November 2017

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ICON

NOVEMBER EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

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

JOE BONAMASSA | 22

1-800-354-8776 • 215-862-9558

Judy Lalingo, “Waldemar Spring” (detail), acrylic.

The Snow Goose Gallery.

FILM

ART

REEL NEWS

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drag Race

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| EXHIBITIONS I

Wind River The Hero Lost in Paris

Winter Show The ahlum Gallery

Logan Lucky

FOREIGN

Yardley is Getting an Art Gallery! 28 | Touchstone art Gallery

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Three Part Harmony The Snow Goose Gallery

Like Crazy

dOCuMENTaRy

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Human Flow

MUSIC

8 | EXHIBITIONS II 8th Annual Fine Craft Show artists of yardley art Center

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SINGER / SONGWRITER James armstrong Lynn drury

Phillustration 9 The Philadelphia Sketch Club

The Golliwogs King James & The Special Men

Cook your own steak on Black Lava Rock at Mad Rex in Philadelphia.

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Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem PNC Plaza at SteelStacks

FOODIE FILE

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ENTERTAINMENT

Gene Perla/The Gene Machine

12 | City Theater

Brahms/ax/Kavalos/Ma

FILM

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| POP Richard Thompson

Jazz LIBRaRy Chick Webb

16 | The Square 18 | Moonwalkers

ON THE COVER: Joe Bonamassa. Page 22.

Photo: Rick Gould.

20 | FILM ROuNduP The Killing of a Sacred Deer Lady Bird Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Wonderstruck

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EDITORIAL Executive Editor / Trina McKenna Raina Filipiak / Advertising filipiakr@comcast.net PRODUCTION

Richard DeCosta Susan O’Neill

Jim Saviano, intern

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

A. D. Amorosi / divaland@aol.com

Robert Beck / robert@robertbeck.net Jack Byer / jackbyer@verizon.net

Peter Croatto / petecroatto@yahoo.com James P. Delpino / JDelpino@aol.com

George Miller / gomiller@travelsdujour.com

Wadada Leo Smith

43 | agenda

Trina McKenna trina@icondv.com

Jazz, ROCK, CLaSSICaL, aLT

12 | Valley Theater

14 | The List

PUBLISHER

Geoff Gehman / geoffgehman@verizon.net

The Rhinestone Hillbilly: a Tribute to Little Jimmy dickens

10 | Madness, Badness & Wholeness

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The Square.

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The blues-rock icon’s virtuoso fretwork has been said to “singe eyebrows at a thousand yards.” A prodigy at age 12, he toured with blues legend B.B. King and he’s been performing ever since, from Carnegie Hall to London’s Royal Albert Hall,over 200 concerts a year.

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Mark Schaeffer, Bernie Sanders: “Peace, Love, Protest.” The Philadelphia Sketch Club.

Filling the hunger since 1992

ABOUT LIFE 40

| Magical Sex

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| L. a. Times Crossword

Harper’s Findings & Index

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ESSAY AND PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

art

Drag Race

LET ME TELL YOU something about my town. My home. I’ve lived in Bucks County for more than half a century and in the New Hope-Lambertville area for the last 20-plus years of that.

This is just a tiny slice of what makes me glad to be here.

One of the traditional town events is the High Heel Drag Race, held every year in New Hope around Halloween.

There is no orientation or identification requirement in order to participate, but it is a drag race, so drag it is.

Heels are a must.

The course is about a hundred yards, maybe a little more, right in the center of town. The event often comes down to a few guys in dresses hell-bent on winning the race, and a secondary contingent of queens in drag couture there to strut their stuff.

The competition part is not easy.

The first leg is uphill on Mechanic Street to the canal where the participants are required to do some hurried task (it changes every year) to verify having made it that far. But the real fun begins when they turn around and head back to the finish line. As impossible as it is to run downhill in high heels, the intrepid, fearless, and painfully unstable competitors face a larger challenge, as now they must negotiate the queens who have been taking their time strolling up the hill, some arm in arm, waving to the crowd and kissing the police.

Like the Pride parade and the FACT bingo events, the Drag Race is a community, family event. An appreciation of people in all our flavors. Young and old line the hill, and that whole part of town is packed. It’s a hoot.

Last year during the Pride parade there were protesters at the end of town with bullhorns, mired in their own dogma and darkness. They could have used a dose of the good-naturedness and kindness that was unfolding in front of them. It’s pretty sad when you think about it. Few people were paying attention to them; there were things to celebrate. Nobody on Mechanic Street is trying to convince anybody to tow a line or follow a creed. And nobody is going to slip into the grasp of some devil because they were at the race cheering the participants on, or because they are left-handed, or their eyes are the wrong color. Here, everybody gets to be themselves.

Understanding who we are as diverse people and the place each of us has in the world is liberating to some and threatening to others. Some people embrace it; some people lash out or create defenses. Some are comfortable in

their own skin; some feel that being dangerous will gain them safety or respect.

I was in Wawa the other day when a guy came in with a semi-automatic weapon on his hip. It was lunchtime and the place was filled with people from all walks of life. Immediately, everyone felt the threat from the white guy with the gun. He knew it—that’s why it was there.

The New Hope and Lambertville community has a remarkable record of taking care of people. Doing the walk, not just the talk. We have wonderful organizations (Fisherman’s Mark and F.A.C.T. are two of many) that help the people in and beyond our borders who really need it. A lot of good gets done without bullhorns or bullets.

It’s also a place where people go to get away from the prescribed and structured world. New Hope has its edges, and not everybody agrees on everything, but you can have a drag race in the center

of town and then make a fun night of it to your liking. For now, anyway. Development is changing the face and soul of the town and the social fabric will change with it. What the Drag Race will look like years from now is anybody’s guess, but here, today, it's a symbol of liberation and community. I sleep better knowing there are drag queens on Mechanic Street than I do knowing there are gunmen in the Wawa.

But you are wondering if I’m going to explain the pumpkins, right? I remember one year all the Drag Race participants had to carry pumpkins. I’m not sure why—I don’t know the rules. At times it’s not clear there are rules.

There used to be a weigh-in but I don’t know what happened to that. Or the birdcages. But you don’t need to know exactly what’s going on because when you see a couple of six-foot, dressed-tokill queens making a cop blush it’s clear who the winners are. n

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EXHIBITIONS I

Winter Show The ahlum Gallery 106 North 4th Street Easton Pa 18042 October 26–december 23 artist Reception: Saturday 10/28, 3-6pm.

Hours: Thurs–Sat 12–5; 5–10 every 4th Friday for Easton Out Loud

Nancy Allen, owner of the new Touchstone Gallery.

ahlum Gallery, is an award-winning fine art gallery owned and operated by denise Sandy, assisted by Terry Wolfson-Tighe, a fabric collage artist. Located in downtown Easton, Pa, only a short ride from Philadelphia and New york City.

Our winter show features wheel-thrown porcelain and stoneware ceramic works by Lehigh Valley's own Jeffrey Kleckner, whose work has been exhibited throughout the u.S. Jeffrey received his BFa degree from the Cleveland Institute of art and a MFa from So. Illinois university. He has taught ceramics at the appalachian Center for the Crafts (TN), the Baum School of art (Pa), and currently at Northampton Community College (Pa). Jeffrey has maintained a working studio in Bethlehem since 1988. ahlum Gallery is very proud to feature a collection of his work.

In addition to our featured artist, the fabric collage artwork of Terry Wolfson-Tighe and paintings by denise Sandy are on permanent exhibit in the gallery.

Yardley is Getting an Art Gallery!

Touchstone art Gallery 11 E afton ave, yardley Pa 215-595-2044 TouchstoneartGallery.com

Wheel-thrown porcelain/stoneware ceramic works by Jeffrey Kleckner

Whimsical sculptures in many sizes by Susanne Pitak Davis.

On November 11, 2017, at 11:30am, 11 E afton avenue will officially open its doors as the new Touchstone art Gallery in an official ribbon-cutting ceremony and full-day celebration. The gallery offers a wide range of genres to meet the demands of the many individual palettes and pocketbooks.

Original artwork by yvonne Reyes (Jewelry), Jeanne Chesterton (Oil Paintings) Nelly Kouzmina (Felting), dion Hitchings (Outsider art), Suzanne Pitak-davis (Whimsical Sculptures), Madonna davidoff (Batik), Connie dierks (Watercolor), Pat Proniewski (Oil Painting) and Touchstone art Gallery Owner, Nancy allen (Kiln-fired Glassworks) among other incredibly talented and creative artists.

“The gallery will introduce many new pieces of art throughout the year and is planning special events including “meet the artist” nights, “ said Nancy allen. “I’m excited to make these one-of-kind works of art available for our customers to explore, discover and own.”

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Mary Serfass, The Watchman, ink/ colored pencil

Denise Sandy, Early Snow, watercolor, 32” x 17.5”

Three Part Harmony The Snow Goose Gallery 470 Main St., Bethlehem, Pa thesnowgoosegallery.com November 12–december 23 Opening Reception: Sunday, November 12, 1–5 pm Tuesday- Saturday: 10–5, Sunday 11–4 Three artists present their works in a variety of media and subjects. In addition, all three have collaborated on a single piece, combining each one's unique style to create a smooth transition within the artwork.

Judy Lalingo's award-winning paintings explore the beauty of nature and its creatures. The Maryland artist is a signature member of the Society of animal artists (Saa) and the Miniature artists of america (Maa) Linda Rossin is a New Jersey resident whose fine art career spans nearly 30 years, during which time she has received hundreds of awards for both her large- and small-scale paintings. a signature member of the Society of animal artists and artist for Conservation, she has been recognized with Medals of Excellence from both groups—the highest accolade paid to an artist by these societies. Most notably known for her miniatures, Ms. Rossin is also a signature member of the Miniature artists of america.

Mary Serfass's fine art career spans close to 40 years. She had won many awards both for her larger and small-scale works. She has been working in miniature since 1985, and has garnered many awards in international miniature exhibitions around the globe. She is also a signature member of the Miniature artists of america.

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EXHIBITIONS II

Sterling Silver and Lampwork Glass Bracelet by Yvonne Reyes

Charles Santore, Alice’s Adventures Underground (detail).

8th Annual Fine Craft Show artists of yardley art Center 949 Mirror Lake Road, yardley, Pa Saturday and Sunday, November 18–19 10:00–5:00 artistsofyardley.org

Phillustration 9 The Philadelphia Sketch Club 235 South Camac Street, Philadelphia 215-545-9298 sketchclub.org Hours: Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun, 1–5 PM 11/10–11/25 Opening reception 11/17

Held in the charming and historic Janney House on Patterson Farm, this is an intimate exhibition of 19 local artisans who create jewelry, pottery, natural fiber wearable art, unique and repurposed eco-art, origami, decoupage, handmade greeting cards, painted and Pysanky ornaments, and more.

Shop handcrafted gifts and to meet the local makers who can tell the stories behind each special creation.

Enjoy the smell of freshly baked gingerbread houses and goodies, elegantly and artistically presented for our guests to eat while shopping and then take home for Thanksgiving dinner. There are raffles to win work from our craftsmen and a door prize to be awarded.

Botanical Printing on Silk Scarve by Nelly Kouzmina

Phillustration 9 is an open juried exhibition of contemporary illustration. along with work by professional illustrators from the Tri-State area, the 9th annual Phillustration exhibition will feature original work by renowned childrens book illustrator Charles Santore.

Mr. Santore recently illustrated a special 150th anniversary collector’s edition of the original Lewis Carroll manuscript, Alice’s Adventures Underground, published by Cider Mill Press. He will be present at the exhibition’s opening reception on 11/17 at the Sketch Club to sign copies of this or any other of his many children’s book you may bring.

Michelle Lockamy, Mushroom Fairies, digital.

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Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem PNC Plaza at SteelStacks 645 E. First St., Bethlehem, Pa 610-332-3378 christmascity.org/Christkindlmarkt Now in its 25th year, Christkindlmarkt is a one-ofa-kind holiday event that brings the spirit of Bethlehem, the Christmas City, alive with the season. Twice recognized as one of the top holiday markets in the nation by Travel + Leisure, this heart-warming holiday event features aisles of handmade works by more than 150 of the nation’s finest artisans —with thousands of unique gift ideas for family and friends—as well the delightful sounds of live Christmas music; an authentic German St. Nicholas; and awe-inspiring ice carving and glassblowing demonstrations, including the popular make your own glass ornament sessions.

The event is also home to Käthe Wohlfarht, renowned for its exquisite, handmade nutcrackers, incense smokers, pyramids, schwibbogens and wood, glass and pewter ornaments from Germany. Visit website for dates and hours.

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Chef Michael Solomonov.

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MADNESS, BADNESS & WHOLENESS

Brothers Eric and Mark at Charcoal, Yardley.

FOODIE FILE

A.d. AMorosi

WITH HaLLOWEEN JuST PaSSEd and The Walking Dead’s newest season in full swing, why wouldn’t you think to yourself “perhaps, a post-apocalyptic-themed restaurant—flaming trucks, tattered military gear, raw steak cooked on rocks and booze served in IV bags—is in order?” That’s what Fishtown’s Mad Rex offers up as a primal dining and virtual reality-driven entertainment enterprise in the Fillmore/Punchline complex.

Created and owned by Florida transplants Michael Johnigean and Pavel Rathousky (a one-time butcher in Prague), Mad Rex is an action horror cinematic escapade in league with the Terminator and Mad Max film franchises, filled as it is with menacing, reclaimed tchotchkes, and the feel of survivalist anticipation. There’s a flame-shooting, machine-gunrigged truck welcoming you to Mad Rex, as well as a smokepuffing airplane ripping through the ceiling, bejeweled gas masks, limp torsos dressed in futuristic military gear atop booths in the seating area, distressed oil drums and oxidized metal head gear strewn like death flotsam throughout the 230person space. Mad Rex executive chef Peter Rule (Brigantessa,

Artist Alloyius McIlwaine.

Fork) offers a full menu of cooked foods, pastas and vegetarian offerings, but the raw deal is the best deal: New york Strip, tuna steak or salmon thrown onto a black lava rock slab heated to 500 degrees that you grill and serve yourself. you can wash that down with theme cocktails such as a “Scorched Earth” at your table or in Mad Rex’s VR Lounge where simulations of crashing planes and underwater dives are lubricated with hooked up IV bags of liquor served by your own personal nurse.

Co-crafted by Philadelphia artist alloyius McIlwaine (he did murals for COda) and Brit theater designer Mark Cordory—with help in the lab tech costuming area from Philly’s delicious Corsets—Mad Rex is a dark, pro-active visual delight.

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theater VALLEY

CITY

The Drowsy Chaperone. This show-within-a-show is narrated by a shut-in Broadway addict who brings to life one of his favorite shows, a 1928 musical melodrama starring an oil tycoon, his Broadway bride, gangster backers and a chaperone who dispenses boozy advice. The 2006 Broadway production won five Tony awards and featured Georgia Engel, who played Ted Baxter’s girlfriend on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and who appeared in a new comedy at the defunct Pennsylvania Stage Company in allentown. (Nov. 2-5, Lafayette College)

Kinky Boots. The Tony award-winning musical found its way to the academy of Music last month. With music and lyrics by the legendary Cyndi Lauper, this story of a drag queen named Lola (Jos N Banks) who saves an old English shoe factory with her redesign of the ordinary boot into high camp fashion accessory with stiletto heels, was a lukewarm success. The impeccable, albeit mechanistic, singing and dancing scored high, but forget trying to follow what the people on stage were saying. The actors’ lines were recited too quickly and occasionally rendered incomprehensible, because talking fast with a thick English accent is a recipe for gibberish. Most of Lauper’s music also failed to catch fire, with the finale “Raise you up” the notable exception. Coming at the end of the show, “Raise you up” was too little too late as most of the music had a generic Broadway sound that made Kinky Boots sound like a million other Great White Way hits. The storyline is also somewhat dated: Lola, the heterosexual transvestite drag queen, asks the macho factory workers for acceptance and tolerance and in so doing she raises the question: what is a man? The message here is that a man is anything you want a man to be: a drag queen in flashy red sequined boots or an uptight heterosexual white man, like Charlie (Lance Bordelon), the factory owner’s son who has two women in love with him. Why all this seemed more powerfully relevant years ago probably has something to do with the speed at which cultural change travels.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. a pauper seeks the earldom of Highhurst by trying to rub out eight heirs, all of whom are played by one actor. Set in London in 1907, the publication year of its source, Roy Horniman’s novel Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal, the comedy ran on Broadway in 2013-16 and received four Tony awards, including the musical prize. (Nov. 5, Lehigh university) Stupid F*@# ing Bird. aaron Posner, a co-founder of the arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia, turns Chekhov’s The Seagull into a contemporary romantic round-robin for the comically misguided, including a playwright, a famous actress, a famous writer and a Goth gal who writes mournful tunes for the ukulele. (Nov. 10-12, 15-17, Lehigh university) Obsession. Jude Law plays a magnetic drifter who gets down and dirty with the abused co-owner of a roadside inn and later makes trouble with the woman’s husband after the latter gets drunk after singing in an opera contest. Telecast live from the Barbican Theatre in London, the drama is adapted from Luchino Visconti’s 1943 film Ossessione, which was adapted from James Cain’s hard-boiled novel The Postman Always Rings Twice. (Nov. 12, Lafayette College) The Homecoming. a North London room becomes a sexual sauna as a philosophy professor from america loses his wife, a former erotic model, to his crudely competitive male relatives, who propose to make her a partner in a prostitution business. The 1965 debut of Harold Pinter’s fiercely political, cryptically poetic play was directed by Sir Peter Hall, who died in September. (Nov. 16-19, Moravian College) subURbia. a tribe of high-school graduates, including an air Force dropout and a budding performance artist, waste their third decade in a 7-11 parking lot until they reunite with a high-profile grunge-rocker classmate. In 2000 Lafayette College hosted playwright Eric Bogosian’s solo show Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, in which he slammed sham gurus, disaster specialists and fame-seeking disdainers like himself.

(Nov. 17-21, Northampton Community College) Leaps of Faith & Other Mistakes. Last month I went to a play at Touchstone Theatre and a gymnastic ballet broke out. Or was it an avant-garde acrobatic Olympics?

Whatever it was, almanac dance Circus Theatre stretched the senses and split the seams with a remarkably kinetic, kinky tale of enthusiastic, clueless seafarers seeking “purity of purpose”—or porpoise. Four performer-writers—Nicole Burgio, Nick Gillette, Ben Grinberg and adam Kerbel—put on a dazzling display of contortions, perhaps setting a theatrical per-capita record for most major body parts worked over.

They enacted everything from a swinging totem to a walking stilt sandwich to a human weathervane. They balanced tea cups on the sides of twisted faces, embraced awkward acts, and engaged in creative gibberish patter, mashing together a parody of Star Trek and old Old Spice commercials. They were accompanied splendidly by Mel Hsu, who played jazzy classical cabaret sea shanties on cello and voice on a balcony, building an aural lighthouse. n — geoff gehMAn

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Cabaret. The arden production scored a hot ten on show tune technicality, dancing and onstage verve. and while the 1930s pre-WWII ambience of Berlin’s Kit Kat Club was ingeniously duplicated, the actual story of american writer Clifford Bradshaw (daniel Frederick) and Sally Bowles (Charissa Hogeland) was explored only superficially. Replete with libertine sexual decadence, drag, gender bending and erotic posturing, homosexuality is presented as a naughty nighttime indulgence, an affront to Isherwood’s take on the subject in his novella Goodbye to Berlin, the inspiration for the 1951 play I Am a Camera, which in turn was the inspiration for Bob Fosse’s 1972 film, Cabaret. arden director Matthew decker’s “contemporized” version is steeped in too many anti-Trump Nazi comparisons, which in the end detracts from the work’s aesthetic, especially when the essential part of Cabaret—Bradshaw falling in love with another man—is completely left out. While the Kit Kat Emcee (John Jarboe) is just as memorable and talented as Fosse’s Joel Grey, decker’s Bradshaw in act II leads audience members who are seeing Cabaret for the first time to believe that Sally Bowles had successfully changed a gay man into a straight man. There’s a good chance that Isherwood is rolling in his grave.

Ideation. Theatre Exile goes corporate Machiavellian in its production of aaron Loeb’s play which debuted in 2013 at the San Francisco Playhouse. directed by Joe Canuso and featuring d’arcy dersham, alex Hughes and allen Radway, Ideation has been called a “demonically dark comedy” about a bunch of well-dressed, lustfully ambitious management types who plot something terrible with their black markers and white boards at the office management meeting. What begins as a banal corporate meeting ends up being a terrifying session with a devastating conclusion, although it’s not war with North Korea. (Till November 5) The Color Purple. It’s no secret that the Forrest Theater seems to be closed more often than open, but when it’s open it’s always time to celebrate. From dec. 12 to 17 the spirit of Oprah Winfrey might be detectable in this 2016 Tony award-winner for Best Musical Revival. director John doyle promises an eclectic combination of jazz, gospel, ragtime and blues. Come find out why Winfrey once told Variety that the one thing she wanted more than anything in life was a part in the film adaptation of The Color Purple.

The Phantom of the Opera. With seven Tony awards in its supernatural pocket, can this production get any better? apparently so. The new gig at the academy of Music promises “a stronger presentation of the story and warmer orchestrations.” (November 1-12, 2017, Kimmel Center for the Performing arts) n

— thoM nickels

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the list 4 CHRYSTA BELL

Fans of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return at Showtime will recognize the distanced cool of Bell, her handsome visage, her lean profile. True Lynch fans will know Bell from her equally chilly, smoky musical collaborations with the director, as well as her other more outré cabaret favorites. (PhilaMOCA)

NOVEMBER 7 A PERFECT CIRCLE

Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan’s other solo act than Pucifer wth members of Queens of the Stone Age,

10 AN EVENING WITH KELLER WILLIAMS

Maybe acoustic guitarist and singer Keller Williams is as winsome and earnest as most singer songwriters

cUrAted by A.d. AMorosi

ture on Take Me Apart, her debut album And that’s going to make hers one of the year’s best records.

(CODA) 18 VERDI'S IL TROVATORE

Philly’s Academy of Vocal Arts look at the 15th Century war Aragon and Biscaya is some of Giuseppe V’s finest, most lustrous works. (Zoellner Arts Center)

4 TORI AMOS 24-25 CIRCA SURVIVE AND THRICE

Here for her Native Invader tour, Amos is the closest thing that America has to the art-rock crooning, complex-

DEVO, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails and Ashes Divide along for the bumpy ride. (BB&T Pavilion)

are these days, but he’s got an innate sense of swing to his sound and a kick in his step. (State Theatre) 12 POSTMODERN JUKEBOX

7 GRIZZLY BEAR

Talking Heads Lite. (The Fillmore) 9/10 NICK ZEDD

ly emotional and literarily wilding Kate Bush. Good for us. (Tower) 4 FLYING LOTUS IN 3D

The planet’s most recent follow up to Brian Eno’s ambient weirdness throne somehow SOMEHOW will perform this show in three dimensions. One dimension seems like three with him, so this should be a sonic and visual boom. (Electric Factory)

The godfather of lo-fi transgressive film and industrial punk rock has worked with Foetus and Lydia Lunch in his time, and rarely comes out of his NYC cave. (PhilaMOCA)

I’m not a fan of cover acts, but few others could put a strangely atmospheric spin on Radiohead AND Miley Cyrus and make them sound like the Roaring 20s, no the Swinging 60s, no, the Me 80s, as does Postmodern Jukebox. (Grand Opera House, Wilmington, DE)

Back to back nights of Philly’s sleekest sons of hardcore (Anthony Green and Co.) is worth missing holiday time with your family. (Electric Factory) 25 KAMASI WASHINGTON

The burly jazz saxophonist behind 2015’s The Epic (and Kendrick Lamar’s Post-Bop best) finds softer ways into

13 MACKLEMORE 9 JOHN MCLAUGHLIN

One of fusion jazz’s principle – and most spiritual – avatars, the guitarist

It is probably a big deal that the Great White Dope is playing solo and

your brain with his new Harmony of Difference. (Union Transfer) 25 THE WEAKLINGS

Glen Burtnik and his Beatles loving buddies just played as part of E Street drummer Ma Weinbetrg’s Jukebox Tour, so they’re armed for cover rocking bear. (Steelstacks)

4 NICK OFFERMAN: FULL BUSH

Having witnessed the comic actor singing dancing and telling lewd jokes and at his wife Megan Mulaly, this solo show with the Parks &

28 ST. VINCENT

promises that this will be his last round up. As the man who opened up the universe to Mahavishnu Orchestra and pused Miles and Carlos to their highest heights – that’s a shame. (Keswick Theater) Recreation/Fargo guy could be just about anything. (Kimmel Center) 5 ALTON BROWN LIVE: EAT YOUR SCIENCE TOUR

The king of the Food Network will do something tasty, witty and nerdy, but what? No, Seriously. (Kimmel Center)

9–15 & 22–26 CIRQUE DU SOLEIL'S VAREKAI

This is supposedly the last tour for “wherever” in the Romani language, and its program of acrobatics and funny costumes dedicated to the Greek myth of Icarus and its imaginary postscript. (Allentown then Philly)

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that his alone brand of hip hop is even tamer and bluer than his usual rap, That’s all. From this point it’s on you. (The Fillmore) 15 JOE BIDEN 30 HILLARY CLINTON

Depending on how you wish to look at these live events, you’re either getting a warm explanation of fact or a set of lousy excuses. (Academy of Music) 15 KELELA

Washington D.C.’s nu-soul singing daughter is spacy and without struc-

Anne Clarke, the woman behind St. Vincent and her latest album, Masseduction, looks to the ’80s, David Bowie, and deep-seated melody for what could be her best album yet.

Until the next one. (Electric Factory) 30 RICHARD THOMPSON

It’s a banner season for the British guitarist as he releases both the second volume of his stinging, six-stringing acoustic classics 2, as well as a box set (Come All Ye: The First 10 Years) of his first, best folk-rock ensemble Fairport Convention. (Colonial Theater) n

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pete croAtto

film

Terry Notary in The Square.

The Square EaRLy IN THE SQUARE, this year’s excellent Palm d’Or winner, the dashing curator of a modern museum in Stockholm (Claes Bang) is asked to explain an exhibit. He talks about how the exhibit explored what is and is not art. For example, a handbag is just a handbag. But if you put in a museum, it’s art. director-writer Ruben Östlund proceeds to spend almost two-and-a-half hours stripping artifice to reveal the truth. The lessons don’t apply to the art world, which is certainly a ripe, albeit obvious, topic. The more Christian, the curator, gradually strays from his world, the harder and further he tumbles. Östlund deals with a subset of society many of us know through society coverage, but the setting is a ruse. Most of us define ourselves through something else: work, family, the persona they cultivate on Facebook or Twitter. When those havens no longer exist, what remains? The possibilities are why The Square stayed with me. It’s a funky, meandering meditation on the self that features an ape working on a drawing pad and a surprising amount of house music. The film, almost against all logic, packs a wallop.

Christian is all image. When he’s announcing a new exhibit, he practices the impromptu ditching of his notes in the men’s room. after his wallet and phone

are stolen in a crowded square, Christian is more impressed by how those items were stolen than the actual theft. He even creates a small detail to enhance the story. Retrieving those items—he tracks his phone to an apartment complex and puts threatening notes in all the mail slots—reeks of performance. He laughs when composing his inflammatory letter, and dons his underling’s jacket, despite working under the cover of darkness. as the hallway lights flicker on automatically, Christian scurries away. He’s literally afraid of what he’ll see.

Someone responds to Christian’s letter, and it slowly wrecks his orchestrated world. For a man who’s promoting an exhibit called “The Square”—an experiment on equality and trust—Christian spends his time isolated from those ideals. (To wit, sharing “equal rights and obligations,” “The Square’s” central theme, is how society operates.) He works in a field where any action is acceptable. an exhibit that is piles of gravel is art until the cleaning crew gets clumsy, then Christian’s solution is cold in its practicality. during a conversation with a famous artist (dominic West), a Tourette’s-afflicted audience member keeps interrupting with profanity. His wife does not escort him out. The couple stays and the interjections provide a

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forum for discussion. The same applies at Christian’s own press conference. The questions—even from the press—turn into a debate over free speech. That the public is present gives the event the aura of enrichment-based endeavor. Even the american journalist (Elisabeth Moss) he sleeps with, then discards, can’t stay angry. She just finds Christian too fascinating. anyone can adopt a viewpoint that’s convenient— and avoid any reality. But as the aftermath of Christian’s letter unfurls, and he’s exposed to people outside his social caste, there’s no insulation from the consequences. He must deal with himself. There’s no tuxedoed chorus, no philosophical noodling from the opinionated fops. It’s fitting that the movie ends in silence.

We’ve grown accustomed to living in an endless openended debate, where no one capitulates. Every idea, no matter how preposterous, can be justified. Raise your hand if you imagined that in 2017 we’d be considering the merits of Nazis or behold men define what constitutes sexual harassment for women. The last scene of The Square forces Christian to live with his own truth. That it is easy to see ourselves in that same emotional crisis casts The Square as a hard, necessary movie for the most image-conscious of times—and ever after. [R] n

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MArk keresMAn

film

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N 1977 THERE WaS this movie thriller Capricorn One, in which the u.S. government fakes a space capsule landing on Mars. at the last minute the space jockeys learn the capsule’s life support system is seriously flawed and “they” figured the uSa couldn’t deal with another dOa (literally) space mission—ergo, a faked landing, astronauts held incommunicado, and Elliott Gould and Telly Savalas to the rescue. (also starring O.J. Simpson!)

WHaT IF… So there hangs our tale in this u.S./French/Belgian co-production. The Powers That Be (though not Powers Boothe, alas) decide if the first uSa moon landing is botched they must broadcast an “imitation” landing to the world to save face (and future funding). after the popularity of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey “they” decide there is but one man to which they must turn to make it fake-happen—its director Stanley Kubrick. Ron Perlman is Tom Kidman, a tightly-wound covert-ops-type with PTSd from his sojourn in Vietnam—he’s sent to England to contract Kubrick for the task. Through a comedy of errors, he encounters what he thinks is a go-between, Jonny (Rupert Grint, the Harry Potter movies), a hapless manager of a rock band. For Jonny this is The Chance of a Life-

Moonwalkers time—he can finance his band’s success and pay off the mobster whom he owes. Naturally, but a bit too late, Kidman learns of the deception. In fear for his life, Jonny figures to make the fake landing footage anyway, calling upon a vaguely Warhol-like British director to get the deed done. Needless to say, LOTS of stuff goes very, very wrong.

This is something of a hybrid film—imagine a collaboration between Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, and Jay Roach (austin Powers). There’s plenty of awcome-on silliness, abrupt gory violence, a virtual absence of any likeable characters, and the kind of comedy that comes from the clash of extreme contraries, namely the american stoicism and brutal efficiency of Kidman, the icy, amoral violence of British gangland stories, stoner humor, and the utter flakiness of the psychedelic scene of Swinging Sixties London. This is both funny/good and less-than-funny/good—many of the characters are stereotypes. does the Brit director of the moon landing hoax-film have to be such a hunk of flouncy decadence and rabid cloddishness? do all the female characters (one, really, and some naked extras) have to be simply let’s-get-high eye candy? do armed guards always open doors without asking, “Who is there?” (WTF?) Subtlety does not seem to be high

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on director/writer antoine Bardou-Jacquet’s list of priorities. But then again, Moonwalkers is his feature film debut.

On the plus side, pacing is very good, there are no lulls here. There is a workable balance between Cheech & Chong-like dope-y (literally) laughs, Modish ‘60s cool, and ultra-violence, not to mention more than a few references to Kubrick’s films. In fact, there is an american general character that’s a ringer for General Jack d. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) from Dr. Strangelove and the character Kidman = Tom (Cruise) + (Nicole) Kidman. The acting is very good—Perlman is a pleasure as usual, and he should definitely do more comedy, as he is the semi-straight-man (comedy-wise) here. He’s the tough guy who learns a lesson or two despite himself. Grint is excellent in the almost Jerry Lewis-like role of a hard-luck someone yearning to be successful and taken seriously, but failing uproariously on a constant basis. Robert Sheehan is excellent as Jonny’s stoner pal—so on-the-money that you want to punch him in the mouth whilst still having (some) affection for him.

While this has a slow start and some of the humor is a rather obvious, Moonwalkers is a fun movie deserving of a bigger audience. n

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KEITH UHLICH

film roundup

Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos).

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Barry Keoghan.

The distinctively deadpan touch that Greek writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos brought to films like Dogtooth and The Lobster has hardened into shtick. His latest is an antiseptic black comedy in which a wealthy surgeon, Dr. Steven Murphy, (Colin Farrell) his wife (Nicole Kidman) and two children are forced to make amends to a lowerclass teenage boy (Barry Keoghan) whose father was killed under Murphy’s knife. Simple acts of kindness aren’t enough to satiate the boy’s bloodlust—he demands a literal sacrifice, and the film does indeed have the air of a biblical parable transposed to modern times. Would that all the Old Testament handwringing and eventual bloodletting felt in any way transgressive. As is, it’s more karaoke Kubrick, right down to the icy Steadicam shots prowling the halls of the hospital where Dr. Murphy works. A sole bit of casting genius: ’90s idol Alicia Silverstone, making the most of her one scene as the teenage terror’s mother, who’s a bit too hot for doctor. [R] HH Lady Bird (Dir. Greta Gerwig). Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges. For her solo debut (she previously helmed 2008’s Nights and Weekends with Joe Swanberg), actress-turned-writer/director Greta Gerwig offers a consistently hilarious and extremely poignant fictionalized account of her senior year in Sacramento, California. Saoirse Ronan plays the tart-

tongued Gerwig stand-in, Christine ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson, who navigates her tumultuous final year at Catholic high school with a defiant strut and a near-blasphemous quip for every overdramatic situation. All manner of films have done this sort of coming-of-age bildungsroman, but there’s a specificity to each scene here (especially as regards the school’s Sondheim-centric theater club) that aches with real lived experience. It helps that Gerwig has assembled a tremendous cast to help her realize this very personal vision, most notably Laurie Metcalf as Christine’s mother, Marion, who acts as an often castigating, but still ever-loving sparring partner for Lady Bird. [N/R] HHHH Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Dir. Martin McDonagh). Starring: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell. Leave it to bad boy British playwright-turned-filmmaker Martin McDonagh (Seven Psychopaths) to find the humor inherent in a twisted fable of rape and murder. A superb Frances McDormand stars as a Midwest woman, Mildred Hayes, still reeling from the violent death of her daughter by an unknown assailant.

Convinced that the local police chief (Woody Harrelson) and his underlings (led by a gut-bustingly abrasive Sam Rockwell) haven’t done all they can, Mildred rents the eponymous trio of billboards to spotlight their ineptitude.

Fueled by Mildred’s righteous rage, the town starts coming apart. Drunken accusations fly, bones are broken, fires

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are set—it’s a collective grieving process visualized as a series of yelps and howls from the void. And no matter how dark things get, the tone remains side-splittingly funny, perhaps because McDonagh, in his own inimitable way, recognizes how truly, profoundly complementary comedy and tragedy can be. [R] HHHH Wonderstruck (Dir. Todd Haynes). Starring: Oakes Fegley, Millicent Simmonds, Julianne Moore. As Martin Scorsese did with 2011’s Hugo, director Todd Haynes (Carol) takes a cinema-centric YA text by Brian Selznick and turns it into something uniquely (not to say successfully) his own. The story toggles between two eras—Manhattan in the 1920s and 1970s—and follows two hearingimpaired children, Rose (Millicent Simmonds) and Ben (Oakes Fegley), on separate big city quests that eventually intersect. It’s a tour-de-force for cinematographer Ed Lachman, who shoots the 1920s section in black-andwhite and mimics silent-film vernacular throughout. The 1970s section, meanwhile, has the sun-dappled grittiness (as visualized through a child’s eyes) of some of the movie classics of that era. Haynes also has plenty of fun with costar Julianne Moore, who plays two roles here—one of them, in the most inspired stroke, a Lillian Gish-esque film star. Yet there’s a curdled sentimentality in how the tale plays out that Haynes seems ill-equipped to handle.

The emotions never convincingly emerge from all the expert technique. [PG] HH1/2 n

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Photo: Laurence Harvey

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A. d. AMorosi

INTErview

Mystery Train[ee] Joe Bonamassa is the most popular guitarist you’ve never heard of

WHEN BLuES GuITaRIST JOE Bonamassa hits the academy of Music on November 18 in a concert for which tickets are all but gone, it will be another feather in the cap of an Italian kid who started aping Stevie Ray Vaughn licks at age four, opened for B.B. King at 8, and at 12 was playing nightly blues gigs in upstate New york. He’s topped blues charts since his solo debut, 2000’s A New Day Yesterday (including his newest studio album Blues of Desperation of 2016), sells out bigger and bigger

I LIKE THE HEAVIER SIDE OF FOLK MUSIC. I NEVER GOT INTO THE RHETORICAL QUESTION CROWD—HOW MANY LAMPS DOES IT TAKE TO LIGHT THIS ROOM? THAT KIND OF BULLSHIT. I JUST NEVER GOT INTO IT. I LOVE THE PETE SEEGER STUFF—THOSE WERE AS MUCH AMERICAN STANDARDS AS LOUIS ARMSTRONG.

gigs at larger and larger venues—on his own and under his own label banner, with his post-jazz ensemble Rock Candy Funk Party (who just released its new album The Groove Cubed) and his rave-up metal outfit with drummer Jason Bonham and Glenn Hughes, Black Country Communion (whose new BCCIV came out in September). yet, he’s not the household name that his heroes in British blues rock (Clapton, Beck, Rory Gallagher, Paul Kossoff, Peter Green) were with their (and his) thick rhythmic licks and raging leads. He will be. With a dense, clear sound and throaty, open singing voice like a young Boz Scaggs, Bonamassa has it. We spoke just minutes before he hit the stage in Pasedena near Halloween.

I believe that you and I have this whole Italian American heritage thing…. I know that your dad was and is a music fan who dabbled in the business.

Where did your mom stand on the idea of a son going into the arts?

Both of my parents have been very supportive.

They always have. I would be lying if I said that they weren’t ever concerned about my future, and any ability to make a living. But I’m 30 years in, and think that I’ve done OK. As a student of music—the blues in particular so early on—were you a decent student with everything else beyond playing and singing. Did you eschew your other studies to focus on your guitar?

I knew what I wanted to do for a living early on, you know? I was decent in school, but it was always a means to an end. I knew that I was never going to use Pythagorean Theorem ever in my life [laughs].

The table of elements was just a bunch of metals, alloys and stuff that went into guitar strings. all roads lead to me doing music solely and soundly for a living.

I ask about all this school stuff because you handle most of your own business of releasing albums and DVDs, as well as booking gigs. Does any of your additional learning have anything to do with being a good businessman?

I had to be a good businessman. The thing is, people always seem to forget about the second word in the phrase “music business” is business. It’s great to have all the grand ideas of doing this and bringing that, but how do you pay for it all? How do you generate income when, and in a period of time that music has been relegated to…free. If you give it away once, they never come back to pay; it’s the ultimate free sample. Give someone a sample of Eggo Waffles and they’ll always expect it gratis for life.

Eggo, eh? You guys are starting to learn that more and more, the freebie thing, so increasingly monetizing what you can as much as you can is crucial. The idea of a young boy playing the blues— you’re nearly an anomaly, save for the likes of Kenny Wayne Shepherd. I can’t help but wonder—beyond the brotherhood of the blues—is there something among you guys, those who dedicated themselves to such a focused art form so early on?

Let’s just define the first half of that question: Kenny and I came up at the same time; he was very successful in the ’90s and early 2000s and so was

Johnny Lang. They’re both successful and still maintain busy careers some 20 years later. I think Kenny turned 40 this year; I turned 40 this year. I think Lang is in his late ’30s, so you realize that we both have outlived Jimi Hendrix in years, by 13. We outlived Stevie Ray Vaughn by five years. It’s not a question of being a young man anymore—it’s a question of whether you can carve out a career together, and find some longevity in a business that’s not designed for that. That said, there’s a kindred spirit. The thing about this music, though, is that there’s room for everybody. It’s the things that you do to differentiate yourself from the next guy, from everybody else, that makes the difference. you don’t want to be the same player or personality.

You guys couldn’t be more different. You pluck from the British blues movement of the ’60s and keep it thick, where Kenny seem more tethered to the American side with both of you meeting occasionally in the middle on the big rock metal tip.

There are a lot of times that an upcoming artist will chose to do the same thing as another contemporary artist. The reason why you get Gary Clark Jr. and such is because everyone has their own avenue, and everyone has forged their own road. It’s important for younger artists to know that for there to be longevity you have to concentrate on having your own vibe.

More of an observation, as you mentioned Clark Jr.; there are newer American blues players by the score. You’ve long been an advocate and lover of British blues, but you don’t hear so much about younger Brit blues kids—too few young ’uns coming up, grabbing a guitar and doing the blues. Why not?

I know there’s a scene there. yeah, there is quite a scene over there, in Europe, in Scandinavia, with younger cats going at it.

One cat that comes to mind is Matt Scofield, a British guy. If there’s a movement over there, it’s because of the Internet where it’s global before it’s global if you know what I mean. When I was there

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GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITION AND EXHIBIT

CHRISTMAS PUTZ AND STAR & CANDLE SHOPPE

Nov. 17 - Dec. 23. ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. christmascity.org. 610-332-3378

Nov. 24 - Dec. 31. Christian Education Building, 40 W. Church Street, Bethlehem. FREE. centralmoravianchurch.org. 610-866-5661

HOLIDAY PUTZ TRAIL

HOLIDAY WASSAIL TREE LIGHTING OPEN HOUSE

Nov. 17 - Jan. 7. Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, 66 W. Church Street. Journey along the Holiday Putz Trail and discover this Moravian Christmas tradition. HistoricBethlehem.org. 800-360-8687

Nov. 25, 5 - 7 p.m. Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, 427 N. New Street. FREE. Suggested donation of $3. HistoricBethlehem.org. 800360-8687

TREES OF HISTORIC BETHLEHEM

CINDERELLA’S CHRISTMAS

Nov. 17 - Jan. 14. Trees inspired by different countries’ traditions at six of our historic sites. HistoricBethlehem.org. 800-360-8687

Nov. 25, 2 p.m. Miller Symphony, 23 N. 6th St., Allentown. MillerSymphonyHall.org. 610-432-6715

CHRISTKINDLMARKT AT STEELSTACKS

SOUTH BETHLEHEM HISTORICAL SOCIETY: ETHNIC TREES

Nov. 17-Dec. 23. PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 E. First Street, Bethlehem. Twice recognized as one of the best holiday markets in the U.S.

by Travel + Leisure. christmascity.org. 610-332-3378

CHRISTMAS CITY STROLL Nov. 20 - Jan. 7. Christmas City, USA walking tour of our National Historic Landmark District. HistoricBethlehem.org. 800-360-8687

1810 GOUNDIE HOUSE Nov. 20 - Jan. 14. See website for days and times. Each tree is decorated by volunteers from the Bethlehem Garden Club. 501 Main Street, BethlehemHistoricBethlehem.org. 800-360-8687

MORAVIAN MUSEUM OF BETHLEHEM - 1741 GEMEINHAUS Nov. 20 - Jan. 14. 66 W. Church Street, Bethlehem. A National Historic Landmark and the oldest standing building in Bethlehem. HistoricBethlehem.org. 800-360-8687

Begins Nov. 26. FREE. nmih.org. 610-694-6644

WHITE CHRISTMAS Nov. 30 & Dec. 1- 2, 12:30 p.m. ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. steelstacks.org. 610-332-3378

CHRISTMAS CITY FOLLIES XVIII Nov. 30 - Dec. 22. Touchstone Theatre. 321 East Fourth Street, Bethlehem. Celebrate the holiday season with giddiness, poignancy, pop culture and joy for all. touchstone.org. 610-867-1689

TWELVE TWENTY FOUR, A HOLIDAY ROCK ORCHESTRA Dec. 1 & Dec. 2, 8 p.m. Mauch Chunk Opera House, 14 W. Broadway, Jim Thorpe. Mcohjt.com. 570-325-0249

THE CHRISTMAS CITY TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY

EDGEBORO MORAVIAN CHURCH CHRISTMAS PUTZ AND CHRISTMAS SHOP

November 24, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. Payrow Plaza, 10 E. Church Street, Bethlehem. lehighvalleychamber.org. 610-739-1510

Dec. 1 - Dec. 22. Edgeboro Moravian Church, 645 Hamilton Ave., Bethlehem. FREE. edgeboromoravian.org. 610-866-8793

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CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND, HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR Dec. 2 & Dec. 3. State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton. See website for times. Statetheatre.org. 610-252-3132, 800-999-STATE

ARTISTIC GINGERBREAD HOUSES Dec. 9, 10 a.m -12 p.m. Presented by ArtsQuest, Bethlehem. bananafactory.org. 610-332-1300

LUMINARIA NIGHT 52ND ANNUAL COMMUNITY ADVENT BREAKFAST Dec. 2, 8:30 a.m. Moravian Village, 526 Wood Street, Bethlehem. A non-denominational Bethlehem tradition. lehighvalleychamber.org. 484-280-3024

A MUSICAL CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA Dec. 2, 1:30 p.m. Central Moravian Church, Sanctuary, 406 Main Street, Bethlehem. centralmoravianchurch.org. 610-866-5661

BREAKFAST WITH ST. NICHOLAS Dec. 2, 9 & 16, 9 a.m. PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 E. First Street, Bethlehem. christmascity.org. 610-332-3378

ADVENT LOVEFEAST Dec. 3, 11 a.m. Central Moravian Church, Sanctuary, 406 Main Street, Bethlehem. FREE. centralmoravianchurch.org. 610-866-5661

EAST HILLS MORAVIAN CHURCH CHRISTMAS PUTZ Dec. 3 - 30. East Hills Moravian Church, 1830 Butztown Rd., Bethlehem. FREE; donations accepted. easthillsmc.org. 610-868-6481

GERMAN AND ENGLISH ADVENT SINGSTUNDE IN THE CHAPEL Dec. 5, 7 p.m. Central Moravian Church, 412 Heckewelder Place, Bethlehem. FREE. centralmoravianchurch.org. 610-866-5661

Dec. 9, Begins at SundownPresented by New Bethany Ministries. Citywide. newbethanyministries.org. 610-691-5602

FELTED WOOL SCARVES WORKSHOP WITH KIM TANZOS Dec. 10, 1 - 5 p.m. Banana Factory Arts Center, 25 W. Third St., Suite 300, Bethlehem. One-day workshop. bananafactory.org. 610-332-1300

THE FRANK DIBUSSOLO PHILLY REUNION GROUP Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m. Miller Symphony, 23 N. 6th St., Allentown, PA. MillersymphonyHall.org. 610-432-6715

FUSED GLASS HOLIDAY ORNAMENT WORKSHOP WITH REBECCA SHOEMAKER Dec. 16, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Banana Factory Arts Center, 25 W. Third Street Suite 300, Bethlehem. bananafactory.org. 610-332-1300

THE RODNEY MARSALIS PHILADELPHIA BIG BRASS: HOLIDAY BRASS Dec. 17, 7 p.m. Miller Symphony, 23 N. 6th St., Allentown. MillerySymphonyHall.org. 610-432-6715

TWELVE TWENTY FOUR, A HOLIDAY ROCK ORCHESTRA Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m. Musikfest Café, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.

Steelstacks.org. 610-332-1300

THE BISHOP'S WIFE

THE NUTCRACKER,

Dec. 7 - 9, 12:30 p.m. Presented by ArtsQuest. steelstacks.org.

610-332-3378

Dec. 16 & 17. Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley. Zoellner Arts Center, Baker Hall, Lehigh University, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem. Zoellnerartscenter.org 610-758-2787.

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DVDS REVIEWED BY GEORGE OXFORD MILLER

reel news

Daniel Craig and Dwight Yoakum in Logan Lucky.

Wind River (2017) HHHHH Cast: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Graham Greene Genre: Mystery, Drama Rating R. Running time 107 minutes.

The opening scenes of this story are as metaphorical as they are prophetic. A frantic woman races barefooted across a snow-covered meadow. Next, a wolf feeding on a slaughtered lamb drops when a shot rings across the remote valley. The hunter, Cory Lambert (Renner), a U.S. Game and Fish warden tasked with predator control on the Wind River Indian Reservation, rises silently, purposefully from the snow. When Lambert discovers the frozen body of the murdered woman, we intuitively understand that the woman’s predator will himself become the hunted prey. FBI agent Jane Banner (Olsen) leads the investigation as ill-prepared for the hard realities of life on the reservation as her windbreaker is for the sub-zero temperatures. She solicits help from Lambert to negotiate the hardships of the reservation and surrounding wilderness. With back stories that root the characters in the tragedy, Renner and Olsen team up with performances as powerful as the Wyoming winter.

The Hero (2017) HHHH

Cast: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter Genre: Drama Rated R. Running time 93 minutes.

In The Hero, Sam Elliot primarily plays himself, but as a fictional, faded movie star near the bottom of the downhill slope called life. The 71-yearold Lee Handen, revered for his western movies, mustache, and masculine bar room voice, is reduced to voiceover barbecue commercials. Smoking weed is Lee’s primary activity as he coasts toward the vast unknown. But when the unknown suddenly becomes known—he gets a cancer diagnosis— Lee realizes his legacy comes up short of his life expectations. The high-octane fuel needed to restart his ambitions turns out not to be weed, but love.

Charlotte (Prepon), a beautiful, young comedian, happens to have a thing for older men. Sure, the fantasy affair and geriatric rejuvenation sound cliché, but Elliot’s nuanced portrayal sidesteps the ordinary and spotlights the feelings and fears that make us all human, regardless of age. The role, written especially for Elliot, showcases his legendary star power on all levels.

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Lost in Paris (2017) HHHH Cast: Fiona Gordon, Dominique Abel, Emmanuelle Riva Genre: Comedy Unrated.

Running time 123 minutes.

In French and English with English subtitles This slapstick farce opens doors Hollywood dares not enter. With unabashed enthusiasm, Lost beguiles us with sight gags, comic mishaps, absurd coincidences, and daffy personalities.

Fiona (Gordon), a librarian in a snowbound village in remote Canada, receives a frantic letter from her kooky Aunt Martha (Riva) in Paris, begging for help. Seems she’s about to be carted off to a nursing home. Fiona stuffs a Canadian flag in her backpack and books the next flight. The escapade begins when she falls into the Seine and loses her pack, including her passport and money, then falls in love with a hobo, Dom (Abel), who recovers it. The husband-and-wife team Gordon and Abel, former circus performers, remain true to the classic French tradition of physical-comedy and give us a lighthearted romp filled with smiles and belly laughs, and heartwarming, life-affirming emotions.

Logan Lucky (2017) HHHH

Cast: Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Riley Keough Genres Comedy, Crime Director Steven Soderbergh Rated PG-13.

Running time 119 minutes.

With credits like “Introducing Daniel Craig,” “Nobody was robbed during the making of this film,” and even the ironic title itself, you know director Steven Soderberg is out to have fun.

While a washed-up West Virginia coal miner Jimmy Logan (Tatum) is working at North Carolina’s Charlotte Motor Speedway, he sees mountains of cash siphoning from the fans’ wallets to a below-ground safe. One thing miners know how to do is dig tunnels. A plan is born. The hillbilly Robin Hood needs a crew so he rounds up his one-armed brother Clyde (Driver) and fireball sister Mellie (Keough). Joe Bang (Craig), the safecracker he needs, is in jail, but no problem, just bust him out for the job, then sneak him back to his cell. And so it goes, one improbable bad idea after another. Scripted and filmed with his Oceans Eleven template, Soderbergh combines odd-ball characters and harebrained ideas to turn the common heist movie into a work of surrealistic art. n

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Like Crazy (Italy, 2016) WHILE SOME PEOPLE CaN find or draw forth humor from almost any situation, mental illness—like any other serious illness—is no laughing matter. But it’s fair game like anything else. If Roberto Beginini can make a concentration camp “poignant” and look almost bearable in Life is Beautiful then we can have a laugh at the mentally ill, right? yes and no. One of the good things about the Italian import Like Crazy is it doesn’t go for cheap laughs from their conditions/at the main character’s expense(s) while showing their occasionally humorous, occasionally harrowing misadventures. The setting: a minimum security institution in Tuscany, wherein two residents have very different difficulties. Beatrice (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) is what Jasmine from Blue Jasmine might’ve become if there was a sequel—she’s self-centered, aristocratic, and lost while trying to act as if she’s on top of things. While the film is a little vague as to why she’s there, she was involved with a gangster (it’s implied he’s a pimp) and she stalked a judge. donatella (Micaela Ramazzotti, who somewhat resembles Hilary Swank here) is a tattooed punk gal that tried to kill herself and her infant son. One sunny afternoon they de28 n I C O N n N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 n W W W . I C O N D V . C O M n W W W . f a C E B O O k . C O M / I C O N D V

cide to take their leave and revisit (in a manner of speaking) their lives before being reinstitutionalized.

Where donatella is sullen and withdrawn, Beatrice is effusive and magnetic, so they “get by” (i.e., getting rides from strangers) on their on-the-road jaunt. Their travels, adventures, and interactions range from exhilarating to pathetic. This is a slice-of-life movie with overtones of Thelma & Louise—one scene is something of a homage. Like that film, the two heroines seek to redefine themselves (but as some moviegoers know, you can’t run very far from yourself). as with T&L, we get to see some lovely scenery— unlike that film, there is no closure (not a deal-breaker, really). director/writer Paolo Virzi manages to screw things up slightly with two unlikely happenstances [SLIGHT SPOILERS]—it’s not likely that someone self-absorbed as Beatrice would go so much out of her way to aid donatella the way she did, and how “coincidental” for the latter to happen upon the very beach where her child’s adoptive family is visiting. yet this writer gives this a qualified “recommended” for some vivid acting and fine cinematography. n

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Human Flow FOR THIS WRITER, ONE of the most memorable scenes in the movie Wonder Woman was when demigoddess diana Prince, on her covert mission to stop the warbringer, sees the flow of people fleeing the chaos that was World War I—she bears witness to their misery (especially as it happened to children) and she’s helpless to stop it.

Imagine a whole movie of scenes like that.

Filmmaker ai Welwei has shot scenes of displaced peoples, commonly referred to as refugees, in over 20 countries—scenes of people fleeing situations ranging from crummy to horrific, carrying what possessions they can, sailing and walking from one nation to another; people breaking camp in clearings that serve as gigantic outdoor waiting areas, frequently devoid of basic amenities such as running water, electricity, bathrooms and bathing facilities, interviews with some of the individuals caught up in the above, and interviews with people trying to help the displaced.

Why are these people displaced? The usual reasons—fleeing wars (both civil and international); fleeing oppression and religious persecution (both officially sanctioned by governments and not); ethnic cleansing (that dandy euphemism for mass 30 n I C O N n N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 n W W W . I C O N D V . C O M n W W W . f a C E B O O k . C O M / I C O N D V

(2017)

murder); drought; and plain old poverty.

Where do they go?

Wherever they think life might be better or merely welcoming—Germany, Greece, France, Turkey, the uSa, the uK, Macedonia, etc.—but such ports of refuge are getting harder to secure for all-too-obvious reasons. (In case you’ve been living in a bunker for the past seven years, those include economics, socio-political issues, strains on resources, and fears of terrorism.)

How does this movie convey this? all too well. Weiwei shows close-up what these people go through just to survive, to live, daily. Fortunately, there are scenes of people striving to adapt to their situations—cooking, playing games, sports, and music, comforting each other. But there are way too many panoramic aerial shots of beautiful scenery contrasted with human misery-in-motion. I get it, beauty and sorrow side-byside via dazzling cinematography. Further, at 140 minutes, the film is simply a little too long—the cumulative effect is (unless you are made of stone or an ayn Rand-roid) is a bit overwhelming. But Human Flow is an important documentary, one that puts a human face on a terrible problem facing this world. (Not rated.) n

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23 | JOE BONAMASSA

15 years ago for the first time, there was already a following there to see me. at first, I didn’t know how they knew my albums. They found them through primitive Internet shit. That’s the beauty of the Internet. The not-so-beautiful element of the Internet is how everyone has an opinion ,and they pride themselves on how reckless and mean they can get. It’s a free for all and then the ensuing pile on.

Ultimately, you don’t sound too keen on the whole Internet and all of its opinion.

Are you a political junkie?

I’m not a political junkie. I am, however, a news junkie. and I do find one of the most toxic pools that you can ever wade into is the one of political debate. I stay as far away from here to Pluto when it comes to talking about politics.

Where do you stand on folk music? Even at your most cunningly and blistering electric and bluesy, your fingering belies that folk feeling.

I love Ry Cooder, though he isn’t conventionally folk. I like the heavier side of folk music. I never got into the rhetorical question crowd—how many lamps does it take to light this room? That kind of bullshit. I just never got into it. I love the Pete Seeger stuff—those were as much of american standards as Louis armstrong. But the folk blues movement—Fred Mcdowell and Blind Lemon Jefferson? yes. They had very cool percussive ways of playing. Necessity being the mother of invention, they didn’t have a drummer, so they played drums with their guitar. That style was born because

joe Bonamassa with his colletion of guitars and amps.

they were train-hopping from town to town eking out a living and doing their best to entertain. That necessity created a sound.

Looking at newer compositions of yours such as "How Deep This River Runs,” "Livin' Easy” or "What I've Known for a Very Long Time," how do you write original blues songs on a regular basis? How do you pull from and go beyond tradition?

None of it is Immaculate Conception. Nothing comes out of the sky. If I need a Robert Johnson-ish vibe, but want to mess it up, I will. I have to. I’m not the type of guy who wants to make something that sounds purist, as if it was recorded in 1929. I’m not interested in that. you go down that rabbit hole and after a while, you should just put a Robert Johnson record on—you’re not pushing it any further. I have to push it further every time I do it, or else why bother? n 32 n I C O N n N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 n W W W . I C O N D V . C O M n W W W . f a C E B O O k . C O M / I C O N D V

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10 | MADNESS, BADNESS, WHOLENESS & MORE

“I've built up a substantial resume as an international street artist what with 65plus murals worldwide, along with 47 murals in Philly,” says Mcilwaine. “One of my murals even made it into the official street art guide to Paris. I'm also a huge comic book fan, and my favorite stories are set in post-apocalyptic landscapes. The parties at Mad Rex were familiar with my work and my versatility.” along with crediting the owners for some of the ideas (warrior women on the side of airplanes) Mcilwaine wanted to add some color and energy into the otherwise dark-themed post-apocalyptic landscape. “I had to create something that was bright and fun, but that still had that end of the world feel to it… messy parts to give Mad Rex its edge.”

We don’t know fully how the amazon takeover of the Whole Foods chain has affected its overall tastes or vibe (even though some of its prices are cheaper). yet, what can be said about the already famous new art Museum Whole Foods on Pennsylvania avenue, is that it’s got this city’s coolest restaurant row since East Passyunk came into formation—a lineup including Severino Cucina Rustica featuring handmade pastas and Italian sandwiches. Recently, several of its early adopters have said goodbye to the Whole Foods block, leaving open spaces to those smart enough to get in on the amazon-Whole Foods train.

That said, as of November, that culinary block’s newest additions were all from the CookNSolo (that’s Steve COOK and Michael SOLOmonov) stable of restaurants such as a new dizengoff “hummusiya,” a Goldie falafel shop (also selling tehina milkshakes), and the pair’s seventh Federal donuts location, the latter of which still holds it position, locally, as the best spot for fried chicken and fresh, hand-made doughnuts.

Hang on a second though with those doughnuts.

Pretty Bird Coffee Roasters on Main Street in yardley is coming up strong on the superior doughnut yardstick. This new coffee shop and bakery from the neighboring Vault Brewing Company benVault Brewing Company in Yardley. efits—first-andforemost—from roasting its own top-tier beans and acting as the king of the single-origin pour-overs.

But anyone lucky enough to spend the morning in yardley gets a doughnut yield that’s worthy of immense praise with flavors such as strawberry sugar and caramel-drizzled turtle-flavored.

Let’s stick with yardley for a moment, shall we? If you’re doing a daytime thing beyond baked goods (and they have a hot, sugar rolled brioche doughnut that is out of this world), Eric and Mark anton’s Charcoal ByOB on delaware avenue is top notch. Stick around though for the nighttime feeding and you’ll find out why: from its Mexican flavored twist on the old Polish favorite, Potato Pierogies (here with grilled corn, Chorizo sausage and cherry pepper) to its dense, delicious Sourdough Bucatini, to its tangy Griggstown Farm yardley Hot (fried) Chicken with cayenne caramel and bread & butter pickles, to its heartiest dessert of Polenta Budino with chocolate mousse, walnuts and smoked salt—yup, Charcoal ByOB, day and night, is worth a sleepover. n

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music SINGER / SONGWRITER James Armstrong HHH1/2 Blues Been Good to Me Catfood Records Something old/ Something new/ Something borrowed/Something blue is a prescription for a successful wedding day. It also serves as the formula for Blues Been Good to Me, the new album from blues guitarist/singer James armstrong that’s a cohesive mix of styles and songs. armstrong reworks Robert Palmer’s 1985 hit “addicted to Love” into a soulful groove that steers it away from the incessant rhythm of the original. armstrong puts his own stamp on “How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by you,” aiming for the middle ground between the hit versions by Marvin Gaye and James Taylor. drummer andrew Thomas adds a propulsive rhythm to armstrong’s rendition. On the seven songs he wrote or co-wrote, armstrong explores love and its ramifications.

With an introduction that recalls “Secret agent Man,” he looks at romance on the rebound with “Second Time around,” which features some lively guitar work. “Old Man in the Morning (young Man at Night)” is a humorous exploration of love and the aging process. He also revisits “Sleeping With a Stranger” from his 1995 album. It’s a song that recalls Robert Cray with its tale of romantic disillusion. The blues serve as the bedrock of the album’s music. “Blues Been Good to Me” is a grateful acknowledgment for being able to make a living as a musician, while “Change in the Weather” comes off as an effective jazz/blues hybrid that serves as an emotional weather report.

(10 songs, 38 minutes) Lynn Drury HHH1/2 Rise of the Fall CSB Roxy Music Rise of the Fall, the first nationally released album by Lynn drury, weaves strands of americana music over the course of the Cd to effectively create a sonic diversity and a Whitman’s Sampler of songs That’s evident from the start of the album. The philosophical “Lifetime of Living” features organ, vio-

lin and cello. “It’s a lifetime of living/don’t you forget it/don’t you regret it,” drury sings in a voice that recalls Iris deMent in its forthrightness. drury, who grew up in Mississippi and now lives in New Orleans, draws inspiration from the South. “Freedom Tree” is a stark blues that’s well suited for her expressive voice, while “I Need you” features a sultry vocal with echoes of Lucinda Williams paired with a rhythmand-blues backing that is a classic New Orleans sound. She shows her country side on the title track and “What Good is the Rain” in which she declares: “I want to wrap my head around something that won’t let me down.” Rise of the Fall shows a talent that’s on the ascent. (12 songs, 54 minutes) The Golliwogs HHH Fight Fire: The Complete Recordings 1964-1967 Craft Recordings Before Creedence Clearwater Revival became one of the top bands in the world in 1970, the group’s four members—John and Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook, and doug Clifford—served a musical apprenticeship in the Golliwogs. Fight Fire traces the group’s musical evolution through a series of singles. Tom Fogerty initially served as the lead singer and the group’s first 45—”Where you Been”/”Little Girl (does your Mama Know)” shows a Beach Boys influence in his vocal approach. With John Foger-

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ty joining his brother on vocals, the band shifted to a more pop style on “don’t Tell Me No Lies” and harmonized in the spirit of the Everly Brothers on “Try Try Try.” With John taking over the lead singer, the Golliwogs moved closer to the Creedence sound on “Brown-Eyed Girl,” a Fogerty brothers original and not the Van Morrison song. John shows an impressive vocal range with a rawness that jumps out of the speakers. The spooky “Walking on the Water” is an early foray into swamp rock, while “you Better Get It Before It Gets you” starts off as a soul ballad before turning into a rocker. By the time of the band’s final Golliwogs single, “Porterville”/”Call it Pretending,” John Fogerty took over as the sole songwriter. “Porterville” shows his ability to write a song through working-class eyes. “Call It Pretending” exhibits a Motown influence with a propulsive bass line. While the songs are not at the level of Creedence, Fight Fire pulls the band’s formative development out of the historical shadows. (23 songs, 54 minutes) King James & The Special Men HHH Act Like You Know Special Man Industries King James & The Special Men celebrate the music of New Orleans with

Photo: Adrienne Battistella

Act Like You Now, a collection of original songs by bandleader Jimmy Horn, also known as King James. The up-

tempo “Special Man Boogie” opens the album with some Professor Longhair piano played by Ben Polcer. Halfway through, Polcer’s piano and the band’s four-man horn section engage in a musical duel that lifts the song to another level. Horn shifts gears on “Baby Girl,” a slow, pleading blues, and “Tell Me (What you Want Me to do),” a bluesy ballad, that show the band’s versatility.

The exuberant “Eat That Chicken” underscores the influence of piano legend dr. John. The rhythmically intense “The End is Near” could serve as the theme for one of New Orleans’ famed hurricane parties. “9th Ward Blues,” named for the neighborhood where Fats domino lives, features some fiery percussion and concludes with a nineminute instrumental that allows the band, particularly the horns, to stretch out on sonic gumbo of soul, blues, and jazz that’s as tasty as a bowl of jambalaya. (6 songs, 36 minutes) Dan Reeder HHH

Nobody Wants to Be You Oh Boy Records To paraphrase Henry david Thoreau, dan Reeder marches to the beat of his own piano on Nobody Wants to Be You, an EP that serves as a prelude to his next full-length album set for release in 2018. Except for a bit of guitar on one track, Reeder relies exclusively on his piano to create a mood. The whimsical “Bach” takes an unexpected look at the classic composer. “We don’t even know if he could sing/Because back in those days they had no ways of recording,” Reeder sings. The title track pairs an upbeat melody to a downbeat lyric. “danger is my business and business is good,” Reeder sings on the idiosyncratic “Kung Fu is My Fighting Style,” while the bouncy “Born a Worm” offers a child-like look at the process of metamorphosis. “The Pond in the Park” wraps up the EP with a short character sketch about a nonconformist. Nobody Wants to Be You shows Reeder is content to follow his own path and not keep pace with his musical companions. (5 songs, 9 minutes) n

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MUSIC JAZZ / ROCK / CLASSICAL / ALT The Rhinestone Hillbilly: A Tribute to Little Jimmy Dickens HHHHH West Virginia Hall of Fame [label] While forgotten by mainstream Nashville, the height-challenged Little Jimmy dickens (1920-2015) was one of the early giants of country music. That twin lead guitar sound you hear in country and rock (allman Bros.)? dickens started that. Country stars wearing rhinestone-encrusted suits? Him, too. Rhinestone Hillbilly shines like a rare gem as a set of real, old-school

hauntingly tragic. This disc puts the tree back in country, dammit. (16 tracks, 53 min.) wvmhof.com Matt Wilson HHH1/2 Honey and Salt Palmetto drummer Matt Wilson engages in a variety of music projects (as a leader and accompanist) but this may be his most ambitious yet. The eclectic Wilson—

into a loping blues piece a la John Lee Hooker, sung in a smoky, cool manner by guitarist dawn Thomson. among the readers of poems are jazz players Joe Lovano, Carla Bley, and Christian McBride and actor Jack Black. Many of these pieces have a loose, openended feel to them, evoking the wide, flat plains of the Midwest—“Stars, Songs, Faces” is a lovely gospeltinged dirge. There’s some excellent, bittersweet trumpet from Ron Miles herein. This set doesn’t quite have the oomph of previous Wilson outings, but for those that enjoy spoken word and jazz together this is wellworth seeking out. (18 tracks, 64 min.) palmettorecords.com Wadada Leo Smith HHHH Najwa TuM Trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith continues his past few years of mostly-excellent recording activity (what, you’ve not heard Ten Freedom Summers, one of the three 2013 finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in Music?) with Najwa. drawing from a palette of four guitarists (including the great Henry Kaiser), drums, percussion, and the sonorous, mind-warping bass of

country music, brimming over with hard twang, sizzling-hot instrumental licks, and some gleeful cornball humor. ace performances abound—the Hank Williams-like mope-fest “Shopping for dresses” sung with a powerful vibrato by Todd Burge; the Western swing of “Sleeping at the Foot of the Bed” by Kathy Mattea, and a blues-tinged version of dickens’ rockabilly classic “I Got a Hole in My Pocket” by Larry Groce. This album is something of an event as it features the first new recording by Bill Withers in 32 years—yes, the same, the hits “ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lovely day,” with an atmospheric, trip-hop-flavored take on ”Raggedy ann,” which is both maudlin and

Photo: John Abbott

whose drumming combines jazz finesse with rock directness—has fashioned a tribute to the great american poet Carl Sandburg, to whom Wilson is distantly related. To some ears this may seems an odd juxtaposition—Sandburg’s wry, non-rhyming americana with post-bop jazz—and it is, and that’s part of the reason Honey and Salt mostly succeeds. Hearty, rolling New Orleans strains make for a dizzy, rollicking setting for Sandburg’s whimsical poem “We Must Be Polite,” here read by guitarist John Scofield. “Soup” is transmuted

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Bill Laswell (who also had a hand in the production, Najwa is a seething, bubbling stew of electric jazz.

While Smith’s trumpet has lots of the poetic quality of Miles davis, he also plumbs a deep-blue, sepulchral depth of tone that’s all his. The guitars sigh, scream, and cry (both figuratively and literally), Laswell’s bass is the magma deep inside the Earth, the percussion crackles like a storm heading your way. If you need hummable or cheery melodies, you’ll find precious few here—but the darkly passionate, near-cinematic ambiance may well be hard to shake. If your tastes run to electric era Miles, the more electric ECM platters (Terje Rypdal), and darker-hued progressive rock (King Crimson) and equally dark electronica/New age (Robert Rich), you need to hear this. (5 tracks, 56 min.) tumrecords.com Gene Perla/The Gene Machine HHHHH Out of the Gate PM Easton, Pa-based jazz bassist Gene Perla has trod the boards with Elvin Jones, Sonny Rollins, Nina Simone, and many others. His latest platter features a bunch of fresh faces whose acumen/swellness belies their youth—Nicole Glover, tenor sax; Ben Seacrist, trumpet, Oscar Williams II, piano, and Nic Cacioppo, drums. Stylistically Out of the Gate is hard bop—swinging convincingly, harmonious, and played with amiable conviction. What separates Gate from dozens of similar recent-ish albums on the market: all tunes are orig-

inals; the tunes are really tunes, not just slight/facile frameworks for improvisation, and while this is “in the tradition” there is nothing provincial about it (in other words, this does not “sound like” it could be a Prestige or Blue Note date from 1963-1968; there are ten succinct selections here (in other words, all killer-no filler). “Sandy’s dance” is a dandy, catchy-as-a-cold soul jazz piece evoking primo Horace Silver and Gene Harris, but then Glover’s hearty solo soars into the ionosphere, injecting moments of Coltrane-like ecstasy/agitation without losing that funk-flavored streamlined forward motion. Seacrist and Glover have some magnificent unison moments—bright, slightly brassy, conveying classy, bittersweet, thoroughly engaging, cliché-free melodies. Perla himself is both onthe-money and self-effacing. This is one of those albums that reminds me why I (as a rock & roll youth) started listening to jazz in the first place. (10 tracks, 60 min.) pmrecords.com

admired by composers both conservative and forwardlooking. Heck, even early noisemaker anton Webern (an inspiration to mod-noisemaker anthony Braxton, among others) paid musical homage to him. His Piano Trios 1, 2, and 3 (piano, violin, cello) are a big part of

Brahms/Ax/Kavalos/Ma HHHHH Piano Trios Sony Classical Just as surely as the Three B’s of rock & roll are Berry, Beatles, and Bowie, the 3Bs of European classical music are Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. J. Brahms (1833-1897) was something of an oddity in his time— he was a humanist (some say an agnostic) and he was

Johann Brahms.

Emanuele Ax. Photo: Lisa Marie Mazzucco

the classical repertoire (as much as “Johnny B. Goode” is of rock’s) and with good reason—they are models of form, order, and focused passion. a brief portion of Trio 2 has, in its fleeting violin solo, a distillation of the blues (its deep, sorrowful feeling, NOT form or style, naturally). Piano Trio 1 has dashing elegance and slightly ominous drama—Beethoven-like, no accident as Ludwig Van was Berry to Brahms’ McCartney. I’ll likely make enemies typing this but this writer finds Brahms’ chamber (for small/intimate instrumental groups) works more immediate and tuneful than his symphonies (his most famous stuff). Whether a connoisseur of old/dead white Euro-gents or a novice looking to learn what all the fuss was/is about, Brahms’ Piano Trios (sumptuously played) requires a spot on your shopping list. (12 tracks, 86 min.) sonymusicmasterworks.com n W W W . f a C E B O O k . C O M / I C O N D V n W W W . I C O N D V . C O M n N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 n I C O N n 37

bob perkins

jazz library

CHICK WEBB

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ould the great Ella Fitzgerald have found her way to international fame if her career had not been given a major jump-start by bandleader Chick Webb? after all, it was Webb who hired the shy 16-year-old singer in the mid-1930s, and gave her the chance to mature and grow professionally. But if Webb had not hired Ella, how long would it have been before someone somewhere would have discovered her?

Supposition aside, Webb deserves a lot of credit, because if he hadn’t fronted such a competitive, swinging big band, both he and Ella may have had to wait a while to be discovered. But together, this dynamic duo was just too good to be ignored for long.

William Henry “chick” Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, February 10, 1905. as a child, he suffered from tuberculosis, the effects of which left him with a deformed spine, stunted growth, and a hunched back. He saved enough money by delivering newspapers to buy a set of drums; taught himself to play them, and became a professional musician at age eleven, marketing his skill in and around his hometown. at age 17, he moved to New york and freelanced, forming his own band in the mid-1920s. By the early 1930s, his band became the house band at the Savoy Ballroom. It was at the famed ballroom that the diminutive drummer with hunched back—who had not learned to read music—engaged in big band battles with the likes of duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and others, and many more times than not driving them from the bandstand. Even after being bested, the leaders of the defeated bands praised Webb and his hard-driving band. drum virtuoso Gene Krupa, dubbed Webb “the daddy of them all.”

Chick Webb reluctantly hired the unattractive teenage Ella Fitzgerald because the Savoy Ballroom’s manager strongly suggested that a singer might bring

Chick Webb with Ella Fitzgerald.

in more patrons. The move paid off, as Webb began to regularly feature Ella singing popular songs of the day.

Eventually they got around to “a-Tisket a Tasket” which would forever be associated with Ella, and at the time became a band staple. It threw Ella and the band into the national spotlight. Rumors were flying about the relationship between Webb and Ella. Some said something intimate was going on,even though Webb was married; others offered that Webb had adopted Ella,. None of it was true.

The Webb band with Ella Fitzgerald continued to make great music together for the next several years.

Webb and the band continued to beat up on rival orchestras during big band battles, and provided great music for Lindy Hoppers (a professional performing group of Savoy Ballroom swing dancers), while Ella became more confident as a professional. Suddenly, Webb’s health began to fail, but he played on, often until passing out due to exhaustion. He finally had to undergo an operation associated with the spinal tuberculosis which had set in during his childhood. He did not live long following the procedure. Webb was

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only 34.

News of his death shocked the swing-jazz community. Fellow drummers Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson, who were often in awe of Webb’s thundering and complex solos, offered words of respect and praise. Ella took over the band for several years, but after a while it was evident that its driving force was gone, and the band dissolved. Ella continued her career as a single, and from 1942 forward she became the yardstick by which other singers of popular standards and jazz interpretation were measured.

Some month following his passing, a Chick Webb benefit was held in Baltimore, Maryland, at which 7, 500 people attended. Ella was there, along with boxing champion Joe Louis, Maryland’s governor, and a number of other politicians, entertainers, and just plain folks, all there to make donations and pay respects to the revered and dynamic little hunchback with the big heart. n 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 to 9 and Sunday, 9 to 1.

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MUSIC POP

Richard Thompson is an Acoustic Classicist (this time)

WHEN LONdONER RICHaRd THOMPSON plays the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville on November 30, you’ll stand in awe of a guitarist and singer who all but built the foundations of British folk-rock as the de facto leader of Fairport Convention, as the raging duet partner of his ex-wife Linda, and on his own with a solo career designed to highlight his version of the blues, as well as a hybrid pick-and-fingers technique that propels his six-string slinging into another dimension. This month, along with a brand new solo album of old Thompson favorites, Acoustic Classics 2 (the first chapter was released in 2014), a seven-Cd collection of Fairport Convention’s finest moments, Come All Ye: The First 10 Years, is just out. along with that box comes a vinyl-only, re-release of Liege & Lief, the 1969 Fairport album long considered to be, not only Fairport Convention’s finest moment, but the true first equal merging of British folk and English rock that would eventually come to influence Led zeppelin and Jethro Tull.

“This new album’s songs are acoustic re-workings of older pieces from all eras of my career, including three early Fairport songs which I wrote,” says Thompson during a lengthy interview. “This follows on from Acoustic Classics 1, which was always intended to be sold at shows as a kind of introduction for first-time listeners. I’m trying to select songs which I think are popular, based on feedback from the fans.”

Of meeting and carrying on Fairport Convention (until 1971 on Thompson’s part) with bassist ashley Hutchings and second guitarist, the finger-picker claims that, “We shared commonalities from growing up in North London. We were all on individual and collective musical quests, and loved to share musical discoveries. also, and importantly, was a common sense of humour—we never ever took ourselves too seriously.”

Though Thompson, Judy dyble and Iain Matthews handled vocals on Fairport’s first albums, it was the introduction of Sandy denny by 1968’s What We Did on Our Holidays, Unhalfbricking, then Liege & Lief, which turned the band’s sound and legend around quickly. “We held auditions to replace Judy, and Sandy was the absolute standout,” Thompson says. “She seemed brilliant then, and now everyone acknowledges that she’s one of the greatest singers Britain ever produced. When she joined, we felt like a real band with the potential to achieve anything. Everything went up a gear.”

With its merry and maudlin blend of old English traditional folk songs from centuries past and new songs to match in tone and texture—thank producer Je Boyd for that—Liege & Lief was an eye opener of what could be accomplished with ancient music in a modern form. “It was a very pioneering record,” he said. “It had a predictable influence on British and Irish folk and rock, but also reached to other countries, where artists saw a way to revive their own folk cultures.”

Though he has been on his own for decades, Thompson has been—at least in the immediate past—keen on hooking up with Simon Nicol (who again fronts a newer Fairport) on occasion. “I’ve actually played at a lot of Fairport reunions, and some of them have been very special, none less than the fiftieth,” says Thompson. “I’m glad to play with the lads always, but probably feel at this point that we are separate musical entities, and plow different furrows.”

For those who love the furrows that Thompson has long plowed—be it the country-ish 21st Century release Electric, or his series of 1990s albums such as Rumor and Sigh (with his new classic acoustic guitar ballad “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”), Mirror Blue, the live An Acoustic Evening and Mock Tudor, November 30 at the Colonial should be a delight. n

Richard Thompson. Photo: Vincent Dixon

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

about life

Magical Sex COuNTLESS COuPLES HaVE COME to me reporting unsatisfactory, little or no sex. This struck me as odd since these people took the time to fall in love, make some sort of commitment or marry, have children, buy houses, etc.

It would seem with all of this that there would be a spark and pursuant mutual pleasure in the bedroom. apparently this is not the case for a great number of couples. Even those couples who do have sex the average number of times per week (twice) report they have unsatisfying sex.

There is a woeful lack of knowledge in the general public about having great sex. It’s clear that, at first, most couples report very good sexual experiences.

Over time, however, the quality and satisfaction dwindle. This occurs for a number of reasons. Sometimes it’s performance issues with the man; sometimes it’s the woman’s withdrawal from sex. In same sex couples these behaviors can be manifested by either partner.

Boredom and avoidance often contribute to these outcomes.

Sex is usually a process that starts with a kiss and ends with the male orgasm. Many couples report going through the motions with little emotional, psychological, and physical foreplay, and little or no time holding each other afterward. One or the other partner most frequently pulls away or gets up and runs to the bathroom. There is a general lack of passion and connection in these experiences. It’s no wonder so many couples report unsatisfying sexual experiences.

The obvious contrast between sex in the beginning of a relationship and sex after time in a relationship is remarkable.

Couples who report great—or magical—sex keep doing things as though they’re in a new relationship.

This means they show affection and passion; they understand how important the process of seduction is.

Seduction involves foreplay on the emotional, psychological, and physical levels. For some couples, a romantic dinner leads to a wonderful night. For others, sexy texting or short phone calls throughout the day are the lead up to deeply satisfying sex later on. Being able to bond on the deeper levels is another key ingredient. Just looking into each other’s eyes releases the bonding hormones oxytocin and vasopressen. Touch of a non-sexual nature opens up the gates of the physical sensorium. Hugging and kissing—the most intimate of sexual acts—further the process of deepening the bond for a couple. as the bond deepens the pleasure centers in the brain excite the synapses that create excitement and pleasure. If all of this happens before sexual contact the couple begins to enter the realm of magical sex.

Magical sex opens up countless opportunities for mutual joy. When things become magical there is a wide berth for sexual expression to emerge. as time goes on the urge to explore and discover take over. This is where novelty plays a significant role. as much as we like routine and the comfort of knowing what’s coming, so, too, do we find great delight in the new and unexplored. This can take the form of sexual talk, which many people find adventurous and sensual. Since 8090% of communication is non-verbal, touch plays a crucial part in the overall experience.

In the magical theater of the bedroom being openminded creates the capacity to experience more joy in

more ways. Fantasy and role-play are common elements of a magical sexual experience—in the theater of magic a person can assume many roles in their their connection with another. Role-play also broadens the spectrum of pleasure as it allows repressed pieces to safely surface. Being able to speak and perform in ways someone would never engage in in ordinary life becomes a huge turn on: the innocent person can be shameless in their lust; the powerful person in real life can become submissive and surrendering; the people-pleaser can find ways to please the other that are deeply satisfying for themselves as well as the other. Manifesting repressed aspects of the self can be very therapeutic and healing.

Magical sex for some also includes the use of objects (vibrators) and fantasy gear (silk ties or handcuffs). There exists a whole range of things available at boutiques, online or around the house. While this isn’t necessary for magical sex, it’s frequently a part of general exploration and pleasure. Some people resist these things because they’re fearful and embarrassed, or simply don't get turned on. Like many things in life it may not be a turn-on unless a person tries it first.

This is where solid sexual communication comes to play in the magical theater. a new approach, or the introduction of, say, a vibrator, requires talking before doing. If you can't talk about it you shouldn’t do it. unless you know your partner wants to be surprised, always check first—unwanted surprise can ruin the moment and destroy trust.

Importantly, always have a “safe word.” This can be any word other than “no” or “stop.” This allows for some leeway in exploration without damaging the trust and intimacy for a couple. Tickets to the magical theater are free. The only requirement is to be openminded, trustworthy and passionate. n Jim Delpino is a psychotherapist in private practice for over 38 years. jdelpino@aol.com (215) 364-0139.

harper’s FINDINGS

INDEX

A four-year study of a baboon troop found that males use strategic violence to control females’ mating behavior, with long-term conditioning in mind. Breastfeeding in the United States continued to correlate positively with maternal age, education, income, and whiteness. Foreignborn U.S. women are half as likely as their American-born counterparts to crave chocolate during their periods, and Asian Americans, especially women, are insulated from xenophobic bias if they are fat, but not if their country of origin is stereotypically fat. The children of China’s internal migrants are less likely to be fat, probably because their grandparents don’t feed them treats. Kidnapped brides in Kyrgyzstan tend to bear smaller babies and to divorce at higher rates. The babies of American women who received both opioids and psychotropics while pregnant are likelier to experience withdrawal symptoms at birth than are babies whose mothers received opioids alone. The inventor of the fentanyl lollipop died. Doctors continued to argue about whether a male fetus had been seen masturbating. A single gene variant determines whether dogs seek increased or decreased contact with their owners following a nasal dose of oxytocin. Brooklyn puppy owners were forgoing vaccinations over fears of canine autism. Compared with nonautistic adults, autistic adults feel more shame and less hubristic pride. People think of themselves as better than average because they think of average as below average.

% of income and wealth taxes in Norway, Sweden, and denmark that are evaded each year: 3 That are evaded among those nations’ top 0.01 percent of earners: 30 “Treaty payment,” in Canadian dollars, that the gov’t annually offers First Nations individuals: $5 Portion of Canada’s black population that lives in Greater Toronto: 1/2 % of black Toronto men aged 25 to 44 who report having been stopped by police in public: 79 Factor by which the rate of imprisonment for indigenous australians exceeds that for nonindigenous australians: 13 % of students at the top 30 u.S. law schools who are asian-american: 10 Of elected prosecutors who are: 0.2 % of judges working in New york State who do not have law degrees: 38 amount awarded to Michael Brown’s family in their settlement against the city of Ferguson, Mo.: $1,500,000 To a Maryland family whose dog was killed by anne arundel County police: $1,260,000 Number of terrorism defendants who have been prosecuted by the department of Justice since 9/11: 807 Who have been tried and acquitted: 2 Estimated % by which the Chinese-engineered version of the Predator drone is cheaper than the u.S. version: 68 Value of military equipment that the Pentagon gave to a fictitious law enforcement agency created by the GaO: $1,200,000 Estimated portion of food-poisoning claims by British tourists at Spanish hotels that are fraudulent: 9/10 amount such claims cost the Spanish tourism industry last year: $70,000,000 Est. ratio of u.S. money spent on legal sports gambling to that spent on illegal sports gambling: 1:33 Est. kilowatt-hours of energy consumed in June by Bitcoin-mining operations: 510,000,000

By Latvia: 528,000,000 Ratio of public hydrogen charging stations to hydrogen-powered vehicles in Germany: 1:10 % of u.S. bridges that have been deemed by the Transportation dept. to be in “poor” condition: 14 % of daily u.S. bridge traffic that is over “poor” bridges: 21 average number of hours that a driver in Los angeles spends sitting in traffic each year: 104 That a driver in New york City spends looking for parking: 107 Factor by which average home price exceeds average yearly income in New york City: 7 In Shenzhen, China: 28 % of d.C. residents making less than $50,000 a year who have marched in protest against donald Trump: 16 Of residents making more than $100,000: 50 Factor by which the gender pay gap in the White House has increased under Trump: 3.4 Number of states that offer pro-life license plates: 29 That offer pro-choice license plates: 3 Number of u.S. counties that have refused to issue licenses for same-sex marriages since the Supreme Court legalized them: 8 Number of those counties that are in alabama: 8 Estimated portion of u.S. weddings at which the “Chicken dance” is banned: 1/4 Portion of u.S. women who believe it’s inappropriate to have a work meeting alone with a man who is not their spouse: 1/4 Chances a u.S. divorce was initiated by a woman: 2 in 3 % of u.S. pet-custody cases that involve dogs: 96 That involve cats: 1

9

Moderate wine drinking allows middle-class white people to maintain cognitive health in old age. Old people with a sense of purpose are less prone to restless legs syndrome. Old people’s early bedtimes and difficulty sleeping may be an adaptation to ensure that someone in a given group is awake at all times. Schizophrenia may be a “residual echo” of the Neanderthal brain. Modern Lebanese are 90 percent Canaanite.

Modern Americans are 85 percent overfat. Money can buy happiness if it is used to buy time. Americans will accept politicians’ lying if they believe it serves a higher moral purpose. Bamboo sharks shrug their shoulders to swallow their food. Some symbiotic relationships involve one party holding the other hostage. Between 2016 and 2017, the proportion of eHarmony profiles listing political affiliation tripled. Scientists used a glue derived from the slime of the dusky arion slug to heal a hole in the heart of a pig.

9

Researchers found that researchers are killing too many bats for research. A.I. researchers predicted that the last human job to be replaced by machines will be that of A.I. researcher. Chinese scientists teleported a photon from the Gobi Desert to a satellite in Earth orbit. Iranian stalagmites predict no end to the interior Middle East’s current dry spell in the next ten thousand years. A dead zone the size of New Jersey was discovered in the Gulf of Mexico, a garbage patch half the size of Mexico was discovered in the South Pacific, and a storm the size of Earth was discovered on Neptune. Turbulence in the molten cores of planets may be caused by the gravitational tides of other celestial bodies. Strong winds in the East Antarctic were generating Kelvin waves that were accelerating warming in the West Antarctic, and U.S. wildfires were being fueled by temperature differences between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Hurricane Hilary caused unusually rough seas in southern California. Tropical Storm Don dissipated soon after forming.

SOuRCES: 1,2 Gabriel zucman, university of California, Berkeley; 3 Niigaan Sinclair, university of Manitoba (Winnipeg); 4,5 Black Experience Project (Toronto); 6 australian Bureau of Statistics (Melbourne); 7,8 Goodwin Liu (Oakland, Calif.); 9 New york State Commission on Judicial Conduct (albany); 10 Octavia Pittman (Ferguson, Mo.); 11 Hansel Law, PC (Baltimore); 12,13 The Intercept (St. Petersburg, Fla.); 14 united States air Force/u.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission (Washington); 15 u.S. Government accountability Office; 16,17 Federation of Majorcan Hotels (Palma, Spain); 18 american Gaming association (Washington); 19 Marc Bivand (St. Louis); 20 Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia (Riga); 21 H2 Mobility (Berlin); 22,23 u.S. department of Transportation; 24,25 INRIX (Washington); 26,27 CEIC data (N.y.C.); 28,29 Washington Post; 30 american Enterprise Institute (Washington); 31,32 Guttmacher Institute (Washington); 33,34 Ballotpedia (Middleton, Wis.); 35 FiveThirtyEight (N.y.C.); 36 Morning Consult (Washington); 37 Paula England, New york university (N.y.C.); 38,39 american academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (Omaha, Neb).

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The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

GRIDIRON GLOSSARY

By Mike Peluso

1 5 10 14 19 20 21 22 23 25 27 28 30 31 33 34 38 39 41 42 45 49 50 51 53 55 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 69 72 73 75 76 78 79 80 81 82 85 86 89 91 94 96

ACROSS Museum curators’ degs.

Considers “Ain’t happening” Hobbyist’s knife 1814-’15 exile site China’s Zhou __ Pats on the table Tiger Woods has won a record 21 of them Goose’s medical concern?

F? Basketball Hall of Fame coach Jerry Ain’t right?

Hastings head Two-element tubes Energetic mount One of Jupiter’s Galilean moons Woody’s son Ones with will power?

Discontinued allergy brand Sundae topping item Ginger cookie factory statistic?

Brut alternative What “L” may mean: Abbr.

Fared reasonably well Melodious Short albums, for short Crystalline rocks __ to go: eager Troubling spots Longtime Priceline pitchman Cries over Perp stopper Beer ingredient What results from failure to stop at a deer crossing? “__ le roi!”

Equally irate Male escorts Kenny Rogers quartet Socks Subject for Archimedes Convince using flattery Window sill item Yellow Teletubby Kitchen gadget Hasty departure Enthused So-so haul in the fishing industry?

Raising a ball, with “up” “Il Trovatore” heroine

98 100 101 102 104 107 108 109 110 114 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 24 26 29 31 32 33 35 36 37 38 40 41 43 44

Stop before surgery Pesky biter Verdi title bandit Invigorate Dry Spray maker Soprano Fleming et al.

Private eye Manila envelope feature Infamous fictional motel Home security system at no cost?

“Hamlet” in progress?

Martini partner Logical beginning?

Long-legged fisher Sein, across the Rhine Lessen Swiss capital DEA activity Connecticut senator Chris DOWN 2-Down’s boss 1-Down’s sitcom employee Crunch targets Hairstyling legend Friday creator Hyphen relative North Carolina university Cavernous opening Rat Pack leader Like some bank services Chan portrayer Bombard Daybreak deity Crosses off Oregon port Auditing pro Norse war god Opposite of west, in Dortmund Stale Puts into office Court defendant: Abbr.

Bore Prohibited courtroom procedure?

Go down Unpleasant singles bar come-on?

Tardy people, to some Courtroom figs.

Leatherwork tool Those, in Oaxaca “Is that __?”

Hokkaido noodle Helped through a tough

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time, with “over” Tend to Letter-shaped gaskets Utah range Loosening of govt. standards Take in James and Jones of jazz Duracell competitor Whac-__ Nitpick Wee, in Dundee Discuss in detail California-based shoe company Feature of a no-holdsbarred campaign Legal thing Actress Palmer Joe Namath, notably Costa __ Sol Eroded Pacific salmon Ashen Toto hit that mentions Kilimanjaro Routing org.

Included in the email loop, briefly Santa __: dry winds Corp. big shots Proof of paternity, perhaps Loan figs.

93 95 97 99 102 103 105 106 108 109

The Beatles’ “Day __” Spewed Baby’s first garment Implored Not leave as is Belted tire synthetic La Floride et La Virginie Japanese chip maker Turn over Adriatic port

110 Monastery title 111 Carl’s director son 112 Conductor __-Pekka Salonen 113 It’s not a bad lie 115 JFK alternative 116 Simpson trial judge 117 Command from a maj.

118 Actor Beatty

answer to October’s puzzle, TOP THIS

agenda FINE ART

thrU 11/13 Works from the MAg collection in the galleria space. Martin Art gallery, baker center for the Arts, Muhlenberg college, 2400 West chew street, Allentown, pA. muhlenberg.edu/gallery thrU 11/16 5x5, 3rd edition, 5 artists, 5 media. Artist talks, 10/26, 6 pM. reception 11/16, 6-8 pM. the baum school of Art, 510 W. linden st., Allentown, pA. 610-4330032. baumschool.org thrU 11/18 david Ambrose: conversations with yesterday. Martin Art gallery, baker center for the Arts, Muhlenberg college, 2400 West chew street, Allentown, pA. muhlenberg.edu/gallery thrU 11/19 buckminster fuller: Architect engineer inventor Artist. lafayette college Art galleries, easton, pA. 610-330-5361. galleries.lafayette.edu thrU 12/9 sam van Aken, streuobstwiese. lafayette college Art galleries, easton, pA. 610-330-5361. galleries.lafayette.edu thrU 12/31 poetry of nature, hudson river school landscapes from the new-york historical society. Allentown Art Museum, 31 north 5th st., Allentown, pA. 610-4324333. AllentownArtMuseum.org thrU 1/7/18 intimate lines: drawing with thread. hunterdon Art Museum, 7 lower center st., clinton, nJ. 908-735-8415. hunterdonartmuseum.org thrU 1/10/18 William hudders: three views.

Martin Art gallery, baker center for the Arts, Muhlenberg college, 2400 West chew street, Allentown, pA. thrU 1/13/18 holiday show, featuring works by hazem Akil, Joe billera, ben hoffman, kate hughes, daina krumins and danny polk. bethlehem house contemporary Art gallery. 459 Main st., bethlehem,

pA. 610-419-6262. bethlehemhousegallery.com thrU 1/15/18 gelah penn, high tide. Martin Art gallery, baker center for the Arts, Muhlenberg college, 2400 West chew street, Allentown, pA. muhlenberg.edu/gallery thrU 2/4/2018 revolutionizing design: progressive home decorating at the turn of the century. Allentown Art Museum, 31 north 5th st., Allentown, pA. 610-432-4333. AllentownArtMuseum.org 11/4-11/26 Anita shrager, solo exhibition. silverman gallery, in buckingham green on rte. 202, 5 miles south of new hope. 4920 york rd., holicong, pA. 215-794-4300. silvermangallery.com 11/12-12/23 three part harmony. featuring Judy lalingo, linda rossin, and Mary serfass. opening reception 11/12, 1-5 pM. the snow goose gallery, 470 Main st., bethlehem, pA. 610-974-9099. thesnowgoosegallery.com 11/17 grand opening of the Wild radish gallery, featuring 30 acclaimed artists and artisans, 5 gallery rooms. Artist reception, 7pm-9pm. 19-21 Main st., clinton, nJ. 908-212-1642.

11/18 & 11/19 Aoy Art center 8th Annual fine craft show features 19 local artisans presented in the historic Janney house on patterson farm. Also, the fabulous bake sale of home made baked goodies. 949 Mirror lake road, yardley pA 10–5 sat and sun. free. artistsofyardley.org 11/19-1/7/18 reverberations: sound sculptures by harry bertoia. Allentown Art Museum, 31 north 5th st., Allentown, pA. 610-4324333. AllentownArtMuseum.org DANCE

11/9-11/11 Moving stories, innovative dance Works by emerging choreographers. Muhlenberg college theatre & dance. Muhlenberg col-

lege, 2400 chew st., Allentown, pA. 484-664-3333.

Muhlenberg.edu/theatre&dance THEATER

11/5 A gentleman’s guide to love & Murder. Zoellner Arts center, lehigh University, 420 e. packer Ave., bethlehem, pA. 610-7582787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 11/18 verdi’s il trovatore, Academy of vocal Arts. Zoellner Arts center, lehigh University, 420 e. packer Ave., bethlehem, pA. 610-7582787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 11/29 Jackie evancho. state theatre, 453 northampton st., easton.

610-252-3132, 800-999-stAte. statetheatre.org.

11/29-12/3 new voices new visions, part two. A festival of innovative and avant garde short plays. Muhlenberg college theatre & dance.

Muhlenberg college, 2400 chew st., Allentown, pA. 484-664-3333.

Muhlenberg.edu/theatre&dance 11/29-12/10 peter and the starcatcher, holiday fun for families. Act 1, labuda center for the performing Arts, desales University, 2755 station Ave., center valley, pA. 610-2823192. desales.edu/act1 12/1-12/16 A christmas carol. civic theatre of Allentown, 527 n. 19th st., Allentown, pA. 610-432-8943. civictheatre.com 12/8-12/17 the santaland diaries. one-man play by david sedaris. civic theatre of Allentown, 527 n. 19th st., Allentown, pA. 610-432-8943. civictheatre.com CONCERTS

11/4 bedlam. kayleen sánchez and laudon schuett. folk/roots Music series. 1867 sanctuary Arts/culture center, 101 scotch road, ewing, nJ. 609-392-6409.

1867sanctuary.org 11/11 gala concert & fundraiser.the bach choir of bethlehem,

central Moravian church, bethlehem, pA. 610-866-4382, ext.110/115. bach.org 11/18 classics take a latin beat. soloists Jordan dodson, guitar and elizabeth Mendoza, cello. pennsylvania sinfonia orchestra, first presbyterian church, 323 W. tilghman st., Allentown, pA. 610-434-7811. pAsinfonia.org 11/18 larry siegel and Jim Queen. 867 sanctuary Arts and culture center, 101 scotch road, ewing, nJ. 609-392-6409. 1867sanctuary.org 11/28 Jazz combo l & ll. fall concert series. lafayette college, easton, pA. 610-330-5009.

Williamscenter.lafayette.edu 12/1 ranky tanky. Zoellner Arts center, lehigh University, 420 e. packer Ave., bethlehem, pA. 610758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 12/2 concert chorus, 8pm. lafayette department of Music fall concert series, lafayette college, easton, pA. 610-330-5009.

Williamscenter.lafayette.edu 12/3 chamber orchestra. lafayette department of Music fall concert series, lafayette college, easton, pA. 610-330-5009.

Williamscenter.lafayette.edu 12/4 percussion ensemble,. lafayette department of Music fall concert series, lafayette college, easton, pA. 610-330-5009.

Williamscenter.lafayette.edu 12/9 & 12/10 A child’s christmas in bethlehem, the bach choir of bethlehem,. first presbyterian church, 3231 W. tilghman st., Allentown, pA. for tickets/information, 610866-4382. bach.org.

12/16 vespers for the passing of the year. camerata singers, first presbyterian church, 3231 W. tilghman st., Allentown, pA. 610-434-7811.

pAcameratasingers.org MAUCH CHUNK OPERA HOUSE 14 W. broadway, Jim thorpe, pA 11/3 popa chubby 11/4 broadway nights 11/10 danika & the Jeb 11/11 dala 11/16 deb callahan band 11/17 John Mceuen & the circle band w/caroline doctorow 11/18 the last Waltz celebration by “the band” band 11/22 free range folk Jam 11/25 eagleMania MUSIKFEST CAFÉ 101 founders Way, bethlehem 610-332-1300 Artsquest.org 11/9 11/9 11/14 11/16 11/16

the linny Awards ceramic Animal the Accidentals Wild Adriatic kevin griffin of better than ezra 11/22 steve brosky & his ‘lil big band 11/25 the Weeklings CLASSES thrU 12/10 classes and workshops for adults and children taught by professional artists and teachers. drawing, painting, glass fusing, sculpting, silkscreen & woodblock printing. hunterdon Art Museum, 7 lower center st., clinton, nJ. hunterdonartmuseum.org HOLIDAY EVENTS 11/17 season of lights, grand illumination celebration. peddler’s village, routes 202 & 263, lahaska, pA. 215-794-4000. peddlersvillage.com

11/17-11/19 Merchants’ open house Weekend. peddler’s village, routes 202 & 263, lahaska, pA. 215-7944000. peddlersvillage.com 11/17-1/6/2018 gingerbread competition & display. peddler’s village, routes 202 & 263, lahaska, pA. 215-7944000. peddlersvillage.com 12/2 & 12/3 christmas festival. peddler’s village, routes 202 & 263, lahaska, pA. 215-794-4000. peddlersvillage.com

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