ICON by ICON Magazine

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contents

MARCH ~ 2013

FEATURES

IN CELEBRATION OF THE CHERRY BLOSSOM | 26 To the Japanese people, cherry blossoms are a symbol of life’s impermanence and the majesty of mortality as their wondrous beauty is fleeting. Philadelphia will be hosting the Annual Subaru of America Cherry Blossom Festival from April 1 through April 26, with song, dance and demonstrations.

ON MEETING NORMAN MAILER | 28 Norman Mailer’s 50th birthday party bash was attended by some 550 people, most of whom were high-profile celebrities—most, except for two kids from Philly who were invited by the son of Mailer’s longtime live-in girlfriend. Dancers at the Cherry Blossom Festival in 2012.

UP AND DOWNTON | 30

A great trick of Downton Abbey, the UK’s crossover hit series, is that the estate itself is a field-leveling entity, and that all of these characters, be they modest or magisterial, are tied to Downton’s fate and eminence—citizens of one nation under juicily dramatic duress.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW LARRY MCKENNA, SWINGIN’ AND SINGIN’ HERD | 34 The teaching, storytelling tenor saxophonist has been inspiring his native Philadelphia for six decades. Norman Mailer.

COLUMNS

MUSIC

City Beat | 5

The Jazz Scene | 32

Backstage | 5 Jim Delpino | 47 Sally Friedman | 48

OPINION Obama, Winning the Argument | 6

ART Alliteration of the Month | 6 Scrum | 7

A scene from Downton Abbey.

Philip Jamison | 8

Leonid Sokov: Ironic Objects | 10 Exhibitions | 14

FILM

Harper’s Index | 53

Singer / Songwriter | 40 Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell; Richard Thompson; Jimi Hendrix; The Bergamot; The Flatlanders

Reel News | 22

STAGE

Table; Let Fury Have the Hour Saxophonist Larry McKenna. Photo: Melissa Gilstrap.

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L.A. Times Crossword | 52

Rice in a Bottle – Sake | 46

Ginger & Rosa; Lore; A Place at the

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Agenda | 55

WINE

Film Roundup | 24

MARCH 2013

Keresman on Disc | 38 Miles Davis; Matthew Shipp; Dale Watson & His Lonestars; Van Morrison; The Delfonics; Alexander von Schlippenbach; Denny Zeitlin

Bad Movie | 20 Movie 43

The Kid With a Bike

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Prime Rib | 43 Xilantro | 44

Life of Pi; Skyfall; Robot & Frank;

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Nick’s Picks | 36 Kevin Eubanks; Antonio Sanchez; Charles Lloyd and Jason Moran; Ben Williams and Sound Effect

FOOD

Keresman on Film | 18 Warm Bodies

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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Jazz Library | 41 Dizzy Gillespie

Cinematters | 16 Emperor

Footlights | 51

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Regional Theater & Dance | 50 A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Late Nite Catechism; Mark Russell; Seminar; Henry V; Iphigenia and Other Daughters; The Hobbit; Priscilla Queen of the Desert–The Musical; Under the Whaleback

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ON THE COVER: Drummers at the 2012 Subaru of America Cherry Blossom Festival in Philadelphia. Photo: JASGP. Page 26.

city beat

THOM NIICKELS

ThomNickels1@aol.com

WE ARRIVED EARLY FOR Sally Starr’s funeral memorial at Costantino’s Funeral Home (“elegant but affordable”) in Berlin, New Jersey. Sally’s mortal remains were in the main room where the closed casket held a large image of Sally alongside flower arrangements, candles, Sally’s cowgirl hat and a small end table displayed her boots. She was born Alleen Mae Beller in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1923, and adopted the name Sally Starr in 1941. She was considered the first highly rated DJ in the country, a talented announcer, writer and producer. She started the Philadelphia-based Popeye Theater in 1955, a 30-minute variety show that included cartoons, live acts, The Three Stooges, and guests. Costantino’s came alive when a long line of mourners gathered to view the casket and greet family members. Most seemed to be in their 50s, or 60s, and resembled salt of the earth types: men in polyester suits, blue jeans, work uniforms and Elvis jackets; and a number of women with long, bleached blond hair made us think of Sally Xeroxes. There was a lot of talking and movement—yes, the spirit of Love, Luck and Lollipops had made this a happy place. While some knelt or bowed before the casket, almost everyone had something to say to Sally’s only surviving sister. Beside Sally’s sister was a young girl about ten or 11 years old. When we asked someone who she was, we were told, “Sally’s granddaughter.” In 1984, Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky quoted Sally as saying, “Unfortunately, I had polio and it affected me in ways that prevented me from having children.” Let’s just chalk this one up to mystery. RIP, Sally. While last month’s PAFA debate on gender and race in the art world was not as volatile as the NYC 1971 Town Hall debate on Women’s Liberation—in which panelists Germaine Greer, Diana Trilling, Jacqueline Ceballos (of NOW) and Norman Mailer watched fellow panelist Jill Johnston being dragged offstage by female friends who wanted to French kiss—the event did heat up an otherwise dull February Sunday afternoon. As Heike Rass, PAFA Vice President of Marketing, put it, the panel’s aim was to discuss “how gender and ethnicity factor into how art is received.” The debate was called to address New York Times art critic Ken Johnson’s controversial comments on PAFA’s current exhibit, The Female Gaze: Women Artists Making Their World. “Sexism is probably a good enough explanation for inequities in the market, “Johnson wrote. “But it might also have something to do with the nature of art that women tend to make….Anyone with a theory about that will have a good opportunity to test it at PAFA.” The Academy invited Huffington Post Founding Arts Editor, Kimberly Brooks, and artists Njideki Akunijcli and Joyce Kozloff to challenge Johnson at the standing room only event. Throughout the ordeal, Johnson maintained a cool as a cucumber demeanor despite a history of slighting various minority groups in his reviews. Audience members questioned his chronic deference to men as the authentic inheritors of lasting artistic talent. To wit: Doesn’t your obvious bias help perpetuate a privileged all-boys club? etc., etc. “The Times view is just one opinion,” a panel member said in a scolding tone, a true enough statement in today’s world where paid criticism has been eroded considerably by that Op Ed Tower of Babel known as The Huffington Post. Both sides made valid points, even if Johnson was outnumbered and out-voiced. (In a fantasy scenario, perhaps a pro-Times ally like provocateur feminist Camile Pagila would have come to Johnson’s rescue.) Temperatures got hotter when an inference was made that the word “critic” implied hierarchy and privilege (read: white male dominance) in what should be an egalitarian free-for-all art opinion market where no one voice, credentialed or non-credentialed, holds sway. We couldn’t help but think: Isn’t this “cultural communism” reminiscent of the time when teachers told students that everybody is an artist, and that anyone can be a Renoir or a Picasso if they just apply themselves? Bottom line: We admire the PAFA show and advise everyone to see it before it leaves the city in April, even if we admit that in a future theoretical exhibition there could be issues around what The Times calls “identity politics in art”: Should powerful critics in major publications be fearful of panning bad feminist art, LGBT art, Scientology art, Jewish art, Greek Orthodox art or even Developmentally Disabled art, for fear of being labeled phobic? And: Should art be subservient to current political and cultural trends in the interests of equality? Mao thought that art should be “socialist in content and Chinese in style,” while Paglia throws the whole of modern art into the garbage can when she states,

Journalist Thom Nickels’ books include Philadelphia Architecture, Tropic of Libra, Out in History and Spore. He is the recipient of the 2005 Philadelphia AIA Lewis Mumford Architecture Journalism Award. thomnickels.blogspot. com

backstage

BRUCE H. KLAUBER

drumalive@aol.com

MUSICOPIA GALA NEWS The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia has joined ICON, Jacobs Music and WRTI Radio as a sponsor of our June 2nd gala concert at the Philadelphia Ethical Society, benefiting the non-profit music ed organization, Musicopia. Tickets are now available online— as are details and bios of the performers, sponsors, and other pertinent pieces of information—and can be purchased by logging on to www.ICONDV.com and clicking on “Musicopia Benefit” at the top of the page. Tickets are $20, with no additional fees or service charges, and seating is limited. We suggest buying early. And often. THOSE SUPER QUEENS Jerry Blavat used to call the famed singing group, The Supremes, “The Super Queens.” And super queens they are, as not only their music lives on, but their fabulous stage costumes. Running through March at the African American Museum of Philadelphia is an exhibit called Come See About Me/The Mary Wilson Supremes Collection, an unforgettable and one-of-a-kind display of over 70 gowns worn by the group, designed by the likes of Bob Mackie, Lars Ake Wilhelmsson and others. Supremes member Mary Wilson, who kicked off the exhibit in January, is said to be returning to the Museum again this month. For more information, visit Aampmuseum.org. ALL THE WORLD’S ON STAGE Two legendary theaters, Prince Musical Theater in Philadelphia and the Lansdowne Theater in Delaware County, are on the comeback trail. The historic Prince has had its share of challenges over the past few years, but in July, still in the midst of bankruptcy reorganization, five buyers paid off the theater’s mortgage and began bidding for ownership. Events have been regularly scheduled since the first of the year and reports say they have been well-attended. Set for an April 25th opening is the Curtis Opera Theatre’s production of Handel’s Rinaldo. For updates on Prince events, visit PrinceTheater.org. The Lansdowne, built in 1927 and shuttered in the late 1980s, was purchased by the Historic Lansdowne Theater Corporation in 2007, which has dedicated itself to restoring this piece of history. Work is ongoing in the theater’s interior, and in October, the marquee was lit for the first time in ages. Donations for the continued restoration of this historic landmark are being accepted at LansdowneTheater.org. The World Café Live, both the Philadelphia and Wilmington locales, are incredible properties that present an astonishing array of area and national musical talent. What is not so widely known is that the World Café organization does more than its part in promoting music education. Last month, the Café in Wilmington held its first “Monday Night Community Spotlight,” designed to be, as they say, a “fun approach for local organizations to cultivate supporters and reach out to the community.” Select organizations are invited to use their Upstairs Live facility and restaurant at no charge from 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. The first event was sponsored by The Cab Calloway School of the Arts, and featured the school’s jazz band and guest Cedric Napoleon from the Pieces of a Dream jazz group. To put your organization in the spotlight, visit WorldCafeLive.com or contact Jake Rogers at JRogers@WorldCafeLive.com. ON THE FRINGE Call it cutting edge, edgy, avant-garde, or just ahead of its time, but for 17 years and 16 days each year, The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe have been bringing, to quote the principals, “renowned contemporary performing artists from the U.S. and around the world,” many of them experimental, with the mission being to help make Philadelphia a city “bursting with wild creativity.” To make all of this easier to do and to expand, ground has just been broken for a new, year-round performing arts center on the Delaware waterfront. According to President/Producing Director Nick Stuccio, the fest’s new digs will feature a 240-seat theater, studio space, outdoor plaza, restaurant/bar and

Bruce Klauber is the biographer of jazz great Gene Krupa, writer/producer of the Warner Bros. and Hudson Music "Jazz Legends" DVD series, CD producer for the Barcelona-based Fresh Sound Records, Public Relations Director of the Philadelphia non-profit, Jazz Bridge; a working jazz drummer and entertainment industry professional since childhood. He received his Bachelor's Degree from Temple University and an Honorary Doctorate from Combs College of Music for his "contributions to music scholarship and jazz performance."

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opinion

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Obama, winning the argument

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

Filling the hunger since 1992

EUGENE ROBINSON IN HIS BID TO be remembered as a transformational leader, President Obama is following the playbook of an ideological opposite, Margaret Thatcher. First you win the argument, she used to say, then you win the vote. Obama is gradually winning the argument about what government can and should do. His State of the Union address was an announcement of that fact—and a warning to conservatives that, to remain relevant, they will have to move beyond the premise that government is always the problem and never the solution. It’s ridiculous for critics to charge that [the] speech was not sufficiently bipartisan. Repairing the nation’s infrastructure is not a partisan issue; bridges rust at the same rate in Republican-held congressional districts as in Democratic ones. The benefits of universal preschool will accrue in red states as well as blue. Climate change is not deterred by the fact that a majority of the Republican caucus in the House doesn’t believe in it. There is no bipartisan compromise between “do something” and “do nothing.” Obama’s reelection reflected the progress he has made in convincing Americans that “do something” is the only option—and that “do nothing” leads inexorably to decline. Thatcher’s reshaping of British politics and governance is instructive. The Iron Lady came to power at a time when Britain was sinking. The ideological pendulum had swung too far to the left, and the nominally socialist Labor Party, architect of the modern British welfare state, was out of ideas. Thatcher’s Conservative government roused the nation from its torpor. She was an enormously polarizing figure, and much of what she did—fighting the unions, privatizing state industries and public housing—met with bitter resistance. Today, Britain remains one of the wealthiest countries in the world and continues to play a major role in international affairs. London is arguably the world’s preeminent financial center. I doubt any of this would be the case if Thatcher had not won the argument about how her nation should move forward. When Obama took office, the United States was in a similar funk. Ronald Reagan’s conservative ideas had been corrupted by his followers into a kind of anti-government nihilism. Reagan wanted to shrink government; today’s Republican Party wants to destroy it.

Obama assumed leadership of a country in which inequality was growing and economic mobility declining, with the result that the American dream was becoming less attainable. It was a country whose primary and secondary schools lagged far behind international norms; whose airports, roads and bridges were showing their age; and, most important, whose path to continued prosperity, in the age of globalization and information technology, was not entirely clear. Obama’s State of the Union speech was a detailed reiteration of his position that we can and must act to secure our future—and that government can and must be one of our principal instruments. To understand why Americans reelected Obama in November and sent more Democrats to both houses of Congress, consider the Republican response to the president’s address, delivered by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Never mind the unforgettable moment when Rubio stooped almost out of sight and reached for a bottle of water, all the while trying to look straight ahead at the camera like John Cleese in some Monty Python sketch. I felt genuinely sorry for him—and appalled at the Republican Party’s incompetence at basic stagecraft. First they give Clint Eastwood an empty chair to perform with at the convention, and now this? Even more unfortunate, in the end, was the utter lack of ideas in Rubio’s speech. “More government isn’t going to help you get ahead, it’s going to hold you back,” Rubio said. Yet he also said that he never would have been able to go to college without government-backed student loans. And he spoke touchingly of how Medicare paid for the care his father received in his final days and the care his mother needs now. I expected him to try to reconcile this contradiction. Instead, he went back to portraying government as something to be tamed rather than something to be used. To a majority of Republican primary voters, this makes sense. To the electorate as a whole, it might have made sense 30 years ago—but not today. Margaret Thatcher never won the hearts of her many opponents. But by winning her argument, she shaped a nation’s future. There’s an increasing chance that historians will say the same of Barack Obama. n

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www.icondv.com Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor

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City Beat Editor Thom Nickels Backstage & Bruce H. Klauber Jazz Scene Editor Fine Arts Editors Edward Higgins Burton Wasserman Classical Music Editor Peter H. Gistelinck Music Editors Nick Bewsey Mark Keresman Bob Perkins Tom Wilk Theater Critic David Schultz Food Editor Robert Gordon Wine Editor Patricia Savoie Contributing Writers A.D. Amorosi Robert Beck

Jack Byer Peter Croatto James P. Delpino Sally Friedman Geoff Gehman Mark Keresman George Oxford Miller Thom Nickels R. Kurt Osenlund Victor Stabin

PO Box 120 • New Hope, PA 18938 (800) 354-8776 Fax (215) 862-9845 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). Copyright 2013 Prime Time Publishing Co., Inc.

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a thousand words

I’M NOT A BIG sports guy but I grew up playing sandlot baseball and football. I know my way around a hockey puck and how Formula 1 teams use the Coanda Effect to increase down force. But I was caught as ignorant when my stepdaughter mentioned she was going to the National Rugby Championships in Florida…as a competitor. I know she plays Rugby. I’ve even been to one of her games. But Cynthia is in her mid-twenties and lives in California, and at that age and distance a parent can only hope to be on the fringe in any loop. News arrives on a need-toknow basis. Cynthia has always been an athlete. She played softball and basketball through school, softball at Penn, and she runs and works out constantly. After college she moved to San Francisco where she discovered rugby and joined a local club called the Fog. As with everything she does, Cynthia was all-in. A couple of years later she became a member of a team based in Berkley, the All Blues, which travels nationally playing in the USA Rugby Women’s Premier League. I’ve seen photos from around the country of Cynthia with mud in her hair, black eyes and a big grin on her face. Last year I went to watch her play the New York team at Randall’s Island. My first and only live Rugby match. The game was still a bit of a mystery. Rugby is sort of like American football. The field is similar, the teams each have an end they defend and they have to stay on their side of the line when a ball is out of play. The

STORY AND PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

object is to get the ball over a goal line at the end of the field. But you can’t forward pass. If you run with the ball you get torn to shreds, so the trick is to pass to the side or behind; what we call a lateral in football. Much of the offence comes from a series of these passes from player-to-player on the run, most effectively executed if the passer waits to release until the last possible instant before getting clobbered by an opponent. It’s exciting to see this line of players developing in the melee, and the ball rapidly skipping to a new pair of hands just as the previous handler is obliterated. Pow. Birdies. The playoffs were streamed online, but in a bare-bones kind of way. One camera with lots of wind noise and background conversation. The low-resolution image looked more like rain on a window than video but you could tell the teams apart and that they were playing with rugged earnest. The Blues made it to the finals. Mom was brave through it all. Every time a player got hammered a distant look gathered in her eyes, where deep inside a beautiful blonde child in a pink dress sang and played with dolls. “I think that’s her,” I said as a substitute came onto the field. Cynthia walks like someone who is seeing the whole picture and knows how to direct her formidable energy. “Number 12,” I pointed. Doreen moved closer to the screen. The players piled into a scrum, the ball was introduced to the middle and after a few moments of shoving and grappling it popped out in the hands of the opponents. They started W W W. FA C E B O O K .C O M / I C O N D V

that end-around passing maneuver from one to the next, picking up speed down the field. From the right side of the screen emerged a blue streak with a “12” on the back at high velocity and zeroed in on the person next in line to receive the ball. Target acquired. Everyone was running in the same direction except Cynthia, who was cutting across the grain. She arrived at the unfortunate competitor at the same time as the ball. Impact. Something flew up in the air. I didn’t know if it was the ball or a body part. “Jeeez…” gurgled out of my throat. Doreen wasn’t sure what had just happened so I told her Cynthia made a good tackle. And so it went. The Berkley All Blues won. The score was lopsided, but it was a hard-fought game. At the end, all the players were staggering around like they just climbed out of a train wreck. I’m dancing through the house. Doreen wasn’t as excited, although she was happy for Cynthia. I would later hear her tell a friend on the phone that her daughter won the National Championship and Bob says it’s a big deal. Well, it is. Go Blues. ■

Robert Beck maintains a gallery and academy in Lambertville, NJ, which is presently hosting the 32nd Annual Lambertville Historical Society “Coryell” Juried Painting Exhibition through March 28. Email: robert@robertbeck.net.Website: www.robertbeck.net

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Hills, by Philip Jamison.

art

Philip Jamison

UNLIKE MANY ARTISTS, PHILIP Jamison, the Chester County watercolorist, not only admires the work of others but has actively collected it for almost 50 years. His work and his collection are currently on display at the Woodmere Art Museum. Objects of Desire: the Philip Jamison Collection and Philip Jamison Watercolors: The Spirit of Chester County are the two exhibitions both running through May 5. Some 84 pictures in the Jamison collection are a promised gift to the Museum. Jamison’s hallmark in his canvasses is a giant bouquet of spring flowers bursting with color, movement and life. He claims Redon for this inspiration. Other work in watercolors could pass for Andrew Wyeth’s work along the Brandywine River Valley. Several of Jamison’s watercolors, of winter farm scenes and single windows in shabby farmhouses seem to come directly from the Wyeth sketchbook. Jamison acknowledges the source and also points to others such as Thomas Eakins, Edward Hopper, and Winslow Homer as artistic influences. In watercolors, he cites Charles Burchfield and W. Emerton Heitland as having played roles. 8

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He was born in Philadelphia in 1925; before the first grade, his single mother moved to Chester County. He has made his home there ever since, along with a summer country home in Vindalhaven, Maine, that the family visits each year. He married Jane Gray and made his living first as a decorator of lampshades. His wife, who died in 2008, was also a watercolorist and influenced Jamison to concentrate on that medium. Jamison spent WWII in the navy and then graduated from the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, now known as the University of the Arts, in 1950. He has three children, a son and identical twins, who are professional psychics, have performed in a number of venues and appeared on television. His work has been widely exhibited at many museums and galleries, including the Metropolitan in New York, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Boston Museum of Art, and the Delaware Art Museum. He has shown his work in the Hirschl and Adler Gallery in New York for some 25 years. Along the way, he wrote two books on watercolors (he’s been a member of the American Watercolor Society since 1958), was

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elected to the National Academy of Design, and chosen by NASA in 1975 to chronicle a joint Russian-USA space launch.

n Objects of Desire, Jamison exhibits his own collection, which began in 1965. His first painting was a work by Horace Pippin, another Chester County artist/veteran. It has been said that the painting’s subject, Major Gen. Smedley Butler, was the most highly decorated Marine of his time. As can be expected of a man of time and place, Jamison has works by Henry Pritz, Sam Maitin, several Wyeths, Warren Rohrer, and a number of pieces by Earl Horter. The collection has a dozen works by Arthur B. Carles, who Jamison has called the most “exciting” artist of his time, and a man who foresaw Abstract Expressionism in his later work. There are also two pieces by George Cope, one an oil on canvass of a Brown Trout, and the other, a small landscape painted inside a clam shell, a prize that Jamison found in a flea market. Many of the works in the collection are promised to the Woodmere, which would be

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a welcome addition to their core mission collection. Much of the Jamison oeuvre has to do with nature—even those paintings with buildings in them. “In order to satisfy my own convictions,” he said, “I need some reference to nature in my paintings.” That holds true even when a note of incongruity creeps in when a brilliant bouquet of flowers appears as if by magic inside the frame of a less sprightly scene. An illustrated catalogue accompanies the two exhibitions; it features a checklist, chronology and a wide-ranging interview with Jamison by William Valerio, the Museum’s director, and Patricia Van Burgh, the Museum’s director of education. Since Valerio was appointed director, the Woodmere has been dusted off and the exhibition schedule, which has always stirred interest, has come to life. These two shows, plus the promised gifts, are evidence that his leadership has had substantial impact. n

Edward Higgins is a member of The Association Internationale Des Critiques d’Art.

EDWARD HIGGINS

Still Life, by Leon Kelly.

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BURTON WASSERMAN

IronicObjects IN 2001, LEONID SOKOV WAS an exhibitor at the Venice Biennale. Last year, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art celebrated his 70th birthday with a solo retrospective show and a significant accompanying publication to mark the occasion. Though he was originally born in the former Soviet Union, he no longer lives there because he emigrated to America in 1980 and maintains his studio in New York City. As widely admired as he is today, he would not have been honored in his native land with a such solo exhibition several years ago. Back then, both his subject matter and his exercise of independent expressive freedom would have made his creative work unacceptable for public exhibition. This was because he departed radically from the state approved style of traditional Soviet realism, in effect at the time. Currently, the Zimmerli Art Museum, 71 Hamilton Street in New Brunswick, NJ, is presenting a solo show of Sokov’s incisive work titled Ironic Objects. It is the first museum installation in the United States given over to one of the famous non-conformist artists of the once active censorshippracticing Soviet Union. The show is set to close on July 14, 2013. The Zimmerli Art Museum has become a major storehouse in our country for the art of Russia and other former Soviet republics. This happened because the private collectors, Nancy and Norton Dodge managed to acquire an exceptional number of these works and then generously gave them to the Zimmerli in 1991. Consisting of 20,000 examples by over a thousand dissident artists, their beneficence helped the museum become home, outside of Russia, to the largest group of such holdings. The Sokov solo includes 80 pieces of work, many of them on public view for the first time. Included among these examples are selections in two and three dimensions, frequently rendered in a style combining a roughhewn, folk art flavor and a broad touch of American style pop-art idiom. One of Sokov’s best known artworks projects a measure of political irony. Titled Project to Construct Glasses for Every Soviet Person, it was put together to be a twist on the concept of the government telling the citizens how fortunate they were when they were actually bombarded with deceitful propaganda and the manufacture of all sorts of shabby products. The red painted portion representing the lenses of the spectacles are cut in the shape of a Soviet star. Thus, the view afforded by them is modified by an outlook formulated by the state’s communication apparatus. Obviously, it is Sokov’s wry commentary on what might be called “the Soviet way of seeing.” Another example of Socov’s aesthetic irony is a sculpture of a sassy figure of Lenin with his hands in his pants pockets confronting the famous toothpick-thin walking man sculpture of Alberto Giacometti. Physically, the contrast between the two male presences is extremely startling. In additional selections, Socov reveals a world in which such theatrical characters as Josef Stalin, Mickey Mouse and Marilyn Monroe all get their turn at putting in an appearance of one kind or another. Somehow, it all adds up to an offbeat, artistically expressive setting where the entirely unexpected turns up time and again. From Socov’s point of view, the perception of that world is often rather strange and frequently in process of coming apart at the seams. In a very peculiar way, it’s a decidedly underground perspective with a very odd slant all its own. ■

Irritator, 1974. Wood, iron, and oil paint with mechanism to move tongue. Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union. Photo Peter Jacobs

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Dr. Burton Wasserman is a professor emeritus of Art at Rowan University, and a serious artist of long standing. Dr. Wasserman’s program Art From Near and Far is on WWFM in Central and Northern New Jersey and Bucks County and WGLS in S. Jersey.

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Stalin and Monroe, 1991, 2008. Mixed technique, 37 x 32 inches. Collection of the artist.

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Orchestration, 1947. Color screenprint, 43/80, 5 3/4 x 9 inches. $3,500.

Morris Blackburn Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Alumni Sales Gallery 118 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia pafa.org Through April 21, 2013

South Riding by Malcolm Bray.

Continuum New Hope Arts, 2 Stockton Ave., New Hope 215-862-9606 newhopearts.org Friday–Sunday, 12–5 Through March 23 This exhibition is an invitational show of nationally recognized artists who have chosen regional emerging artists to present along with them. While painting is the medium of choice for this exhibition the pivotal concepts of evolution, style and point of view illuminate twelve artists’ visions ranging from the abstract to the figurative. More than sixty works will be on view. Veteran exhibitors Ilia Barger, Malcolm Bray, Stephen Lebowitz, Charles McVicker, Mavis Smith and Annelies Van Dommelen anchor the diversity of painterly expression from pure abstraction to documentary realism. Those Master artists were challenged to choose an artist whose work reiterates their own while carrying the concept into a new generation. Emerging artists are Laura Brandt, Joseph Bottari, Alyssa Devlin, Aylin Green, Jeaninne Honstein and Nakima Ollin.

Forms, 1945. Color screenprint, 12/50, 10 1/8 x 11 7/8 in., $3500

Red Girl, by Mavis Smith.

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The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), in collaboration with Dolan/Maxwell, presents Morris Blackburn: PAFA Modernist, Works from 1939-1949. Morris Blackburn (1902-1979) grew up in Philadelphia and attended PAFA from 1925-1929, where he studied under Arthur B. Carles, Henry McCarter, and Daniel Garber. During this time, Blackburn was the recipient of PAFA’s prestigious Cresson Traveling Scholarship. In 1936, he began taking private classes with Arthur B. Carles. “It was Carles who impressed me with the deep sense of the importance of being a painter,” Blackburn said. It was during his time spent learning from Carles that Blackburn’s paintings and prints evolved into abstraction. Blackburn later served as a PAFA faculty member. The exhibition in the PAFA Alumni Sales Gallery features 25 works by Blackburn dating from the late 1930s and continuing through the 1940s. In addition to his work as a painter, Blackburn is well known for his accomplishments as an etcher, engraver, and lithographer. Blackburn’s work is represented in many private and public collections, including The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Butler Institute of American Art, the Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, the Clearwater Museum, the U.S. State Department, Free Library of Philadelphia, Woodmere Art Museum, Pennsylvania State University, Library of Congress, Childe Hassam Fund-University of Montana, Fleisher Art Memorial, Friends Central School, and the N.J. State Museum. All works on view are for sale, and some of the proceeds benefit the PAFA Scholarship Fund.

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Photograph by Wendy Paton.

Two for the Road Red Filter Gallery, 74 Bridge St, Lambertville 347-244-9758 redfiltergallery.com Open Thurs–Sunday afternoons March 7–April 28 Opening reception 3/9, 3–5 Wendy Paton is best known for dramatic, black and white night portraits. Her work has been published in the U.S., CNN WORLD, Prime Time Russia Today, Schwarzweiss Magazine, Moscow News, Le Journal de la Photographie, and The Photo Review. In September 2012, a retrospective of her candid night portraits, Visages de Nuit opened at The Lumiere Center for Photography in Moscow. Stephen Perloff has been included in collections at the Michener Art Museum, The Print Center of Phila., The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Photo West Gallery of Philadelphia, and Germantown Academy. Exhibition participation includes The Light Room Gallery in Phila., Making Magic: Beauty in Word and Image, at the Michener Art Museum, and InVision Photography Festival in Bethlehem.

Photograph by Stephen Perloff.

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cinematters

PETE CROATTO

Tommy Lee Jones.

Emperor

EMPEROR’S GREATEST ASSET IS also its biggest liability. Tommy Lee Jones, wielding his charisma like a saber, plays Gen. Douglas MacArthur. He’s not the star. That designation goes to Matthew Fox (TV’s Lost, Speed Racer), whose professional clout mostly comes from his handsomeness. Aside from being a tad stiff—perhaps a symptom of being confined to starchy WWII-era military garb—Fox gives an OK performance. But it still causes a constant state of confusion to hang over the movie. Why isn’t Jones in every scene, bringing crackling energy to a movie that’s perpetually running on empty? It makes as much sense as hiring the Black Keys and having them open for Maroon 5. That’s par for the course in Emperor, a military procedure drama with little drama and a romance containing scant traces of romance. Director Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring) is working from a muted palette, and Jones is the only vivid color. You enjoy him when you can. It’s August 1945. The United States has bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, turning Japan into a smoldering crater and leading to its surrender. After the U.S. military rounds up the country’s war criminals, there’s the matter of determining Emperor Hirohito’s role in the war. MacArthur assigns the task to General Bonner Fellers (Fox), who has ten days to file a report. That’s way too soon, Fetters says, but the venerable gen16

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eral doesn’t care. Fetters compiles a who’s-who of Japan’s political players. Interviewing these men is beyond difficult. Hirohito is considered a god in Japan, so the interview subjects aren’t exactly forthright. And there’s the small matter that anti-U.S. sentiment in Japan is sky high, so a negative report could lead to revolt. Fetters’ intimacy with the country goes beyond his military obligations. In college, he fell in love with Aya, a Japanese student (Eriko Hatsune). While he hunts for more information about Hirohito, Fetters enlists his Japanese driver (Masayoshi Haneda) to pick up the trail of the grand romance that ended several years ago. The romance and the investigation, the movie’s two big plotlines, get bungled. What’s so surprising about Aya and Fetters’ romance is its limpness. Even their cute meet—she drops some papers, he picks them up—is boring. If war is hell, then the love arising from that period must save the soul. Where’s the sweaty bonding in a dumpy motel, the vengeful tryst in the back of a Jeep? In real life, the rapport between these two wouldn’t make date three, most likely dying at an awkward dinner in Ruby Tuesday. Here, it’s impossible to believe that Aya’s memory plagues Fetters’ every step. Fox may be a Professional Handsome Guy but the lack of heat isn’t entirely his fault. Neither is the sluggish pacing of the investigation, which boils down to a series of conversa-

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tions between Japanese government officials and a stoic Fox. It’s hard to build momentum—even in a “time is running out” scenario—around offices and conference rooms, so I’m curious why Webber and writers Vera Blasi and David Klass didn’t play around with the narrative. Include insider scenes from Washington, D.C. or more from the splintering Japanese government. Show MacArthur’s political aspirations instead of having someone telling Fetters that. The story proceeds in a straight line, and Fox doesn’t have the power to compel us to ignore the story’s faults. Jones does. Emperor shakes off its stodginess whenever he’s around, whether he’s getting off a plane or wondering how in the world you talk to a god. The Oscar-winning actor is reaching the point where, like Sean Connery or Jack Nicholson, he can just play Tommy Lee Jones. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But there is something wrong with a movie that asks us to invest our attention in a less interesting character played by a serviceable actor when two superior alternatives are right there. [PG-13] n Pete Croatto also writes movie reviews for The Weekender. His essays, features, and humor pieces have appeared in Philadelphia, New Jersey Monthly, The Christian Science Monitor, Grantland, Deadspin, and MAD. He can be reached at petecroatto@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter, @PeteCroatto.

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keresman on film

MARK KERESMAN

Warm Bodies

NE OF THE MOST popular staples of horror is the zombie movie. Right now one of TV’s most popular shows is The Walking Dead; two of the most popular series of horror film, the Night of the Living Dead “franchise” and its more-for-grotesquelaughs counterpart The Evil Dead, and two of the more entertaining (and hilarious) horror-comedies of the past few years are Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead. Unlike the concept of vampires, which retain most of their human qualities—especially lust and love—the zombie premise is more hellish. The dead outnumber the living, right? Imagine a world where, due to some sort of contagion or biological weapon, the dead pursue the living to eat them. Unlike being transformed into a superhuman creature of the night (like, when you’re bitten by a vampire), the notion of being eaten alive is one of the more terrifying ways to depart this mortal veil. Unlike vampires or werewolves, zombies literally have no lives—they basically shuffle around aimlessly until “food” shows up. Imagine, too, how human society would change, being constantly under siege not by the IRS or public transportation, but by the dead—naturally, as with wars and other social upheavals, mean and opportunistic humans could and would take advantage of this “societal stressor.” So that’s the context. Warm Bodies is a variation on the zombie-apocalypse theme, in which a youthful zombie has bits of his personality and self-awareness remaining within him. R (Nicholas Hoult) feels yearnings for more in his un-life than just meandering about looking for food, like most of his brethren. Julie (Teresa Palmer) is one of a cadre of young folks in a human enclave that’s charged with foraging for supplies outside the compound’s walls. A zombie posse encounters Julie and pals, during which R (he cannot recall his name, hence: R) chows down on Julie’s boyfriend. But when faced with the opportunity to eat Julie, he hesitates—the sight of her catalyzes his feelings, he reverts to the lovesick youth he’d likely be were he not undead. So he takes Julie back to his enclave, protecting her from his kind. He can barely speak, but he makes clear that he means Julie no harm—he covers the afraid, shiv18

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ering, and confused lass with a blanket and, like any guy with a bit of brains, gives her some space. Julie’s fear of R begins to dissipate and is gradually supplanted by fascination and affection…but she realizes that if her fellow humans saw R with her, they’d certainly blow his head off, despite his kindly ways. If the above reminds you of the play Romeo and Juliet, it ought to—it’s essentially the same. The subtext is about holding onto or reclaiming one’s humanity, and that’s one of the reasons Warm Bodies isn’t just another horror film. Unlike most zombie films, it’s not that gory, focusing instead on the way the live and dead characters relate to each other. Julie is one of a new breed of horror and action film heroines—she’s not a damsel in distress, but a winsome and capable gal who can kick ass. Hoult plays R as essentially what he is—a confused adolescent, kind of endearing, kind of dorky, that’s driven by forces he can barely understand. (All the usual stuff, along with a hunger for living flesh…he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, really, but when ya get hungry, ya gotta eat, right?) Mostly told from R’s point of view, Warm Bodies is essentially a zombie movie with…uh, heart—one that’s beating and not just for eating. Zombie purists may be disappointed in the lack of gore and the appearance of some of the zombies is a little inconsistent and, frankly, too wholesome. (Simply put, whether you’ve seen lots of undead-movies before or not, you generally know: Dead things rot.) But on the other (severed) hand, this movie puts a novel spin on the romantic comedy genre—there’s all the usual “gosh-what-shall-I-do-NOW” situations, but unlike in most (despised) rom-coms, the stakes aren’t nearly so high, the complications not so crucial or gruesome. There’s plenty of droll, dark, and occasionally cute humor. The direction is decent but nothing special, the movie moves at a brisk pace, and John Malkovich appears in a small role as the Leader of the human community. This is a horror-romance-comedy to which you can take friends that usually dislike horror and rom-com films, a “Dead Side Story” without the singing and dancing. n In addition to ICON, Mark Keresman is a contributing writer 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

L-R: Leslie Bibb, Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis.

Movie 43

ACK IN THE OLD days—before the InterWeb, say—there’d be a movie every now and again described as an “all-star spectacular.” However, as regular readers of this publication—as well as anyone who sees a lot of movies—will attest, it takes much more than an “allstar cast” to make a decent movie. (Like a decent script, maybe.) Just between you and me, my theory about some “all-star spectaculars” is thus: Some producer or studio bigwig postulates, “HEY, if we can stock this miserable excuse for a movie with as many recognizable names as possible to lure the hinterland suckers into theater seats, maybe they won’t notice that the movie itself is garbage. Even if they do, we’ll already have their money, or at least enough to show a profit.” To wit: Valentine’s Day, starring Jessicas Alba and Biel, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Garner, Eric Dane, Bradley Cooper, George Lopez, Julia and Emma Roberts, playing assorted just-plain-folks that of course are not so plain. New Year’s Eve. 1941. For those with a sense of oldHollywood history: Skidoo (1968), directed by the oncegreat Otto Preminger, starring Jackie Gleason, Caesar Romero, Frankie Avalon, Peter Lawford, Burgess Meredith, George Raft, John Philip Law, and Groucho Marx as a mob

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kingpin named “God.” (Right.) None of these are examples of particularly memorable cinema, except for portions of Skidoo, which fall into the category of Plan Nine from Outer Space-type surreal (Harry Nilsson, for example, sings the end credits). Add to that august list Movie 43, which has more stars than you can shake a stick at, if that’s you’re idea of a good time: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Liev Schreiber, Kate Winslet, Emma Stone, Richard Gere, Naomi Watts, Halle Berry, Kristen Bell, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Gerard Butler (who’s making a career of appearing in crap), Kate Bosworth, and so many others. HOW to shoehorn so much talent into a “film”? Simple: Have the “movie” be a collection of short bits/skits/vignettes, in the style of Kentucky Fried Movie and The Groove Tube, two 1970s cult comedy classics, and a cinematic mess from 2007, The Ten, which may be the worst movie this writer has yet seen. Movie 43 is the kind of movie that proves that the prophesy of Mike Judge’s littleseen satirical zinger Idiocracy (2006) is coming true— “dumbing down” is the order of the day. (FYI: Not everything in Groove Tube and KFM is gold, but the good outweighs the lousy, and let’s face it, humor was different in the ‘70s.) I’m no intellectual snob—I like some “crude” humor: South Park, The Three Stooges, aspects of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez movies, and the Zen of Bugs Bunny pulling a club out of nowhere to bash an annoying

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character on the noggin. But there is a crucial difference between indulging crudeness (and/or base shock value) for its own sake and crudeness in the service of Actually Funny. Movie 43 leans to…no, IS the former. If the very mention of assorted bodily fluids is hilarious, then this is the movie for you! If the idea of one character pooping on another give you the guffaws, then don’t miss this! Do superheroes have super-sexual-dysfunctions? Of course they do! Supergirl, for one, has a super-sized…aw, forget it. What if a corporation made an MP3 player in the form of a life-sized naked lady—big seller, right? But WHAT IF this product caused a surfeit of castrations because said product has (get this) a poorly placed exhaust fan? (I almost forgot to add: Much of the “humor” is mean-spirited, too.) Do you find a young girl’s first menstrual cycle (at an, uh, inconvenient time) amusing? (Then you must’ve loved that scene early on in the original Carrie.) What if two people went on a blind date and the gent had testicles [tee hee] emerging from his neck? (Jackman’s—insert your own joke here.) Does he get a hair in his soup? What do YOU think? Oh, the uninhibited merriment! Why did so many allegedly sane and talented actors appear in this dreck? Maybe, as with so many of these “all-star” vehicles, it was the lure of a nice paycheck for a few days’ work, they owed some favors, and/or they have greedy and/or gullible agents…or maybe they’re just plain dumb. n

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reel news

REVIEWS OF RECENTLY RELEASED DVDS BY GEORGE OXFORD MILLER

The Kid With a Bike.

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

Life of Pi (2012) ★★★★ Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irffan Khan, Gerard Depardieu Genre: Drama Director: Ang Lee Rated PG for emotional content, scary action, and peril. The story of Pi, an Indian teen and the lone human survivor of a sinking ship, combines classic elements of the coming-of-age tale, the fool’s journey, and the human will to survive against all odds. Rarely has a movie dazzled viewers on so many levels. Technically, the 3D, missing on DVD, is not a stomach-churning gimmick but an integral part of the film’s spectacular artistry. The CGI, from crashing storm waves to the menacing tiger, sets a new standard for virtual realism. One asks how long before human actors are superfluous? But most of all, the imaginative adventure of a boy marooned on a lifeboat with a tiger for seven months captures the mystery and majesty of life and the wonder of creation that refuses to separate the physical and metaphysical universes. Skyfall (2013) ★★★★ Cast: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench Genre: Thriller Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality, language, and smoking. True to 50 years and 22 James Bond movies, this episode opens with the franchise’s signature chase scene that defies human endurance and physical law. After 20 minutes of non-

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stop action, Bond prevails… NOT! The villain escapes, leaving 007 at the bottom of a river shot and presumed dead (by the Home Office). Bond reborn returns not the old 007 super-hero, but as a super-spy with human weaknesses still reeling from his disastrous love affair in Quantum of Silence. Instead of one battle or bedroom scene after another and getaways fueled with gee-whiz gadgetry, the new celibate Bond must defeat the arch-villain (Bardem) with ingenuity and determination and save Her Majesty’s secret service. Robot & Frank (2012) ★★★ Cast: Frank Langella, James Marsden, Susan Sarandon Genre: Comedy Rated PG-13 for some language. Assisted living takes a twist with Frank (Langella), an aging ex-con, high-rise burglar. Getting a pet for companionship is so last century, so his son buys him a humanoid robot programmed as a caregiver and best friend. Frank’s memory may be slipping but he still can cook up a scheme. The robot puts Frank on a diet to improve his mental functions, and Frank trains his new companion to pick locks. Frank loves to hang out at the library, browse the old books, and flirt with the librarian (Sarandon). When he learns a local software kingpin and his diamond-draped wife are spearheading an effort to make the library all-digital, Frank decides a heist with his new accomplice is in order. This heartwarming buddy movie exploits the ageless issues of aging, family, and rapidly changing technology with whimsical humor and irony.

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The Kid With a Bike (2011, Belgium) ★★★★ Cast: Cyril Thomas Doret, Samantha Cecile De France, Guy Jeremie Renier Genre: Drama Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne No MPAA rating Awards: Cannes Grand Jury Prize 2011 French with English subtitles. The greatest gift a parent can give a child is a sense of self-worth. An abandoned child may spend a lifetime trying to claim the birthright a parent refused or was unable to bestow. We meet eleven year-old Cyril (Doret) in an orphanage where his single father (Renier) dumped him. Refusing to accept that he has been abandoned, Cyril develops an obsession with finding and reuniting with his father. He races around town on his bike revisiting places they had frequented. Denied his father’s love, his need for acceptance becomes a driving, often belligerent, force. He easily lets a bully manipulate him yet questions why a goodhearted hairdresser (De France), lets him move in with her on weekends. This coming-of-age story could easily have slipped into drippy melodrama, but the directors skillfully create a passionate drama filled with empathic characters instead of emotional time bombs. ■ George Miller is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and believes that travel is a product of the heart, not the itinerary. See his webmagazine at www.travelsdujour.com.

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PETE CROATTO

Alice Englert and Elle Fanning star in Ginger & Rosa.

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

Ginger & Rosa (Dir: Sally Potter). Starring: Elle Fanning, Alice Englert, Christina Hendricks, Alessandro Nivola, Timothy Spall, Oliver Platt, Annette Bening, Jodhi May. In 1962 England, misfit teens Ginger (Fanning) and Rosa (Englert) are inseparable. Ginger is an aspiring, fatalistic poet worried about nuclear warfare. She latches onto Rosa’s brazenness, but what’s most noticeable is how their days have a boring poignancy. They are each other’s companions in the endless expanse of time that is growing up. That rapport is shattered when Ginger’s unbearably academic father (Nivola) moves out of the house and grows increasingly interested in Rosa, which leaves Ginger with her self-pitying mom (Hendricks) and two family friends (Platt, Spall). I’m not exactly a fan of Potter’s past work—the intellectual coldness of her films is hard to penetrate and even harder to appreciate. However in Ginger & Rosa, she has constructed a tender, original growing-up tale buoyed by terrific performances (including Fanning and Hendricks, surprisingly) and a refreshing lack of sentimentality. Haunting cinematography by Robbie Ryan. FYI: Englert is the daughter of director Jane Campion (The Piano). [R] ★★★1/2 Lore (Dir: Cate Shortland). Starring: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Nele Trebs, André Frid, Mika Seidel, Nick Holaschke, Ursina Lardi, Hans-Jochen Wagner. In the waning days of Nazi rule, 14-year-old Lore’s world falls apart. Her oafish Nazi officer father (Wagner) and mother (Lardi) are imprisoned, forcing Lore (Rosendahl) to care for her four

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younger siblings. With food and money dwindling and their safety compromised, she then has to escort them to their grandmother’s house through the war-torn countryside. A mysterious young refugee (Malina) comes to their rescue and tags along, an arrangement that stirs complicated feelings in Lore. The rare movie that trusts the audience to interpret the events on screen—a hard feat considering the swirl of drama involved—which allows for a refreshing, emotionally rewarding alternative to the war-is-hell genre. Instead, we see a girl’s innocence get peeled away layer by layer, thanks to Shortland’s artful restraint and Rosendahl’s gripping, artifice-free performance. In German with English subtitles, this was Australia’s official selection for the Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film. [No rating at press time] ★★★1/2 A Place at the Table (Dirs: Kristi Jacobson, Lori Silverbush). Jacobson and Silverbush’s documentary takes a measured, eloquent approach to examining an issue that affects a shockingly large number of Americans. Fifty million are food insecure, meaning they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. One in six don’t have enough to eat. A levelheaded examination of the causes of the problem—the high cost of fruits and vegetables, the federal government allowing charity to handle the masses, the uselessness of food stamps—is coupled with a compassionate, humane look at people who know hunger on an intimate level. In Philadelphia, Barbie, a single, unemployed mother struggles to feed

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her two kids even after she lands regular employment. Meanwhile in rural Colorado, Rosie, a fifth-grader, and her family are part of a growing community that relies on food banks and free hot meals. Uses logic, facts, and compassion in equal doses to make its points. Terrific interviews ranging from Marion Nestle to actor Jeff Bridges, cofounder of the End Hunger Network. [PG] ★★★1/2 Let Fury Have the Hour (Dir: Antonio D’Ambrosio). Director-writer-producer D’Ambrosio examines creative response as a way to deal with the conformity that started to waft over America and England in the 1950s and culminated in Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher’s conservative reigns in the 1980s. From a pop culture perspective that meant rap, punk rock, skate boarding, and artistic movements such as graffiti. D’Ambrosio’s intention is impressive, but the subject’s vastness is overwhelming and the connections dissolve when you start asking questions: Where do jazz and stand-up comedy and Beat poets fit along this spectrum? Why no mention of the Beatles, Elvis, and James Brown as the innovators behind these musical movements? How do these rebellious acts get into the mainstream without losing credibility, and thus impact? Let Fury Have the Hour comes across as a frequently intriguing, but ultimately incomplete, cultural history whose good intentions get lost amidst the constant pontificating and diversions. D’Ambrosio also wrote the book the movie is based on. Also available on demand. [NR] ★★1/2 ■

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A.D. AMOROSI

In Celebration of the

Cherry Bloss

In the cherry blossom’s shade there’s no such thing as a stranger. ― Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827)

UNLESS YOU’RE ALLERGIC TO it, the Prunus serrulata is nothing to sneeze at. Known as sakura after the Japanese (桜 or 櫻; さくら) or, better still, as the cherry blossom, the flower holds favorable influence and symbolism. As a motivator of the Japanese people, the cherry blossom has been a branding device: a military tool throughout Japan’s various wars (officers of the Imperial Japanese Army had a secret society based on the principle of nationalism above all) and a lovely provocateur of civic pride. The souls of those who fought or pushed for such nationalism-above-all were believed to have lived on in each growing cherry blossom. Cherry blossoms have reference in cumulative cloud clusters and growth and new permanence. They’re also a symbol of life’s impermanence and the majesty of mortality as their wondrous beauty is fleeting. Along with being an often-used icon in Irezumi, the traditional art of Japanese tattoos (in combination with tigers and fish, other rich symbols within Japan’s mythological continuum) the planting of cherry blossom trees has meant occupation, a gentle way of claiming space as Japan’s own. For 16 years, the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia (JASGP) has claimed this city as its own for its annual Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival from April 1 through April 26. The month-long event and its centerpiece soiree, Sakura Sunday, celebrates the spring season when thousands of cherry trees burst into bloom in Philly’s historic Fairmount Park after having been first planted in 1926 as a gift to the U.S. by the people of Japan. “I am always very excited about the actual cherry blossoms,” says Takeshi Tachimori, Subaru of America’s longtime Chairman and the co-chair of Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia. “That’s what makes the Philadelphia festival so special. It’s a great way to gather and enjoy the flowers that bloom each Spring in your city.” Tachimori recognized the love of Japanese culture in our region, understood that Philadelphians wanted to experience new ideas, and saw the Festival as a way to enhance the visibility of JASGP. “This Festival was and still is our largest event,” says Tachimori. And it’s not just the ancient rituals that make the Cherry Blossom Festival pop. “One of the more modern elements of the festival is the Harajuku Fashion Show, which is pretty popular with attendees. It’s very eye-catching.” Tamagawa University of Japan has been performing a contemporary brand of taiko drumming and dancing since 2003. Their aesthetic reaches back into Japan’s ancient history, but their music has a modern flavor and their dance is a mixture of traditional Japanese movement and Western influence, with

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vibrantly colored costumes borrowed from the past, present and future. Still, it is the past—both of Japan and of the JASGP—that drives the Cherry Blossom Festival. “Our founding board members decided to plant 1,000 cherry trees in the area in 1998,” says Kazumi Teune, executive director of JASGP. Claiming a 70 percent membership of area American and Japanese residents, Teune said that the group as a whole wanted to have something locally to experience Japanese culture, something to call their own while sharing the richness of their culture with all who were interested. “The over-all Japanese culture has become more popular in the area compared to 20 years ago when JASGP was established,” notes Teune. “The events being introduced during the Festival have two aspects: introduction of traditional and contemporary culture. I’m not sure how these customs have been modified locally.” There are notable Philadelphians who have made their mark during this annual festival’s proceedings. Fumiyo Batta was born in Japan but lives in media. Fumiyo is a professional opera singer who happens to be renowned for “kimono dressing” and has been involved in all 16 years of the festival. Her take on Japanese classical song can best be heard during the Sakura Sunday session where she’ll collaborate with area school children. Madame Saito holds Sushi-making classes throughout the festival, has owned and operated the finest sushi spaces in this city such as Le Champignon de Tokio and Headhouse Sushi, and has been teaching how to make sushi for more than twenty years. She learned the art from master sushi chefs in Japan and has received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Temple University for her culinary contribution. These women will traffic in tradition, plain and simple. “For the most part,” notes Teune, “modification of the traditional customs is an ongoing process in Japan as well as in the U.S., especially among the youth.” As a regular visitor to Japan, Teune has firsthand experience with new trends and new artists. JASGP’s partner organizations in Japan and the U.S. often send new performers to

If A.D. Amorosi can’t be found writing features for ICON, the Philadelphia Inquirer, doing Icepacks and Icecubes (amongst other stories) for Philadelphia City Paper, he’s probably hitting restaurants like Stephen Starr’s or running his greyhound.

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ON MEETING NORMAN MAILER In true Mailer style, he decreed that each and every one of the 550 people invited to his 50th Birthday Bash would have to pay $30 to attend. A couple of somewhat lesser names were on the guest list and they didn’t have to pay; those names were Andy Kahn and Bruce Klauber.

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feature Bruce Klauber: From 1971 to 1973, Andy Kahn and I performed in a jazz group that we had the nerve to call “The All-Star Trio.” We had been playing together since we were kids, with me on drums, and a number of bass players. By the time we turned 18, we had become decent jazz players. Well, enthusiastic ones anyway. In 1971, there was virtually no live jazz to be heard in center city Philadelphia, but that didn’t stop us from approaching a restaurant/club—called “Skewers” and located on tony Rittenhouse Square—about presenting live jazz several nights a week. Andy landed a job playing solo “cocktail” piano there. Their gimmick was that most of their food was served on a stick. I attended Andy’s opening, and in the course of the evening, we agreed that this may be a good spot for our trio. We came up with the idea of asking the owner if I could bring my drums down the next night and play for free. Hopefully, said owner and whoever was in the house would be sufficiently impressed with the music to take a chance on us. The idea worked, as we were sure it would. What we didn’t anticipate was that the following night a bass player who had been enjoying us from the bar joined us. The newly-christened “All-Star Jazz Trio” was booked five nights per week, and it didn’t take long for the whole enterprise to pick up steam. Andy Kahn: All the real and wannabe jazz fans came out of hiding to hear these rambunctious, 18-year-olds, if only because Philadelphia jazz fans had nowhere to go after the demise of clubs like Peps, the Showboat and New Jersey’s Red Hill Inn. It didn’t take long for musicians to get the word about the action, and we had our share of wellknown “sitters in,” including Pepper Adams and Jerry Dodgion of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, pianist Bernard Peiffer, Ronald Reuben and Glenn Dodson of the Philadelphia Orchestra (we later recorded with Reuben and Dodson), and on one evening, just about half of the Woody Herman Orchestra. We even hired our own press agent, who made sure our names appeared in the gossip columns regularly in exchange for a $25 per month fee. Supporting us through the years in our musical endeavors was a dear friend, who left us much too soon some years ago, named David Kay. Kay was not a jazz musician, but maybe should have been. He was a fan and listener who was exposed to the real stuff in New York City at a young age. His mother was jazz singer Carol Stevens, who recorded several impressive projects for Atlantic Records backed by the likes of flutist Herbie Mann. Since 1969, Stevens had been living with Norman Mailer, the famous and sometimes infamous literary giant and larger-than-life personality. In 1980, Carol Stevens became the fourth Mrs. Norman Mailer. Bruce Klauber: Mailer was as much an outrageous “personality” as he was a writer, and in keeping with this rep, he decided in February of 1973 to throw himself a 50th birthday bash. But this would be no mere party. It would be held at the Four Seasons hotel in New York City with 550 of Norman Mailer’s closest friends as invitees. In true Mailer style, he decreed that each and every one of the 550 people invited would have to pay $30 per person (then a hefty fee)

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to attend the bash. Evidently, all or most of them paid up, and the guest list included some major names, like Shirley MacLaine, Muhammad Ali and then-Senator Jacob Javits. A couple of somewhat lesser names were also on the guest list, courtesy of David Kay and his mother. Those names were Andy Kahn and Bruce Klauber. And we didn’t have to pay the $30 admission fee. I have no recollection of just how we got to New York. I suspect it was either in Andy’s Fiat or my Vega. However, when we did get there, what we witnessed upon our arrival at The Four Seasons was absolutely incredible. People were

Author Norman Mailer, left, shares a drink with newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York during a 50th birthday celebration for Mailer, Feb. 6, 1973. (AP Photo-Ray Stubblebine)

jammed in everywhere, and there were big stars at every turn. The crowd was buzzing in anticipation of Mailer’s remarks that were to be made later that evening. He was supposed to be saying something of major, international consequence. (Long-time Mailer foe Gore Vidal once commented that everything Mailer ever said in public was supposed to be of major consequence.) Andy Kahn: Bruce and I were greeted by our friend David Kay, his mother and, surprise of surprises, the “Man of the Hour” in person. Mailer was quite gracious, and said something to the effect that he heard of the fine work we were doing as young jazz musicians, and that he understood us to be “quite talented.” Then the music began, and this was music of the real, all-star variety. The players included baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, who had kind of taken us under his wing when he played with us in Philadelphia; composer/multi-instrumentalist David Anram; and the legendary bassist /composer Charles Mingus. Bruce Klauber: Pepper Adams tried to make us feel comfortable and at home. I think he realized that one of us—that would be me—was in way over his head that night. Andy, who had been in show business since childhood and “knew from celebrities” was not in over his head. He was in his element, and not surprisingly, Normal Mailer and Carol Stevens were quite taken with him. Not long after this, Andy spent a long weekend with David Kay, Mailer and Carol. W W W. FA C E B O O K .C O M / I C O N D V

Andy Kahn: One of the many real novelties of the evening had to do with just how the food was served. This night, guests were invited to get whatever they wanted— from desserts to appetizers to entrees—direct from The Four Seasons kitchen and eat in the kitchen if they so desired. None other than Charles Mingus himself made sure that Andy and Bruce, the two young jazzers from Philadelphia, were escorted properly into the Four Seasons kitchen. Mingus suggested that we all dine on apple pie, which he deemed “the best in the world.” It was, and the Charles Mingus who was said to be among the most volatile personalities in the music world, was not on view that evening. Bruce Klauber: Then it was time for the birthday boy’s big speech, the one that would be of major, international consequence. Mailer sauntered up to the microphone in front of 550 adoring fans. It soon became clear that the honoree may have downed too many bourbons too quickly. The notoriously anti-feminist Mailer began his remarks thusly: “A lot of people ask me,” he said after the applause died down, “why I associate with so many worn-out, older women. Well, I’ll tell you why. Because they’re all the same once you get past the old, worn-out part.” Hoo boy. And that was just the start of it. His remarks went further downhill from there. Mostly, he was rambling semi-incoherently, and the portion that was supposed to be of major consequence had vaguely to do with a citizen’s agency that he wanted to set-up to investigate the CIA. He called it “The Fifth Estate,” or something like that. Andy Kahn: The evening seemed to slowly deflate after that, but the partying, eating and drinking continued long into the night, though not with the same fervor. Bruce was ready to leave; I wanted to stay until morning. The truth is that I don’t recall exactly what time we actually left New York City or how we managed to arrive back in Philadelphia in one piece. What I do know is that we had a singular experience that defined jazz and defined New York City during those great days. Bruce Klauber: I wish I had a photograph of that night, but I do have one memento. Our press agent certainly worked overtime for us in this case. A day or two after the party, an item appeared in the entertainment column of the Philadelphia Inquirer that read in part, “Andy Kahn and Bruce Klauber of The All-Star Jazz Trio playing at Skewers, were Philadelphia representatives and invited guests at Norman Mailer’s 50th birthday party held at New York City’s Four Seasons hotel.” It’s true. I still have the press clipping. Andy and Bruce were, indeed, there. ■

Andy Kahn is a jazz pianist, singer, composer, musicologist and record producer, responsible for the number one disco record, “Hot Shot.” He is currently writing his memoirs, The Hot Shot Heard Round the World.

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feature

Left and Right: The cast of Downton Abbey

Up and Downton The curious allure, evolving politics, and booming success of the UK’s crossover hit series, Downton Abbey. LAST MONTH, 8.2 MILLION VIEWERS tuned in to PBS (yes, that PBS) for the Season 3 finale of Downton Abbey, the wildly popular period drama series that first aired in 2010 on Britain’s ITV. For the nonprofit U.S. station, the stats were pretty staggering: the finale’s viewership numbered three million more than that of 2012’s Season 2 capper, and Season 3 itself more than quadrupled PBS’s prime time average, while surpassing the overall Season 2 average by 66 percent. So them’s the facts. But why the obsession? Since it began, Downton Abbey has even managed to skip past Mad Men in popularity, bringing much cachet to a channel many associate with grandmothers and librarians. Of course, in addition to the timeless appeal of period regalia, the show boasts classic soap opera elements, with a mess of characters embroiled in varying feuds and romances. Audiences 30

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wept—and flocked to the message boards—when (spoiler alert) handsome, adored estate heir Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), the husband and star-crossed love of leading lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery), met his demise in the recent finale’s final moments (the development was one forced upon the show’s writers, as Stevens declined to renew his initial three-year contract). But there’s much more to this Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning phenomenon than fancy frocks and flying sparks. Developed by Julian Fellowes, the remarkable wordsmith who also penned the script for Gosford Park, Downton Abbey revels in the interplay of classes, and the overarching, irrevocable thrust of progress. The show tackles its themes and characterizations so deftly, that it easily stirs up new dialogues, and causes its loyal fans to check their personal politics.

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The first season of the show, which was arguably its best, largely explored that ever-juicy upstairs-downstairs dynamic, wherein the black-and-white clad servants are just as showcased as the aristocrats they wait on. Within the sprawling, titular Yorkshire estate (which is in fact Hampshire’s breathtaking Highclere Castle), we were introduced not only to heads of household Lord and Lady Grantham (Hugh Bonnevile and Elizabeth McGovern), and Lord Grantham’s deliciously snippy mother, the Dowager Countess, Violet (Maggie Smith), but to ultra-conservative head butler Mr. Carson (Jim Carter), head housekeeper Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan), head housemaid Anna (Joanne Froggatt), and Lord Grantham’s handicapped valet, Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle), who later goes on to become Anna’s husband (keeping up?). One of the things that seems to make Downton Abbey

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unique is that, while copious secrets and opinions still trickle (and often gush) up and down those stairs, the genuine, even loving, bonds between workers and employers are never not present. Carson loves Mary like a daughter, Lord Grantham regards Bates like a brother, and fellow Crawley sisters Edith (Laura Carmichael) and (the now late) Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay) look to Anna as if she were a fourth sibling. Very rarely edging into crippling sentimentality, the general aura of unity that envelops the grand manse (which, admittedly, has its villains in Siobhan Finneran’s shady maid Mrs. O’Brien, and Rob-James Collier’s vindictive footman Thomas), presents a grand opportunity for comprehensive viewer loyalty, and makes the inevitable tensions of class division that much more interesting. Despite all that mutual respect between the Crawley aristocrats and the help, and the fan-professed proof that characters on all floors of Downton have emerged as favorites (virtual unknowns like Allen Leech, who plays Sybil’s Irish widower, Tom Branson, is now a heartthrob inking U.S.

film deals), the show’s first season, specifically, presented the conflict of which team to root for—the butt-busting assistants who laboriously polish silver and dust floors on their knees, or the tradition-bound gajillionaires whose greatest concern is what will become of all their money (to greatly simplify Downton’s densely complex financial melodrama, Season 1 kicks off with Lord Grantham’s heirs both dying on the Titanic, spurring a lingeringly precarious search for who will inherit his family’s estate). But a great trick of the show is that the estate itself is a field-leveling entity, and that all of these characters, be they modest or magisterial, are tied to Downton’s fate and eminence—citizens of one nation under juicily dramatic duress. So no matter the class with which a faithful viewer found more identification, by the end of Season 1, he or she was ultimately rooting for one team after all. If Season 1’s conflicts were predominantly insular, establishing the subtly tumultuous goings-on within the Crawley home’s baroque walls, then Season 2 was about the invasion W W W. FA C E B O O K .C O M / I C O N D V

of the outside world, as kicked off by the outbreak of World War I. Characters like Matthew, Thomas, and young footman William (Thomas Howes) all headed off to the trenches, while Downton itself became a convalescent home for recuperating wounded soldiers, a transformation suggested and

R. Kurt Osenlund is the managing editor of The House Next Door, the official blog of Slant Magazine. He is also the film critic for South Philly Review, and a contributing writer for ICON, Slant, Cineaste, Fandor and The Film Experience. He compiles his work at www.yourmoviebuddy.blogspot.com. Email: rkurtosenlund@gmail.com.

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the jazz scene

BRUCE KLAUBER

“THE JAZZ SCENE” TAKES its name from a landmark, 1950 recording produced by the innovative Norman Granz. Granz’s concept was to present what he saw as the entire spectrum of jazz as it was in the year 1950. “Presenting the entire spectrum,” specifically as it relates to jazz in the Greater Delaware Valley, is the mission of this space. That spectrum will include who is playing where, news of new artists, new places to play, new CDs and new DVDs. Given the issues that have long faced America’s only original art form here and elsewhere, “The Jazz Scene” may also contain an opinion or two. Our crack research department has determined that the last, regular jazz column solely devoted to area jazz was written by the beloved Philadelphia Daily News columnist, Nels Robert Nelson, who wrote his last column in November, 1996, just eight months before his death at the age of 73. That means the fifth largest city in the country, a famed “jazz town” since the 1920s, has been without a regular jazz column for 17 years. Evidently, it’s an idea whose time has come. And as The Chambers Brothers sang in 1966, the “Time Has Come Today.” WE’RE NUMBER ONE: IN JAZZ BASSISTS The city of Philadelphia has long been home to the greatest jazz bass players in the world, past, present, and no doubt future. Jazz Times magazine agrees. Their esteemed panel of critics has voted our own Christian McBride “Best Acoustic Bassist of 2012.” Those aware of such things know that McBride’s father and teacher, bassist Lee Smith, is one darn good bassist as well. Voted number three in the electric bass category is another Philadelphian, Stanley Clarke. And though not a bassist, Delaware Valley-born organist Joey De Freancesco, plays some mean bass pedals. Joey came in second, next to Dr. Lonnie Smith, in the “Best Jazz Organ” category. THERE’LL BE SOME CHANGES MADE? There hasn’t been this much of an uproar in the entertainment community since The Latin Casino moved to Jersey. It could have been due to miscommunication, difference of opinion, less-than-great reporting or just general mishegos, but the news of a name and major policy change at the 27year-old Chris’ Jazz Café, Philadelphia’s only full-time jazz club, have been exaggerated. According to Al McMahon, Chris’ band booker for years, there will be no name change and Chris’ will continue to book “over 500 jazz bands a year.” The policy modification, says McMahon, will be that on an occasional weekday, Chris’ will feature a blues band or a comedy show. And in our “shameless self-promotion department,” note that the kid beating the traps with the All-Star Jazz Quartet at Chris’ on March 21st and May 18th is none other than “The Jazz Scene’s” own incorrigible hide beater. JAZZ: IT’S OUT THERE While there is no official definition of a “jazz club,” try this one: A jazz-dedicated/focused venue, often serving food and/or liquor, that books jazz consistently and more than just a few nights per week. If we accept that as a definition then yes, other than Chris’ Jazz Café’, there are no certifiable jazz clubs in our coverage area. But that doesn’t mean the music isn’t here. Far from it, and if aficionados seek it out, there is world class jazz to be heard here every night of the week. The presenters, in part, are non-profits such as Jazz Bridge and The Jazz Sanctuary. Entrepreneur/bassist/jazz lover/businessman Alan Segal had a mission when he started The Jazz Sanctuary and its slate of “Jazz and Joe” events: “To maintain America’s great music invention by bringing jazz to the community, to further the study of jazz to those who cannot afford the cost, and to pay musicians a fair rate for their effort.” Segal has been fulfilling his mission with superior players like drummer Leon Jordan, pianist George Sinkler, singers Jeannie Brooks and Miss Justine, trumpeter Al Harrison, and many, many others for several seasons. In that The Jazz Sanctuary’s events are presented in area churches that are very much Easter-focused during March, Jazz & Joe resumes in earnest in April. However, Maestro Segal wanted us to know that his group will be doing a benefit performance for the Ogata Children's Home in Kenya on March 14th at the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Spring House, PA. For upcoming events, visit TheJazzSanctuary.com. Jazz Bridge, founded by jazz singers Wendy Simon-Sinkler and Suzanne Cloud, was formed in order to help area jazz and blues musicians in need. And the organization does this mainly by presenting in the neighborhood of 40 concerts each and every year, featuring almost 200 musicians. Adding things up, that is—ideally—what a jazz club could and should do. Jazz Bridge presents a stylistically wide range of performers, from “standards-focused” 32

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singers like Michael Andrews and Paula Johns, to the more progressive artistry of players like Bobby Zankel and Jim Ridl. Events in March include bassist Nimrod Speaks at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts on March 6th, the Hot Club of Philadelphia at the Kennett Flash in Kennett Square on the same night, legendary saxophonist Bob Pollitt at New Jersey’s Collingswood Community Center on March 7th, area piano favorite Dave Mosmontier at the Universalist Unitarian Church of Delaware County in Media on March 20th, and the innovative drums of Alan Nelson at the Arch Street Friends Meeting House in Old City Philadelphia on March 21st. For more information on all Jazz Bridge Events, visit JazzBridge.org/Upcoming-Events. LOBBYING FOR JAZZ PIANISTS What happens when the owners of an elegant landmark hotel, situated on the most revered piece of real estate in Center City Philadelphia decide to renovate its original—and very stunning—lobby? They create a breathtaking new lobby, with the focus being to breathe new life into their historic property. “The Rittenhouse Presents the Pianists” hints at what’s to come for the gorgeous hotel that has graced the northwest corner of Rittenhouse Square since 1989. Philadelphia pianist/songwriter Andy Kahn leads the roster of fine pianists who perform weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m on The Rittenhouse Hotel’s Steinway & Sons grand piano in their lobby. Catch Tom Adams, Dave Posmontier, Paul Sottile and other superb keyboard artists who appear in a rotating schedule each week. One can only imagine what’s in store musically once that piano takes up permanent residence in the hotel’s new lobby area, scheduled to be up and running around May 1st. Incidentally, our multi-talented friend Andy Kahn helps tell the tale of meeting Norman Mailer in New York city—40 years ago!—elsewhere in these pages. UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS JAMS IN RUSSIA Pianist/Educator Don Glanden is one of the finest pianists in this or any area. For years, he’s served as Head of Graduate Jazz Studies/Piano Department Chair at The University of the Arts. Glanden’s considerable talents have now been recognized in Russia, of all places. He was interviewed extensively by a Russian magazine called “Jazz.Ru”—the first printed jazz magazine in post-Soviet Moscow, by the way—by managing editor Cyril Moshkow. The title of the extensive piece says a lot about Glanden, about University of the Arts, about Philadelphia and about jazz. “Jazz Education: How They Do It in Philly,” said, among other things, that the U of A program was a “model of American jazz education.” That it is. “MS. PHILADELPHIA JAZZ”: JULIE CHARNET Singer Julie Charnet is a talented, dedicated ball of energy who has, in a short time, become virtually a one-person cheerleader/spokesperson/champion of area jazz, jazz clubs, jazz musicians and jazz issues. As an artist, she’s particularly effective with the blues and Amercian pop songs that have, as their only message, sheer happiness. She hires the best players, insists on four or five accompanists when she could get by with two, has helped institute a jazz policy in places that rarely have used jazz, and somehow ends up being on the scene eight nights per week. Charnet recently did a fabulous show, more like a “Julie Charnet Night” than anything, at one of the town’s hot spots, LaRose in Germantown, backed by saxophone legend Tony Williams, pianist Jim Holton, bassist Madison Rast, and a young drummer who, to these ears, is among the best anywhere. His name is Jon Ball, and in some quarters is also known at the husband of Julie Charnet. On March 9th from 6-9 p.m. at Ortlieb’s, Julie will be backed by another famed reedman, Larry McKenna, the monster of the piano named Tom Lawton, bassist Rast and husband Ball. Ortlieb’s is located on 847 North 3rd Street. For more information on this show and saxophonist Pete Souder’s longrunning Tuesday night jam session, visit OrtliebsLounge.com Among the reports in “The Jazz Scene” of next month will be details of the incredible line-up of the 23rd annual Berks Jazz Fest; news of an original show about a ground-breaking Dizzy Gillespie gig in Philadelphia in 1942; a primer for those venues who are considering booking jazz; a run-down of Tuesday’s “jam nights, new and old; and a mini-history of that bastion of traditional jazz, the Tri-State Jazz Society. ■ Get in the “swing” by sending jazz items, questions, comments and requests to DrumAlive@aol.com, and note that the place to visit for up-to-the-minute listings, etc. is AllAboutJazz.com.

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exclusive interview

LARRY MCKENNA

Swingin’ and Singin’ Herd The teaching, storytelling tenor saxophonist has been inspiring his native Philadelphia for six decades

What was the first tune you couldn’t forget, that absolutely laid you flat? I’d say Perdido, which I heard on a Jazz at the Philharmonic record my brother brought home. Flip Phillips and Illinois Jacquet played the tenor saxes and their solos really knocked me out. That made me say: Okay, I want to play the tenor sax. So I more or less took over the record from my brother [laughs]. Another song I really loved was “How High the Moon” by [guitarist] Les Paul. Later on I really got into a version by Charlie Ventura, another tenor saxophone player from Philadelphia, and versions by [Mel] Torme and Ella [Fitzgerald]. I still love that song; I still play it. I have some kind of weird memory for songs. I probably know a thousand, easily. I try not to play the same tunes every time out. If you play the same tunes all the time, you fall into a pattern of playing the same licks. I think that’s boring for listeners and boring for me. Besides, I’m not one of those guys who can be creative right out of the box. I will go months without playing a certain tune and when I bring it back again, I’ll play it in a different key. That

Larry McKenna. Photo by Melissa Gilstrap.

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LARRY MCKENNA’S SAX LINGERS long after he’s left the room or record. The tenor’s suave, seductive sound sticks to the senses whether he’s playing a ballad or a bebop, whether he’s following a singer or leading an orchestra. When he swings, he sings. This engaging personality has taken McKenna from Woody Herman’s Swingin’ Herd to the Philadelphia Orchestra. For six decades the Philadelphia native has been a mainstay in his hometown’s clubs, restaurants, museums and institutions of higher learning. He’s inspired two generations of students with personal lessons about learning from mistakes and stories of his own education in Philadelphia’s old 11th Street jazz district, a small slice of Manhattan’s 52nd Street jazz capital. The last decade has been particularly progressive for McKenna, a widower with a singer-songwriter son. He’s gigged with Philork Jazz, an ensemble of Philadelphia Orchestra improvisers. He’s branched into writing songs, collaborating with lyricist Melissa Gilstrap, an attorney who has photographed, drawn and videotaped him on a tour of his old jazz haunts. His latest CD, From All Sides, due out this spring, contains four of their tunes, plus four of McKenna’s instrumentals (including a bossa nova) and his arrangements of four standards (including “That Old Black Magic”). Last year McKenna hit the awards trifecta. He received a Jazz Master honor from the Media Business Authority, a Lifetime Achievement salute from the University of the Arts and a Making A Difference thank-you from The Jazz Bridge Project, which aids troubled musicians. Each prize polished his reputation as a generous, gracious partner. McKenna lives in Olney with three cats. In conversation he’s a cool, warm cat. He’s perceptive, witty and curious whether he’s discussing his jukebox brain or his blessedly brief stint as a jazz-playing barber.

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will make it refreshing; that will make it almost new. I wish I could have been there. Did you pick up any valuable tips? I was 16, 17 years old when that was going on at the Heritage House. Those sessions lasted maybe one year or less; the building is still there, at the corner of Broad and Master. Roberts played jazz records on his show on WKDN out of Camden; it was one of the first jazz shows you could get on the radio around here. He’d get these big acts like [pianist] Bud Powell and [clarinet player] Buddy DeFranco and [drummer] Max Roach and [trumpeter] Clifford Brown with their quartet. He’d get them to play for us in the afternoon before their evening gigs at clubs like The Showboat, which we weren’t old enough to get into. The main guys would perform a set and then bring up the kids to play and give us pointers. For some reason one afternoon I didn’t bring my sax. There was a guy who had played and he lent me his sax. What I didn’t know was that it was in poor shape, and that he could play it because he was used to it. Well, my playing was embarrassing: the sax was so leaky; every other note was a squeak. And Harold Land, the [tenor] sax player for Max Roach and Clifford Brown, said to me: “I want to give you some advice. You’re a good player, but don’t ever get up and play unless you know the horn will work right. Otherwise, just sit it out.” Your new record From All Sides has four songs you wrote with lyricist Melissa Gilstrap, who videotaped you walking around your old Philly jazz hotspots. Tell me what you showed her camera that day. We were headed to a barbershop convention at the Convention Center. On the way I happened to notice the old Music City store at 11th and Chestnut. I told her that as a kid I went there to jam sessions by Clifford Brown and [tenor saxophonist] Stan Getz. And then I said, oh, by the way, the next block up, at 11th and Market, was the Earle Theatre, where on Fridays I would see a movie and a stage show. One of the first acts I saw there was Nat King Cole, which was unbelievable because he was a big star with hit records like “Mona Lisa.” I also saw [trumpeter] Dizzy Gillespie and [tenor saxophonist] Coleman Hawkins and [alto saxophonist] Earl Bostic, who was one of my favorites. All for a dollar! And that place over there was The Downbeat Club, which was big in the early to mid ’40s, before my time. I’ve heard a great story about [drummer] Philly Joe Jones, who was a motorman for the trolley car on 11th Street. He would tell the passengers, “I’ll be back in a minute,” and run inside The Downbeat and sit in for a tune in his motorman’s outfit and then run back to the trolley. I don’t know if it actually happened; you like to believe it’s true [laughs]. Do you have any memorable memories from your six months in 1959-1960 in Woody Herman’s Swingin’ Herd? Woody was a very nice guy; everybody liked him.

GEOFF GEHMAN

He appreciated the talent of his musicians. He knew how to pick the right sidemen and the right arrangers. He was always moving ahead. He was not one of those guys who stuck to their one hit from 1939. He came up with the Four Brothers lineup [three tenor saxophonists with a baritone saxophonist]; in the 1960s and ’70s he incorporated rock music. He had enough confidence in his musicians that if someone missed a note he wouldn’t single anyone out. He thought his guys were good enough to correct themselves. I enjoyed playing “Laura,” which Woody turned into a million-selling record where he sang; he was a pretty good singer. I enjoyed my solo on a piece called “Offshore,” which is on the one record I cut with Woody. It’s kind of an obscure standard. I can’t say I play it anymore because nobody seems to know it [laughs]. Frank Sinatra adapted phrasings from Tommy Dorsey’s trombone. Has your playing been significantly shaped by any of your many singing partners? I’ve spent a lot of time listening to Frank Sinatra, and not just for his singing. What I really admired about him was that he produced the best possible package. He had the best Hollywood and New York studio musicians. He sang songs by the best composers: Cole Porter, Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn. He had the best arrangers: Nelson Riddle, Don Costa, Johnny Mandel. From listening to Sinatra I learned that arrangements are extremely important. One of the best compliments I ever got was when I sent a demo of my [2001] CD It Might As Well Be Spring to the owner of a small label. He wouldn’t put it out, but he gave me the nicest comment: “The way you phrase on the sax—it’s like listening to Sinatra.” When you’re first coming up you try to get all your technical stuff down. It eventually dawned on me that it was important to play these songs—especially the standards—as if I’m singing them, long before I get to the improvised parts. Although you wouldn’t want to hear me sing [laughs]. What was your toughest time in the music trade? When I came home from the Herman band the whole situation here [greater Philadelphia] was really bleak. The gigs were low paying and there weren’t many opportunities to play jazz. I got really discouraged from playing Top 40 tunes in bars and in 1965 I wound up in barber school. A half dozen of my musician friends were barbers and they told me: “It’s not so hard to learn, and you can still play music.” So I graduated from barber school, started working in a barber shop, and joined a local big band led by Al Raymond. Most of the gigs were on weekends, so they didn’t get in the way of my barbering. I did that for about a year and a half and then started getting more work with Al. Other people were calling me to play, too. So I quit the barber thing. I wasn’t very good at it and, besides, it wasn’t something I really wanted to do. Looking back, it just seems like some kind of weird dream. What was your most joyful time in the music trade? I’ve enjoyed the music more in the last 15 years because I really get to play what I like to play with musicians I like, people like [guitarist] Pete Smyser, [singer] Mary Ellen Desmond and [pianist] Tom Lawton. I’ve tried to stay away from musicians I won’t like—you know, the ones who might have been better off being barbers [laughs].

I’ve really enjoyed expanding my other sides as an arranger and a songwriter. The songwriting began when Melissa [Gilstrap] asked me to write a tune that could be sung. One night I wrote “Perhaps It’s Wintertime.” It took less than an hour and I thought: Wow, this is a pretty good song; maybe I can have another career as this stage of the game. [Melissa] thought it was beautiful. So I asked her: “Why don’t you write lyrics for it?” “I’ve never done that.” “Well, I never did this—and you talked me into it.” After two or three weeks she had something down [note: “Perhaps It’s Wintertime” appears on McKenna’s 2009 CD Profile, which has a cover drawing of him by Gilstrap]. Since then we’ve written five more songs together. I feel I’m embarking not so much on another career as another side. That’s why the new record is called From All Sides. Has working with Philork Jazz changed how you choose tunes and partners? No, not really. But it has stretched my chops. Last July [Philork Jazz co-founder] Don Liuzzi, the principal timpanist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, worked it out for us to play clubs in Colorado during the orchestra’s visit there. We played standards and some classical excerpts rearranged for jazz by piano player Adam Glazer, who teaches at Juilliard. Some of the classical-jazz pieces were very difficult to play. I never thought they’d swing. But they ended up sounding pretty good. By the end of the week they were swinging. Can you point to a recent example of why you love teaching? I’m thinking about the satisfaction that comes when a student finally nails a difficult passage or concept. Just before you called a student came to my house for a lesson. He’s in his late 20s and I met him a couple of years ago when he was playing baritone sax in a band. He told me, “I’m really a classical clarinet player but I want to learn how to play jazz better.” He lives 100 miles away, so I give him a lot to work on and he’ll call me a few weeks later and ask: “Can we get together again?” His progress is very rewarding. My approach to teaching is I use my memory. I go back and ask: How did I learn this when I was presented with a similar problem? Then I try to make the process a little easier. I recently wrote about the late Albertus “Bert” Meyers having a bridge in Allentown named after him for conducting the Allentown Band for a half century and for making the group more of a national institution. So, Larry McKenna, if you could have something named for you, what would it be? Oh my god, maybe a sandwich. You know, like they used to do at a place like Sardi’s, where they invented something like the Humphrey Bogart BLT. Yeah, I’d be happy with a sandwich. n Larry McKenna will perform with Tony Miceli and Kevin MacConnell on March 15 at the Phila. Museum of Art, Benjamin Franklin Parkway (philamuseum.org); with Philork Jazz on March 23 at Keneseth Israel in Cheltanham (kenesethisrael.org), and with a band led by guitarist Pete Smyser on March 30 at Chris’ Jazz Café in Philadelphia (215-563-3131, chrisjazzcafe.com). Geoff Gehman is the author of The Kingdom of the Kid, a memoir of the middle-class, long-lost Hamptons that will be published in July by SUNY Press. geoffgehman@verizon.net. W W W. FA C E B O O K .C O M / I C O N D V

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nick’s picks Kevin Eubanks ★★★★ The Messenger Mack Avenue Guitarist Kevin Eubanks stretches in a number of satisfying directions on The Messenger, his second release for Mack Avenue Records since leaving his gig after 18 years as the bandleader on The Tonight Show. His previous CD, Zen Food (2011) was an intimate outing flavored with contemporary twists and a laid back vibe as if Eubanks was getting his feet wet after being absent from the recording studio, but there no hesitation of musical prowess or sound ideas on The Messenger. Keeping a good thing going, Eubanks returns with the wonderful Bill Pierce on saxophones and veteran drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith along with bassist Rene Camachobrothers, Robin and Duane, playing trombone and trumpet, respectively, who collectively swing on a mix of groove tunes and a pair of lovely ballads. It takes a

site drama and a lot of positivity. Sanchez, a three-time Grammy winner with two previous solo recordings, has been guitarist Pat Metheny’s main collaborator over the last 13 years, which gives the drummer’s originals a sweeping sense of storytelling—the charts favor Binney and McCaslin playing in unison, providing a harmonious luster that reveals the power of Sanchez’s compositions. The tunes take their time, most stretching beyond eight minutes, which empower the musicians to freely explore the full range of their talents.. The association with Metheny is evident on tracks like “Uprisings and Revolutions,” originally a ballad that was rescaled by Sanchez in wake of the Arab Spring, and continues on “Minotauro” and “Medusa,” two mythologically inspired tunes with impressive structures. Escreet’s Rhodes solo on the former is brilliantly nuanced and soulful. Sanchez also knows of writing music as an event. Like Metheny’s work, the album’s centerpiece is a majestic and melodious tour de force—the title track “New Life” illustrates what a great composer can do when matched with equally attuned musicians who have the emotional intellect to fulfill Sanchez’s vision.

Kevin Eubanks

bit of swagger to convert John Coltrane’s “Resolution” to a finger poppin’ taste of soul jazz, but Eubanks’ arrangement maintains a proper respect to create a unique listening experience. All the tunes are strong with Eubanks out front, whether he’s digging the blues (“Ghost Dog Blues”) or slipping into some eye-winking funk (“420”). A family project (band members and three brothers all qualify) with a loose, jam band quality, The Messenger is contemporary jazz at its finest. The stylish music has an import that reveals itself after several hearings and shows a side of Eubanks that was only hinted at previously. (11 tracks; 54:05 minutes) Antonio Sanchez ★★★★1/2 New Life CAM Jazz The much-anticipated recording, New Life, from the forceful and swinging drummer Antonio Sanchez delivers an expansive program rich in musical textures and a palpable group sound. Sanchez brings together an ensemble of peers (tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin and alto player David Binney, bassist Matt Brewer) and the insightful young British pianist John Escreet, an up and coming musician who infuses Sanchez’s compositions with requi-

Nick Bewsey has been writing about jazz for ICON since 2004. A member of The Jazz Journalists Association, he blogs about jazz and entertainment at www.jazzinspace.blogspot.com. Twitter: @countingbeats 36

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Antonio Sanchez.

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

Vocalist Thana Alexander provides an aural counterpoint to the lustrous horns, blending and bending her voice to the propulsive steam from Sanchez’s kit and there’s a resounding joy in her range that lifts this tune way up. Sanchez allows the tune’s flow to to calm midway through, the glitter of Escreet’s piano notes fall to a whisper to give way to a magisterial solo. Bassist Brewer shines as well, shepherding Sanchez’s melody with a graceful sureness. Also noteworthy, “The Real McDaddy” inserts a choice bit of fun and funk into the playlist (this tune like the others were work-shopped at small venues like NYC’s Bar 55, where I initially heard this band play prior to being recording). Sanchez is a remarkable drummer and the modernistic New Life is an inspiring and affirming effort that gives much on each successive listen. (8 tracks; 72:31 minutes) Charles Lloyd and Jason Moran ★★★★ Hagar’s Song ECM There’s a settled feeling to the music on Hagar’s Song, the quietly adventurous duo album from legendary saxophonist Charles Lloyd and modern pianist Jason Moran that forge their generational divide through the connective power of music. Playing songs by Billy Strayhorn (“Star Crossed Lovers”), Duke Ellington (“Mood Indigo”), and Gershwin (“Bess,

You Is My Woman Now”), it’s apparent these musicians may be as equally matched with technique as they are with their mutual love of song. Lloyd, 75, has a resounding technique on the saxophone, instantly recognizable, that weaves melodious strains with avant-garde inflections. It’s a sound developed over many recordings throughout the 60s when Lloyd could be considered a jazz superstar and prior to his self-imposed state of seclusion in the ‘70s. Moran, 38, circumvents the previous pianists that have played with Lloyd to add his encyclopedic knowledge of jazz piano styles and he applies them here with taste and a naturalistic style—perfect for these wistful, sometimes romanticized tunes. The album is a storybook, grounded by the title track and composed as a five-part suite chronicling Lloyd’s great, great grandmother, a slave whose life story is expressed in this unique format. There’s brilliance to the shine that Lloyd and Moran impart within this music. By turns elegiac and redemptive, Hagar’s Song is best appreciated in the late hours, where two jazz masters can be heard at the height of their powers. Much like the celebrated Keith Jarrett collaboration, Jasmine (ECM 2010), Hagar’s Song is an enriching sonic experience that stays with you long after the last note is played. The spring of 2012 is a momentous time for Charles Lloyd as he celebrates his 75th birthday. in additon to Hagar’s Song, his label is re-releasing his first five albums for ECM in a specially priced boxed set, while Lloyd sets to a rare and special tour. On the East Coast, Lloyd will bring the band on his 2011 Athens Concert (including Jason Moran) to the Metropolitan Musuem Of Art’s spectacular Temple Of Dendur on March 15. He will also appear in Princeton, NJ at Wilson College. Ben Williams and Sound Effect Performance at the Jazz Standard New York City, January 30, 2013

Charles Lloyd.

A recent business trip coincided with a remarkable week of jazz performances in New York City, coincidentally all taking place at the illustrious Jazz Standard, a room with pitch perfect sound and an award winning menu (courtesy of Blue Smoke, the exceptional BBQ restaurant located one flight up). I caught the last set from a multi-night run by pianist Vijay Iyer and his trio, playing tracks from their recent albums, Accelerando and Historicity. Rightly celebrated, Iyer’s sets combine tunes by Herbie Nichols, Julius Hemphill, John Coltrane (a compelling spectral glance at “Giant Steps”) and a take on Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature,” which contorts the melody and pleasingly turns its familiar melody inside out. Another night celebrated the new CD from Patricia Barber (reviewed in the February issue of ICON) and, although she remains a unique artist prone to verbal non-sequiturs from the stage while playing in her bare feet, her set wobbled from introspection to audience-challenging sonics. The best gig was from bassist Ben Williams, winner of the 2009 Thelonious Monk Competition, who at 28 is already a consummate professional and bandleader. His group, Sound Effect, is still touring in support of Williams’ debut release, State of Art (Concord Jazz, 2011) and their interplay and on stage chemistry is both endearing and electrifying. With Marcus Strickland on saxophone, Alex Wintz on guitar, drummer John Davis and the up and comer, pianist Christian Sands, Williams eclectic playlist pulled tunes from the album (Stevie Wonder’s “Part Time Lover” is a highlight) as well as Michael Jackson (the underplayed “Little Susie”) and R&B singer, Goapele. Williams is steeped in all styles, gently weaving Charlie Haden-like phrases during his intros or contrasting classical measures with soulful top notes. Strickland is a fine soloist with several solo recordings and his role here sounded designed to pump the audience up. He tore things up on soprano sax, tipping his hat to Grover Washington, Jr here and there, while the wonder kid, Christian Sands, got the crowd keyed up with ferocious piano playing and whomping Rhodes solos—often evoking McCoy Tyner with his approach to the keys—a combination of elegance and deep soul. He’s only 22. The band called up James Brown on “Mr Dynamite” and previewed a track from the upcoming album called Cover Art by an ad hoc band Next Collective, primed with today’s shining young jazz stars (review forthcoming.) Though Williams plays throughout the CD, he arranges “Fly Or Die,” a track from Pharrell Williams (no relation) and N.E.R.D. Ben Williams has an entire career ahead of him. He recently won his first Grammy for his role in Pat Metheny’s Unity Band (a second album is in the works.) His performance and confidence assure us of great things to come. The Jazz Standard is located at 116 East 27th Street. Visit www.jazzstandard.net for details and calendar of upcoming performances. n W W W. FA C E B O O K .C O M / I C O N D V

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keresman on disc

26 / FEATURE / CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

the area. Like Tachimori, Teune is excited by newer highlights such as Cosplay (“costume play” based on popular anime character) and the Harajuku Fashion Show. “Harajuku is one of the most fashionable towns in Japan and attracts lots of tourists from overseas.” Any fashion show must make Sharon Philips Waxman perk up. The Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival’s event coordinator, specifically in charge of two April 14 events (Cherry Blossom 5K and Sakura Sunday in Fairmount Park), as well as Blossom Bash, JASGP’s end-of-month gala, is the woman behind Philadelphia’s legendary Phashion Phest, this city’s annual movable fashion-forward catwalk. “I was aware of the Japan America Society as I knew those who have been involved, had traveled to Japan with them, and I was specifically aware of the JASGP donating and planting the cherry blossom trees throughout Fairmount Park,“ says Waxman, intrigued by what the organization had to offer the city in terms of cultural outreach and youth effusion. “I was most impressed with how the JASGP combined traditional elements with new, young cultural aspects like Cosplay. The festival showcases both and, therefore, attracts an interesting mix of attendees.” Waxman knows how to make an entire day count. That April 14 day will commence with the Cherry Blossom 5K beginning at the Horticulture Center and zigzag through Fairmount Park. “That scenic course winds through the park so that runners get to experience the beauty of the Cherry Blossoms,” notes Waxman who’ll start the rest of Sakura Sunday at 10:30 a.m. with a jammed-packed schedule of events. “Inside the Horticulture Center guests will enjoy Japanese arts and crafts like origami and calligraphy. Outside vendors will line the fountain with both traditional and current items for purchase. Two stages are programmed the entire day and include Japanese performances in music and dance, as well as martial arts demonstrations.” From there, Subaru, the title sponsor, hosts a “Prettiest Pet in Pink” contest at the Sundial and the Shofuso House offers tours throughout the day. Other traditional activities will take place in the newly constructed Sakura Pavilion and will include traditional Japanese Tea Ceremonies and Ikebana floral arranging. A food court with both Asian and American treats solidifies JASGP’s footprint when it comes to multi-cultural co-mingling. The “Blossom Bash” black tie event is all Waxman, as it gives the Phashion Phest doyenne a chance to show her sartorial stuff and incorporate traditional elements with current trends in event design. “Last year’s Bash included specialty cocktails like the Cherry Blossom Bash (martinis with cherry vodka) during cocktails and the traditional sake served with dinner,” says Waxman who knows of what she speaks when it comes to liquor trends as well as fashion ones. Her husband is Brad Waxman, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Southern Wine & Spirits. Performers during Blossom Bash will include a traditional Lion Dance, Japanese drummers calling guests to dinner, models in Harajuku fashions who will line the stairs as guests pass by, and a jazz band. Last year, the Park Hyatt ballroom was bathed in pink lights and cherry blossom centerpieces, while cherry blossoms projected in lights marked the dance floor. “A fabulous silent auction paired the old and the new and offered something for everyone,” notes Waxman, while promising this year’s will be doubly brilliant. “The Black Tie, like the rest of the festival, is the perfect blend of Japanese tradition and current trends.” The Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates the rich cultural connections between Japan and Philadelphia with art, music, food, natural beauty and industry of the mother country, and the business, cultural, social, educational and political spheres of Philadelphia. “The festival certainly helped to raise interests and awareness of Japanese culture throughout the area, especially students from grade school through college,” notes Teune. “Working adults are interested in businesses. Political connection and exchanges only got stronger as the Mayor of Philadelphia and Ambassador of Japan meet on a regular basis during the Festival. Still, there is something at the Cherry Blossom Festival for anyone and everyone no matter what age or role they serve.” n 38

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Miles Davis ★★★★★ Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Volume 2 Columbia/Legacy Duke Ellington ★★★★★ Big Bands Live: Duke Ellington Orchestra Jazz Haus It is both a magnificent and inexplicable feeling to know that two innovators that’ve long since passed from this mortal veil still continue to amaze the Collective Us. These archival collections of previously unreleased (legally, anyway) recordings are, like that blackbird of Bogart’s, the stuff of which dreams are made. Europe 1969 features a Miles Davis (1926-1991) combo that never made a proper studio album—all the lads (Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette) recorded in assorted configurations with Davis, but not this particular quintet. This represents a high point in the massive Davis oeuvre—the set list (four concerts on three CDs & one DVD) includes a few pre-electric-era standards; as much as Miles was ambivalent about free jazz, his band wasn’t, pushing the boundaries at every turn (yet maintaining potent propulsion and inspired ensemble work), and Miles plays some truly torrid trumpet throughout. While this is more for the devotee than casual fan, anyone thriving on electric jazz ought to hear this. (Slightly rough audio in spots, but to quote Miles, so what.) legacyrecordings.com Miles Davis. Throughout his lengthy career, Duke Ellington (1899-1974) never rested on his well-deserved laurels. This concert was recorded in Stuttgart 1967 and broadcast on German radio, finally seeing the CD light. While Duke would always play the hits, his compositional style (and that of his right hand, Billy Strayhorn) was never nostalgia-bound. Packed with lesser-known gems, this edition of Big Bands Live amalgamates the knottiness of Gil Evans and Thelonious Monk, the grandeur of Ravel and Tchaikovsky, and the swinging uptown élan of the Harlem Renaissance. Too much, daddy-o. jazzhaus-label.com Matthew Shipp ★★★★ Greatest Hits Thirsty Ear When was the last time you heard the word “hits” re: a jazz disc? Never mind—whilst none of the tunes herein are radio hits, in a better world, they would be. As with the late Dave Brubeck, Matthew Shipp (born 1960) is a pianist that won’t be limited, even by the stretchy field of jazz itself. Shipp first established himself in the avant-garde sphere but refused even those “limitations”—he embraced inspiration from rock (David Bowie is an influence), contemporary classical, and hip hop (oh, the horror…) and he’s unafraid to be “accessible” (something some “out” jazz practitioners feel is beneath them), playing gregarious melodies and swingin’ ‘til the cows come home to roost. Hits is a dyno-cool cross-section collection of Shipp’s recordings for the Thirsty Ear label 2000-2012. Note the puckish, Thelonious Monk-ish “Module,” or the crackling, Spanish desert-tinged “Gesture,” which is so cool it could’ve been in Tarantino’s Django. Hits is 12 bitesized chunks of Shipp-ian goodness (ably assisted by Gerald Cleaver, Roy Campbell, William Parker, etc.)— it’s not only a nifty intro to one of the most creative, user-friendly American jazzbos extant but a good primer for those seeking an “in” to thorny/out jazz. thirstyear.com

shemp@hotmail.com

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

Dale Watson & His Lonestars ★★★★1/2 El Rancho Azul Red House Often when a performer refuses to “progress” and stays in his/her comfort zone, it doesn’t bode well generally—even the most effective formula/game plan can grow stale. But Dale Watson is an exception—he’s stubbornly devoted to classic honky-tonk, resolutely nonNashville/”new country” country music—think Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Lefty Frizzell, and George Jones (before producer Billy Sherrill got his hooks into the latter). With heart on sleeve, Watson sings in a smooth, brash baritone (evoking Jennings and Haggard); his songs about drinking, dancing, romantic discontent, and more drinking have a crisp, solid beat behind them, featuring twanging guitar, wailing pedal steel, rollicking piano, and terse, swinging fiddle. The rascally “Give Me More Kisses,” though, includes a shot of rockabilly in Watson’s brew, so it’s clear he’s no stick-in-the-mud, while “I Drink to

Van Morrison.

‘round. No, it’s no Tupelo Honey, but he’s not merely coasting on past glories here. Not fantastic, but real nice. bluenote.com From 1968 to the mid-‘70s, Philadelphia vocal trio the Delfonics wove some of the loveliest smooth soul sounds to ever emanate from a radio. In fact, the Delfonics, collaborating with producer Thom Bell, were on the ground floor of what came to be known as the Philly soul sound. Lead singer (songwriter, too) William Hart is keeping their legacy alive, and not just on the oldies circuit. Hart collaborated with multi-instrumentalist/writer/producer Adrian Younge for an all-new set, and that vibrant, silky falsetto of Hart’s is unbroken. Presents gives the opulently melodious, amorous R&B of the Delfonics a refined update, evoking the manner in which Marvin Gaye put some new polish on his approach with 1982’s classic Midnight Love. Philly/early ‘70s soul fans: Don’t miss this. waxpoetics.com Alexander von Schlippenbach ★★★★ Schlippenbach Plays Monk Intakt Denny Zeitlin ★★★1/2 Wherever You Are: Midnight Mood for Solo Piano Sunnyside

L-R: Chris Crepps, Dale Watson, Mike Bernal and Don Pawlak. Photo: Jim Chapin.

Remember” is an archetypical cry-in-your-beer song. Without a touch of formalism, Watson teleports you to an un-fancy, we-never-close dive where the Pabst, dancing, and tales of heartbreak never stop. If you think real country music is dead—or an endangered species— Watson is the Real Deal. redhouserecords.com Van Morrison ★★★1/2 Born To Sing: No Plan B Blue Note The Delfonics ★★★★ Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics Wax Poetics Let us now pause to praise old soul men. Born To Sing is Van Morrison’s 34th studio album and, yes, he’s still got it. The voice is a little frayed here and there, but like elder statesmen Tony Bennett and B.B. King, it retains its jazz- and blues-inspired flexibility and power. There are no special guest stars, just VM (playing sax, guitar, and piano) and a sixperson band both succinct and relaxed, giving Van the Man chilled-out but study grooves to wail over. This isn’t music for/from a rock stage, but of rather an intimate club setting—Van & company lean more to the jazz side of his equation, leaving his Celtic roots this time

Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) was one of the most pure jazz musicians America ever produced—and “pure” is not about some vainglorious “purist” mentality. Unlike many/most American pianists (jazz or otherwise), European classical music seemingly had little impact upon him—Monk came out of the blues, jazz, and gospel continuum, albeit with his own idiosyncratic approach. Alexander von Schlippenbach (b. 1938) is Germany’s premier avantgarde jazz pianist—and he clearly emerged from the Euro-classical tradition. What happens when he takes on Monk? Magic, that’s what. He lets the light of some Monk chestnuts through his Central European prism (whilst adding a few brief interludes of his own). While it doesn’t “swing” as the Monk did, it is a fascinating and absorbing listen, cerebral without being arid, affectionate without being maudlin. intaktrec.ch Denny Zeitlin is a double-threat kind of fellow, balancing the careers of psychiatry and jazz pianist. (In the 1960s, Zeitlin was one of jazz’s first key-crackers to explore electronics and did the score for the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.) Wherever is an unabashedly old-school album of ballads, the kind of songs you’d find on albums by Sinatra, Bennett, Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. The mood is consistently wistful, romantic, and dreamy. Zeitlin, who routinely wails & soars, here plays with the reflective lyricism of Bill Evans and the sophisticated cordiality of George Shearing. Ideal for the evening’s last disc or that good bottle of wine you’ve been saving. sunnysiderecords.com n

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singer / songwriter

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

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell ★★★1/2 Old Yellow Moon Nonesuch Records

Richard Thompson ★★★★ Electric New West Records

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell first teamed up in 1975 when he joined the Hot Band, her backing group, at

Over a musical career that now spans six decades, Richard Thompson continues to progress as a guitarist and songwriter. Electric, a collection of 11 Thompson originals, offers a straight-up, occasionally comic view of the world that is distinctly his own. “Stony Ground” is an affectionate portrait of “Old Man Morris,” an aging Lothario. “Silly Old man with his teeth all gone/Poking his nose where it don’t belong,” Thompson wryly observes. The humor turns double-edged on “Stuck on the Treadmill,” a tale of economic survival and the working-class blues. Both “Salford Sunday and “Where’s Home?” reveal the wistful side of Thompson. The former is a sketch of the emotional aftermath of a one-night stand. The countryish “Where’s Home?” is a melancholy lament that features Stuart Duncan’s mournful fiddle. Producer Buddy Miller, a former Princeton resident, allows plenty of room for Thompson’s stellar guitar work, from the electric fury of “Straight and Narrow” to the acoustic desolation of “The Snow Goose,” featuring Alison Krauss on backing vocals. “Saving The Good Stuff for You” ends the album on a note of hard-won optimism. Jimi Hendrix ★★★1/2 People, Hell and Angels Experience Hendrix/Legacy Records

Rodney Crowell and Emmylou Harris.

the start of her solo career. Nearly 40 years later, they’ve released Old Yellow Moon, their first album as a duo, and it is worth the wait. The bouncy “Hanging Up My Heart” kicks off the album and immediately reveals the chemistry between the singers. Roger Miller’s “Invitation to the Blues” pushes them toward traditional country territory as their voices bring out a sense of regret and loss. “Open Season on My Heart,” one of four songs Crowell had a hand in writing, is a pensive ballad on the mysteries of romance. “Black Caffeine” provides a bluesy edge for the singers as they trade verses on the powers of coffee. Matraca Berg’s “Back When We Were Beautiful” is a somber reflection on aging, a fitting song for two singers in their 60s. The spirited “Bluebird Wine” brings the song full circle with a song that Crowell wrote for Pieces of the Sky, the 1975 debut album by Harris.

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The Bergamot ★★★1/2 Static Flowers Both Records Following int the footsteps of such duos as Simon & Garfunkel and Hall and Oates, the Bergamot’s co-founders

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Jimi Hendrix used the recording studio as a musical laboratory, a place to experiment with songs, sounds and arrangements. At the time of his death at age 27 in September 1970, he left behind an estimated 200 hours of unreleased studio recordings. People, Hell and Angels offers a dozen early versions of alternate takes the guitarist recorded between 1968 and 1970 It’s an intriguing look at the artist’s creative process, ranging from his version of Elmore James’ “Bleeding Heart” to a trio of instrumentals, including “Inside Out” with Hendrix on both bass and guitar. “Earth Blues” opens the album with a salvo of unrestrained funk, as Hendrix is backed by bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles. “Here My Train a Comin’” is a riveting take on the blues as Hendrix’s guitar picks up steam on the instrumental passages. “Let Met Move You” and “Mojo Man” with Lonnie Youngblood and Albert Allen on lead vocals, respectively, find Hendrix as a sideman on a pair of rhythm-and-blues songs that recall his days backing up the Isley Brothers and Little Richard. Hendrix and Youngblood generate sparks with their guitar and saxophone interplay. People, Hell and Angels opens the curtain to show how Hendrix worked as a bandleader and collaborator.

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Jillian Speece and Nathan Hoff create a seamless musical tapestry that spans the genres of the pop music spectrum. Static Flowers, the group’s third release, reflects their musical diversity, ranging from the upbeat country of “The Southern Line” to the power pop of “Wishing Well,” which highlights the sparkling vocal interplay of Speece and Hoff.

Jillian Speece and Nathan Hoff.

“Shake Ur Brother” veers into rhythm-and-blues territory and adds a touch of falsetto to the mix on a song that’s a declaration of personal resiliency. The stark folk of “Amy” features just Hoff ’s acoustic guitar in a tribute to the life and struggles of the late singer Amy Winehouse. “Home” spotlights the vocal harmonies of Speece and Hoff and shows the power of two voices and one guitar. “A Love Like You” recalls “Desire” era Bob Dylan with Hoff ’s harmonica work completing Speece’s wistful vocals. The Flatlanders ★★★1/2 The Odessa Tapes New West Records Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock and Joe Ely have each enjoyed successful solo careers, but there is a special chemistry that comes into play when the longtime friends perform as the Flatlanders. Case in point is The Odessa Tapes, a new CD featuring 14 previously unreleased performances from the group’s first recording sessions in January 1972. Performed acoustically on guitar, mandolin and the occasional musical saw by Steve Wesson, this is unadorned, straightforward music that went against the grain of what Nashville was producing at the time. Gilmore’s distinctive tenor, augmented by Ely’s occasional harmonies, serve as the albums’ focal point. Gilmore’s “Dallas” is a finely etched portrait of the Texas city that concisely sums up its vices and virtues. “Tonight I Think I’m Gonna Go Downtown” captures the yearning quality that is at the heart of his artistry. Hancock’s “One Road More” shows his knack for rhythmic word play set against a memorable melody. Despite the occasional technical shortcomings on the tape, the songs have a timeless quality. “Tales From West Texas,” a companion DVD that comes with the album, features archival footage and contemporary interviews with Gilmore, Hancock and Ely and explores the formation of the Flatlanders and the making of The Odessa Tapes. n

jazz library

BOB PERKINS

DIZZYGILLESPIE

THERE’S NOT MUCH TALK about John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie these days, and I suppose the reason is that it’s been more than 70 years since Gillespie, Charlier Parker and a few other creative souls began fashioning modern jazz. Since then, even more advanced forms of jazz has been introduced and absorbed by those with open minds and big ears. But the jazz “old heads” have not forgotten Gillespie. Some of those who came up during the time Dizzy, Parker and their modern cohorts were framing this new music—which some dubbed bebop—and are still around, and remember and revere the man and his prodigious talents. As he matured, Gillespie not only mastered his chosen instrument, the trumpet, but became a leader of large and small bands, a top-notch arranger, composer, music educator and showman.

Born in South Carolina in 1917, he was the last of nine children. His father died when he was ten, and the family saw some hard times, but managed to keep food on the table. When Gillespie was about 12, his English teacher introduced him to the trombone. Later, he borrowed a neighbor’s trumpet and fell in love with the instrument. Although mostly selftaught, he earned a scholarship to the Laurenburg Institute in North Caroline. While there, he studied both trumpet and piano. While at Laurenburg, his mother and other family members decided to move to Philadelphia. Gillespie got tired of school, quit, and in a short time, arrived at the family’s new digs at 7th and Pine Streets in Philly. The family had been bragging about how good a trumpet player young John Gillespie was, and to look out for him when he came to Philly. Well, now he was in Philly and had no trumpet of his own, but quickly acquired one for $13 dollars at a pawn shop. He had no case for the instrument, so he carried it in a brown paper bag. Thus began the first of the off-beat personal characteristics leading up to the nickname “Dizzy.” Gillespie landed a few jobs in Philly prior to finding his first major and steady job with the Frankie Fairfax band. He had been called Dizzy more than a few times after arriving in town, but another trumpet play in the Fairfax band, Palmer Davis, called him Dizzy enough times for the name to stick—and as Dizzy relates in his memoirs, To be or not to Bop, “Even my wife calls me that.” Dizzy’s trumpet idol was Roy Eldridge. He learned to play many of Eldridge’s solos by heart. Eldridge was not only a great jazz trumpeter, but he was a high-note specialist, and this is where Gillespie also learned to excel—and some of his trumpet excursions into the stratosphere threatened to bring rain. But like Eldridge, he developed into a complete master of the instrument. Gillespie only remained in Philadelphia for two years; he left for New York City in 1937 at the age of 19. But before leaving, he’d picked up enough to prepare him to hold his own in the Big Apple. He joined the Teddy Hill Orchestra, and later, Cab Calloway. Out of that union came the famous spitball incident in which Cab accused Gillespie of hitting him with a spitball while he was leading the band. The incident turned physical, Dizzy was fired, and the two men were estranged for many years. Their feud was resolved when it was finally revealed that Gillespie’s trumpet mate in the band, Jonah Jones, had thrown the juicy projectile, and Dizzy and Cab finally let bygones be bygones. Gillespie joined the Earl Hines band in 1942, and later became a member of Billy Eckstine’s newly formed and progressive band, which at various times included the likes of Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Art Blakey, Sarah Vaughan and other emerging jazz stars. Gillespie even subbed in the Ellington band for about four weeks. Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and a few other progressive-minded souls gathered at Minton’s Playhouse and Monroe’s in New York in the early 1940s, and laid the foundation for a new type of jazz, commonly known as bebop. In the middle 1940s, Gillespie and Parker frequented Philadelphia often, playing at the Down Beat in Center City, the first club in Philadelphia to feature their new Music. In 1946, Gillespie went on to front his own big band, and over the years, led other large and small ensembles. Jimmy Heath was a member of one of Gillespie’s big bands. “I was with him in 1949,” said Heath, “and in fact was with him, during one of the last things he did, which was at the Blue Note in New York We did a week there. I was in a group with James Moody, Kenny Barron, Bob Crenshaw, Elvin Jones, Slide Hampton. We did a week at the club, and he got sick right after that. Over the years I had performed with him many other times.” Gillespie fronted two big bands in 1956, both commissioned by the State Department, to tour the Near and Far East, and later, South America, marking the First time the U.S. government had given official and economic aid to jazz.. Few jazz icons past or present could match Gillespie’s varied achievements. He wrote a good number of jazz standards, including “Birks Works,” “Woody’n You,” “Con Alma,” “Hot House,” “Groovin’ High,” “Shaw ‘Nuff,” “Salt Peanuts,” “Night in Tunisia,” and “Manteca” (with percussionist Chano Pozo). Over time, Gillespie was awarded many honors—among them a Grammy National Achievement Award; The National Medal of Arts; The ASCAP Duke Award; an award from the Kennedy Center, and 20 honorary degrees from various colleges and universities. John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie died of pancreatic cancer, in Englewood. New Jersey, October 6. 1993. He was 75. n

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 & Sunday, 11–3pm.

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HOTEL Modern Cuisine h Classic Comfort Corner of Swan & Main Lambertville, NJ 609-397-3552 42

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ROBERT GORDON

Prime Rib “POTATO SKINS, PLEASE, FOR the table” is how dinner starts every time at Prime Rib. Prime Rib’s potato skins are de rigeur, not only for us, but also for a number of others, as readers tell me. The skins are crispy and when dipped into house-made horseradish and washed down with a libation from Prime Rib’s globetrotting wine list, they’re addictive. The point is, the Prime Rib menu is not exclusively carnivore nor carnibore. The steakhouse fare is very good, but the Soups, Appetizers, and Seafood menu sections have some “go-there-for...” items, too, as “Our Famous Potato Skins” attests. It’s hard to imagine anything not tasting good in Prime Rib’s lush confines. Formally attired waiters stroll throughout, and stylish, mellow jazz refrains waft from the grand piano and standup bass located a few steps up from the plush, sunken main dining room. The chic interior hearkens to the sleek 1930s and ‘40s with its leopard-print rug, fanciful vases overflowing with the lushness of a Fantin-Latour painting and mirrored walls. The retro snazz is one of the reasons Prime Rib again topped Zagat’s January 2013 list as Philly’s best steakhouse. Prime Rib was a best-in-class 27 out of 30 for décor. More importantly, Prime Rib was tops in the food category. Basking in Prime Rib’s chic atmosphere doesn’t come without a premium. Every form of refuge has its price. All salads are $13. Yes, that’s pricey, but all dishes—even salads—are generously apportioned. Buzz’s Salad is a heaping dinner plate filled with tomato slices, half an avocado, and chopped egg on a bed of Romaine that’s coated with white balsamic vinaigrette and extra virgin olive oil. Vine Ripe Tomatoes Salad brings another mammoth plateful of lettuce and fresh tomato chunks peppered with Vidalia onions, and crested high with crumbled feta cheese. Escargots drenched in garlicky butter, a classic French dish, is served with a chunk of grilled French bread on top. An alabaster soup bowl holds Maine Lobster Bisque [$12], an equally rich indulgence for the appetite and the eye. Meltingly tender Crab Imperial is a mélange of baked crab, greens, and cream that puffs up regally on the plate. There’s a good number of seafood selections like Chilean Sea Bass, Yellowfish Ahi Tuna, and Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes. Recently, a Dover Sole special was lightly browned, deftly fileted, and emerged from the oven with all its natural juices intact. As for steaks and chops, Steak au Poivre is tender and juicy...and mammoth. Not surprisingly, Roast Prime Rib is the eatery’s signature entrée. A few tourist websites have anointed it as must-eat Philly fare. Rack of Lamb ranks among the city’s choicest and the Roasted Organic Chicken is spicy and savory. For compassionate souls who resist eating meat, there’s a $26 Vegetarian plate. Prime Rib is renowned for desserts as well. Puckery sweet Key Lime Pie is a longtime city treat. My favorite post-dinner treat, however, is Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding, carmelized to just-right sweetness.

There are two other Prime Ribs in the country—one in Baltimore, the other in DC. Baltimore premiered the chain in 1965, followed by Washington in 1976. Philly’s Prime Rib opened its doors in 1997. Since then, it’s been garnering some impressive awards, including Esquire magazine’s Top Twenty Steakhouse list in 2008, and Food and Wine magazine’s Top Five Romantic Restaurants. Romantic it is. Sometimes when I’m there, I half-expect a Heineken commercial to break out. You know, the ubiquitous pining-for-the-past commercial in which the blonde singer of The Asteroids Galaxy Tour sings, “I wish I lived in the Golden Age.” She should try Philly’s Prime Rib. No other restaurant in town fills that bill like it does. n Prime Rib, 1701 Locust Street, Philadelphia PA 19103 (215) 772-1701 theprimerib.com

Please send comments or suggestions to r.gordon33@verizon.net

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ROBERT GORDON

XILANTRO

T SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE THAT two decades have slipped by since Los Sarapes tiptoed onto Doylestown’s dining scene. Doylestown was far less eclectic as a restaurant hub in those days. Los Sarapes’ owner-chef Luis Martin was a neophyte restaurateur when he and his family launched Los Sarapes. Their vision was to introduce the area to authentic Mexican food—well-calibrated, delicate dishes of upscale Mexican dining as contrasted with the lumpy caricatures slopped out at chain restaurants. Breaking that paradigm was daunting. Luis and his family invested their time, money, heart and soul into the enterprise, but were about to shut Los Sarapes down. Then, serendipity brought a restaurant reviewer to their door who gave Los Sarapes her hearty endorsement and distanced its fare from the uninspired stuff of the Mexican chains. Los Sarapes gained traction and thrives to this day. Buoyed by Los Sarapes’ popularity, Luis debuted El Sarape in Blue Bell a few years later. In 2001, his sister Esther opened Cilantro, a high-end Mexican eatery in the foodie-frequented terrain in Boston’s North Shore. Then in 2011, he opened Xilantro on the Main Line along Wayne Avenue’s burgeoning restaurant strip. Xilantro is a visual treat. Touted for its hip décor—more futuristic than contemporary—its style brings that of Pod in Philadelphia to mind. Xilantro’s stylized patterns of geometric lines and contours lend the same kind of exotic flair as Pod. Green and white hues wash the walls and ceilings. A large barroom parallels the main dining room. On the wall, enlarged, green-washed vintage photographs of Pancho Villa peer out from the past. The menu is rooted in upscale Mexican cuisine. However, Chef Raul Hernandez feathers in contemporary flourishes that extend the traditional bounds. His presentations capture the fresh-picked wholesomeness of each ingredient. In Ceviche Acapulco, slices of just-cut avocado drape over the rim of a bowl filled with grouper, shrimp, and scallops drenched in homemade tomato sauce drizzled in lime juice. Served with creamy chipotle sauce, Rollos Xilantro, lightly breaded flour tortillas stuffed with Chihuahua cheese and a seafood medley, are addictive. A soft white cow’s variety, Chihuahua cheese, is also called queso menonita, in honor of the Mexican Menonites who first produced it. Chipotle dipping sauce brightens Coquetas de Pescade (fish croquettes), bite-sized breaded globes of Chilean sea bass. Served in a hot black cast-iron skillet, Queso Fundido (melted cheese) blankets your choice of either wild mushrooms and huitlacoche, or marinated shrimp & crab meat, or chorizo & peppers in melted Chihuahua cheese. Try the huitlacoche, a longtime Mexican delicacy tracing back to the Aztecs. Huitlacoche has rich, smoky flavor that adds depth to the wild mushrooms. Pez Cuernavaca is Grouper filet sautéed with jumbo shrimp and baby spinach in a garlic-lemon sauce. Two glistening pieces of grouper, capped by a jumbo shrimp, crisscross over mounded spinach and rice. Spears of asparagus flank the sides. Carne Encebollada is marinated arrachera steak served in a deep dish surrounded by a spicy sauce of jalapeño peppers, onions, garlic, and olive oil. Also on the menu are a trio of salads and a trio of soups. True to the Mexican formula, desserts are somewhat de-emphasized. Nonetheless, the flan has an angelic texture. Delicate and creamy, it’s the finest I’ve had within memory. The handsome interior beckons with an electric atmosphere. Xilantro is also a lively sight during alfresco season. Naturally, there’s a full slate of tequilas and tequila drinks for the hardy, foolhardy, and the twenty-somethings—a demographic that is well represented at Xilantro. But I'm struck by how many families walk in with their chiquitos and chiquitas in tow. The fare might seem unfamiliar and a bit exotic to young palates that may be more accustomed and easily seduced by fast foods. But Luis Marin is no stranger to that challenge and has managed to come out on top. n

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Xilantro, 103 North Wayne Avenue, Wayne, PA 19087 (484) 580-8415 xilantro.com

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The proliferation of Japanese restaurants, sushi bars and other THE MEN AND WOMEN of JETRO were in town a month ago. Asian restaurants has opened many new possibilities for sake pairNo, this is not a new evil-empire, James Bond order. It is the Japan External Trade Organization, and they were here with the Japan ing. Ginjo Sake with seafood, Junmai with tempura or grilled foods, Sake and Shochu Makers Association to show off some outstanding Daiginjo with edamame or soba noodles or a light salad or sakes. fruit. Sake also can be substituted for wine in a recipe. But first a few words on what it is and how it is made, which deFollowing are some highly recommended sakes that stood out termines the end-quality of the at the tasting. brew. Interestingly, the origin of Urakasumi Brewery: The sake is not clear. But it is bestand-out for me and many of my lieved to have originated in the colleagues. The brewery was Nara period (710-794AD). founded in 1724 in Shiogama in Sake (“sah-keh”) in Japannorthern Japan to produce sake ese means simply alcoholic bevfor the gods of a local temple. erage. Sake is not actually a The three Sakes they poured wine. It is both brewed and ferwere exemplary. Urakasumi Junmented from rice. The brewing mai Daiginjo is redolent of melon process is similar to beer exand honey ($52). The Junmai is cept that enzymes convert light, medium-dry and smooth. starch in the rice to sugar, and Very nice with a variety of foods then yeast causes fermentation, ($35). The Junmai Ginjo “Zen” is creating alcohol. Sake has no smooth with apple, strawberry sulfites and has about one-third and herb aromas and woody the acidity of wine. notes ($92). There are three classes of Ichishima: Also excellent. It sake, based on the degree to was founded in 1790 in Niigata which the rice is polished beon the West Coast of the main isfore being used. Polishing reland. The Ginnoyorokobi Daiginmoves the harsher elements jo, their flagship sake, is dry with found on the outer layers of assertive alcohol (16%). The Silk the grain and leaves only the Deluxe Junmai, the sweetest of starches in the center. The the three, is light, silky, with more grain that is milled away, melon and cucumber notes. The the more complex, delicate and Junmai Daiginjo is subtle, with aromatic the resulting sake will light pear inflections. These sakes be. run from $50-75 a bottle. Junmai-shu: At least 30% of Midorikawa Sake Company: rice is polished away. This brewery is also in Niigata. Ginjo-shu: At least 40% of The Midori-kawa Honjozo is dry rice is polished away. and full-bodied. It has apple, Daiginjo-shu: At least 50% tropical fruit and vanilla notes of rice is polished away. and is crisp ($42). Alcohol may be added to Tatenokawa Inc.: This brewGenuemon Sudo with a bottle of Junmai Daiginjo. the brew (or not). If no alcohol er produces only the top level is added the term “junmai” can Junmai Daiginjo. The “50” is dry be added in front of either ginjo or daiginjo. Water is one of the and refined. Perfect with sashimi ($36). They also produce an intermost important ingredients in sake making, and most of the brewesting yuzu citrus liqueur, Kodakara Yuzu, that is refreshing over ice. eries detail their pure water supplies—whether underground Ippongi Kubohonten Co: An unusual sake, the Ginkoubai Hansprings or snow melt from the nearby mountains. nya Tou is made by placing dried plums to soak in the sake for Most Sake is pasteurized and then bottled. Nigori sake is an several months. Then Szechuan pepper is added. The end result is opaque, milky color since it has some bits of rice in it. It is the a sweet smooth and very spicy (searing to some) drink. It was sweetest sake, and requires shaking before being served. paired with home-made beef jerky, an amazing combination ($10 Sake is one of the few alcoholic beverages that are regularly for 150ml). n consumed warm. In Japan it is served cold, warm or hot. But the heating of sake generally is saved for lower quality examples. Higher quality sakes are served cold because heating would ruin their deliPatricia Savoie is a wine and culinary travel writer. cate flavors and aromas. Email: WordsOnWine@gmail.com W W W. I C O N D V. C O M

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about life

JAMES P. DELPINO, MSS,MLSP,LCSW,BCD

Finding The WITH SPRING NEARLY UPON us, many people’s thoughts turn to love, romance and finding the special person with whom a relationship will begin. Just as flowers, dormant until they spring from the earth, so do people, who have shuttered themselves during the cold months, open up to new possibilities for fulfilling connections. Colleagues and clients have asked for practical steps for meeting, exploring and developing deep and fulfilling love. Studies and experience show this is a difficult terrain, and doing it alone is much more difficult and frustrating than if we have a mentor to encourage, inspire and teach us how to achieve this goal. And who wouldn’t want great love—one of the very best things in life. Finding a mentor in this area is actually quite easy. Almost everyone is willing to offer advice and commentary about love. Finding a great mentor who is committed to your growth and helping you to accomplish your dreams is not as easy. Things have changed in the past few years. There are now specially developed and trained “love mentors” available to help you find your heart’s desire. The noted world expert in love mentoring, Dr. Diana Kirschner, has personally trained and developed mentors who are highly proficient and effective. Finding a real, professional and dedicated love mentor is as easy as going to www.lovein90days.com and requesting a pro bono session. Thousands of people across the world can attest to the help this service has provided in their lives. Love can happen in an instant. Some of us are lucky enough to stumble upon that someone special in the course of life. A common way that people find each other is through mutual acquaintances who are often friends, family or colleagues. Sadly enough, these methods do not happen for everyone. One way to enhance success is to find the person you know who has the best relationship and ask him (or her) directly to introduce you to his friends, family and colleagues who are like-minded. People who have happy relationships often know who in their life is seeking the same thing.

One

A variation that is often helpful is to study the person whose relationship you admire the most. Notice the traits and charismatics that he or she displays and seek out individuals who are similar. Being a love mentor myself, I can tell you that doing this can greatly enhance your chances of finding someone special just for you. Furthermore, if you are inclined to use online dating sites, the traits and characteristics you desire should be listed in your profile as things you are seeking in someone else. One of the major stumbling blocks of finding love can be our own internal issues. Lack of confidence, old hurts, and shyness often prevent wonderful people from celebrating life with another wonderful person. Doing work on yourself to overcome issues and obstacles will often help to change the way you think about the world—as well as the way you feel about yourself. When thoughts and feelings change inside of you all sorts of new ideas and possibilities for love seem to open up. Most people are more attracted when they find someone upbeat and ready to enjoy those shared experiences of delight that life has to offer. Overcoming issues and obstacles can be a long and lonely road; having support, insight and guidance from someone wise in the ways of love can be invaluable. If you have been unable to know great love on your own, it’s time to find a mentor. Another great way to meet wonderful people is to do the things you love and notice who is there. If you love art, go to an art museum. If you love flowers, go to a great garden. Most relationships blossom because two people share a common interest or passion. When you go to places that are about your interests and passions, practically everyone there has something in common with you. Go to events that have a very high percentage of the men (or women) you want to meet. If you’re seeking a woman, consider flower shows, fashion events, etc. If you’re looking for a man, consider auto and boat shows, and cigar bars. Being the more rare gender in a given situation makes you instantly more attractive and desirable. The hardest part of seeking and finding someone is staying positive. It’s easy to become discouraged and lonely when you’re searching. Try to remember that everyone, deep down, would like to have great love in their life if only they could. Everyone who is available is potentially a match for you. An interesting thing to explore here is to see if you keep dating the same kind of person over and over. Many times, seeking out those who are different from your normal dating patterns can lead to wonderful results. n

Jim Delpino is a psychotherapist in private practice for over 30 years. jdelpino@aol.com (215) 364-0139.

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< sally friedman

The Hunt I KNOW I HAVE it. I know with unshakable certainty that somewhere in our house is the slim paperback book I painstakingly purchased well in advance for an upcoming book group meeting. The only question is where I’d artfully placed it to make absolutely sure I’d find it when I needed it. I don’t know about the rest of humankind, but I am gifted in one special area: I lose everything I touch. And it works in direct proportion to the importance of the object to me: the more it matters, the less likely I am to find it. I have spent not just days or weeks, but months and years looking for a single thing: an earring whose mate leers at me from my jewelry box—a letter that means something to me—a scarf that I once wore and loved but that has not been seen since 2003. I never give up hope that these things will eventually turn up. But back to that book—I know exactly what its cover looks like. I know where I thought I’d so carefully placed it, and it was decidedly not there. I have ransacked that bookcase with the manic energy of the crazed. I have taken out books that were falling on top of one another. As a final act of desperation, I have had my eagle-eyed husband join in the search. No book. And just when I was convinced that in the dark of night, some gremlin had come along to unnerve me by hiding my book group novel, there it was—right where I had put it. And don’t ask me to explain how two sets of searching eyes had missed it. These are the sweet mysteries of home life that go unsolved. It all got me thinking about the wretched excesses of our daily lives. In the home of my childhood, which in square feet was modest, there truly was a place for everything, and a woman—my mother— who knew how to put her hands on whatever was needed. Life, back then, was far simpler. There were fewer closets in fewer rooms. There were no “warehouse stores” where we hapless consumers now purchase gargantuan supplies of everything from paper towels

and laundry detergent to mouthwash, and then scramble to find places for them. My parents kept a modest supply of necessary things in the kitchen pantry and the little shed attached to the back of our house. The garage housed our one car, not the overflow of products so many of us seem to insist on acquiring. And if I remember correctly, we had exactly two telephones—one upstairs, one down—and one bathroom. Daily existence was uncomplicated, frugal and somehow more carefree than it is now. I will not deny that my husband and I—totally empty nesters— have filled every nook and cranny of our house with— well, things. Some that we’ll probably never use. Some that will take us the rest of our lives to deplete. Our garage bears mute testimony to overload. When we will ever possibly use up our supply of paper products and charcoal briquettes is unclear. But there it is, this massive back-up supply of everything. No wonder we lose things. Our lives overflow with stuff—and there’s no better term for this accumulation of flotsam and jetsam than “stuff.” It lurks in every corner, every closet, every room. We buy stuff in which to store our stuff—organizers, shelves, racks, cabinets. And when those fill up, we seek more storage space in this neverending battle with creeping collections of everything. Like most women—even cautious ones—I have an unexplained excess of lipstick tubes, shampoos and face creams. And we will never use as many hand towels as are stacked up in our linen closet. And shoes—well, don’t even get me started. So I will no doubt go on seeking lost items as if in search of the Holy Grail. I will lose CDs, notebooks I need, receipts, library books and always, always, several pairs of glasses. I will continue to announce that come the next season on the calendar I will do a major purge and get my life straightened out. Just as surely as I will start my diet on Monday. n

Sally Friedman contributes to the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, AARP Magazine and other national and regional publications. She is the mother of three fierce daughters, grandmother of seven exceptional grandchildren and the wife of retired New Jersey Superior Court Judge Victor Friedman. Email: PINEGANDER@aol.com.

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facilitated by Matthew’s free-thinking and overeager mother, Isobel (Penelope Wilton). Young Sybil began to assert her feminism by pursuing nursing duties, just as Edith, the daughter who seems forever romantically doomed, started to find her voice by tending to the housed men’s daily needs. Ironically enough, with such a drastic historic event befalling this home and these characters, many fans reportedly felt that Season 2 hit a bit of a lull, paling in comparison to the domestic happenings that kept them rapt the year prior. But what made Season 2 so markedly pivotal is it served as the show’s thematic fulcrum, dividing the cherished past from the unavoidable future. With a gay character (Thomas), two increasingly strong-minded females, and all manner of benevolence toward the working class, Downton Abbey can certainly be seen as a very liberal text, which may partly explain why it’s found so vast an audience. The through-line of the series is, most assuredly, progress, from the advent of electricity that gives Violet the creeps in Season 1 to the postwar rise of the Jazz Age in Season 3. Everything in the series is propelled by how its inhabitants deal with the larger world’s growth and change, a rather Darwinian approach that forces characters to adapt for survival. Lady Grantham finds herself exploring thoughts unheard of before she filled her parlor with marines on the mend. Her American mother, Martha (Shirley MacLaine), visits from New York and speaks incessantly of the folly of old ways. Violet grows fearful of the only lifestyle she knows crumbling around her. And Lord Grantham, an otherwise steady figure of optimism, weathers the storm worst of all, having to reevaluate his funds and business practices under Matthew’s new suggestions, and seeing himself undermined at what seems like every turn. What’s most unexpected about the show is how its presumably large contingent of liberal viewers have likely responded to its cultural advancements—the sort of developments they’ve grown hardwired to endorse. Feminism? Bring it on. Freer love and flapper dresses? Let’s have ‘em. Downsizing grandiloquence for practical purposes? Sounds reasonable. But in Downton Abbey, once character investments have been established (and, do trust, those investments run deep), such upheavals of tradition feel abrasive, an affront to a way of life to cherish, staunch conservatism and all. Indeed, there is comfort in younger individuals looking ahead to brave new things, but more often than not, there’s unrest in the sense that this luxe and infectiously stern microcosm is falling to pieces, a destruction representative of a global tectonic shift. That Downton Abbey can force such a thing to shake the core of those who live to embrace progress is another—and, perhaps, the best—way the series continues to flip the script. n

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EDITED BY DAVID SCHULTZ

A Midsummer Night’s Dream 3/7-3/17 Set to Felix Mendelssohn’s lush score, this enchanting ballet brings William Shakespeare’s classic to life. The hilarious tale follows the adventures and misadventures of a

from Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck, is set in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where a literary giant critiques the work of four aspiring young novelists in a series of weekly and unorthodox seminars. Insults fly, alliances are made, lines are drawn, and sympathies shift as this awardwinning play unfolds. The play posits the theory that there is only one thing harder than writing your first novel—and that is letting your professor read it. Philadelphia Theatre Company @ The Suzanne Roberts Theatre. 480 South Broad St., Phila. (215) 985-0420. PhiladelpiaTheatreCompany.org Henry V 3/14-4/14

Principal Dancer Arantxa Ochoa and Former Company Member Maximilien Baud in A Midsummer Night's Dream, choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo: Paul Kolnik

group of mortals and immortals in their quest for love. More than 20 child dancers will fill the forest as fireflies and fairies. A melodic choir adds to the magic of this elaborate fully staged production. Perfect for adults and young alike, this ballet is a gorgeous ode to life with abundant sly humor. Pennsylvania Ballet @ The Academy of Music, Broad St., Phila. (215) 893-1999. paballet.org

Shakespeare takes us on an epic journey through royal courts and battlefields, conjuring a vast world through the suggestive power of his incomparable language. From the rousing speeches to the dark eve of Agincourt, Henry V is both adventurous and introspective, a tale of raw power punctuated by surprising moments of comedy, brought to vivid life. Lantern Theater Company, Ludlow St., Phila. (215) 829-0395. lanterntheater.org Iphigenia and Other Daughters 3/20-3/24 Playwright Ellen McLaughlin’s modern adaptation of the legend of Agamemnon and the aftermath of the Trojan War offers a bold, provocative feminist perspective on a story of lust, fury sacrifice and rebellion. The “good girl” of

Late Nite Catechism 3/12-3/17

Fast, funny and keenly observant, this new comedy

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Priscilla Queen of the Desert–The Musical Through 3/3

Under the Whaleback 3/6-4/7

Mark Russell 3/23: 7:30PM

Seminar 3/15-4/7

Bilbo, one of the most conservative of all Hobbits, is asked to leave his large, roomy and very dry home in order to set off as chief robber in an attempt to recover an important treasure. It’s the last thing that any sensitive Hobbit would want to do, but great benefit eventually results—not only for Bilbo but for all of the Hobbits who inhabit Middle Earth—and the hearts of those children and adults who continue to enjoy this kind of magic. Pennsylvania Youth Theatre, Charles A. Brown Ice House, 56 River St., Bethlehem. (610) 332-1414. 123pyt.org

A trio of friends go on a road trip of a lifetime, and hop aboard a battered old bus searching for love and friendship in the middle of the Australian outback and end up finding more than they could ever have dreamed. Academy of Music, Broad St., Phila. (215) 731-3333. kimmelcenter.org/broadway

An uproariously funny play that takes the audience back to their youth. The irrepressible "Sister " teaches class to a roomful of "students" (the audience). Throughout the course of the class the benevolent instructor rewards the "students" for correct answers with glow-in-the-dark rosaries and other nifty prizes. Naughty students may well find themselves on stage sitting in a corner reflecting their actions. State Theatre, 453 Northampton Street, Easton PA. 1-800-999-STATE.

Mark Russell has not only seen it all, he has parodied it in witty songs and anecdotes. Join this relaxed evening of reminiscing and musical finesse as Russell talks candidly on stage with the State Theatre's Shelly Brown in addition to performing his signature stand-up comedy while accompanying himself on the piano. Long before Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert, there was Mark Russell, daring to joke and sing of the often absurd political process. State Theatre, 453 Northampton Street, Easton PA. 1-800-999-STATE.

The Hobbit 3/15-3/24

the bloodiest family in Greek legend, Iphigenia is sent in a time of suffering and war as a sacrifice to appease the gods. She is saved at the eleventh hour, but by then her family has spiraled into vengeful obsession and self-destruction, leaving her to seek her own path from the wreckage. (For mature audiences). Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. (484) 664-3333. boxoffice@muhlenberg.edu

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American audiences were recently introduced to British playwright Richard Bean when his West end comic phenomenon, “One Man, Two Guvnors”, moved to Broadway. The Wilma’s North American Premiere of Under the Whaleback—reminiscent of Eugene O’ Neill’s great sea plays—shows the wide range of his talent which is quickly becoming internationally recognized. This gripping work depicts one of the most dangerous occupations in the world with maritime theatricality, larger-thanlife heroics, and unrestrained dark comedy. Wilma Theater, So. Broad St., Phila. (215) 546-7824. wilmatheater.org n

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DAVID SCHULTZ

p p

Scarlett Johansson

I GUESS IT’S TOO much to ask for…a moratorium on casting big-name movie stars in revived classics for starters. The business of Broadway nowadays is “get-em-in-their-seatswith-a dazzling-movie-star-in-the-lead,” whether it’s a good decision or not. Case in point: The recent Mamet classic Glengarry Glen Ross debacle with Al Pacino. It was one of the hottest tickets last winter. Nuff said. I absolutely adore actress Scarlett Johansson. She more than held her own in her theatrical debut and won a Tony for her breathtaking performance in Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge a few seasons ago. The casting of Ms. Johansson as the iconic Maggie in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, seemed, on paper at least, to be inspired—and steamy. But, alas, this rather wan and woefully misguided production directed with an unsure hand by Rob Ashford, makes many missteps as it attempts to bring in a new star-struck audience. Playwright Tennessee Williams’ overly florid and dense piece is fairly trampled to death, by a cast that seems to be attending a soccer match. Much of the dialogue is rushed through as if the cast is about to miss their last train out of town. Adding insult to injury, the director has most of the actors yelling and pitching their words at extremely high deci-

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof bels. There are so many indelible moments to savor in this operatic work by Williams. Maybe that’s what director Ashford had in mind? But most are lost in this lumbering, overly obvious underlining and bolding of William’s subtle portrayals of nasty people letting loose upon one another as they celebrate “Big Daddy’s” birthday one hot summer weekend at a Southern plantation. Johansson’s Maggie prowls the first act, attempting to get her husband Brick (Benjamin Walker) out of his alcoholic stupor and dressed for the birthday party. The sexual tension and electricity that should exude from every pore of her slinky body as she tries in vain to get her hubby in shape is strangely missing. The external monologue that forms the crux of the long first act seems strained and overbearing…but not in the way the playwright intended. Ms. Johansson has been directed to whoosh her way through her long intricate verbal arias, and her voice seems strained and at times hard to hear in my tenth row orchestra seat. The passion and inner frustration of this sexually charged kitten was nowhere to be seen. Visually, it was ravishing. Ms. Johansson is a babe, make no mistake. But the disconnect between what I was seeing and hearing—but not feeling—was W W W. FA C E B O O K .C O M / I C O N D V

jarring for the remainder of the First Act. The Second Act was more forceful and invigorating. It contains a potent mano a mano between son Brick and Big Daddy, played with a menacing gravitas by seasoned pro Ciaran Hinds. This fine actor meshes with his son and in an artful, powerful series of scenes, the play finally segues into a demonic rhythm of pain and secrets. Suddenly the play opens up, sparks fly, and the audience gets a sense of what this playwright was aiming for, and for a time it achieves its goal. It is hands down the best segment of the evening. The set design is great: a large four-poster bed in, large French windows and billowing curtains blowing as a storm approaches. Any chance to see this masterpiece in its unexpurgated version is still a worthy goal. That this tragic, dark story filled with moral and psychological complexity is derailed here on so many levels is a tragedy in itself. n Playing at The Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 W. 46th St., NYC, through March 30th.

David Schultz is a member of the Outer Critics Circle.

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The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

SPRING FORWARD By Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

Across 1 4 9 14 19 20 21 22 23 25 27 28 30 31 34 35 36 39 41 47 51 52 53 54 55 57 58 60 62 64 67 69 70 74 76 77 79 80 82 84 88 89 90 93 94 95 97 100 103 104 105 106 109 111

Badge bearer Ancient: Pref. English : C :: Greek : __ “The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?” playwright Rah relative Like basic switches “__ Gold”: 1997 film Fine partner Booze Furrier’s service Not under wraps “30 Rock,” e.g. Pasha in the Nixon White House, and others Salacious stuff Holiday dishes? Salmon yield Spots in a Senate race, say Most golf pencils lack one Ron Howard, once Chris Evert forte Coll. helpers Port, e.g. Env. contents Private club, briefly? Uses an acetylene torch Took a little off “Okey-__!” Get via scheming Word on an “evacuation route” sign Mischief-maker Tending to arouse Annoying noise “On the Waterfront” actor Beef often braised Equal Herbal brew Exchange worker Some Broadway performers Game opener Big name in game shows Former TWA owner Where glasses may be raised? Cooler cooler Stroll in the shallows 32 years elapsed between his first and most recent Emmys Slice of history One roaming on the range News grabber __ del Fuego WWII carrier Vegas opening Can’t get enough of, in a way Cristie Kerr’s org. Relief n

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115 117 121 123 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133

Lumber problem Felt sore Circulatory system component Economical heater Put out __-Whirl Connecting points Hall of Fame quarterback Dawson Holds, as an arena Clampett player Stingray relative Annual cause of losing an hr.’s sleep hidden in this puzzle’s 10 longest answers

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 24 26 29 32 33 36 37 38 40 42 43

Silver salmon Patron saint of Norway Euro pop? Drivers of red-white-and-blue vans Colony member Teammate of Babe Pair of duffers? Cop Big name in leather bags Crazy as __ ’40s-’60s dinnerware brand Sweatshirt size: Abbr. Ancient empire on the Tigris Liked loads Carefree diversion __ B’rith Benefit of one-upmanship Seeing things HMO members Level and bevel Confused Language of Pakistan Sputnik reporter Started to pucker up? Reclusive 1962 film villain Argyle, for one Longshoreman’s chore Nos. on driver’s licenses It’s depicted by a cello melody in “The Carnival of the Animals” Angry outburst Lack of vigor It’s bad for business Tech callers Places for 61-Downs “Oklahoma!” aunt Signify Vital signs China’s Sun __ Kind of collectible handle Treat for Tabby Teen safety org. Barely burn

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66 They may be bummed, briefly 68 Infer 70 Bias-ply alternative 71 Ancient prophet 72 “Gracias” reply 73 Agree to more issues 75 Netful of shrimp, say 78 Abruzzo town in a Longfellow poem 81 Libya neighbor 83 Bit of horse show gear 85 Barred room 86 Hullabaloos 87 Margate’s county 89 Stroked tool 91 SW corner key 92 Frontier lawman 95 Dakota du Sud and Floride, e.g. 96 Floral ornament 98 Renounces 99 “Louisiana Real & Rustic” chef/author 101 Arrives home safely, perhaps 102 Alpine melodies 107 Prepare, as pizza cheese 108 The “L” in L. Frank Baum 110 One way to enjoy being in a cast 111 12 of these is the single-player record for an MLB game

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112 113 114 116 118 119

Other than this 1998 N.L. MVP Mope Helped oneself to Believe Pre-holiday periods

120 122 124 125

Ding, but not dong Umbrella part Harem room “Law & Order” title: Abbr.

Answer in next month’s issue.

Answer to February’s puzzle, FLORIDATION

1 m S l C 1 B ( S e I E

HARPER’S M

INDEX Facts compiled by the editors of Harper’s Magazine

Projected annual revenue Mexican drug cartels stand to lose from pot legalization in Colorado and Washington : $1,400,000,000 Estimated minimum amount the Zeta cartel makes each year from the sale of coal : $22,000,000 Minimum number of engineers and technicians it has kidnapped to run Radio Zeta and other telecommunications outlets : 21 Percentage rate at which Arcata, California, plans to tax excessive electricity use in an effort to punish marijuana growers : 45 Portion of California drivers on an average Saturday night who have potentially impairing drugs in their systems : 1/7 Portion of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Democratic caucus that represents California or New York : 1/3 Amount that Crescent City, California, has budgeted for tsunami-defense construction : $34,000,000 Percentage of children living in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture who have thyroid abnormalities : 40 Number of seconds the Long Island Power Authority spent discussing Hurricane Sandy in public meetings before the storm : 39 Number of hours before power was restored to the majority of Long Island residents affected by the storm : 361 Estimated feet by which Sandy shrank New Jersey’s shoreline : 35 Last full month in which the average daily temperature did not exceed twentieth-century norms : 2/1985 Year by which the United States is projected to become the world’s largest producer of oil : 2017 Percentage of U.S. troops in Afghanistan who consume at least one energy drink per day : 45 Percentage of those consuming three or more such drinks per day who “sometimes” or “often” fall asleep on the job : 44 Date of the first combat death of a female U.S. service member in Iraq : 3/23/2003 Date on which the U.S. Army began testing body armor designed for women : 8/20/2012 Estimated cost of maintaining Afghanistan’s national security forces in the year after U.S. troops leave : $4,100,000,000 Annual budget of the Afghan government : $3,300,000,000 (see pages 51–52) Percentage of U.S. government contracts intended for small businesses that went to large corporations in 2011 : 37 Portion of the total value of all U.S. currency accounted for by $100 bills : 3/4 By coins : 1/25 Percentage by which an unemployed American is likelier to have a heart attack : 35 By which an American in poverty is likelier to have suffered depression : 96 Projected increase in the number of doctors in the U.S. health-care system by 2020 : 50,100 In the number of patients : 36,000,000 Pounds by which the average American’s self-reported “ideal weight” has increased since 1990 : 13 Chance that an average American ate at McDonald’s yesterday : 1 in 12 Value of the 220 diamonds swallowed by a South African jewel smuggler in November : $265,000 Average price for an ounce of human breast milk at a U.S. hospital : $4 Minimum number of pill capsules containing powdered human fetuses smuggled from China into South Korea since 2011 : 28,864 Percentage of Americans who say China “can’t be trusted” : 68 Chance that an Israeli Jew believes Israel practices “apartheid” against Palestinians : 1 in 2 Factor by which Northeasterners were more likely than Southerners to support racial integration in 1963 : 2.6 By which they are more likely to support gay marriage today : 1.5 Estimated number of roses the United States imports annually from Colombia and Ecuador for Valentine’s Day : 184,830,000 Cost to have the remains of a cremated pet set off in a fireworks display by an Australian circus performer : $990 Minimum number of years it will take to cross-breed an extinct species of Galapagos tortoise back into existence : 100 Percentage of the world’s supply of donkey cheese that the tennis player Novak Djokovic intends to buy : 100 Index Sources 1 Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad (Mexico City); 2 La Reforma (Mexico City); 3 Animal Político (Mexico City); 4 Environmental Services Department (Arcata, Calif.); 5 California Office of Traffic Safety (Elk Grove); 6 U.S. House of Representatives; 7 Stover Engineering (Crescent City, Calif.); 8 Fukushima Radioactive Contamination Symptoms Research (Portland, Ore.); 9 Long Island Power Authority (Uniondale, N.Y.); 10 Harper’s research; 11 Coastal Research Center (Galloway, N.J.); 12 National Climatic Data Center (Asheville, N.C.); 13 International Energy Agency (Paris); 14,15 Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (Silver Spring, Md.); 16 U.S. Department of Defense; 17 U.S. Army (Ft. Belvoir, Va.); 18 NATO (Brussels); 19 World Bank (Washington); 20 U.S. Small Business Administration; 21,22 U.S. Department of the Treasury; 23 Linda George, Duke University (Durham, N.C.); 24 Gallup Poll (Washington); 25,26 Association of American Medical Colleges (Washington); 27 Gallup Poll (Washington); 28 Harper’s research; 29 South African Police Force (Pretoria); 30 Mothers’ Milk Bank (San Jose, Calif.); 31 Seoul Global Center; 32 Pew Global Attitudes Project (Washington); 33 Dialog (Tel Aviv); 34 Gallup Poll (Washington); 35 Pew Research Center (Washington); 36 Association of Floral Importers of Florida (Miami); 37 Ashes to Ashes (Sydney, Australia); 38 Galapagos National Park (Puerto Ayora, Ecuador); 39 Central European News (Vienna).

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“Contemporary art has no big ideas left.” Which might explain why we’re in this jar of pickled (Keith) Herring. What do you think? You owe it to yourself to check out The Female Gaze: Women Artists Making Their World and let us know at ThomNickels1@aol.com. Requirements for membership in Philadelphia’s Franklin Inn Club used to be that one had to have published a book, but today, as Inn member Dan Rottenberg likes to note, the only requirement is that you must have read a book. Inn members and guests have included Christopher Morley, W.B. Yeats, Bram Stoker, Ezra Pound, G.K. Chesterton, and (the very much alive) former U.S. poet Laureate, Daniel Hoffman. Today the Inn is only vaguely literary, with most members being lawyers, physicians or business people. During our recent visit there we heard Philly architect/classicist Al Holm and Philly folklorist Tom Carroll, president of the John Kelipus Society, lecture on the Wizard of the Wissahickon, or What Led an Old German Pietist to build a cave by the Wissahickon to wait out the Apocalypse. We were glad that the Kelpius talk happened the same week that Richard II’s bones were discovered under a parking lot in London, and were made twice as happy when we received notice of Larry Robin’s Moonstone 100 Poets (Moonstone Arts Center, 110A S. 13th Street, Philadelphia) event which takes place April 7th. That’s when 100 poets get three minutes to read a poem to other poets. At last year’s Poetry Ink, a few naughty poets spent five minutes explaining their poem before reading it. We think that the 2014 100 Poets event should be held at the Inn, which might help restore some of the Inn’s literary heritage as well as tame the overactive lawyerly impulses that continue to unwittingly push the Inn closer to some kind of Union League identity precipice. We’ve been to The Mountaintop and met an angel that drinks and cusses—and it was good. The Philadelphia Theater Company’s production of Katori Hall’s play about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last hours in Memphis had us cheering, even if there were no stagehands present to make the stage revolve the way it revolved when the work was on Broadway. Having an onstage reader exclaim, “Blast of thunder, lightning strikes, the room shakes,” not only encourages one not to take stagehands for granted, it sets the stage for other far flung unconventionalities, like a motel chambermaid who’s really an angel sent by God (a large black woman with Medusa-like hair) to tell Martin that he needs to prepare for a trip to the afterlife. Although the lack of sound effects was not totally bad, the strike did take its toll. When we retuned three weeks later when the strike was over, the onstage reader was still there, shouting “Blast of thunder, lighting strikes, the room shakes!” There were plenty of words but no sound effects (except the ringing of phones) at The Wilma’s production of Assistance, a play by Leslye Headland, a look into the “hell is other people” workplace angst at a powerful Manhattan tech company staffed by sycophant careerists going crazy trying to outdo co-workers and please a boss who’s never satisfied. As a snapshot of fanatical careerists—who will do anything, including murdering their first born, to ascend the corporate ladder—the play was on the money but came up short when offering solutions other than walking away in order to escape the insanity. After all, where does one go when so much of the world is filled with bosses who are never pleased? There are no Ideal Husbands, anywhere, despite what Oscar Wilde says. The Walnut’s production of the Wilde classic was predictably lavish with a stage set that garnered applause, a rare thing in today’s theater world where stage minimalism a la Beckett has become the (yawn) norm. Still, we have to ask: are subscribers to the Walnut theater real theater people? While it’s true that we uttered a silent, “Wow,” when the curtain went up on a lavish chandelier-draped Victorian library living room, we would never think to applaud an arrangement of table and chairs, or marvel at how the luxurious ripples of a curtain tapestry frames a stage window. The Wilde play, as Wilde plays go, was amusing. We headed over to the Pennsylvania Convention Center to check out the Tattoo Convention where tattoo artists from all over the country waited for passersby to offer their bodies. We heard no cries of pain as these fellows and ladies accepted mark of the beast brand names like Josh Fallon, Trueblue Tattoo, Jay Blondel, DNA Tattooing, and Bonedaddy’s. As for the tattoos themselves, there was a marked preponderance of skulls and funny horror faces—even, we dare say, on the bodies of various parents, their tattoo-less kids in tow. Before leaving we bumped into Mike Allenbach (allebachphotography.com), a personable entrepreneur who told us about his specialty: photographing tattooed brides. If the University of Pennsylvania were to be suddenly swallowed up by Robert Smithson’s 1970 environmental sculpture, Spiral Jetty, located on the shores of Utah’s Great Salt Lake but propelled eastward on some Sci-Fi asteroid, there’d still be Arcadia University, or the University That Could. Penn does not rule all, as we learned when Arcadia put us on a shuttle bus with a contingent from the Fabric Workshop and delivered us into the hands of British-born, Berlinbased artist Tacita Dean who delivered one of the most unusual art lectures since William Burroughs’ private monologue rampages in his New York City bunker apartment. We won’t attempt to explain Dean’s work in such a short space except to say that by the end of the evening we felt as if we’d been transported to some alien world, and then deposited back, our heads spinning. To check the whole thing out, go here: gallery@arcadia.edu. n 54

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administrative offices. They also plan year-round programming in the areas of dance, theater, music and in commissioned public art installations all over Philadelphia BOARDWALK BEAT Whether it’s because it was the first legal casino in Atlantic City, the only existing facility in town that is a part of a still-standing, legendary hotel; or due to its tradition as a Boardwalk showbiz pioneer, Resorts Casino/Hotel is facing business challenges at the shore creatively and aggressively. Things began heating up for Resorts shortly after the announcement was made that Mohegan Gaming Advisors, a subsidiary of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, had entered into a management and investment agreement with Resorts. Work began in November on the LandShark Bar and Grill and something of a miniMargaritaville—i.e., “The Jimmy Buffet experience”—which will be the only year-round beachfront bar and restaurant in Atlantic City complete with casino, retail stores, coffee shop and more. It’s set to open for the season in May. Entertainment-wise, Resorts has wisely re-instituted the concept of afternoon matinee shows for the all-important day visitors, a vital core group that has sadly been ignored for too many seasons. Visit ResortsAC.com for news. In Philadelphia, the six bidders for the city’s second and final gaming license have made their presentations. Not surprisingly, casino mogul Steve Wynn, who proposes a waterfront hotel/casino to be called “Wynn Philadelphia,” received the most media attention. Wynn almost single-handedly revitalized Las Vegas and in 1980, opened Atlantic City’s third casino, the Golden Nugget, later sold to Bally’s Entertainment for a $260 million profit. Sure, Atlantic City has the Borgota and (barely) Revel, but nothing has come along here to rival what Wynn created at the Golden Nugget in terms of entertainment, good service and overall quality. If anyone bets on such things, a good one would be that Wynn gets the city’s nod for a second casino. It’s the only serious choice. BOOKINGS The late comic, Flip Wilson, was a ground breaker in many ways. Wilson, who died in 1998, won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his weekly television variety series, and in 1972, he made the cover of Time, who called him “television’s first black superstar.” For whatever reason, Wilson is hardly remembered at all these days, but that should change with the April 22nd release of a book called Flip: The Inside Story of TV’s First Black Superstar, written by Kevin Cook and published by Viking. Award-winning jazz trumpeter Clark Terry, like his colleagues Bobby Hackett and Louie Bellson, is not only one of the most consistent, joyous, inventive and swinging players who ever lived, but has been known for years as having nary a negative word to say about anyone in and out of the business! That positive attitude pervades most of Terry’s generally upbeat autobio, The Autobiography of Clark Terry, published by the University of California Press. This is a man who played with—for starters—Ellington, Mingus, Monk, and Basie, and was one of the first black players to join the Tonight Show band. To order the Terry book, which you should, visit his web site at ClarkTerry.com. There have been several books about famed bandleader Woody Herman, but until now, there has never been an incisive, DVD documentary about the late Woodchopper’s life. Award-winning film maker and Grammy-nominated Graham Carter rectified this long overdue matter with Woody Herman: Blue Flame, a wonderful overview of this vastly underrated giant. Herman, more of an inspirational leader of men and talent scout rather than a great jazz soloist, discovered hundreds of future jazz stars in his long career, including one named Stanley Getz, and it’s about time something like this came along. Online ordering via JazzedMedia.com. For coverage of area jazz, refer to “The Jazz Scene” column elsewhere in these pages, which premieres with this issue of ICON. MIDDLE EAST FAREWELL Sometimes a physical venue serves as the launching pad for a musical genre. Harlem’s Minton’s, and Monroe’s Uptown House, helped get be-bop off the ground, and to an extent, The Savoy Ballroom and Cotton Club did the same for swing. In Philadelphia, the famed Middle East Restaurant, a landmark at 126 Chestnut Street for nearly 30 years beginning in 1969, helped foster Middle Eastern music, a genre then rarely played publicly, that ultimately became in important part of what we now call “World Music.” Bassist/Educator Bruce Kaminsky frequently visited there and played there, before and after their famed bellydancers. “The place was a catalyst for what I call ‘Middle East Peace Philly Style,’” a phrase Kaminsky uses to describe his own musical ensemble of today. “The Middle East was a place where all were welcomed. It’s where my Jewish parents hung out with their Armenian friends to hear Arab music.” Edmond J. Tayoun, co-owner of The Middle East, died in late January at the age of 81. He will be fondly remembered whenever Middle Eastern music is played. n

Join me “Backstage” by sending your items to DrumAlive@aol.com

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agenda CALL TO ARTISTS We are now reviewing artwork for inclusion in our limited Artist Membership Gallery. This type of art gallery is similar to a cooperative, but with less responsibility and more benefits. Associate Member-level artists: $50 per month member fee and low 15% commission. No gallery sitting. Associate Members’ work is shown in two group shows per year. Associate Members are first in line for “Full Member” status, if they wish. For more information, go to www.twenty-twogallery.com and click on Contact Us and then click the Artist Membership Inquiries link or contact us at: Twenty-Two Gallery, 236 S. 22nd St., Phila. (215) 7721911; email: info@twenty-twogallery.com Open Call for Artists for Jury for Festival of the Arts at St. Davids Church 4/26-5/5: March 8, 9 AM to 1 PM at Paoli Presbyterian Church, 225 S. Valley Road, Paoli, PA 19301. Juried by Maggie Hobson-Baker, assistant professor in studio art at Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA. All juried work should be picked up at the same location promptly at 3 PM. New members may join the DVAL on this date and enter works to the jury. The dues for new members are $30 + a one time only joiner fee of $25. Please pay by check. We do not accept charge cards. The entry fee of $25 allows each member to enter up to 3 pieces each. The size is not to exceed 20” x 30." All artists whose work has been juried-in may also submit up to 15 pieces of original, unframed art in bins. No reproductions will be accepted. There will be a commission (TBD) on all sold work. Additional information will be handed out to all artists whose work has been accepted regarding delivery date, time, etc. The jury committee reserves the right to reject any work that does not adhere to above mentioned requirements or any that are not properly framed.framed.delawarevalleyartleague.com

ART EXHIBITS THRU 3/9 Greta Brubaker and Adam MacHose, Black and White Photographs. Grossman Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA. 610-330-5361. http://galleries.lafayette.edu THRU 3/15 Edgar S. Baum: For the Love of Painting, David E. Rodale Gallery. The Baum School of Art, 510 Linden St., Allentown, PA. 610-433-0032. baumschool.org THRU 3/16 Man’s Mind: Thomas Mann Sculptural Objects. The Gallery at Penn State Lehigh Valley, 2908 Saucon Valley Rd., Center Valley, PA. 610-285-5261 THRU 3/17 The Art of Costume Design, featuring the work of acclaimed theater and dance costume designers. Muhlenberg College, Baker Center for the Arts, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, PA. 484-664-3333. muhlenberg.edu/dance THRU 3/23 It’s in the Bag, Kaarina Talvila. Containers, ranging from purses to boxes and something in between. Opening reception 3/1, 5-8pm. Hours: T/W: 11-2, S:10-3. 526 Washington St., Reading, PA. 610-373-7337. www.somethingslooming.com THRU 3/23 Continuum: Master & Emerging Arts Exhibition, at New

Hope Arts. 2 Stockton Ave. New Hope, PA. 215-862-9606. newhopearts.org THRU 3/29 A Visit to My House, a 30-year retrospective of paintings and prints by Curlee Raven Holton. Williams Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA. 610-330-5361. galleries.lafayette.edu THRU 3/31 Making Magic: Beauty in Word and Image. Michener Art Museum, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown. michenerartmuseum.org THRU 4/7 The Female Gaze: Women Artists Making Their World. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Broad St., Philadelphia. PAFA.org

3/20-3/24 New Visions, Director’s Festival. Iphigenia & Other Daughters, Mental Landscapes. Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance, Allentown, PA. 484-664-3333. muhlenberg.edu/theatre

3/22 “Seismic Passion.” Bach, Duruflé, Liszt, Stephen Williams, organist. 8pm, Arts at St. John’s, St. John’s Lutheran Church, 37 So. Fifth St., Allentown, PA. Suggested donation $10. 610-435-1641. stjohnsallentown.org

3/22 The Four Bitchin’ Babes present Mid Life Vices, a Guilt-Free Musical Revue! State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton, PA. 610-252-3132, 1-800-999-STATE. statetheatre.org

4/6 Larry Coryell Organ Trio, Zoellner Arts Center, 8pm. Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. 610-758-2787. zoellnerartscenter.org

4/13-4/21 Ulysses Dreams, an exploration of origin and destiny. Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. Fourth St., Bethlehem, PA. touchstone.org

4/7 Fall of the Berlin Wall. Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Conductor Laureate. Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. 215-893-1709. chamberorchestra.org

DINNER & MUSIC

ARTSQUEST CENTER AT STEELSTACKS (Musikfest Café) 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300. artsquest.org

THRU 4/7 Creating: Quilts of the Lakota. Arthur Ross Gallery, UPenn, 220 S. 34th St., Phila. 215-898-2083. upenn.edu/ARG

Saturday nights: Sette Luna Restaurant, 219 Ferry St., Easton, PA. 610-253-8888. setteluna.com

THRU 4/14 Fabulous Flappers! Fashion from the Ellie Laubner Collection. Also: Haitian Art from the Rodale Family Collection. Allentown Art Museum, 31 North Fifth St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-4333. allentownartmuseum.org

Thursday nights: John Beacher’s Community Stage, 812pm, Community Stage sign ups, 9pm: Solo act, 8-9pm. Karla’s, 5 W. Mechanic St., New Hope. 215-862-2612. karlasnewhope.com DANCE

THRU 4/21 Morris Blackburn. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Alumni Sales Gallery, Broad St., Phila. pafa.edu/alumnigallery THRU 5/4 Delaware Valley Art League Juried Spring Show at Penn Medicine at Radnor, 250 King of Prussia Road, Radnor, PA THRU 6/1 State of the Art: Illustration 100 Years After Howard Pyle. Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, DE. 302-571-9590. delart.org

3/15-3/17 Dance Ensemble Concert. Act 1, DeSales University, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA, 18034. 610-282-3192. desales.edu/act1

3/6-4/7 Art for Everyone! Steve Zazenkski: Watercolor & Gouache. Patricia Hutton Galleries, 47 West State St., Doylestown, PA. 215-348-1728, www.PatriciaHuttonGalleries.com 3/7-4/28 Wendy Paton & Stephen Perloff: “Two for the Road.” Red Filter Gallery, 74 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ. Thur.Sun.12-5. 347/244-9758. redfiltergallery.com 3/15-4/27 Room of Relief, master printmakers Curlee Raven Holton, Veronica Ceci, and Francine K. Affourtit. Grossman Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA. M-W & F, 11-5, Th. 11-8, Sat. & Sun.12-5. 610-330-5361. galleries.lafayette.edu THEATER 3/16 & 3/17 7 Fingers Circus: PSY, Sat. 8pm, Sun. 3pm. Family Friendly! Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem. Free parking attached to the center. 610-758-2787, www.zoellnerartscenter.org

Finnegan’s Farewell The Irish Rovers Dr. John & The Lower 911: For fans of The Neville Brothers, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Levon Helm, The Band 3/15 The Irish Comedy Tour 3/20-23 SPANK! The Fifty Shades Parody 3/29 The Mango Men. Winners of Kenny Chesney’s “Next Big Star" 2008 3/30 Rick Braun 4/5 Graham Parker & The Rumour 4/13 The Fixx 4/18 The Mavericks

FILM 3/22 & 3/23 DeSales Student Film Festival. Act 1, DeSales University, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA, 18034. 610-282-3192. desales.edu/act1 CONCERTS

3/1-4/14 Eric Fowler, “On a Clear Day.” Quiet Life Gallery, 17 South Main St., Lambertville. Open Wed.-Sun. 609-397-0880. quietlifegallery.com

3/7-10 3/12 3/13

Some organizations perform in various locations. If no address is listed, check the website for location of performance.

3/8 Beethoven Orchestra Bonn. Zoellner Arts Center, 8pm. Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. 610-758-2787. zoellnerartscenter.org 3/9 VOICES presents '87: Choral Gems of 1687, 1787, 1887, and 1987 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 8pm.The 25th Anniversary concert with 65 singers and instrumentalists includes music from early baroque, classical, romantic, to contemporary. 33 Mercer Street, Princeton, NJ. Tickets and information available at 609-637-9383 and www.VOICESChorale.org. 3/10 VOICES presents '87: Choral Gems of 1687, 1787, 1887, and 1987 at Anchor Presbyterian Church, 3pm. The 25th Anniversary concert with 65 singers and instrumentalists includes music from early baroque, classical, romantic, to contemporary. 980 Durham Road (Rte 413), Wrightstown, PA. Tickets and information available at 609-637-9383 and www.VOICESChorale.org.

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MAUCH CHUNK OPERA HOUSE One of America’s oldest vaudeville theaters, built in 1881. 14 West Broadway, Jim Thorpe, PA. 570-325-0249. mauchchunkoperahouse.com 3/8

Enter The Haggis: St. Patty’s Parade Weekend Kick-Off Performance Wishbone Ash The Tartan Terrors Splintered Sunlight Manhattan Lyric Opera: Rodgers to Romberg to Webber R. Carlos Nakai & Peter Kater Free Range Folk CD Release Party The B Street Band Eaglemania Willy Porter Paula Cole Band Kalob Griffin Band

3/9 3/15 3/16 3/17 3/22 3/23 3/29 4/13 4/19 4/20 4/26 EVENTS

3/17-3/22 New Hope & Lambertville Restaurant Week, Prixe-Fixe Fine & Casual Dining. VisitNewHope.com or Lambertville.org THRU 3/31 Half-priced wines by the glass. Get out of the house and spend a relaxing day out. Chaddsford Winery, Peddler’s Village, shop #20, Lahaska, PA. 215-794-9655. chaddsford.com THRU 3/31 Treat Yourself Tuesday. Restaurant Week Wednesday, Therapeutic Thursday all month at Apollo Grill. 85 West Broad St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-865-9600. apollogrill.com

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