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The intersection of art, entertainment, culture, opinion and mad genius
INTERVIEWS HALL & OATES [& HOAGIES] | 22 How Philly’s sons of soul created HoagieNation and beyond
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PLAY IT AGAIN, SAL | 24 Sal Valentinetti, the young winner of NBC’s America’s Got Talent shifted from delivering pizza to delivering The Great American Songbook
Bethlehem House Gallery. Artist: Barbara Schulman
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Something in the Air
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EXHIBITIONS I
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The Zookeeper’s Wife Obit
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FILM ROUNDUP Bokeh Salt and Fire Sandy Wexler Slack Bay
The Spring Show Bethlehem House Contemporary Art Gallery The Snow Goose Gallery Rachelle Siegrist, Mother’s Things.
Designing for the Loom: Drawings by William Geskes Allentown Art Museum
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The Salesman I Am Not Your Negro My Life as a Zucchini Dheepan
Art-in-the-Park Allentown, PA
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Obit
Ginny Casey & Jessi Reaves Institute of Contemporary Art
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The 17th Annual Arts Alive Downtown Quakertown, PA
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James Baldwin.
Zhang LianJie e-Moderne Gallerie
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JAZZ, ROCK, CLASSICAL, ALT
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JAZZ LIBRARY Sonny Clark
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SINGER / SONGWRITER
Eat Your Vegetables
ENTERTAINMENT ON THE COVER: Daryl Hall and John Oates (1978). Photo: Eric Kroll / SONY Entertainment Archives. Page 22
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The List
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Agenda
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PRODUCTION
Richard DeCosta Rob Allen
Susan O’Neill
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
A. D. Amorosi / divaland@aol.com
Robert Beck / robert@robertbeck.net
Nick Bewsey / nickbewsey@gmail.com Jack Byer / jackbyer@verizon.net
Edward Higgins / ehiggins2581@gmail.com
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FOODIE FILE
filipiakr@comcast.net
All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone
The Old Masters at Sunset Meditations Snyderman-Works Galleries
Raina Filipiak / Advertising
Peter Croatto / petecroatto@yahoo.com
Tiziano Tononi & Southbound Stereo RV Johnny & Asbury Southside Jukes Mark Masters Ensemble David Weiss & Point of Departure
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EDITORIAL Executive Editor / Trina McKenna
DOCUMENTARY
MUSIC
EXHIBITIONS III Cecilia Biagini: Marginal Figures Pentimenti Gallery
FOREIGN Parer’s War
EXHIBITIONS II The Art of the Miniature XXV The Snow Goose Gallery
REEL NEWS
PUBLISHER
Trina McKenna trina@icondv.com
James P. Delpino / JDelpino@aol.com
Geoff Gehman / geoffgehman@verizon.net Mark Keresman / shemp@hotmail.com
George Miller / gomiller@travelsdujour.com Thom Nickels / thomnickels1@aol.com
R. Kurt Osenlund / rkurtosenlund@gmail.com Bob Perkins / bjazz5@aol.com
Keith Uhlich / KeithUhlich@gmail.com Burton Wasserman
Tom Wilk / tomwilk@rocketmail.com
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Integrity Checkup
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HARPER’S FINDINGS & INDEX L. A. TIMES CROSSWORD
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essAy And pAinting by robert beck
art
something in the air HAVING A NOSE IS a really great thing. I can’t count how many times I stepped outside last fall just to enjoy breathing the air. Gone were the heavy aromas of cut lawns and roasted asphalt, leaving in their place a crisper, woody fragrance laced with a trace of smoke from someone clearing their yard. It’s a wonderful smell, recalling my father’s long strokes with the leaf rake, and me flopping into the crunchy piles. The visuals of winter are magnificent, wanting of color but rich in subtle values, especially before, during, and after of a snowstorm. Winter sensations include the taste of a wet wool scarf, the sound of a scraping shovel, the hiss of the falling flakes after dark, Doreen’s beef stew, and the primal satisfactions of a fireplace. Having my breath fog my glasses fits in there, too. It’s all very comforting until the rumbling plow out on the state road signals a return to the real world. Spring and summer have their own sensory menus that vary according to where you might be. Pennsylvania is quite unlike the two other places where I spend time—New York and the northern coast of Maine—and I experience them differently as well. New York is an assault. Smells are compacted by the city and there aren’t a lot of places for them to go. The ecosystem is compromised, with little earth to absorb decomposition, so stuff in the air hangs around until it attaches to a hard surface in a layer thick enough to scrape off and haul away. I’m not saying it’s like the fish market in Dakar, which peels your nostrils back and makes your throat bleed, but a lot of New York air smells like it’s been used a few times already. The city is noisy too, although it sure does dazzle. The air along the coastal Maine harbors carries the scent of the sea. Not the saltwater fragrance you notice when you get within a couple miles of the Jersey
shore, but rather a mature brine seasoned with notes of diesel oil and aged sea life, followed by a long off shore gale finish. You might not think granite has a smell but it does, depending on whether it’s baked in an August sun or washed in a November squall. A Maine lobster wharf smells pretty bad at times. Lobsters love old dead fish, so that’s the bait preferred for traps. Dead herring are delivered to the wharfs in fivefoot plastic containers called totes, where they often sit in the sun until needed. Wherever totes are stored, or the bait is shoveled and stuffed into buckets, or where those buckets are stacked waiting for the boats, can be a bit off-putting. In fact, just about any place along a working harbor can deliver pungent whiffs on even
the breeziest of days. I can’t say that over time you don’t notice, or that you get used to it, but after a while it’s just not a big deal. It’s not as bad as having to walk through a Yankee Candle store or eat dinner next to that lady who has bathed in a vat of perfume. As unpleasant as the odor of rotting fish can be it has an organic legitimacy the other two can’t claim. But that’s just the wharfs. The rest of the Maine coast is delightful. It’s not any different than living in farm country, where some fragrances lift your spirits, calm your nerves, and clear your skin, while others make your eyes swell shut. When I’m at the grange fair I always search out the prizewinning bales of timothy and alfalfa just to plant my face and inhale deeply. They smell delicious. By the time they get to the other
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end of the horse, not so much. There are other, harder to define sensations that contribute to our interaction with the world, such as how we subconsciously feel the density of masses around us, or out of the blue have a hunch that something is afoot, or suddenly just know where to go and what to do. Animals use the sun, moon and magnetic fields to guide them. Trees communicate through their roots. Extraordinary things happen regardless of whether we learn the reasons. For many of us it’s easier to fabricate explanations that fit the narrative we’re comfortable with. It helps us feel we have it covered. I don’t know how my dog knows I’m going to do something before I do, but I’m not surprised. You should see the size of his nose. n
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EXHIBITIONS I
Art-in-the-Park 16th & Turner Streets, Allentown, PA June 17, 10–5 (rain or shine) westpark-ca.org/artinthepark
Arc of History, Stone and Steel, 12” x 30” x 56”
The Spring Show Bethlehem House Contemporary Art Gallery 459 Main Street, Bethlehem, PA 610-419-6262 BethlehemHouseGallery.com Wed. & Thurs.,11–7, Fri. & Sat., 12–9, Sun. 12–5 Through July 8, 2017 Closing reception 7/8 New work from Arturo Cabrera, Jan Crooker, Gail Fly, Tom Holmes, Susan Levin, and Barbara Schulman. Arturo Cabrera: “I try to capture the subtle nuances within the human mind which add up to create a multidimensional character.” Jan Crooker: “Showing the most intense visual moment of color is the focus of my work.” Gail Fly: “By painting, I try to make seen the beauty of nature by exaggerating color, size and shape.” Tom Holmes is a sculptor working in several mediums. “Ice follows the freezing mark of winter, stone and steel the exterior work space of summer. Spring begins the search for materials and fall settles all debts.” Susan Levin: “I started my art career in oils; eventually finding my niche in fiber arts. I began painting on silk, using the traditional French guttaserti technique.” Barbara Schulman: “My lifelong obsession with fabric has inspired a love of making complex textiles with invented patterns.”
Painting by Barbara Schulman
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William Geskes (1877-1962), Untitled Jacquard Design, between 1895 and 1940, gouache and pencil on paper. Allentown Art Museum, gift of Karin Geskes Erny, 1993
Designing for the Loom: Drawings by William Geskes Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley 31 N. Fifth St., Allentown, PA 610-432-4333 Allentownartmuseum.org Through July 10 For more than 40 years, William Geskes (1877–1962) created designs for Paterson, New Jersey, silk manufacturers. This exhibition features a selection of his drawings, which silk factories would have translated into repeated patterns to be woven as fabric. Some of these original works carry an embossed “E. Frey Designer” seal, which identifies them as property of one of the design firms that employed Geskes. Such physical traces of these drawings’ commercial past remind us of their dual identity—they are simultaneously works of art and industrial artifacts. Geskes’s striking designs, which range from graceful floral motifs to wildly colored abstractions, provide a fascinating glimpse into the textile industry in the first half of the twentieth century and consider the role that artists can play in mass production. There will be two different selections of Geskes's works on display: one until July 10, and another from July 14 through November 2.
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Art-in-the-Park returns to Allentown’s West Park with a rejuvenated format, featuring fine art and crafts by 70+ juried artists from PA and NJ. A range of two- and three-dimensional work will include jewelry, ceramics, weaving, glass, painting, sculpture, and drawing. Demos offered by Virginia Abbott, sculptor & member NSS; Kim Hogan, mosaics; Barnaby Ruhe, portraitist; Sandra Corpora, painter; MaryAnn Riker, book artist; and Liz Hamilton Quay, fiber arts professor at Kutztown University. Prizes will be juried by Lisa Tremper Hanover, Executive Director/CEO of the James A. Michener Art Museum and Tim Higgins, artist/critic. Paintings by participants in a plein air workshop held in the park and directed by Baum School teacher Adriano Farinella will be displayed. Musical and dance performances offered throughout the day. Presented by West Park Civic Association.
Edie Roeder
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EXHIBITIONS II
Linda Rossin, Bright Eyes, acrylic, 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”
Ginny Casey, Moody Blue Studio, 2017, oil on canvas, 70 x 75 inches. Courtesy Half Gallery, New York.
The Art of the Miniature XXV The Snow Goose Gallery 470 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 610-974-9099 thesnowgoosegallery.com Tues–Sat 10–5; Sunday 11–4 May 7–June 11
Ginny Casey & Jessi Reaves Institute of Contemporary Art University of Pennsylvania 118 S. 36th St., Philadelphia 215-898-7108 icaphila.org Through August 6
Now in its twenty-fifth year, The Art of the Miniature has become one of the country’s premiere events. This year features 424 works by 84 artists from 25 states and ten countries on four continents. Viewers and collectors will enjoy oils, acrylics, watercolors, drawings, etchings, sculptures, paper carvings and mixed medias, all with image sizes of 25 square inches or less. The artists: Beverly Abbott, Karen Allen, Carol Andre, James Andrews, Morgane Antoine, Chrysoula Argyros,Stefan Balog, Christine Bass, Judith Edgington Bayes, Rita Beckford, Anita Boyers, Camille Boyers, Celyne Brassard, John Brennan, Susan Brooke, Elizabeth Brown, Jean Cook, Carolyn Councell, Anita Cox, debi davis, Viviane de Kosinsky, Beth de Loiselle, Paul Eaton, Elizabeth Eckert, Alan Farrell, Barbara Felisky, Wyn Foland, Tykie Ganz, Bob Gherardi, John Good, Sally Giarratana, June grey, Hans Guerin, Elaine Hahn, Richard William Haynes, Mimi Hegler, Denise Horne- Kaplan, Luann Houser, Joan Humble, Kimberly Jansen, Debra Keirce, Janice Knoll, Irina Kousnetsova, Chris Krupinski, Janet Laird- Lagassee, Judy Lalingo, Zhu Li Ping, Carol Lopez, Deborah Maklowski, Helen Mathyssen- Dobbins, Melissa Miller-Nece, Victor Mordasov, Brenda Morgan, Linda Morgan, Paul Murray, C. Pamela Palco, Ruth Penn, Kathy Pollak, Kelly Radding, Genevieve Roberts, Carol Rockwell, Linda Rossin, Doug Roy, Ann Ruppert, Judy Schrader, Mary Serfass, Nancy Shelly, Rachelle Siegrist, Wes Siegrist, James Smith, Barbara Stanton, Narissa Steel, Ellen Strope, Elaine Sweiry. Nancy Van Meter, Laura Von Stetina, Lynn Wade, Wayne Waldron, Sue Wall, Akiko Watanabe, Lauri Waterfield- Callison, Tracy Wilson, Marion Winter and Hanna Woodring.
A joint exhibition, organized by Whitney-Lauder Curatorial Fellow Charlotte Ickes, features more than 30 works by painter Ginny Casey and sculptor Jessi Reaves. Ginny Casey’s paintings present surreal still-life scenes of vases, chairs, fans, hammers, tables, and other things of everyday life. The strange colors and characteristics of these works create an uncanny and, at times, unsettling dissonance at the level of scale, color, and composition. These paintings share a sensibility with the sculptures of Jessi Reaves, who customarily builds on found frames of chairs, couches, and shelves to create sculptural artworks that double as functional furniture. From bulging, stained upholsterer’s foam to patterned and embroidered fabric, the imperfect and ornamented surfaces of Reaves’ sculptures often reimagine functionalist design and lend each object an unexpected animacy that exceeds its original use.
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Jessi Reaves, Shelf for a Log, 2016. Plywood, sawdust, cane chair seat, ink, 34 x 68 x 13 inches. ©Jessi Reaves. Courtesy the artist and Bridget Donahue, New York.
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The 17th Annual Arts Alive Downtown Quakertown, PA May 21 (Rain date May 21) Hours: 10–4 215-536-2273 Quakertownalive.com Presented by Quakertown Alive., visitors will enjoy the sights, sounds, and tastes of Upper Bucks county’s premier juried art show. Artisans, local businesses, and community organizations will be out along Broad Street from Hellertown Avenue to Fourth Street to delight and entertain visitors. A wide variety of artisans will be showcased at this year’s event: handcrafted jewelry, pottery, and decorative home items as well as fine art are available. There will also be free trolley rides, children’s activities, a food court, wine-tasting, authors corner, and allday live entertainment on two stages. Quakertown Alive. is grateful to the sponsors who make Arts Alive. possible: QNB Bank and St. Luke’s Hospital, TAM Lending, and MedExpress. Please visit quakertownalive.com for more information and a complete sponsor list.
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EXHIBITIONS III
SaraNoa Mark, Water from Water, Carved paper bathed in Sedona soil, 22” x 19” x 1.5” (framed), 2017
Hua Mountain Series 1 Meditations Snyderman-Works Galleries 303 Cherry Street, Philadelphia 215-238-9576 snyderman-works.com Tuesday–Saturday, 10–6 Through May 13
Decisive Turns
Cecilia Biagini: Marginal Figures Pentimenti Gallery 145 North Second Street Philadelphia, PA 215-625-9990 pentimentigallery.com Through May 27 Cecilia Biagini’s work at times refers and alludes to musical and rhythmic waves, pseudo-scientific models/diagrams and is always anchored in the purity of the medium itself. It manifests and metamorphoses a randomly controlled color synthesis that vividly harmonizes rhythm. The base curiosity remains inside an abstract model where an intuitive poetic field seeks a path of engagement and purely visual ideas can converge, convey and be defined through internalized individual truths that acknowledge the uniqueness of experience and singular consciousness. With this exhibition, Cecilia looks to create the place where margins, theoretical defined edges or enclosures, meet, merge, and ultimately vanish into one another. The paintings, while contained on rectangular formed canvas, don’t conform to this boundary and instead thrive within their own figurative margins of flowing drawn lines, some curved and angled, that overlap, interact, and converge into multiple trajectories of all sorts of perspectives. The paint itself is layered in dreamlike fashion, creating ghostly layers of time and transformation that seamlessly carry the tune of each figure from one margin into the next. While remaining within this rhythmic flow, Cecilia’s sculptures continue to boundlessly unite, repeat, and become the path for figures of movement as a way of change.
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The three artists in this exhibition have created their own language by allowing time and repetition to dictate the movement of each piece. Additionally, the specific materials they use are consequential to the final outcome of their work. For these artists, the act of making the pieces becomes as important as the resulting work. SaraNoa Mark’s quiet paper pieces are visions of an ancient script that is no longer translatable, yet is packed with the history of a society for which we have lost the specifics. One can find the idea of an archaic map in her work, or the ruins of once important structures. These pieces could have been created with soil taken from a holy site or a scrap of a desert traveler’s tent. Samantha Mitchell’s recent work has been greatly influenced by various visits to and residencies in the Great Basin and Sonoran deserts. In her work, one can find translations of these vast landscapes, often described by distant horizon lines defined by glowing swaths of color and insistent, repetitive marks. The ocean of tiny lines that Mitchell uses to fill the space seems far from automated. In fact it is the variations of each mark that create such a dynamic expanse. Rowland Ricketts has used the indigo plant as a basis for his practice for many years. The growth and harvest of this plant create a crucial timeline in his life, and consequently, his work. The woven pieces in this exhibit have been left partially exposed to the sun throughout an entire year of growing, harvesting and composting the indigo plants. This project explores the idea of impermanence, and elegantly records the passage of time through color.
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Zhang LianJie: Beyond Boundaries e-Moderne Gallerie 116 Arch St., Philadelphia 267-928-2123 e-moderngallerie.com Wed–Sat 11–5; Sun 1–5 May 7–June 11 Born in Beijing, Zheng is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in performance art, installation, photography, contemporary ink and video art. Zheng Lianjie is a representative figure in Chinese contemporary art and artists working abroad, especially North American since 1996. In the early 1980s, Zheng spent three years at Palace Museum in Beijing studying traditional Chinese painting. In 1986, Zheng founded one of the earliest painting schools in Beijing. Following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, Zheng began to become known for his subversive and critical stance toward conservative artistic language and pursuit of a new independent and individualistic style. Drawn from his NYC experience, Zheng also included a series of brilliantly colored, lively abstraction based on the garden in Forest Hill (Queens). The switching to a western location of his subject did little to affect his arts, a testament to Zheng's masterful work, that it cannot be confined by tradition and boundaries Zheng’s work has been included in numerous exhibitions, symposiums and public art projects held all over the world. During the 2000s, Zheng Lianjie deliveredinvited talks and held exhibitions at Harvard and Columbia. His work has also been featured in major media outlets such as The New York Times and collected by museums, galleries, Universities and several international private collectors.
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FOODIE FILE
EAT YOUR
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WITHOUT GOING INTO THE politics and purity of vegetarian and vegan food choices, the selection of restaurants—in Philadelphia and its suburbs— in which to indulge, have never been better. The legendary team of Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby (Vedge and V Street) were vegan pioneers in the city. For these marrieds, the world is their creative vegetable-crafted oyster. Experimentation and adventure differentiates Vedge’s white linen experience and V Street’s global, spiced-down uptown funkiness: V Street’s Portobello carpaccio with deviled turnip and caper puree, or dirty Colcanno garbanzo crepe, creamed leeks and smoked kohlrabi, and Vedge’s carrot asado with red chile BBQ and its
Harissa Glazed Tofu, fattoush salad, charred beans, whipped tahini, lemon sumac dressing at V Street in Philadelphia. vstreetfood.com
Cauliflower Banh Mi, pickled carrot, chile, cilantro, mint, lemon grass aïoli, baby greens, baguette at Sprig & Vine in New Hope. sprigandvine.com
Grilled Caesar Salad at Charlie Was a Sinner in Philadelphia. charliewasasinner.com
Korean fried cauliflower, black garlic ranch, pickled red onion, Little Gems Lettuce. bluesagevegetariangrille.com
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dynamic smoked beet langos with potato bread and cucumber dill. That the duo moved into casual cooking with Wiz Kid, their restaurant at Whole Foods near the Art Museum (and another soon on South 19th Street next to V Street) shows off a distinct restlessness in tune with their witty, crafty culinary sensibilities. A cheesesteak-inspired mushroom sandwich with long hots, rutabaga and Korean fried tempeh, mockingly called KFT, is something tasty enough to make the white Colonel green with envy.. No less inventive or industrious than the V pair is Nicole Marquis, the woman behind the vegan cocktail bar and noshery, Charlie was a Sinner, the Rittenhouse area vegan taqueria that is Bar Bombón, and her mother ship multi-location fast, fresh veggie-filled locales, Hip City Veg. Although each of Marquis’ spots is a marvel, Charlie just happens to offer dark atmospheric romanticism, complex potent cocktails (like La Dame de Fer and the imaginatively named No Time for Dreaming) and vexing eats such as tofu puttanesca and zucchini “crabcake” sliders with smoky Old Bay remoulade. Southampton’s Blue Sage Vegetarian Grille is epic when it comes to no-meat fare. Try their Chicken & Waffles—a parmesan herb waffle, hen of the wood, oyster and shiitake mushrooms and pearl onions roasted in carrot jus, served with fennel butter and black mission fig maple. Chinatown’s BYOB New Harmony Vegetarian Restaurant has been doing a veggie menu forever. This was the first location where I ate and fell in love with inventive meat substitutes such as tempeh and seitan, and I’ll never forget their full-flavored options. Those are Philly’s standard bearers of vegetarian cuisine—not new restaurants, but with chefs who always create new seasonal menus with sustainability and whim. Then there are the newer spots to contend with, such as the fine Flora, a York Road BYOB in Jenkintown whose opulent, four-course vegan tasting menus are already legendary. For the record, Miss Rachel’s Pantry on South Chadwick Street in Philly does a chef-driven prix fixe vegan menu on Saturdays that is always as fresh and sunny as the open storefront is welcoming. In New Hope, the nearly eight-year-old Sprig & Vine, 450 Union Square Drive, New Hope, acts like a newborn baby restaurant, but eats like a vet with grand plates such as its Green Curry-Coconut Jasmine Rice Cakes with oyster mushroom, baby bok choy & root vegetable stirfry, asparagus, sesame-lime leaf sauce and basil-daikon slaw; or their small plate Za’atar-Grilled Oyster Mushrooms with seared potato pavé, cashew and saffron-garlic aïoli. sprigandvine.com At the bright white diner-like The Tasty (1401 South 12th Street in Philly), try their Chikn and Waffles after 10 a.m., and the Rodeo Burger
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theater VALLEY Angels in America. Twenty years ago Civic Theatre of Allentown presented a tingling, lingering production of Tony Kushner’s two-part, seven-hour “gay fantasia” on AIDS, Mormon visions, Reaganism, McCarthyism, sexual shame, spiritual guilt, unbelievable bravery and the redemption of forgiveness against all odds. This month Civic artistic director Bill Sanders and his ensemble couple again with the compelling couples Louis Ironson & Prior Walter, Joe & Harper Pitt and the dying pit-bull lawyer Roy Cohn and Ethel Rosenberg’s ghost. Buckle up for a campy, deadly serious, towering, thrilling roller-coaster ride of the soul. (“Part I: Millennium Approaches,” May 5-20; “Part II: Perestroika,” May 11-20) Little Shop of Horrors. This rollicking rock musical follows a flower shop wallflower who becomes a lover, a hero, a star, a killer and a murder victim, all because of a voracious human eating plant from outer space. A deliciously sleazy, cheesy treat for B-movie carnivores and sci-fi herbivores. (Star of the Day Event Productions, May 5-7, 12-14, 1920, McCoole’s Arts & Events Place, Quakertown)
CITY Adapt. The artistic director of the Wilma Theater tells her personal immigrant story in song, poetry, and surrealist happenings. Young Blanka Zika, or Lenka (Aneta Kernova), no sooner decides to leave Communist Czechoslovakia for America than she is hounded by an Old Woman (Aneza Papadopoulou) whose gift for non-stop psychobabble turns reality on its head: Clothes and suitcases fall from the sky as the Old Woman floods Lenka’s mind with confusion and self doubt. The play takes off when we see Lenka at 35 (Krista Apple) and married to Pavel (Steven Rishard), a man who has become impossible to live with. The scene in which Lenka works as a cosmetician and hair stylist is one of the funniest in the play, thanks mainly to Apple’s comedic talents. It’s a brilliant interlude in which Czechoslovakian angst gives way to verve and bounce, but it is all too brief. Keith J. Conallen is remarkable in the role of Lenka’s father, especially in the death bed scene where he eerily duplicates the sound of the death rattle. ACT II focuses too much on Lenka’s mental state (she misses her family) and as a result the play goes from Moliere to dark Jean-Paul Sartre. Adapt is as much about keeping family connections as it is about immigration and the promise of a new life in a new country.
By the Way, Meet Vera Stark. In March Cedar Crest College staged a fine, flawed version of Lynn Nottage’s fascinating, flawed portrait of a whip-smart black maid who becomes a star of ’30s screwball comedies. Kiana Clarke played Vera with magnetic weariness, wariness and flintiness. Sarah Slaw Kiewe was engagingly vain and insecure as Vera’s boss, Gloria Mitchell, an aging ingénue dubbed “America’s little sweetie pie.” Director Clair M. Freeman choreographed the surprising trench friendship of Gloria and Vera with spiky humor and touching grace. But she couldn’t improve an annoyingly cloying ’70s talk show or three shrill cultural critics who droned on about Vera as an imprisoned goddess of fame.
You For Me For You. InterAct Theatre Company’s socially conscious plays have riveted audiences for years. This story by Mia Chung and directed by Rick Shiomi concerns two sisters, Minhee (Bi Jean Ngo) and Junhee (Mina Kawahara), who plot an escape from North Korea. Unfortunately, Chung doesn’t flesh out the characters adequately, so they come across as wooden and hollow. While The Guardian may have called this play, “A rich and startling North Korean escape epic,” The Washington Post called it “a stylish hodgepodge.” Chung’s confusing narrative is one in which ideas merge, disappear and then re-emerge again as the script takes even stranger turns until finally we don’t feel connected to the characters at all. It’s sad that this work seems more disconnected Kabuki theater than steady narrative. Some reviewers urged playgoers to let go of this disconnect and “just go with it,” but the problem with the suggestion is that when you do this often, where you wind up is nowhere.
Once. The State Theatre hosted a captivating touring production of this gently radiant musical revolving around two chalk-and-cheese musicians in Dublin: a gloomy Irish guitarist and a sunny Czech pianist, both stuck in love limbo. Mackenzie Lesser-Roy’s Girl was vividly vivacious with a refreshingly clear singing voice. Sam Cieri’s Guy was charmingly disarming; his gusty, lusty vocals featured a gloriously tortured howl. Their gypsy cast mates switched in a jiffy from musicians to actors to set changers, once pulling apart a drum kit with a plucked-flower flair. Their performance of “When Your Mind’s Made Up” thumped the heart; their rendition of “Gold,” an a cappella sea-chanty/hymn, warmed the cockles.
How to Use a Knife. Will Snider’s plays include Strange Men, Death of a Driver, and Last Night and the Night Before. Knife is the story of George, a tyrannical master chef in a Wall Street restaurant whose busy kitchen is nothing less than a hell hole. Described as a “pressure cooker drama” (what restaurant kitchen isn’t an Inferno?), poor George’s personal demons wreck havoc on his relationships with the staff, although he does find consolation in his friendship with an African immigrant dishwasher. Chances are that your post show dining experiences will never quite be the same. Directed by InterAct’s Seth Rozin and starring Scott Greer, Lindsay Smiling, Jered McLenigan. May 26-June 18.
Wig Out. Tarell Alvin McCraney, who won this year’s original screenplay Oscar for Moonlight, wrote this bursting beehive of a play about a Harlem house of voguing drag queens and their budding love affairs, busted love affairs, political squabbles and common legacies. Muhlenberg College’s production was ridiculously entertaining and outrageously moving, spectacular and special. Evan Brooks was wickedly seductive and woundingly sensitive.as Wilson/Nina, the conflicted First Child of the House of Light. His scenes with the semi-straight Eric, a new beau played with sneaky savvy by Ryan Fields, were memorably funny and tender. As Nina, the bitchy, witchy, anything-but-conflicted “Face,” Jose Tirado combined deft cut-throat comedy with drop-dead gymnastic gusto. His scenes with Deity the DJ, an ex-beau played with snazzy savvy by Marc Johnson Jr., were wrapped in barbed wire and silk. Jordan Hill transformed Serena, the commanding mother of the rival House of Diabolique, into a smashing mash-up of gay Wizard of Oz and psychedelic Snow White. Credit director Troy Dwyer for keeping everyone remarkably focused and fresh, in the moment and momentous. Thanks largely to him, a motley company behaved like a true tribe. n — geoff gehMAn
Saturday Night Fever. It’s time to trade immigration blues and Hell’s Kitchen for the dance floor in this Richard Stafford-directed and choreographed classic featuring songs by the Bee Gees. While John Travolta may have gained a lot of weight since his 1977 appearance in the famous musical film of the same name, the beat hasn’t changed and the Brooklyn disco where all the fun and action takes place will surely transform The Walnut Street Theatre main stage. May 16- July 16
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Hand to God. Foul mouthed hand puppets may not be your thing, and sock puppets where you can see the ventriloquist move his lips may be the worst puppets of all. In this PTC X-rated screed we get a lot of dark human insights including an awful lot of talk about the devil and sex. Agnostic secular culture is given high marks and organized religion is Public Enemy Number One in this occasionally hilarious work written by Robert Askins and directed by Matt Pfeiffer. Also starring Alex Keiper, Matteo Scammell, William Zielinski and Grace Gonglewski. Philadelphia Theatre Company welcomes new Producing Artistic Director Paige Price. n — thoM nickels
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the list
MAY
6 MASTODON, OPETH, GOJIRA, RUSSIAN CIRCLES The Viking costumed marauders of metal that is Mastodon just scored its first #1
limelight and Wire continues to make new records as they do, but it is The Damned that had the first U.K. punk album (Damned Damned Damned), hit single (“New Rose”) and U.S. tour preaching the gospel of new music. (TLA)
10 T.I.: THE HUSTLE GANG TOUR One of America’s most important yet too often underappreciated rappers T.I. is also
Michael Mosely (The Shemales, Mama Volume) have created some of the most searing raucous and important punk rock to come out of this region. (Kung Fu Necktie)
17 KEVIN DEVINE Brooklyn beardo Devine makes cranky earnest urban folk the hard way. (Steelstacks, Bethlehem)
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music with his new-ish band. (Steelstacks, Bethlehem)
19 THE WEEKND Selena Gomez’s boyfriend and the soul man behind Starboy plays the Jersey Shore. (Boardwalk Hall)
23 MARIAN HILL The synth-pop boy and girl duo locals behind that Apple Air add with its
The occasional Winery Dogs’ guitarist and singer goes out on his own with a heavy metal, folksy solo program. (Musikfest Cafe, Bethlehem) album with Masters of Sand. What better way to celebrate that brightened darkness than an outdoors show at the Electric Factory complex. Bring your own crossbow. (Electric Factory Outdoor Stage)
18 JEAN-MICHEL JARRE His 1977 album, Oxygene, sold 12+ albums and made the French keyboard player the toast of the electronic music-making world. Forty years and operatic tours of China and
7 MARTIN ELLERBY: NEW CLASSICS FOR WINDS British composer Martin Ellerby—all regally and royally trained—was commissioned by Lehigh University to come up with new music for the college’s LU ensemble, wind division. (Zoellner Arts Centre)
7 LAUGHWELL WITH DR. KATZ LIVE One of the Comedy Central network’s first big animated shows was Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, a squiggly line-drawn car-
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an actor and reality show co-creator of VH1’s T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle. Featuring his wife Tiny and their kids, the relationship between the two-some has gone sour with questions of divorce arising. I don’t know what answers the live show will give but it’s worth finding out. (TLA)
12 METALLICA America’s thrash-metal-gods-turned-platinum-hitmakers released its new Hardwired album and stripped back its thunderous sound to a raw, primal core. (Lincoln Financial Field)
bouncing/tapdancing/breaking motif come home for their just rewards. (TLA)
A silly name, but a dynamic lo-fi house music maker—out of New Jersey yet. (Coda)
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Europe later and Jarre plays intimate, homier rooms with old and new music. (Tower)
While the Phish are away (or doing their own solo things) the guitarist last seen as part of The Grateful Dead’s last shows will play. (Fillmore)
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26 THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND
The closest thing to an electro-pop Noel Coward, Perfume Genius has a new album, No Plan, filled with over-sexed witticisms and pained expressions. (Union Transfer)
No contest to appropriate the sound and feel of New Orleans, each Dirty show is an
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toon about a laid back, divorced psychiatrist negotiating life and work. Created and voiced by stand-up comedian Jonathan Katz, the show was ahead of its time and Katz steps back into the limelight again for some therapeutic laughs. (Punchline)
7 THE DAMNED 40TH ANNIVERSARY U.S. TOUR The Sex Pistols and the Clash got all the
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Philadelphia’s most renowned improvisational vocalist sings the songs of the Richard Rogers catalog with his taut quartet. Expect “Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” and “Have You Met Miss Jones” in ways never before imagined. (Dino’s Backstage and Celebrity Room)
18 CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD Late of the Black Crowes, the tall lanky front man and howling bluesy singer takes
exploration of U.S.A. brand R&B, jazz and funk. (Steelstacks, Bethlehem)
14 GIBBOUS MOON The names might not mean much to those beyond the Philadelphia/NJ area, but bassist/singer Noelle Hoover (Hellblock 6, Pink Slip Daddy) guitarist Moe Felipe (Atomic Number 76, Wrecketh) and drummer
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on freak folk and hunky funky psychedelic
The Baltimore synth-pop band has a new album, The Far Field, which—guaranteed— will wind up on many a Top Ten at the end of this year. (Fillmore) n
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WORLD WAR II IS A never-ending inspiration for films, as well it should. Out of that war came stories of villainy and heroism, stories of humans at their best and their very worst; The Zookeeper’s Wife is a fine example of people who rose to heights of compassion few did, and it’s based on a true story. Antonina Zabinski (Jessica Chastain, The Help, The Martian) and husband Jan (Johan Heldenbergh) run the Warsaw Zoo in Poland. They’re happily married and care for the animals in their charge. When Hitler invades, the animals are the first we see suffering. Soon, the people of Warsaw join them, especially Jews. With the help of friendly German zoologist Lutz Heck (Daniel Bruhl, Captain America: Civil War), the Zabinskis find sanctuary for as many animals as possible. Unbeknownst to Heck, the couple give sanctuary to Jewish friends, and then to as many many Jews as they can, hiding them in the Zoo and forging papers so they can escape the ghetto and the country—Warsaw’s Jewish ghettos were halfway-houses to the
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The Zookeeper’s Wife death camps. (The latter recently referred to as “centers” by a certain American government Minister of Information…oops, sorry I’m getting my governments mixed up.) Chastain, the token American star for this USA/UK/Czech coproduction, is excellent as Antonina— she proficiently expresses intelligence, sensitivity, spunk, and great sadness. Bruhl plays Heck as a thought-provoking villain—he’s friendly, sharies (to a degree) their passion for animals, but has designs on Antonina. Heck seems to have a heart and considerable intellect, but he also exhibits a hefty amount of callousness. At some points he’s almost sympathetic; at others a vicious prick. Heldenbergh palpably conveys frustration at Heck’s intentions toward his wife, wondering if she’s favorably responding to them yet not wanting to alienate their mutual “pal.” There are scenes where Antonina and Jan express caring—and passion—for each other despite the horrors they witness every day: Antonina sees and tries to soothe the dread and grief of their reluctant guests; Jan witnesses
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the casual brutality of the occupying German troops to the ghetto dwellers. As one might assume, The Zookeeper’s Wife is not light entertainment. While understandably grim, it’s not as graphic as, say, Schindler’s List. The direction by Niki Caro (McFarland USA, North Country) is straightforward yet vivid, conveying both natural beauty and terror without wallowing in either. True, some aspects of this story get short shrift—nearly all the Jewish characters are pretty much defined as Noble Victims and on the other side, the closest thing to a German Human Being With Any Redeeming Qualities is Heck. Chastain’s Polish accent seems a little over-the-top compared to the European actors who appear to be muting theirs. The Zookeeper’s Wife shines a spotlight on a story that deserves telling. It’s too easy to forget that in a world where too often the crazy bastards seem to run the asylum, some people at great risk to themselves and others try to make a positive difference. n
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Obit
NE OF MY FIRST writing jobs was at the Trenton Times’ obituary desk, where young writers learned the unglamorous basics of newspaper reporting. I had four hours to write whatever the readership’s funeral directors faxed over that day. The job favored fact over fancy. I can’t imagine the paper’s management shed a tear when it opted for death notices over obituaries, which had two benefits: a.) they were a source of income (obits were free) and b.) spared an editor’s unforgiving eye, the family of the deceased could write the story they wanted to tell. Watching Vanessa Gould’s engaging, insightful documentary, Obit, about a day in the life of The New York Times’ surprisingly robust obituary department, made me more wistful than nostalgic. Obituaries are, with rare exceptions, the last word on a person’s life. And they are, no pun intended, dying. The obituary department at The New York Times serves a purpose. As the paper of record, it is providing the official last goodbye. It is coveted real estate. Your life had to have been noteworthy, a definition that includes Muhammad Ali to a typewriter repairman to a stripper em20
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broiled with Jack Ruby. Regardless of the subject’s stature, don’t expect a eulogy. As senior writer Margalit Fox says, the obituary department writes news, and it is rarely pristine. Nothing involving people ever is. Obituary writers are not immune to deadline pressure. They frequently must learn everything about a stranger’s life in hours—and then express it in 1,000 words—while confirming facts and tying up innumerable loose ends such as if the person is dead. The process is messy and frazzled and sometimes beautiful—just like life. We rarely get to do anything on our own terms. I get the feeling that Gould is indulging her curiosity. She puts in a little bit of everything. It works. Times aficionados will enjoy a peek at the institutional quirks, including a trip to the paper’s lower intestines—the morgue or clippings room. It is run by Jeff Roth, a wiry, excitable man. He says there’s a system in place before detailing an organizational scheme so complex that Rube Goldberg would beg for mercy. We learn what happens when there’s a sudden death. Writers will appreciate Bruce Weber toiling over the day’s lead obit—William P. Wilson, who prepared John F. Kennedy for his historic
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1960 televised debate against Richard Nixon. Weber punctuates the thankless task of condensing a man’s immeasurable impact with trips to the coffee machine. Gould lets the writers talk about their jobs. The nuances behind the assumptions that have strangers shirking from them at dinner parties emerge. She mostly takes them away from their cubicles. The writers speak from kitchen tables and studies; the observations come from a deeper place. Fox views her job as being full of life: after all, an obituary mentions death once. Writing one requires a certain amount of vibrancy. As she puts it: you are capturing the precise moment when a person became history. What pleased me most about Obit is its philosophical bent, which Gould builds throughout her film’s taut 93 minutes. The writers’ hunt for the right phrase before 6 p.m. hits becomes an apt metaphor: we try to reach our best each day until time runs out. The end of the movie features only the voices of the Times’ obituary department going about their day. The chronicling will continue long after our story stops. If you make the paper, so what? The facts will determine what is on the page. What those are is up to us. [NR] n
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Photo: Melissa Ruggieri/AJC
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A. D. AMOROSI
INTErview
HALL & OATES [& Hoagies] How Philly’s sons of soul created HoagieNation and beyond
“Are you kidding me? I eat lunch meat every day, man. Seriously.” That’s Daryl Hall—the Pottstown native who moved closer to downtown Philly in the early ’60s to be near Temple University, his street corner vocal group the Temptones (their “Something Good” is
“I’M HAPPY ABOUT SPONSORING A FESTIVAL IN PHILLY. I THINK IT’S HOAGIES THAT BIND US TOGETHER AS PHILADELPHIANS—A LOVE OF COLD MEAT AND AMOROSO’S ROLLS. I COULD HAVE SAID CHEESESTEAKNATION, BUT HOAGIES JUST SAY SO MUCH MORE, AS IT IS THAT MIX OF ELEMENTS. IT’S TRUE. LOOK AT ME AND LEBANON BALONEY.” — DARYL HALL still a classic of the form) and, eventually, his fellow Temple pal John Oates—talking about his diet. “Scrapple and eggs nearly every morning,” he said from his home in upstate New York, the site of his ongoing live music television series, Daryl’s House. “Lebanon baloney for lunch. I’m parochial like that. True to my culinary roots, I know. I’m proud if it, too.” This is not a chat about the food that Hall or Oates dine upon daily (the currently-living-inNashville Oates offered that, yes, “I’m a big fan of hoagies, but no hot peppers”), but rather a discussion of the newest chapter in the history of America’s finest, most soulful duo, Daryl Hall and John Oates. Their newest escapade is the HoagieNation Festival production that debuts May 27 on the pier at Penn’s Landing. The event acts as the first test run of a possible multi-day event including local bands—the equally funky G. Love & Special Sauce,
as well as Hall & Oates’ new tour partners, Tears For Fears—craft beers and fine (and not so fine) foods. Not everything new to Oates or Hall involves long Amoroso rolls and capicola. For John Oates, there’s his just-released autobiography Change of Seasons and his roots-driven solo career that owes something to hanging out at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in his youth. He’s had a calling to do this music all of his life, a passion to continue, and “a hard work ethic” that finds him punctual and willing to consider a second career in long-form writing.” “[Change of Seasons] turned out well,” he says. “I started out to tell the story of my life because it’s been interesting. There are aspects of it that are a cautionary tale, but mainly because I hoped it would entertain. I wasn’t out to right any wrongs or settle any vendettas.” Along with telling a directly personal story with Change of Seasons, Oates knew that much of his life—as well as his musical existence—is wrapped up with Hall with whom he’s shared a partnership since 1972. “I had to walk a literary tightrope,” he laughs. “And I showed Daryl almost every step of the way.” Writing it across a two-year period while on tour, Oates said he often had to ask Hall for his opinion, and for details of their time together. “Daryl has a great memory and offered some helpful suggestions when I would show him this chapter or that. I kept him fully engaged in this. If not, that would have really sucked.” There is no new Hall & Oates music. What the pair is currently about as a unit, is maintaining and exploiting the legacy of some 500 songs by pulling rarities out of the catalog and taking them onto the live stage—a mix of hits such as “Sara Smile,” “Out of Touch” and “I Can’t Go for That.” Oates says that those album tracks maintain a deep fan base attention, as well as excite those who exist solely for the smashes. “We have enough songs for several lifetimes, many of which are obscure and have never been played live. They sound good and we like them.”
Oates’ music—“I’m all about roots in my own stuff ”—such as 2014’s Good Road to Follow, and just-finished Arkansas (out 2018) that started as a tribute to bluesman Mississippi John Hurt, but wound up with a new dynamic: “…progressive Americana—the solo album I always wanted to make. My Nashville experience really opened me up to all that I loved as a child, but with 40 years of experience under my belt to make it unique.” For Daryl Hall, HoagieNation is just another new opportunity in a series of many. Along with forging ahead with guest stars for his televised Daryl’s House, his Pawling, NY eatery of the same name is looking to expand its live music palette with an outdoor amphitheater setting. “All is cool there,” he says in regard to rumors that the town is troubled by such expansion. Hall, who defines his writing and vocal talent as a “…gift that caused me to have this calling,” is readying a new project for 2018: a not yet titled album that is as raw as his debut solo project, Sacred Songs, “…with not much production, very influenced by Daryl’s House—gospel soul, talky, and grtty. It’s an exciting endeavor.” Writing melodies and lyrics for his projects, and those with Oates, is as easy and flowing as pouring water. The hard part? Living the life and experiences he’s gone through to get to sonic gold. “Especially when it’s bad experiences,” he says. “That’s when it’s difficult.” Ask him if the number of songs penned by him alone (not with Oates and/or Sara Allen, Hall’s one-time, long time paramour) isn’t greater than it seems, and he laughs, saying “90% vs. 95%.” “We must have worked within the old Beatles Lennon-McCartney [songwriting partnership] thing from the early days. No matter who wrote what, it got credited to both of us. Even I’m surprised when I see John’s name on songs such as “Sara Smile,” where he didn’t do a thing. And he’d
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Play it Again, Sal
An all-American success story: before he hit it big on America’s Got Talent, his cousin Tiny (L) made the pizza and Sal (R) delivered it.
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A. d. AMorosi
interview
IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT Sal Valentinetti got a massive career boost immediately following his singing stint on the NBC network’s America’s Got Talent. Unlike the majority of that competition television show’s vocal talent who utilize contemporary charts, current hits and commonplace rhythms to amaze the judges and yelling audience members, Valentinetti the son of New York City boroughs, went for it ring-a-ding Rat Pack style doing the songs of Sinatra, Dino, Sammy and Tin Pan Alley standards. Currently preparing for an EP release in May with his touring Black Tie Brass, a Christmas album, a reality show on his family’s life and his first big Philadelphia concert at Tower Theatre (May 20), Valentinetti will tie his swinging show into his work with Shriners Hospital as a portion of its proceeds go to the worthy children’s medical charity. What does it mean to be an Italian-American as a singing sensation in the present day? There haven’t been
perience of life; that whatever music makes you feel good is good music, regardless of genre. Was Sinatra a thing for you just as much for his film and television appearances growing up as was his music? I knew his music first but I loved watching the original Oceans 11 with the Rat Pack as well and Guys and Dolls. Seeing Sinatra alongside Marlon Brando was a life changing moment as an Italian ute… I mean youth. If Sinatra were alive, what would he have said about my singing, or my career, or my pursuit of Heidi Klum? Speaking of that swinging lifestyle, why the whole Rat Pack thing for you? I know you like being in nothing buy sharp suits. It’s the way the music makes me feel with that big band sound is indescribable. The music brings back such good memories for me of my Grandma and the era was a
was never in the classroom, even though I had given up on a full time singing career. A year later almost to the day I got a call from a casting producer asking if I would be interested in auditioning at a call in Queens, New York. Were you delivering pizza at your cousin’s place between these two television shows? Although I was a little busier with parties and restaurants I would still go in when my cousin needed me and drive. Now I couldn’t if I wanted to. What did you like most –first –about the America’s Got Talent process? I liked that I was able to take much from the experience. I learned so much about the all ends of the business and learned how to get my point across on camera. I learned that people love authenticity more than anything- the realer and truer you are the better.
My Uncle Joe got Me A gig on thUrsdAy nights singing At his friend’s restAUrAnt for $100. i thoUght i WAs rockefeller. many since the days of Dion, Sinatra and Frankie Valli. I identify as Italian-American not because I was born there, but because to me it serves as a reminder that family will always take precedence over my career. True Italians stick together and support each other through all of life’s ups and downs. When you come to my show, at least half the audience is Italian. I am beyond proud to represent ourculture in the way I interact with my fans as any Italian would- like I’ve known them for years. How did you get to Tin Pan Alley standards at your grandmother’s knee? Where did she live in proximity to your family? When I was four years old I went to a pre-school close to her house and both my parents worked full-time so I would be there half-the-day. After lunch she would take me into the kitchen and turn on the oldies and we’d dance until my mother or father came and picked me up. What were her favorite records? She loved Vic Damone and Jerry Vale. Not only were their voices smooth as Italian-made silk but they sang the Italian songs her mother used to sing to her. One of her favorite songs was “Non Dimenticar” which means “Don’t Forget.” I’ll never forget her. Were you ever much of a contemporary pop, rock or hip hop fan? I listen to everything from classic rock to hip hop and R&B. I once had a conversation with Wonder Mike from The Sugarhill Gang about our vastly different styles and what they meant to us. He taught me something I’ll remember forever: that music is meant to heighten the ex-
classy kind-of-cool that you just don’t see anymore. It was glamorous. What was the first true moment that you figured out that you could sing? I was 14 sitting in a Baritone Horn lesson when my instructor asked if I wanted to play anything special. I requested a Bobby Darin song I had forgotten the name of, so I sang several bars to identify the tune. The rest is history. You hit American Idol before you got to AGT. Tell me about that process and heartache as you made it past auditions but not the live shows. My Uncle Joe got me a gig on Thursday nights singing at his friend’s restaurant for $100. I thought I was Rockefeller. I loved singing for a crowd; came up with material for my sets. My Uncle watched my act evolve and suggested I audition for AI. I told him I wouldn’t because I didn’t want to sing anything else. He told me to be myself as he had always encouraged. He was so sure they’d love me that he bet me his Range Rover for the rest of the summer. I couldn’t even believe they took me on the show. I didn’t think I was that good. When I got sent home I was just amazed I had even got there in the first place. My Uncle Joe told me it wasn’t the end, but a beginning. He passed away about a month after that due to sudden multiple organ failure. I lost one of my best friends. Did you know immediately following AI that you were going to move toward AGT? And why there as opposed to, say, The Voice? After I lost Joe I went back to school but my heart
So Heidi Klum dug you doing “My Way.” We knew what she said on-air, but did she tell you personally something more about your talents… encourage you off air? Heidi is one of the nicest people I’ve met. She encouraged me to be myself and keep my big heart open to the world. She’s so much fun to hang with off-camera and truly recognizes when people are good to her. She still frequently reaches out to me and offers support. She’s a great human being and an even better friend. All that and you didn’t win the competition. What went through your mind when that occurred? Did you KNOW that though you had lost THAT you had WON over a lot of hearts, minds and ears? I went into this competition saying what Joe had said to me. I was going to be me and if they didn’t like it there was nothing I could do to change that. That attitude left me very grateful to even be there, so every advance at every level felt like a blessing. I was shocked to make the top 5. And I didn’t have to change a thing about myself to get there. When I walked off the stage I put my hands up as if I had won. I was proud of myself. For the first time in my life I knew exactly what I wanted to do in life. I felt like a million bucks. I felt like a winner. You sold out three Christmas shows at the Paramount, performed at The Theatre at Westbury…. both where Sinatra stood, and head to the Tower this month. At a venue people didn’t think I would sell 500 tickets in. All just doing what I love. If I felt any better, I’d be dead. n
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keith Uhlich
film roundup
Slack Bay
Bokeh (Dirs. Geoffrey Orthwein and Andrew Sullivan). Starring: Maika Monroe, Matt O’Leary, Arnar Jónsson. In the middle of their Icelandic vacation, American couple Jenai (Maika Monroe) and Riley (Matt O’Leary) wake to discover that every human being has disappeared from the face of the Earth. Extraterrestrials? The rapture? Orthwein and Sullivan prefer the micro view, honing in on the couple and the challenges this situation forces them to face. It’s a very hipster apocalypse; the bushy-bearded O’Leary, especially, seems like he should be selling Mast Brothers Chocolate at the Brooklyn Greenmarket. Both actors, while adequate to the existential yearnings that arise, can’t hold a candle to the film’s real attraction—the stunningly alien Icelandic landscapes which cinematographer Joe Lindsay photographs brilliantly, each image a resonant amalgam of paradise and hellscape. [N/R] HH1/2 CORRECTION: The image shown in the April issue was of Sigourney Weaver in “Avatar,” not “The Assignment.”
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Salt and Fire (Dir. Werner Herzog). Starring: Veronica Ferres, Michael Shannon, Gael García Bernal. Even by German writer-director Werner Herzog’s outlandish and provocative standards, Salt and Fire is exceedingly WTF. It’s a kidnapping melodrama and environmental treatise that features gorgeously filmed Bolivian salt flat vistas, a lengthy aside about anamorphic wall art, and a character who may or may not be crippled, among numerous other oddities. “I only use the wheelchair when I am tired of life,” is just one of the many Herzogian bon mots that a game cast—including German actress Veronica Ferres, the ever-imposing Michael Shannon, and the endearing nonprofessional Lawrence Krauss—attempt to give profound weight through generally stilted line readings that either move the spirit or evoke (unintentional?) laughter. The misses here are higher than the hits, but there’s a unifying madness to the whole enterprise that carries you over the rough patches and, at best, recalls the Herzog of Aguirre-ian yore. [N/R] HHH1/2 n W W W. fA C e b O O k . C O M / I C O N D V
Sandy Wexler (Dir. Steven Brill). Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Hudson, Kevin James. Mostly banished from multiplexes, the perpetually unfunny Adam Sandler has found a new home on Netflix. Sandy Wexler is the third of what appears to be a contractually obligated ten trillion new Sandler movies that will pop up on the streaming service every few months to break metrics records and drive discerning viewers up the wall. The titular character, played by the purported comedian himself, is an inept, whiny-voiced manager in 1990s Hollywood who attempts to boost his talent-free roster of clients with a gifted musician named Courtney (Jennifer Hudson). Along the way, Sandy and Courtney fall in love, and numerous slumming celebrities appear as themselves to sing the protagonist’s—and by extension, Sandler’s—praises. The only inspired guest star cameo is by one “Weird Al” Yankovic, dispensing sage wisdom and heckling former American Idol-er Clay Aiken. You’d do better to rent Mr. Weird’s sublimely silly comic opus, UHF. [N/R] H
Slack Bay (Dir. Bruno Dumont). Starring: Fabrice Luchini, Juliette Binoche, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi. Something is rotten on the coast of 1910 France in this deadpan comedy from the typically severe writer-director Bruno Dumont. It’s a satire of two families, a snooty bourgeois clan headed by a hunchbacked Fabrice Luchini and a broadly shrill Juliette Binoche, and a proletariat tribe of fishermen who just happen to be kidnappers and cannibals. That premise is a bit Buñuel: “Eat the rich.” But the execution is more often Looney Tunes, complete with a portly detective, investigating all the local disappearances, who pratfalls his way around the sand dunes before literally taking flight like a helium balloon. It’s very captivating in the moment, and often quite funny in ways that those familiar with the filmmaker’s dour early work, like The Life of Jesus and L’Humanite, will find surprising. Yet once Dumont’s punchline is revealed—that when it comes to the rich and the poor, never the twain shall meet— the film’s airy pungency deflates. [N/R] 3 stars HHH n
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dvds revieWed by george oxford Miller
reel news
Dheepan
The Salesman (2016) HHHH Cast: Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini Drama / PG-13. Oscar winner, Golden Globe nominee– Best Foreign Film (Iran) In Farsi with English subtitles The bad news is that Emad (Hosseini) and Rana’s (Alidoosti) apartment building is collapsing and they must move. The good news is that a friend knows a place they can rent. But as the story, and larger metaphor, unfolds, what initially seemed ideal turns incredibly ill-fated. Emad and Rana are actors in Death of a Salesman, and just like Willie and Linda, their primal reactions to uncontrollable events systematically unravel their lives. Their marriage takes a devastating twist when Rana is attacked by a man looking for the former tenant, a prostitute. Stress reveals character: grief and helplessness engulf Rana, and anger and revenge inflame Emad. How the couple responds to raw emotions reveals qualities that if not checked, can destroy the things they most want to protect. Award-winning acting, scripting, and pacing earned this compelling portrayal multiple international awards. 28
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I Am Not Your Negro (2016) HHHHH Genre: Documentary Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, with James Baldwin, Dick Cavett Directed by Raoul Peck Oscar nominee, Documentary Feature Like Humpty Dumpty on the wall, Raoul Peck’s consummate investigation of the racial history of America shatters any illusions we have that we live in a postracial era. Based on the life and writings of James Baldwin and his contemporary Black activists, this documentary brings renewed awareness to issues often clouded by white guilt, denial, and the fear of lost power by the dominating white society. If “the truth shall make you free,” a harsh and “inconvenient truth” can change longheld preconceptions and redefine justice in an unequal society. With Jackson’s narration of Baldwin’s writings, film clips of his public appearances, and historical footage of period events, Peck holds a mirror to past racial attitudes and injustices and reveals a little-changed present. It’s enough to break your heart, and hopefully to rededicate our moral commitment to personal and political action. n W W W. fA C e b O O k . C O M / I C O N D V
My Life as a Zucchini (2017)HHHH Animation, Family / PG-13 Golden Globe, Oscar nominee: Best Animated Feature In French with English subtitles Though this award-winning animation is considered a family movie, it doesn’t duck childhood issues that can leave deep psychotic scars; like killing your alcoholic, abusive mother—the kickoff point for young Zucchini’s entrance into an orphanage of similarly emotionally damaged children. Sound fun so far? Actually, this delightful story is upbeat and feel-good as the group of orphans begin to jell into the supportive family unit they never experienced at home. What we see is the idealized resilience and bountiful hope possible in the innocence of youth. One by one the abandoned and abused children learn to forgive and forget the past, trust their friends, and not fear the intimacy of love. The movie avoids syrupy-sweet sentimentality and presents the children with genuine, and sometime confused, feelings and reactions to the perplexing world they find themselves forced to endure.
Dheepan (2016) HHHH Cast: Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan Drama / Unrated In Tamil, French, and English w/subtitles The desperate plight of refugees fleeing the war-torn Middle East, faminestricken Africa, and impoverished Latin America rates as one of the world’s most heartbreaking human dramas. Dheepan puts a personal face on the suffering millions who risk their lives for a chance to survive. As the Sri Lanka civil war ends, Dheepan (Antonythasan), a Tamil Tiger freedom fighter, must flee the country. To make a stronger case for political asylum, he forms a faux family with two strangers; Yalini (Srinivasan) will be his wife and Illayaal (Vinasithamby), their child. They immigrate to Paris and start a new life in a government migrant complex. Life finally looks promising with Dheepan the apartment superintendent, Yalini an invalid caretaker, and Illayaal in school. Then a turf war between two gangs threatens all they’ve achieved. Once again, Dheepan must become the rebel freedom fighter and meet violence with violence. n
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Parer’s War
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(Australian, 2014)
HEN MANY OF US think of war, we see in our mind’s eye soldiers and civilians, the glory and terror—but how many of us think of those who literally record what happens? Parer’s War is an Australian film biography of Damien Parer—one of the world's most renowned military photographers—who shot stunning battle footage on the front lines of World War II with Australian and American troops, in his homeland and Europe. It’s 1942 and the war in the Pacific is getting hotter. That reality hasn’t quite hit home—at that time only the military knew how close the Japanese were to invading. Parer (Matthew Le Nevez) saw it up close—he literally got into soldiers’ faces to chronicle battles and how it affected them. Though fearless in war, back home he was ambivalent regarding commitment to his girlfriend Marie (Adelaide Clemens). He cares about her, true, but he realizes there’s a good chance he won’t return from war intact (or at all), so he keeps her at arm’s length to spare them both grief. While not a big budget movie, Parer’s War does a fine job of showing how battle can figuratively and literally scar people. At a time when most people were able to see
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war footage only in movie theaters, it was easy for the Australian government to alter and edit his film for purposes of propagandizing the war and presenting a more sellable side of the conflict. Parer is enraged by this, especially because one of these presentations unintendedly endangered Australian soldiers by revealing vital military information. (In the U.S., the FBI made sure that bit of film wasn’t shown on our side of the pond.) There is good attention paid to period authenticity and the acting is very good. Le Nevez convincingly portrays cockiness as well as ambivalence in love, war, and dealing with his superiors. Clemens is good as his girlfriend, spunky and confrontational. Directed by Alister Grierson, the film wisely stays away from being as graphic as, say, Saving Private Ryan. Still, we get plenty of camera’s-eye-views of Parer’s footage, conveying the chaos, heroism, and horror of battle. We never learn much about Parer the person—but there isn’t time. There was a war, you know. This is worth a seek-out, especially for those interested in the place of journalism in war (the more things change…etc.) and that period in history. n
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CIA Director George Tenet and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell talk as U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Negroponte looks on following Powell's address to the U.N. Security Council February 5, 2003 in New York City. Powell made a presentation attempting to convince the world that Iraq is deliberately hiding weapons of mass destruction.
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All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone
LL GOVERNMENTS LIE IS about fake news. The real fake news, not Donald Trump’s fake news, and the brave journalists who venture outside mainstream media to uncover the truth. I.F. Stone (1907-1989) was such a person—an independent journalist with his own newsletter, IF Stone’s Weekly. A blogger before bloggers existed, Stone railed against corporate and government abuses with wit and sarcasm. Not beholden to any corporations or special interests, he dug deep to carry the news that mainstream outlets would not touch. He once said, “Establishment reporters undoubtedly know a lot of things I don’t. But a lot of what they know isn't true.” One story that he doggedly followed and uncovered was the Gulf of Tonkin incident that led to the Vietnam War. Owen Gleiberman, film critic at Variety wrote: “The propaganda that paved the road to the war in Iraq (the acceptance of WMDs, the Colin Powell testimony, even the preposterously alleged Saddam/Al-Qaeda ‘connection’) went, for the most part, egregiously unquestioned by the mainstream media, notably The New York Times. That has now made the Iraq War drumbeat a kind of Rosetta Stone for independent journalism.” While it examines what Stone did—part of his style was poring over government doc-
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uments until he dug up (unpleasant) facts to publish—it pays more attention to his legacy. Documentarian Michael Moore, Carl Bernstein (one of The Washington Post reporters who uncovered Watergate, immortalized in the film All The President’s Men), and Amy Goodman (Democracy Now.) point to Stone as a major influence on their careers. The film follows some of today’s indie journalists, fearlessly independent guys and gals who do not work for a media giant—and gives us some too-obvious examples of the crap the mainstream media feeds its viewers and readers. While All Governments Lie is definitely a must-see documentary for anyone interested in news—as a viewer, consumer, professional or semi-pro journalist—if the filmmakers had spent a bit more time on the life of Stone, it would’ve been even better. During the McCarthy era he was thought to be a communist spy; with the ensuing negative publicity, he lost many subscribers to his newsletter. After a visit to the USSR in the mid-‘50s, he wrote that Russia was indeed a lousy place to live, thereby alienating American lefties who thought Marxism would set us all free. That would have been worth mentioning. All Governments Lie is an all-too current and important film that will leave you questioning what you see, hear, and read long after you’ve left the theater. n
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music
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12 | eAt yoUr vegetAbles
JAZZ / ROCK
with cheez, coconut bacon, BBQ sauce and French fried onions. thetastyphilly.com Boardroom Spirits in Lansdale—co-owned by Jon Medlinsky from Martha in Kensington, a location renowned for experimental cocktail-ery—has a notable focus in making liquor and distilling brandies from root vegetables such as beets and carrots, as well as fresh cranberries and ginger. There you can buy spirits by the bottle or enjoy cocktails such as the Beetle Gin & Juice (yay, Snoop), the Basil Drop or the Dill-Licious. Not a restaurant (but it should be) is Onions Etcetera, a new colorful volume from Lambertville, N.J., couple Kate Winslow and Guy Ambrosino that acts as a menu bible, a picturesque catalog and a love letter to the diversity of the aromatic icon. Available on Amazon.com. Then there is the recently-opened Beefsteak at University of Pennsylvania’s Houston Hall. Developed by world-renowned, award-winning chef José Andrés, Beefsteak is the Spanish-American’s fast casual conceptual take on his usual farm-fresh, market-driven culinary display witnessed at signature spots such as minibar in Washington, DC, é in Las Vegas, and The Bazaar in Los Angeles and Miami Beach. Beefsteak is designed not only to be fast, but simpler and more affordable than Andrés’ usual white linen fare: bowls and munchies, soups (like its new portable Gazpacho) and sandwiches (like its BEETsteak Burger), flash-prepared vegetables, hearty grains, house-made sauces, and salads all sources from Pennsylvania and Maryland area produce farms such as Hesse Farms, Little Wild Things and Tuscarosa. Introduced by Chief of Produce Bennett Haynes and Executive Chef Pat Peterson, Beefsteak just created a new flavorful spring and summer menu that includes zesty sprout-filled salads with lime accents such as Green Lightning, bowls such as the curry sauce-filled Peas-3Ways filled with snow peas, snap peas and freeze dried then roasted peas for crisp texture and bursting flavor. (I love peas). Along with new items such as Beefsteak by Tio, and Green Gazpacho featuring kale, spinach, avocado, and mint, a welcome favorite returns to Andres’ menu—the tiny but mighty thick Beefsteak Tomato Burger. In its quest for sustainability, even the stalks of steamed broccoli get used liberally throughout the new spring menu. If you read FOODIE regularly, you know that I love nothing more than sinking my teeth into a rich thick steak or a delicate raw fish display. That these restaurants manage to satisfy my craving for hearty meals and subtle flavorings says a lot for eating singularly on the big V tip. n
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/ CLASSICAL / ALT
Tiziano Tononi & Southbound HHHH Trouble No More…All Men Are Brothers Long Song Just when some of us thought the whole “tribute album” thing had run its course, part two: In the early ‘70s, one of the paramount American outfits was The Allman Brothers Band, a Southern blues-rock combo with a flair for extended improvisations and one of the genre’s
best guitarists, Duane Allman. This Italian combo, led by drummer Tiziano Tononi, pays tribute to the Brothers by taking some of their best-known songs and harnesses them as points of departure for some (occasionally extreme) jazz improvisation. Does it sound like the Allmans? Except for the tunes themselves—“Whippin’ Post,” “Midnight Rider,” “Les Brers in A Minor”—not at all. Do they capture the feverish intensity of the Allmans at their peak? Yes, but in a wild jazz context, evocative of Charles Mingus (no stranger to the blues himself), Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Frank Zappa’s jazz-oriented orchestrations for large ensembles (The Grand Wazoo, for instance). Highlights include Emanuele Parrini’s mercurial, scorching violin (moments of aching guitar-like wails), Marta Raviglia’s slightly sultry, clear vocals (on “Whippin’ Post” and a few others), and the expressive, fiery saxophones of Emanuele Passerini and Piero B. Bon. “You Don’t Love Me” becomes a powerful swinger—Rat Pac-era Vegas meets South Side Chicago blues club—worthy of both Count Basie and Carla Bley. If you are a fan of blues, early ‘70s guitar rock, and edgy-but-mightily-rhythmic jazz, Duane and Coltrane (dig the solo on “Post”), seek and cloud 9.5 is your next stop. (14 tracks, 79 min.) longsongrecords.com
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Stereo RV HHH1/2 Human Self-released This Portland wife-husband duo has a rather distinctive sound and this mini-album, their debut, showcases it well. Myra Gleason’s voice is husky, soulful, and slightly
tart—imagine a cross between Florence of Florence & The Machine and Annie Lennox. Gabe Gleason is her oneman band, and for a change that synth-driven beat is not mixed-way-up in the manner of too much mainstream pop. The Gleasons weave a seductively plush, accomplished, slightly languid sound, a bit like if Tears For Fears or Crowded House were American (and fronted by a singer as good as Myra G). The title track practically shouts not only “hit single” but quality hit single. Myra’s got some pipes on her and has some of that old-school soulfulness in her approach but, thankfully, never overemotes. Jeez, this is the kind of well-played radio-ready pop-rock that terminal hepcats like me are supposed to hate yet I can’t help but like it. A duo to watch out for. (5 songs, 17 min.) stereorv.com Johnny & The Asbury Southside Jukes HHHHH The Fever: The Remastered Epic Recordings Real Gone Music Think, if you dare, of 1976–1978: disco ruled the airwaves and dancefloors; top 40 radio was mostly insipid,
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arena rock was, well, in the arenas, and punk/new wave was waiting in the wings for its chance. In NJ, some fellows in the Springsteen orbit by the name of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes were making some noise— while these lads shared many influences with The Boss, they lean more towards the classic rhythm & blues side of the equation. Bruce rocked, but these guys were soulfull in the manner of Ben E. King, the Drifters, Solomon Burke, The Four Tops, and pre-Sexual Healing Marvin
Gaye. Springsteen, in fact, contributed many songs to the SJ&AB repertoire, yet despite this, this combo didn’t “fit” the times. Three excellent albums, I Don’t Want To Go Home, This Time It’s For Real, and Hearts of Stone, didn’t exactly burn up the charts then but they sure brightened up many stereo systems—songs such as the young-loveon-the-fire-escape drama of “Little Girl So Fine,” the slinky after-hours blues of “I Ain’t Got the Fever No More,” and the wailing desperation of “Take It Inside” and “Trapped Again” sound just as good—heck, often BETTER—than when they were new. Southside Johnny’s beseeching voice is a like unto a slightly raspier Sam Cooke and the Jukes had that old-school R&B thing down, baby. While J. Geils Band (R.I.P.) were a beer party in a Friday night supermarket parking lot, Southside Johnny & the Jukes were the promise of the prom. While Springsteen channeled his take on NJ via Dylan, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes went the West Side Story route with overtones of B.B. King and Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland. Four albums on two CDs including a rare, previously promotion-only live
album—what are you waiting for? (40 songs, 159 min.) realgonemusic.com Mark Masters Ensemble HHH1/2 Blue Skylight Capri Arranger Mark Masters helms this tribute set to past masters (no pun intended—honest) Charles Mingus and Gerry Mulligan. Lest you think this is an incongruous match-up, not really—Mingus, Mr. Fire, and Mulligan, Mr.
Cool, were distinctive composers and instrumentalists whose careers spanned the tail-end of the big band era through the ‘70s and ‘90s, respectively; both led bands that propelled players to jazz stardom (Mulligan: Chet Baker; Mingus: Jaki Byard), and both penned some very pretty, attractive tunes. GM’s “Wallflower” is creamy-rich and full of noir-ish elegance, as is CM’s more overtly blues-laden, Ellington-like “Eclipse.” Masters’ arrangements for a septet are loaded with amiable swing, concise heartfelt solos, and project a very full sound, giving this an almost orchestral ambiance. While Skylight could’ve benefited from a tad more edge, fans of Mingus, Mulligan, and/or tightly arranged mid-size band (acoustic) jazz will find a lot to enjoy here. (11 tracks, 49 min.) caprirecords.com
David Weiss & Point of Departure HHHHH Wake Up Call Ropeadope Yeah, this is what I call a “tribute album.” Trumpeter David Weiss doesn’t pay homage to one performer artist but rather to a style that’s come to be known as post bop. Circa 1962–now, there were/are jazz players that still used the theme-solos-theme formulary and swung, but the
compositions were darker and moodier; not avant-garde, but there was an edgier, somewhat surly quality beyond the bebop of Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon. Pre-electric Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Andrew Hill, Joe Henderson, Jackie McLean, and Tony Williams were among the post bop wave—and Miles, Williams, and Shorter would soon take their sound(s) into The Fusion Zone. Weiss & his Point-men draw upon this period for inspirations and compositions yet this is no nostalgia trip. With his sax (J.D. Allen, Myron Walden) and three-guitar-fronted lineup, Weiss/Departure exemplify the spirit of that sound, complete with an amiably caustic punch. Weiss’ playing is brilliant, harnessing the bristling energy of Freddie Hubbard and the conceptual imagination of Miles Davis without overtly emulating either. His band plays with a feverish intensity and incisive restraint. If you value the hepcats mentioned above and the emergence of fusion when it was a strange and feral thing, run don’t walk to obtain this platter. This set reminds me why I started buying jazz records as a snotty rock & roll youth in the first place. (9 tracks, 76 min.) ropeadope.com n
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23 HALL & OATES & HOAGIES
John Oates.
Daryl Hall.
be the first one to tell you that it’s so personal a song to me. That occurred a lot. John’s contribution is important, but he’s not as remotely prolific as I am. The lion’s share of the songs is mine.” That said, Hall will stick to songwriting, not book writing like Oates. “John found his voice as an author [and] made it about him—with me in there, of course—and handled a lot of touchy subjects in the business world in a diplomatic fashion. He wrote in a very John sort of way. I couldn’t do a book like that. We’d get in trouble. I just blurt out things.” Hall loves what Tears For Fears, their touring partners, have done forever. “They’re classic songwriters with timeless songs,” he says. Hall admits that they both got caught up in the glossy televisual era of MTV’s 1980s reign without any love for the music video revolution. “That period of time was useful for us and took us to another level, but I wasn’t a fan of marrying images to sound. Sound usually loses that competition. That’s the magic of something like Daryl’s House where there’s no distraction. You’re seeing me, but it’s purely musical and direct.” The next best thing to seeing Hall and/or Oates at Daryl’s House on television is seeing them in the flesh—and HoagieNation is as fleshy (and lunch meaty) as they come. HoagieNation came into play when Hall & Oates were planning a summer tour with Tears for Fears. He says, “They came up as we slowed down,” around the same time Mayor Jim Kenney
wanted a musical event to call his own. “The mayor initiated the concert,” says Oates, knowing that Kenney is a big fan. “He was looking for a signature event, brought it up to Live Nation and they brought it up to us.” Hall continues, saying that it was he who named the festival HoagieNation. “I’m happy about sponsoring a festival in Philly. I think it’s hoagies that bind us together as Philadelphians—a love of cold meat and Amoroso’s rolls. I could have said CheesesteakNation, but hoagies just say so much more, as it is that mix of elements. It’s true. Look at me and Lebanon baloney.” Both Hall and Oates have shown their Philly pride in the past, most recently by naming Upper Darby native Todd Rundgren as the next deserving local in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, just as they were three years ago. “As young men we were, of course, friendly wth Gamble & Huff and could have tied our futures to theirs and that would have been amazing, but we wanted to make a name for ourselves,” says Oates. “We wanted to branch out and make a sound of our own. But our roots, everything we do, is pure Philly.” Hall finishes up by saying he gets pissed off when critics treat Philly as inferior to other music cities. “And it does still happen,” he says. “The inferiority complex is pervasive. Is it the accent? Is it Rocky? Who knows? I remember critics in the ’80s being dismissive of Philly. Screw ’em. Our musical heritage is to be respected and lionized.” n
Hall & Oates, circa 1970 [Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images]
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MUSIC POP
THE OLD MASTERS AT SUNSET WITHOUT THE USUAL MOURNFULNESS, moaning and age (in)appropriate commentary regarding those making music at 70 plus, there is a certain “sunset” element that does creep into play when elder rockers move forward, one that shows a relaxed experimentalism (unless we’re discussing, say Iggy Pop or the late David Bowie and Lou Reed whose tests in pop matched each man’s testiness). No one says ‘boo’ when jazz-bo or blues men (or women) move into old age with rage and caginess. Their saltiness is what kept them motivated and moving forward. Pop is supposed to be a younger man’s game— one stuffed with swagger. Old men aren’t supposed to swagger, so that when it happens, it’s something delicious. Old is bold. Get over it. This season is particularly remarkable considering new releases by Bob Dylan (Triplicate), Willie Nelson (God’s Problem Child) and what may be the last ever concerts from Eric Clapton. Problem Child is fascinating for Nelson, turning 84 after the album’s release, as it’s his first album of all-new material in three years with tunes co-penned by his longtime producer, Buddy Cannon, and several paying tribute to lost friends Merle Haggard (“He Won’t Ever Be Gone”) and Leon Russell (one of his last recordings). Along with the craggy country master’s touching on recent politics with “Delete and Fast Forward” (with lyrics like “The elections are over and nobody wins”) there’s Nelson’s blunt sentiment behind “Still Not Dead.” That’s rich. Dylan’s Triplicate is a gentle, but no less challenging, odd bird effort (as if he’s capable of any other)—the third in a series we didn’t know existed—of one of America’s greatest lyricist’s jaunt into Frank Sinatra and Tin Pan Alley standards. The pop bard’s last original album, 2012’s Tempest, proved he was thoroughly capable of incisive cutting wit, woe and snark, so perhaps having his next five albums be covers of classics Ol’ Blue Eyes made famous is either lazy or suicidal. Yet, as a coolly aching interpretive singer and player, hearing Dylan execute the scuffed-up elegance of Irving Berlin’s “How Deep is the Ocean?,” or “I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plan” from Arthur Schwartz, Hoagy Carmichael’s frankly forlorn “Stardust” and the aptly elegiac “The September of My Years” by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn, is as shocking and vibrantly now (and wow.) as having the folkie go electric in 1965. Here, each crack in his voice—beyond Dylan’s usual
crank—reminds us that these were the songs of his youth; something he felt as deeply to him as his “Blowin’ in the Wind” or “Forever Young” means to us now. Simmering stuff. Live from Madison Square Garden in March—one of eight possible closing sale showcases in 2017—Eric Clapton, now 72, played out his “Slow Hand” role to the hilt; possibly not always because he so desired to take the blues easy and sad, but rather because moving faster with
Eric Clapton
frenzy might not be his bag at this point. Nor is the desire apparent to test his audience any further, as hit tune rides on ballads like “Wonderful Tonight,” “Tears in Heaven,” and the acoustic, shuffling “Layla” proved. This Clapton, more than ever before, played his licks, rhythms and solos close to his vest and with little rococo flourish: the rueful cobalt blues of Robert Johnson (“Crossroad Blues,” “Little Queen of Spades”), the urban country crunk of J.J. Cale (“Cocaine,” “Somebody’s Knocking”), once raging now ruminative Cream crackers (“Sunshine of Your Love,” “Badge”). That tightness didn’t mean Clapton’s solos weren’t expressive, pained, romantic or mournful. His flaming accented squiggles were like the concentric circling blisters of dot-matrix color, image and information behind algebraic painter Chuck Close’s graph paper masterpieces. There are more lives lived and memories haunted in those magic moments than most performers have in a lifetime. 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 clark
THE PIANO IS THE heart of a small jazz combo, just like an engine is essential to an automobile. There have been experiments with piano-less jazz trios and quartets, but in the main most small jazz groups have played it safe and have wisely included the piano. Many legendary jazz musicians who play instruments other than the piano have said that the piano is an invaluable instrument when it comes to composing and arranging music—and that those who don’t play the piano should at least have a fundamental understanding of the instrument. Great singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan selected their piano accompanists with care. Sometimes while doing my radio show, and playing a CD by other than a pianist as the leader, I try to determine the pianist on the disc. I’m sometimes right, and at other times way off. One jazz pianist I once found hard to identify was Sonny Clark, because to my ears his playing tended to sound like several other veteran pianists I favor, one of whom is Tommy Flanagan and the other is Cedar Walton. There were also some strains of Clark’s piano hero Bud Powell, but Clark’s touch was smoother, more relaxed, and more latter-day. But the similarity to Tommy Flanagan, was remarkable. Sonny Clark was one of the finest jazz pianists I’d ever heard. He was a superb soloist and was often sought as an accompanist because of his ability to lay down a supportive “red carpet” of sound for featured instrumentalists and vocalists. But alas, as has happened with quite a number of jazz musicians before him and after him, Clark got caught up in drugs and his potentially brilliant career came to an abrupt end at the tender age of 31. Ironically, the number 31 figured into Clark’s life from the very beginning, with his being born in the small coal mining town of Herminie, Pennsylvania, on July 21, 1931. The community lies some 25 miles east of Pittsburgh. His father, who worked in the mines, died a few weeks after Clark was born. He suffered from tuberculosis which the family said was really black lung disease, long associated with working in coal mines. Clark started piano lessons while in grade school. He progressed rapidly, and in no time was playing piano in the lobby of a small hotel in Herminie’s black community. His ability at the piano became the subject of an article in the black newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier. The Clark family—which included eight children—moved to Pittsburgh when Sonny was 12. At age 20 he went to San Francisco to visit an aunt, and decided to stay. By then he was an accomplished pianist. He found work with Oscar Pettiford and Buddy DeFranco and a number of other established jazz musicians. He toured the U.S. and Europe with DeFranco, and later came a stint with the Lighthouse All-Stars, led by Howard Rumsey. Toward the end of 1957, and upon returning to the East Coast, Clark briefly served as accompanist to Dinah Washington, and as previously mentioned, became the pianoaccompanist-of-choice at Blue Note Records, teaming with many of their top artists like Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Hank Mobley, Sonny Rollins, Lee Morgan, and a host of others.
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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While helping to make other jazz artists sound even better, Clark recorded nine albums under his own name. After so many years of playing jazz on the air, I’ve finally become attuned to the piano sound of Sonny Clark, and no longer confuse his playing with other jazz greats. (I guess if he hadn’t sounded so good, there would have been no confusion). Clark died in New York City on January 1, 1963. The cause of death was listed as a heart attack, but his demise was more likely the result of a drug overdose, a conclusion reached because of his young age, and because he’d had been introduced to the drug culture well before his death. The lives of so many past jazz musicians were more than difficult: the late hours plying their craft in less than savory environments; the often less than poor living conditions brought on in part by the puny payment for their services by opportunistic club owners; add to this the monetary tricks played by record companies when it came paying royalties. Thank goodness today’s more successful jazz musicians are treated better than the artists who pioneered the art form. n
toM Wilk
music SINGER / SONGWRITER Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues HHH1/2 Different Voices Dawnserly Records Mixing classical music with blues can appear to be an unlikely pairing, comparable to adding jalapeno peppers to oatmeal. However, blues harmonica master Corky Siegel, working with a classical string quartet, finds the common ground between the genres on Different Voices with the help of some musical guests. A founding
member of the Siegel-Schwall Band in the 1960s, Siegel uses the blues as a foundation to explore other styles of music. Saxophonist Ernie Watts adds a touch of jazz to “Missing Persons Blues –Op. 26” that serves as a counterpoint to the violins and Siegel’s mournful harmonica. “Time Will Tell Overture - Op. 25” blends classical and Indian sounds with Sandeep Das on tabla. On “One,” Siegel plays a supporting role on the classical piece that features Matthew Santos as lead singer. The quartet puts a fresh and frisky spin on Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally” featuring Marcy Levy, the song’s co-writer, on lead vocals. Veteran bluesman Sam Lay adds his distinctive vocals to a medley of “Italian Shuffle/Flip Flop & Fly” with the latter song serving as a tribute to blues legend Big Joe Turner. The gospel standard “I’ll Fly Away” seems to take flight with the string quartet’s accompaniment and joyous harmonies of Sons of the Never Wrong. (12 songs, 52 minutes) James Talley HHHH Tryin’ Like The Devil: Special 40th Anniversary Reissue 1976-2016 Cimarron Records The best songs stand the test of time and remain relevant for succeeding generations. That’s the case with Tryin’ Like The Devil, James Talley’s second solo album
that’s been reissued to mark its 40th anniversary. Like Merle Haggard, Talley writes songs from a working-class perspective
and delivers them in a rich baritone with a backing that mixes country, folk and blues. “Forty Hours” is sung in the voice of an everyman attempting to make it through the workweek and survive on a modest paycheck. “Give My Love to Marie,” is a moving character study of a coal miner dying of black lung disease, a reminder of the punishing toll of some jobs. On the up-tempo title track, Talley captures the dreams and frustrations of attempting to get ahead in life. “Tryin’ to forget all things that I regret,” he sings as he pushes forward. The joyful “You Can’t Ever Tell” offers a glimmer of hope amid the promise of a night out on the town and the chance to cut loose. Talley finds reason to keep the faith with “She’s The One,” a song inspired by the love of his wife, and to persevere in the face of hard times on “Nothin’ But The Blues. The CD booklet features a 10-page essay by Talley on the background of the songs and the making of the album that enhances the listening experience. (10 songs, 35 minutes) James Luther Dickinson Featuring North Mississippi All Stars HHH1/2 I’m Just Dead, I’m Not Gone: Lazarus Ed. Memphis International Records I’m Just Dead, I’m Not Gone served as the epitaph for Jim Dickinson, the legendary producer, session man and solo artist who died at 67 in 2009. I’m Just Dead, I’m Not Gone: Lazarus Edition serves as a sequel to his 2012 live album recorded in his hometown of Memphis in 2006 and a reminder of his talents as a bandleader. Working with the North Mississippi Allstars featuring his son Luther (gui-
tar) and Cody (drums), Dickinson delivers a winning mix of blues, rock and country. “Red Neck, Blue Collar” opens the album with him charging through a modern-day protest song written by Bob Frank. Dickinson sounds like an Old Testament prophet deploring injustice on the traditional song “Lazarus.” “Hadacol Boogie” shows Dickinson’s lighter side. The former features his boogie-woogie piano work, while the latter finds him making Bobby Helms’ tale of international romance his own. Dickinson projects a gruff tenderness with a worldweary version of Greg Spradlin’s ballad “Out of Blue” and pays tribute to Gregg Allman on “Midnight Rider.” Rounding out the album are a pair of recordings from a 1983 show. The rockabilly-flavored “Ubangi Stomp” and the ballad “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” find Dickinson honoring the legacy of Sun Records, a Memphis institution. It serves as an acknowledgment of his roots as Dickinson was briefly on the label in mid-1960s as a member of The Jesters. (9 songs, 40 minutes) Eric Bibb HHH1/2 Migration Blues Stony Plain Records The plight of refugees has been a dominant part of the news in recent years and a recurring issue throughout world history. Veteran bluesman Eric Bibb explores the topic in thoughtful and pene-
trating detail in Migration Blues, putting a human face on the question of how to help those in need. Relying on acoustic instruments, Bibb mixes vocals and instrumentals, originals and cover versions (Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” and Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land”). It gives the album a rich diversity in the same way that immigrants enriched U.S. culture. “Refugee Moan” begins the CD with a song as current as today’s headlines. “Deliver W W W. fA C e b O O k . C O M / I C O N D V
me from this place I know/Desecrated by the madness of war,” he sings in a pleading tone. “Delta Getaway” offers a historical perspective on migrants as Bibb sings in the voice of a man fleeing the Jim Crow south for the chance of a better life in Chicago. “Diego’s Blues” tells the story of the Mexican migrants who came to the Mississippi Delta in the 1920s to replace black farm workers who moved north. The title track allows Bibb and his accompanists—Michael Jerome Browne (12-string slide guitar) and JJ Milteau (harmonica)— to showcase their skills on a haunting instrumental. On “Brotherly Love,” Bibb sounds a note of optimism that a solution can be found. Migration Blues aims to educate and entertain and succeeds on both counts. (15 songs, 48 minutes) The Drugstore Gypsies HHH Self-titled Edgewater Music Group The Drugstore Gypsies keep the spirit and tradition of Southern Rock alive on their self-titled debut album. The Texasbased quintet, led by lead guitarist Dillan Dostal and lead singer Duke Ryan, follow in the footsteps of Lynyrd Skynryd and ZZ Top. The freewheeling “Drugstore Gypsy,” a fast-paced rocker, sets the tone with a song that sounds tailor-made for summertime driving with the top down. “Black Label Boogie,” a tribute to Jack Daniels, is a celebration of the night life that features
a cautionary ending.“Kitty Strut Blues” comes with an edge that calls to mind the Rolling Stones of the late 1960s, while the horn section of Travis Cielielski (trumpet) and Tyler Summers (saxophone) adds a sonic kick to “Live the Life.” The band slows the pace for the mid-tempo “Runnin’ To” and the pensive “Indian Summer” to show the group’s musical range. (10 songs, 38 minutes) n
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JAMes p. delpino, Mss, Mlsp, lcsW, bcd
about life
Integrity Checkup
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his month I’m writing once again with my favorite co-author, my daughter Deidre Dykes. In speaking on the phone the other day we were discussing how important accountability and integrity are. Definition of accountability: the quality or state of being accountable; especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions. Definition of integrity the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. That being said, these issues come up frequently in my practice as a psychotherapist. When there is a failure of accountability or integrity any number of consequences can ensue. People can be demoted, lose jobs, lose trust, hurt the feelings of others as well as damage their own credibility in the eyes of their children, friends, family peers and coworkers. Deidre: Integrity and honesty are inextricably intertwined, but integrity is more than just that. It begins in honesty—in being truthful to oneself as well as with others. Accountability, in its simplest form, means taking the responsibility to do what you promise you’re going to do. It means knowing that what you have promised can be realistically achieved. Integrity begins from within; you must first know yourself before you can be truly reliable to others. Over-promising and under-delivering hurts your credibility, especially when this behavior becomes a pattern. It’s a sure-fire way to erode trust. Jim: Exactly. We’re far better off under-promising and over-delivering in most circumstances. One frequent, yet overlooked example of integrity is being late. Integrity, functionally speaking, means that my words and actions are in alignment. Be on time, because failing to do so easily hurts the feelings of others. While others may not say so it can and does erode the quality of relationships. When running late, call or text the other party. When we’re as good as our word others trust us more and view us as dependable. Deidre: There are times when we all fall short and can’t deliver what is expected of us. For some of us it’s 40
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rare and for some, it can happen fairly often. Sometimes it’s as simple as being late for an appointment or overbooking ourselves for several social events on the same day because we want to be a good friend to everyone. Part of accountability is accepting that when we’ve disappointed someone, the damage has already been done; it cannot be magically repaired. What can be done, however, is to first accept responsibility and then give a heart-
felt apology to whomever we let down. It’s not easy, but it is powerful. Taking ownership of our behavior is one of the keys to maintaining healthy, trusting relationships. Jim: Promising to work on and improve accountability helps to heal and restore damaged feelings. I suggest thinking of a way to make up for the slight to other. Making up with an offer to do something, or taking a slighted person out to lunch, or surprising them with something thoughtful. Doing something like this is a good will gesture that shows you’re sorry for hurting another. Words are cheap, but a sincere apology followed by action is much more powerful. Remember, too, that this kind of process is very healing for the offender as well. Becoming a better person by improving accountability is a service to the self as well. Deidre: Springboarding off of the idea that actions speak for our true intentions, let me use work as an example: at many jobs, the key to being regarded as suc-
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cessful is based in quantifiable results. Not just promising to sell 2,000 units, but actually doing that (or more) makes a person seem to be a reliable employee who achieves their goals. Words are cheap unless they’re being backed up by calculable data. Just as with any job in which we have to continually prove ourselves, we have to do the same with our relationships. I was talking with a friend recently about the difference between falling in love and staying in love—and how it can become too to easy to coast along in a comfortable relationship. That idea of coasting—of just going along and putting in minimal effort—is just as dangerous in any of our relationships (professional, friendship, familial) as it is in a romantic one. While relationships should not be transactional, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t always be putting in work and time to maintain or improve them. Jim: Keeping our integrity and love alive requires continual attention. These are habits to be cultivated daily. Choose to be the person who takes the high road. Choose to be the partner that seeks peace and harmony over fighting. Choose to have integrity and choose to be accountable. Be willing to be that person who sets, reaches and maintains the higher bar. Your example can inspire others to attain that higher level. Choose what you know is right and you will be better off for having made that choice. Deidre: There are times when we all fall short and cannot deliver what is expected of us. For some of us it’s rare and for some, it can happen often. Sometimes it’s as simple as being late for an appointment or overbooking ourselves for several social events on the same day because we want to be a good friend to everyone. Part of accountability is accepting that when we have disappointed someone, the damage has been done. What can be done, however, is to accept responsibility for the hurt and give a heartfelt apology to whomever we let down. It may not be easy, but it is powerful. Taking ownership of our behavior is one of the keys to maintaining healthy, trusting relationships with those we value in our lives. n Jim Delpino is a psychotherapist in private practice for over 36 years. jdelpino@aol.com (215) 364-0139.
harper’s FINDINGS
INDEX
Nursing researchers advanced a theory of “post-traumatic slave syndrome” in the African-American population. Maternal fear of immigration raids shrinks Latino babies in Iowa. Media coverage of unauthorized Mexican immigration drives white Americans to the G.O.P. American labs were worried about their Iranian grad students. Hundreds of thousands of red Skittles escaped onto a Wisconsin highway before they could be fed to cattle. Honeybee guards accept drifting migrant bees but repel hostile raider bees. Predators force guppies to bond. Reef fish will conquer their fear of sharks if the rewards are sufficiently enticing. Reports emerged that a group of chimpanzees attacked a deposed tyrannical alpha male, beat him with rocks and sticks, tore his anus and throat, stomped on him, bit his genitals, and ate him. A moth that spins in circles and has a pompadour of whitish-yellow scales was named Neopalpa donaldtrumpi. A species of crypt wasp that burrows inside gall wasps and takes over their minds—forcing them to dig tiny hatchery exit holes in which they then become trapped while the crypt wasp consumes them from the inside before escaping—was named for the Egyptian god of disorder, violence, and foreigners.
Min. number of college students who have raised money for expenses on GoFundMe: 140,000 Number of Americans aged 60 and older who have outstanding student loans: 2,800,000 Portion of those borrowers who have taken on debt for a child or grandchild’s education: 3/4 Min. number of American colleges that have programs to study their past reliance on slavery: 28 That have changed their financial aid or admissions policies to make amends: 1 Date the University of Cape Town agreed to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes after anticolonial protests: 4/8/2015 On which one of the student protesters was granted a Rhodes scholarship: 12/4/2016 Amt. English university was fined for giving students in an exercise experiment too much caffeine: $500K Estimated number of cups of coffee to which each dose was equivalent: 300 Value of prizes NASA awarded to inventors this year who designed new ways to dispose of bodily waste in space: $30,000 Gallons of diesel fuel that leaked from an Iowa pipeline one day after Donald Trump pledged to build two new pipelines: 46,830 Factor by which more Americans work in the solar industry than work in fossil fuels: 2 Percentage of Asian cities that fail to meet the World Health Organization’s air quality standards: 86 Number of days in January on which air pollution levels in London were higher than those in Beijing: 2 Percentage of children’s toys available in Sweden that contain banned chemicals: 15 Of sex toys available in Sweden: 2 % increase in IUD prescriptions and procedures in the two months following Donald Trump’s election: 19 Number of U.S. states in which women would be at risk of losing their abortion rights were Roe v. Wade overturned: 33 No. of days the British Army used a Military Makeup stand as a strategy to recruit female soldiers: 3 Percentage by which the British Army missed its recruitment targets last year: 28 Number of rows that Air India designated as female-only on domestic flights after reports of sexual harassment and assault: 1 Price per person of a Survival Systems USA team-building exercise that guides clients through a simulated plane crash: $950 Average number of people who die in avalanches in the United States each year: 27 Portion of deadly U.S. avalanches triggered by the victim or a member of the victim’s party: 9/10 Ratio of the average annual number of deaths in the United States caused by drowning to those caused by gun violence: 1:8 Of federal research funding for drowning to funding for gun violence: 1:1 % the average amount of gun violence in popular PG-13 movies exceeds popular R movies: 23 Percentage change since 2010 in the number of firearm silencers registered in the United States: +217 No. of days in the past two years during which there were no reported homicides in El Salvador: 1 Number of states in which laws to criminalize political protest have been introduced this year: 9 Number of FBI confidential informants who worked for Best Buy’s Geek Squad between 2008-2012: 8
It now seems more likely that the universe is a hologram. The authors of “The Selfie Paradox: Nobody Seems to Like Them yet Everyone Has Reasons to Take Them” noted that irony and half-hearted commitment allow selfie-takers to achieve self-promotional goals without feeling narcissistic, even as they worry that they are helping to create an “illusionary world.” Alerting people to the ubiquity and unreality of certain pervasive images does not lessen their effect. Cognitive scientists were looking into a fake-news vaccine. Liberal news satires make Democrats feel more able to effect change, whereas conservative news satires make Republicans feel powerless. Asking large groups of people what they think the correct answer to a question is and what they think other people think the correct answer is, then averaging those two answers, yields the right answer. Totalitarian regimes use psychiatric science as a justification when their unfair treatment of a group might otherwise offend the public. Buddhists can suppress reactions to terrifying stimuli by chanting the name of Amit bha but not by chanting the name of Santa Claus. Scientists found that the idea of implanting beneficial false memories evokes responses “ranging from abject horror to unqualified enthusiasm.” A review of eighty-eight years of clinical literature concluded that masochism is “a way of avoiding uncontrollable suffering by willingly undertaking other, milder, more controllable suffering.” Depression makes it easier to abandon unattainable goals. Chinese teenagers who believe in free will are happier. Facebook users are motivated primarily by entertainment when they post on the walls of the dead. Paleontologists investigated whether complex life on Earth may have had a false start during the Lomagundi Event, 1.5 billion years before succeeding. Hu-mans have 170 times the effect on climate that nature does. The freshening of Antarctic bottom waters is accelerating sea-level rise, litter on the floor of the Arctic Ocean has increased twentyfold in the past fifteen years, and the East China Sea is being choked by nitrogen. Rangers in Western Australia observed a 3,000-foot-tall fire tornado. The genomes of the death cap and the destroying angel have been sequenced. Most primates risk going extinct, and a bioethicist argued that humans should engineer their own extinction by creating artificially intelligent beings who will live lives better than ours. Technology will not allow humanity to dematerialize. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board moved the Doomsday Clock thirty seconds closer to midnight. The guardian of the thousand-year-old windmills of Nashtifan was expected to die with no successor.
SOURCES: 1 GoFundMe (Redwood City, Calif.); 2,3 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Washington); 4,5 Kirt
von Daacke, University of Virginia (Charlottesville); 6 University of Cape Town (South Africa); 7 Rhodes Trust (Oxford, England); 8,9 No5 Chambers (Birmingham, England); 10 NASA (Houston); 11 Iowa Department of Natural Resources (Mason City); 12 U.S. Department of Energy; 13 World Health Organization (Geneva); 14 Clean Air in London; 15,16 Swedish Chemicals Agency (Stockholm); 17 athenahealth (Watertown, Mass.); 18 Center for Reproductive Rights (N.Y.C.); 19,20 U.K. Ministry of Defence (London); 21 Air India (N.Y.C.); 22 Survival Systems USA (Groton, Conn.); 23 Colorado Avalanche Information Center (Boulder); 24 Bruce Tremper (Salt Lake City); 25,26 David Stark, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (N.Y.C.); 27 Annenberg Public Policy Center (Philadelphia); 28 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (Washington); 29 Center for Democracy in the Americas (Los Angeles); 30 National Conference of State Legislatures (Denver); 31 Bienert, Miller & Katzman, PLC (San Clemente, Calif.).
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The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE
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ACROSS
By Pam Amick Klawitter
Word heard in Bedrock West Point letters Dark horses Sam seen in bars Scott who wrote “Island of the Blue Dolphins” A golf green may be shaped like one Face cream additive Paganini’s birthplace *What it often is on a summer day Rodeo goad Bother a lot WWII spy gp. Big mouths Tampico trio Mask wearers Salem-to-Portland dir. Chihuahua or Maltese, in dog shows Slangy sib *One-to-one conversation Texter’s “Just a thought ... ” Candy aisle choice Kid in a ’60s sitcom K-12, in brief Its flag features a six-pointed star Scale starting words 911 responder Barbecue supply Functional *Scuba divers’ bash “Wayward __”: Shyamalan TV series Salon supply Ancient region of Asia Minor Longship crew Half a track? London’s “Ye Olde Mitre,” e.g. “The Way __”: 2007 Timbaland hit Loud speakers Travelocity enticement Pooh, to Roo Broadway restaurant founder *Highly sought-after charter captain Office holders? Gilbert who created TV’s “The Talk” The Silver St. Graphic start Warns Frees
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94 They catch a lot of shrimp 97 Continue 98 Sitcom pioneer, familiarly 99 *Iconic suburban symbol 103 Word with link or letter 105 French article 106 Damage 107 Haunted house sounds 110 Lacking 112 Eye opener? 113 Improve, in some cases 116 Cutie 117 Chop __ 119 Feature of haiku, and of the answers to starred clues 122 Charged 123 Sport with double touches 124 Slices of history 125 Minnesota’s “10,000” 126 Play area 127 Cold War initials 128 Hide from an animal 129 Treacherous type 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 24 30 32 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
DOWN
Pirate’s syllables They’re often about nothing Adds to the pool Rain-__ bubble gum Smith grad High hairdo José’s half-dozen Satiric magazine founded in 1952 Kid-to-kid retort Military setting Hurdle for Hannibal Mirror image? Homeland of tennis star Novak Djokovic “The X-Files” extra *Awkward TV silence Protester Defensive ditch H.S. hurdles Ma non __: not too much, in music Cub great Sandberg Bubbly source Lincoln Center attraction, familiarly Eastern faith Word in a Marines slogan 48-Across player __-France Register a preference St. Peter’s Basilica sight Exile isle
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42 Make, as butter 44 Katahdin is its highest peak 45 Beatrix Potter’s real first name 46 Cries after fútbol goals 51 Freudian conscience 53 Player in a loft 55 Vacation choice 57 Aleppo native 60 Reservations can help avoid one 61 Apportions 62 Eighth-century pope 67 Puppeteer Tony 68 *Sale indicator 70 Cap’n’s aide 72 Room at the Louvre 73 Doesn’t give up 74 Enter noisily 75 Nautical pole 77 Word of origin 78 Marathon practice run 79 Spike for Hillary 80 Like some focus groups 81 Freetown currency 82 Slew 84 Grow pale 85 Push 91 Did a few laps 93 Made on a wheel 95 Play set on an island, with “The”
96 Cabinet department 100 Greets the villain 101 Conforming 102 Elegant trimmings 104 Speed 107 Orch. section 108 Primer layer 109 Novelist Jaffe 110 Psychic
111 Motion carriers 112 Tough test 113 Self-titled 1974 pop album 114 Many a techie 115 Latin being 118 FedEx rival 120 Otto I’s realm: Abbr. 121 Knighted McKellen
Answer to April’s puzzle, ALL IN FAVOR
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agenda FINE ART thrU 5/21 silk for an indrustrial Age. Allentown Art Museum, 31 north 5th st., Allentown. 610-432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org thrU 5/26 Already gone. large format paintings by patricia satterlee. Martin Art gallery, Muhlenberg college, 2400 W. chew street, Allentown pA. tues– sat., 12–8 pm, the galleria spaces, 9 am–9 pm daily. thrU 5/28 Made in America: industrial photography from the Ungar collection. rodale gallery, Allentown Art Museum, 31 north 5th st., Allentown. 610-4324333. AllentownArtMuseum.org 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. 610-432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org thrU 6/4 Altered state: painting Myanmar in a time of transition. contemporary painting from Myanmar [burma] organized by ian holliday, vice president and pro-vice-chancellor, the University of hong kong. Martin Art gallery, baker center for the Arts, tues–sat., 12–8, the galleria spaces, 9–9 daily. Muhlenberg college, 2400 West chew street, Allentown. 484-664-3467 thrU 6/11 glenn harrington: paintings from the river valley. opening receptions 4/29 & 4/30. the silverman gallery of bucks county impressionist Art, buckingham green, 4920 york road, holicong, pA. 215-794-4300 silvermangallery.com
um, 31 north 5th st., Allentown. 610432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org
um, clinton, nJ. thehunterdonarttour.com.
5/3–5/21 Muhlenberg college 2017 thesis exhibition. Works by Avery brunkus, daryll heiberger, Ana negrón, Jazmine pignatello, Amanda Quinn and brittany schreiber. opening reception 5/3, 5–6:30. tues–sat., 12–8, the galleria spaces, 9–9 daily. Martin Art gallery, baker center for the Arts, Muhlenberg college, 2400 West chew street, Allentown. 484-664-3467
5/13 & 5/14 52nd fine Art & craft show. Mother’s day weekend: 5/13, 10–5; 5/14, 11–5. over 80 regional, national and local artists. Art projects for kids, fun for the entire family. historic Main st., bethlehem. bfac-lv.org
5/6–5/28 fiber, fabric, fashion. contemporary works of more than 30 established and emerging designers and fiber artists. runway fashion show, 5/6 & 5/7. new hope Arts, 2 stockton Ave, new hope. 215-862-9606. newhopearts.org 5/7–6/11 the Art of the Miniature xxv, silver Anniversary exhibition of fine Art Miniatures from around the world. 424 works of art by 87 artists from 25 states, 9 countries & 4 continents. the snow goose gallery, 470 Main st., bethlehem. 610-974-9099. thesnowgoosegallery.com 5/13–6/4 12th Annual Members show. featuring 2d and 3d works of art by the Aoy Art center Members. All items for sale. the show will be open during our luau on the farm fundraising event May 20. opening reception May 12, 6–9. fri, sat, sun 12–5. Aoy Art center, 949 Mirror lake, road, yardley. artistsofyardley.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 decothrU 7/8 the spring show. new work from Ar- rative textiles, ceramics, mixed media. turo cabrera, Jan crooker, gail fly, tom Morven Museum & garden, 55 stockton st., princeton, nJ. 609-924-8144. holmes, susan levin, and barbara schulman. bethlehem house contem- morven.org porary Art gallery, 459 Main st., beth5/6 & 5/7; 5/13 & 5/14 lehem. 610-419-6262 the hunterdon Art tour (thAt). the bethlehemhousegallery.com first annual self-guided tour of hunterdon county artists’ studios. 5/13, 10–5; thrU 11/2 5/14, 11–5. benefit exhibition & party, designing for the loom: drawings by 5/5, 7-9 at the hunterdon Art MuseWilliam geskes. Allentown Art Muse-
5/20 17th Annual Arts Alive. Juried arts & craft event. 10–4. Quakertown Alive, downtown Quakertown. rain date, 5/21. 215-536-2273. quakertownalive.com 5/20 the 32nd Annual Art Auction. live auction begins at 8:00pm, silent auction 5:30–7:30. Auction preview night 5/18, 6–8. both auctions are free to attend. optional buffet dinner available. the baum school of Art, 510 linden st., Allentown. 610-433-0032. baumschool.org
celebrates independent film with documentaries, shorts, features, animation and experimental. free children’s film series, 5/15–5/17. independent film from around the world in various locations in bethlehem. southside film institute, 26 east third st., bethlehem. 610-882-4300. southsidefilmfestival.com 6/2–8/5 pennsylvania shakespeare festival: presents the ice princess, designed to delight families with kids from three to tween. dates sell out quickly, order early. schubert theatre, the professional theatre at desales University, 2755 station Ave., center valley. 610-282will. pashakespeare.org 6/9 ron White, 7:00 & 9:30. state theatre, 453 northampton st., easton. 610252-3132. statetheatre.org
6/14–7/2 pennsylvania shakespeare festival presents evita, the extraordinary musical 6/17 about an extraordinary woman. dithe 43rd annual Art-in-the-park. origi- rected by Associate Artistic director nal works of fine art and crafts by 70+ dennis razze. Main stage, the profesartists from the lehigh valley and sursional theatre at desales University, rounding states. 10–5 (rain or shine) 2755 station Ave., center valley. 610Allentown’s West park civic Associa282-will. pashakespeare.org tion,16th & turner st., Allentown. westpark-ca.org/artinthepark 6/14–7/2 hair. 50th anniversary of broadway’s THEATER tribute to the far-out, freewheeling 1960s. Muhlenberg college theatre & 5/5–5/20 dance, 2400 chew st., Allentown. Angels in America, part one. tony 484-664-3333. muhlenberg.edu/smt kushner’s groundbreaking two-play masterpiece. the great American play 6/28–7/29 subtitled “A gay fantasia on national Wild. A world-premiere circus producthemes,” spans the reagan-bush eras tion for all ages, created by the Atlas and around the Aids crisis in 1980s circus company. Muhlenberg college new york. civic theatre, 527 n. 19th theatre & dance, Muhlenberg college, st., Allentown. 610-432-8943. 2400 chew st., Allentown. 484-664civictheatre.com 3333. muhlenberg.edu/smt 5/11–5/20 Angels in America, part two. civic theatre, 527 n. 19th st., Allentown. 610432-8943. civictheatre.com 5/13 the 12th Annual young playwrights’ festival. touchstone theatre, 321 e. fourth st., bethlehem. 610-867-1689. touchstone.org 5/13–5/17 14th Annual southside film festival
CONCERTS 5/5 the organ Works of J.s. bach, program 8, organist stephen Williams. cathedral Arts, cathedral church of the nativity, 321 Wyandotte st., bethlehem. 610-865-0727. nativitycathedral.org 5/12–5/13; 5/19–5/20 the bach choir of bethlehem’s 110th bethlehem bach festival. historic &
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southside bethlehem, on the campus of lehigh University and on the gounds of the Moravian community. schedule & tickets: 610-866-4382, ext.115 or 110. bach.org 5/14 cathedral choir third Annual spring concert. cathedral Arts, cathedral church of the nativity, 321 Wyandotte st., bethlehem. 610-865-0727. nativitycathedral.org 5/25 the state theatre center for the Arts presents, streaming live on 69 WfMZ, freddy Awards, 7pm. freddyawards.org 5/26 the organ Works of J.s. bach, program 9. organist stephen Williams. cathedral Arts, cathedral church of the nativity, 321 Wyandotte st., bethlehem. 610865-0727. nativitycathedral.org 6/16 toto,. state theatre, 453 northampton st., easton. 610-252-3132. statetheatre.org 6/17 Music of friends. enjoy satori’s intimate performance followed by a light luncheon. 11am–12:30pm, home of Janet & Malcom gross, Allentown Arts Alive. for tickets and information. lvartscouncil.org
MUSIKFEST CAFÉ´ 101 founders Way, bethlehem 610-332-1300 Artsquest.org 7 comedian kevin nealon 14 Mother’s day brunch 14 comedian caroline rhea 17 richie kotzen 17 kevin devine 18 chris robinson brotherhood 23 cherry poppin’ daddies 26 dirty dozen brass band 6/1 gerald veasley 6/2 lotus land
MUSIC FESTIVALS 6/10 blues, brews & barbecue. five stages of music featuring international artist, the peterson brothers and many more bands. fantastic bbQ and three beer tents. 12–10pm. downtown Allentown, 600–800 blocks of hamilton st.. downtownallentown.com
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