a little when I hear the first big snow storm is coming our way. I've been lucky the last few years, we haven't been hit too hard. But it sounds like a big one is headed in this direction over the next day or so.....which got me thinking when I heard a summer-like tune on the radio this morning...

REALLY???

The radio announcer had just finished saying "up to 12 inches" (about the possible snow fall, not about his own potential), and here comes Sheryl Crow, singing about how much she wants to soak up some sun. I love me some Sheryl, don't get me wrong, but I can not take hearing about the summer when it's literally 20 degrees outside and I am bundled up like an Eskimo. Just the other day, as I was trying to defrost myself after sprinting the big 20 feet from my front door to my car in an effort to not freeze a major body part off, I heard the Kid Rock song that mentions "blister in the sun". The only blisters I was worried about at that moment were the ones that were going to form from the cold, not from the sun that I miss oh so very much.

Why in the world do the dj's insist on playing this stuff when it's so cold out? Do they like to torture their listeners? Do they think it will make us happy, thinking back to the good old days of summer when we could ride around with the "car top down and the radio on" (ala Billy Joel in "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant")?? Personally, I think they're just poking at us from inside their toasty-warm radio booths.....laughing as we sit in our cold cars, trudging through the ice and snow, weeping quietly as we remember how warm we were just a few short months ago "soaking up the sun".

Can I call it a "come back"?

I've had this one sitting in drafts for a while...figured it's about time I actually finish it and post it...

Is it just me, or is a cappella music making a come-back? This new trend seems to have been kicked off by a little TV phenomenon called "Glee" (which is returning with a new season tonight, and I am SO excited, it's a little crazy). "Glee", which centers around the lives of a bunch of high school kids and faculty that are involved with the Glee Club, has been a bigger hit on TV than I think any one could have predicted. I mean, really, a show that's all about a bunch of show choir geeks is making huge numbers every week and they were nominated for Golden Globes. And not too long ago, a new show that showcased show choirs was on my TV, holding a contest called "The Sing-Off". This was GREAT for a music geek like me!!! Finally we get recognition and the world is exposed to the glory that is choral singing! WOO HOO!!! (okay, I'll stop flying my freak flag now.....)

I've loved a cappella music for a REALLY long time....we are talking MANY years here.....we're talking about a time back before I could legally drink. I've performed in a cappella groups and I've paid to see a cappella groups. One of the most talented and amazing a cappella choirs that I have had the pleasure of seeing time and time again is Chanticleer, an all-male choral group based out of San Francisco. They perform every thing from Gregorian chant to modern musical pieces that have been arranged or composed specifically for them. There is a gentleman in the group that sings as clear and beautifully as any Operatic Soprano. Every Christmas season, they perform in the Medieval Sculpture Hall at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp) and it is an ethereal experience, to say the least. I sit there, each year, as they stand in front of this huge Christmas tree that is placed in front of a gate that has to be about 2 or 3 stories tall that was taken from a Medieval Church, and I end up in awe of the sounds they create. If you've never heard of them, check them out. Close your eyes and take it the sounds; they will amaze you.

I don't really get the idea of the "show" choir. I don't need singing AND dancing in my choral music to make it good; I'm all about the sound quality and the balance of the voices. I don't want to just hear the Sopranos, which happens a lot in a choral setting because that range of voice just carries better in most acoustics than the other parts. I want to hear a good mix of each voice part, that's the beauty of choral singing. Show choirs need to be able to do that while they shake a tail feather. Members must be athletes or super heros or some combination of both because I have no idea how they do it. Breath control ALONE is difficult to do while standing still; it's something that even the best of singers sometimes struggle with, so I can't imagine having to dance around and clap my hands and do all that fancy footwork while I sing a song! Hells no. I would probably fall all over myself, loose my breath, go flat and make a fool of myself. So I give these show choir people a ton of credit and kudos and if I could send them cupcakes, I would, but that probably wouldn't contribute to strong breath control. : )

Economy Killed the CD Star

Do you find yourself with a CD collection that has ceased from expanding? Was there a time when you found yourself regularly having to make more space in your house for your music, and now you find yourself looking for those free down-load cards at Starbucks and using that extra space for dust bunny colonies?

Maybe it's a sign of the times. Back in my early- to mid-twenties, about ten or so years ago, I would go to the music store (CD World, to be exact) and I would spend about a hundred dollars on a stack of cd's. I'd do this about once a month. Some of them used, costing around 5 dollars or less, some of them brand-new and full-price. I would buy the stuff that I loved, but I would also buy the stuff that I kind of liked; I would buy a CD from an artist that I had only heard one or two songs from because at that price, who cared? But these days, with cd's costing around $15 or more, and with my job paying less, it's not that easy to indulge my music habit.

There are some groups out there who produce really good radio hits; All American Rejects, for one, I always rock out to when they come on and I was happy to see them perform live a few years ago. But will I plunk down cash for a CD? Probably not. The same goes for a myriad of artists who's work I appreciate, but I can't justify the expense for. I've always enjoyed Ani DeFranco, who is an independent artist that puts out her own music without the marketing machine of big labels, but I've never purchased an album and I probably won't. I just don't like her "enough" to do it.

So my question to you is this - has the current economic situation forced you to change your music buying habits? If it has, has it affected what you choose to buy?

Peter Gabriel

I took a quick look through my CD collection and realized that there's a great one in the bunch that most people only associate one song with, so I decided to write about it today....

"So" is considered to be the album that was released at the pinnacle of Peter Gabriel's career. It made him a big name in the world; sure he had been in Genesis, but does anyone really remember that time? I sure as hell don't. Okay, I'm sure that some people remember it but anyone around my age or younger most likely have no idea that he was even in the group to begin with. And of course there was music that he did before this album; "Melt", for example, included the song "Games Without Frontiers" which was a minor hit for Gabriel. But "So" included the mega-gigantor hit "In Your Eyes", made popular by the movie "Say Anything" (remember John Cusack, standing outside Iyone Skye's window with the boom box....I STILL want a guy to do that for me) and the use of it at almost everyone's prom. It's on the radio in my car at least once every few days, keeping it in the front of my mind as the greatest Peter Gabriel song EVER.

But what about some of the others on the album? Aside from the other mega-gigantor hit "Sledgehammer", they're treated like red-headed step-children, let's be honest. They're ignored and never played, no one ever acknowledges them, and how many weddings have you been to where the bride and groom danced to "Don't Give Up", the duet that Gabriel sings with Kate Bush?

I'm going to address "Sledgehammer" and move on, quickly. Was the video amazing and did it make me go "ooooo" and "aaaaa" and "HOLY CRAP"? Yes. Was the song something that I actually enjoyed listening to and singing along with? NO. Come on, really, what in the hell is that song about??? I guess he's saying that he'll be anything you need....he'll give you anything you want....you can have anything you want....I don't know, it just doesn't speak to me. Never did, probably never will. Can you tell me what the heck he's trying to say?

Let's talk about "Red Rain" for a second, shall we? It seems that he's talking about pain raining down on him, "burning the ground" that he stands on.....maybe this symbolizes his moral or psychological foundations. I don't know, but it's a kick ass song and supposedly, Stewart Copeland played the high-hat that's supposed to mimic the sound of rain on the song. Pretty cool, even if it is just a rumor.

"Don't Give Up" has to be one of my favorite songs of Peter Gabriel's. The harmony between him and Kate Bush is just gorgeous, and the quality of the emotion in her voice is impeccable. No one could have sung this better than she did. And the minimal background music allows the lyrics to be showcased, and they are some of the most beautiful and moving lyrics Gabriel has written. He has been quoted saying, "The basic idea is that handling failure is one of the hardest things we have to learn to do" (quote found on songfacts.com), and who can't relate to that at some point in their lives? Who doesn't want to have someone by their side saying "don't give up.....rest your head, you worry too much.....it's gonna be alright, when times get rough, you can fall back on us"?

If you have this CD in your collection and it's getting a little dusty, maybe it's time to pop it open and give it a listen sometime soon. Appreciate the greatness that is the stuff that doesn't get radio play.

Yo-Yo Ma's new jobby job

I've always enjoyed Classical music; my mom is a HUGE Pavarotti fan (the woman cried for days when he died) and I was exposed to Classical music and Opera from an early age. When I was in college pursuing a degree in Music Education, part of completing my four semesters of a required Music History class was field trips to different cultural events. Mostly, they were concerts of Classical music performed by the NY Philharmonic. But there were some amazingly wonderful bright spots at some of those performances. One of them, was Yo-Yo Ma.

I have no idea how the Music Department arranged to get us tickets; probably the same way they got tickets for us to see Pavarotti perform in "Tosca" at the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC. Maybe they begged for them, maybe they plied the ticket agents with alcohol and took embarrassing pictures of them ; all I know is that I got to see some of the greats thanks to that college (Wagner College, Staten Island, NY) and I am eternally greatful. But any way....I still remember being mesmerized by the sounds he made with his cello. I sat practically motionless in my seat, listening to every note he played. I wasn't one to always be fully engaged in the orchestral performances. If there wasn't a singer to listen to, I wasn't all that interested. But there was something about the way that he played that just captivated me and I couldn't help but take in every note he played.

Yo-Yo Ma is one of the greats. If you have NO idea who in the heck I am talking about, he is one of the best cellist of our time. Quite possibly of all time. The emotion that he puts into his playing is amazing.....every note comes across with such technical perfection, but not without sacrificing the grace and beauty that is present in the music itself. His holiday CD, "Yo-Yo Ma & Friends, Songs of Peace and Joy" has been nominated for two Grammys. Not only is he a talented musician, but he is also deeply committed to education and community outreach programs that bring children and young adults closer to the music that he makes. He has been seen on Sesame Street and Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood and he's developed family concerts with many organizations, including a series that was performed at Carnegie Hall in NYC.

He was recently named the Creative Consultant to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His main role in this position will be to bring the Symphony's music to the city itself, in it's community centers and it's juvenile detention centers. The organization wants to encourage the young artists in the community and to engage them in making music. This is a great effort on their part to include the younger members of their city into an organization that, quite honestly, is usually seen as "high-brow". Growing up, especially in the city or inner-city, your average everyday family isn't buying tickets to the Symphony. I always thought the only people that went to their concerts were the rich; the ladies with their fur coats, the gentlemen in their tuxedos. But this isn't necessarily the case. Having attended quite a few Philharmonic performances in NYC, I can say that all walks of life attend their concerts and I would think that this is the case across the country at performances by other orchestras. Getting the youth of Chicago involved is a great idea; it can build up their self-esteem by showing them different avenues that are available for their creativity, and it can also open up a whole new world of music that they might not have been exposed to before.

Yo-Yo Ma will also be involved in programs aimed to engage college-aged and pre-college aged students, as well as arts programs geared towards the very young (ages 3-5). As a teenager who LOVED to learn new music, a program like this would have been invaluable to me. I knew fairly early on in my education that I wanted to go to school for Music Education; but it wasn't until I reached the college level that I really started to learn about the foundations of music. I knew it was there from hearing Pavarotti and Domingo sing off of scratchy records that my mom played on Sunday afternoons; but I didn't have a true appreciation of where it came from, let alone what it sounded like live, until I was in my early 20's. Who knows, maybe earlier exposure would have encouraged me to keep playing the flute or to take piano lessons a little more seriously.

The full article that I referred to earlier can be found through this link.

To learn more about Yo-Yo Ma and his music, his website is www.yo-yoma.com. His music can be heard on the soundtrack for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", as well as in many videoed performances such as the ones shown on the Yahoo Music site.