Hans Keller and Schoenberg via You Tube

Many years ago (circa 1959) a couple of friends and I attended a string quartet recital by the University of Michigan, School of Music's Stanley String Quartet. At that time we didn't know what was in store for us musically. I'm sure that one of us knew something about the string quatet genre, poppa Haydn and his boys, Mozart and Beethoven.
     What was most appearent to my boys and me when we sat down in our seats in the small auditorium in the Rackham Building in Detroit was this: there were ashtrays affixed to the backs of the seats. Given this most appealling bit of interior design, we all lit up and smolked our cigarettes throughout the Stanley's recital. Whenever I think about this episode, and the look on the first violinist's face, I shutter. At the time my chamber music vinyl recordings consisted of Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Norman Granz's Jam Session and JATP, The Budapest Quartet's Beethoven, No. 15 in A minor, op. 132, The Juillard Quartet's Bartók Nos. 1 & 2, and Schoenberg's Nos. 1 & 2. These wonderful recordings have been reissued as parts of CD box sets.
     I spent yesterday afternoon with the musician Hans Keller (1919 - 1985), with, that is, his fabulous BBC broadcasts -- The Keller Instinct, Parts 1 - 4, Chamber Music, Mozart, Parts 1 & 2, Keller on Fortwängler, 'Performing Greatness', Parts 1 & 2, and 'Portrait of Schoenberg, BBC (Radio, 1967).
     I came to Hans Keller, to his writing, through my interest in chamber music, through my interest in the quartets and trios of Haydn, the quartets and quintets of Mozart, the trios, quartets, and quartets of Beethoven, and the quartets of Arnold Schoenberg. I purchased and read Keller's great work, The Great Haydn Quartets, 1986. In the composer Benjamin Britten's words,

Hans Keller knows more about the string quartets, and understands them better, than anybody else, . . . composers and players included.

Tune into Hans Keller and You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hans+keller

EDGEFEST [18] 2014 - Very Sound!

The 2014 EDGEFEST in Ann Arbor, Michigan at, and because of, the Kerrytown Concert House -- Deanna Relyea, Director and Dave Lynch, EdgeFest Founder and Director (1997 - 2006) -- was a tremendous artistic success. To my ears it was the best EdgeFestival in recent years. Most, perhaps all!, of my oldest and dearest friends were there -- Bill, Bill, Carole and Jim. This year's EdgeFest had as its theme (or 'hook' in the lingo of PR) the contrabass. There were virtuosi all over the Kerrytown space: I heard Diana Gannett, Mark Dresser, Mark Helias, Brad Jones, Harrison Bankhead, and the ubiquitous William Parker. The percussionists Tom Rainey, George Schuller, and the ubiquitous Hamid Drake were essential to the music, providing melodious rhythmic magic. I hadn't heard of the splendid percussionist Aveeayl Ra who provided everything rhythmic for Harrison Bankhead's quartet.
  There were numerous sonic surprises for me. The virtuosic saxophonists Roy Nathanson (as & ss) and Mars Williams (ts & ss). I had not heard of either of these fine musicians before. I regret having missed Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass) group with Mars Williams and the always inventive percussionist  Tim Daisy.
  Harrison Bankhead's quartet with Mars Williams and Ed Wilkerson, reeds and Avreeayl Ra drums gave a musically thrilling performance on Friday (10/17/14). William Parker's "In Order to Survive" played two sets of inspired music on Saturday (10/18/14). His regular group consisting of Hamid Drake (d), Dave Burrell (p), Rob Brown (as), and Lewis Barnes (t) was augmented by Steve Swell (tb) and Kidd Jordan (ts).
  The 2014 EdgeFest provided its audience with some of the world's finest creative, improvising musicians and This Music (the late Bill Dixon's term) of the highest order.      

Lots of Love to Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett, and David Murray

Oliver Lake

Hamiet Bluiett Being Honored

Bright Moments: Guelph Festival 2014 & EdgeFest 2014

Distressing military action at home and abroad has kept me from my blogging activities - I've been obsessed with reading The Guardian, Truth Dig, and Juan Cole's blog, Informed Consent. My other recent reading obsessions have been Thucydides and David Hume - jolly stuff.

Guelph Music Festival
My friend, Jim Murphy, and I have attended five or six Guelph (Ontario, Canada) creative music festivals. Past highlights have included Anthony Braxton, William Parker's Curtis Mayfield Project, Marilyn Crispell, Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra with Carla Bley, Henry Threadgill, Peter Brötzmann, Kidd Jordan with Joel Futterman. Guelph, Ontario, Canada is a charming college town with good food and delightful pubs featuring fine Canadian ales.
    As I write, I'm listening an exciting CD entitled Beyond Quantum that features Anthony Braxton, reeds; William Parker, contrabass; and Milford Graves, percussion.
    Highlights of this year's Guelph Festival were the trios of pianist Randy Weston and Milford Graves with D. D. Jackson, piano and Kidd Jordan, tenor saxophone and The Sun Ra Arkestra led by alto saxophonist Marshall Allen. I must note straight away that the dance company that performed (can't say "danced") with the Arkestra was not a good idea. The Arkestra was very hot and hit every thing it played, from Duke Ellington's Black and Tan Fantasy through Sun Ra's tunes, Body and Soul and Cocktails for Two. The dance company was an unmusical distraction.
    The Milford Graves, D. D. Jackson, Kidd Jordan performance was high energy, free improvisation of the highest order. I was pleased to see and hear D. D. Jackson in this context.
    P.S. DAMN! How could I have failed to include pianist Vijay Iyer and his trio? They gave a wonderful performance.

EdgeFest 2014 - Ann Arbor, Mi.
The EdgeFest begins October 15 and runs for four days, ending Saturday with William Parker's all star band: Dave Burrell, Kidd Jordan, Rob Brown among others. This years festival features the contrabass. I'm certainly looking forward to being in Ann Arbor and not in Columbus, Ohio.
    Below are links to a YouTube documentary about Milford Graves and David Murray.

David Murray & Raymond White

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tNqs8hs9p4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU3La5e9r6U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu4GmHNw4is

Letter to Christopher Hitchens

January 11, 2010

Dear Sir:

Because you reckon yourself to be the expert on

religion, world affairs & c., one can understand why

you would believe the stage of letters is not big

enough for you and Gore Vidal. Just as you didn't

give Richard Robinson enough credit in 'your' book

on religion; you don't give Mr. Vidal enough credit

for being nearly on the mark where you are so far

off the mark in your views on world affairs---

especially United States foreign policy.

It appears to this reader that your Vanity Fair article

establishes that Mr. Vidal and his views have

become strange (outrageous). But "strange" in what

sense? I direct your attention to Gregory Vlastos'

Socrates, page 1 where, regarding Socrates'

"strangeness", Vlastos cites Alcibiates' speech

about Socrates in the Symposium:

"Such is his strangeness that you will search and

search among those living now and among men of

the past, and never come close to what he is

himself and to the things he says." (221D)

Mr. Hitchens, you have not come close to revealing

to your readers Mr. Vidal's 'strangeness'. When you

attempt to see Mr. Vidal and understand his

strangeness and his irony, you see someone else.

Who could it be?

To invoke (and give credit to) Karl Kraus: Mr.

Hitchens, like psychoanalysis, "you are the disease

that reckons itself to be a cure". And like the

psychoanalyst and the preacher you are overpaid

for what you profess to do. What disease? The

Pop-Journalist's disease. The Fox 'News', CNN

diseases:

"I'm Christopher Hitchens, I'm (used to be) a

serious journalist. Gore Vidal used to be a lot of

fun, and almost serious. I'm Christopher Hitchens, I

write for Vanity Fair.... Gore Vidal gives interviews

to everyone but me.... I'll fix that. I'll blast the

interviewer and interviewee. I'll sell some

magazines!"

"Success is counted sweetest by those....."

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Like you, I

used to be a fan of yours.

Happy Days,

Raymond White

Columbus, Ohio

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/02/hitchens-201002

Spike Lee Dogs Woody Allen - Rediscovering Pauline Kael

Spike Lee's 2002 film, 25th Hour was shown on one of my cable channels a few days ago. I'm not a fan of most recent films that I've seen. Having spent so many hours viewing innovative European, Asian, and other non-American films at the Detroit Institute of Arts — its Detroit Film Theatre, part of the the fabulous '60s experience; — over the past twenty years I haven't been inclined to view films in commercial film theaters — especially not in Columbus, Ohio. The bits of Mr. Lee's other films that I have seen haven't impressed me. But let me say straight away that I don't care for movies that much anyway — like opera there are too many people involved. There are occasional surprises however. In my February 24, 2014 post I wrote:

 Watching Play It To The Bone it was hard for me to imagine that this film was made in America. It also joins the ranks of my British favorite films - Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Layer Cake. It also joins the very dark French comedy(?) Crime d‘ Amour (Love Crime) by the late Alain Corneau on my faves list.

    To this short list, I add Spike Lee's 25th Hour. First of all one has to give Mr. Lee credit for being able to get his films produced and presented at all. What follows is not a review of 25th Hour. What I'm up to in what follows is a comparison of certain aspects of Mr. Lee's 25th Hour with Mr. Woody Allen's Manhattan.

    Both films are homages to NYC: Allen's is pre-9/11, Lee's is post-9/11. Both films feature scenes shot at the East River. Both East River scenes include two people and a dog. (See below) Both are love stories centered on mistrust — mistrust of love with its attendant betrayal. Manhattan is an upper east-side fantasy with a private high school love interest of Allen's character (Isaac), restaurants: Elaine’s and Russian Tea Room. 

    The 25th Hour has an adult (teacher) and a 17 year old private high school love interest—Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his student (Anna Paquin), a club/disco scene and Brighton Beach Russian/Ukrainian gangsters. Both films treat socio-economic privilege: in Woody Allen's Upper East-Side fantasy the street to the private high school experience is paved with parental/trust fund gold; Spike Lee's way to a private high school education is through a basketball scholarship granted to his main character, Monty, an economically disadvantaged young man, the son of a NYC fireman. There is this difference between Allen's and Lee's portrayals of sexual (and other) relationships between young women (17 year old's) and middle-aged men: in Allen's picture 'money will permit and buy one love; in Lee's picture Jacob's 17 year old student's interest in her teacher is founded on the student's desire to 'persuade' the teacher to change her grade. The teacher refuses to change the student's grade in spite fantastic desire. Allen's character, Isaac, doesn't display any moral misgivings about his relationship (sexual or otherwise) with his 17 year old mistress. 
    Allen's Isaac wants to make the grade - "How was I?" in bed sort of thing, while Lee's Mary just wants her grade changed. When asked by her teacher (Hoffman) to offer her interpretation of Andrew Marvell's poem, "To His Coy Mistress", Mary (Paquin) replies (something to the effect), "The guy was horny, and he wanted her to give it up". In Lee's world, the teacher was horny in deed, but the student wanted her teacher "to give it up", wanted a better grade.   

Manhattan (1979)

 Dog, Mary (Diane Keaton) & Isaac (Woody Allen)

25th Hour (2002)  

Monty (Edward Norton), Dog (Monty’s only friend) & Customer

In the USA love was not racially blind. Black artists who gained presence in the national media, such as Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Paul Robeson, Ethel Waters . . . , Lena Horne, and Nat King Cole, faced particular racist restrictions, most obviously in the movies, where they were never allowed to appear in romantic situations. David Schiff, The Ellington Century, p. 159

Terence Blanchard composed and conducted the music soundtrack for Spike Lee’s 25th Hour. The music is dirge-like, a lamentation for New York City and for the characters of the film — small change in The City's financial, cultural, and unethical transactions.

When I began this Woody Allen and Spike Lee Manhattan v. 25th Hour comparison I was prompted by my uneasiness with Woody Allen's New York stories, with his Anne Hall, Manhattan, Deconstructing Harry. My wife and I use to eagerly await Woody Allen's new films. And we enjoyed the afore mentioned NY stories. Upon leaving Detroit twenty years ago, and relocating to Columbus, Ohio my wife and I have been out of the movie-viewing business. There were two major reasons for our movie withdrawal: there's nothing in Columbus like the Detroit Institute of Arts' Detroit Film Theatre (DFT). When we lived in Detroit, we experienced so many great films at the DFT that we became spoiled by the (1) DFT's big screen and (2) it's director Elliot Wilhelm's adventurous programming. During our 20 year Columbus, Ohio movie drought, we've seen at most 10 films at our two 'art house theaters', Drexel and Wexner Center (Victoria's Secret).

Woody Allen's films were eagerly awaited by my wife and me. However, a friend of mine who's aesthetic judgement I trust without reservation, dismissed Woody Allen's films tout court. Liking a film or films of a Woody Allen or a Spike Lee is one thing. Criticizing films on aesthetic grounds is another thing. I enjoyed, liked, Woody Allen's films. Indeed, Allen's London, Paris and Rome films are quite awful. But I liked his NY films. But there's a trick here - I just like NY films; I love NY too!

When compared with other New York City directors - e. g., Cassavetes, Coppola, Lumet, Scorsese and Lee - there's something of interest missing from Woody Allen's films. There aren't any brown, black or beige characters in Allen's New York City films.

What about the character Cookie in Deconstructing Harry? Cookie's portrayed by a black actress, the character's black? There's also an Asian hooker in another of Allen's films. He also features big band jazz in his films' soundtracks. He plays jazz music on Monday nights.

What about that?

I know, I know! He also wears corduroys and tweed odd jackets.

I just find Woody Allen's films, his jokes, his actors, the love and death stuff past the moment, dishonest, and trite. Woody Allen operates like a real estate developer, a mall magnate - doesn't matter if the project/film is ugly and/or overbuilt/oversold or a straight-up bust, the developer/auteur gets paid first. Woody Allen could name his Rolls Royce 'First Draw'.

Not to be completed ....