Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

7.10.20

No views today

No views today,
what will my mother say?

No views – 
I got the blues.

– Felix Morgenstern (© 2020)

Could easily be the beginning of a song, with a melody similar to that of “No milk today” by Herman’s Hermits, which inspired this ditty to some extent. Silly as it may seem, the number of views or likes something gets on the Internet has become extremely (and even monetarily) important for lots of people, so that no views may actually become a cause for the blues.

11.5.20

El Fendero – Paper Boat (2020) bei Bandcamp




Chris Fender, Paper Boat (2020)

From the lyrics:

Hey, I saw a Paper Boat
Tattooed on my girlfriend's leg ...

4.6.11

Gianmaria Testa & Paolo Fresu in Ludwigsburg

Gestern Abend besuchte ich ein wunderbares Konzert von Gianmaria Testa und Paolo Fresu im Ordenssaal von Schloss Ludwigsburg.

Das Zusammenspiel der beiden hat Geschichte. Hier ein Youtube-Video von 2009 mit einem Lied, das die beiden auch in Ludwigsburg spielten:

7.4.11

The Matapedia

What is it?
A road somewhere in Canada?

Shreds from a song
to form an inaccurate picture

"And we raced the Matapedia –
and we were not afraid"

But there is also an unexpected meeting
with room for ample speculation

"He said, 'Oh my God, it's Kate!'
'No, I'm the daughter of Kate.
My name is Martha.
Who are you?
Ma never told me about you.'"

And on they race the Matapedia,
with minutes to spare.

I imagine to board a ferry –
a ferry to somewhere or nowhere.

– Iself (© 2011)

Written for NaPoWrimo day 7 in response to the following: "Today’s prompt is one of musical ekphrasis. Ekphrastic poetry comments upon or is inspired by another work of art in a different medium. Most people think of it as a poem inspired by a painting or a sculpture. But it could also be music!"

Lest this remain too cryptic...
As pointed out by vivinfrance in her comment, the Matapedia is a river in Québec, Canada. I still think, however, that the song by Kate and Anna McGarrigle on the album of the same name I'm alluding to must refer to a road running along the river, but I could be wrong. I would assume that the Kate and Martha characters mentioned in the song are Kate McGarrigle and her daughter Martha Wainwright.

Here's a link to the song on Youtube:

30.10.10

Trip to Batumi



Ever heard of Batumi? Any idea where it might be?

Neither had I, neither did I.

But ever since attending a Quadro Nuevo concert last Wednesday here in Stuttgart I sort of know where the place is and that it’s truly anciently historical.

Because it was somewhere around Batumi that Jason of old Greek times was sent to obtain the Golden Fleece, guarded by a highly aggressive dragon.

Jason, a strapping youth not adverse to adventure and a bit naive, and some of his buddies, together called the Argonauts, went on a mission that would be, in our day and age, somewhat like latter-day astronauts flying to Mars and not knowing if you were ever going to be back within the next seventy years.

But a throne and a lovely princess were to be his rewards. And what would one not do for a throne and a lovely princess...

The “Trip to Batumi” is only one of the numerous trips the latest CD by Quadro Nuevo – appropriately titled “Grand Voyage” – takes you to – others include Portugal, Antioch (today’s Antakya) and Tunisia.

Guided musical tours by four fantastic musicians from Bavaria that are really worth it!

This CD and others by Quadro Nuevo are available at music stories or online shops, such as Amazon.

– Iself (© 2010)

PS: Curious about Batumi? Wikipedia has the answer.

21.4.10

La salsa

Alors vint la salsa...
– Gino Ducreuil
I

     The salsa enters on the tiptoes of celery
its bongos are maroon leathery mushrooms
     And the fat singer after margaritas
is pulsating fire: Celia Cruz

II

     The little black angels deform
under the blasting wall of electric strings
     Willie Colón the outlaw in-law
and this is the moment Brunilda Ruiz rises

     from a vogue for an eternally long
second-long long bridge
     The span of her foot is the graves of Puerto Rico
and the glistening rainy streets of Nueva York

     Spanish words by Adrés Eloy Blanco
music by Manual Álvarez Maciste
      for this elating bow the salsa
now playing in some nightclub in París

– Johannes Beilharz (© 1981/2010)

One quarter elemental for napowrimo #17, something elemental.

Note
Some explanation might be in order here to make this less cryptic.

This poem came about some time after the purchase of El Baquiné de Angelitos Negros, a 1977 album by Willie Colón. The cover shows dancer Brunilda Ruiz, and I somehow wove her, salsa and the much older song by Eloy Blanco and Álvarez Maciste into this poem along with salsa queen Celia Cruz, transplanting the whole show to Paris and quoting a non-existent Frenchman to introduce it.

20.4.10

I wanna be your hero

You call my attempts
risible, but please
leave me some lowly
pedestal at least

– Felix Morgenstern (© 2010)

Written for napowrimo #20, the hero poem.

A tiny little antidote to Bonnie Tyler:

10.4.10

They call him the breeze

It happened by unthought known –
he knocked up my friend

Said shucks when told
and for amendment from his native country
Há tempos ... there are times

Don’t cry sister cry – get ready
for the times to get better

– Iself (© 2010)

A late entry for napowrimo #1, iTunes on shuffle. The pieces were:

Knocked up – Kings of Leon
Don’t cry sister cry – J.J. Cale
Shucks – Bill Frisell
Unthought known – Pearl Jam
Há tempos – Legião Urbana  

From memory I added a modified version of “They call me the breeze” by J.J. Cale for the title and “Ready for the times to get better” by Crystal Gayle for closure.

26.3.08

Errol Hinston for Ruby Tuesday

Our contribution to the meme started by Leonard Blumfeld at World So Wide is an outstanding poetic version of the Rolling Stones song by French rock group Errol Hinston (courtesy of Youtube). The video stars band member Brenda Claude Esserteau featuring eclectic intonation and pronunciation:

23.2.08

A historical perspective

These are a few things that happened on February 23s a while ago (courtesy msn encarta):

1847: About 5,000 American troops commanded by General Zachary Taylor defeat some 15,000 Mexicans under General Antonio López de Santa Anna near Buena Vista, Mexico.

Way to go, Santa Anna:

Heave her up, and away we'll go
Heave away, Santianna!
Heave her up, and away we'll go
All on the plains of Mexico

~~~~~~~~~~

1870: Mississippi is formally readmitted to the Union.

~~~~~~~~~~

1934: Casey Stengel, who had previously been the team's coach, becomes the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Hhmm ... don't see the historical significance of that, but then I've never been that interested in the Brooklyn Dodgers ... or any baseball team for that matter.

~~~~~~~~~~

1940: The Walt Disney animated motion picture Pinocchio, about a wooden puppet who longs to become human, is released.

Pinocchio, as I noticed last night, also puts in guest appearances in Shrek (2001).

~~~~~~~~~~

1945: U.S. Marines capture the highest point on the island of Iwo Jima and raise the American flag for the second time that day.

Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) tells the story of the battle from the perspective of Japanese soldiers who fought in it.

~~~~~~~~~~

1997: Scottish scientists announce what they have kept secret for seven months: that they have cloned adult sheep DNA and produced a healthy sheep who they have named Dolly.

Dolly, who was apparently named after Dolly Parton, lived from 1996 to 2003.

20.2.08

Free from compositional rhetoric


Triadic Memories by Morton Feldman, played by Roger Woodward to abstract expressionist art and French and English spoken gibberish.

Ouw-oo!

"Let me down, let me down!"

"Yahoo! Dumped you in the croop you dirty breek!"

– Iself

Note
Reading about the composer Morton Feldman that he "began graphic works, with open pitch and rhythm, and music 'free from a compositional rhetoric' in early '50s," I decided to write poetry following the same principles. This is the first example of a poem that is free from compositional rhetoric. It is also quite obvious that its pitch and rhythm are open.

Retroactively attributed to Sunday Scribblings #107 – Compose.

23.2.07

Love, love, love

Inspired, in a rather roundabout way, by Rickie Lee Jones' song Running from Mercy from "Traffic From Paradise" (1993):

Oh sacred place that sets my soul alive
There's a rainbow above me that the storm clouds hide
And kind works will never die
Cuz the magic in kindness springs from the love, love, love

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x l x x x x x x L x x x x x x x x x x O x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x o x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x V x x x x x x x v x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x e x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x L o x x x x x x x x x v e x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x E x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x Love is a little lost among all those ticks x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

– Leon Blumfeld (Copyright 2007)

17.2.07

History of the 'Habanera' in a song

There is a beautiful piece by Catalan/Spanish singer/songwriter Marina Rossell about the habanera, a type of song that has been popular in the Spanish-speaking world for decades for the melancholy and nostalgia associated with it. The most famous habanera ever is La Paloma, recorded by dozens of singers, including Beniamino Gigli, Hans Albers, Bing Crosby, Elvis and Julio Iglesias.

Marina Rossell's habanera is called de qué hablas habanera and is on the CD y rodará el mundo.


Habanera, la canción sencilla es buena
por lo que dice y lo que esconde
pero qué esconde la Habanera:
historias negras entre guerras
nació la canción de seda
de historias tristes
amarradas a su vera

Habanera, the simple song is good
for what is says and for what it conceals,
but what does the Habanera conceal:
Bleak stories between wars
that gave birth to the song of silk,
sad stories
on the margins of war.
I discovered the song – and singer – on emusic, an MP3 music site I can highly recommend.

Some of Marina Rossell's CDs are available through Amazon.

8.12.06

2day & 2morrow

"What if there's no tomorrow? There wasn't one today."

- Bill Murray in Groundhog Day

When I watched this 1993 film again last night (after many years), it struck me how young and smooth Bill Murray looked in it compared to more recent movies like Broken Flowers and Lost in Translation.

By the way: Broken Flowers seems like an extension of Lost in Translation in making the actor play a persona that's even more silent and closed up in himself.

Those who haven't seen
Lost in Translation: go see it. A marvelous portrayal of alienation. And hearing Bill Murray do a karaoke number on More than this by Roxy Music alone is worth it.