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Archive: October, 2012
EXcellent. I did a cover story on Meghan Remy/U.S. Girls back in 2010. She directed and filmed this video. The star is Lulu Hazel Turnbull.
I am loving this song. Total danceYou can download it for free at pattycrash.com.
It’s impossible not to note the influence of Chick Corea on pianist Manuel Valera, but on his latest, New Cuban Express, he follows that star down divergent and interesting pathways. Long a proponent of melding Latin rhythms with smoking post-bop, Valera adds a fusion flavor to this new project, switching between acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes, all the time maintaining strong ties with his Cuban roots. The band includes countrymen Yosvany Terry on sax and Mauricio Herrera on percussion, whose clave-tinged rhythms blend well with those of drummer Eric Doob. Valera may expand his vocabulary to use the language of Corea’s Return to Forever on this outing, but he speaks it in his own unmistakable accent.
Fri., Oct. 12, 5:45 and 7:15 p.m., free with museum admission of $16, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Ben Franklin Parkway, 215-763-8100, philamuseum.org.
Philly-based journal, record label and events producer Data Garden is bringing the botanic garden of 18th-century naturalist John Bartram into the 21st century — and beyond — with a new interactive exhibit. The Switched-On Garden 002, which marks the end of the eighth annual DesignPhiladelphia Festival, fuses elements of the digital and biological in a series of live performances and sound installations. Talking trees, simulated fireflies, improvised robotic drums and more will animate the 45 acres of historic Bartram’s Garden and invite participants to consider the relationship among music, sculpture, technology and the natural world.
Sun., Oct. 14, 2-8 p.m., free, Bartram’s Garden, 54th St. and Lindbergh Blvd., 215-729-5281, datagarden.org, designphiladelphia.org.
Podcaster and television personality Adam Carolla is sitting down with Dennis Prager for a unique event at the Kimmel Center on Saturday. They are going to be doing “an evening with” style sit-down with conversations on a variety of different topics. The 90-minute-show will include an audience Q&A.
If you’re un-familiar with Prager, Carolla says of him, “He’s on the old-school AM radio. I’ve always been a fan of the guy, I get a lot of wisdom from him. I always listened to his radio show, and eventually I [went on it] and we were really good together.”
The event is not a scripted comedy show, but rather a two-man panel discussion. “There are political topics, family, kids, basically anything that comes up. It’s really not very, very strictly formatted. We get into politics, we get into relationships, we get into religion,” says Carolla. He has participated in Dennis Prager’s “Prager University,” an online collection of videos offering short lectures on various topics. Carolla’s topic was luck.
In the half decade since his previous album, Swedish softy Jens Lekman spent several years in Melbourne, Australia, where he engaged in his usual regimen of romance and heartbreak; to judge from the barely veiled poignancy that permeates his characteristically charming I Know What Love Isn’t (Secretly Canadian), it was mostly the latter. Meanwhile, his labelmate and fellow globetrotting Gothenberger (and former Concrete) Victoria Bergsman seems to have had a somewhat easier time of it elsewhere in the Pacific: To follow up her overlooked 2009 gem East of Eden, which she recorded in Pakistan, she teamed with Henning Fürst of Balearic electro-popsters The Tough Alliance and traveled to Hawaii, emerging with the suitably sunkissed, blissfully woozy and positively love-drunk Other Worlds.
Thu., Oct. 11, 9 p.m., $18-$20, Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., 215-232-2100, utphilly.com.
As if Philadelphia Film Society boss J. Andrew Greenblatt didn’t have enough to do with the Oct. 18 start of the next edition of the annual Philadelphia Film Festival, he’s just gone and signed a long term lease (6-years, two 5-year renewals after that) for the all three floors of the grandly underutilized Roxy Screening Room on Sansom Street that starts in January, 2013. The deal was a long time coming between Greenblatt and the Roxy’s landlord John Ciccone, one we heard rumors about with lots of smoke but no fire until now. “I met John a couple years ago and we talked about the Roxy,” says Greenblatt. “At the time, the timing really wasn’t right for us. More recently, however, we reconnected and began talking.” After calling Ciccone an incredible, true patron of the arts and “much more like a partner than a landlord” Greenblatt clarifies that the new Roxy would be an independent, art-house theater showing first run titles with repertory screenings, cult faves, and retrospectives thrown in for spice. Just because the Film Society has its own space doesn’t mean that it won’t continue its usual additional film showings throughout the city. “We are continuing our partnership with University of the Arts in 2013, and will be formally announcing that series right after the Festival,” states Greenblatt. “We’re also talking with other organizations about programming at additional venues. Philadelphia is critically underserved in total screens, with only 14 in Center City — 12 at the three Ritz Theaters and two at the Roxy — so we continue to need more venues and outlets for screenings.” Lastly, in taking over the Roxy, the rise of digital projection and the end of 35mm projection was something both Ciccone and Greenblatt were aware of, and both concerned that the Roxy wasn’t able to make the transition as it was currently situated. They were wrong. The new Roxy will feature new digital projection — and seats — along with holding on to the old projector. “We still love 35mm and want to keep that format alive,” says Greenblatt. “For the festival this year, we took 35mm prints wherever possible. At the Roxy, we intend to keep a 35mm projector to continue the tradition of film as long as possible, likely showing a lot of repertory films in that format. Regarding the two additional floors at the Roxy, it’s certainly something we’ll grow into. While this is not going to happen in the immediate future, we would love to build out some micro-theaters, with seating between 30-60 per theater, on those floors, in order to allow for theatrical screenings of more films, those smaller, more experimental independents or films by local filmmakers that don’t get a national distribution push.” Here’s to the Roxy push.
Del Frisco’s GM Richie Furino and the good lady Furino are taking over the cooking duties at their Chestnut Street steakhouse Italian Wine Dinner on Oct. 17 where $50 from each $250 plate gets donated to Breastcancer.org, a nonprofit dedicated to providing reliable up-to-date information about breast cancer. Hit up Jessica Kiefer at 215-246-0533 and jkiefer@dfrg.com for info.
That’s Philly electro grooop Les Professionnels’ song “Move” you’re hearing on that first episode of this (last) season of Jersey Shore. Another local sequencer, Lushlife, did a remix and an EP is soon to drop on the CNNSSR label.
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Barbra Streisand comes with significant weight beyond mere vocal prowess. At her start, she was the singular arc between the standard song of the great composers (Porter, Berlin), several of the new cats (Bernstein, Sondheim) its lurch into Hollywood and Broadway and finally the modern Pop era. Without touching upon the rock n’ roll immediately behind her or the British Invasion/California sound to come, she paved her own way with brass and subtlety and the unapologetic authenticity of ethnicity. She was a Jewish girl with a prominent nose and a New Yawk accent and defiantly proud of it all.
With a mix of material schmaltzy and stately (and a voice to match), the Brooklyn-raised Streisand was the new show business, an unstoppable force whose flickering mezzo-soprano vocals and forceful personality could stop traffic.
She may have touched upon soft MOR rock and mildly hinted at disco throughout the ’70s and early ’80s, but the fact that Streisand hardly wavered from her singular direction is astounding, the thing that makes her iconic. The other thing (other than her outspokenness when it comes to Democratic causes and pro-gay stance) that solidifies her stature is how reticent she’s been to sing on stage; eighty one shows since 1963 by her own count.
Therefore at age 70, in possession of most of her range and with a willingness to look backwards (to her upbringing, to songs recorded that went unreleased now on her new album, Release Me) Streisand started her Back to Brooklyn tour in Philadelphia last night at the Wells Fargo Center, not counting the weeks of rehearsal and one three hour blast for 500 friends at the Liacouras Center last Friday. Bravely, Streisand didn’t stick to any listeners’ desired script or play list, opting instead to offer a few hits (a warm “People”) amongst a majority of self-chosen vocal favorites. Maybe she yakked too much, took too many breaks, missed a few cues and added in weird lines about Brooklyn's Jay-Z to the boroughs-themed “You’re the Top” — she’s got to be bugged out nervous about her next tour date at the Barclay Center — but as far as large productions went, this was the grand wazoo and the big mamoo rolled into one glittering prize.
Last week, in the Music Issue, I wrote an article on the band Baroness. In mid-August, shortly after the release of their new album Yellow & Green, the band was in a horrible bus accident while touring in England. The four band members have since been released from the hospital, and have returned to their homes in the States. For lead singer and guitarist John Baizley, home is Philadelphia, namely Mount Airy, where he’s lived for nearly two years. He was kind enough to grant City Paper the first interview since the accident, though he requested that I not ask any questions about it. We spoke on the telephone for about one hour, and since everything couldn’t possibly fit in the article, the entire interview appears here.
City Paper: When did you move to Philadelphia?
John Baizley: I moved here with my wife, my daughter and Baroness’ bass player in January 2011. It was about one week after we finished a two and a half year tour cycle. I moved here, to Mount Airy, for the express purpose of writing the new record and finding a new place to call home base. Before that, everything was based in Savannah, Georgia, where I had lived for about 10 years.
CP: Why Philadelphia?
JB: There were a few factors. We have a guitar player who lives in Virginia, in the Shenandoah Mountains, which is where the whole band grew up. And our drummer lives in Brooklyn. My goal was to find a good center ground so we didn’t have to go all the way down to Georgia to practice and prepare for tours. There was no appeal in any of the other possible cities to me. Philadelphia has a lot of the great cultural and social elements that I wanted, and, now that I have a daughter — she just turned three this August — I had to decide on a city with good education options. Philadelphia was a perfect fit for us.
On Tuesday night I had two delicious options — the tony family and friends dinner at still-unopened Red Owl Tavern at Hotel Monaco or hanging with Kevin James as he premiered his new mixed martial arts/teaching comedy Here Comes the Boom at the Prince Theater.
My dad St. Alfonso is a big Kevin James fan and wanted to meet him.
Dinner had to wait.
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