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INTERVIEWS NOAH WAY | 22 Handpicked by Jon Stewart to replace him on The Daily Show, Noah—who grew up in apartheid South Africa where the interracial marriage of his black mother and white father was considered a crime—proves himself a worthy successor.

RALPH NATALE | 24 The first American Mafia boss to turn on his own family, Natale, the star witness in Joey Merlino’s racketeering trial, was instrumental in cleansing Philly of mob corruption.

Artists of Yardley exhibition: Carol Harrison, Out of Steam, acrylic, 14.5” x 18.5”

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Just a Moment

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Before I Fall In Search of Israeli Cuisine

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EXHIBITIONS I

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FILM ROUNDUP

Charles Sheeler: Fashion, Photography & Sculptural Form James A. Michener Art Museum

The Assignment The Lost City of Z A Quiet Passion Song to Song 28

REEL NEWS

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Hidden Figures Lion Fences Kaili Blues

Morven in May: A Celebration of Art, Craft and Garden Morven Museum & Garden Silverman Gallery exhibition: Glenn Harrington, Three Sycamores, oil, 24" x 20"

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EXHIBITIONS II Downtown Bethlehem Fine Art & Craft Show Bethlehem’s historic Main Street

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Tickling Giants Glenn Harrington: Paintings from the River Valley Silverman Gallery

Cheesemaker Shai Seltzer with Mike Solomonov, In Search of Israeli Cuisine.

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JAZZ, ROCK, CLASSICAL, ALT The Microscopic Septet The Rascals Kim Kashkashian/Lera Auerbach The Flywheels Bob Berg David Murray & Aki Takase

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EXHIBITIONS IIII fiber, fabric, fashion New Hope Arts Center

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ON THE COVER: Trevor Noah, page 22. Photo: Gavin Kleinshmidt.

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SINGER / SONGWRITER John Mayall Roy Orbison David Halley Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band Vanessa Collier

The Baum School of Art’s 32nd Annual Art Auction The Baum School of Art

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First Annual Hunterdon County Open Studios Tour Hunterdon Art Museum

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FOREIGN

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Personal Shopper 32

Anne Minich: The Truth of Being Both/And PAFA

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FOODIE FILE

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POP Harmolodically Yours

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Games People Play

JAZZ LIBRARY Sonny Criss

ENTERTAINMENT

ABOUT LIFE

Theater

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Look inside. What do you see?

The List Agenda

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HARPER’S FINDINGS & INDEX

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L. A. TIMES CROSSWORD

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Filling the hunger since 1992 1-800-354-8776 • 215-862-9558

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Trina McKenna trina@icondv.com EDITORIAL Executive Editor / Trina McKenna

ART

6th Annual Juried Show AOY Art Center

The intersection of art, entertainment, culture, opinion and mad genius

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

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George Miller / gomiller@travelsdujour.com Thom Nickels / thomnickels1@aol.com

R. Kurt Osenlund / rkurtosenlund@gmail.com Bob Perkins / bjazz5@aol.com

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essAy And pAinting by robert beck

art

Just a Moment

WHEN I FIRST GOT a peek into the room next to my new studio in Manhattan it revealed a narrow path between files, bookcases, and racks of intriguing stuff—and at the far end, a guy my age at his desk lit by the blue light of his computer. I asked a friend about the neighbor and she told me he was Christopher Gray, a noted writer who once had a column in the Times and was an authority on New York buildings. This was someone I had to meet.

When I was leaving that night I glanced behind me to be sure the front door had closed and I spotted a sign taped to the glass that read: “I miss my standard poodle, Merlin.” It went on to say that the person would be glad to mind or walk anybody’s dog, “the bigger the better.” I chuckled, thinking it was a testament to people’s love of animals that someone would go so far as to put his name and cell phone number on a sign on Broadway to get some fur time. Then I saw the name of the supplicant: Christopher Gray.

This was perfect. I would be bringing Jack into the studio with me when Doreen was out of town and now I could have someone to entertain him while I worked. That night I called the number and Mr. Gray answered. I introduced myself as his new work neighbor. He said welcome to the building. I told him I would like to stop by his office to say hello, and he said that would be nice. I asked if I could bring Doreen and Jack with me. He said, “who is Jack?” I told him Jack was my 7-yearold Lab mix. “Bingo!” he yelled into the phone.

The next day I went to the studio early with the plan that Doreen would drop off Jack at noon, but before they arrived Christopher was at my door wondering where the dog was. No how-do-you-do or glad-tomeet-you; just “where’s the dog?” I was unimportant given the circumstance, which was fine. First things first.

When Doreen arrived with the dog we all went next door to Gray’s office. Jack immediately walked over and leaned against Chris, who was beaming. Chris started rubbing Jack’s neck and talking to him in that odd way people speak to pets. He sure liked Jack, and that’s where he directed his conversation. Again, Doreen and I were a distant second.

Later that afternoon I took Jack, his leash, a ball, and a bowl, to find out if Christopher wanted to look after him for a while. He asked if I had to go somewhere and I said no; I just thought he would like to have Jack around. Chris lit up in a big smile.

I went back to painting, trying to ignore the sounds of the city, dialing them down one by one. After a while I heard the ball careening off the walls and doors outside the offices. Jack was scrambling down the hall at a gallop and Chris was yelling like he was having the time of his life. It was a different kind of noise—a joyful one. All was well on the third floor.

Weeks later came the news that Chris had pneumonia and was in the hospital. Information trickled in from his assistant; he wasn’t doing well.

He had stabilized, but not until after his temperature had reached a point where serious damage occurs. He was semi-conscious. They were doing tests. Then he was gone.

The episode in the hall won’t be mentioned in the speeches at his funeral. It won’t be found in any record, or recalled by those who knew him. Christopher Gray was a wonderful man who did extraordinary things and history will remember him for his accomplishments. The Times’ obituary was about the chronology of Christopher’s life, his newspaper column, and his architectural work. It didn’t say anything about Merlin.

Life is in the living, not the recounting. In my experience, which contains an inordinate amount of things to celebrate, the best parts of life have been those simple moments of internal peace that come with knowing things are as they should be. There is nothing I savor more than harmony. The sound of Chris and Jack having a great time in the hall stay with me as an example of the pleasure to be found just being alive. I suspect he would feel the same. It’s joy, after all, that’s the goal. Not the money, not the conquest, not the fame. The joy. n

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EXHIBITIONS I

Beth Levine, Patterson, NY, leather

Charles Sheeler (1883-1965), Bobbe Arnst, Vanity Fair, July 1, 1928. © Condé Nast.

Charles Sheeler: Fashion, Photography and Sculptural Form James A. Michener Art Museum 138 S Pine St, Doylestown, PA 215-340-9800 michenerartmuseum.org March 18 - July 9, 2017

6th Annual Juried Show AOY Art Center 949 Mirror Lake Road, Yardley PA Hrs: Fri, Sat, Sun 12-5 artistsofyardley.org Through April 23, 2017

Between 1926 and 1931, Charles Sheeler worked for Condé Nast, creating fashion images and portraits for Vanity Fair and Vogue. This remarkable body of work by Sheeler has not been publicly displayed—until now.

Comprising photographs and paintings by Sheeler along with fashions of the era, the exhibit evokes the personalities, glamour, and promise of the Jazz Age, and reveals for the first time how Sheeler’s “day job” at Condé Nast shaped his aesthetic vision and artistic career.

Charles Sheeler (1883-1965), Aldous Huxley, Vanity Fair, April 1, 1927. © Condé Nast.

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Emmanuelle Glazier, Gender Dysphoria (detail) This conceptual photograph explores the experience of body shaming for transgender males. Compression bandages are used to bind breasts. As a symbol of shame, it relates to his female body, the very bandage used to wrap his chest is binding his face. 12 x 18 in. Archival Inkjet Print

“This is the only exhibition that AOY holds in which non-members can participate,” explained Devon John, the show chairperson. This year 178 artists submitted over 540 works of art to be considered by the Juror. Only 80 2-D pieces and 10 3-D pieces were selected. The Show is sponsored by Stark and Stark Attorneys At Law with cash prizes of $1,000, $500 and $250 and Jerry’s Artarama of Lawrenceville which will also provide prizes.

Alice Oh—a Professor at Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, in the Fine Arts and Foundation Department and Graduate Studio Arts—is our juror for 2017.

Fran Leyenberger “Drifting Waters” Raku ceramic cremation urn combined with natural driftwood and lamp parts, 12 x 9 in.

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Morven in May: A Celebration of Art, Craft and Garden Morven Museum & Garden 55 Stockton Street, Princeton, NJ 609-924-8144 morven.org Craft Show & Plant Sale: May 6, 10-5; May 7, 10-4 Morven in May is a juried exhibition & sale of contemporary, American-made fine craft with 36 professional artists from around the U.S. Mediums include glass, ceramics, decorative and wearable fiber, mixed media, jewelry, leather, furniture and basketry. The weekend kicks off with a Friday evening preview party. Proceeds help fund the museum’s exhibitions, historic gardens, and educational programs. Craft Show Admission: $10, ages 12 and under, free; Plant Sale Only: Free. Heirloom Plant Sale: Fragrant heirloom flowers, unique new varieties of annuals and perennials, carefully chosen flowering shrubs, and select plants from Morven’s own gardens.

David Talley, Tenants Harbor, ME, furniture

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EXHIBITIONS II

Lehigh Stream, 12 x 24 inches, oil on linen/board

Glenn Harrington: Paintings from the River Valley Silverman Gallery 4920 York Rd., Holicong, PA (Buckingham Green, Rt. 202, 5 mi. south of New Hope) 215-794-4300 Silvermangallery.com April 29–June 10 Opening Receptions, 4/29, 5-9 pm and 4/30, 1-4 pm Paintings from the River Valley is a long-awaited local exhibition of Harrington’s most recent work.

Known for his evocative portraits and breathtakingly rendered landscapes, Glenn has produced over 20 new paintings in his Pipersville, PA studio. A listing of available work can be found on the gallery’s website.

Mark Poole Pottery, Raku vase with lid

THAT is mindful of the exaggerated influence that the “art world” exerts on shaping what is regarded as “good” or worthy of attention. There is art that expresses exciting, original ideas right here in our backyard. THAT gives those artists access to a public eager to explore studios far from venues intended for art investors. More than 40 artists will be participating in THAT at over thirty locations. Painters, jewelers, sculptors and artists in ceramics, mixed media, fabric, glass, and more, will open their studios to the public for a two-day event. In addition to the open studios, various arts organizations, galleries, restaurants, and a winery are participating as destinations. A digital map of the open studios is online at www.hunterdonarttour.com.

Downtown Bethlehem Fine Art & Craft Show Bethlehem’s historic Main Street, Moravian Book Shop up to Broad Street bfac-lv.org May 13, 10–5 & May 14, 11–5 Over 80 juried local and regional artists and craft artisans will participate in the 52nd Annual Fine Art & Craft Show. Over $1,300 is awarded to the artists on Saturday evening at a reception sponsored by the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission.

Visit the Artist in Residence tent to chat with and/or observe painter Tim Shanley. Take part in the Children’s Art Activities, including art projects such as making mom a handmade gift or card. Located on The Historic Smithy grounds at the bottom of Main Street across from the Moravian Book Shop. Live music Great restaurants, shops, hotels, and a rich history make this a perfect opportunity for the whole family.

Donna Gratkowski, Rustic Comfort, pastel on pastelmat

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The Hunterdon Art Tour (THAT) 1st annual self-guided driving tour of Hunterdon County artists’ studios Thehunterdonarttour.com May 6 & 7, 10–6 Opening Celebration, Exhibit & Sale, Friday, 5/5, 7-9 pm as a benefit for THAT at the Hunterdon Art Museum

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EXHIBITIONS III

Walter Emerson Baum, Hockendauqua, Lehigh Village, April 1940, oil, 30” x 37” Holly Wellington, Shibori silk scarf

The Baum School of Art’s 32nd Annual Art Auction The Baum School of Art 510 W. Linden St., Allentown, PA 610-433-0032 Baumschool.org May 20, 2017 Silent Auction, 5:30-7:30 PM; Live Auction, 8:00 PM

fiber, fabric, fashion From Couture Fashion to Radical Experiments New Hope Arts Center 2 Stockton Ave, New Hope, PA 215-862-9606 newhopearts.org Saturday & Sunday, 12–5 May 6 – May 28 New Hope Arts’ textile arts exhibition offers a month-long exploration of original and repurposed techniques. Our opening events will feature the return of our popular runway fashion show. Serving as a forum for the exchange of innovations and design, fiber, fabric, fashion, will feature vintage and contemporary fashions and modern fiber art. Devoted to established and emerging designers and fiber artists, the exhibition will also feature a retail boutique with samples of our designers’ wearables and accessories available for sale. Premiere Runway Fashion Show: Saturday, May 6, 7:00 pm; Sunday, May 7, 6:00 pm. Tickets and info: NewHopeArts.org

Julie Bradley-Norton, leather feather cape

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The silent auction will feature over 300 paintings, sculptures and drawings. The live auction is comprised of over 100 works by local and regional artists, including

by Walter Emerson Baum, the school’s founder. Also featured are works by Antonio Cirino, Wilmer Behler, John Berninger, Raymond Galluci, and Hans Moller, to name a few. Free admission for both auctions. There is an optional buffet dinner catered by Karen Hunter; $50 in advance, $60 at the door. View the items before they are up for bid at Preview Night, Thursday, May 18, 2017 from 6:00-8:00 pm.

Renzo Faggioli, Pearl Apple, ceramic, 12” x 10” x 10”

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Accoutrements

Anne Minich: The Truth of Being Both/And Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 118-128 North Broad Street Historic Landmark Building Philadelphia, PA 19102 215-972-7600 Through May 14 As society often favors binary notions that confine human existence to one thing or its opposite, Anne Minich’s dexterous drawings and meticulously painted constructions investigate the consistency and the truth of human duality, ambiguity, and multiplicity.

Visualizing the “in-between,” The Truth of Being Both/And considers the steadiness of human change.

With inspiration from her own hardships and triumphs, Minich explores the liminal spaces of human identity where figures live as androgynous landscapes, natural materials become art objects, and the restraints of societal binaries echo incarceration.

Accordingly, seemingly straightforward explanations of human form, sexuality, and experience fall flat against Minich’s salient imagery of human transition.

Annunciation

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FOODIE FILE

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AMES PEOPLE PLAY

Photo: Neal Santos

Photo: Neal Santos

Lobster Claw Robatayaki. Photo ©Reese Amorosi Photo: Neal Santos

Photo: Neal Santos

Pastrami Bao Bun with Brussel Slaw. Photo ©Reese Amorosi

Scallops in Ginger Soy Reduction. Photo ©Reese Amorosi

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WITH THE SEASONAL OPENING of the Shofuso Japanese House and Garden in West Fairmount Park, its recent merger with the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia and the 20th annual city-to-suburbs-wide Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival, April is all about everything Japanese.

Certainly, there’s tradition to be found here—the kimono dressing, taiko drumming, kamishibai storytelling, bonsai crafting—but as with every and any culture, all rules are meant to be broken, every tradition pulled, poked and prodded until something new blossoms forth—cherries or not.

The same is true of Japanese cuisine, raw or cooked. For every traditional sushi and sashimi space, from its homey design and to its honored menu (say, Teikoku in Newtown Square, or its neighboring Yuki), there is one that moves with groovy currency and health consciousness (Nectar in Berwyn, and its gluten-free options—and who knows what mystery the owners of Nectar will weave with Danlu, a Japanese-inspired bar and restaurant in University City, opening shortly).

For every neighborhood Japanese restaurant geared toward nigiri and family style dining (Ginza on Montgomery Avenue in Narberth), there are hipster enclaves hell-bent on intimacy and specialty sushi-sashimi selection (Izumi on Philly’s East Passyunk culinary row). For every giant, bright white high-ceilinged heaven in the middle of its block dedicated to the rarest of Japanese tastes (Masaharu Morimoto’s eponymous restaurant on Chestnut Street), there is its dark-corner’s counterbalance; one where each meal is daring, each bite an adventure and every chef ’s choice in raw fish even rarer and unique than this city has witnessed (pretty much everything at Jesse and his father, Massaharu Ito’s new Royal Sushi And Izakaya on S. 2nd Street in Queen Village). Morimoto and Royal Sushi also host this region’s deepest, coolest selection of sake. Anyone looking for the elegant adventure of mixing Japanese cultural-ism and traditional cuisine can find it when the spiky, all-female Shonen Knife appears at Sellersville Theatre, April 26, on their Ramen Adventure Tour where, yes, they’ll eat at this city’s finest noodle joints (for location and foodie influences: eepurl.com/cEzfqr).

One of the best examples of the New Japanese menu, a fascinating back-and-forth between imaginative grilled items (a generous wide-scale lot of robotayaki, where fish and meat on wooden skewers is slowcooked and toasted fireside over glowing hot charcoals) and the raw (fresh, clean sashimi-sushi dishes, handsomely crafted noodle dishes) is the two-floor, dimly-lit Double Knot. Or better yet, its cavernous subterranean, candle-lined dining room basement.

Chef-ed by Kevin Yanaga—a Schulson empire associate who last ran their kitchen of Izakaya at The Borgata in Atlantic City—there’s everything from a ten-item chef ’s tasting menu that touches upon traditional, Japan-

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theater VALLEY

CITY

Metamorphoses. Gods and mortals battle on brave new playing grounds in Mary Zimmerman’s strikingly contemporary, Shakespeare-meets-Woody Allen adaptation of Ovid’s epic poem. Three laundresses narrate the story of King Midas’ greed for gold, which turned his daughter into a golden statue; a therapist referees the grudge match between Apollo and Phaeton, his neglected, whiny son, and a real pool serves as a hellish river and a healing spring. (April 20-22, 27-29, Lafayette College)

The Gift. Theater like this is an even greater gift when the playwright is Will Stutts, famous for his one-person plays. Closing at The Independence Studio on 3 (Walnut Street Theatre) was one of the best plays of the season, inspired by Truman Capote and Harper Lee’s friendship. The story begins immediately before Buddy/Truman (played by Warren Kelley) leaves for Kansas to research his masterpiece, In Cold Blood. The scene is the porch of Nelle’s/Harper Lee’s (Susan Riley Stevens) Alabama house where she is busy typing out obits for the local newspaper as Buddy, visiting from New York, drinks 20 cocktails a day. Among the personal confessions and assorted witticisms, Buddy offers to read Nelle’s yet unpublished novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, adding another layer of intrigue to a friendship exquisitely portrayed by these two seasoned actors. Kelley (as Capote) is selfindulgent and flamboyant, while Stevens is more librarian than fey bohemian. Nelle is the perfect counterbalance to Buddy’s messy artisticness—he needs her to accompany him to Kansas in order to be taken seriously, while she needs his critical eye. An altruistic implosion of sorts happens when Buddy insists that Nelle publish her novel under her own name despite his massive rewrites. Parting company with this Greg Wood-directed gem was a sad experience.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. William Finn’s delightfully delirious, Tony-winning musical stars six life-challenged youngsters and co-stars a helpful trance, a distracting erection and Jesus Christ himself. With all this absurdity, envy and charity it’s easy to imagine a spelling-bee setting of Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory/social laboratory. The wicked fun is compounded by four spectators who are given ridiculously easy words to spell, then are eliminated by ridiculously difficult spellings that would stump even brainiacs. (April 21-23, 26-29, Lehigh University) Young Frankenstein. A mad scientist’s grandson becomes increasingly mad as his corpse-built creature becomes a song-and-dance man, a scary bully and, thanks to the mad scientist’s brain, a model citizen.

Add a sexy lab assistant/yodeler, a housekeeper/violinist whose last name terrifies horses, a blind hermit who mistakes a thumb for a cigar and hummable, toetapping tunes (“Join the Family Business,” “Transylvania Mania”) and you have a terrifically entertaining musical version of Mel Brooks’ monstrously funny film. (April 26-May 7, DeSales University)

Cabaret. This Roundabout Theater Company’s production at The Academy of Music may not star Liza Minelli, Michael York or Joel Grey, but it does provide a musical glimpse into Germany’s Weimar Republic in the 1930s via the notorious Kit Kat Klub. Cabaret is based on John Van Druten’s 1951 Broadway play, I Am a Camera, which was based on novelist Christopher Isherwood’s novel, Goodbye to Berlin. The Roundabout production is based on Sam Mendes’ famous 1993 revival in London’s West End. April 4-9.

The Trouble with My Name. Javier Avila mines gold—comic, poignant, soulful—in his tuneful, tuned-in solo show about his Latino-Anglo life, or lives. Performing for a packed room last month at the Bethlehem Area Public Library, the Puerto Rican native, poet and acclaimed English teacher at Northampton Community College merrily thanked butchers of his names for giving him winning personalities and slyly saluted a new neighbor who mistook him for a gardener because he was impressed by Avila’s bush trimming. Avila spun generous, gracious tales of his father, a postman who saved lives during the Korean War; his mother, a public-school teacher and the first member of her family to attend college, and his grandmother, who was investigated by the FBI for protesting American policies toward Puerto Rico. His poetic revelations ranged from biting (a prejudiced waitress will never know that “this skin, which people pay good money for at the tanning salon, is not a crime”) to dicing (non-Hispanics delete accents over Hispanic names because they’re “too foreign—like a scar we see on a stranger’s face”). Dressed neatly in a sweater and tie, Avila easily balanced revival rants, musical recitations, street-savvy movements and an exceptional emotional compass.

The Importance Of Being Earnest. Directed by Bob Carlton, Oscar Wilde’s last and most famous play hits the Mainstage of The Walnut. This madcap, Victorian tale of mistaken identities has captivated audiences since it premiered on the London stage in 1895. In April of 1895 Wilde was arrested for indecency and put in prison where he wrote his final work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, in 1898. Five-time Barrymore Awardwinner Mary Martello plays the arrogant and proper Lady Bracknell. Other cast members are Ellie Mooney, Jake Blouch and Daniel Frederick. The set designs are by Robert Koharchik.

Until April 30.

ADAPT. It was only a matter of time before Wilma’s Artistic Director, Blanka Zizka, put pen to paper and came up with her life story. This epic tale begins with 22-year-old Lenka (played by Czech actress Aneta Kernova) fleeing Communist Czechoslovakia in 1977 for cosmopolitan New York City. Viewers can expect live music, Orwellian pig chants and a lobby exhibition of photographs, “Portraits of People on the Move,” by Jennifer Baker detailing immigrant stories. Long-standing Wilma friend, playwright Tom Stoppard, noted that ADAPT is both quirky and East European-ish. Wilma Hot House member Krista Apple (Lenka at 35) will return to the stage after a long sabbatical. (Until April 22)

The Complete and Authoritative Tour of Holy Stuff. Emma Ackerman explores the holes of holiness in her solo show, which she performed last month at Touchstone Theatre, where she doubles as ensemble member and general manager. Her perky pilgrim pinballed through an increasingly surreal guided tour with a projected maze, a video screen with LSD-warped images of cathedral interiors, a game show for true believers, football rituals, an invisible abyss, confusing voiceovers (“You are here.”

“You are not here.”) and space/time/logic meltdowns. Directed sharply and sensitively

by Jp Jordan, Touchstone’s artistic chief, Ackerman exceled as a sacred modern dancer in red sneakers, a balletic gymnast with headphones, a silent-film ingénue with a smart phone, and a Kabuki veteran trapped in a bad sitcom. I can’t thank her enough for recommending a holy refrigerator for my holy refrigerator magnets. n

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Before the Arden, there was only the stupefying boredom of high school Shakespeare. In this Matt Pfeiffer-directed comedy about the unpredictability of love, however, we come away feeling that The Bard has never been more relevant and accessible. Pure delight describes the experience of watching this exuberant band of unsatisfied lovers as they are transformed by the mischievous Puck (Mary Tuomanen) who, with just one Tinkerbelle touch, creates polymorphous confusion. The loveless Helena (Rachel Camp), for instance, finds herself being pursued by more than one paramour as the jilted Hermia (Taysha Marie Canales) is transformed into an incessant stalker on the hunt for the man who did her wrong. Dan Hodge excels as Bottom, transformed

by Puck into a heehawing ass who winds up in bed with the heretofore uninterested and regal Titania (Katharine Powell). Slapstick rarely works, but in this superb production it’s actually an enhancement. (Until April 9) n

— geoff gehMAn

— thoM nickels

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cUrAted by A.d. AMorosi

the list

APRIL

7 ALEC BALDWIN The actor-comic behind everything from Glengarry Glen Ross to Saturday Night Live’s

10 TAMAGAWA UNIVERSITY TAIKO DRUMMING & DANCE TROUPE Thirty impeccably precise drummers and choreographed dancers from Tamagawa University, Japan tackle native folklore with athletic

18 TINARIWEN/DENGUE FEVER Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali meet the swinging

22-23 DECIBEL MAGAZINE FEST The planet’s biggest doom/black heavy metal magazine is written and published in Philadelphia’s Chinatown? Indeed, and bands such as Pig Destroyer are here for a two-day rock/craft brew party. (Fillmore)

25 GUCCI MANE In jail far too long to be fair, the overlord of Southern hip hop got out in time to make

puckish Trump impersonation comes to the mummy museum to discuss and sign his newest book (yes, he has several) Nevertheless: A Memoir. (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology/Free Library)

American band from Los Angeles who combine Cambodian pop and twee girl vocals.

Foreign intrigue, yes? (Union Transfer) grace & guile.(Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall, West Chester University)

11 CAROL BURNETT

David Letterman’s one-time bassist Will Lee and a handful of Manhattan session greats continue to tackle the Beatles’ catalog with invention and precision. (Fillmore)

The legendary sketch comedian not-so-much performs her first ever stand up tour but rather, answers audience questions, shows clips of Harvey Korman and Tim Conway laughing at each other, and tugs on her earlobe in the name of her grandmother. You’d expect nothing less. (Academy of Music)

8 PAUL SHAFFER

13 WHY?

Didn’t we just see a Letterman Late Show veteran? Oh yeah, but this time, it’s his band leader and keyboardist Shaffer who – with Will Lee – has recorded a new album with the rest of The World’s Most Dangerous Band and hit the boards. Oddly enough, this gig in Atlantic City is the only one on Shaffer’s tour to not feature Lee, so, enter at your peril. (Borgata)

Exactly. Why? OK, because they’re indie hip hop’s mopiest mope-sters. (UT)

8 FAB FAUX

18-23 HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH John Cameron Mitchell’s drag tale of romance, rock and gender identification is always a must-see. (Forrest Theatre)

20 DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS Southern drawling swing rock and CB radio songs never sounded quite so sweet as they

two #1 rap albums within 12 months, and refine his style. (Liacouras Center)

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8 BOSS HOG Skuzzy garage rock couple Christina Martinez and Jon Spencer record their first new

Quite frankly, I’ve had enough of the Kardashian-Jenner brood, and can’t imagine what else Caitlyn has to say.that justifies a book. Curiosity seekers, this one’s for you.

(University of P Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology/Free Library)

14 DAVE DOUGLAS DADA PEOPLE Eclectic jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas brings his wonky wrinkly new fusion act to Old City.

(Painted Bride)

14 THE DECEMBERISTS America’s favorite Anglican folkies with a literary bent find hard rock and dumb pop lyrics. (Fillmore)

14 STINKING LIZAVETA record release.

West Philadelphia’s two decades-old altmetal trio release an eponymous new album that can still scare the beejesus out of audiences. (Johnny Brenda’s)

28, 29 PRINCE’S REVOLUTION do these punk veterans. (World Cafe Live at the Queen, Wilmington, DE)

Wendy, Lisa and the rest of the Purple one’s Minneapolis marauders tackle the master in his passing. Now, THIS is what it sounds like when doves cry. (Theatre of Living Arts)

21 PJ HARVEY The gloomy mistress of the English moors finds her way back to the States for her first tour in some time, and a set of wailing reveries sure to make you cry. (Fillmore)

29 BUDDY GUY The legend of the blues guitar plays the big room at the Casino. (Borgata)

30 ARTO LINDSAY 21 JOSH WINK The Philadelphia techno-ambient icon is a hit

Long before Paul Simon and David Byrne fiddled with Brazilian music, Lindsay was work-

in Europe, yet rarely plays in his hometown.

Say hello, dummies. (Coda)

ing with Troplicalismos such as Caetono Veloso and recording his own Brazil-inspired punk rock. (Boot & Saddle) n

15 GUY W/ TEDDY RILEY, JAGGED EDGE, GINUWINE, DRU HILL

album since the 1990s, Brood X, and storm the blues Bastille. (Underground Arts)

9 KAREN HUFFSTODT This operatic soprano moves from the classical stage to “The Women of Kurt Weill” and finds the "iconic feminine" in the decadent, yet, no less romantic cabarets of Berlin and Paris. (Zoellner Arts)

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Riley, the producer and writer behind the soul 90s New Jack Swing sound brings his band and several of his hit-making production charges to Temple U. (Liacouras Center)

18 JOHN PATITUCCI TEAMS UP WITH DAEDALUS QUARTET The eminent internationally renowned jazz bassist and the locally acclaimed avant-chamber string quartet pair up for madness and merriment. (World Café Live, Philadelphia) n W W W. fA C e b O O k . C O M / I C O N D V

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film

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Before I Fall

“For one man, it is always 1942” —Rod Serling.

ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN many episodes of The Twilight Zone knows of this recurring theme: Someone keeps doing something that’s been done before to effect a different outcome, presumably for the better, or, in the case of “Judgment Night,” the episode that the above quote comes from, as a punishment. During World War II a German U-Boat Commander sinks a passenger ship and many people die. We learn at the end that the Commander was doomed to relive the sinking of the ship again and again for eternity—but as a passenger. In Before I Fall, Samantha, a teenage girl, dies in an auto accident…or does she? She wakes up each morning to the same day, and it occurs to her that she is not dreaming.

Every day is the same, except when Samantha tries to effect change. But how is she to know what the “correct” changes are? How can she be sure?

That is The Big Question. Samantha (Zoey Deutch) is one of a four-girl clique in a tony high school in the Pacific Northwest—four popular, gorgeous, spoiled teens. Yes, it’s a Mean Girls and Heathers storyline yet

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again; there is a crucial difference here, however: it’s dying that gives meaning to life—also an old theme— and Samantha must find “the right change” to make before dying.

The manner in which the tale unfolds is a cross between a docudrama—Before I Fall proceeds from a particular point of view—and the gloss of teen dramas (many of which seem to be on the CW network, but whatever). Everything is superficially sparkly clean and a near perfect idyll of Beautiful Teens—except for a sense of impending doom. What makes the anxiety all the more palpable is that it evolves subtly, without the usual ominous music and special effects, and we see it from one single viewpoint. This post-MTV generation drama also occurs under a veil of gray weather typical to the Northwest, which adds to the grim atmosphere.

Deutch is a talent to watch—she expresses very naturally both the innate vulnerability that comes with being a teenager and the cozy smugness that comes with being a beautiful person who’s had much of the good life served on that proverbial silver platter. In the course of the story, Samantha sees the damage her friends’ ca-

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sual nastiness has caused others, but she doesn’t evolve to a Better/Heroic Person immediately. Her experiences imply—to her, to us—that she is destined for a higher purpose, yet she continues to indulge in gleefully spiteful behavior against her friends and parents (played by Jennifer Beals and Nicholas “Krycek” Lea).

The rest of the cast is fine as well, especially Elena Kampouris as the Resident Weird Girl that everyone bullies. This RWG is not a goth girl, for a change; she’s not overly dorky, especially witty nor is she the Pretty Ugly Girl that occurs in teen dramas—she plays the role with a mixture of underlying strength, deep sadness, and resignation to her fate. Director Ry Russo-Young, screenwriter Maria Maggenti (director of 1995’s The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love), and Deutch convey the bittersweet acquiescence that might come with a person’s realization of his/her mortality. The only downside worth mentioning is the pacing—this movie occasionally feels longer than its 98 minutes.

If Rod Serling was born a couple of generations later and wrote a teen-centric drama, it might well have been Before I Fall. Recommended. n

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Mike Solomonov and Meir Adoni at Mizlala in Tel Aviv

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In Search of Israeli Cuisine

CHEF MICHAEL SOLOMONOV, THE owner of Zahav, is a big deal in Philadelphia, a city with its share of culinary superstars. That he stars in a movie, even a documentary, seems like the inevitable next step up on the celebrity chef ladder, and all that self-aggrandizing path entails.

As the central figure in In Search of Israeli Cuisine, Solomonov’s straight-ahead approach is as surprising as it is touching. Israel is where he was born. It’s where his love of cooking was lit as a wayward college dropout. Returning is a chance to reconnect with the past and galvanize his future. He and director-writer Roger Sherman treat the trip with reverence. It shines through the cumbersome, term paper title. Throughout, Solomonov puts on no airs, even occasionally hugging a chef whose dish moves him. He’s happy to be here. We are too.

The movie is not food porn, though the dishes look succulent. So do the sun-kissed, airy kitchens belonging to chefs and the brightly lit, cozy restaurants. Israel, as the interview subjects note, teems with ethnicities; these people brought cuisines with them. It’s also a country that craves its own identity and food provides an avenue to update or create. Solomonov says Israel is the size of New Jersey, but

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the variety—what’s grown, raised, and put on a plate—is boggling. The country is so vibrant because diversity bursts at the seams.

America is the same right, right? Not really. Israel is not even 70 years old and its identity is conflict. You don’t think of food with Israel. Food brings us together. It slows us down and makes us people, drawing us away from screens and the burden of day-to-day responsibility. When someone makes a meal, it’s an act of love—whether it’s the passion a professional chef puts into a recipe or how it’s a gift given to us by a lover, a friend, a parent. Food feeds the soul. It’s always personal.

Many films (Chef, Spinning Plates, Jiro Dreams of Sushi) have illustrated that point. In Search of Israeli Cuisine uses food to expand the narrow concept of a country by allowing us to know its people on an intimate level. It doesn’t do anything fancy or daring, which is just fine.

Solomonov zig-zags from city to city, meeting chefs, famers, and restauranteurs of all conceivable backgrounds—including Palestinians, Muslims, and Arabs—to help him define what Israeli cuisine is. Solomonov treats every interaction without histrionics. Aside from the tat-

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toos that dot his arms, his most outstanding characteristic might be his salt and pepper hair. And his ability to listen.

Celebrity chef culture has bred a distancing artifice.

The Food Network knows it demographics and finds a TVready personality to scratch that itch: rustic hostess, party dude, tough love drill sergeant. Local publications such as Philadelphia keep deifying chefs, so Solomonov becomes a bold-faced name. The treatment is understandable. Walk to the Ritz Five, where the film is now playing, and Zahav and its gold lettering rise above the cobblestone streets like some remote fortress of good taste accessible only by winged chariot and lots of disposable income. In the movie, Solomonov eschews the halo and robe for shortsleeved shirts and jeans. He’s just a dude fueled by love, curiosity and a love of his heritage.

He’s not the only person trying to put everything together. In Search of Israeli Cuisine casts aside all the theatrics, all the lofty titles, and looks at people. Everyone here is invested in food, because they’re invested in life.

They’re dreaming of a future that is as vibrant as the food sitting on these tables, where everyone sits together for the same, unifying reason. [NR] n

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Noah Way After assuming the mantle of Daily Show host, Trevor Noah makes it something else…his.

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A. d. AMorosi

INTErview

If

South African-born, multi-hyphenated Trevor Noah seemed like the new kid on the block back in September 2015 when he took over Comedy Central’s The Daily Show from the then-retiring poster boy for comic-news (iconic Jersey boy Jon Stewart), he’s certainly a grizzled veteran by this point.

At first, raked over the coals for not being Stewart (who could be? Even Stewart doesn’t seem to be living up to that promise at the present), Noah— like Stephen Colbert, who struggled with gaining audience traction and maintaining a unique comic

ternoon in January 2017 when Trump took the oath of office and brought the American public a boatload of spying Russians, a weirdly inappropriate staff, and hourly Twitter blasts best described as bizarre, Noah has been there—nightly with The Daily Show—all the way.

Then again, you’d expect nothing less from the Johannesburg-born Trevor whose birth—under apartheid-riddled South Africa—was considered a crime and his mother was jailed for her pregnancy.

(Intraracial sexual relations and marriages were illegal until the Immorality Act of 1985, a year after Noah’s birth.) He was the first South African standup to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2012), The Late Show with David Letterman (2013) and the subject of the documentary You Laugh, But It’s True. Before Noah performed his first shows in Philly at SugarHouse Casino or hit the DNC at the Annenberg Center, I got some time with him for a brief, rare interview, running now in anticipation of his not one, but two shows, at Upper Darby’s Tower Theatre, April 7 at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

[] NOAH FOUND ABSURDITY IN A BRUTISH,

MISOGYNISTIC, ELITIST, LYING, SHORT-FINGERED VULGARIAN BECOMING THE 45TH

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. AND EVERY NIGHT SINCE THAT COLD, RAINY (OR WAS IT?) AFTERNOON IN JANUARY 2017

WHEN TRUMP TOOK THE OATH OF OFFICE

AND BROUGHT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC A BOATLOAD OF SPYING RUSSIANS, A WEIRDLY INAPPROPRIATE STAFF, AND HOURLY TWIT-

You started your career in stand-up in South Africa. What’s the main difference between doing stand-up there vs. here?

I think there are more similarities than differences when it comes to stand-up between the two.

The biggest difference, though, is that because comedy is fresh and new in South Africa, the audience is a lot harder to offend.

TER BLASTS BEST DESCRIBED AS BIZARRE, NOAH HAS BEEN THERE.

groove—nailed his personal best when Donald Trump came into his own. As the Republican nomination ramped up the heat, so did Noah. When the dueling campaigns got to the convention state (with the Democrats and The Daily Show both coming to Philadelphia in the Summer of 2016) and things looked sorry but silly, Noah made hilarious hay of the situation. When the worst or the best happened (depending on your politics) and Trump was victorious, Noah found absurdity in a brutish, misogynistic, elitist, lying, short-fingered vulgarian becoming the 45th president of the United States.

And every night since that cold, rainy (or was it?) af-

Have you done stand-up in South Africa since you’ve moved to the States?

Yes, I still do comedy all over the world— South Africa, the UK, Dubai, etc. Whenever we’re off for a week, I try to travel.

You began your career in radio and acting gigs. How did you evolve into comedy?

I think I’ve always been a comedian. I just didn’t know then that stand-up would eventually be my home. Every other job that I had in the entertainment business helped me express being funny, but each in a different way.

You started at The Daily Show as an occasional contributor in 2014. Was there an indication that you were being groomed for anything other than what you were doing?

Not at all. I just loved telling jokes about the

world around us and I loved working with Jon. Everything else was a surprise.

You made The Daily Show your own from the start of your tenure. How do you think its going?

Well, it’s a very hard and long process and I’m still working on it every day that I’m there. But from the get-go I knew that replacing Jon Stewart would be impossible. That’s why I don’t ever try to do that. Instead, I just try to improve being me.

Was there ever any pressure—outside of the show’s “ending moment of Zen”—to hang onto the old?

There’s always resistance to change, no matter what you’re changing. I just have to believe that I have something new to offer and so I must focus on that.

Your Donald Trump isn’t so great, but, you do a hell of a sleepy Ben Carson impersonation.

How much have you missed him as a presidential candidate?

Ben Carson will always be in my heart or on my brain.

What do you say to people who miss Jon Stewart?

I tell them that I totally understand because I miss him, too. And that just because you like me doesn’t mean you have to stop liking Jon. You can like burgers and pizza at the same time.

Knowing that you write much of what The Daily Show is on a nightly basis, how and what do you save for stand-up?

Luckily, there are a lot of weird things or topics that never make it into the television broadcast.

Stand-up is the perfect format for those pieces, so I’m good.

In your stand-up, is there a line that you won’t cross?

No. I believe there’s something funny in any situation.

Is there one motto that you try to live your life by?

Imagine that you won the lottery—what would you do differently in your life? Now try to live your life like that. n

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interview

STANDING

THE LAST DON At 82, Ralph Natale could be forgiven for wanting to spend his remaining time with his cherished wife breezing along like “The autumn wind, and the winter winds, they have come and gone,” as Frank Sinatra once sang. “Still the days, those lonely days, they go on and on/And guess who sighs his lullabies through nights that never end.” Natale is like the “summer wind,” sighing his sighs and his lullabies. Unlike those of the famed, warm ballad, Natale’s September song—Last Don Standing: The Secret Life of Mob Boss Ralph Natale—tells the often-vicious backstory of the very first Mafia boss (whose reign was brief; 1994-1998, though his time in the Philly mob was long and faithful) to willingly flip, cooperate with federal prosecutors after having long eschewed such insinuation, then pen his murderous memoirs. His life and family (and his story) moves through the epicenter of the Mafia’s run in America, beginning in Na-

nAtAle goes on to tAlk AboUt his old soUth philAdelphiA AssociAtes; the ones he still hAs genUine Affection for, sUch As one-tiMe

philly MAfiA boss Angelo brUno—“i loved thAt MAn, A trUe gentleMAn, the docile don…Unless yoU crossed hiM”

tale’s South Philadelphia, moving through Atlantic City, Manhattan and Chicago and telling blood-lusty stories about fixing fights for Muhammad Ali (against Sonny Liston) working with Mob bosses Carlo Gambino and Angelo Bruno, talking about the death of Bugsy Siegel, and hanging with Teamster-boss-turned-Giants-Stadium-goalpost Jimmy Hoffa.

Written with New York City crime scene reporter Larry McShane and Discovery Channel producer Dan Pearson, what makes the book—and Natale, by phone, through Pearson via witness protection—so vital, and charming (yes, charming) is the voice of its subject. Without giving credence to, or credibility for, the violence he committed (or that which was committed in his name, or by order) Natale is the very soul of South Philadelphia, the home he shared with my own family.

When Natale calls men “crumb bums” and women “goomahs,” it is as if I’ve traveled back to long Sunday dinners at my grandmother’s house where her sons and daughters and their sons and daughters AND THEIR sons and daughters (“all named Petey, Paulie and Marie” a la Goodfellas) congregated to gossip about their neighbors. “South Philadelphia is ingrained in my soul,” said Natale.

“I get warm feelings just thinking about the old streets, I really do. I love it and miss it. Just hearing your voice reminds me of that scene.” Yes, Natale recog-

nizes the South Philadelphia cadence in my voice. “I’ve come to believe that people in that town, in South Philly, honestly regard me with esteem. Now I know you’re thinking it’s weird for an ex-Mafia Don to say [the word] ‘honest.’

But there are honest Dons and then there’s the rest of them.”

Natale goes on to talk about his old South Philadelphia associates: the ones he still has genuine affection for, such as one-time Philly Mafia boss Angelo Bruno—“I loved that man, a true gentleman, the Docile Don, unless you crossed him”—and his mentor/tutor, Felix John DiTullio, a local bar owner, bootlegger and an epic killer who went by the name “Skinny Razor.” Natale reminisced about “the Razor” as one would a funny uncle telling a dirty joke or a much-loved old ballplayer batting 300.

“Skinny Razor—he was the Wall of China, built to keep the unwanted away,” said Natale with a laugh about the man who also tutored Mob boss Nicodemo Scarfo. “He was raised on Bainbridge Street and knew all the black guys down there kept razors in their top handkerchief pocket. He learned how to put a razor in, to put a mark on a man’s face. He was the first of the Italians to do that.” Natale went on to say that Skinny Razor saw something in the young Ralph that he had never seen before—a certain ruthlessness to go with the loyalty that became his trademark. Skinny Razor killed more people than cancer, but he made you understand that respect and loyalty was paramount.”

Did Natale love killing those who crossed him and his Mob in any way? On the phone he says, “No,” that murder was “...just part of the business” as one would turn eggs from a chicken farmer or poke beef from a cattle purveyor.

Read Last Don Standing’s description of a slaying Natale made toward someone who just passed a mean, stupid remark (“I put three in Feeney’s face—boom, boom, boom! Right in his fucking dome. Done”) and you find it difficult to believe that humility and humanity co-exists in one man. “You hurt me, I hurt you in a way where you wouldn’t have to hurt after that,” says Natale about the principle behind murder.

For his loyalty—his refusal to speak when arrested—Natale spent 16 years in prison off and on, from the late-70s to the mid-90s when he finally ascended to the top of the Philly Mob heap. That period—paying dues, refusing to flip— seems out-of-joint with the man who dropped the dime on his family… his other family, his La Cosa Nostra family. “I became a witness—something I never thought I’d do against those punks who were supposed to take care of my wife and didn’t—and told this story…. Greed took over the Mob during my last turn in the joint; greed and crumb bums like the people who broke their promise to take care of my wife. That’s why I turned.”

Along with spending time with his wife in a warmer climate than the one Philly is experiencing this winter (“I don’t miss the cold,” he laughs), Natale, Pearson and McShane have sold their Last Don Standing story to actor-turnedproducer Frank Grillo (Kingdom, Purge franchise) for a film to be developed from that story. “Frank’s a good looking kid, don’t you think?” asks Natale.

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film roundup

The Assignment

The Assignment (Dir. Walter Hill). Starring: Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver, Caitlin Gerard. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. (I’m sure you haven’t.) A mad surgeon (Sigourney Weaver, channeling Marlene Dietrich by way of Hannibal Lecter) out for vengeance against a male hitman (Michelle Rodriguez in bearded, low-voiced drag) forcibly changes the killer’s gender to female (Rodriguez again in her full XX chromosomal glory). And all hell breaks loose. What lunatic thought this plot up? The great seventy-something Walter Hill, of course, who knows his way around lurid pulp (e.g. The Warriors, Johnny Handsome) that constantly risks offense—the film’s original titles were the much more provocative Tomboy and (Re)Assignment—while digging deep into the mess of humanity. Issues of love, identity and honor are profoundly explored even as Rodriguez preens and poses like a devil-may-care antihero from an underground comic book. It’s an old-masterwith-nothing-left-to-prove flick par excellence. [R] HHHH The Lost City of Z (Dir. James Gray). Star26

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ring: Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson. A mythical Amazonian city becomes the obsessive fixation of a British explorer in writer-director James Gray’s sublime period epic. Charlie Hunnam plays the alternately steely and dashing Percival Fawcett, a true-life figure who made several trips to South America during the early 20th century in search of a lost metropolis that he nicknames “Z.” Gray views his protagonist’s quest with a sober clarity, examining the ways in which such a fixation walks a fine line between inspiration and devastation, on both the macro and micro levels. For all the professional slings and arrows Fawcett must bear (and likewise inflict, like any colonialist adventurer, on a culture not his own), it is the long-distance relationship he tenuously maintains with his wife Nina (Sienna Miller) that gives the film its aching heart and soul. Not to mention a closing shot for the ages. [PG-13] HHHH1/2 A Quiet Passion (Dir. Terence Davies).

Starring: Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine. One great artist pays homage to another in writer-director Tern W W W. fA C e b O O k . C O M / I C O N D V

ence Davies’ gloriously idiosyncratic biopic of the poet Emily Dickinson. As played by Cynthia Nixon, this master of verse is beguiling, anxious and prickly, convinced of her need to write but not persuaded of the worth of her output. So she mainly sticks to the Amherst, Massachusetts home that she shares with her sister (Jennifer Ehle), father (Keith Carradine) and other family, becoming more and more of a recluse as the years go on. The visuals are, as always in a Davies film, moody and mesmeric, brimming with meaning and emotion. Yet the words are key: Davies’ dialogue is shockingly arch and alien, intentionally unrealistic in ways that give us a better sense of the strange, sequestered milieu in which Dickinson lived. Even more bracing, the film starts out as a light comedy of manners, then slowly morphs into a devastating tragedy about a virtuoso destined, due to the iniquities of the world at large and the vagaries of her own tortured soul, to a life of obscurity. [PG-13] HHHHH Song to Song (Dir. Terrence Malick). Starring: Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman. Or, Adam

and Eve in Austin. The latest wonder from writer-director Terrence Malick is a anguished romance-cum-Biblical parable set in modern-day Texas (with side-trip to Mexico). Rooney Mara and Ryan Gosling play the young lovers (both aspiring musicians) navigating exile from an Eden that may or may not have existed. Michael Fassbender is their alluringly diabolical patron, and Natalie Portman a doomed waitress who falls under Fassbender’s spell. (Val Kilmer, Holly Hunter, and Cate Blanchett are among the celebs with fleeting, though memorable cameo roles.) As with every Malick film since The Tree of Life, there are hints of autobiography and a mercurial, in all senses of the word, aura of existential/spiritual longing. “It’s been dipped in God,” says Fassbender at one point—a clue to Malick’s method. The presence of rock icon Patti Smith, acting as the tale’s alternately punkish and peacable patron saint, is another. The film moves effortlessly between thematic poles, never allowing viewers a full grip, but urging us, nonetheless, to see the beauty and profundity in each and every one of its accumulated moments. [R] HHHHH n

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reel news

Fences

Hidden Figures (2016) HHHHH Cast: Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Costner Drama / PG In the early days of the manned space program, NASA searched the nation for the best and brightest. But in the 1960s, Blacks, regardless of skills, weren’t allowed literally out of the back room, or into the restroom. With racism on top of sexism, Black women faced a double-dose of cultural poison. Yet, three African-American women had “The Right Stuff ” and wouldn’t be denied their place in the heart of the action. Katherine Johnson (Henson), a child math prodigy, faced down the bigots and proved that a black women could keep up with white men and their slide rules. When the Space Task Group couldn’t figure out the orbital trajectory for the first manned reentry from space, Johnson solved the problem and forever earned the gratitude and praise of John Glenn. Dorothy Vaughan (Spencer) headed a group of black women mathematicians sequestered in a rundown building with the only “colored” bathroom on the base. She sneaked into the new IBM computer lab and got the whole system operational, while the confused men thumbed through mainframe manuals. Mary Jackson (Monáe) had to get a court injunction to

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allow her into segregated night school to get an advanced engineering degree. With heartfelt and award-winning performances, this human drama centers on breaking race, gender, and cultural barriers as much the scientific challenges of the Space Race.

Lion (2016) HHHHH Cast: Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Sunny Pawar Drama / PG-13 It’s always a wonder when a real-life drama far exceeds the most imaginative fiction. Lion tells such a story made doubly powerful by its authenticity. Five-year-old Saroo (Pawar) and his brother live in an Indian slum and work to help support their family. Saroo rides a train with his brother searching for work, but gets separated and lost a thousand miles from home. This frail, helpless boy lives on the streets of Calcutta, cannot speak the local dialect, and avoids human traffickers by his wits.

Eventually an orphanage places him with an Australian family (Kidman). Now flash forward to Saroo as a young adult (Patel) who becomes interested, then obsessed, with finding his Indian family. Though physically safe, the little boy within is just as emotionally distraught as ever. In desperation he searches Google Earth to try to recognize the train station, the only clue n W W W. fA C e b O O k . C O M / I C O N D V

about his home he remembers. The ending couldn’t have been scripted better by the most romantic Hollywood screenwriter. Pawar as the child Saroo steals your heart at first sight, and Patel’s inspiring determination reflects the child’s indomitable spirit, and the meaning of his name, Lion.

Fences (2016) HHHHH Cast: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Jovan Adepo Genre: Drama / PG-13 Troy Maxson (Washington) is a garbage man in Pittsburgh in the 1950s. He’s not working his dream, and certainly not the American Dream that African-Americans were denied to even imagine. He’s resentful, sarcastic, and critical of everyone. His rage against the injustices that forced him into a life of collecting other people’s garbage engulfs his soul, and his family, especially his wife Rose (Davis) and youngest son. Cory (Adepa) has a chance to go to college on a sports scholarship. Troy’s bitterness from being denied his dream in the 1930s makes him resentful of any opportunity his son has of achieving a better life in the 1950s. The complexity of issues, personalities, and relationships and inspired acting make this film as spectacular a human drama now as the Tony-winning Broadway play was in the 1980s.

Kaili Blues (2016) HHH Cast: Yongzhong Chen, Lixun Xie Drama, mystery / Not rated When Chen (Yongzhong), a middleaged physician in the rural town of Kaili, learns his brother (Xie) has banished his young son Weiwei, he sets off on a metaphor-filled journey to find his nephew. As he travels through rural villages and verdant countryside, every scene triggers memories and emotions that transform the past and present into a Mobius strip that loops back onto itself.

Scene by scene, we slowly learn more about the doctor’s motivations, secrets, and the influences that drive him to find his nephew, or maybe find himself. Rich, complex imagery floods each scene with the stark contrast between ancient traditions and a modern iconoclastic society, between city and village life, and the broken and discarded with the new and everchanging. The past battles in constant conflict with the present for determining the dominate reality in Chen’s haunted life. This art-house film is a poetic meditation more than a story with a discernible plotline. Like the doctor’s memory-fueled road trip, symbolic of life in general, it meanders simultaneously through the past and present toward an undetermined future. n

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Personal Shopper (France/Germany 2016) GHOST STORIES ARE AMONG the most durable in human history. Many of us wonder about visits from those gone from this mortal coil. Personal Shopper had roots in this concept. But Personal Shopper cannot alas “decide” whether it is a ghost story, murder mystery, character study, or existential musings on celebrity-hood—it tries to be all and ends up as not much.

Kristin Stewart is Maureen, who works in Paris as a shopper for her filthy rich ‘n’ famous boss as she’s too well-known to do it herself. Maureen is also a medium as is her Paris-residing brother who dies of a heart ailment. Stewart tries to connect with her deceased brother in the house wherein he passed before the house gets sold. During this difficult time, Maureen must still find time to work, and someone (or something?) is stalking her. Does this have any connection with her bro’s death?

I couldn’t say for sure, frankly. There are a few plot threads and [slight spoiler] they don’t seem to connect. In fact, scriptwriter/director Olivier Assayas doesn’t seem to be all that interested in doing so. Along with a long shot of Maureen moping, the movie

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comes to a dead halt a couple of times: Once when Maureen plays dress-up with her employer’s clothing; again, when we’re treated to many shots of her texting back-andforth with her stalker. Yes, close-ups of the exchange on her smart phone. Golly, what suspense. She does some abysmally dumb stuff [slight spoiler], such as going to meet her stalker in a hotel room. (Sounds like something a reasonable person would do.)

When we do get to “see” a ghost and its antics, it looks like an upscale/art-house version of a Scoobie-Doo episode. (This movie could’ve used some meddling kids for comic relief.) The ending is so ambiguous (as in, “That’s it?!?) it feels like Assayas didn’t know how to write the ending.

The best thing about this film is, oddly enough, the usually bland, flat Stewart. She conveys a deep melancholy and the palpable befuddlement that hits some people after a great loss. The dialogue is in French, Swedish, German, and English (with English subtitles) and filmed in Paris, Prague, and Oman. While made with style, Personal Shopper reminded this writer of one of the lesser stories in TV’s Night Gallery. [not rated] n

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Tickling Giants

MERICAN TV HAS MANY humorous and satirical vehicles for when We The People need to laugh at the foibles (and outright insanity and evil) of Those In Charge, helmed by such swells as Jon Stewart, Samantha Bee, and Steve Carell, among others. The great thing about TV and the Internet is such funny business cannot be confined to our sphere. The aforementioned, especially Stewart, inspired Bassem Youssef, a doctor-turned-TV-satirist to became the Jon Stewart of Egypt.

The call of comedy (he was already sarcastic) overtook the Hippocratic oath. Beginning with super-low-budget programs on YouTube and graduating to a network TV show, Youssef and some progressive pals created The Show, patterned closely after Stewart’s The Daily Show. Therein Youssef poked fun at the repressive government then led by Hosni Mubarak. But Mubarak—and the leaders that succeeded him—were infamously intolerant of any criticism. (Those with a less comical bent had their breathing privileges severely and in some cases permanently constrained.)

Tickling Giants chronicles the rise and fall of Youssef ’s TV show, and, ultimately, his life in Egypt. With an approach marked by loopy silliness (funny hats, big bowties) and astute sarcasm, he razzed the administration and their shortcomings, including a crappy economy, corruption, brutality, and severe restrictions on assembly and expression. Not only did the Grand Poobahs frown on The Show, but more traditional Egyp-

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tians saw Youssef as a blasphemer and a traitor—yes, it simply was not done to criticize a leader because, well, just because, especially if the Fearless Leader was military. It wasn’t optimistic, no, not at all, and the government needs a firm (and free) hand to make things good, got that? (Whew, I’m glad that could never happen in the USA.) The approach is very matter-of-fact—we see clips of civil unrest and full-of-baloney leaders interspersed with footage from The Show, interviews with Youssef and family, coworkers, fans, haters, heads of state, and Stewart himself. (Stewart and Youssef appeared as guests on each other’s programs.) We get to see bits of the creative process, situations “dramatized” by brief cartoons, and how criticism (sometimes in the form of threats to safety and freedom) begins to wear Youssef down. Interestingly, Youssef is not especially “political” in the usual sense. He doesn’t want to “guide” his country down any path—he simply wants people to have the freedom to express opinions and concepts (in funny and/or serious ways) without fear of reprisal.

The title refers to efforts to make the powerful laugh—which they rarely do when the joke is on them. While it runs a little long, as a documentary about comedy and media, Tickling Giants is well worth seeing; as a documentary about how politics can be used to create and maintain oppression and how comedy can help to combat it, it’s essential. [not rated] n

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music 12 | gAMes people plAy

JAZZ / ROCK

ese-influenced entrees, robotayaki and sides from Double Knot’s open kitchen and sushi bar, or you can experiment by dining (and drinking) a la carte from its new spring menu. To give you the best example of that test, there is the dark restaurant’s darker signature drink—The Double Knot of bourbon, rye, bitters, a cautious mix of sweet and dry vermouth, all made heady and meaty with the aid of torched flame and Barrel Stave Smoke—to go with the bar’s lovely selection of silken cold sake (my favorite, the Wakatake Onikoroshi “Demon Slayer” Junmai Daignio is served here).

On the cold-to-cool side of the Double Knot’s spring menu ledger, there is the thinly sliced likes of lean Hamachi served in a soft, chewy broth of Seranno and shallot-ginger relish, the spicier octopus “carpacio” with Yuzu, jalapeno and sesame; and the spicier-still fatty tuna with generous chunks of avocado in chili oil with knobby rice pearls. The rich list of sushi-sashimi here is extensive, so I’ll suggest singling out DK’s yellowtail (with soy-ginger, finger lime) and Japanese scallop (tempura flake, preserved lemon) for tenderness and bite, and its signature Big Eye Tuna roll.

For a mix of heat and chilled, the spicy and the sweet, there are DK’s grilled pastrami in a cool, cushy bao bun with smoked-and-hearty Japanese mustard and a chunky Brussel slaw. Even the surprisingly sweet (in a great way— we even suggested this be offered as a dessert) quick friedto-slightly-crisp tofu with tangy Mizzuna pesto and, yes, Miso caramel works within this category.

Double Knot Downstairs’ long, large menu has its hot highlights such as the fall-off-the-bone-tender toasty, misoinfused beef short rib for two, served with simple sushi rice, Japanese pork chop (cucumber, panko, Tonkatsu) and the rich, sea-salted scallops dish, the last item not yet even included on the spring menu, it’s so new. To single out, DK’s robotayaki menu—nicely-priced to boot— however, is part of the entire two-floor’s casual concept, one that allows its upstairs bar space and menu its zest, and one that gives its low-ceilinged intimate downstairs its smoke, fire and focus, as one of the first things that you sense when walking down its dark basement steps is the warmth of its fired-up red charcoal grille. An extensive 30+ blend of vegetable (do the Miso eggplant first), seafood (from the supple swordfish to the chunky lobster claw to the smoky prawns), chicken (the liver is exquisite), pork (Japanese sausage is your musky must here), meat (the softly textured kobe beef), and game (yes, the quail was divine but the lamb chop was the most tender I’ve ever had) makes it possible to make a generous meal of DK’s grilled items, and an adventurous one that proves Double Knot’s worth when it comes to Japanese cuisine’s traditions and future-forward outlook. n

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/ CLASSICAL / ALT

The Microscopic Septet HHHH Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down to Me: The Micros Play the Blues Cuneiform Once upon a time there was a nexus of big band swing and the blues, leading to the genesis of rhythm & blues (and later, rock & roll). Aspects of this zone live on in outfits such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Squirrel Nut Zippers…but that’s a story for another time. NYC’s Microscopic Septet occupy a similar space, but at the same time they made their own space: While conversant with bebop, hard bop, and the avant-garde, The Micros bring jukebox Saturday night swing to their tangy sonic

Photo: Greg Cristman

stew. This seven-some, led by soprano saxophonist Phillip Johnston and pianist Joel Forrester, sounds much bigger than its 4-sax/keys/bass/drums setup, thanks to their vivacious arrangements and joie de vivre. This, as you, Dear Reader, may’ve guessed, is a blues-themed set, with its originals evoking the blue-toned spirits of the Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Woody Herman orchestras. But the solos are hard-swingin’ bop with a few judicious forays into joyous skronk/free playing. Simply put, you’ll tap your foot while marvelling at the arrangements and playing. Without being obviously retro or digthis-reference-mashup, this outing by the M7 is serious fun. Plus, you get the most beautifully blasphemous version of “Silent Night” you’ve likely ever heard. Warning: May become habit-forming (13 songs, 62 min.) cuneiformrecords.com The Rascals HHHHH The Complete Singles As & Bs Real Gone Music When historians, music nerds, and people whose memories go back more than six years talk of the Great Bands of the 1960s, many will say: Beatles, Kinks, Byrds, Yardbirds, Velvet Underground. But The Rascals might

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not be mentioned as often, which is a darn shame. While not as innovative, NYC’s Rascals were one of the most soulful bands of the time (or any time). These lads combined gospel-descended heartfelt harmonies with rock & roll clang ‘n’ crackle, and they racked up hits that still get

play on oldies radio: “Groovin,’ “Good Lovin’,” How Can I Be Sure,” and several others. In a way, all those hits may’ve been their undoing—entering the ‘70s, The Rascals strove for a fusion of funk, rock, and jazz and the world was not ready for it. (Singles from that phase are present here.) But in the middle and late ‘60s they put out some great (and durable) singles—and even the few that are less-than-fab still wipe the floor with the white bread that passes for “pop music” on the radio the past several years. As idyllic and perfectly orchestrated as 1964 Motown, as good-time-y/spunky as The Lovin’ Spoonful, and soulful as The Temptations, The Rascals are where it’s at, baby. For anyone who appreciates ‘60s pop/r&b/soul, etc., this is essential. (47 tracks, 149 min.) realgonemusic.com Kim Kashkashian/Lera Auerbach Arcanum HHHH1/2 ECM New Series Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975) was one of those composers that had one foot in the Russian/European classical tradition and the other in the edginess that was the 20th century. Problem was, Dmitri S. was a Russian during times when being too “modern” could get you censored (if you were lucky). Nevertheless, Shostakovich wrote some fine music, full of elegant drama, intelligence, and the wistfulness that comes from living through hard times. (Of all the nations fighting in World War II, Russia had the most war dead…then there was that Stalin fellow.) The 24 Preludes here were written for piano (full of echoes of J.S. Bach and Chopin) adapted

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here for viola and keys by Russian-born America-based composer/pianist Lera Auerbach (born 1973). Kim Kashkashian is one of the eminent viola players of our time, and with a sonority between a violin and a cello she can conjure every sad feeling you’ve ever had, and put some frost on your windowpane regardless of the temperature, too. Auerbach’s Arcanum is a darker, almost gothic, stained-glass, ashes-to-ashes contemplation of mortality, the notes of her piano ringing mournfully like a miles-away church bell. Some darkly gorgeous sounds here. (28 tracks, 58 minutes) ecmrecords.com The Flywheels HHH1/2 I’m For the Flowers Mystery Lawn Mountain There’s something to be said for those Beatles—not only were they a popular combo (Paul McCartney’s band before Wings) but they directly and indirectly inspired a few generations of bands. Not to stereotype them (or imply plagiarism), The Flywheels are a band that pro-

ceeds from the premise that The Beatles’ Revolver is the best rock album ever—and who’s to say they’re wrong.

“Hello Cruel World” has a “Taxman”-like hook, “Needle of Sunshine” has sunny co-ed harmonies and majestic shining guitars, and “Red Tail Lights” both rocks and has a dreamy vibe not unlike “She Said She Said.” “Let Me Take You Down (to the Sea)” runs merrily through those Strawberry fields. The Flywheels’ not-so-secret weapon is

the dulcet, assertive yet winsome voice of Kim Wonderly—it’s so refreshing to hear a female singer sounding like a forever-young mature woman in a time where too many gal singers resort to tuff chick posturing or go all little-girl-lost. The Flywheels, like fellow travelers The Smithereens and Young Fresh Fellows (both of whose members make appearances here), take 1967-68 inspirations (a bit of early ‘70s power pop, too) and inject them into today via ringing guitars, powerful drums, cozy but rockin’ melodies, a slightly irreverent attitude, and surging vocal harmonies. Dandy stuff. (12 tracks, 42 min.) mysterylawn.com Bob Berg HHHHH New Birth Xanadu/Elemental David Murray & Aki Takase HHHHH Cherry Sakura Intakt Let us pause to tip our hepcat hats to heavyweights of the tenor sax, both here and gone. Brooklyn’s Bob Berg, who passed away in 2002, was of the generation of players that straddled styles and eras like it was no big deal. Berg had a muscular, robust, occasionally agitated (in the best way) tenor sound, influenced by Coltrane and Rollins but with his own stamp on it—he played

with Tito Puente, Horace Silver, and Miles Davis (during the latter’s comeback, near the end). New Birth is his debut as a leader, long out of print, restored to circulation. Recorded in 1978, this, for the most part, sounds utterly contemporary. On the surface, it’s hard-swinging hard bop, but it’s got subtle nods to funk, the avantgarde, Latin styles, and fusion, too. His band is hard to fault: trumpet ace Tom Harrell, still very much with us; versatile pianist Cedar Walton (heard on electric and acoustic keys); drummer-monster Al Foster, another Miles alum; bassist Mike Richmond; and percussionist Sammy Figueroa. The tunes are spunky and engaging and Berg was a master in the manner of departed icon Michael Brecker. This is one of those jazz albums I’d recommend to both the novices and connoisseurs. (7 tracks, 46 min) elemental-music.com In the ‘70s David Murray established himself in the avant arena but he was always mindful of tradition—he can skronk with the best of them, then bear-hug you with a luscious Ben Webster-Ike Quebec-Gene Ammons tenor-tone. Here he duets with Japanese pianist Aki Takase, another avant-gardist that gets as far-in as she does far-out. The title track has sublime moments with Murray sepulchral, full of those set-‘em-up-Joe blues and Takase stark, spare, and haunted with gospel notes. Hear Murray coax the bass clarinet to sound like a tenor on

Thelonious Monk’s wry, rollicking “Let’s Cool One,” Takase evoking the Monk, Ellington (a very underrated keys guy, btw) and Hoagy Carmichael’s barroom wisdom.

Murray has a gorgeous tone, and when he occasionally shrieks it’s with catharsis and joy, not anger. This is one for seasoned jazz fans, but if you like just sax & keys together, earthy ‘n’ out, oy, it’s not to be missed. (8 tracks, 51 min.) intaktrec.ch n W W W. fA C e b O O k . C O M / I C O N D V

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music SINGER / SONGWRITER John Mayall HHH1/2 Talk about That Forty Below Records John Mayall became a fixture on the British blues scene in the 1960s, featuring such guitarists as Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, and Peter Green in his band. Five decades later at 83, Mayall is showing no signs of slowing down with Talk about

That, a lively mix of blues, soul and rock.

The lively title track is a Mayall original that features a funky interpretation of the blues. “It’s Hard Going Up,” penned

by Bettye Crutcher, a top songwriter for Stax Records during its heyday, finds Mayall at home singing Memphis soul. “The Devil Must Be Laughing” gives former Eagle Joe Walsh a chance to stretch out on lead guitar as Mayall examines the state of the world. Walsh also is featured on the Chicago-style blues of “Cards on the Table,” a song that evokes the spirit of Muddy Waters. “Gimme Some of That Gumbo” serves as a celebration of New Orleans, featuring Mayall’s lively vocal and piano playing. “You Never Know” wraps up the album with some jazzy keyboard work as Mayall’s lyrics focus on facing life’s uncertainties. (11 songs, 47 minutes) Roy Orbison HHHH Black & White Night 30 Legacy Recordings/Roy’s Boys Roy Orbison remained a powerful performer in concert until he died of a heart attack at 52 in 1988. Black & White Night 30, a CD with accompanying DVD,

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offers auditory and visual proof. Filmed and recorded at the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles in September 1987, the one-of-a-kind show featured Orbison backed up by members of Elvis Presley’s TCB Band, plus a sterling supporting cast that included Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.

From “Only The Lonely,” his opening song, Orbison shows his ability to reach and hold the high notes. He’s in fine form on his trademark ballads (“Crying” and “It’s Over) and uses his multi-octave voice to bring out the drama of “In Dreams” and “Running Scared.”

The CD and DVD serve as a career retrospective of sorts. “Ooby Dooby” and “Go! Go! Go! (Down The Line”) are reminders of his rockabilly roots, giving lead guitarist James Burton a moment in the spotlight. “Mean Woman Blues” and “Oh, Pretty Woman” show off Orbison’s playful side. With “(All I Can Do Is) Dream You“ and Elvis Costello’s “The Comedians,” Orbison previewed two songs from his Mystery Girl album, posthumously released in 1989. The video has been reworked and re-edited to present the songs in their original running order. In addition, five alternate versions of songs that were performed after the show have been added along with a 33-minute documentary featuring interviews with Springsteen, Elvis Costello and k.d. lang. (CD: 19 songs, 66 minutes; DVD: 93 minutes) David Halley HHH1/2 A Month of Somedays Self-released David Halley launched his recording career with a pair of solid solo albums that mix country, folk, and rock—Stray Dog Talk in 1990 and Broken Spell in 1994—and then went on hiatus. Changes in his life—a divorce, remarriage, and another divorce—led him to reassess his life and art. After 22 years, the Texas native has re-emerged at 66 with A Month of Somedays, his long-awaited solo album.

The CD offers a piercing self-analysis with songs that recall Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks.

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romance gone wrong in six verses that show Halley’s strength as a lyricist. “I will never tell the tale/Of all my disgrace/Every form of failure/I had to have a taste,” he ruefully admits. The pain of lost love is reflected in “Ain’t Gonna Make You Mine” and “Pale Flowers.” The title track is a sobering reminder that keeping one’s options open is tantamount to paralysis of the will. Halley also finds rays of light in the darkness. “Stickhorse Kid,” an upbeat song, is rooted in a childhood memory of freedom. “Imagine That,” the concluding track, offers a reason for optimism. “Oh, imagine that now,” Halley observes, “who’d have guessed that everything would work out for the best.” (10 songs, 38 minutes) Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band HHH Standing on Faith CPL Records Zydeco forms the foundation of Corey Ledet’s music. Like his Louisiana-

based predecessors, Clifton Chenier and Stanley Dural, Jr. also known as Buckwheat Zydeco, Ledet incorporates other genres into his music. The result on Standing on Faith, his latest studio album, is a pleasing audio gumbo.

“Push Me Away,” Zydeco crossed with classic rhythm and blues, features a danceable groove that puts Ledet’s accordion work in the spotlight. “Love Never Felt So Good,” an instrumental, offers a more contemporary rhythm-and-blues sound. On the gospel-tinged title track Ledet delivers an upbeat statement of

thanks, complete with a spoken-word interlude. “Take Me There” ventures into early 1970s soul with a ballad that recalls the intimacy of Al Green. The reggae-influenced “A Good Day” shows the rhythmic connection between the music of Jamaica and Louisiana. Ledet’s musical explorations are the mark of a performer who’s willing to push the boundaries of his art. (8 songs, 30 minutes).

Vanessa Collier HHH1/2 Meeting My Shadow Ruf Records As a singer, songwriter and saxophonist, Collier is a triple threat on Meeting My Shadow, her second solo album. She delivers a self-assured set of music with the poise of a veteran performer.

“Poisoned The Well” begins the CD with an accusatory blues that demonstrates Collier’s versatility with her work as a flautist. On the up-tempo “Dig a Little Deeper,” Collier contributes a lively horn arrangement and an urgent vocal that recalls Bonnie Raitt. With her version of U2’s “When Love Comes to Town,” Collier emphasizes the bluesy side of the song and uses her saxophone as an extension of her voice. Collier delivers a celebratory rendition of Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “Up Above My Head I Hear Music in The Air” with gospel-style backing vocals. Collier’s horn playing fuels the New Orleans-style groove of “Meet Me Where I’m At” and displays her sultry side on the bluesy “Whiskey and Women.” Meeting My Shadow shows Collier has a bright future. (11 songs, 44 minutes) n

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A.d. AMorosi

POP

Harmolodically Yours SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, ANGULAR blues-funk guitarist James Blood Ulmer played the Montgomery County Community College’s Science Center Building—a room that since 2016 has become a haven for the deepest, darkest of oblique soundscapes and raving jazzy atmospheres. Along with crushing it (whatever it is) with his blistering, occasionally metallic noise-blues, the legendary Ulmer did what he does best: approach his instrument and arrangement freely—a place where melody, harmony, and rhythm are both equal to and independent from each other, all at once—in accordance with the musical philosophy of harmolodics. Developed by saxophonist Ornette Coleman (who produced Ulmer’s torrid Tales of Captain Black in 1978), hamolodics is difficult to define, confounding to “get” (until you get it) and freeing to musician and listener alike. And don’t call this jazz; Coleman hated that term.

As an original member of Coleman's Prime Time band in the early 70s, and for the 12-year period that he occupied the first bass chair, Philadelphia’s Jamaaladeen Tacuma learned that harmolodics wasn’t just a musical theory, but a life theory. “The moments, hours and days spent rehearsing with Ornette unlocked doors that would have normally taken a lifetime to decipher, says Tacuma. “Harmolodics is a small glimpse of a natural, organic way of executing sound; where sound was more important than notes.

Notes are really just a small element in Ornette Coleman. Photo: Jimmy Katz the scheme of things. Notes are formed and placed to produce a total sound. So as sound being the goal, why not get to that immediately.”

That is the perfect setting in which to introduce the newly-released Celebrate Ornette, a 5-album package from drummer/son Denardo Coleman’s Song X label mixing the music of summer 2014’s all-star concert held in Ornette’s honor at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, as well as the tribute of Coleman’s 2015 funeral. What’s even more crucial about the vibrant 2014 showcase featuring adventurous punk rockers (Patti Smith, Red Hot Chili Pepper Flea, Thurston Moore), experimental electronic music makers (Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson), world music practitioners (Bill Laswell, Master Musicians Of Jajouka) and abstract jazz-bos (John Zorn, Geri Allen, Branford Marsalis) is that Ornette himself showed up for his last ever reverie. As a surprise to everyone, including his son, Ornette came out with his white alto sax in his hand, sat next to several saxophonists, waited, then entered the ‘etage with nearly one 30-minute moment of blowing-dreaming-concentrating that pulled from his own blues past compositions “Ramblin’” and “Turnaround” in which to (proactively) mesmerize the already-hypnotized crowd with a high cutting wail. That was a genuine feat considering that the day’s reeds section behind Denrado’s percolating funk groove, included genius players such as Henry Threadgill and David Murray.

If I hadn’t have been there, I would never believe this box set.

There are other holy rolling moments to be found on Celebrate Ornette—Patti Smith’s testy experiments on clarinet, an eight-minute piano solo from master Cecil Taylor that is as jarring as it is tender, guitarists Nels Cline and morphing Coleman’s “Sadness” into something impressionist and joyful—but the 20 minutes that the father of harmolodics is playing, even in his frailty, is breathtaking and worthy of purchase and repeated listening. n W W W. fA C e b O O k . C O M / I C O N D V

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bob perkins

jazz library

SONNY CRISS

I DON’T RECALL THE first time I heard Sonny Criss play his alto saxophone, but I do remember trying to connect the sound to that of a well known entity in jazz…perhaps it was Lou Donaldson, or maybe Sonny Stitt. A few years later, when I lucked out and became a radio DJ, and my jazz ears improved, I not only found out who the saxophonist was, but I began playing his music on the air.

Bob Perkins is a writer and host of an all-jazz radio program that airs on WRTI-FM 90.1 Monday through Thursday night from 6:00 to 9:00pm and Sunday, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

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The story surrounding the life and times of Sonny Criss, is a familiar one with American jazz musicians, in that the output is most always not commensurate with the input. In other words, the dual quests for recognition and earning a fairly good living is mostly comprised of two steps forward and three backward.

Criss, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee, seemed to do everything associated with being a very good, even great musician. He credited his mother with being his first musical influence; even though she was not a musician, she encouraged his desire to play music. During an interview, she revealed, “I never told [Sonny] one time to come in here and take your music lessons. And after he got to be a young man, he still practiced daily.”

Before Lucy Criss and her young son moved to Los Angeles, he spent his weekends at the old Palace Theater on Beale Street. By the time he was 13, he had seen and heard the bands of Basie, Ellington and Jimmy Lunceford, and savored the solos of saxophonists Willie Smith, Benny Carter and Lester Young, but his favorite alto sax player at the time was Johnny Hodges.

Criss amplified his budding talent on the alto horn when he moved to Los Angeles and began study at Polytechnic High School. While still in his teens, He met Charlie Parker and the two became close, even driving Parker around in Criss’ old ‘29 Ford convertible, and eventually they became part of a four saxophone octet.

Criss held an alto sax chair in the pioneering Billy Eckstine Band of the early and mid 1940s. Impresario Norman Granz chose him to tour with the Jazz at the Philharmonic group in 1948, pairing him again with his idol Charlie Parker, along with other jazz stalwarts. But following the JATP tour, jobs for Criss dried up, and like so many American musicians before him, he sought work in Europe. He said, “It was the beginning of the most productive period of my life. I did everything I wanted to there.” He worked in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland, and said, “Ah, but Paris, that was the place.”

Criss returned to the States in the mid-60s. Asked why he returned to the U.S. he replied, “Sure I had a ball in Europe, but I wanted to give myself the chance to make it in my own hometown.”

He signed a contract with the Prestige label and made a number of albums for them. A battle with the bottle, however, removed him from music for several years. Afterward, he became a counselor for those suffering a similar problem.

When he returned to music, his career seemed to be taking positive shape again.

He signed another recording contract, and was scheduled for a tour in Japan, saying that the mayor of Tokyo had arranged to welcome him. But one day prior to his departure, Sonny Criss shot himself to death. Speculation at the time was that he was suffering from stomach cancer, and to rid himself of the pain he took his own life. His mother later confirmed that her son was suffering from cancer. An examination of his career might set one to wonder if a percentage of disappointments covering thirty-plus years as a professional musician also played a part in his decision to end it all.

When I play a recording on the air by Sonny Criss, there are frequent inquiries about the name of the musician playing. Sometimes, even knowledgeable jazz listeners fail to identify the artist. Some say he sounded like this one or that one...but I always thought he sounded like Sonny Criss.

Sonny Criss died November 19, 1977, in Los Angles California; he was 50. There is a two-CD compilation of Criss at work titled The Complete Imperial Session, which is still available on the Blue Note label. n

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JAMes p. delpino, Mss, Mlsp, lcsW, bcd

about life

LOOK INSIDE. WHAT DO YOU SEE?

S

SO MANY PEOPLE WONDER who they really are. They also wonder who other people really are. What is truth and what is perception? As it turns out, perception often overrules truth. Perceptions are highly unreliable and don’t bend to facts in many instances. For centuries, wise men and women have speculated about what is true or illusory about the human self.

It’s pretty busy inside of most folks and that makes it more difficult to figure out what‘s going on, let alone who each of us is or might be. Consider the processes of growth, change, adaptation and learning and the equation becomes even more complex. One helpful way to understand these levels of complexity is to look at someone or yourself as a diamond. A diamond has many facets, each unique unto itself yet all belonging to the same stone. We are a set of different aspects or pieces that all belong to the same whole.

Looking inside is much like shining a flashlight into a dark basement. The entirety of the basement is not illuminated; the parts that are lit are limited to the width and breadth of the beam of the flashlight. So looking inward is a bit of a piecemeal affair revealing only some aspects or facets. This is a way of understanding self-awareness—that which is illuminated or conscious. What remains in the shadows is out of awareness and exists in the shadows known as the unconscious. It’s possible to make the unconscious part of conscious awareness. Being willing to shine the light of awareness into the dark recesses of our own internal basement is a way of expanding consciousness or self-awareness. It’s a bit like taking inventory of what is stocked deep inside. If this is done without judgment or

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Hand with Reflecting Sphere by M. C. Escher. Lithograph, 1935.

censorship there are many wonderful treasures to be discovered. Illuminating what was in shadow is much like uncovering what is already there.

In a frightened search the eyes may become closed to some aspects which are deemed undesirable or unpleasant. On the surface of things, this is known as denial.

While denial may serve to buffer or block what is not acceptable, it also blocks awareness and truncates the growth dynamic. Just because an urge, desire or trait is denied does not make it go away, it just keeps those things out of awareness. Decreasing den W W W. fA C e b O O k . C O M / I C O N D V

nial allows for the possibility of resolution and closure. It’s also potentially healing in that a person can forgive him or herself for being less than perfect in this all too imperfect world. Denial helps to maintain cognitive illusions as well as perceptual distortions. The opposite of denial is learning acceptance and adopting a willingness to slowly grind down what is unessential.

Embracing what is positive and lifebound inside is the key to making progress. People don’t grow by solely focusing on what is negative. Using the power and strength of positive aspects of the self to overcome shortcomings and deficiencies is the way to move forward and upward. Just these few simple steps advance awareness and promote happiness in a universal sense. Being happy is directly related to how your world is experienced. The experience of life is given meaning by how the events and people in life are perceived. Unhappy people see raindrops while happy people see rainbows. Thoughts ascribe meaning to life, so maintaining positive thoughts directly influences feelings, emotions, behaviors and decisions. These things are all interconnected—altering any one of them changes the others.

Changing behaviors changes thinking and feelings. Changing feelings changes thoughts and behaviors. Changing thoughts change behaviors and feelings.

Promoting positive thoughts, feelings and behaviors make for better choices which leads to more happiness and contentment. All of these collaborate to make a person who he really is…or who he really can be. n Jim Delpino is a psychotherapist in private practice for over 36 years. jdelpino@aol.com (215) 364-0139.

harper’s FINDINGS

INDEX

Acoustic ocean gliders recorded the Western Pacific Biotwang, a complex call emanating from the Mariana Trench, with moans as deep as 38 Hz and metallic peaks as high as 8000 Hz. The ghostlike Casper octopod, discovered last year, may be threatened because it must compete with mining companies to brood its eggs. Eleven thousand tons of plastic enter the Great Lakes annually. In five years, more than a third of U.S. households may be unable to afford water. Test subjects who are made to feel poor wish to eat more junk food. The number of humans who are now underfat is 675–750 million, the number who are normally fat is 1–2 billion, and the number who are overfat is 4.5–5.5 billion. Foreign travel may increase immoral behavior by increasing travelers’ moral relativism. The more negative the coverage of celebrities, the darker their skin appears in the photos that accompany the stories. Britons have difficulty remembering that white people are white. European surveyors mapped the Pole of Ignorance.

Percentage of U.S. apartments under construction that are unaffordable for those making less than $75,000 a year: 83 Percentage change since 2006 in the number of U.S. cities that have banned living in vehicles: +143 Portion of Americans aged 18–34 who live with their parents/other family members: 2/5 Estimated portion of Americans born in 1980 who will go on to earn more than their parents did: 1/2 Of those born in 1940 who did: 9/10 Number of the ten leading causes of death in the United States whose fatality rate increased in 2015: 8 Factor by which the number of children born with drug dependencies has increased in the rural U.S. population since 2004: 6 Number of Japanese women suing the government over claims that the HPV vaccine caused them neurological problems: 119 Percentage by which HPV vaccination rates in Japan have decreased since 2013: 99 Number of Asian-American women who have won an Oscar for an acting role: 1 Of white women who have won an Oscar for playing an Asian character: 2 Rating, out of 12, awarded to ice-skaters who performed on a Russian reality-TV show wearing concentration-camp uniforms: 12 Number of weeks that Mein Kampf spent on the German bestseller list after its publication ban was lifted last year: 35 Minimum number of European nations in which restrictions on Islamic dress have been imposed or are being considered: 9 Number of U.S. law-enforcement agencies that permit officers to wear turbans or beards for religious reasons: 6 Percentage change since 1961 in the portion of U.S. residents who are Christian: –24 In the portion of congresspeople who are: –4 Minimum fee a South Carolinian would pay for a computer without pornography filters, under a proposed law: $20 Number of states in which anti-transgender “bathroom bill” legislation was introduced over the first week of 2017: 5 Number of NCAA championship events that have been moved out of North Carolina as a result of H.B. 2: 27 Estimated loss to North Carolina in direct spending: $65,600,000 Date on which Andrew Woodward, a British professional soccer player, publicly claimed sexual abuse by a youth coach: 11/16/16 Number of calls to a U.K. help line for soccer players alleging similar abuse over the next month: 1,767 Length in weeks of a British scholarship program in the Caribbean in which recipients serve the royal family: 6 Est. number of years that the Chinese government had a monopoly on table salt before it ended in January: 2,660 Portion of tourists to Cuba who stay in hotels that are managed by the military: 1/2 Est. annual revenue from a proposed tax on Rio de Janeiro hotel rooms to compensate mugged tourists: $10,900,000 Number of years for which a fake U.S. embassy operated in Accra, Ghana, before being shut down last year: 7 Estimated 2017 U.S. budget for identifying and combating foreign propaganda efforts: $100,000,000 For conducting its own psychological operations abroad: $179,200,000 Estimated portion of alcohol drunk in Russia that is in the form of household products: 1/10 Of Russian deaths that are caused by alcohol: 1/3 Factor by which deaths due to cold weather outnumber deaths due to hot weather worldwide: 20 Number of successive years that have each been the hottest in recorded history: 3 Number of offshore wind turbines in the United States: 5 In the United Kingdom: 1,463 Number of species recovered from endangered or threatened status under the Obama Administration: 20 Under all other administrations since the passage of the Endangered Species Act of 1973: 15 Average length, in millimeters, of a snail whose protected status prevented Donald Trump from building a seawall in Ireland: 1.8

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Iowa psychologists argued that, starting in the nineteenth century, the role of dying has become confused with the role of being sick. The Hadza have poorer sleep quality and stronger circadian rhythms than industrialized people and have an average nap duration of 47.5 minutes. Americans sleep worse when subjected to daily discrimination, and non-whites are four times more likely to sleep poorly. After running a race in Toowoomba, Party Till Dawn tested positive for methamphetamine. Judges sentence more harshly the day daylight saving time begins. Americans consider lying by telling the truth to be as bad as lying by making false statements. Bad bosses can be categorized as either dysfunctional or dark. Children who are exposed to superheroes become more aggressive but not more likely to defend victimized peers.

Americans’ disgust about moral violations owes more to the character of the transgressor than to his or her actions. It is up to an individual embryo whether its blastopore develops into a mouth or an anus. A macaque mounted a sika, masturbated, and ejaculated on her back; the doe then licked off the semen, and the monkey mounted another doe, who resisted his advances. Following a heart attack, 44 percent of Koreans arrive at an emergency room within the “golden time.” Autistic boys tend to dislike the color yellow. Legionella is present in roughly a third of U.K. showers. When they can’t solve their own problems, horses ask humans for help.

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Psychologists described the Invisibility Cloak Illusion, wherein we believe that we perceive others more than they perceive us, and concluded it cannot be attributed solely to Better Than Average Bias but must exist because we don’t often catch strangers watching us. A psychoanalyst concluded that her six-year-old hemophiliac patient ex-pressed a desire to have his penis cut off, become a girl, and die because of his fear of castration. Forty-two percent of women in U.S. prisons identify as sexual minorities. The largest U.S. botulism outbreak since 1978 was traced to Mississippi prison moonshine. Female arsonists are distinguished from other female felons by alcohol dependence, relatively effective anger regulation, and “problematic fire interest.” A patient invented a history of being a sexually sadistic serial killer in order to intrigue his therapist, whom he succeeded only in frightening; when subsequently hospitalized, the patient complained of hearing Italian opera in the night. Alcohol makes it harder for mice to forget the bad times. Hairy-legged vampire bats have started drinking the blood of humans. A graduate student named Borges found a tarantula eating the entrails of a snake. Cognitive scientists in Jerusalem continued to explore the Alternative Omen Effect.

SOURCES: 1 CoStar Group (Boston); 2 National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (San Jose, Calif.); 3 Trulia (San Francisco); 4,5 Robert Fluegge, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (Stanford, Calif.); 6 National Center for Health Statistics (Hyattsville, Md.); 7 Tyler Winkelman, University of Michigan Medical School (Ann Arbor); 8 Masumi Minaguchi (Tokyo); 9 International Agency for Research on Cancer (Lyon, France); 10 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Beverly Hills, Calif.); 11 SAG-AFTRA (Los Angeles); 12 Harper’s research; 13 Buchreport (Dortmund, Germany); 14 Jørgen Nielsen, University of Birmingham (England); 15 Sikh Coalition (Oakland, Calif.); 16 Gallup (Washington); 17 Pew Research Center (Washington); 18 Office of South Carolina State Representative James Mikell Burns (Columbia); 19 American Civil Liberties Union (N.Y.C.); 20,21 Harper’s research; 22 Adrian Ohio (Manchester, England); 23 National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (London); 24 Office of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (London); 25 Man Kwan, University of Cincinnati; 26 Jaime Suchlicki, University of Miami; 27 Office of the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro; 28,29 U.S. Department of State; 30 U.S. Department of Defense; 31,32 Jurgen Rehm (Toronto); 33 Antonio Gasparrini, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; 34 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Asheville, N.C.); 35 U.S. Department of Energy; 36 The Crown Estate (London); 37,38 Center for Biological Diversity (Silver City, N.M.); 39 Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland (Midhurst, England)/Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service (Dublin).

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The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

t

ALL IN FAVOR ACROSS

By John Lampkin

1 Worker on the floor 6 Second-rarest blood type, briefly 10 Really big 14 Worked at home 19 “Lordy me!”

21 “Hamilton” accolade 22 “Ici on __ français” 23 Website search response with an attitude?

25 Spirits strength 26 Seven Wonders lighthouse 27 They often have runners 28 Mite 29 “Round __ virgin ... ” 30 “My turn” 33 “Guys and Dolls” composer 36 Archipelago part: Abbr.

37 Competition at the geometry fair?

40 Marshal at Waterloo 41 Pre-A.D. 43 “So long” 44 Vexing 46 Ballerina Shearer 48 Like some out-of-favor suffixes 52 Lats relatives 54 “A penny saved is hardly worth the effort”?

58 You, at one time 60 “In a __” 61 Burkini wearer, perhaps 62 Saltimbocca herb 63 Acquiesce 65 Moo __ pork 66 “’Scuse Me While __ This Guy: and Other Misheard Lyrics”: Gavin Edwards book 68 Fella 71 Booster’s cry 72 89-Across’ Illinois headquarters 74 Primary part 78 Germ’s future?

79 66, e.g.: Abbr.

80 Carrier known for tight security 81 “I’ll give you five bucks for your Egyptian water lily”?

86 Spanish 101 word 88 Gorilla, for example 89 Farm equipment giant 90 Actress __ Sue Martin 92 Do fair work

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95 Mule’s father 96 Cabinet dept.

98 Positively charged vehicle?

103 Also 104 “Probably ... ” 105 River past Logroño 106 Sun or moon 109 Obliterate 111 Outfit again 114 Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto 116 “If I Were __ Man” 117 Miscreant handling letters?

121 Fracas 122 Chow 123 Overhear 124 Ranked tournament players 125 “Let’s Get It On” singer 126 Many 99-cent purchases 127 Stretch 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 24 28 31 32 34 35 37 38 39 41 42

Unstable Snake state New England touchdown site River of Germany “The Bathers” artist Short lunch order?

Midday refresher Writes ths clue, say Rock sci. __ doll One overstepping bounds Seriously overstepped bounds Brother of Jack and Bobby What may be stiff when trouble arises?

Farm girl Quality control job at a maraschino factory?

Plaza Hotel imp With skill Sagan series Touched Bandleader Lawrence Sport-__ Modular homes Holder of disks More steady Famille member British philosopher A.J. Sides sharing views Mining passage Feature of Charlie Brown’s head?

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45 Migratory bird banding equipment 46 Homecoming query 47 “Encore!”

49 Lyricist Gershwin 50 Eggy quaff 51 Composer Charles 53 Hill hundred 55 Classic TV nerd 56 Chou En-__ 57 Denudes 59 Fruit-ripening gas 64 Prim and proper 67 Revolve on an axis 69 Lab dispenser 70 Prefix with meter 73 Intestinal divisions 75 Spanish pronoun 76 Suitable 77 “Rocky IV” boxer Ivan __ 82 Watched at the beach, maybe 83 Hems in 84 Transparent 85 Deck wood 87 Osculates 91 German finale 93 Wall St. hedger 94 Arrow poison 96 You won’t find subs on them 97 Get out

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99 Hole-in-one, for one 100 Otherwise 101 Actress Hatcher 102 Time periods?

106 Muscat native 107 Give up to the cops 108 Retired sportscaster Musburger 110 Got a hole-in-one on

112 At a Dodger game, for short 113 Handle 115 Parting words?

117 Bit of RAM 118 Drivers’ org.

119 What Zener cards purportedly tested for 120 NBA nos.

Answer to March’s puzzle, PEACHY

agenda CALLTO ARTISTS

West park civic Association presents the 43rd annual Art-in-the-park, held 6/17, 10 AM-5 pM (rain or shine), West park, Allentown, pA. this juried show will feature fine art and crafts by 70+ mid-Atlantic artists. prizes totaling $2,500 are offered. Juried by lisa hanover, executive director of the Michener Art Museum, and tim higgins, art critic. please join us and exhibit your best work in what promises to be an exciting event. Applications due 4/15. for information/instructions, Westpark-ca.org.

FINE ART thrU 4/15 beyond the dark. river Queen Artisans gallery. 8 church st., lambertville, nJ. 609-397-2977. riverqueenartisans.com thrU 4/22 Joseph e.b. elliott, Monument and ephemera, featuring works created over the past three decades. Also on view, Altered state: painting Myanmar in a time of transition. Martin Art gallery, Muhlenberg college, baker center for the Arts, 2400 West chew st., Allentown, pA. tues.-sat., 12-8 pm. the galleria spaces, 9-9 daily. thrU 4/23 6th Annual Artists of yardley Juried show. Aoy Art center, 949 Mirror lake road, yardley pA hrs: fri, sat, sun 12-5 artistsofyardley.org thrU 4/30 Altered state: painting Myanmar in a time of transition. public talk 4/12 with organizer ian holliday. Martin Art gallery at Muhlenberg college, 2400 West chew street, Allentown pA. tues – sat., 12–8 , the galleria spaces, 9–9 daily. thrU 5/14 Made in America: industrial photography from the Ungar collection. rodale gallery, Allentown Art Museum, 31 north 5th st., Allentown, pA. 610-4324333. allentownartmuseum.org thrU 5/26 patricia satterlee, Already gone, large format paintings. Martin Art gallery at Muhlenberg college, 2400 West chew

street, Allentown pA. tues – sat., 12 – 8 pm, the galleria spaces, 9–9 daily. thrU 5/28 Above the fold, new expressions in origami. nine international artists push the boundaries of the art form.

Allentown Art Museum, 31 north 5th st., Allentown, pA. 610-432-4333. allentownartmuseum.org thrU 7/9 charles sheeler: fashion, photography, and sculptural form. James A. Michener Art Museum, 138 s pine st, doylestown. 215-340-9800. michenerartmuseum.org 4/29-6/10 glenn harrington: paintings from the river valley. opening receptions 4/29, 5-9pm and 4/30, 1-4pm. silverman gallery bucks county impressionist Art, in buckingham green, on rt. 202, 5 miles south of new hope. 4920 york rd., holicong, pA. 215-794-4300. silvermangallery.com 5/6 - 5/28 new hope Arts center presents fiber, fabric, fashion ll. premiere runway fashion show 5/6 & 5/7. tickets now available. new hope Arts, 2 stockton Ave., new hope pA. tickets now available. 215-862-9606. newhopearts.org 5/7-6/11 the Art of the Miniature, the 25th invitational exhibition of fine art miniatures from around the world. opening reception 5/7, 1-5pm. the snow goose gallery, 470 Main st., bethlehem, pA. 610-974-9099. thesnowgoosegallery.com 5/20 the baum school of Art presents 32nd Annual Art Auction. Auction preview night, 5/18, 6-8pm. Art, food and fun. the baum school of Art, 510 W. linden st., Allentown, pA. 610-4330032. baumschool.org

FINE ARTS / CRAFTS EVENTS 5/6 & 5/7 Morven in May, Art, craft and garden. featuring 36 fine craft artists from around the U.s. the show features jewelry, furniture, wearable and deco-

rative textiles, ceramics, mixed media and more. Morven Museum & garden, 55 stockton st., princeton, nJ. 609924-8144. morven.org 5/6 & 5/7 the hunterdon Art tour, (thAt) 10am-6pm. the first annual self-guided tour of hunterdon county artists’ studios. benefit exhibition & party, 5/5, 79pm at the hunterdon Art Museum, clinton, nJ. thehunterdonarttour.com.

5/13 & 5/14 52nd fine Art & craft show, Mother’s day Weekend, 5/13, 10am-5pm, 5/14, 11am-5pm. historic Main st., bethlehem, pA. over 80 regional, national and local artists. Art projects for kids, fun for the entire family. bfac-lv.org 5/20 Quakertown Alive. presents the 17th Annual Arts Alive. Juried arts & craft event. 10am-4pm, downtown Quakertown, pA. rain date, 5/21. 215-5362273. quakertownalive.com

4/30 immortal chi, A Warrior’s Quest for balance. 4pm, Zoellner Arts center, lehigh University, 420 e. packer Ave., bethlehem. 610-758-2787. zoellnerartscenter.org

4/30 the borealis Wind Quintet, 3pm. cathedral Arts, cathedral church of the nativity, 321 Wyandotte st., bethlehem, pA. 610-865-0727. nativitycathedral.org

5/13 touchstone theatre proudly presents the 12th Annual young playwrights’ festival. touchstone theatre, 321 e. fourth st., bethlehem, pA. 610-8671689. touchstone.orgnerartscenter.org

5/5 kimmel center presents, A tribute to jazz legend Abbey lincoln, direct from kennedy center featuring esperanza spalding, dee dee bridgewater, dianne reeves and terri lyne carrington. kimmel center for the performing arts, Merriam theater, 250 s broad st., philadelphia, pA. 215-893-1999. kimmelcenter.org/Jazz

CONCERTS 4/7 the complete organ Works of J.s. bach, program 14, organist stephen Williams. 8:00 pM, cathedral Arts, cathedral church of the nativity, 321 Wyandotte st., bethlehem, pA. 610865-0727. nativitycathedral.org

DANCE

4/8 rosanne cash. 7 pm, state theatre, 453 northampton st., easton, pA. 610252-3132, 1-800-999-stAte. statetheatre.org

4/19-4/22 dance emerge, innovative dance works by emerging choreographers.

Muhlenberg college theatre & dance, Muhlenberg college, 2400 chew st., Allentown, pA. 484-664-3333. muhlenberg.edu/dance

4/21 the complete organ Works of J.s. bach, program 15, organist stephen Williams. 8:00 pM, cathedral Arts, cathedral church of the nativity, 321 Wyandotte st., bethlehem, pA. 610865-0727. nativitycathedral.org

THEATER

4/21 & 4/22 this side the ground, A spring con4/21 cert with the desales University the illusionists, live from broadway. chorale & schola cantorum. 8 pM, 8pm, Zoellner Arts center, lehigh Uni- connelly chapel, desales University, versity, 420 e. packer Ave., bethlehem.

2755 station Ave., center valley, pA. 610-758-2787. zoellnerartscenter.org free & open to the public. 610-2823192. desales.edu/Act1 4/26-4/29 the cherry orchard, Anton chekhov, 4/22 translated by stephen karam. Muhlen- Jane Monheit. 7:30 pm, state theatre, berg college theatre & dance, Muh453 northampton st., easton, pA. 610lenberg college, 2400 chew st., Allen- 252-3132, 1-800-999-stAte. statethetown, pA. 484-664-3333. atre.org muhlenberg.edu/theatre 4/29 4/26-5/7 pA camerata singers present spring the new Mel brooks Musical, young concert: time and space, ola gjeilo’s frankenstein. Act 1 performing Arts, “sunrise Mass” and Arvo pärt’s desales University, labuda center for “Adam’s lament.” first presbyterian the performing Arts, 2755 station Ave., church of Allentown, 3231 West center valley, pA. 610-282-3192. detilgham st., Allentown, pA. 610-434sales.edu/Act1 7811. pacameratasingers.org W W W. fA C e b O O k . C O M / I C O N D V

5/12-5/13 and 5/19-5/20 the bach choir of bethlehem’s 110th bethlehem bach festival. historic & southside bethlehem, pA, on the campus of lehigh University and on the gounds of the Moravian community. the heart of our season. schedule & 610-866-4382,115/110. bach.org

MUSIKFEST CAFÉ´ 101 founders Way, bethlehem, pA 610-332-1300 Artsquest.org 6

Wxpn welcomes Jukebox the ghost 14 kashmir: the Ultimate led Zeppelin tribute 14 blackbird society orchestra 15 start Making sense (talking heads tribute) 20 ginkgoa 20 carbon leaf 26 lucky chops 28-29 southside Arts & Music fest.

May 7 comedian kevin nealon

EVENTS 5/14-5/21 the 14th Annual new hope celebrates pride festival. bringing people together to share in a celebration of the history, diversity and the inclusiveness of the community. celebrate all week long, nhc parade, pride fair, live music at select venues, cocktail contests, dance parties and more! come celebrate our river of rainbows, new hope, pA and lambertville, nJ. newhopecelebrates.com

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