12 2014 by ICON Magazine

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Contents

DECEMBER 2014

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

FLEA | 20

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

Filling the hunger since 1992

Music isn’t the only reason why Flea, the legendary bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, appears in Low Down, the film adaptation of Amy Albany’s memoir of life with her father, Joe, a talented jazz pianist—and a raging heroin addict.

ROSARIO DAWSON | 22 Breezing through Los Cabos and gearing up for two new films, the enduringly cool actress dishes on the willful freedom that’s kept her at once grounded and consummately busy.

1-800-354-8776 • 215-862-9558

www.icondv.com President/Publisher Trina McKenna trina@icondv.com Assistant Raina Filipiak to the Publisher filipiakr@comcast.net

COMMON | 24 He has always been a pragmatic (if not romantic) equal opportunity critic: everyone is innocent, everyone is guilty. With his new album, though, Common is homeward bound and looking into his cherished Chicago with laser focus and slick, honest imagery.

BEST OF 2014

EDITORIAL Executive Editor Trina McKenna

36 | BOB PERKINS’ TOP 10

32 | MARK KERESMAN’S TOP 10

34 | A. D. AMOROSI’S BEST BOX SETS

40 | BOB GORDON’S BEST OF 2014

Designer Lauren Fiori Assistant Designer Kaitlyn Reed-Baker

COLUMNS

32 | KERESMAN ON DISC Anna Thorvaldsdottir Anja Lechner/François Couturier Los Straitjackets/Deke Dickerson Anthony Pirog Aaron Goldberg Love Horszowski Trio

City Beat Editor Thom Nickels / thomnickels1@aol.com

ART 6 | EXHIBITIONS Red Filter Gallery Highlands Art Gallery Red Tulip Gallery

| NICK BEWSEY’S TOP 12

| A THOUSAND WORDS

36 | JAZZ LIBRARY Little Jimmy Scott

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| BRIAN SELZNICK | CUBISM

DINING

FILM

ADVERTISING 800-354-8776

30 | TOM WILK’S TOP 10

5 | CITY BEAT 5 | VALLEY BEAT

| CINEMATTERS Foxcatcher

| KERESMAN ON FILM Citizenfour

| BAD MOVIE Oz the Great and Powerful

| REEL NEWS The Hundred-Foot Journey The Skeleton Twins Magic in the Moonlight The Trip to Italy

39 | GLASBERN INN

ETCETERA 42 | L. A. TIMES CROSSWORD 43 | AGENDA

ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC

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DESIGN

Valley Beat Editor Geoff Gehman / geoffgehman@verizon.net Fine Arts Editors Edward Higgins Burton Wasserman

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Food Editor Robert Gordon / rgordon33@verizon.net

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 Sally Friedman / pinegander@aol.com Geoff Gehman / geoffgehman@verizon.net George O.Miller / gomiller@travelsdujour.com R. Kurt Osenlund / rkurtosenlund@gmail.com Keith Uhlich / KeithUhlich@gmail.com

ICON is published twelve times per year. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. ICON welcomes letters to the editor, editorial ideas and submissions, but assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material. ICON is not responsible for claims made by advertisers. Subscriptions are available for $40 (shipping & handling). ON THE COVER: Rosario Dawson. Page 22.

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Music Editors Nick Bewsey / nickbewsey@gmail.com Mark Keresman / shemp@hotmail.com Bob Perkins / bjazz5@aol.com Tom Wilk / tomwilk@rocketmail.com

PO Box 120 • New Hope, PA 18938 (800) 354-8776 Fax (215) 862-9845

28 | THE LIST

30 | SINGER / SONGWRITER Bob Dylan & The Band The Duke Robillard Band Eileen Rose Neil Young Miss Tess and the Talkbacks

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City Beat

THOM NICKELS

Valley Beat

GEOFF GEHMAN

ThomNickels1@aol.com

geoffgehman@verizon.net.

We spotted people falling asleep during Gina Gionfriddo’s Rapture, Blister, Burn at the Wilma, and wondered how this could be given the play’s good reviews. Things got worse when at intermission some audience members walked, proving that even critically acclaimed works can generate disppointment. Could a comic version of Kate Millet’s Sexual Politics or Simone de Beauvior’s The Second Sex be funny? Rapture’s résumé—a 2013 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama—suggests that no one should be nodding off, even if the play would have benefited from a 30-minute dramaturgical cut. The promotion around Rapture was stellar—however, postcards advertising the play could be found all over town, in Center City restaurants and pizza parlors, and even on some city buses and trolleys.

A 6-foot-8 clown made my mother’s heart monitor go Boom-chicka-Boom! The contraption tripped and flipped as Puddles sang lounge and club anthems in a baritone that rippled and ripped through the Musikfest Café in Bethlehem. Mom forgot all about her chafing halter while she enjoyed him channeling Tom Jones, Judy Garland and Pagliacci. Puddles—aka Big Mike Geier—worked every part of the heart, which made him a cardiologist’s dream. He drew laughs and gasps simply by strolling into the room. He seemed uncommonly graceful for a 240-pounder, uncommonly noble in a ruffled white costume with oversized black buttons, white-painted face streaked with red tears, chalky bald head topped by a tilted crown. After spending a good minute extricating his chewing gum, he spent a good three minutes making a spectator a silent accomplice during an uncommonly stirring, sane version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Every number that followed was sung in the same room-filling, rafter-raising voice with no beginning, no end and no weak spot. Puddles decorated his wall of sound with grand gestures (an Elvis-style knee drop during “I Started a Joke”) and daring changes (“I [Who Have Nothing]” became a death-march crawl). It didn’t matter that he never spoke. He spoke volumes by choreographing birthday salutes and karaoke sessions with nimble hands and limber eyes. His savvy stillness elevated him to Kabuki Klown. Geier has been Puddling for nearly 15 years, refining his alter ego in an all-clown band and a showgirl revue. He’s smart enough to know that shtick doesn’t stick. The closest he came to kitsch was a rendition of “My Heart Will Go On” accompanied by a slide tribute to Kevin Costner. He cut the cheese with funny pictures of the actor’s bad-hair affairs and a bracing coda of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” Geier even sabotaged the name of his act. He made “Puddles Pity Party” a party without pity by projecting snapshots of himself with happy fans, including pets. The souvenirs strengthened the slogan on the side of his suitcase: “Do Good Work.”

The Barrymore Awards ceremony used to go on for hours, so that by the time it was over you had a charley horse in both legs and one big primal urge—to tie a long scarf around your neck Isadora Duncan-style and drive off in a fast convertible. This year’s ceremony was much better (and shorter) than in years past, though we discovered this only after deciding not to attend. We didn’t want to sit through hours of theater minutia, almost expecting an award going to Best Theater Usher Wearing Blue Contact Lenses. We’ll get our Barrymore act together in 2015. We marveled at all the tall hunky Israeli furniture guys in pointy European shoes at the grand opening of the Cella Luxuria Furniture superstore at 1214 Chestnut Street. Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger said he saw some furniture there he really liked, while HughE Dillon worked overtime photographing the city’s furniture subculture elite. The five floors of beds, sofas, desks and bookcases meant lots of styles and options, from modern minimalist to warehouse-rustic to the comfortably traditional. The Bauhaus-style configurations on the first floor included an orangutan-colored recliner that had us thinking of the beach chaise lounges in Wildwood’s Doo Wop motels. Brulee Catering, Zavino Wine Bar and Pizzeria, and Abbey Biery Cake Design provided the food. Since the bartenders told us that red wine was banned from the serving queue (it stains furniture), for a fix of deep, rich color we had to turn to Kory Zuccarelli’s lavish photography, which was featured on the walls. Philadelphians may love Rittenhouse Square with its “meet me at the goat” appeal, but for out-of-towners like Connie Willis (who came here three years ago to land a job in broadcasting), the picture’s not so pretty. Willis’ bird’s-eye view of the Square from her fifth floor apartment enabled her to see more rats than goats scurrying from bench to bush. She was soon calling Rittenhouse “Rat-in-house Square,” though she later dropped that after the furry creatures were exterminated. She added another name soon enough—Rittenhouse Dog Park—because from her bedroom window she saw people put picnic blankets on sections of grass that moments before had been a dog toilet. German shepherds, greyhounds, dachshunds, poodles and boxers would squat, and then after their owners dutifully bagged, another cycle of picnickers would sit directly over the spot, on and on all day long—from picnic to poop to picnic and then back to poop again. Those without blankets would relax directly on the soft, fertile grass, never suspecting (or caring) that dogs had been there.

Like Puddles, Brie Capone has a voice that halts halter monitors. She sounds passionate and precise, sweaty and sleek, a laser inside a tornado. She was a major reason why her duo, the Humble Grapes, transformed the Gold Room at the Grand Eastonian Suites Hotel into the Fillmore East. Joined by a bassist and a drummer, Capone and keyboardist David Kaufman pumped out bopping soul and acidic rock. They dosed the Black Crowes’ “She Talks to Angels” with smoldering gospel and made the Rolling Stones’ “Loving Cup” overflow with sassy sleaze. Kaufman provided a comfy, prickly cushion of knifing chords, spooling syncopations and enveloping call-and-responses. Capone stopped traffic with pinpoint pain and tasteful teasing, effortless rises from basement to penthouse, and satisfying dips into the deep well of Mavis Staples soul. Her movements were just as animated. Elbow-long hair flying, shoulders shrugging and hips bobbing, she seemed to be auditioning for a revival of “Hair” at the Fillmore West. The concert was the 12th presented by Mercantile Home, the emporium owned by Ken Jones Jr. and Ron Morris, Easton’s cultural den fathers.

Everybody’s an expert on architecture these days. Philly.com’s stories on proposed buildings in Center City generate passionate comments from readers who want their opinions to count. We related this fact to architect Al Holm recently when he called to say that there were few registrants for an ICAA-Philadelphia seminar. “How do we get the word out?” he asked. “Does anybody care?” We suggested he try to recruit the passionate readers of Philly.com whose online comments often get censored or deleted. ■

I was six when I was seduced by Robert Indiana’s sculptural signs. I didn’t care that there was no restaurant attached to his illuminated “EAT” ad at the 1964 World’s Fair. The glowing order fed my hunger for food, neon and verbal/visual whimsy. I felt that youthful jolt during the nifty Indiana A-to-Z retrospective running through January 25 at the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley. The show is anchored by several series of his No. 1 icon, a two-over-two stack of “LOVE” letters. The prints, poems and punctuations made me notice, for the first time, that the “L” in “LOVE” mimics a foot kicking the “O” like a big bowling ball. They also made me think of other illuminated messages: Billboards. Packing crate labels. Subway station signs. Capital character letters in medieval manuscripts. “LOVE” is bookended by “HOPE,” another two-over-two stack that presents a playful paradox. As a word, “Hope” is more subtle and slippery than “love.” As an artistic concept, it’s bulkier and flatter. It’s flattened further by four prints with awkward photos of hope promoters, including Barack Obama and Madonna. The exhibit is weakened by a gallery of 26 prints of alphabet letters, two walls of mere wall dressing. It’s strengthened by a bubbling Pop Art timeline and a companion show of Museum-owned Pop pieces. A dress printed with Andy Warhol’s soup cans led me to think of Indiana as Warhol’s pop-rock cousin and a psychedelic Dr. Seuss. ■

Thom Nickels is the author of Philadelphia Architecture, Tropic of Libra, Out in History and Spore, and the recipient of the 2005 Philadelphia AIA Lewis Mumford Architecture Journalism Award.

Geoff Gehman is the author of the memoir The Kingdom of the Kid: Growing Up in the Long-Lost Hamptons (SUNY Press).

We spoke with filmmaker Nancy Kates, whose film, Regarding Susan Sontag, had its Philadelphia premier at the Jewish Museum. The effervescent Kates describes meeting Sontag years ago at a Meet Susan Sontag Night on the campus of the University of Chicago. Kates, who had been struggling with a paper on Jackson Pollack, found the artistic answers she was looking for in Sontag’s essays in Against Interpretation, but when she went to tell Sontag this she says that the diva looked at her “with utter disdain,” as if she were thinking, “I have better things to work on than helping a hapless undergrad.” Sontag, of course, could run hot or cold. We felt the cold years ago when she spoke at the Free Library on the subject of Sarajevo and greeted us with a slightly hostile bark when we attempted to speak to her at the reception.

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Veil Over Manhattan, by Christopher Kennedy

A Separate View Christopher Kennedy and Richard Sherman Red Filter Gallery 74 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ www.redfiltergallery.com Through January 11 “Things Known and Things Unknown”: All six of my images in this exhibition utilize the Photo Luminism technique, a method I devised for creating complex abstractions of light. It involves rehearsed manipulation of the camera, settings and lens, whilst the sensor is exposed to ‘lightscapes’ that have been meticulously crafted or chosen specifically to recreate an image in my mind. My intention with this series is to show an elusive side of light that the human eye cannot perceive on its own, and in so doing evoke a sense of awe and wonder, stimulating thought and conversation. —Christopher Kennedy “Patagonia: Nature’s Elements as Adversaries”: I am a photographer who captures the peace and tranquility of nature through clean, uncluttered composition. I make attentive use of space and natural light, and my images are designed to provide a visual escape for others, a refuge from the stress and chaos of modern life. My photographs range from serene landscapes and seascapes to dramatic black and white images and beautiful color abstracts. I travel extensively and will be exhibiting select black and white images from Patagonia in this series. —Richard Sherman

Cupid's Arrow, 11 x 10 oil by Margret Short, AWA Master

Geissbach Falls, 10 x 14 oil by Kenn Backhaus, OPA & AIS Master

Annual Small Works Show Highlands Art Gallery 41 North Union Street, Lambertville, NJ 908-766-2720 www.highlandsartgallery.com Through December 31 With the holidays right around the corner, the gallery has many small paintings and sculpture, perfect for gift giving. The subject matter is quite diverse, from still life to landscapes, even some dogs and cats! For the person who has everything (everyone has one) there is the option to have a painting commissioned of a pet, car, boat, vacation spot or loved one. There is still time, but don’t delay.

Perito Moreno Glacier, by Richard Sherman

Fitz Roy Exhales, by Richard Sherman

Peonies in Porcelain, by Elizabeth Robbins, 12 x 16 oil, AWA Master, OPA & NOAPS Signature Member

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Shopping With the Artists Red Tulip Gallery 19C West Bridge St., New Hope, PA 267-454-0496 www.RedTulipCrafts.com December 3, 5pm-9pm Gift giving is on everyone’s mind at this time of year, but finding the ideal gift can be difficult. Red Tulip helps make your choice easier with a broad selection of handmade fine craft from local artists. Shop with the artists while enjoying a glass of wine and holiday snacks. Red Tulip Gallery is an artists’ cooperative gallery featuring the work of nearly 30 members of the Bucks County Guild of Craftsmen. All work is hand-crafted by the gallery members. A wooden bowl by Bernard Hohlfeld for your mother, a pair of Monique Perry’s silver enameled cufflinks for your husband, a ceramic serving plate by Merle Slyhoff for your wife, a Santa by Nancy Gibbs to set on your fireplace, a pair of earrings by Adrienne Romano for your best friend… just a few of the many items. Merle Slyhoff, a member artist, commented: “It’s always a unique shopping experience at Red Tulip, but on ‘Shopping With the Artists’ night the shopper will have the opportunity to interact with a number of the artists, to ask questions, to get help putting together a gift package.”

A Thousand Words

STORY AND PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

The Way it Goes YES, THE DISPLAY OF autumn foliage arrived later this year. The time when trees stop producing chlorophyll has advanced farther into the season four-and-a-half days in the last thirty years. Considering that spring arrives earlier now, and there are just so many days in between, it is no wonder winter is getting cranky. Research—the science kind—indicates that the delayed leaf change is not due to the rise in temperature as much as the increased CO2 level, which keeps the trees jazzed up instead of preparing for winter. That leaves them vulnerable to the harsh weather and insects, and fewer trees mean more CO2. That’s just one mechanism of climate change. There will be consequences. Claims of ignorance are no excuse. Spring has its way of awakening the spirit, but autumn rewards like a nice cognac next to the fire after dinner. I love the organic aromas, the piles of crisp leaves, and the visuals. Those are the colors you will find on my palette. Umbers, siennas and ochres—made from the earth—are the foundation of every painting I do. This fall has been particularly tenacious. It is now the third week of November and I still see spectacular trees. Every time I think it’s over I come around a corner and get hit with another salvo of oranges and reds. Autumn is the best time of year for morning walks along the canal. Colder weather discourages mosquitoes, gnats, ticks and bicyclists, so you can just relax and take in the show. When the wind kicks up, leaves rain gently in a twirling shimmer to rival the beauty of any snowfall. Each tree has a puddle of color around its base and a cheerful patchwork sails past on the water’s surface. The air is cool but the ground still holds onto its warmth, making it easy to be outside. Spring is the opposite. During those early days of balmy breezes there is always a layer of cold around your legs as the earth resists the thaw. It pulls the heat out of you, especially if you’re standing still painting. Central Park in the fall has a different ethos. The crowds haven’t diminished much from summer and it’s full of people who are on their way to somewhere, plopped on benches with iPads or just enjoying the outdoors. There are a lot of tourists. Paths and hillsides become heavily populated on a nice day. It’s a wonderful place to be when the leaves are turning, but you’re never alone, except in that everyone is in their own New York bubble kind of way. I’ve noticed a considerable number of Asian couples having their wedding photos taken on weekdays in the park. They differ from the typical “American” wedding picture sesRobert Beck maintains a gallery in Lambertville, NJ. His annual exhibition, Open Road, runs through December 23. robert@robertbeck.net.

sion in that they don’t include an entourage of family and attendants, just the photographer and the couple. The bride keeps one hand on the groom’s arm and holds up her dress with the other as the three of them trek from spot to spot in search of a perfect sentiment. It’s difficult to take a picture anywhere in Central Park without getting people in it, and it’s impossible at the popular wedding photo sites. You’ll see a Happy Couple lovingly posed against the wall at Bethesda Fountain with some guy in a knit cap eating chips sitting on one side and a girl texting on the other. I was painting on a slope overlooking The Lake and there were five wedding photo sessions in my view forward, two more behind. Multiple blooms of white satin dazzled against the deep colors reflected in the water. Forget about avoiding the tourists—they were having trouble not

getting too many brides in the picture. In spite of all the people, Central Park has a surprising abundance of wildlife. While I was working, a red-tailed hawk darted out of the trees and intercepted an unsuspecting starling in a mid-air explosion of feathers. Poor guy never saw it coming. The hawk glided to the grass right in front of me with his prey in his talons and calmly waited, staring at the humans who were pushing strollers, posing in gowns, wandering the manicured paths, as the smaller bird struggled and died under his feet. A few people who witnessed the ambush rushed toward us fiddling with the settings on their cameras and cell phones. Not interested in celebrity, the hawk lifted off and flew back into the trees with easy, resolute strokes, the red tips of its tail gleaming in the sunlight, a limp black wing trailing from the bundle in his claws. ■

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Art

THE LIST OF ARTISTS who illustrate books for children is long. Many are immensely talented and create mesmerizing art for adult and child alike. By and large, art for children is vastly superior to today’s crop of fandango artists, whose art comprises twisted balloons, sharks in tanks and a crucifix in urine. Those artists work in triple-time for maximum price and little value. Therefore, it is a welcome relief and treat to see the work of Brian Selznick, currently at Delaware Art Museum. From Houdini to Hugo: The Art of Brian Selznick features more than a hundred works—painting and drawings—and runs through January 11. Selznick is a 48-year-old Newark, New Jersey native who grew up in East Brunswick. Though not yet in the same tier as Eric Carle (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See?), John Tenniel (Alice), Arthur Rachman (Peter Pan), Maurice Sendak (Wild Things) or Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Little Prince), Selznick is well on his way. The exhibition is uniquely suited to the Delaware Art Museum with its tradition of hosting and displaying Pyle, Wyeth, and Frank Schoonover. In fact, the Museum has set up installations of its own collection so comparisons can be made. The exhibition also has what most don’t…the books that have been illustrated. Pick up The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins at your own risk, since you may end up reading the entire book. Written by Barbara Kerley and illustrated by Selznick, it is a Caldecott Honor Book. The Invention of Hugo Cabret, written and illustrated by Selznick is more an all-ages 500-page novel than a children’s book. As Selznick describes it, it’s “not exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a movie, but a combination of all these things. [It is] by far the longest and most involved book I’ve ever worked on.” After winning the 2008 Caldecott Medal, the book—a work of American historical fiction inspired by the true story of French pioneer filmmaker Georges Méliès—was adapted Edward Higgins is a member of The Association Internationale Des Critiques d’Art.

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EDWARD HIGGINS

for film by Martin Scorsese in 2011. It was subsequently nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and won five. The story is about an orphan who secretly lives in a Paris train station and has an inherited automaton which needs to be repaired. In order to replace parts, Hugo steals toys from a toy booth owned by Méliès. (At the end of his life, although his films were widely shown, Méliès was destitute and sold toys in a Paris train station.) Selznick studied at Brown University, as well as the Rhode Island School of Design, and originally wanted to become a theatrical set designer. He came by that ambition possibly because he’s related to Hollywood’s David O. Selznick. After school, Selznick took a job designing window displays for Eeyore’s Children’s Bookstore in New York City. That led to the world of children’s literature and his first book, The Houdini Box, in 1991. Much of Selznick’s work has been influenced by Maurice Sendak, which he freely admits. His drawn characters are sometimes scary looking but never scary—they all appear as though they’re about to jump up and dance, cut a jig or swirl a waltz. They also have a cinematic quality which combines an iconic inner frame with shafts of light or elaborate heraldry like the seal in a superhero’s ring from a cereal box. Selznick will tackle almost any subject, such as Walt Whitman, Levittown housing projects, Houdini, Marian Anderson, airplane wing walkers, and, of course, the delightful Waterhouse Hawkins, shown lifting a curtain into his studio much like Peale introduced his house of wonders that would become the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The real Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, a sculptor who made life-size dinosaurs, has a deep connection to Philadelphia in that he came to the Academy of Natural Sciences on Logan Square and mounted the world’s first dinosaur skeleton in1868. How can that not appeal to children of all ages? Selznick currently divides his time between Brooklyn and San Diego where his partner, David Serlin, is a professor at the University of California. ■ Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Pkwy, Wilmington, DE (302) 571-9590. delart.org

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Art

BURTON WASSERMAN

cubism IT MUST HAVE TAKEN a considerable measure of creative daring for Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso to abandon traditional methods of pictorial representation, used in the Western art world since the time of the renaissance, when they co-invented cubism early in the 20th century! But, even though their initial efforts in this direction were met with misunderstanding by many artists and collectors, in due course their radical approach to treating subject matter was admired and even widely

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imitated. To this day, their allegiance to an independent vision, true to their own aesthetic convictions, continues to be admired by discerning connoisseurs and colleagues in the practice of painting. These facts come into sharp focus in a superb installation, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The exhibition is titled Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. It will remain on public view until February 16, 2015, allowing visitors to trace the evolution of Cubism from its early beginnings in the 20th century to later developments made clear with exceptional examples from this foundational style in the world of modern art. Specifically, the show includes major items by Braque and Picasso, as well as by their principal followers, Juan Gris and Fernand Léger. All of these artworks have been transferred as a gift to the Museum by Mr. Lauder from a group of masterpieces he acquired over a period of 40 years, beginning in 1976. Together, they form a body of artworks that comprise the basis of a new research center for studying contemporary art at the Metropolitan. In this capacity, they will serve as a setting for scholarship and archival documentation where the role of Cubism may be examined critically in relation to the other distinguished artworks that make up the encyclopedic, worldwide and historic holdings of the Museum. In the early stages of what came to be called analytical Cubism, instead of imitating the fixed space of the supposedly natural world, Braque and Picasso projected a sense of created volume, simultaneously viewed from several different points in space. It was articulated by flat planes, true to the reality of the canvas surface on which their paint strokes were applied. In a unique manner all their own, they define volumes that vibrate with life as your vision passes from one layer to the next, from transparent states to overlapping opaque planes of painted form. Beyond an invented, rather than imitated space, a most remarkable feature of these semi-abstractions is the feeling of rhythm that pulses vibrantly within their ordered structure. As you get in touch with the inner beat of the work, you find yourself becoming emotionally aware of living in a dynamic rather than a static cosmos. By 1912, Braque and Picasso, moved on to a later stage of abstraction, now generally called synthetic Cubism. Their image content went from an almost all-over grid pattern in subdued tones to a decorative interaction of vivid color, lively pattern, keen texture and pasted (collage) elements, all combined in composites of bold intensity. Picasso’s ‘Woman in a Chemise in an Armchair” is an especially striking example of this later approach. The semi-nude, seated figure is dramatically treated as a heroically scaled, erotic presence. Without question, it has an absolutely uncanny capacity for attaching its appearance to the backwall of your retinal memory. It surely takes exceptionally gifted visionaries with extraordinary powers of perception to mark the passage of time with accomplishments that transcend the limits of the ordinary and the pedestrian. As the installation at the Metropolitan demonstrates, this is precisely what Braque, Gris, Léger and Picasso accomplished. By the same token, such remarkable modern-day Benjamin Franklins as Einstein, Salk, Edison, Ford, Bell and the Wright Brothers also hailed the progress possible with the coming of the new age in the history of the world. Together, they were able to take steps going forward in the march of humankind’s presence on planet Earth. ■ Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave and East 82nd St., New York City (800) 468-7386 metmuseum.org Pablo Picasso, Nude in an Armchair. Horta de Ebro (present-day Horta de Sant Joan), summer 1909. Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 × 28 3/4 in. / 92.1 × 73 cm. Promised Gift from the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection. © 2014 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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Cinematters

PETE CROATTO

Foxcatcher

HE QUIETLY UNSETTLING FOXCATCHER is based on a sordid act—millionaire John du Pont’s 1996 murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz. The crime isn’t the thing here, but regret and possession and hard truths—all the little, unglamorous nicks that lead to headlines. Director Bennett Miller (Capote, Moneyball) not only identifies those details, he creates a stirring, deeply felt drama from them. In Miller’s world it’s now 1987. We meet Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum), Dave’s brother, and a fellow gold medal wrestler. People know Dave (Mark Ruffalo) and gravitate toward his leadership. Mark has to convince people of his worth. When he speaks at an elementary school—replacing Dave—he has to correct the receptionist writing out the check. “Dave’s my brother,” says Mark, who wears the medal. “We both won golds.” When Mark gets a mysterious call from a representative of John du Pont, the DuPont Co. heir, it represents an opportunity beyond moody solitude in a closet-dark apartment. Mark visits the sprawling Foxcatcher Farm in Newtown Square, PA and meets this mysterious solicitor (Steve Carell). Something is off. du Pont delivers star spangled aphorisms about America and glory in a halting, stilted manner, like a bad actor petrified of improvising. But du Pont, who fancies himself a patriot, gets his point across. He wants Mark to recruit America’s best amateur grapplers and train them at Foxcatcher’s spacious wrestling facility. Mark, finally, gets a chance to be his own man and has the 12 ■ I C O N ■ D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 ■ W W W . I C O N D V . C O M ■ W W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / I C O N D V

confidence of an important ally. It is, however, a doomed arrangement. du Pont lives in world where everything comes to him. (Mark lives on Foxcatcher’s grounds.) du Pont is filmed in a limited number of spaces: Foxcatcher, a helicopter, the gym. He exists in a sealed-off world; how many families have a video biography? Mark is a possession for du Pont’s hobby, a prop to create a legend. When du Pont brings Mark to speak at a banquet, du Pont writes the sycophantic, hero-worshipping speech introducing him as “the Golden Eagle of America” to the crowd. Before that, du Pont introduces a mostly silent Mark, donning the Olympic hardware, as a gold medal winner. Their growing friendship, and cocaine, causes training to slacken. du Pont wants friendship and results, so he recruits Dave (who initially balked) to take over. The move scars Mark and exposes du Pont to something he cannot have. Dave may be Mark’s rival, but he loves his brother unconditionally. There’s a wonderful scene where Mark—his pride in splinters—loses a match and proceeds to trash his hotel room and gorge himself on room service. Dave finds him, comforts him, and drives Mark to lose 12 pounds in 90 minutes. du Pont tries to see Mark; Dave keeps shooing him way. We don’t hear the words, but we see the rich man’s hurt. Money cannot buy love and devotion. du Pont is desperate to impress his mother (played with palpable snootiness by Vanessa Redgrave) by creating his own path. The farm’s horses—and the trophies—are hers. Wrestling is his time to finally shine. When mom visits the gym, du Pont urges the guys to separate so she can see him spout inspirational gibberish in this play date for grown-ups. It’s easy to understand why she leaves after maybe two excruciating minutes. Much praise (deservedly) has been devoted to Carell’s performance as du Pont. The veteran funnyman keeps you off-balance, plus we see the sad, little man behind the awkward male bonding and condition-driven approach to friendship. Tatum continues to effectively use his aw-shucks, spacy persona in any genre. (21 Jump Street, anyone?) In Foxcatcher, he embodies the shaky personality of someone who knows they are forever a step behind. It’s Ruffalo, though, who best captures the movie’s subtle brittleness: the head tilt and soft, sympathetic voice he uses when talking to Mark; the internal negotiation when a videographer requests he call du Pont his mentor. Ruffalo’s work is the movie’s most eerie element. Dave’s easy compassion cannot possibly exist in this world of unstable personalities. Credit must go to Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye for transferring the kind of emotional turmoil found in great books to the screen. It’s a tribute to Miller’s truthfulness— and his refusal to soften the blow of three men’s souls colliding—that Mark Schultz is the surviving party in name only. Foxcatcher may not be factually accurate, but it feels emotionally accurate. That’s all that matters. [R] ■ An ICON contributor since 2006, Pete Croatto also writes movie reviews for The Weekender. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Broadway.com, Grantland, Philadelphia, Publishers Weekly, and many other publications. Follow him on Twitter, @PeteCroatto.

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Keresman on Film

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS/infamous people in the world—depending on your point of view—is Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the ultra-top-secret National Security Agency. Snowden was privy to the so-called “secret” that our government spies upon its citizenry for the sake of “security.” To some, Snowden is a heroic whistleblower, while to others he’s a traitor who may have compromised the USA’s security. Citizenfour is a documentary based on Snowden, how he deals with his “celebrity” and its pitfalls, such as staying in the USA would get his ass thrown in jail. So he sought and got asylum in a country known the world over for its thorough and kind attention to human rights: Russia. (Just ask members of the Russian anarchist punk band Pussy Riot.) But hey, this is not to judge Snowden, it’s about the movie. Director Laura Poitras follows Snowden and assorted interested parties in the UK, Germany, Russia, Brazil, and more. We see assorted folks in the fields of government and journalism talking about how Snowden revealed that the US intelligence community spies upon our citizens and those of our allies, and the concepts that the intelligence network of the USA (and presumably that of other countries—the UK

MARK KERESMAN

Citizenfour has its own counterpart to the NSA) have too much power and routinely violate the right of privacy of innocent citizens. Others will counter, Well, yeah, we spy on people— heck, J. Edgar Hoover nearly made his life’s work of it and spies from Israel and Russia have been caught spying in the USA. But back to Snowden—this movie does not get very far beneath the surface of its reluctant star. Some folks have suggested that Snowden was, uh, in favor of spying before he was against it. Why didn’t Snowden reveal the scoop during G.W. Bush’s administration? Or did Snowden, who (word has it) leans toward Libertarianism (or: Ayn Rand is my shepherd, I shall not want, stay off MY lawn), want to embarrass the Obama administration? After all, you get a job with a top-secret intelligence outfit and you’re shocked, shocked that they spend most of their time spying on people. We see Snowden looking worried, harried, and at times, vain. We see lots of people debate the dubiousness of spying on citizens—but why not a look at the other side of the fence? Did Snowden endanger the security of the USA by blowing the whistle? Aren’t there good reasons that security agencies spy on people? If the intelligence community had been on the ball maybe 9/11 wouldn’t have happened.

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The film is boring. Lots of people talk here, lots of people talk there, lots of people look concerned and/or angry at the USA and/or its intelligence agencies, Snowden looks weary, then arrogant, then blandly concerned. We see lots of fingers on keyboards, lots of mouths on phones, lots of people on TV screens, lots of people hustling through airports, a different country on the screen every 15 or so minutes, almost as if to remind us that this is a movie about media around the globe. Snowden himself appears to be almost a cipher—I never got a sense of the righteousness of his actions. In fact, Snowden seems complacent, relishing his celebrity as much as he disdains it. The pacing is glacial, the tone of the film often preachy. (Spying is “bad,” but aren’t there times it’s necessary?) Because the filmmaker is so close to Snowden, Citizenfour almost seems like a puff piece. You’d think a movie about a guy who’s involved with a secret intelligence agency wouldn’t be this boring. ■ Mark Keresman also writes for SF Weekly, East Bay Express, Pittsburgh City Paper, Paste, Jazz Review, downBeat, and the Manhattan Resident.

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Bad Movie

MARK KERESMAN

Oz the Great and Powerful

HAT ARE THE OZ, err, odds of a prequel to a classic being any good? This writer has said it before and will state it yet again (but I’ll try to pep it up to avoid redundancy): Hollywood studios too often spend millions of dollars on a movie’s special effects and $1.98 on a movie’s script… and as anyone who’s seen many movies can tell, you can have the greatest director and coolest cast but without a good script, you got nuttin’. Case in point is Disney Studios’ prequel to one of the most popular movies in history, The Wizard of Oz. While Oz The Great and Powerful stars two former acting sensations du jour, James Franco and Mila Kunis, and is directed by Sam Raimi (an otherwise good director who sunk the first Spider-Man franchise), it oozes nearly everything that’s amiss with mainstream Hollywood films: Acting that’s indifferent or over-the-top, a story that doesn’t really seem that central to the movie, a dubious moral message, and an over-reliance on computer-generated effects (CGI) to put the whole mess across. In Oz, James Franco seems to be channeling William Shatner. As Oscar “Oz” Diggs, Franco overplays his character, Shatner-like, as a materialistic, womanizing sleazeball. Of course, such a character has to be shown to have some “redeeming” qualities. Here, we fail to see a “redemption”—even though it’s written in the script that he’s, uh, redeemed. Though the character doesn’t discernibly change or evolve—Oscar “Oz” Diggs is still a fulltime, full-of-himself jerk, a leering, selfish creep—he’s supposed to have somehow grown

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a heart of gold. In this prequel there are three witches, and naturally they’re all charmed by Oz the sleazeball: Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and Rachel Weisz. Kunis (slight spoiler alert) transitions from a good to a bad witch, and in effect becomes a ham sandwich (sorry) with an extra high-calorie portion of ham and a crappy make-up job. What of the Little People? Fear not, there’s a wisecracking dwarf to brighten this phantasmagorical journey. (Gosh, I never saw that in a movie before. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a diminutive character where his/her height was irrelevant?) Zach Braff plays a flying monkey, as you knew he would. What do most people recall about the original Wizard of Oz movie? The characters. For the most part, there aren’t really any “characters” here that involve us, that we care about. There are, however, lots of actors doing stuff in front of green screens, onto which the rest of the movie is added. While the special effects of the original seem dated to contemporary viewers, special effect-gimmickry was never the central point—the point was in the characters, their values, and how they each added significant substance to the film. Further, the tone of the movie was all over the place. We’re supposed to be drawn into a fantasy world in which the participants seem to be denizens of planet Earth in 2013. Was this a whimsical fairy tale or a parody of one? A movie for children or one for self-aware adults? A modern, edgy recasting and retelling of a classic movie—or at least the premise of said movie—or a combination of the two? Who knows? Who cares? Oz The Great and Powerful makes me appreciate films such as The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964) all the more. ■

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Reel News

GEORGE OXFORD MILLER / REVIEWS OF RECENTLY RELEASED DVDS ★=SKIP IT; ★★=MEDIOCRE; ★★★=GOOD; ★★★★=EXCELLENT; ★★★★★=CLASSIC

The Trip to Italy.

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) ★★★ Cast: Helen Mirren, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon, Om Puri. Genre: Drama Based on the novel by Richard C. Morais. Rated PG Madame Mallory (Mirren) and her Michelin-rated restaurant rule supreme in Saint-Antonin, a picturesque village in southern France. So naturally the gourmet queen gets combative when an Indian restaurant opens across the street 100-feet away. For the Kadam family, whose restaurant was destroyed in India, the Maison Mubai is a dream come true. For Mme. Mallory, it’s a personal insult that anyone would think garish, spicy food could compare with her subtle, sophisticated cuisine. But as in any good tale, love finds a way. Hassan (Dayal), the talented son, and Marguerite (le Bon), Mme. Mallory’s sous chief, cook up their own kitchen magic. Lasse Hallstrom, who directed the 2000 film Chocolat, once again combines culinary drama, gourmet passion, and romance into a delectable menu, totally predictable but no less satisfying.

The Skeleton Twins (2014) ★★★★ Cast: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader Genre: Drama Rated R Dysfunctional families have always been popular fodder for novels, movies, TV, Broadway. Maybe because the extreme gives us a clearer understanding of what’s normal, or maybe just because the entertainment industry thinks dysfunction is what’s normal. The movie opens with a failed suicide, and gets serious from there. When Maggie (Wiig) gets a call that her estranged twin brother Milo (Hader) is in the hospital, she brings him home to recuperate, physically and emotionally. Turns out she’s a mess, too. What looks like a perfect marriage is an illusion, like the suffering sibs, about to implode. Their only hope of survival is each other, and generous amounts of satire and humor. The take-home theme is the essential human need for unconditional love. When parents can’t accept and love their children, regardless of how good or bad, sane or crazy they are, sibs must take up the slack.

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Magic in the Moonlight (2014) ★★★ Cast: Colin Firth, Emma Stone Genre: Dramatic comedy Directed by Woody Allen. Rated PG-13 In the 1920s, magic, clairvoyance, and séances were all the rage, especially those who claimed to channel the deceased. Houdini and other well-known magicians campaigned to expose the purveyors of the supernatural as charlatans and con artists. In Allen’s latest European fairy tale, the stern Stanley Crawford (Firth) is a rationalist who trusts only what his five senses can perceive, yet on stage he plays a Chinese illusionist with magic powers. When not astounding audiences, he exposes fraudulent magicians who claim otherworldly connections. A friend invites him to the Riviera to debunk a beautiful young American medium, Sophie Baker (Stone). But Sophia’s séances are so convincing that Stanley begins to doubt his own concept of reality, or is the most powerful magic of all, love, clouding his perceptions? Allen’s movie is lightweight for sure, but expertly acted and set in classic European opulence.

The Trip to Italy (2014) ★★★ Cast: Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, Rosie Fellner Genre: Comedy / Drama No rating Hurray for a male-bonding buddy movie that doesn’t insult males! In this sequel to The Trip (2010), British comedians Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan once again impersonate themselves on a culinary road trip. Their fictitious assignment: cruise Italy as food writers in a Mini Cooper convertible and sample the best cuisine the country has to offer. But more than showcasing sumptuous settings and culinary classics, the movie focuses on the interactions and ingenious dialogue of two men who obviously see the world on a tilt. You wonder how their outrageous rambling and deadon impersonations of movie stars could have been scripted. This isn’t a Dumb and Dumber farce, it’s comic genius exploring and interpreting life and civilization as we think we know it, but from a definitely twisted viewpoint. ■

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FLEA Music isn’t the only reason why Flea, the legendary bass player for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, appears in Low Down, the film adaptation of Amy Albany’s memoir of life with her father, Joe, a talented jazz pianist—and a raging heroin addict.

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Exclusive Interview FOR FLEA, WHO PLAYS trumpet player Lester Hobbs, Joe Albany’s strung-out friend, the movie meant more than an interesting supporting role. He actually lived what is depicted in Low Down. His stepfather was a jazz bassist—Flea played trumpet before the bass beckoned—and, Flea told RollingStone.com, an unstable junkie. “It meant a lot to me, so I gave everything I had,” says Flea, who also served as an executive producer on the film with Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman Anthony Kiedis. Flea, 52, who has had small roles in everything from Back to the Future Part II to The Big Lebowski, delivers an authentic performance that makes you wish he had more screen time. Low Down, which opened in Philadelphia last month, is rivetingly unsentimental. It is worth your time. In conversation last month, Flea was eloquent and honest. Below, he explains his deep love of classic jazz, how Low Down helped him grow as an actor, and why his love for music won’t die. This interview has been edited for clarity.

PETE CROATTO

much music meant to them. But my love for music, and my love for the jazz that those guys loved, is so deep and profound in me. It means so much to me when I listen to Fats Navarro or Max Roach or Lester Young or any music like that. That’s the music that I listened to that touches me so deeply. That’s something that now, no matter how commercially successful I am, my love for that music is so deep that I could tap that, you know? I know what it’s like to be down and bummed out. There’s a well of sadness that I had to draw from that served me well for that part.

Did you feel more pressure to deliver a good performance because you’re working with such accomplished actors: John Hawkes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close, etc.? I don’t know if “pressure” is the right word. I really wanted to honor them. I know how seriously they take their art and how much it means to them. I wanted to honor not only them, but Jeff [Preiss], who was directing it, and Amy [Albany], who wrote the script. Just my belief in the project itself, I really wanted to honor everybody, so I gave everything I could. And it really helps to be working with actors of such a high caliber. They were really welcoming to me, and made me feel comfortable. I think what makes them so good is they know how to be there for everybody else that’s in the scene. Because of that, it’s like being Magic Johnson in basketball: you have to lift all the people around you and you make them better than they knew that they could be.

You’ve said that you related to the script, and I understand why. But was there a part of you that was scared or reluctant to take this part? Your childhood wasn’t exactly idyllic. I wasn’t scared at all to go back in time like that. I don’t really know what an idyllic childhood is, to tell you the truth, so I don’t have anything to compare it to. I don’t know what it would be like to have any other kind of childhood. And I love it. I embrace my childhood. There were things that were really painful in my childhood, but it’s my pain. It’s my childhood. It meant a lot for me to go back and think about that. And, honestly, as sad as a film as Low Down is, thinking about the time when I was a kid and I would see those jazz guys play music in my living room—in whatever state of consciousness they were in—that was one of the most inspiring, joyful times of my entire life. For me, to do something that would shed light on them and what they had to go through at that time—because they were these great musicians who couldn’t get work—it was really nice for me just to think about it. I have such fond memories and I hold them really dear to my heart. During filming where there points where memories from that time rushed to your head? I don’t know if I had it when I was filming the movie. Subconsciously, I think those things flow through me. Definitely in thinking about the film, building up to it, and after it made me think about specific instances really intimately. But when doing the actual filming, I think I was more caught up in the moment of the scene that we were doing, which was one little moment in time. But, for sure, everything in my life informed every moment of filming I did. How do you play a character like Hobbs, because you guys are on opposite sides of the spectrum? Well, I grew up with those jazz guys and I really empathize and could relate to where they were at, because they were around me all the time when I was a kid. These are the jazz guys who grew up loving the bebop greats of the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s and they dedicated their lives to this music. And in the ‘70s, they couldn’t get work. A lot of them were strung out, but they were brilliant musicians and they had so much love for music. So in one way I could get really into it because I knew those guys so well—their mannerisms, their relationship to the world and to music, how

tion run through you to be a vehicle for something way bigger than you; that takes time to understand how to put yourself in a position to be able to do that. And you still can’t always do it. But you can know how to get yourself there so you’re ready to do it. I know how to do that with music, but I didn’t really know how to do that with acting. I learned, I studied, and it really helped me. This film meant so much to me. It felt so important to me that I wanted to do anything I could to give everything I had.

With Low Down out of the way, would you consider more acting opportunities? Yeah, for sure. It actually whet my appetite. I always thought of acting as, “Eh, it’s kind of fun.” I love movies and I like being part of movies. Having had the feeling of channeling something that felt like a real powerful energy, it opened up a new world for me in terms of feelings that are possible in acting. So, I’d like to do it again in the right circumstance.

Was this a difficult role to play because so much is involved? Yeah, it was difficult. I had to play a part that is vastly different than who I am. I’m a health nut. I drink green tea. I eat kale. I don’t shoot heroin and live that kind of lifestyle. But I did at one time, when I was younger, so I know it. It was difficult to tap that energy. Lucky for me, I have some friends who are really good actors who gave me some good help in terms of how to prepare. Because even though you can cerebrally understand something, to really be able to channel it and let it flow through you is a whole other thing. I really kind of learned how to do that on this movie, and I didn’t know how to do that before. Even though I’ve done lots of little parts in plenty of movies, it was always kind of a cerebral thing for me. I mean, I would get into it and find the emotion, but it’s not the same as this. This is definitely the most serious acting role I’ve ever had. Also, I really had to get into a different frame of mind. There are skills to do that. Like I know when I’m playing music, it’s kind of similar. You know cerebrally how the song goes and all your notes and scales and have the tactile and technical ability to do it—but to really feel it, to let the emo-

I know you’re working on an album with the Chili Peppers now. Is it hard to get those opportunities? I don’t know. I don’t really know. I guess if something comes up that I believe in and it’s presented to me and I have the time to do it, I’ll do it. I don’t know. [Laughs] I can’t answer that question. How is the album going? Is everything on track? Everything is right on track. As always, we let it unfold and let it happen and we’re continually focused and working on it, making it as good as it can be. We’re just about to start tracking. I’m excited about it. You’ve been a musician for so long. What keeps you going back to music, especially performing with the amount of energy you do? I just love music. Obviously, with the Chili Peppers we’ve been really lucky to make a good living out of it. We’re at the point where we wouldn’t have to do it if we didn’t want to. For me, I’ll be playing music till the day I die. In what context and how, I don’t know, but the energy that I have inside of me, that coil that needs to unwind, music is such a great vehicle for that. I lust love it. I love the meditative aspects of it. I love entertaining people. I love bringing joy to people. I love sitting by myself with my instrument and playing it. I love it. It makes my life meaningful. I couldn’t imagine not doing it. ■

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Exclusive Interview ROSARIO DAWSON, UNBOUND

Breezing through Los Cabos and gearing up for two new films, the enduringly cool actress dishes on the willful freedom that’s kept her at once grounded and consummately busy.

osario Dawson is all over the map. When asked about her new thriller, The Captive, and why characters bound by situations beyond their control are so compelling, she launches into anecdotes about travel, about “music transcending time,” and about how Kids, her 1995 breakthrough film, scared her straight in terms of avoiding the life-crushing decisions made by the movie’s teenagers. Dawson’s zigzagging discourse is directly reflective of her 20-year acting career, which has never been easily definable or beholden to any specific genre or budget. She’s appeared in indie favorites like Shattered Glass and Sidewalks of New York, multiplex fare like Alexander and Josie and the Pussycats, and a wealth of geek-friendly flicks like Clerks II

stoop. We’re plopped on a sectional sofa in her cushy suite in Cabo San Lucas’s Hacienda resort, a towering property whose multi-tiered architecture cascades down to the beach like a waterfall. Both of us are here for the third annual Los Cabos Film Festival, where Dawson is introducing a screening of The Captive (in which she stars as a detective), and presenting an honorary tribute to its Canadian director, Atom Egoyan. The growing festival strives to merge the cinema of Canada, America, and Mexico, and as our conversation shifts to cross-cultural nuances, the actress, who was New York-born but holds Cuban and Puerto Rican heritage, highlights the nuances of the Latino community. “On the outside, so often, if someone is Latin or Hispanic, or whatever

I think it’s really incredible to just to be in your body in general, whether it feels sexual or not. That’s something I talk about often.

Maya Angelou was very much in her body—she wore every scar, every abuse, every poem, every flight, every experience she ever had, and she spoke like Mother Earth, like it came from the ground. and Death Proof. She could firmly hold top billing for a major weekend release, while still maintaining the street cred many actors wash away when drinking the Hollywood Kool-Aid. “It’s really fun to still be all over the place,” Dawson says. “At this point, I don’t feel like I’m experimenting anymore, but it’s definitely fun exploring and challenging myself. From [Danny Boyle’s] Trance to The Captive to something like Sin City 2, they’re almost schizophrenic, these roles. That’s how I see it. It’s less about keeping credibility than it is about keeping things interesting. And it’s been a journey. I didn’t expect to get into film and that wasn’t something that I was looking for, so all along the way it’s been a discovery.” Now 35, Dawson was herself discovered at 15 on her family’s stoop in New York City. Outside, Kids director Larry Clark and screenwriter Harmony Korine were shooting a commercial for Vibe magazine and, encouraged by her father to get into the biz, Dawson wound up making a cameo in the clip, if only one that had her dancing in silhouette. Dawson seems to remember every detail of the day, like the “really disgusting” key grip she was inexplicably attracted to, and the wall she was asked to stand in front of by Clark and Korine, filmmakers who, not long after, would put her on a path to stardom. (“They’re still my favorite casting directors of all time,” she says with a knowing laugh.) It’s mid-November, and Dawson and I are a world away from that fateful

R. Kurt Osenlund is the managing editor of OUT magazine. In addition to ICON, his work has also appeared in Details, Slant, Esquire, Time Out New York, and more. Follow him on Twitter @AddisonDeTwitt and on Tumblr at rkurtosenlund.tumblr.com

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you call people of that origin or part of the world, they just get lumped into one kind of space,” Dawson says. “I remember when I was in high school and living in Texas, and people would be like, ‘Oh are you Mexican?’ And I’d be like, ‘No, I’m Puerto Rican and Cuban.’ And they’d say, ‘Oh, so do you speak Puerto Rican?’ And I was like, ‘You do realize that Puerto Rico is part of America, right? Like, you should actually know the answer to this question, and that it’s really offensive and sad for you that you don’t?’ [Laughs] My uncle’s a teacher, and the one thing I’ll always remember is that he was teaching this one little boy from Mexico who kept getting picked on by other kids in the class. My uncle leaned over and whispered something into [the boy’s] ear, and the next time someone pushed him he was like, ‘My people made pyramids. What did your people make?’” As all of the best actors do, Dawson possesses a keen sense of empathy, which has allowed her to deftly play a diverse range of characters. She’s been a rebel leader (The Rundown), a waitress in distress (Men In Black II), an HIV-positive performer (Rent), a special agent (Eagle Eye), a vengeful rape victim (Descent), and a fact-based civil rights leader (Cesar Chavez). This December, in addition to The Captive, she’ll appear in Chris Rock’s Top Five, a comedy in which Rock is credited as director, writer, and star, and in which Dawson takes on something wildly different than portraying a woman investigating the disappearance of a young girl. The actress plays a journalist for the New Yorker who’s profiling an actor’s (Rock) impending marriage to a reality TV star (Gabrielle Union). The project marks Dawson’s continued efforts to try new lives on for size—not to mention venture to some potentially dangerous places. “People can get stuck in a certain way of being,” she says, “and it’s really easy for all of us to get get caught up in that—where ten years have gone by and suddenly you think, ‘Have I really had my head stuck in the mud the

R. KURT OSENLUND

whole time or have I been present?’ And I think the benefit of being an actor is I’m constantly putting myself into other people’s shoes, and therefore, also taking myself out of mine. For me, it’s been an incredible growing opportunity to go and explore these different roles, and see people struggle with their identities and their cultures and the agreements that they’ve made. I love that I get to share that with folks, and maybe rock their boat a bit. Top Five is a comedy and it’s a totally, completely different thing for me, so it’s still an exploration. There’s one scene that was really intense—and you’ll know it when you see it—and I just remember Chris saying, ‘Don’t worry Rosario...you’ll have a career after this.’” Dawson goes on to say that she put her trust in Rock, as she has with a number of directors, particularly in the way she projects her beauty and sexuality on screen. She admits that there have been times throughout her career, either when doing a film or engaging in a photo shoot, that she’s felt she’s had to compromise in terms of the portrayal of her sex appeal. However, looking at the actress’s filmography, it’s hard to pinpoint a moment in which she seems sexually exploited. Dawson’s work is laced with bracing representations of female power, and sexuality that stretches far beyond window dressing and frat boy pandering. In Death Proof, she plays one of multiple badass feminists fighting back against their attacker; in Trance, she plays a woman whose actual nether regions play a vital and pivotal role in the narrative; in the Sin City films, she plays a punk-rock street queen arguably more dangerous than any gun-toting man; and in Descent, a movie Dawson also produced, she plays someone who’s brutally degraded, but refuses to fully succumb to her despair. “I’m very open, and I don’t have an issue with sexuality, or nudity, or any of those things,” Dawson says, “but I definitely feel that, on camera, in the various roles that I’ve had,

I’ve been intent on being very strong in how I show that. There is a pressure that’s out there, and it’s always an interesting thing because it’s kind of come into friction with my own comfort and my own space and my own power—it’s interesting to see how other people interpret that and package it. I think it’s really incredible to just to be in your body in general, whether it feels sexual or not. That’s something I talk about often. Maya Angelou was very much in her body—she wore every scar, every abuse, every poem, every flight, every experience she ever had, and she spoke like Mother Earth, like it came from the ground. And that’s just who I want to be, and whatever that looks like when I get older, that’s what I’m going to be and portray. It’s not like I’m going to suddenly hide this or that; I just want to be able to feel in my skin and be where I am.” Though she certainly could, Dawson isn’t wearing anything skin-tight. She’s clad in a breathable black jumper that’s chic, yet amenable to the torrid Los Cabos temperatures that stretch into the evening. Behind her ear, you can notice where her head is still shaved, a physical memento from her transformation for Sin City 2, which she’s all too happy to acknowledge. Her dark locks simply dangle alongside the short-cropped patch, and she rocks her whole look with an enviable, effortless cool. The vibe is reminiscent of a liberating scene from Rent, in which her character, Mimi, stretches her arms in an all-but-empty New York alley, and belts the lyrics to the show’s memorable number, “Out Tonight.” Asked when she herself feels that kind of freedom, Dawson zigzags once again. It’s when she can sleep in late. No, it’s when she can travel to beautiful places. Or maybe it’s when she’s given opportunities to speak about important topics, like voting. “No,” she finally says with a giggle that’s streaked with authority. “It’s always.” ■

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Exclusive Interview

Common, in his role on AMC’s Hell on Wheels.

The unCommon

A. D. AMOROSI

COMMON—ONE OF HIP-HOP’S most socially conscious lyricists, one of cinema’s most reliable presences—seldom takes it easy on his chosen targets. With his first two albums, 1997’s One Day It’ll All Make Sense (featuring Philly-favored names such as Lauryn Hill and the Roots’ Black Thought) and 2000’s Like Water for Chocolate (produced by Roots drummer ?uestlove), he became one of the chairmen of the board of progressive hip-hop on the positive and positively literate tip. From there, Common kept going further, delving into the mistrust of the justice systems that bind and deny us, yet still looking for the good—the po-

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Christmas City Village Thru Dec. 21, every Fri. & Sat. 11am to 8pm, and Sun. 11am to 5pm, Tues., Dec. 22 & Wed., Dec. 23 11am to 8pm. Experience a German-inspired outdoor Weihnachtsmarkt, featuring traditional food, fine crafters and live holiday music in the same spirit as European Christmas festivals. In downtown Historic Bethlehem. Visitdowntownbethlehem.com SteelStacks Gingerbread House Competition & Exhibit Thru Dec. 23. Amazing gingerbread house creations in five different categories. Free. ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way. 610-332-3378. ArtsQuest.org/gingerbread

A D a n m u

Moravian Museum of Bethlehem Thru Jan 4. Mon.-Wed. 12-5 pm - gift shop only. Thurs.-Sat., 12-5 pm, and Sun., 12-4 pm. Featuring “Trees of Christmas Past” and the Gemeinhaus Putz. Admission included with Pass Into History, starting at $12 for adults and $6 for children ages 3-12. 66 West Church St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-867-0173. historicbethlehem.org

T H t v 1 5 t

Single Sisters’ House Thru Jan 4. Mon.-Sat., 12-5; Sun., 12-4. Featuring “Trees of Christmas Past” and the Sisters’ House Putz. Admission included with Pass Into History, starting at $12. 66 W. Church St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-691-6055. historicbethlehem.org

V D t c a S A

Live Advent Calendar Every night at 5:30 pm, beginning Dec.1. See what comes out of the door each night at the Goundie House, 501 Main St., the only Live Advent Calendar in the U.S. Free. Visitdowntownbethlehem.com Edgeboro Moravian Christmas Putz Dec. 1-22, Mon.-Fri., 9 am- 2 pm, by group reservation. Thurs.-Sat. 6-8 pm, and Sun. 3-6 pm open to the public. The birth of Jesus Christ is presented through site and sound. 610-866-8793. Edgeboromoravian.org Christmas City Stroll-Candlelight Walk Dec. 3-28, 11 am and 4 pm. Take a walk through downtown Historic Bethlehem with our certified guide in period dress. Tickets: $12 Adults/$6 Children 6-12. Historic Bethlehem Visitor Center, 505 Main St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-619-6055. Historicbethlehem.org Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem Dec. 4-7, 11-14 and 18-21. Thurs. & Sun. 11 am- 6 pm, Fri. & Sat. 11 am- 8 pm. Named one of the best holiday markets in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure. Aisles of handmade works by the nation’s finest artisans. Live holiday music, artist demonstrations, glass ornament workshops and St. Nicholas. $9 adults ages 13 and up, $5 ages 6-12, free for ages 5 and under. PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 E. First St., Bethlehem. 610-332-3378. Christmascity.org Historic Downtown Carriage Rides Dec. 4-7, Dec. 11-14, Dec. 18-24, Dec. 26-30 Carriages run every 20 minutes from 3-9 pm. Historic Bethlehem Visitor Center, 505 Main St. The perfect way to enjoy the lights, sights and sounds of Christmas City. $55. 610-6916055. Historicbethlehem.org

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Christmas City Follies XV, Vaudevillian Holiday Hijinx Dec. 4-21, Thurs.-Sat. 8 pm, Sun. 2 pm. Come and enjoy this sweet and irreverent variety show for the holiday season. Tickets: $25 Students/$15 Seniors. Touchstone Theatre, 321 East 4th St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-867-1689. Touchstone.org

The Nutcracker Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley Presenting Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Dec. 13, 1 & 4 pm. Dec. 14, 2 pm. Live music with orchestra. Baker Hall, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA.. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org

A Winter’s Tale Dec. 5- Jan. 4, Thurs.-Sat. 12-5 pm, Sun. 12-4 pm. Learn how artists Gustav Grunewald, Emil Gelhaar, and Antonio Martino played with hues and tones of this season in fine assortment of snow capped landscape paintings. Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts. 610-868-6868. Historicbethlehem.org

Luminaria Night Dec. 13, sundown. City-wide neighborhoods display luminaria lining the streets. Participation encouraged; kits can be purchased in advance. Proceeds benefit community members in need. Viewing is free; $10 kit includes 10 candles sand and bags. 610-691-5602. facebook.com/Luminarianight

Twelve Twenty Four, 13th Year Tour Holiday rock orchestra inspired by the TransSiberian Orchestra is an explosive, rockin’, fun-filled show. Multiple show venues and dates. Dec. 5 & 6 Mauch Chunk Opera House, 14 W. Broadway, Jim Thorpe. Dec. 19, Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown. Dec. 29, Zoellner Arts Center, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem. TwelveTwentyFour.net

Children’s Holiday Luncheon with Santa Dec. 13, 11:00 AM. Lunch buffet, photos with Santa, and gifts. Santa’s workshop gift shop, story time with Allentown Public Theatre. Allentown Brew Works, 812 W. Hamilton St., Allentown. Reservations required. Contact Wendie the Elf at 610-433-7777, ext. 25 or at Wendie@thebrewworks.com.

Vienna Boys Choir Dec. 5, 8 pm. Austrian folk songs and waltzes, classical masterpieces, beloved pop songs, holiday favorites and medieval chant. Gifted musicians that carry on the illustrious tradition as the world’s preeminent boy choir. Tickets: $35 Adult/$10 Student, plus fees. Miller Symphony Hall, 23 North 6th St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-6715. Millersymphonyhall.org Breakfast with St. Nicholas Dec. 6, and Dec. 13, 9 am. A morning with St. Nicholas, delicious breakfast, photo, admission to Christkindlmarkt, goodie bag, arts & crafts. Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem, PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 E. First St. $14.95 11 and older, $11.95 210, $6.95 age 2 and under. 610-332-3378. ArtsQuest.org Bethlehem Historic District Assoc. Holiday House Tour Dec. 6, 10 am- 4 pm. The tour includes nine residencies, Central Moravian Church and the impressive Hotel Bethlehem. $20 in advance/$22 online or $25 day of tour. Christmascity.org, Artsquest.org. The Bang Group’s Nut/Cracked Dec. 11, 8 pm. More than 30 students from Muhlenberg College’s dance department and The Lehigh Valley Charter School, Nut/Cracked is a journey into innocence through sustained fantasy, incorporating tap, ballet, contemporary, disco and toe tap. $20/$25. ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA. 610-332-3378. ArtsQuest.org Micky’s Monkees’ Christmas Show Dec. 12, 7:30 pm. Micky Dolenz, the voice behind The Monkees, will perform a night of Monkees hits and Christmas classics, and a Q&A session during the show. $47-$57. Musikfest Café, ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way. 610-3323378. www.artsquest.org 36th Annual Live Bethlehem Christmas Pageant Dec. 13-14, 1:45 pm. Singing, narration, actors and live animals come together in this reenactment of the historical events surrounding the birth of Christ. The event takes place outdoors. Free. Bethlehem Rose Garden Band Shell, off Eighth Ave., Bethlehem, PA.

The Holiday Ice Spectacular Dec. 19, 7:30 pm. State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton, PA. 610-252-3132, 1-800-999-STATE. Statetheatre.org Jimmy and the Parrots- Holiday Parrot Party Dec. 28, 8 pm. Grab your beach chair, suntan oil, favorite drink and get ready for a trip to the islands. $10-$12 in advance; $12-$15 day of show. Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling. ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way. 610-3323378. Artsquest.org PEEPSFEST Dec. 30-31; Tues., 10-4; Wed., 10-6. SteelStacks, First Street and Founders Way. Interactive family event. Live music, art and PEEPS-related programming. Event culminates Dec. 31, 5:15 p.m., with PEEPS Chick and fireworks. Free (some activities require a fee). 610-332-3378. Artsquest.org/peepsfest PEEPSFEST 5K Dec. 31, 1 p.m. Race starts at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way. Run, jog or walk. Prizes awarded. Runners can register in advance at www.active.com. Participants can also register the day of the race at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. 610-332-3378. ArtsQuest.org/peepsfest The Red Elvises’ New Year’s Eve Spectacular Dec. 31, 9 p.m. Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way. Showman extraordinaire Igor Yuzov is perpetually globetrotting and has found scores of wildly talented, entertaining performers to bring into the fold. 610-332-3378. Artsquest.org NY Gilbert & Sullivan Players/Allentown Symphony Orch The Mikado. Jan. 17, 8 PM. The Mikado, takes place in the Japanese town of Titipu, where everything goes topsy-turvy. Miller Symphony Hall, 23 North 6th St., Allentown, PA. 610432-6715. Millersymphonyhall.org Ivy & Bean, The Musical Jan. 25, 1 PM. Based on The New York Times best-selling children’s book series by author Annie Barrows, The Musical is the story of an unexpected friendship between two very different second graders. Miller Symphony Hall, 23 North 6th St., Allentown. 610-432-6715. Millersymphonyhall.org W W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / I C O N D V ■ W W W . I C O N D V . C O M ■ D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 ■ I C O N ■ 27

The List : DECEMBER 3 Strand of Oaks With HEAL, Indiana-toPhiladelphia transplant Tim Showalter has proven that you can make highly emotional, earnestly working class rock music without

succumbing to gut-busting Springsteen-ism. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. 8 p.m. Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St. $15, 215-232-2100, www.utphilly.com 4 Yusuf/ Cat Stevens Whatever you call him, the sensitive British singing/songwriting lion has turned to tougher soul sounds on his new album Tell ‘Em I’m Gone and its mix of misty-eyed originals and classics. Peace, freedom, and promise are still a part of his kit bag on “Cat and the Dog Trap” and “Doors,” but covers of Luther Dixon's brassy “Big Boss Man” and Edgar Winter's “Dying to Live,” are sexy, hauting trips to someone else’s songwriting well. 8 p.m. Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow, Upper Darby, PA. Sold out. 800-745-3000, www.Ticketmaster.com 5 Jhene Aiko and The Internet Jhene Aiko of Los Angeles is part of that new breed of girl singer, the ones who bide their time

5 Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood On their own, the stewing, stormy jazz-soul instrumental trio Medeski Martin & Wood is nothing to trifle with. When improvisational lounge jazz guitarist John Scofield joins in the fray, it’s a musky, funky mess, especially considering this quartet’s bottom-heavy new joint CD Juice and its dynamic sway. These will be the last MMW shows for a awhile, as the band plans to spend most of 2015 pursuing other projects, so get in there. 8 p.m. Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St. $30-$32, 215-232-2100, www.utphilly.com 6 Yo La Tengo With Lou Reed having passed away in 2013, there aren’t many singers who can hold their own against Reed in the deadpan department or lyricists who doubly

A curated look at the month’s arts, entertainment, food and pop cultural events 13 Dixy Blood A tight, fistful of several participants on the Philadelphia punk and rockabilly scene banded together as Dixy Blood,

and have penned their own murky brand of murder ballads and hard, hillbilly country music with two new albums to its name and this night’s record release party for both. 8 p.m., Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad St. $10, www.bootandsaddlephilly.com/ 14 The Temptations / The Four Tops Rather than waiting for Motown: The Musical, wouldn’t it just be easier to see these two vocal groups who made that label a sensation to begin with? 7 p.m. Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA. . $69, 59, 45, 800-745-3000, www.SandsEventCenter.com

dabble ably in street poetry and flippant talltale-telling. Singing instrumentalists (and married) Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley (along with bassist James McNew) have spent thirty years doing the best impersonation of the Velvet Underground that independent label money can buy. That’s so much of a compliment. They’ll celebrate three decades with this show and a deluxe reissue of their classic 1993 album, Painful. 8 p.m., Trocadero Theatre, 1003 Arch Street, $22.50 - $24, 215-922-6888, www.thetroc.com 7 The Fresh Beat Band: Greatest Hits Live This one-time television band takes kindierock to the extreme and actually teaches preschoolers to appreciate music beyond just holding up your iPhone in appreciation. 1:30pm & 5:30pm, Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow, Upper Darby, PA. $45, 39.50, 29.50, 19, 800-745-3000, www.Ticketmaster.com

making noise on famous hip hop records with their femme pop break in the middle of the big rap’s bridge. Luckily, her new album Souled Out lifts her above that fray fast with solid, self-penned songs, brisk teasing rhythms and that oh-so-sultry voice of hers. 8 p.m., Electric Factory, 431 N. 7th St. $29.50 / $35, 215-627-1332, www.electricfactory.info

A. D. AMOROSI

12 Jim Jefferies Philadelphia loves Australia’s most politically incorrect stand-up comedian, actor and writer as witnessed by his countless sell out appearances at the Trocadero. 8 p.m. Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, PA. $35, 800-745-3000, www.SandsEventCenter.com

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17 Opeth + In Flames The high priest of mean, clean Swedish heavy metal returns.

2012, Philly’s Shawn Kilroy has released 5 albums; 3 as a solo artist, and 2 with his 6 piece art funk ensemble, Weird Hot. He’s even got Ghosts, a 22-song compilation of “the better songs from those records,” and a new album, The Rodeo, in Weird Hot’s chute. A crucial night out with one of Philly’s finest. Philly’s El Malito provides wild Latin electronic sounds in advance of Weird Hot. 8 p.m. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave, $10, 215-739-9684, www.johnnybrendas.com 22 Tyler, the Creator featuring Taco Wonky sinister hip hop with uncomfortable misogynistic lyrics spoken here. 8 p.m. Theater of the Living Arts, 334 South Street, $30-$33, 800-745-3000, www.Ticketmaster.com 29 Aretha Franklin Aretha Franklin seems to be in fighting good shape, what from her weight loss to the sound of her mighty voice on her new album Sings the Great Diva Classics. What, divas greater than Aretha? Never. 8 p.m. Kimmel Center, 29 Television One of the originals of the Downtown NYC art-punk scene that spawned Blondie, Talking Heads, Patti Smith and the Ramones, guitarist-singer Tom Verlaine and the rest of Television have not always made the most of their post-Rimbaud poetry, its spindly intricacies and its fired-up solos. That’s why when they tour (as they do, so infrequently) or they record (even less so). Be there. 8 p.m. Theater of the Living Arts, 334 South Street, $25-$30, 800-7453000, www.Ticketmaster.com 31 Gogol Bordello/Man Man If you were considering a peaceful New Year’s Eve— quiet, collected—don’t go anywhere near the toast of the Ukraine, Eugene Hutz, or

8 p.m., Electric Factory, 431 N. 7th St. $25/$30, 215-627-1332, www.electricfactory.info 17 Justin Timberlake The occasional host of Saturday Night Live sings and dances, too. 8 pm. Wells Fargo Center, Broad and Pattison Ave, $49.50-$175, 1-800-298-4200, www.comcast-spectacor.com. 19 Weird Hot and El Malito By his own account, in his own words, between 2004 and

his cabaret-punk band of gypsies. Philly’s Man Man make much the same noise only without the accent. 9 p.m., Electric Factory, 431 N. 7th St. $40 - $100, 215-627-1332, www.electricfactory.info ■

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TOM WILK’S TOP TEN OF 2014 Dave and Phil Alvin Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy Yep Roc

Singer / Songwriter

TOM WILK

Bob Dylan & The Band ★★★★ The Basement Tapes Raw – The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 Columbia Once the most mysterious of Bob Dylan’s recordings, The Basement Tapes have been pulled out of the historical shadows with the latest installment of The Bootleg Series. The Basement Tapes Raw offers an unfiltered look at Dylan and The Band making music in a low-pressure environment in a makeshift, home recording studio in 1967. Drawing inspiration from folk, country, blues and early rock ‘n’ roll, Dylan is both serious and light-hearted in recording an eclectic mix of songs. He can barely contain his laughter on “Lo and Behold” and “Get Your Rocks Off.” He turns mournful on “Tears of Rage” and vaguely threatening on “This Wheel’s on Fire.” First released in a truncated version with overdubs in 1975, the latest installment features an audio verite approach, ranging from a low-fi take on “Don’t Ya Tell Henry” to a stunning “I Shall Be Released,” one of Dylan’s best vocal performances. Dylan also revisits some of his older songs. “One Too Many Mornings” with The Band’s Richard Manuel, singing the first verse, heightens the lyric’s sense of regret. “Blowin’ in the Wind” is revamped from an acoustic protest song to an electric, bluesy/gospel workout that stretches out for more than six minutes. Some performances are anomalies. A version of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues” seems out of Dylan’s comfort zone. The previously unreleased “Sign on the Cross” and “All You Have to Do is Dream” show the depth of Dylan’s songwriting and the ability of The Band to switch gears musically. 38 songs 122 minutes. (A six-CD version, The Basement Tapes Complete, features 138 recordings.)

the album as Rose’s vocal recalls early ‘90s Mary Chapin Carpenter. “She’s Yours” is a slice of jazz-tinged country, thanks to Buddy Spicher’s fiddle and Jimmy Clark’s trumpet. The emotionally direct “Prove Me Wrong” shows Rose’s skills as a torch singer and her vocal range. “Just Ain’t So,” ventures into stripped-down rockabilly with a sassiness that fits the song. The Tex-Mex blend of “Each Passing Hour,” with Frank Black, adds accordion and castanets into the instrumental mix. Rose’s eclectic approach, bolstered by a strong supporting cast of backing musicians makes Be Many Gone an artistic success. 9 songs 38 minutes.

★=SKIP IT; ★★=MEDIOCRE; ★★★=GOOD; ★★★★=EXCELLENT; ★★★★★=CLASSIC

L.C. Cooke The Complete SAR Records Recordings ABKCO Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young CSNY 1974 CSNY Recordings/Rhino The Hello Strangers The Hello Strangers IMI Records

The Hello Strangers

Willie Nelson Band of Brothers Legacy Billy Joe Shaver Long in the Tooth Lightning Rod Records Chris Smither Still on the Levee Signature Records/Mighty Albert The Stray Birds Best Medicine Yep Roc Loudon Wainwright III Haven’t Got The Blues (Yet) 429 Records

Loudon Wainwright III

Jesse Winchester A Reasonable Amount of Trouble Appleseed Recordings

The Duke Robillard Band ★★★1/2 Calling All Blues! Stony Plain Records From his tenure in Roomful of Blues and the Fabulous Thunderbirds to solo artist, Duke Robillard and the blues have been inseparable. Robillard is still exploring the genre and coming up with new flourishes on Calling All Blues! “Temptation,” a tale of good and evil, injects some guitar touches worthy of Pink Floyd, as Robillard points out in the album notes. “Confusion Blues” recalls the laid-back approach of Mose Allison in the lead vocals of keyboardist Bruce Bears. Robillard is a democratic bandleader who shares the spotlight with his supporting cast. Vocalist Sunny Crownover shines on “Blues Beyond the Call of Duty,” which echoes classic ballads of the late 1960s. The horn section of Rich Lataille, Mark Earley and Doug Woolverton steps to the forefront on “Emphasis in Memphis,” a tribute to the musical legacy of the Tennessee city. Robillard serves up some traditional blues with “I’m Gonna Quit My Baby” and “Nasty Guitar,” which shows his command of the instrument. 10 songs 39 minutes. Eileen Rose ★★★1/2 Be Many Gone Holy Wreckords On Be Many Gone, Eileen Rose exudes a confidence and fearlessness in her vocal abilities. Using country music as a base, she also branches out in other directions to provide variety in her sound. “Queen of the Fake Smile,” serves as a vibrant opener for

tomwilk@rocketmail.com

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Neil Young ★★★ Orchestral / ★★★1/2 Acoustic Storytone Reprise Records After making music for more than 50 years, Young still has the ability to do the unexpected. Storytone finds him working with a full orchestra on an entire album for the first time. It’s an experiment that expands his sonic range and brings his music into another dimension. “Plastic Flowers,” the opening track, has a cinematic sweep with a stirring violin section. “Who’s Gonna Stand Up?” is Young’s call for environmental action reinforced by the power of a full orchestra. Occasionally, the strings get a little syrupy, as on the romantic “Glimmer,” and some (“I’m Glad I Found You” and “When I Watch You Sleeping”) fall short of his normal standards. Young’s use of a big band creates a bluesy, jazz feel that works well on “I Want to Drive My Car,” “Say Hello to Chicago” and “Like You Used to Do,” and serves as a counterpoint to the orchestra and violins. The use of saxophones, trumpets and trombones recalls his work on This Note’s for You, the 1988 album that featured Young backed by a horn section. Young also offers Storytone in an acoustic version. “Plastic Flowers” is more intimate with a solo piano backing. “Tumbleweed,” performed by Young with a ukulele, is a case of less is more. The acoustic performances recall his quieter work on Harvest and Harvest Moon. 10 songs 41 minutes (orchestral version); 10 songs 37 minutes (acoustic version). Miss Tess and the Talkbacks ★★★1/2 The Love I Have for You Signature Sounds Recordings Miss Tess and the Talkbacks effortlessly display an artistic versatility on The Love I Have for You, paying tribute to their artistic influences. The band covers six songs by other performers and delivers fresh interpretations of the material. “Sorry You’re Sick,” written by the late soul singer Ted Hawkins, kicks off the album with an upbeat pop performance. The group switches gears for an open-hearted version of “The Alabama Waltz,” a lesser-known song by countrymusic legend Hank Williams, and highlights the expressive vocals of Miss Tess. On Willie Nelson’s classic “Night Life,” the band opts for a jazzy, after-hours feel that suits the song’s bittersweet lyrics. “Bet No One Ever Hurt This Band,” featured on Randy Newman’s debut album from 1968, becomes a pop song as the Talkbacks take it at a faster pace than the original. Miss Tess gives a soulful reading of Bonnie Raitt’s “Give It Up or Let Me Go,” emphasizing the song’s feminist themes. The title track, which she wrote, is a bluesy lament that holds its own with the album’s more well-known songs. 7 songs 23 minutes. ■

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MARK KERESMAN’S TOP TEN OF 2014 Ken Thomson Slow/Fast Settle

Slow/Fast

Justin Townes Earle Single Mothers Los Straitjackets & Deke Dickerson Sing the Great Instrumental Hits The North Slow Down (This Isn’t The Mainland) Rocket3 Burn Jolie Holland Wine Dark Sea

Keresman on Disc Anna Thorvaldsdottir ★★★★ Aeriel Deutsch Grammophon Anja Lechner/ François Couturier ★★★★★ Moderato Cantable ECM Born 1977, Anna Thorvaldsdottir is an Icelandic composer that learned her craft at U of CA San Diego. The contrast of Nordic chilliness and chaotic California sunshine must’ve had quite an impact—Aeriel is a bracing, sometimes scary piece of work. There are long sustained tones, but it’s not minimalist or ambient—it’s got the dark drama of Bruckner and Mahler, the sonic elasticity and playful fractured-ness of Charles Ives, and the apocalyptic crackle of pre-1975 Penderecki. Easy listening it’s not, but it is mos def stimulating, almost a classical version of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome To the Machine” (or Sibelius on steroids, if you will). (6 tracks, 62 minutes) universalmusicclassics.com Moderato Cantable is a whole ‘nother kettle of tea—Anja Lechner (cello) and Francois Couturier (piano) play some early 20th century music with some mystical undertones: George Gurdjieff, composer/philosopher; Frederico Mompou, Spanish composer enraptured by French Impressionism and Eric Satie, Komitas, Armenian priest and com-

Jolie Holland

MARK KERESMAN ★=SKIP IT; ★★=MEDIOCRE; ★★★=GOOD; ★★★★=EXCELLENT; ★★★★★=CLASSIC

Los Straitjackets/Deke Dickerson ★★★★1/2 Sing the Great Instrumental Hits!!! Yep Roc “Sing the great instrumental hits?!?” Whassup with that? Simple—some songs began with words but became well-known as instrumentals, while some enterprising (or nutty) souls decided words could fit these es-

tablished instrumental gems. That’s what happens with this platter—Los Straitjackets, that zany mask-wearing ace instrumental combo, and roots-rocker Deke Dickerson, singer, perform ancient joys such as “Honky Tonk,” “Pipeline,” and “You Can Count On Me” (better known as the “Theme from Hawaii Five-0”) with actual words. Sound silly? It is—and delightfully so. Dickerson sometimes evokes Bill Murray’s jive lounge singer from the early daze of Saturday Night Live—he and Los Sj’s get the rock & roll joke, that both silliness and tight, driven energy have always been part of it. In a time when far too many performers (in assorted genres) have been infected by the take-themselvesWAY-too-seriously bug, this disc is the cure. (14 tracks, 39 minutes) yeproc.com

Swans To Be Kind Morton Feldman & Carolin Widmann Violin and Orchestra

Anja Lechner and Francois Couturier

Carolin Widmann

Alex Skolnick Planetary Coalition Puss ‘n Boots No Fools No Fun

poser, and Couturier, a 60-something musician that’s got irons in the fires of classical, jazz, and film music. This set has late 19th century class and combined with early 20th century witty/brainy modernity (think Satie, Ravel)—put another way, it’s simply BEAUTIFUL on an almost elemental level. (11 tracks, 58 min.) ecmrecords.com shemp@hotmail.com

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Anthony Pirog ★★★1/2 Palo Colorado Dream Cuneiform Aaron Goldberg ★★★1/2 The Now Sunnyside Ah yes, the power of three—we’ve investigated this ground before, pilgrims. A chordal instrument, bass, and drums—no muss, no fuss, no waxy yellow buildup. Anthony Pirog is a guitarist somewhat akin to axe-man Nels Cline—not that he “sounds like” him but both draw inspiration from both jazz and rock (and other) sources and both can make genteel sounds as well as some unholy, cathartic noise. Palo Colorado Dream is Pirog’s debut and it is so darn impressive. “Heads” features some hard rock lurching that Zappa and Robin Trower fans might savor mixed in some scary special f/x barrages. “The Great Northern” is an attractively unsettling near-ballad that juxtaposes

some pastoral six-stringer-y with some tense, moody (in the Alfred Hitchcock sense) rhythm work from jazz bass ace Michael Formanek (ECM solo artist, Tim Berne, Gerry Hemingway) and drummer/vibist Ches Smith (John Zorn, Marc Ribot). While Pirog may evoke other stringbenders—including Gary Boyle, Gary Moore, Bill Frisell, Jimi Hendrix—his influences are subsumed in his overall approach. If genre-flouting guitarist are your bag (and Hendrix gave indications of jazz leanings before his passing, btw), Pirog’s debut is so worth your time. (11 tracks, 41 min.) cunefiormrecords.com Pianist Aaron Goldberg studied under tenor sax wiz Jerry Bergonzi and made his

Aaron Goldberg

bones with Wynton Marsalis and Joshua Redman. While The Now isn’t as “extreme” (relatively speaking), both share affinities—emotive melodies, pushing toward edgy sounds, engaging rhythms (Eric Harland and Reuben Rogers are drumhead-tight yet warmly buoyant), and inspired 3-way interplay. Goldberg—a very economical player is a very contemporary player but he’s got the earthy melodiousness of past key-crackers Vince Guaraldi and Gene Harris and current hepcat Herbie Hancock down, kids. Nothing startling here, but it’s just so dandy you’ll likely not mind. (10 tracks, 53 min.) sunnyside.com Love ★★★1/2 Black Beauty High Moon Love is one of the most important bands of the 1960s, yet simultaneously a footnote. Iconic bands The Doors and The Ramones have name-checked Love as an influence and Jimi Hendrix was both a fan and a friend of Love frontperson Arthur Lee. Love’s mythic

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A. D. Amorosi: Best Box Sets NOTHING SAYS A PRICEY “happy holiday” better than a box set of music from your favorite artist. But, since the idea of gift-giving should be buying something that someone wouldn’t buy for themselves, the season offers a perfect opportunity for taking a chance on risky sonic adventures. Here are six of the most unique musical journeys you can take your friends and family on this season. David Bowie Nothing Has Changed Columbia / Legacy Taken at face value, this 3-CD box could be just another updated Bowie-greats collection; that is, until you check the

puscular blues fans. In this setting, the goofball “I Love You, You Big Dummy” the down-in-the-dirty “Click Clack,” and “I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby” and the quirky mainstream attempts like “Too Much Time,” sound lustrous. It’s the disc of outtakes and alternate versions that’s the glittering prize here: a sing-song-y version of “I Can’t Do This Unless I Can Do This/Seam Crooked Sam,” and an instrumental rehearsal of “The Witch Doctor Life” being just a few newly heard gems.

A. D. AMOROSI

about love, with its soundtrack twisted into something that flows as one harmonic, rhythmic, emotional enterprise. It’s

Brian Eno Eno x 4 All Saints All Saints/Warp Though available as individual re-issues with second discs of never-released material and sparkling sound overall, it is best to experience producer and electronic music avatar Brian Eno’s blue period, 1992-1997, as one deep, dark glut.

not as easy as it looks, not just because of Mitchell’s lyrical mood swings, but of her changing sonic landscapes to boot. Worth the road trip.

chronology of the package. Starting with the experimental, Gil Evans-ish big jazz band new song “Sue”—easily his best, most adventurous song written within this decade—pit-stopping at his innovative “Berlin” period of eclectronica, and ending with his earliest moments as “David Bowie” (the hammy actor-ish ballad “Silly Boy Blue,” the grand eloquent “Can’t Help Thinking About Me”), a different picture of his career emerges, one that begins with the avant-garde and ends with his dramatic start-point, eschewing many of his pop hits for rarities (lots of the never-released Toy) obscure art-songs (“Your Turn to Drive”), and such in-between. Captain Beefheart Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 to 1972 Rhino A 4-disc box of newly re-mastered versions of Lick My Decals Off, Baby, The Spotlight Kid and Clear Spot would be enough to whet the appetites of Beefheart’s skronky, cre-

The edgier, Noh-rock of 1992’s Nerve Net and the similarlysounding lost My Squelchy Life, the cut-and-paste drama of The Shutov Assembly (also 1992), the droning yet sensualist mood music of 1993’s Neroli, and 1997’s neo-jungle-jazz The Drop present a chapter of Eno’s existence even some of his bravest fans missed the first time around. Cream Cream 1966-1972 Universal The quintessential British power trio just lost its beating heart when bassist/singer Jack Bruce passed this year. The joy then of this re-mastered all-vinyl box of Cream’s studio and live recordings is getting that first blast of Bruce’s voice, that baritone purr, the masculine manner in which he sings to brave Ulysses while laying down a bedrock of rhythm. To that bottom came thundering jazz-influenced drummer Ginger Baker and psychedelic blues master Eric Clapton in his first prime, blasting forth with dirty elegant pride. People often forget Live Cream and Live Cream Volume 2 of 1970 and 1972. These pressings, now featuring the unissued studio cut “Lawdy Mama” will jog your memory. Joni Mitchell Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting to be Danced Rhino Rather than consider her own catalog as just a simple volley of jazzy folk songs and intricately-lived in lyrics, Mitchell re-conceived and re-curated her music to be a ballet

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Frank Sinatra London Uni/Frank Sinatra Enterprises How Frank Sinatra becomes experimental at holiday box set time comes down to the conceptualism of London and Sinatra’s own view of his career as America’s premier crooner of Tin Pan Alley songs. In 1962, before the British Invasion of the Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers and such, Ole Blue Eyes hit the U.K. to record Sinatra Sings Great Songs From Great Britain. Recorded over three consecutive nights at London’s CTS Studios, it became the only album Sinatra ever recorded outside of the U.S. With that, he recorded his most unique selection of songs with shimmering orchestra-

tion and his tempered baritone croon—“We’ll Gather Lilacs,” “The Gypsy,” “A Garden In The Rain,” “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square”—and opened himself to the broader theme of London, which welcomes 50 previously unreleased studio recordings, material from a 1962 BBC Light Programme radio special with spoken introductions by Sinatra, a 1953 live session for BBC Radio’s The Show Band Show, a Royal Albert Hall concert from 1984, and a DVD of a previously unreleased filmed 1962 concert from Royal Festival Hall. Pip pip and all that. ■

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BOB PERKINS’ TOP TEN OF 2014 Holly Hoffman Low Life Christian Mc Bride & Hank Jones West of 5th

Jazz Library

BOB PERKINS

The Guitar Trio At The Deer Head Inn Nancy Reed & John Coates Jr. At The Deer Head Inn Stanley Cowell Are You Real?

Michael O’Neill & Kenny Washington New Beginnings Dave Posmontier In the Pocket

Larry McKenna Larry McKenna From All Sides

Larry McKenna

Jimmy Cobb The Original Mob The Peter Hand Big Band Out of Hand

Little Jimmy Scott

MAYBE THE YEAR WAS 1949…or was it 1950? Whatever the year, it was long enough ago to fuzzy the memory. But, there was no forgetting reading the billboard of the nightclub at 16th and Market Streets in Philadelphia. The wording forecast the appearance of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, featuring vocalist “Little” Jimmy Scott. I would have liked to have been in on at least one of the shows because I’d become a fan of Jimmy Scott ever since hearing radio DJs play him singing with the Hampton Band on “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool.” However, I had neither the age nor price of admission to gain entrance to the then-famed nightclub known as the Click. I followed Scott’s career for years, before and after I broke into radio and hosted my own music programs. Still later in radio, I got to meet Scott, interviewed him, and served as emcee at a halfdozen of his performances. Jimmy’s story is one for the books, so to speak, and there is a book chronicling his life and times, Faith In Time: The Life Of Jimmy Scott, by David Ritz. A biography is appropriate, because the trials and tribulations of Scott were puzzling, enigmatic, bizarre, and almost beyond belief. At every turn, various events seemed to conspire to thwart his progress as an entertainer. Jimmy Scott was born July 12, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, one of ten children. He started singing in the family home and in a church Choir. He became an orphan at age 13 when his mother was killed by a drunk driver. He continued to sing whenever and wherever he could, and while in his late teens was heard and hired by bandleader Lionel Hampton. Scott did not get proper mention for his vocalizing on the hit song, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” which was a Top Ten R&B hit. All the credit and mention went to Hampton. It was Hampton, by the way, who preceded Scott’s full name with the “Little” handle, because of his diminutive stature. Later in his career, the same omission of credit came about when Scott recorded “Embraceable You,” with Charlie Parker on the album One Night at Birdland. The credit was given to a female singer on the album. One part of Scott’s career dilemmas was that these were the days of the baritone balladeers like Como, Sinatra, Eckstine, and a host of other romantic crooners. Because of a genetic condition known as Kallman’s syndrome, Scott’s voice never deepened, and he sang more alto than baritone. The condition also stunted his growth, and he suddenly stopped growing at just under five feet. It was not until age 37 that he began to grow again, and reached the height of five feet, seven inches. The way Scott used his voice was unique: He had this great timing thing in which he sang slightly behind the beat of the band. This, combined with the way he moved and gestured on stage...the call in his voice—even though higher pitched then the tall, handsome, romantic singers of his time—set him apart. Ironically, or not so, members of the female gender adored Scott and his voice. Along with his great personal adversity there were the predators in the entertainment industry who took advantage of him. And there were others who didn’t know about his affliction, and/or didn’t care, and called him insulting names, because the little wiry guy

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with the high voice posed no physical threat. Scott revealed in his biography, co-authored by David Ritz, “I’ve been called a queer, little girl, an old woman, a freak, and a fag. And as a singer, criticized for sounding female…” But through it all, Scott had his supporters—those who loved his sound, and were proud to call themselves fans. They included the likes of Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson, Billy Holiday, Liza

Minelli, and a host of other jazz, standard-pop, R&B artists, and an assortment of other folks in show biz. Strange also, that the wiry little guy with the high singing voice, who was in and out of the music business because of personal misfortune, industry politics and stupidity, still managed in his time to receive an NEA Jazz Master Award, a Kennedy Center Living Legend Award, and induction into the R&B Hall of Fame. Oh, and add in performances at the inaugurations of Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Bill Clinton. Scott eventually made lemonade out of lemon, and said so when he observed that his so-called strange singing voice ultimately became his salvation. This was borne out by the number of fans that showed up when Scott appeared in the Philadelphia area and well beyond. Fans came from near and far to see and hear him. It turned out that he had many more admirers than detractors. The last quarter of Jimmy Scott’s 88 years appear to have been pretty good in terms of recording, club and concert dates—and the recognition which had eluded him in earlier times. Scott passed away last June, at his home in Las Vegas. ■ Bob Perkins is a writer and host of an all-jazz radio program that airs on WRTI-FM 90.1, Mon-Thurs. 6 to 9pm & Sun., 9am–1pm.

Nick’’s Picks: Top Twelve of 2014

NICK BEWSEY

THE SEAN JONES QUARTET im.pro.vise (Mack Avenue) Trumpeter Jones reunites with pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Lucques Curtis and Obed Calvaire on drums, recording his seventh album old school style by playing together live in the studio without overdubs or unnecessary tinkering and the result is breathtaking, especially on the New Orlean’s-flavored swinger “I Don’t Give A Damn Blues.” The tunes form a cohesive whole, all of which is played by a very tight, unified group who listen to each one another. I haven’t heard a more engaging or beautiful record by another trumpeter this year.

SONNY ROLLINS Road Shows, Volume 3 (Okeh) Saxophonist Rollins is a jazz master of exceptional fortitude and endless invention. To see him in concert is to experience his charismatic energy radiate from the stage and it puts his legendary reputation in context. This collection gathers tunes from Rollins’ post2000 concerts, four from various shows in France, another from St. Louis, Missouri and one from Japan. On these barnstormers, ballads and signature calypsos,v Rollins’ tenor sound offers revelatory music. The sheer joy that comes from mixing melody, rhythm, harmonics, of performing—it’s all here.

MELISSA ALDANA Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio (Concord Jazz) In 2013, the Chilean born and raised Aldana won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition and was rewarded in part with a

TAKUYA KURODA Rising Son (Blue Note) The 33-year-old trumpeter Takuya Kuroda stands tall on his Blue Note debut, a polished set of jazz tunes with retro R&B riffs and de rigueur hip hop sonics. Produced by singersongwriter José James, these eight tracks are awash with good feeling, sharp riffs and heavy beats that may send purists running,

Melissa Aldana.

recording contract with Concord Jazz. Only 25, Aldana’s tenor sound conveys a wisdom and tastefulness of an artist twice her age – her original tunes are redolent with deep beauty and her tone on standards is powerful and true. Sonny Rollins is a recognizable influence but Aldana lets notes fly with her own authority. This is an astounding recording from a shining new star. BARBARA MORRISON I Love You, Yes I Do (Savant) An irresistible jazz and blues singer, Los Angeles-based Barbara Morrison cements her status as one of the best song stylists of the day. Here, she’s produced and joined by grand tenor saxophonist Houston Person. The set list has a deliberate gospel tinge, yet Morrison’s bluesy, swinging delivery, a combination of grit and poetry, make renditions of “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” “Trust In Me” and the title track absolutely stellar. She’s intrepid enough to weave songs from the 40’s to the 70’s with an authoritative confidence and her black-tie accompaniment kills with a combination of professional elegance and gutsy lyricism.

Nick Bewsey has been writing about jazz for ICON since 2004 and is a member of The Jazz Journalists Assoc. He also paticipates in DownBeat’s Annual International Critics Poll.

Takuya Kuroda.

but Kuroda successfully pulls it together with his melodious trumpet and evolutionary exploration of what jazz can be. JIMMY COBB The Original Mob (Smoke Sessions) At 85, the veteran drummer Cobb (“Kind Of Blue”) is still making great music, often with intensely creative, younger players. As part of the launch of Smoke Jazz Club’s excellent new series of live releases, Cobb’s band includes guitarist Peter Bernstein, pianist Brad Mehldau and bassist John Webber. The tremendously entertaining music is swift and robust and lit with a gentle fire—the mix of solid standards and originals are rooted in pleasing Latin grooves and easygoing swing. Cobb coaxes subtle percussive rhythms behind Bernstein’s gorgeous chords and the interplay between the guitarist and drummer is generous. KEITH JARRETT / CHARLIE HADEN Last Dance (ECM) This album reveals both pianist and

bassist at their best, reveling in the beauty of song and warmth shared between longtime friends. Apart from the the album’s title (Haden passed away this year from a debilitating illness), you can’t help feeling bittersweet near the album’s end as they intimately play Cole Porter’s “Every Time We Say Goodbye”—it’s the shortest track on the album and packs an emotional punch. This is Jarrett at his most accessible, though Haden steals the spotlight with his intimate solos, reminding us why he was so esteemed. ROTEM SIVAN For Emotional Use Only (Fresh Sound New Talent) An emerging artist like guitarist Rotem Sivan is one reason why listening to jazz is so rewarding. The Israeli-born, New York-based musician evokes the better balladry of Pat Metheny or relaxed swing of Kenny Burrell, two obvious inspirations, yet his confident playing style and refreshing compositions marry an astute sense of swing with unabashed romanticism. Sivan’s tunes display a melodic intelligence while his nimble lines and affecting style transport us into a realm of musical bliss. ORRIN EVANS Liberation Blues (Smoke Sessions) One of the busiest leaders on the scene, Evans scored earlier this year with Mother’s Touch (Posi-Tone), the sophomore studio recording of his swinging Captain Black Big Band, a particularly satisfying album with a groove-oriented center that gave the pianist’s compositions ballast and flow. Better still is his live recording at Smoke Jazz Club, Liberation Blues, a bold, industrious work with the mighty Bill Stewart on drums and a staunch frontline comprised of JD Allen and Sean Jones. The album’s kinetic energy is persuasive throughout, but the suite dedicated to bassist Dwayne Burno who passed away unexpectedly in 2013 and an unplanned encore, featuring vocalist Joanna Pascale, are the highlights of Evans’ tremendous set. STEFANO BOLLANI Joy in Spite of Everything (ECM) An established and renowned pianist with a number of fine albums on the ECM label, Bollani breaks the mold, shrugging off the customary cool that the label is known for, by making a splendid album full of warm and playful compositions with a Fellini/Nino Rota gloss. The opening calypso gives the album its “welcome, please stay awhile” hospitality and it only gets better from there. The improvised performances by saxophonist Mark Turner and guitarist Bill Frisell are always accessible, tweaked with a touch of

mischievous glee. Of course, it’s Bollani who inspires as a leader by turning the page on expectations and delivering music that’s fresh and truly joyful. GEORGE CABLES Icons and Influences (HighNote) Since his debut in 1975, the pianist has consistently delivered strong albums as a soloist and sideman (Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon). He’s got a lyrical, swinging style as well as a refined sensitivity that’s evident on his profoundly beautiful ballads (“Helen’s Song”). This 2014 trio recording with Dezron Douglas and Victor Lewis salutes pianists Cedar Walton and Mulgrew Miller along with other jazz greats, but it’s also one of those recordings where

George Cables.

everything came together in the studio with perfection and every tune is a gem. When listening to Cables, the truth is that he’s the icon and the influence for many jazz musicians. KRIS BOWERS Heroes + Misfits (Concord Jazz) The promising young pianist Kris Bowers is full of surprises on his debut disc, an eclectic thrill ride through amped-up electronic keyboards, soaring saxophones and acoustic piano played over lush soundscapes. After a couple of spins, you get that it’s natural for Bowers to shuffle jazz, soul and hip-hop into something potently consumable, and this album makes a persuasive case for his leader of the pack sensibilities. ALICIA OLATUJA Timeless (World Tune Records) The Brooklyn-based singer/vocalist Alicia Olatuja is a classically trained mezzo-soprano, but her heart is deeply invested in jazz and soulful pop tunes. This refreshing, modern recording wraps her warm friendly voice in a blanket of exceptional sound; bassist Christian McBride, pianist Christian Sands and saxophonist Jaleel Shaw each make impressive appearances. Olatuja has a salt-ofthe-earth voice and genuine embrace of the lyric—she’s like a rebooted Lizz Wright, but with her own sense of majesty. Timeless is a consistently great album. ■

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Forever Changes (1968) is one of the few enduring classic albums of the psychedelic era. Arthur Lee (1945-2006) was very talented, occasionally brilliant, and rather erratic—legend has it the original line-up of Love didn’t play outside of California as Lee didn’t want to be far from his drug connection(s). Recorded in 1973 but unreleased until now, Black Beauty is an interesting addendum to Lee’s career (throughout Love’s existence Lee was the only constant). It’s a curious mix of early ‘70s hard rock (the precursor to metal—think Hendrix [especially—he guested on a late-period Love album], Blind Faith, Steppenwolf, and such “heavy guitar” bands of that era) and early ‘70s R&B/funk with bits of the band’s adorable ‘60s melodic whimsy scattered throughout. Lee’s voice is strong and while the band’s approach is very much of its time, devotees of Love and early ‘70s sounds will have lots of fun with this. (16 tracks, 74 min.) highmoonrecords.com Horszowski Trio ★★★★ Fauré/Saint-Saëns/D’Indy Bridge Records Any schnook—but not every schnook—knows that lots of stuff happened in the early 20th century that (intentionally or not) laid the groundwork for the Wonderful Mess in which we live today. Some musical stuff happened too, but because the sounds weren’t “radical enough” they can tend to perhaps be overlooked. Take these three Frenchmen: Gabriel Fauré, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Vincent D’indy— all had cashed their chips and gone to the great juke-joint in The Sky before the 20th century was half-over—in fact, D’indy knew the great composer Brahms—so when jazz, Stravinsky, and Milhaud were kicking up dust at the time, these gents are relatively under-sung (no pun intended…honest). These three are in the Romantic tradition (1820-1900), which in so many words accents feeling and sentiment, as it was something of a reaction against the Industrial Revolution, as it was more interested in spiritual/mystic concepts and medieval chivalry…in other words it was the “progressive rock” of its day. Not surprisingly, many of the so-called progressive rockers of the 1970s were influenced by similar attitudes. Musically, all the works here—for the trio of piano, violin, and cello—are marked by direct and heart-swelling melodies, lushly pretty playing, and swirling rhythms. One can easily imagine people, seeing the onslaught of technological changes and how these affected Life In General, sought solace in music such as this. Whereas orchestral classical styles are full of grand (and often loud) gestures, this stuff is warmly intimate and emotionally direct—near-perfect chill-out sounds. Recommended for classical neophytes as well as, well, Romantic Francophiles. (11 tracks, 68 min.) bridgerecords.com ■

24 / COMMON

etic—in us all. Sometimes that came with lighter musicality (2005’s Be, produced by pal Kanye West), sometimes the sound was psychedelic-ized and frenetically funky (the critically drubbed Electric Circus), but always he has been a pragmatic (if not romantic) equal opportunity critic in all matters. Everyone is innocent. Each is guilty. With Nobody’s Smiling, though—his 2014 album on Def Jam, his new label—Common was homeward bound and looking into his cherished Chicago with laser focus and slick, honest imagery. What marks this album is its cover—a defiant, unsmiling Common in black-and-white, a far cry from 2005’s Be and its colorful snapshot where the rapper/actor is beaming from ear to ear. Nearly ten years since Be...and things still just ain’t right. “Wow, Be was an incredible experience—creating it, touring it,” says Common of what he calls his most groundbreaking commercial enterprise at that point. “For my career, I was able to reach new heights. After that, I started film work and music wasn’t my only concentration.” He wanted to be known in Hollywood for film and in Manhattan for theater. As a musical entity, he didn’t want to stop at “commercial.” Common wanted to change people’s ideas of who he was with constantly shifting ventures. “I wanted to stay present, stay different, stay relevant.” As his music grew, it also missed the absolute blunt force of his earlier works, something that both he and his original producer/DJ No ID wanted to get back to. “We were trying to return to the sound I had when I started, and that’s Nobody’s Smiling. I wanted to be a voice for the generation that hasn’t been heard yet, maybe can’t be heard, especially in my hometown. I found myself around a lot of teenagers from Chicago and I saw myself in them. I could embrace and relay their struggle because I was that kid growing up into that adult.” What’s curious to consider about “that kid” turning into “that adult” is how, at one point, Common was just another of conscious hip-hop’s rapping giants, a list that has found its ranks somewhat less pertinent in the present than they were in that past. No reason to name names here—just think of who is missing among the late 90s/early 2000 rap charts in the present—but one has to question: was it talent, drive or divine intervention that kept Common not only surviving but flourishing. “I thank God that I create music that has a presence and makes audiences respond,” he says quietly. “I think what happened—and I can’t comment on many other artists of my day—but for me, I always wanted to get better and make sure that there was room for me to grow, musically and lyrically.” To Common, some of his wise rapping brethren simply stagnated where they stood or marinated in just one singular aspect of their success or their artistry. To get better and go further, Common made certain to surround himself new ideas and new sounds—even when it didn’t work out to his benefit.” “Just because I was successful with one sound didn’t mean I should stay there,” says Common. “I felt things and moved with that. Whether it was the success of Like Water for Chocolate or something not as successful—say Universal Mind Trip and Electric Circus—I had to try. People asked why I rocked my own boat, and said that I had to; that is the ebb and flow of a career, of an art form. Sometimes you have to go down to go up,” he laughs. “Not that you want to go down, but that’s the test. You fall down, you get up. It lets people know that I’ll always get to the truth.” That is his mission, to find the funk and popularity be damned. “That takes discipline, belief and talent, too. Look, a lot of artists from my generation had talent. I’m not even going to front otherwise. There are just other drives, other factors, and remember, I’m thanking God.” It’s important to note here that part of Common’s sense of risk comes down to his leap into acting, first with roles on television series such as One on One and Girlfriends to B-level crime films such as Street Kings, American Gangster and Smokin’ Aces to odd romantic comedies like Just Wright and Date Night to the present: solid event projects as a regular on AMC (Hell on Wheels), one offs on shows such as The Mindy Project, and prestigious efforts such as this year’s Martin Luther King bio, Selma. How did it happen to pass that the Dr. King story, at least the civil rights marches and his relationship to Lyndon Baines Johnson, are finally being told with David

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Oyelowo (from Lee Daniels’ The Butler) as MLK and Common as James Bevel, a civil rights activist crucial to King’s cause. “I think we were all chosen, from the director to the craft services,” says Common. “Every piece fell into place, every piece was important and HAD to be there. It took a long time because it was not supposed to happen until now. It had to have the right everything. I always wanted to play a hero, someone that people of all nationalities could look up to—it was divine timing, this film. Selma has the spirit of changing the world.” One film role that Common would like to play is that of Gil Scott Heron, the griot, rap avatar and musician whose life, times, poetry and recent passing was just essayed in Gil Scott Heron: Pieces of a Man by Marcus Baram. In this book, Baram talks with legendary Columbia/Arista label president Clive Davis, who compares the first time he saw Scott-Heron perform to hearing Whitney Houston and Patti Smith in their debuts. To Common, Heron’s impact was just as deep. “GSH was the first artist I ever heard who was doing music that spoke to the revolution. We used to laugh at him, because he’s funny, but we were inspired, too, because he was doing something serious about it. He was forthright, honest. I have been trying to get producers interested in a film on his life with me playing Gil Scott. That would be the ultimate honor, to capture his soul, his musicianship, what he stood for.” Standing for something is big in Common’s household from the roar and rap of Nothing’s Smiling. The album is singularly produced by longtime collaborator No I.D.— no little feat in this age of multiple-producer songs (let alone albums). Smiling has a unifying sonic flow—“Diamonds” sounds like “Blak Majik” sounds like “Real”— without being same-y. That ambience helps focus Common’s look into the social ills that plague Chi-Town—lousy school system, blackon-black violence, drugs. “Lay it down for the world, for Chicago I stand,” muses Common on “Speak My Piece,” just one moment in Nobody’s Smiling where the hometown rapper looks at Chicago’s grim realities (“The Neighborhood”) without giving up hope (“Hustle Harder”) or matters of dope poetry. Chicago, for Common, is full of sights, sounds and people that helped shape him and provide him with inspiration—what he calls “authentic salt of the earth, soulful, bittersweet, raw, real and intelligent people.” “The songs on Nobody’s Smiling —they come from me wanting to give back. Any person who says they want to do good in the world should be able to bring things back home, where they got those first gifts. If you’re a philanthropist and your home is not in order, what are you doing? Chicago is my home. I may have houses in other places, but that city is where I was born, grew and first immersed myself in what I am.” Seeing that people in his home city have been going through rough times—heightened crime rates, under-financed schools, teens without hope—Common feels as if he owes Chicago a leg up, to do as much as possible to help. “Yes, I’d like to be able to do that all over the world, but you got to start things at home. You got to make things right.” In essaying Chicago’s ills and appetites, Common was hoping to create a sparser than usual take on his stark lyricism, something akin to hip-hop classics like NWA’s Amerikka’s Most Wanted and Nas’ Illmatic. “We wanted to transport you,” he says, reminding us about how those aforementioned classics were instant Polaroids of Compton and Queens. “We focused on making Nobody’s Smiling more than music, as it’s detailing the moment. It’s the soundtrack to the Chicago movie in our heads.” ■ December 8, 8pm: Common with Jay Electronica. $35, 40, Theater of the Living Arts, 334 South Street, Philadelphia. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation Box Office (111 Presidential Blvd., Bala Cynwyd), TLA Box Office (334 South St., Phila.) or charge-by-phone at 800-745-3000. If A.D. Amorosi can’t be found writing features for ICON, the Philadelphia Inquirer or doing Icepacks, Icecubes and other stories for Philadelphia’s City Paper, he’s probably hitting restaurants like Stephen Starr’s or running his greyhound.

Dining

ROBERT GORDON

r.gordon33@verizon.net

Glasbern Inn BY ITSELF, THE FOOD makes Glasbern Inn destination-worthy. Granted, the beauty and serenity that inhabit the gorgeous grounds don’t hurt. The rolling hills that tuck the Glasbern Inn into its lovely countryside are four-season beautiful. And the feeling of getting away from it all is blissful, although the feeling is misleading. Yes, you feel restored and removed from your routine. But you’re only five minutes from Routes 78 and 309, which gives you easy and rapid access to our DCto-Boston megalopolis. However, you’re shorting yourself if you don’t stay overnight anyway. The Glasbern Inn dining operation takes pride in its farm-to-table functionality. Connecting farm-to-table dots is unconvincing at many eateries. Glasbern’s claim is unassailable. Virtually everything on your plate was recently rooted or grazing in the Inn’s surrounding 130-square-acre working farm. The Inn’s membership in groups like the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Local Abundance, and Buy Local of the Lehigh Valley is legitimate and active. Farm-to-table, fresh-that-morning ingredients top the salad bowls. But I’m equally impressed by the compositions. The delicious Glasbern Salad adds dried cherries, Maytag Blue Cheese, and candied walnuts to handpicked field greens. Compressed rhubarb and pickled onion enliven Roasted Beets Salad, which is mined with mellow goatcheese mousse. Soups are outstanding. A recent Soup du Jour with truffle and cauliflower was hearty, thick and made sans cream. Essentially it’s a vegan dish, though not touted as such on the menu. Garnished with truffle oil and sunflower seeds, the soup is outstanding. Delicious tomato confiture gives zing to Slow Roasted Beef Belly. Brussels sprout hash betters the texture. Nonetheless, while I applaud the recipe for ambition, the beef belly lacks the richness of the pork (a detriment in the hands of the wrong chef). However, even buoyed with a fine sorrel pistou, the beef belly doesn’t match pork belly in taste and texture. Granted, that’s personal preference. The Beef Belly dish is well executed and may very well appeal more to those who find pork belly cloyingly rich. In a nicely presented Day Scallops entrée, garlic loops around huge roasted fennel bulbs and a scattering of scallops. A line of pickled radish stretches along the opposite side of the large white plate. The radish line is bisected by a glistening mound of red-onion marmelada (a Portuguese preserve) that counterbalances the crunch and pungency of the radish. A scattering of roasted pumpkin seeds integrate well into this tasty, balanced dish. Two massive pieces of rainbow trout dusted with chopped pistachio stretch over a bed of star anise-scented basmati rice riddled with baby kale. The butter sauce infused with chive and tarragon that pools around the plate adds moistness and richness to each forkful. Rack of Lamb bathed in Port-based sauce parallels a long queue of glistening red beets lounging in a bright yellow streak of clarified butter. A black pan with tarragon-infused, house-made gnocchi stakes out the corner of the plate. The meats are free-range and drug-free. Again those claims are verifiable here; whereas elsewhere, they’re too often specious. The main dining room—in a converted barn that has been designated an historic building—is the ultimate in rustic sophistication. The ceiling is original. It towers dozens of feet overhead, which contributes to the lowest decibel level for dining I’ve encountered in years. Large tables can accommodate numerous plates and glasses and there’s ample space between tables. And for those who remain overnight, the Inn’s guest rooms are superb. Many of the mammoth rooms have flat-screen TVs, king-size beds, fireplaces, whirlpools, Internet hookup, and steam baths. The Glasbern Inn is an ideal corporate or romantic getaway and a picturesque venue for graduations, anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, and other gatherings. ■ Glasbern Inn, 2141 Pack House Road, Fogelsville, PA (610) 285-4723. www.glasbern.com W W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / I C O N D V ■ W W W . I C O N D V . C O M ■ D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 ■ I C O N ■ 39

Dining: Top Ten of 2014 IN 2014, PHILADELPHIA EXPERIENCED a resurgence of French cuisine. ICON featured a trio of Philly restaurants specializing in French fare: a newcomer, Paris Bistro & Jazz Café; the enigmatically under-sung Amuse, and Bibou, the current standardbearer of Philly French cuisine. Bibou still impresses with gems like escargots in a soulful ragout, with fava beans and trumpet royale mushrooms flavored with tarragon. But Amuse, too, achieves classic French bistro perfection with its hanger steak: tender succulence cooked perfectly to order, invigorated with béarnaise aïoli and bordelaise sauce,

For rabid loyalists, Kanella’s has few peers. Fans of Chef-Owner Konstantinos Pitsillides’ distinctive Cyprian cooking invade nightly for full-flavored compositions like Manti, tantalizingly presented Armenian ground lamb dumplings with yogurt sauce with paprika, mint, and parsley; Guinea Fowl

Crow and The Pitcher with owner Michael Franco.

Georges Perrier and Chef Al Paris.

and sided with crispy pommes frites. Meanwhile, in its first year of operation, Paris Bistro’s “Food” was ranked #1 by Zagat among all Chestnut Hill restaurants, beating out heralded Chef Chip Roman and his securely established Mica. In fact, Zagat tagged Paris Bistro as one of Philly’s Top Seven French restaurants—a coup given that the other six all reside on far more visible centercity turf. Maintaining the French tradition in the suburbs, Chef Chris Connors’ pan roasted duck breast à l’orange at Lambertville’s Anton’s at the Swan is as classic and outstanding as ever. We raved about Chef Alex McCoy’s spectacular physics-defying sushi constructions at Umai Umai. Rolls like the Krakken, Eternal Sunshine, Pingu, and Godzilla boast a veritable cult following. But Alex also blew us away with excellent non-sushi items like savory whitefish carpaccio, the city’s most soulful tuna bibim, and crispy Brussels sprouts brightened with red onion, purple cabbage, scallions, shallots, and sweet chili-tamarindshrimp dressing.

r.gordon33@verizon.net

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with walnuts, wheat berry and pomegranate and celery; and Organic Pig Cheeks with Bulgar Wheat, roast fennel and yogurt. All are worth the trip and the wait. Agricola has transformed the Princeton scene owing to Chef Josh Thomsen’s knack for cobbling seasonal menus together from a bountiful pantry of fresh, local ingredients. The springtime menu’s Wood-Oven Roasted Duck Meatballs and Veal Sweetbreads gave way seamlessly to summer winners like Crispy Duck Rillettes sided with sweet potato

Umai Umai, Philadelphia

purée and pickled red onion. Agricola’s wood-fired oven turned out our favorite 2014 flatbread: Shibumi Farm’s Mushroom Flatbread, where marvelously textured bread with winsome smoky essence is topped with oregano, chili flakes, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese crowned with a mammoth egg. Agricola vies with the Paris Bistro & Jazz Café for top French cassoulet of 2014. Both eateries create heart-warming, soul-nourishing, rib-sticking versions whose taste and authenticity would wow in Saint Germain-desPrés. Paris Bistro & Jazz Café also boasts one

ROBERT GORDON

of 2014’s top appetizers: cauliflower and Comté Custard, which doubles as one of 2014’s top vegetarian dishes, as does Wellington of Butternut & Medjool Dates at Al’s sister Chestnut Hill restaurant Heirloom. Nonetheless, top veggie honors go to 3501 Grille for a savory six-tiered compilation where successive layers of diced sweet potatoes, sautéed spinach, roasted baby carrots, pan-seared tofu, and grilled sweet red peppers rise above a base of jasmine rice—a gastronomical and architectural feat. New Hope’s Nikólas owns one of 2014’s top plates: a Seared Octopus dish where mango slices radiate outward from a mound of arugula, diced onions, pepper, and tomato spritzed with aged balsamic and extra virgin olive oil and supplement to perfection succulent octopus infused with divine smoky essence and a nonpareil kiss of charring. Best pasta goes to DeAnna’s in Lambertville, par-

Deanna’s Restaurant in Lambertville, NJ

ticularly any pasta that includes Chef Diana Menz Paterra’s in-house sundried tomatoes. Alma de Cuba’s fare matches and actually exceeds its spectacular décor. Yes, I’d go anytime just for the vibe, but equally to savor the spicy tingle of Thai Mixto with crab, shrimp, octopus and fluke with coconut leche de tigre & mango or the unusually deep, dark sweetness of Rum Cured Duck Breast with creamy yucca and duck vigoron with smoked currants. Speaking of unusual, we enjoyed the menu rarities at Taqueria Feliz in Manayunk, which earns the most unusual dish of 2014 hands down. Tacos de Chapulinas, or crispy grasshoppers with onion, cilantro, and guacamoles is de rigeur for all who boast eclectic taste. ICON also heralded the 2014 return from NYC of one of the finest on the Philly scene, Michael Franco, former GM at Le Bec-Fin. He and Chef Alex Capasso opened Crow & the Pitcher, whose mélange of upscale offerings and bar noshes did not disappoint. The eatery is also a veritable “reliquary” of Philly culinary patrimony since it gives sanctuary to Le Bec-Fin’s iconic cheese cart. ■

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HOTEL Modern Cuisine h Classic Comfort Corner of Swan & Main Lambertville, NJ 609-397-3552 W W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / I C O N D V ■ W W W . I C O N D V . C O M ■ D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 ■ I C O N ■ 41

The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

MEDICAL GROUP By Mike Peluso Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

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ACROSS Serviced, as a brake line Guidelines: Abbr. Bay Area blues, briefly Missouri feeder It’s up the coast from Napoli Military camp Cakesters brand Ray in the sea Tournament type Popular pickup line? Mavens Cornerstone abbr. Cologne conjunction Relieved cry Whisky __: Hollywood disco Cold harbinger Pale Early rising hr. LP connector Bank holding Windborne flier Common house feature Itches Racket ending Basses, e.g. Intercept Fighting Tigers’ sch. Playground game Cried Where a company shouldn’t go 7UP alternatives Mourn Leader of a procession, perhaps Mean business Three Mile Isl. watchdog Leaves in the bag Shoppe modifier March 17, familiarly Luther’s 95 Religious high point St. __ Girl: beer brand For whom Zimbabwe was originally named Smoke-filled venue, often Dipl. official Maury Wills, notably Saturn’s daughter Campus in Troy, NY Relax Wyoming’s __ Range Light housecoat Nobelist Wiesel Close Trunk line

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93 Nobility 94 Manufacturers’ woes 96 Conductor Sir Georg 98 Evidence of pure breeding 100 Decision-making mo. 101 Matter of law 102 Tart plums 103 One who’s always a step ahead of you, so it seems 108 Inferior 113 Flew like an arrow 114 Composer Thomas 115 Start of a noted victory announcement 116 “Orinoco Flow” singer 117 Fencing move 118 Pre-owned 119 Local-ized? 120 Malicious gossip

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Icy comment Head of 10 Downing Street? It runs but can’t fly Like a symbolic carrot Sweet brews Treaters’ pickups Printer spec. Dakar is its capital Giant opening? Tolkien ringbearer According to It’s a big customer of Lockheed Corp. Arabian peninsula native Beach pest “Brokeback Mountain” director Lee Co. that merged into Verizon Musical gift Throws wide, say Rock guitarist Eddy Post-election election By hook or by crook Out French regime until 1940 Turning point Hair net On-site journalist Prescription __ Make certain New conclusion? Roman road Vintage auto Gets tangled Campaign clashes Dog-bite concern

50 Arles article 52 Made more credible, as a rumor 55 Competitor 56 Canal problem? 57 One leaving the country 59 Activist who had Raiders 61 Check out 62 Souped-up wheels 64 Nigh 67 Dental appliance 68 Steamed cantina dish 70 Some cliffhangers 71 __ Ysidro, busy U.S./Mexico border site 72 Outrunners of joggers 73 Arab leaders 75 Curbs 76 Snippy 79 Disciple count 80 Ryan of “Boston Public” 83 Wind lazily 85 Elects 87 Raised 88 Does a slow burn 92 Sang-froid 95 Mild epithet 96 View 97 Propelled along the lake 99 Top-notch 102 Deception 103 Plan (out)

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104 George’s collaborator 105 Big name in ATMs 106 Nonpro sports org. 107 Medical gp. hidden in 10 puzzle answers 109 Old French coin

110 “Wheel of Fortune” purchase 111 Norse god of war 112 Down

Answer to November’s puzzle, MAKE IT COUNT

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Agenda CALL TO ARTISTS Philadelphia Sketch Club America’s oldest club for artists 235 South Camac St., Phila. 215-545-9298 2015 Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial Works on Paper Exhibition. Jan. 2-24, 2015. Juried online exhibition open to all participants. For prospectus: sketchclub.org Deadline for entries 12/13/14. ART EXHIBITS THRU 12/12 Greg Weaver: Urban American Folk Artist. 12/12, Art auction event: Celebrate the Life of Greg Weaver, and the closing of his exhibit, begins at 7 P.M, doors open at 6 P.M. Free and open to the public, light refreshments. Penn State Lehigh Valley, 2809 Saucon Valley Rd., Center Valley, PA. 610285-5261. LV.psu.edu/gallery THRU 12/13 PSC Legacy Art Sale and Exhibition. Main Gallery. Philadelphia Sketch Club, 235 South Camac St., Phila. 215-5459298. sketchclub.org THRU 12/14 Works in Wood, Exhibition of Fine Traditional & Contemporary Woodwork. Fri., Sat. & Sun., noon-5 PM. New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave., New Hope, PA. 215-8629606. NewHopeArts.org THRU 12/28 Denise Dumont, Travels From the City to the Sea. The Quiet Life Gallery, 17 So. Main St., Lambertville, NJ. 609-3970880. Quietlifegallery.com THRU 12/19 Holiday Gift Gallery, Fine Arts and Crafts for Sale by Local and Regional Artists. Buy Local. Buy Art. Gift Gallery hours: Mon.-Thurs. 9am -9 pm, Fri. & Sat. 9am- 3 pm, Sun. closed. Reception 12/10, 6-8 pm. The David E. Rodale & Rodale Family Galleries, The Baum School of Art, 510 W. Linden St., Allentown. 610433-0032. Baumschool.org THRU 12/28 Gifts from the Earth. Clay, wood and still life, small art from around the world. E-Moderne Gallerie, 116 Arch St., Phila. 267-928-2123. e-modernegallery.com THRU12/31 Small Works Show. Opening reception 11/29, 6-9. Highlands Art Gallery, 41 No. Union

St., Lambertville. 908-7662720. highlandsartgallery.com THRU 12/31 Viviane De Kosinksy etchings, just in for the Holidays. The Snow Goose Gallery, 470 Main St., Bethlehem. 610-974-9099. Thesnowgoosegallery.com THRU 1/5 Building the Arena: Photography by Theo Anderson. Paying tribute to the opening this fall of the nearby PPL Center, this exhibition of abstracted photographs of the building’s construction are more about transformation than place. Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley, 31 North Fifth St., Allentown, PA. AllentownArtMuseum.org THRU 1/11 Christopher Kennedy & Richard Sherman, A Separate View. Red Filter Gallery Fine Art Gallery, 74 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ 08530. Open Tues.-Sun., 12-5. 347-2449758. redfiltergallery.com THRU 1/15 From Houdini to Hugo: The Art of Brian Selznick. Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Pkway, Wilmington, DE. 302571-9590. delart.org THRU 1/18 Henrique Oliveira: Adenocalcinoma Poliresidual. Arthur Ross Gallery, 220 S. 34th St., Philadelphia. ArthurRossGallery.com. 215-898-2083 THRU 1/25 Robert Indiana, A-Z. Guided tours every Friday at 1 pm and Sunday at 2 pm. Visit our website to learn about upcoming lectures, programs, events and more. Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley, 31 North Fifth St., Allentown, PA. AllentownArtMuseum.org THRU 1/31 Patricia Hutton Galleries. Winter landscapes and small paintings along with its usual selection of Impressionism and Realism by Bucks County and New England artists. Also for the holidays: Handmade, one of a kind collector Santas with sculpted faces, carrying antique toys. Wood and pottery gifts by local Bucks County artisans. Open House: 12/ 6, 5 8 pm. 47 West State Street, Doylestown, PA. 215-3481728. www.PatriciaHuttonGalleries.com. THRU 2/8 Starstruck: The Fine Art of Photography. Michener Art

Museum, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown. 215-340-9800. michenerartmuseum.org 12/1-12/30 Hot Glass Show. Works from $20-$3,500. Santa Bannon Fine Art. Gallery. 25 W. 3rd. St., Suite 93, Bethlehem. 610997-5453. SantaFineArt.com 12/5-12/7 Sherry Tinsman Annual Show. A Mano Gallery, 42 No. Union St., Lambertville, NJ 609-3970063. amanogalleries.com 12/6-12/27 2014 Annual Volunteers Exhibition. Stewart Gallery. Opening Reception 12/7, 2-4. Philadelphia Sketch Club, 235 South Camac St., Phila. 215545-9298. sketchclub.org THEATER / DANCE 12/3-12/14 Little Women, The Musical, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott. Act 1 Performing Arts, Labadu Center for the Performing Arts, Main Stage Theatre. DeSales University, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA. 610-282-3192. Desales.edu/act1 12/5-28 A Christmas Carol. McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ. 609258-2787. mccarter.org DINNER & MUSIC Every Monday, Live guitar with Barry Peterson, 7-10. Karla’s, 5 W. Mechanic St., New Hope. 215-862-2612. karlasnewhope.com Thursday & Friday nights: DeAnna’s Restaurant, 54 N. Franklin St., Lambertville, NJ. LIVE JAZZ. 609-397-8957. deannasrestaurant.com.

Nathaniel Watson, with the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra and Allan Birney conducting. First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, 3231 West Tilghman St., Allentown, PA. 610434-7811. PACamerataSingers.com 12/16 A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, 7:30 P.M. Arts at St. John’s, St. John’s Lutheran Church, 37 So. Fifth St., Allentown, PA. 610-435-1641. Stjohnsallentown.org

12/14

WILL DOWNING & CAROL RIDDICK

MUSIKFEST CAFÉ 101 Founders Way Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300. artsquest.org DEAN WEAN GROUP

12/11

“NUT/CRACKED”

12/19 Vox Philia, David McConnell, director. 7:30 P.M., Arts at St. John’s, St. John’s Lutheran Church, 37 So. Fifth St., Allentown, PA. Suggested donation $10. 610-435-1641. Stjohnsallentown.org

12/12

MICKEY DOLENZ

12/13

MANDUDEBRO

12/19

SARAH AYERS

12/20

ROB STONEBACK BIG BAND

12/20 Darlene Love, Love for the Holidays. 8 PM, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. Free event parking attached to center. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org

12/21

JONNY LOQUASTO & SEAN GREEN

12/25

COMEDY FUNDRAISER

12/26

JIMMY & PARROTS

12/27

LARGE FLOWERHEADS

12/31

RED ELVISES

1/1

ADAM YENSER

1/2

CRAIG THATCHER

1/3

STRAWBERRY FIELDS

1/8

DAN ST. GERMAIN

1/9

ANA POPOVIC

12/21 Cathedral Arts presents SingAlong Messiah, Soloists, Chamber Orchestra. The audience is the chorus, bring your score. 7:00 PM, Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem, PA. 12/25 Cathedral Arts presents Organ Noëls, Stephen Williams, organist and Ian Murphy, baritone. 3:00 PM. Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem, PA.

12/3

MARTINA McBRIDE

12/4

TEDESCHI TRUCKS

12/5

TEDESCHI TRUCKS

CONCERTS

12/7

FORTE

12/12 Linda Eder, Christmas’ where you are. Special appearance by the Lehigh Valley Gay Men’s Chorus. State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton, PA. 610-252-3132, 1-800-999State. Statetheatre.org

12/9

PHIL COULTER & ANDY COONEY/10 PIECE ORCHESTRA

12/13 Camerata Singers present Handel’s Messiah, 7:30 PM. Soloists: Kathryn Aaron, Roger Isaacs, Joseph Gaines,

THE TEMPTATIONS & THE FOUR TOPS

12/4

KESWICK THEATRE Keswick Theatre 291 Keswick Ave., Glenside keswicktheatre.com

Thurs.-Sat., Dinner and a Show at SteelStacks, Bethlehem. 510. Table service, valet parking. artsquest.org

12/13

EVENTS THRU 1/6 Santa’s Workshop, a fascinating experience for children will be located on the terrace of the Hunterdon Art Museum through the New Year. Downtown Clinton, NJ. Clintonguild.com 12/3 Tree lighting ceremony and caroling with the Delaware Valley High School Choir 4 p.m., Main St., corner of Bridge and Harrison Streets, Frenchtown, NJ. Frenchtownnj.org

12/10

AN EVENING WITH SULLY ERNA

12/11

DEMETRI MARTIN: THE PERSISTENCE OF JOKES

12/3 Shopping with the Artists, 3 pm. Enjoy light refreshments while you browse the handcrafted work of nearly 30 artists. Red Tulip Gallery, 19 C West Bridge St., New Hope, PA. 267-454-0496. RedTulipCrafts.com

12/12

TYLER OAKLEY’S SLUMBER PARTY

12/5 29th Annual Christmas Pa-

rade, 7pm. Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Batman, Big Bird and many other characters will be dancing on the streets of Clinton, NJ. Floats large and small, local High School Bands, the Polish String Bank, magicians, and so much will be in store for an evening of fun and excitement for all ages. 12/10 The Beautiful Science of Butterflies. Penn Humanities Forum, UPenn. 215-573-8280. phf.upenn.edu 12/11 Himmeli Ornament Making Event. Free. 6-9 PM, drinks & snacks & shopping. Modern Love, 39 Bridge St., Frenchtown, NJ. 908-996-3387. Shopmodernlove.com 12/13 Visit from Prince Garrett. The Book Garden, 28 Bridge St., Frenchtown, NJ. 908-9962022. Bookgarden.biz 12/11 Candle Light Night, 6-9 pm. Streets of Downtown Clinton are lit with luminaries and stores are open until 9 pm. Downtown Clinton, NJ. Clintonguild.com Workshops Arts Project featuring Ceramics, The Art of the Children’s Book, Drawing and Design Fundamentals, Illustration, Jewelry, and Printmaking. Starting 1/19, 12 weeks, noncredit. Penn State Lehigh Valley, 2809 Saucon Valley Rd., Center Valley, PA. 610-2855058 or lv.psu.edu/artsproject BOOK/POETRY READINGS 12/13 Panoply Books Reading Series: Poet Kasey Jueds., 6pm. Kasey Jueds will read from her first collection, Keeper, winner of 2012 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize from the University of Pittsburgh Press. Free. Panoply Books, 46 N. Union St, Lambertville, NJ. 609-3971145. Panoplybooks.com 12/14 Devastation on the Delaware Discussion & Signing with author Mary Shafer. 2 pm, The Book Garden, 28 Bridge St., Frenchtown, NJ. 908-9962022. Bookgarden.biz

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Carol C. Dorey Real Estate, Inc. Specialists in High-Value Property www.doreyrealestate.com (610) 346-8800

ESSENCE OF ELEGANCE

SWEEPING VIEWS

Prominently positioned on 5 acres, enveloped by mature trees, manicured lawns & perennial gardens, there are lovely outdoor living spaces of covered & screened porches, stone patios & private vistas all overlooking a pool, pond, spa, hot tub, and tennis court… in a bucolic setting of natural beauty that will take your breath away. The timeless design features a wealth of custom details in 8,716 square feet, with 6 BRs, au pair suite, and spaces of grand proportions that invite one to entertain. $2,650,000

History dating back to the 1700s swirl through stone and antique wood to marry with state-of-the-art amenities. From the stone floored foyer, a feeling of warmth, and prescient vision create a unique welcoming space. The living room with original random width pine flrs, repurposed barn wood from 1850 and floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, opens to the sunroom and sun-kissed views. Enjoy a panorama of beauty as the sun dances on the pool, the sky opens up beyond and tree tops bend in the wind… all from the sunroom that opens to the quite of the woods. $750,000

MINUTES FROM SAUCON VALLEY Rarely does a home of this caliber become available for purchase. The design and execution are unquestionably beyond compare. The owners are asking to pass along their dream home to a new owner who will share in their experiences. Come enjoy the ambiance….come be a part of the Upper Bucks County environs….adrift in the magic, warmed by sunsets and the beauty of these surroundings. 8 acres, 4 bedrooms, fabulous appointments, incredible privacy. $1,650,000

BETHLEHEM CONDO

STUNNING SUNSETS

MOVE-IN READY

The views of south mountain change with the seasons while the streets of historic Bethlehem are timeless. The living room has oversized windows, custom bookcases, window seats, an ornamental fireplace and 11 ft ceilings with deep moldings. Slate and glass tile in the bathroom with a frameless glass-walled shower and a porcelain soaking tub. A grand hall foyer, generous bedrooms and a custom-finished storage area complete a perfect blend that has made a restored manse with roots in the early history of Bethlehem, a much sought after destination. $389,000

This impressive estate home delivers commanding views, outdoor amenities and comfortable living in one of the Lehigh Valley’s most desirable neighborhoods. A dramatic twostory living room anchored by a magnificent stone fireplace. Oak floors and cabinetry are warming themes throughout the property. The 1st fl master bedroom suite is lavish… warm your feet on radiant heated floors in the master bath. An office with a coffered ceiling and cherry built-ins is on the way upstairs where 3 additional bedrooms, a theatre room and an office with a balcony complete the second floor. $945,000

Located in the convenience of north Bethlehem, with all the beauty of a great town and all the privacy of a neighborhood. This home is beautifully maintained, is ready to surprise the most discriminating buyers. Old world craftsmanship and sunwashed hardwood and parquet floors invites one to linger inside and out. Family room, modern kitchen, and 2 stone fireplaces plus expansive gardens, enclosed porch and large patio let you know this is a special home. Three bedrooms and 2 full baths accommodate your family’s needs. $305,000

CLOSE TO EVERYTHING

NATURAL SANCTUARY

FABULOUS CREEK VIEWS

This custom home has appointments requisite for the best in today’s quality construction. The home boasts 4 BRs and 3.5 baths. The backyard has been designed for family fun, landscaped with boulder walls and offering the space for a future pool. A wraparound, covered porch and patio are the perfect places to entertain while watching the ever-changing seasonal color displays. A world apart, yet close to everything that Saucon Valley has to offer, these breathtaking, long-distance views are a fabulous way to begin and end each day. $869,000

This historic Bucks County home on 9+ acres offers a sanctuary for wildlife, woodlands and a stream. There are 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, oak and pine floors, bible cupboard and a stone fireplace that make up the character of this home. While there is a detached two-car garage/barn with heat and a spacious second story studio, you’ll want to spend most of the time outdoors enjoying the glorious surroundings. Set in a sun-filled clearing, the home and inground pool are surrounded by sweeping pines and venerable hardwoods. $399,000

Positioned along a quiet country road on 11 picturesque acres, this exceptional stucco-on-stone farmhouse dates to 1842 and has been beautifully maintained and updated. Two walk-in fireplaces, rich pumpkin pine floors and deep window sills accent the spacious rooms. Modern comforts include zoned heating, central air conditioning, a main level laundry room, and an incredible family room with screened deck. The inviting grounds are buffered by the breathtaking Fry’s Run and invite one to meander to the charming settler’s cottage, smokehouse, brick oven pavilion and bank barn. $675,000 M AY 2 0 0 9

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