ICON 08 2013 by ICON Magazine

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AUGUST ~ 2013

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

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

fax: 215-862-9845

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN | 18 A bout with mental illness and a few “episodes” with police sidelined Adam Ant, once a new wave ‘80s superstar. Now, after 18 long years, he’s back with a new look, a new album, and a new generation of fans.

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

Trina McKenna trina@icondv.com Raina Filipiak filipiakr@comcast.net

ADVERTISING 800-354-8776 Entertainment Editor Bruce H. Klauber / drumalive@aol.com

NICK’S PICKS | 28

COLUMNS City Beat | 5

Brian Landrus Kaleidoscope;

Sally Friedman | 37

Etienne Charles; Earl Klugh

Love and War

SINGER / SONGWRITER | 29

About Life | 24

Otis Redding; Merry Clayton;

When What You Think Isn’t What it Is

Candye Kane featuring Laura Chavez;

A THOUSAND WORDS

Nelson Shanks, Audience.

Counting Worms | 6

Donna the Buffalo; Earl Poole Ball JAZZ LIBRARY | 31 Jackie Cain and Roy Kral

ART Early Masters of Photography | 7 Nelson Shanks | 10

FOOD Slate Bleu | 32

EXHIBITIONS | 8

Sally Hawkins and Louis C. K. in Blue Jasmine.

ETCETERA

FILM

Agenda | 39

L.A. Times Crossword | 38

CINEMATTERS | 12 Blue Jasmine KERESMAN ON FILM | 14 20 Feet From Stardom BAD MOVIE | 16 The Lone Ranger REEL NEWS | 20 Amour; Mud; The Company You Keep; The Sapphires

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Food Editor Robert Gordon / rgordon33@verizon.net 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 R. Kurt Osenlund T. J. Reese

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).

THE JAZZ SCENE | 26

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Music Editors Nick Bewsey Mark Keresman / shemp@hotmail.com Bob Perkins Tom Wilk

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

MUSIC

Classical Music Editor Peter H. Gistelinck

IT / Audio Consultant Andy Kahn

FILM ROUNDUP | 22 Drinking Buddies; Prince Avalanche; Lovelace; The Spectacular Now

Man Ray, Kiki.

Fine Arts Editors Edward Higgins Burton Wasserman

Amada | 34

Trisha Vergis Gallery Muse Gallery Artists’ Gallery

KERESMAN ON DISC | 27 Günter Schickert; Bitchin’ Bajas; June Tabor/Iain Bellamy/Huw Warren; Oscar Pettiford; Kurt Edelhagen Orch.; Misfit Toys; Hackamore Brick

City Beat Editor Thom Nickels / thomnickels1@aol.com

ON THE COVER: Adam Ant. Photo: Andy Gotts. Pg. 18

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city beat MAPPLETHORPE IMPLOSION At the Chemical Heritage Foundation’s Sensing Change preview (July 2013-May 2014), we not only learned what happens when artists and scientists investigate the environment, but we were also reminded of what can happen when art and politics collide. Fellow Sensing Change traveler Kathy Foster (Senior Curator of American Art, PMA) introduced us to Judith Tannenbaum, Associate Director of Philadelphia’s Institute of Contemporary Art during the Robert Mapplethorpe’s The Perfect Moment exhibition (December 1988-January 1989). The ICA retrospective included 175 Mapplethorpe photographs of flowers, orchids and nudes. We attended the 1988 exhibit and recall the long lines then—especially the

Robert Mapplethorpe, Ken Moody and Robert Sherman, 1984.

families with children who seemed as blasé as Please Touch Museum-goers. Fresh from a showing at the Whitney Museum in New York, The Perfect Moment accumulated rave reviews before heading off to the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center where there was an implosion. Nine members of a Congressional Grand Jury entered the exhibit on opening day and issued indictments to the CAC and its director, Dennis Barrie. Cincinnati police closed the Museum, but not before ticketholders chanted slogans and booed the cops. Although a court action avoided the closure, the exhibit’s third destination, the Corcoran Galley of Art in Washington D.C, never materialized thanks to a Jesse Helms, who threatened to end National Endowment for the Arts’ funding. The Corcoran, caving into pressure, cancelled The Perfect Moment, an action that Foster found so cowardly she had no choice but to write a letter of protest to the Corcoran powers that be. Tannenbaum, meanwhile, was quoted in the national press as saying, “We are in the middle of a national political battle.” An understatement to be sure, although much less so today thanks to men and women of her caliber. But while what some people may 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

THOM NIICKELS

ThomNickels1@aol.com

view as obscene in art may no longer raise high the roof beams, the totalitarian urge to legislate morality still runs high in a society that purports to be “advanced” in many ways. SEX IN THE CITY Consider, for instance, the recent Philadelphia police entrapment procedures against six “Johns” in the Kensington area. We wonder if any of the sassy, gum-smacking female officers posing as under-the-El hookers felt a pang of conscience knowing the whole thing was a ruse just to rack up arrest numbers. Isn’t this called entrapment? What’s worse, the PPD notified the press to be on hand for some great photo ops as the still-shaken arrestees were marched to the fingerprinting table. Philly’s DA, Seth Williams, a devout Catholic, is said to be eager to beef up his “John school” so that these men can be taught the value of monogamy and the dangers of transmitted diseases. In an age when people are gunned down in Old City after a night of clubbing, does an “illicit” orgasm under the El really matter? Never mind that a “John school” conjures up images of undergrads in bowties being taught by the Sisters of Saint Joseph, or lectures by reformed prostitutes (in San Francisco they’re called “sex workers”) mouthing the au courant line that prostitution always exploits women—except, perhaps, when these same women are in dire need of food or money. We may be naïve, but we thought that Philly Vice was a thing of the past. Sgt. Joe Lanciano of Citywide Vice told Philly.com that he had every right to arrest the men by entrapment, because, well, “This is not a victimless crime.” Just as in Orwell’s masterpiece, 1984, two and two equals five. QUIRKY BIASES We met internationally renowned photographer Tony Ward at the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s annual Photography 2013 exhibit. Ward, the author of six books like Orgasm (2002) and Obsession (1998) once sold one of his prints in Paris for $18,000. Ward, as the exhibit’s Juror, had to pare down 208 submissions to a slim 118. While Best of Show winner was Bruce Kravetz, one of the artists selected, Tom McKean, a Chester Springs native, can trace his roots back to Thomas McKean (1734-1817), a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Meeting McKean, we were taken aback at the uncanny resemblance between him and Thomas, so we were not surprised that McKean’s entry, “Obama Rally” (which did not win any prizes) had a political theme. We were glad that McKean didn’t take the easy way out and photograph a nude woman. It’s not that we don’t love nude women, but considering that so many of the photographs on display were just that, it got us thinking that Philly could use a Robert Mapplethorpe of its own. Great photography is gender variant photography: old women, young women, amputees, men and old men——not only Penthouse centerfolds or the photographer’s girlfriend. The absence of male nudes was conspicuous, causing us to wonder if the absence had something to do with the quirky biases of Philly photographers. We asked Ward about this and he said what we expected him to say: “These are the submissions we received,” though he agreed with us that that perhaps the conservative tenor of the city is to blame. He did point out the existence of one male nude on the far side of the room, but it was a sorry consolation prize and didn’t measure up to the old days of ICA and Judith Tannenbaum.

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UNIFORM ADOLESCENCE We’re glad the 4th of July is over, because there’s nothing more depressing than the sound of fireworks going off five days in a row. But while fireworks may be loud and disruptive, the latest craze to hit America is even more annoying: historic battle reenactments. Fed up with at-home video war games, adolescently-stunted adult men are not only reenacting the Battle of Gettysburg (it was the 150th anniversary this year), but every war under the American umbrella, including Vietnam. While the sight of grown men feigning gunshot wounds or bullets in the head and then moaning in agony might be some folks’ idea of “history coming alive,” to us it’s just plain silly. To duplicate war accurately there must be blood and guts aplenty, blown off heads, empty eye sockets as well as loin and genital pulverization. Oh yes, and don’t forget the animal slaughter and the aromatic smells of body parts. It’s scary to think that the same overgrown boys who brought us Gettysburg and Revolutionary War stagings are now trying to bring Vietnam to the backyards of rural and suburban America. In Ithaca, New York recently, a regiment of self-proclaimed Vietnam War reenactors were rushed out of town when they kidnapped a local girl because “Charlie” was coming, and when they raided a local nursing home, filled with real Viet Nam vets, claiming that the Commie’s were on a nearby hill. AN OVAL BY ANY OTHER NAME The business of constant busyness has invaded the once sedate Parisian atmosphere of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Where once it was fashionable to lounge on benches, or sit under a random tree, now it will become mandatory to use your time constructively. Philadelphia Parks and Recreation has announced a new plan for Eakins Oval, the section of the Parkway closest to the Museum. In place of Proustian reverie, there will be programs like art classes, a kite bonanza, storytelling sessions, bicycle riding lessons for adults, sandboxes, and a beer garden (good). In addition, there will be yoga classes for six-week-old precrawlers (“Moms will need to bring a yoga mat”), and yoga for seniors. Add to the list chess tournaments, claymation demonstrations and Ferko String band struts, and you have a mini-vacation rolled up into a tiny city space. With all this busyness, where does one go to relax? “Relax” as in sit by a waterfall and do nothing; “relax” as in sit in a park without feeling the urge to jog or work up a sweat prior to the work week with its own sweat rites. At the Oval’s opening ceremonies, Mayor Nutter, in his Lacoste best, joined other city brass in dark suits. They chatted amongst themselves, making us think of a Masonic picnic. “What’s your take on this?” we asked a local artist, busy munching on an iced Mango pop. “You know, it’s all rather ambiguous,” he said. “Why can’t an oval be just an oval?” VISUAL STORYTELLING The summer’s top art draw is Witness: The Art of Jerry Pinkney (through Sept. 22, 2013) at the Perelman Building. By all means catch these illustrations of lions, mice and a look inside Gustav Mahler’s head. Pinkney’s world is a one-way ticket to childhood, especially the “Little Red Riding Hood” series in which the male wolf dresses as a granny and can be a stand-in for a slightly darker world. At the Pickney preview we had hot dogs and wine and spotted a thoroughly animated Timothy Rub in a rare social moment, laughing it up like we used to see Anne d’Harnoncourt do in more carefree days. ■ ■ W W W. I C O N D V . C O M

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a thousand words

STORY AND PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

Counting Worms YOU DIG WORMS WHEN the tide is out, much like clams. The men who do it on the mud flats in Jonesport are looking for sandworms and bloodworms, about a foot long on average, which can bring more than a hundred dollars per thousand for the sandworms and nearly two hundred for the bloods. The market is limited but it’s a way for them to get cash when for one reason or another they aren’t going out on a lobster boat or dragger. It’s not something they do for fun because there’s no fun in it. It’s something they do to keep going. There is a worm buyer in a basement near the co-op wharf. The room has a low ceiling, fluorescent lights, and a . . . let’s call it a damp, earthy smell. Painting the life in this small, gritty Maine fishing town—a little more than an hour from Canada—has taken me into a number of wet and pungent places of business. Places where the walls, tables and floors get hosed down regularly, but not nearly enough. Everyone wears high rubber boots. Whether it’s old crab shrapnel, herring squish, or worm bits, you don’t want to get it in your Nikes. Setting up and breaking down my French easel without wiping it (and my bag and panel) on the floor is a test. I extend the legs while resting the kit on my boot tops, but by the time I’m done painting those boots can become pretty disgusting. I’ve learned how to collapse and fold the legs with one hand while holding the easel in the air with the other. The plan was to paint the men counting worms in the morning and the guys shoveling herring at the fisherman’s co-op when I was done, bundling a couple of the more odiferous subjects on a day I needed to do laundry anyway. I arrived an hour ahead of time wearing my muck boots, and set up in a corner. The men weren’t there yet and wouldn’t stay long when they came. I did a quick perspective drawing, blocked in the composition, and developed the tables and parts of the painting above eye level—the ceiling, lights and windows—as a setting for the figures. My inten-

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tion was to place an odd number of people in a non-symmetrical arrangement but it wouldn’t be clear what I would have to work with until they showed up. I didn’t know what worm counting looked like. About 90 minutes after low tide the worm diggers began to arrive with coolers and buckets, taking places along the benches. They reached into their containers and pulled out fat, dark red, squirming spaghetti-wads of worms and plopped them on the flat surface, quickly brushing countable numbers of wigglers aside and into a tray. They handed the trays to the boss and got paid. He counted some of them later just to be sure, but they were working on the honor system. It wasn’t difficult to study the men as they counted. There never was a large crowd and they naturally kept a distance from each other. Until one guy made a comment to another concerning where he got his worms, which was met with an invitation to keep his mouth shut or have his head stoved in. These were Down East bred and fed guys who had spent a long morning slogging through cold mud, so niceties were in short supply. The sharp-edged exchange cut the general murmuring short. Everybody’s hair went up and the room closed in instantly. A curse, a body launched across the tight space, faces a whisker apart. Everyone was yelling, grabbing, pulling at the men but they were welded at the eyeball. Dares were hurled, veins popped, saliva let fly. A seething mass of sweat, muscle, and venom pressed my easel so I flattened back against the wall and held the painting over my head, elbows squeezed in front of my face. Then, like a passed lightning storm, the noise subsided and they were back to their worm buckets with the most distant of rumbles. I exhaled and slid my panel back onto the easel. The boss walked in and growled that this was his world and he didn’t want to see any of that again. The painting was finished under relatively boring circumstances. The buyer came over when I was packing up and said, “Yuh gaht some excitement this mohnun, didjuh?” “How long have those two been friends?” I asked. “Briefly,” he chuckled. “I’ll tahk to them tuhmahrah. Cahn’t have that heeyah. This is a place of business.” ■

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art

EDWARD HIGGINS

Early Masters of Photography

FRENCH TWIST: MASTERWORKS OF Photography from Atget to Man Ray comprises more than 100 gelatin silver prints from that creative brew that was Paris between the wars. Collected by Michael Mattis and Judith Rosenberg, the photographs are by such famed artists as Eugene Atget, Brassai, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Isle Bing, Man Ray, Dora Maar, and Jacques-Henri Lartigue. The show runs through September 15 at the Delaware Art Museum. This traveling art show allows the museum to fill a gap in their own collections according to Heather Campbell Coyle, curator of American Art. “We just do not have this kind of work in our permanent collection and it’s thrilling to bring it to Delaware. The collection is outstanding and the photographs chronicle a fascinating time in history and art,” she said. The collection hits all the highpoints of what one might expect from the era. Atget street scenes are on hand, but so are some of his principal output, the photography of national monuments—he made his living taking these pictures for the French government. Also included are Brassai’s demi-monde, the modernism of Ilse Bing, Man Ray’s surrealism, and Cartier-Bresson’s excellent photojournalism. The examples of each artists’ work are fine with the work definitely shown to advantage. If none of the images are the most iconic, that shouldn’t disappoint since each has work that would be instantly recognizable. The fact that there is a French connection has to do with the spirit of creativity in Paris at the time. Berenice Abbott and Man Ray, and Edward Steichen were Americans,

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

Fille de Montmartre playing Russian billiards, Blvd Rochechouart, 1932–33. Brassaï (1899–1984)1 11/4 x 8 1/4 inches. Collection of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg. © The Brassaï Estate—RMN

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Charles David Viera, “Primary Herd,” pastel.

Stories Eric Rhinehart and Charles David Viera Artists’ Gallery 18 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ 609-397-4588 lambertvillearts.com Thurs, Fri, Sat 11-6; Sat 11-9

Trisha Vergis, “Local Plums.”

Summer Social Art Show Trisha Vergis Gallery At the Laceworks Complex 287 S. Main Street, suite 11 Lambertville, NJ 08530 609-460-4710 Trishavergisgallery.com Wed. - Sunday 1:00-6:00 and by appt. Reception Saturday, 8/10, 4:30-9:00

Nancy E. F. Halbert, “Up Against the Wall,” 28 x 20, charcoal and oil on canvas, 2013

Nancy E. F. Halbert Charles Burrus Drew Zimmerman Muse Gallery 52 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia Wednesday-Sunday, 12-5PM, or by appt. 215-627 5310 musegalleryphiladlephia.com Through August 31 First Friday Reception 8/2, 5-8PM Evening Reception 8/24, 5-7PM

The “Summer Social Art Show” is a gathering to share and celebrate our eight artists and their artwork. The artists are David Hahn, Kay King, Richard Lennox, Jan Keith Lipes, Jim Lukens, Nancy Shill, Jas Szygiel and Trisha Vergis. The show includes small to large pieces ranging in style from traditional to abstract. This collection of art is upbeat with many warm summer themes. Some of the art invites you to walk through a precious garden, sip crisp lemonade on a hot day, bite into the many fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, reflect in the water and flow along the river and visit our unique towns and countryside. This show celebrates all of the beauty summer offers. The momentum, drive and inspiration that each artist harnesses is absolutely amazing. The reverence given to the artistic opportunity is intense. “The Summer Social” is about sharing the artwork with people. It is in this sharing that the artwork becomes more complete.

The August 2013, exhibition at Muse Gallery brings together diverse members working in wildly different styles and sensibilities. Drew Zimmerman uses recycled newsprint to make sculpture and relief-collages that mine the badlands between memory and improvisation. Nancy E. F. Halbert will display paintings and drawings that were created during her residency at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, April 2013. The figurative works were drawn directly from the model and abstracted in her studio and show the influence of Vermont winter, isolation, and limitless hours. Mixed Media artist Charles Burrus will be showing art works reflecting the popularity of bicycling in Philadelphia. For more information, contact Drew Zimmerman, paper57mache@mac.com or 610-908-9837.

Trisha Vergis, “Aquetong & Delaware.”

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Drew Zimmerman, “Aurora,” mixed media, 2013

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Not your typical regional artist, Eric Rhinehart delves into subjects that are far from his Summit, New Jersey home. Inspiration for his watercolors comes from travels to England, Spain and France, as well as Martha’s Vineyard, the Chesapeake Bay and the Caribbean. “Beach Reading” is typical of Rhinehart’s work—fluid and inviting. Exotic, yet familiar. “I try to balance the undercurrent relationship between color and light,” said Rhinehart. “They each play an important role in describing the physical and emotional weight of my subjects.” Charles David Viera’s bold color choices are a perfect complement to Rhinehart’s delicate and subtle use of watercolor. “My paintings derive more from Matisse than from more traditional wildlife painters like James Audubon. These paintings translate the elegance, color and anonymity of wildlife to a more personal color and compositional statement that I think the viewer will appreciate,” says Viera. Mr. Viera’s work has been included in exhibitions at the First Street Gallery, the Adam Gimbel Gallery, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Nassau County Museum in N.Y. and locally at the Riverrun Gallery and Coryell Gallery in Lambertville NJ. An inspired educator, Charles is currently an instructor at the Arts Council of Princeton and the Hunterdon Art Museum. Together, the works of Viera and Rhinehart offer a compelling exhibit, as each expands upon themes of beauty, serenity, wistfulness and joy in their own, unique way.

Eric Rhinehart, “Beach Reader,” watercolor.

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BURTON WASSERMAN

Salome, 2007, oil on canvas, H. 41 x W. 34 inches. Collection of the artist.

Nelson Shanks

NELSON SHANKS, ONE OF the country’s most successful portrait painters, is currently holding a solo exhibition of paintings on canvas at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA. It offers artworks on loan from both major public and private holdings as well as Shanks’ personal collection from his home in Bucks County. The show will remain on public view at the Museum until September 8, 2013. With her customary grace and precision, Lisa Tremper Hanover, the distinguished director of the Museum, has pointed out that “Nelson Shanks is a maestro, orchestrating colors, spaces and elements of design like a conductor, and just as a conductor teases nuances from his musicians, Shanks infuses his paintings with this same passion and energy.”

Dr. Burton Wasserman is a professor emeritus of Art at Rowan University, and a serious artist of long standing. His program, Art From Near and Far, is on WWFM in NJ and Bucks County and WGLS in South Jersey.

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cinematters Max Casella, Cate Blanchett, Bobby Cannavale, Sally Hawkins and Bobby Carnavale.

PETE CROATTO

Blue Jasmine

the director tours the main room. Forget about the cramped quarters. Its Southwestern-colored walls and flea market art assault Jasmine’s cream-colored, subdued sensibilities. Everything in San Francisco is harsher. The colors are brighter. The people she meets want more than an in at Le Cirque. Ginger’s boyfriend, Chili (Bobby Cannavale), is a mechanic whom Jasmine immediately despises. He’s as refined as mozzarella sticks and has a short fuse, but his biggest flaw is that he traffics in realism. Chili hasn’t known Jasmine a day but keeps asking her what she’s going to do. There’s a vague notion of returning to college. What will she study? How will she get there? She hasn’t thought that far ahead. Even without the Xanax and stiff drinks, Jasmine has woven a cocoon of delusion so thick that it’s impossible for her to break free. So she plays the role—her wardrobe remains immaculate throughout—hoping someone will provide a new, glamorous set. Until then, she’ll tell her sob stories and relate to Ginger by criticizing her lousy choice in men—while failing to see that Chili and her ex-husband (Andrew Dice Clay, who’s great) are real and loyal and loving. But that damned reality. It always ruins how we want to see things. There are more than a few similarities to A Streetcar Named Desire here, starting with the displaced, cracked belle forced to reunite with her shabby sister and grease monkey beau. Allen does not ride the same tracks for too long. Jasmine gets a job as a dentist’s receptionist while learning how to use a computer. Ultimately, the goal is to go online to become an interior designer. Sure. The class goes far beyond Internet basics, and the dentist (Michael Stuhlbarg) throws

COMMON COMPLAINT ABOUT Woody Allen is that his films profile a certain type of New Yorker: the urban dandy who wears a sports jacket to dinner and never has a roommate. These characters walk in rarified air—or take a cab if the weather is too chilly. Blue Jasmine’s title character (Cate Blanchett) is an extreme example, a toned-down Queen of Versailles who considers Pilates and yoga part of her busy schedule and hosting a marketable skill. Such a high society nitwit begs for derision. Allen doesn’t go for the easy target. In his mind, Jasmine is permanently adrift. Thanks to the director’s compassion and Blanchett’s splendid performance, Blue Jasmine breaks our hearts instead of filling them with malevolent glee. And it’s a better, more substantial movie because of it. Jasmine, who has taken to talking to herself, is hanging by a thread when her plane lands in San Francisco. Her late husband (Alec Baldwin, whom we see in flashbacks) lost their fortune after being busted for a series of shady financial maneuverings. Jasmine still dresses like a politician’s wife and even flew first-class. Her sister and temporary host, Ginger (Sally Hawkins), a grocery store employee, is confused. Isn’t firstclass really expensive? How’d she end up there? “I just did,” replies Jasmine, as if she was being asked how one breathes. Ginger’s apartment—her whole life, really—is a severe disappointment to Jasmine. When she first enters the perfectly serviceable abode—and this is where Allen’s deft touch and Blanchett’s acting mesh—you can hear her world shatter as 12

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himself on Jasmine, who storms out. She’s appalled by his behavior, I think, not because it is inappropriate. The dentist has committed the cardinal sin of seeing Jasmine at her bottom. This becomes evident a few scenes later, when she concocts a fabulous and false backstory upon meeting Dwight, a dashing almost-ambassador played by Peter Sarsgaard, at a party. Materialism governs Jasmine’s life. The flashbacks portray Jasmine and Hal as a husband and wife in name only. They’re playing roles. Jasmine, elegant and beautiful, gives Hal class; Hal gives Jasmine everything. “Is there anything you want that you don’t have?” he asks at one point. He was Jasmine’s conduit to a lifestyle. Dwight is a replacement. She doesn’t fall in love for who Dwight is but what he represents: a handsome man with political aspirations and a huge new house that can host a Gatsbyesque party. Jasmine can’t be saved. What’s worse, she doesn’t even know it. Blanchett offers a gut-wrenching performance, but it’s not so grand that we don’t see who Jasmine is and what Allen is saying about us: we are this close to losing our way, with only our memories to keep us company. The last time I checked that problem is not unique to the Upper East Side. [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. petecroatto@yahoo.com or follow him at Twitter, @PeteCroatto.

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keresman on film

MARK KERESMAN

20 Feet From Stardom

THERE ARE MANY SOMEWHAT “thankless” roles in the music business and one of them is the lot of the backup singer (also known as “background vocalist”). Their voices are the fabric of the stuff of which delicious memories are made, the voices that are as much a part of great songs as the featured singers—but most of them toil in relative anonymity. Many people have heard them but few (outside of music devotees/nerds) could rattle off their names. 20 Feet From Stardom is a dazzling documentary shining the spotlight some of these little-known heroines, the ladies singing behind the stars. 20 Feet From Stardom concentrates mainly on four singers and one group—the Waters (Family), Merry Clayton, Darlene Love, Claudia Linnear, and Lisa Fischer. There are two that are ICONS (no pun intended) even to casual music fans: Darlene Love, who gave (uncredited) voice to many a Phil Spector production in the 1960s, and Merry Clayton, who sang on one of the most durable songs by the Rolling Stones, “Gimme Shelter,” the song that some say is the marker for the end of the ‘60s. This movie traces the careers of these ladies, singers who, if you’ve been anywhere near a radio or stereo system in the past 50 years, you have heard singing behind Ike & Tina Turner, David Bowie, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, George Harrison, Paul Simon, Sting, Luther Vandross (himself a former backup singer), Neil Diamond, and others. Many tried to make the transition from backup to center stage, most ending in heartrending frustration—especially as most of these singers are as good as and frequently better than the performers they support. Many stars are interviewed—Sting, Mick Jagger, Chris Botti, Bruce Springsteen—and effusively sing the praises of these unsung (intentional pun, sorry) heroines, along with music biz insiders (producer Lou Adler, who deserves his own documentary) and journalists. For music fans—ones with memories, anyway—this film imparts rare insights into how music and careers are made and sometimes un-made. There’s plenty of great footage, but more importantly, we get to see and hear how vital to assorted songs and performances backup singers are. We get a fine history of Anglo-American music circa 1960-present in microcosm, and there are some great stories herein. Where the movie stumbles ever-so-slightly is that it skirts the issue of race—most of these women are black in an industry that’s been traditionally run by (mostly) white men. (Motown’s Berry Gordy was not a white guy but he did give some of his label’s female performers the business, i.e., the shaft.) Was racism an issue for some of these ladies’ non-success in their bid to become “stars,” or was it simply bad luck? (I’ve haunted and worked in many a record store in my so-called “life,” and I can point out dozens of albums beloved by critics and discerning music fans that are unknown to the general public.) Also, there were some women who first established themselves as backup singers that did become stars—Patti Austin, Rita Coolidge, and Sheryl Crow. Austin and Crow are very briefly interviewed—why not direct a little more attention to them? Why did they “make it” while the careers of others foundered? Claudia Linnear sang with the Stones, Ike & Tina, George Harrison, and others—she was the inspiration for the Stones’ hit “Brown Sugar” and posed nude for Playboy magazine, but these days she teaches Spanish in a high school. A few of these singers, such as Ms. Fischer, seem somewhat comfortable in a supportive role in music—she’s been a featured singer with the Stones since 1989 (singing backup and dueting with Mick). Also, what of the male backup singers? Maybe there’ll be a sequel. But on the upside—oh, the music! Some of the singing approaches transcendence, and we get up-close-and-personal with these ladies, enough to almost feel their optimism and nostalgia, both sweet and bittersweet. Music documentarian Morgan Neville’s direction is matterof-fact and loving. Serious music fans must get to the theater and see this—it will be good for you. Truly. [PG-13] ■

Lisa Fischer.

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

The Lone Ranger WE—WELL, THE “WE” that reads about movies, anyway—are told that Westerns are a hard sell in the marketplace. Well, golly gee-whiz, Hollywood, maybe if you’d put out good Westerns, maybe then… Cowboys & Aliens, Jonah Hex, Wild Wild West, and Bandidas (look it up, there’s a good reason you’ve not heard of it) are “examples” of the Westerns the Hollywood Dream Machine has churned out in recent years and studio execs and film wags wonder why Westerns aren’t embraced by the audience? Add to this list of dishonor The Lone Ranger—while not a total turkey (it did contain a few laughs), it is not a good movie. For one thing, it should have been titled “Tonto, Featuring the Lone Ranger”—Johnny Depp as Tonto is clearly the

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star of the movie. (It’s kind of like when Jack Nicholson was top-billed over the actor that played Batman in the movie of the same name.) The Lone Ranger is so over-the-top I half-expected a “special thanks to Michael Bay for his inspiration” note during the credits. It cannot quite settle on a tone, so it jumbles the assorted tones therein: A gritty (i.e., very violent) re-boot of an iconic Western hero; a thrillingly absurd action movie in which some character’s six-shooter never needs reloading and a HORSE GALLUPS ATOP A MOVING TRAIN, a buddy comedy (reluctant allies bickering on a mission), a bit of a love story, and a story of how the white man screwed-over the red man (and people of assorted other colors and genders) in the course of “progress.” The story: John Reid (Armey Hammer, bland) travels west to…well, everybody’s gotta be someplace, right? His brother is a Texas Ranger, and the train carrying Reid also carries Butch Cavendish (William Fitchner, good as usual, but he stops just short of frothing at the mouth in his villainy) and Tonto is en route to a town called Clayton (perhaps in tribute to actor Clayton Moore, TV’s original Lone Ranger) where Cavendish is scheduled to be hanged. Naturally, Butch’s gang breaks him out and Reid and Tonto are thrust together in an uneasy but “charmingly” funny and exciting quest for justice. Simple enough, but director Gore (and there is some) Verbinski crams in enough “content” for two or three movies (which may explain the almost 2.5 hour running time). As mentioned before, tone-wise the movie is all over the place—slapstick humor and some nasty, almost nihilistic violence (I would not recommend bringing small children to this movie—one character gets his heart cut out while still alive and bunches of people get slaughtered by Gatling gun) and many action scenes at which James Bond fans would wince in their absurdity. Hey, I get it—this is a summer/popcorn film. But the there is so much “action” and CGI that it becomes numbing. And would it hurt to have a little character development? Depp plays Tonto straight out of “Stoic Mystical Indian 101,” speaking pidgin English with a dead bird on his head. Hammer plays Reid/the Ranger as Dudley Do-Right on steroids, which, let’s face it, is still Dudley Do-Right—a wellmeaning but clueless bonehead/doofus who insists on playing by the rules in a game where there clearly are none. No, I didn’t expect him to become the Punisher or Terminator of the Old West, but the way he was portrayed on TV was as a character who relied on craftiness, guts, and guile as much as—if not more than—gunplay to best the bad guys. In this movie, Reid/the Ranger is about as sharp and effective as Barney Fife. Tonto is clearly the brains of this outfit—heck, the Ranger’s horse is way smarter than he is. And what’s with Rebecca Reid (Ruth Wilson), the wife of the Ranger’s brother? She’s making her way on the outside of a moving train—yeah, right. Further, did women use collagen in their lips back in the Western frontier times? Ah, the ladies—there are two female characters that have about ten lines of dialogue each: Helena Bonham Carter plays a madam with a gun-leg. Yes, a gun-leg. Quentin Tarantino, call your lawyer. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when Western movies were directed by such men as John Ford and Sergio Leone. The Lone Ranger? A lot of sound and fury, signifying that lots of money was spent on a mediocre movie. ■

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exclusive interview

A. D. AMOROSI

and

MAD DOGS Englishmen DURING THE SWELTERING HEAT of July’s steamiest week, a familiar and welcome presence popped onto late night television. There, with NBC’s new golden boy Jimmy Fallon introducing him, was Adam Ant, doing much of the same thing that he did on Tom Snyder’s Tomorrow show back in April of 1981. Since this author was at the Tom Synder event, seeing Ant now—decked out in pirate gear and high black boots—was a bit of déjà vu. The songs may have been different (“Los Rancheros” then, “Vince Taylor” now) but the double-drumming Burundi groove, the rockabilly-infused guitars and the palpably giddy feeling of glam rock revisited through postpunk’s ardor was much the same. Back then, he was an Ant in between promoting his tribal smash album Kings of the Wild Frontier and his (then) upcoming Prince Charming. Now, after 18 years of not releasing albums, he’s on his own, pushing Adam Ant Is the BlueBlack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter and taking on a mammoth tour of forty American cities, which finds him in Philly on August 15 at Glenside’s Keswick Theatre. “It was a great show and I was grateful to get on it,” says Ant about Late Night with Jimmy Fallon mere hours after the live television gig. “Jimmy asked me personally to do “Goody Two Shoes,” this, after changing his mind from “Stripped” at the last minute.” Ant is genuinely touched by the fact that Fallon—as well as the rest of America—has seemingly welcomed him back, anxiously and with open arms (this tour is the second goround for Ant this year, the first featuring theaters, like the Trocadero, that sold out in minutes). He’s always felt appreciated in the U.S. even if late night host (and Philly native) Tom Snyder was brusquer than Fallon. “No one really prepared me for Tom, and I was a bit guarded because of it,” Ant laughs. “I remember thinking that this guy was a bit gruff. But me, too, you know—I was extremely over-serious about the whole thing. The nice thing about the Snyder show was that the audience helped. They always do.” To understand a little bit about where the 58-year-old buccaneer is now and what’s pertinent about Adam Ant Is the BlueBlack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter (“marrying the gunner’s daughter” is a naval term for getting punished, a feeling he got from the record industry before his new album), one must duck backward. Before the worldwide overnight sensation of Kings of the Wild Frontier there was 1979’s’ Dirk Wears White Søx, a far more roughshod-but-still-glam Ants album. Before that, Adam was the singer for Bazooka Joe, an act that the Sex Pistols opened for at the tail end of 1975 whose eventual manager— the legendary impresario Malcolm McLaren—had acted in a similar capacity for Ant at one point. As Ant never fit completely into punk’s anarchistic rock/politics mold, it was easy for him to float atop it all with glamor and sensuality as his guide. “The way I interpreted music, it wasn’t necessarily punk, but the attitude certainly was,” says Ant who chose punk

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taboos such as sex and sadomasochism for his lyrics. “Those subjects weren’t so very punk, sort of more playful and sexual than punk’s usual. I got a lot of resentment for that. We were the band you loved to hate according to the NME (New Musical Express). We never thought we were going to get signed for all our trouble, so that when we did, we were in shock. We didn’t waste any time after that. We were swift about making our point. That’s punk, right?” Despite having returned to his warrior stance and pirate costume for his new album (to say nothing of his past hits that he does in concert), Ant doesn’t seem particularly nostalgic beyond recording one of his unused old tracks, “Who’s a

Goofy Bunny, Then?” in tribute to his one-time mentor, the late Mr. McLaren. Though he’s been asked to perform as part of countless ‘80s tribute band shows, Ant has declined. “They’re quite lucrative but I’ve just not been interested in reliving just the hits, especially as I’ve got new music out now and so much more ahead of me. I don’t begrudge any of the bands who do those legacy events. That is their career. Mine is just different, you know?” Different, but ever-so-slightly the same, when you consider the forceful rhythmic thunderstorm of two drummers—his usual—that stampedes through each song, old and new. “It’s very entertaining, especially when you consider that no one else does it. You can lose everything else about a song—everything else can fall away—but as long as that beat is going, everything’s all right.” More crucially to where Ant is now is the use of the romantic buccaneer imagery, lyrically and sartorially, that is part of 2013-era Ant, especially when you consider that most of his solo albums previous to this throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s were devoid of any costumed character. “I was pretty much just looking back on nine albums; I looked at where I was going with this album, and it was a matter of consolidation,” says Ant thoughtfully. “I had made so

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many changes, visually and musically, because I had a self-imposed rule with every album—a different look and sound each time. Every album sounds different than the one before it.” One thing he regrets about his rule is that it can ward off an audience looking for a unified vision or vibe. “Sometimes an audience can’t find you in the same way that they could an AC/DC or U2, you know? Their sound is constant and singular, mine was not. So I looked at my repertoire, saw what the strongest materialwas—especially considering live performance—and went from there.” Not only did he choose the pirate-pop of Kings of the Wild Frontier—the idea of the new album would find him looking back on that same character 30plus years later, only “Napoleon has walked back to Moscow through the snow,” and the daughter has become a metaphor for being adrift in the corporate machinery of the major label biz (Ant released his new album himself) and made to suffer. “Admiral Nelson is in there. The Charge of the Light Brigade. I really was coming back to that persona, but to parts and storylines that I had never fully explored or exploited.” Adam Ant hadn’t written songs for 16 years when he started in on BlueBlack Hussar. One could point to the UK gossip pages filled with stories of mental health problems and beyond. Pish posh. In reality, Ant got out of the biz to get out of pop’s rat race and become a dad. It’s fascinating, though, that one of Ant’s most popular new songs is “Vince Taylor,” a tune about the late, great, flashy post-rockabily singer who was one of David Bowie’s biggest influences on his Ziggy Stardust character. “I took Vince’s story to heart,” says Ant about rock n’ roll’s legendary unsung hero, who became, among other things, a biblical prophet and an acid casualty by the mid1960s. “There were questions about his mental health and how he died too young, but make no mistake, he was one of the great outsiders.” Before anything stupid happened to Ant, he took a break from pop and came back when he was ready. After being away so long there must have been trepidation that had to be overcome with sheer nerve and utter confidence. “Absolutely. Coming back into it after being away for that long period of time gave me more trepidation than not. Not only was I out of practice making albums, I stopped writing, performing and being in the business of promotions to such a degree that I didn’t think of myself as an artist. I had chilled out and become a dad. Coming back into it with fresh eyes, I took my time. I was in no great hurry. That’s why the new album sounds so good, albeit a mess. The next album will be much sharper and focused. That’s the difference between the past and the present. The music is just as good as the Kings of the Wild Frontier days. Only, now, I won’t be rushed.” n

If A.D. Amorosi can’t be found writing features for 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.

Adam Ant. Photo: Andy Gotts.

reel news

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

Scene from Amour.

Amour (2012) ★★★★★

olds, Ellis (Sheridan) and Neckbone (Lofland), discover a distraught, homeless man named Mud (McConaughey) on an island in the Mississippi River. Mud tells the boys he needs help, and lots of it. He’s running from a bounty hunter and searching for his lost love Juniper (Reese Witherspoon). Ellis has struggles of his own with the new love of his first sweetheart and the old love of his parent’s disintegrating marriage. Now he discovers that adults can be not only unreliable but vindictive and evil as well. Themes of love and vengeance and the innocence and angst of youth propel this story filled with powerful acting and stunning visuals.

Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva Genre: Drama Rated PG-13 for thematic subjects. Awards: Oscar, Golden Globe In French with English subtitles. Beginnings may be hard, but endings can be the greatest test of a lifetime. For Georges (Trintignant) and Anne (Riva), both in their 80s, their marriage is their fortress for wellbeing. They have outlived their friends and now are content with their own self-centered universe. They attend concerts and live comfortably in a Paris apartment. Then everything abruptly changes when Anne suffers a paralyzing stroke. Instead of savoring their last years celebrating the best of life together, Georges becomes a 24/7 caregiver. Despite the unrelenting demands, he resists help and dedicates himself to caring for the love of his life. With magnificent acting and truly heartfelt, not maudlin, expressions of love, the film swept U. S. and European film festivals for best actor, actress, and picture awards.

The Company You Keep (2013) ★★★★ Cast: Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, Chris Cooper, Nick Nolte. Genre: Drama Rated R Today’s youth may not worry about revealing shameful deeds on Facebook for the world to see, but in this story the youth of the 1960s—who are the professionals of today—still have the FBI looking over their shoulders, and in the case of the Weather Underground, hot on their tails. When an arrogant and ambitious reporter, Ben Shepard (LaBeouf), reveals the inconvenient truth that Jim Grant (Redford), a respected attorney, was a member of the radical group who bombed buildings, the cross-country chase is on. To clear his name, Grant must find the old members of his gang. Determined to cement his career, the reporter follows in hot pursuit, as does the FBI. The stellar cast of actors relive the feelings of a nation rent by civil-rights demonstrations, race riots, the Viet-

Mud (2013) ★★★★★ Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland Genre: Drama Directed and written by Jeff Nichols. Rated PG Don’t think of Mud as a simple fairy tale but as a classic good-versus-evil crime story combined with a coming-of-age tale set in Mark Twain’s backwoods America. Two 14-year-

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nam war, and Watergate—a time when youth took to the streets to try to chart the course for a rudderless nation. Plot twists pump up the suspense as the characters try to redefine what they did and who they are now.

The Sapphires (2013) ★★★★ Cast: Deborah Mailman, Miranda Tapsell, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, Chris Lovelace Genre: Drama Rated PG-13. Set in the 1960s when Australian authorities still forcibly removed light-skinned Aborigine kids from their parents to be reared by white families, this story digs deep into the hardships and successes of a separated set of children. In 1968, the U. S. military needs singing groups to entertain troops in Vietnam. A white talent scout Dave (Lovelace) discovers a trio of brown-skinned sisters—Gail (Mailman), Cynthia (Tapsell) and Julie (Mauboy)—who live on an Aboriginal reserve. But to really sing with soul, the group needs their light-skinned cousin Kay (Sebbens) who is living with foster parents. With comic missteps along the way, Dave transforms the Cummeragunja Songbirds into The Sapphires, a Motown, soul-sisters act reminiscent of The Supremes. The success of the earnest, talented girls despite the Australian racism and the bloody U. S. war gives this true story as much soul as their music. ■ 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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film roundup

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

Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick in Drinking Buddies. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

Drinking Buddies (Dir: Joe Swanberg). Starring: Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston. Kate (Wilde, never better) and Luke (Johnson) are co-workers at a Chicago brewery, though they’re really more of a work couple. So, why can’t they make the transition to dating? Well, Luke is attached to Jill (Kendrick), a sweet schoolteacher, while Kate is seeing Chris (Livingston), an older music producer who doesn’t appear to be an ideal fit for the freewheeling, let’s-close-down-the-bar Kate. When her relationship ends, it seems inevitable that Kate and Luke would immediately start sharing a toothbrush. Not so. Swanberg’s smart, unhurried drama reveals that such a situation is not something two people can just segue into. First come the half-gestures, unspoken words, and the feelings of others. And there’s the chance that you might not be relationship material: Luke approaches Jill’s talk of marriage like a kid forced to eat his vegetables. Some may hate the film’s open-endedness, but I think that’s what makes it so refreshing. Regardless, it’s nice to see a director finally take advantage of Wilde’s bottomless charisma. [R] ★★★1/2

prospect in the middle of nowhere. As the days trudge by, both men’s flaws and strengths emerge, a pleasant surprise in this offbeat comedy-drama from Green (All the Real Girls, Pineapple Express). The writer-director explores the philosophical quirkiness of the situation—Alvin pretends to play house among the charred ruins; an old-timer truck driver (LeGault) pops up with booze and (maybe) a female passenger—but it’s never at the expense of these two misguided souls who are forced to confront themselves. Hirsch and Rudd, as you would expect, are excellent. The disappointment Hirsch expresses in recapping his version of a lost weekend is a highlight. Based on the 2011 Icelandic film Either Way. [R] ★★★ Lovelace (Dirs: Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman). Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, Sharon Stone, Robert Patrick, Chris Noth, Bobby Cannavale, Hank Azaria. Biopic examines the tumultuous life of Linda Lovelace (1949-2002), who became a national sensation thanks to her work in the insanely popular mainstream porno, Deep Throat (1972). As her fame grew, Lovelace’s svengali husband Chuck Traynor (Sarsgaard) turned possessive and abusive, even forcing the surprise starlet into prostitution. Actresses such as Malin Akerman have clamored to play Lovelace, though it’s hard to see why in this uneven slog. Epstein and Friedman foolishly divide Lovelace’s life into two halves, a happy version and an unhappy version. Neither segment portrays Lovelace as more than a little girl lost or a punching bag for the psychotic Traynor, so Sarsgaard’s terrifying performance is out of place with the film’s skin-deep approach. Seyfried does what she

Prince Avalanche (Dir: David Gordon Green). Starring: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch, Lance LeGault. In desolate central Texas, two state workers spend the summer of 1988 painting miles of lines on an anonymous stretch of highway surrounded by fire-damaged forest. Alvin (Rudd), disciplined and serious, looks at the time as an opportunity to reflect and improve himself, two things that will surely help matters with his girlfriend. Alvin’s colleague, his beloved’s oafish brother, Lance (Hirsch), is more concerned about getting laid, a tough

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can with the simplified material, but there’s nothing she can do. The movie can’t decide whether it wants to be a campy reflection of a hedonistic time or a movie-of-the-week with nudity. Nobody—the actors, the audience—is winning that battle. Stone, in a strong supporting role, is unrecognizable as Lovelace’s perpetually defeated mother. [R] ★1/2 The Spectacular Now (Dir: James Ponsoldt). Starring: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kyle Chandler, Brie Larson. High school senior Sutter Keely (Teller, Rabbit Hole) is perfectly content with his life as the goodtime guy—charming, forever buzzed, and always ready for a party. After an especially boozy night, classmate Aimee Finicky (Woodley, The Descendants) discovers Sutter passed out on her lawn and helps him out. As they spend more time together, he charitably (in his mind) steers the friendship toward romance. When Sutter actually falls in love, he’s faced with a choice as graduation approaches: grow up or let the ambitious and mature Aimee move on without him. This ripe ode to young love is refreshingly nuanced and mature; Ponsoldt (Smashed) forces nothing. Teller and Woodley’s superb work take the movie someplace special. He captures the big heart and wounded soul behind Sutter’s party-boy façade; she embodies every cute, unjustly overlooked high school girl whose depth and warmth will distinguish her from the pack in ten years. If you’re a guy with some mileage, Woodley will remind you of five girls you failed to appreciate back then; Teller will make you wish you knew then what you know now. The personal nostalgia of The Spectacular Now is painful, sweet, and nearly palpable. I loved this movie. [R] ★★★★ n

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about life

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

When what you think isn’t what it is The mechanics of projection

PROJECTIONS SEEM TO HAPPEN just about everywhere, with most people and continue to happen seemingly most of the time. Common social projections, which are often logical fallacies as well, include statements like “That’s just the way men are,” “Women aren’t logical,” “Don’t trust anyone over thirty,” “ People on welfare are lazy,” “ You know how the French are,” etc. These social projections, also known as overgeneralizations, attribute motives, thoughts and behaviors to a certain group or class of people as if they are all alike. These broad and sweeping attributions may simplify explaining life but they bear no relationship to the truth. On a smaller scale, social projections can refer to certain regions of people, for exIn love, the feelings rush in ample, “Southernare hicks,” before the head has a chance ers “New Yorkers to catch up with the feelings. are rude,” and “People Once the head catches up from the Midwest are with the feelings it is often boring.” These too late, for the feelings will regional examples are just as persist in spite of the facts. fallacious as projections on a grander scale. Even athletic competitions between schools reflect the kinds of projections that assume there is something deficient about their opponents, as in “They’re from the wrong side of the tracks,” “They always cheat,” “They’re snotty and think they’re better than everyone else.” Once again, these statements do not reflect truth as much as they make a comment on the ignorance of those who think and speak this way. In a clinical sense, projections are viewed as first disowning undesirable aspects of the self and then projecting or attributing these aspects or characteristics to another person. Often when people discuss their dissatisfaction with a partner it is actually a litany of their own projections. Projections create perceptions of a partner who may be very different in reality than perceptions based on projections may suggest. A very common theme in relationships is to provoke the partner in a way which substantiates the projective perception. A frequent example of the provoking dynamic is to be critical with a partner and, when the criticism is returned, to suggest that the partner is being critical. Self-centered people often accuse their partners of being selfish. Cheaters are often suspicious that their partners are cheating on them. Sometimes past hurts and betrayals surface in a new relationship when an injured person projects onto the new partner as being the same as the expartner. Projections are the result of not questioning assumptions, hunches and poor thinking patterns and present the need to work through unresolved internal conflicts. A perJim Delpino is a psychotherapist in private practice for over 33 years. jdelpino@aol.com (215) 364-0139.

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son who does not believe he or she is worthy of love will often question the depth of feelings a partner claims to have for her. A narcissistic individual is often shocked to discover that a partner does not have the depth of feelings he or she is entitled to have from a partner. A depressed individual may fit the projection of someone who appears lazy or unmotivated to a partner who does not understand depression. An anxious person may project that she has a cold partner when he does not reassure her when she feels anxious. A person who is afraid of intimacy may project that the other person in a relationship is too clingy or too needy. A person who is afraid of loss may project onto his or her partner the wish to end the relationship. Many times when a couple argues, it is because their projections are battling one another. Parent-child relationships are also fertile ground for cross projections. Often a child projects a mean and controlling stereotype onto parents who set limits, while the parents often see an irresponsible child. Often times parental projections like “You’re lazy and no good” or “No one would want somebody like you” do irrevocable harm to the child. Falling in love is rife with projections of all sorts. Love is blind is a saying attesting to how easy it is to project onto another person in the process of falling in love. The surge of positive feelings resulting from falling in love is so strong that it creates perceptions of the other person as wonderful and perfect in all aspects. Many of these projections are no more than fantasies and wishes fueled by powerful feelings. It is frequently a huge disappointment when someone does not turn out to be equal to the projections. “He or she is not who I thought he or she was” is a common utterance. When someone is not the dream girl or dream guy imagined in the projections it is because the projections were based on dreams and wishes instead of who the other person might really be apart and aside from the projections. In love, the feelings rush in before the head has a chance to catch up with the feelings. Once the head catches up with the feelings it is often too late, for the feelings will persist in spite of the facts. It’s better to slow things down at the first hint of strong feelings and hold the heart in check while exploring who the other person really is before letting the heart fly free. While this is much easier said than done, it is what most people wish they had done before a painful relationship or breakup happens. One way to undo projections is to stop them before they become magnified in the course of love. When a projection can be substantiated with facts it is no longer a projection. Finding facts is easier when love does not (overly) bias feelings. Personality is often what attracts one person to another, but it is the actual character of each person that holds relationships together. n

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the jazz scene

BRUCE KLAUBER

And over at the Painted Bride Art Center—the Bride is the PJP sponsor—look for a new series beginning this month called “Homegrown Jazz Series: Sunday Jazz.” The series begins August 4, runs from 2 to 5 p.m. and features the Fresh Cut Ensemble—with trumpeter Josh Lawrence, bassist Jason Fraticilli, and drummer Anwar Marshall—and special guest, trumpeter John Swana. Ticket prices are $10 for general admission, $7.50 for members and $5 for children. Josh Lawrence has also informed us that there will be a food truck on hand and an arts and crafts area for children. For more information: www.PaintedBride.org.

THE FOG WHO PLAYED ON THE HILL Jazz fans of a certain age may recall a nightspot located in Pennsauken, NJ—actually in two different locations due to a fire in one—that existed from around 1956 to 1965. It was called The Red Hill Inn and played host to virtually every icon of jazz working during those years, from Lester Young and Billie Holiday to Miles Davis and Ahmad Jamal. Those who remember it well, including Philadelphia broadcaster Sid Mark, who got his start in jazz there, say it was an incredible place to hear music. Those who were not around during those days can get a sense of what it was like by getting their hands on a recently-reissued CD, recorded live at the Red Hill Inn on March 25, 1962.

SING A SONG The month of August has been designated as “jazz vocal month” by Chris’ Jazz Café. Booked thus far are retro mavens Chelsea Reed and The Fairweather Five on August 2; Spanish jazz vocal sensation Eva Cortes on August 13; a return visit from chanteuse Jackie Ryan, backed by Larry McKenna’s group on August 16; “standard bearer” Susie Meissner the following evening; singer/pianist Dena DeRose’s trio on August 24; and our area’s ever-popular Denise King, with saxophonist Jerry Weldon and his group on August 31. The All-Star Jazz Trio with pianist Andy Kahn, bassist Bruce Kaminsky—will reveal their vocal side in a tribute to the great singers and songwriters of the 20th century. Visit ChrisJazzCafe.com for details. The Monday Blues Jazz Orchestra also sings and swings, quite incredibily. You’ve got to hear these guys and gals to believe it. This month, the band appears at the Cannstatter Club in Northeast Philadelphia August 4; the Stardust Balltoom in Bellmawr, NJ August 7; in concert at the Princeton Shopping Center August 8; and at the German-American Society in Trenton, NJ on August 25. For times, admission prices, directions, visit MondayBluesJazz.com.

Mel Tormé at The Red Hill Inn was the Velvet Fog’s first recording for Atlantic Records, and some say among his best for any label. It’s exciting, spontaneous, swinging, and gives listeners a sense of Jerry Lewis with Mel Tormé. what live jazz was all about then, and what it should be about now. Tormé is accompanied by one of The Red Hill’s greatest house trios—pianist Jimmy Wisner, drummer Dave Levin, and the still-swinging bassist Adolph “Ace” Tescone—and Mel also accompanies himself on piano on a few numbers. “Mountain Greenery” and “Love for Sale” have a certain period charm, but they still swing like heck. Amazon.com and other online outlets should have it by the time you read this. Faye M. Anderson is interested in “jazz club old days” as well. She is spearheading a digital history project as Project Manager of something called All That Philly Jazz, that is dedicated to mapping the incomparable legacy of improvised music in the city. Ms. Anderson has assembled a wealth of information, which can be accessed via logging on to phillyjazz.us or lokadot.com/phillyjazz. Visitors to these sites are also welcomed and invited to share their memories of places like The Red Hill, Pep’s, The Showboat, The Aqua Lounge and other hotbeds of area jazz history.

EARLY BRIDGING The new Jazz Bridge season, which begins in earnest on October 2, promises to be the finest and most extensive in its history. Among the newcomers booked this year are: Cheltenham Center for the Arts: Alto saxophonist Tony Williams October 2; jazz tap dancer Pam Heatherington November 6; and bass virtuoso Madison Rast December 4. Collingswood, NJ Community Center: Veteran vocalist Miss Justine November 7; drum legend Charlie Rice December 5; bass giant Steve Beskrone March 6. Arch Street Friends: The ever-swinging bassist Mike Boone October 9; piano giant Jason Long May 14. Unitarian Universalist Church, Media: Guitar wizard Chuck Anderson October 16; vocal stylist Andrea Pinckett November 20; the dynamic duo of Randy Sarles and Kelly Meashey December 18; the ubiquitous and always-swinging piano of Tom Adams January 15; trumpeter Duane Eubanks February 19; and a real surprise, jazz piano veteran extraordinaire Bob Cohen on March 19. Willingboro, NJ Library: A new locale for this year, Latin jazz swinger Edgardo Cintron October 17.

LISTEN UP The newly-minted Philadelphia Jazz Project has checked in to let all singers and players know that the organization is gearing up for its next “Listening Party,” a free event which highlights new CDs by area musicians. There’s food, there’s drink, and we understand there are often comics and poets at such events, geared toward selling new product at no cost to the artists. PJP’s Homer Jackson reports that these parties have sold about $1,000 worth of CDs thus far. Info: www.philajazzproject.org/index.php?post=listening-party-1. 26

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THE JAZZ DON Jazz pianist and University of the Arts educator Don Glanden has checked in and pulled coattails about a relatively new restaurant in Wilmington that is booking jazz—world

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class jazz—on a regular basis. It’s called Ubon Thai Cuisine, was voted “Best Thai Food Restaurant” by Delaware Today magazine, and according to Glanden, “the management are true jazz fans and there’s a listening vibe in the room.” Glanden’s trio recently appeared there, along with Korean vocalist and former Glanden student E.J. Park, and it appears the gang will be regulars. Ubon is located within the Wilmington Shipyard Center, 936 Justison Street/Riverside in Wilmington. For more information, log on to www.UbonThaiCusine.com. A.C. JAZZ Sources within the troubled Revel hotel and casino say the facility may be “turning the corner.” Their new ad campaign is impressive, as are promotions like free slot play, lower-priced restaurants, smoking areas, and—get this—jazz! The ubiquitous Don Glanden is now featured there on weekends—with several of his colleagues playing throughout the week—and he says he’s having a ball. There was a time when Atlantic City was a certifiable jazz town. Back in the day, places like Grace’s Little Belmont— home to just about every great jazz organist in history—proliferated, and during the first few years of legal gaming, listeners could hear players like Red Norvo, Jackie and Roy, Teddy Wilson, Jack Sheldon, Chris Connor, Johnny Hartman, and many others in the many casino lounges. Though we likely won’t see those days again, things are happening jazzwise, in places other than clubs, in A.C. The Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation and the Atlantic City Free Public Library have joined forces to present a summer-long program called “Jazz on the Beach.” These free concerts take place at Kennedy Plaza on the Boardwalk (between Mississippi and Georgia Avenue), begin at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public. And the artists are world-class: One-time Ellington, Monk and Gillespie bassist Larry Ridley and his Jazz Legacy Ensemble perform August 1; reedman/vocalist Ray Gaskins’ Quartet featuring Mycah Chevalier checks in August 8; award-winning pianist Danny Mixon appears August 15; Philadelphia bass legend Lee Smith plays August 22; and progressive drummer Alan Nelson’s group plays on August 29. One of the truly great things about this whole series is that each of these performances also features a local group as opening act. For more information on this series, visit www.ChickenBoneBeach.org. You may call Atlantic City’s smallest casino, The Atlantic Club, “the little resort that could.” With a legacy of unparalleled superstar entertainment in its former guises as The Golden Nugget and Bally’s Grand, A.C. Club is doing what it can to make a mark. The facility has always been dedicated to jazz, and in the summer months, has a Sunday jazz brunch each week from 12:30 to 3:30, held in their wonderful Chinese restaurant, Ono Chinese Bistro, and featuring national and regional artists. This month, look for pianist/educator Lenore Raphael with guitarist Howard Alden August 4; pianist Mark Kramer and bassist Gary Mazzaroppi August 11; onetime Sonny Rollins pianist Mark Soskin and bassist JayAnderson August 18; Ayako Shirasaki with Marcus McLaurine August 25. For information on these and other fine shows at this neat little place, visit www.AtlanticClubCasino.com. ■ Be a part of “The Jazz Scene.” Send items to DrumAlive@aol.com

keresman on disc

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

Günter Schickert Samtvogel ★★★★ Important Bitchin’ Bajas Bitchitronics ★★★1/2 Drag City Sometimes there are albums that come out just to BE, like man, you dig? For some dedicated souls, the market-

Despite their moniker, Chicago’s Bitchin’ Bajas are not a surf, punk, or metal band…not even close. Using magnetic tape as a “generator” of sound as much as guitars, keys, and flute, these Bajas wave unhurried, stately, layered, and dense tapestries of sound—melodies? None to speak of—but Bitchitronics (a shout-out to guitarist Robert Fripp’s Frippertronics “system”) is entrancing, harmonious, and soothing, most definitely. Those savoring the electronique ecstasy of Fripp & Eno, Robert Rich, and Tangerine Dream (in their pre-soundtrack daze) will float on clouds seven through nine here. (Note to old-school-ers: This album is available on LP and cassette only.) dragcity.com June Tabor/Iain Bellamy/Huw Warren ★★★★1/2 Quercus ECM June Tabor is one of the finest traditional singers of the British Isles. Perhaps she’s not better known (beyond the folk scene) because she’s resolute about her style—while not a stick-in-the-mud purist, Tabor sings mostly traditional

Huw Warren, June Tabor, Iain Ballamy. Photo: Tim Dickeson / ECM

Günter Schickert.

place means merde and a creative type’s gotta do what a creative type’s gotta do. Take Günter Schickert—in 1974, when soft rock ruled the world this German guitarist privately released this album which later was reissued on the now-legendary German label Brain. It’s just him, some tape decks and effects gizmos, and a lot of cosmic chutzpah— Schickert tries for a blending of the snazzy, care-laden picking of guitar wizards John Fahey and Leo Kottke and the interstellar bliss-out of Pink Floyd during their lysergic “Saucerful of Secrets/Ummagumma” period...and he gets it, too. This is Samtvogel’s American debut on CD—truly trippy, mind-alteringly good, melts in your mind, not in your...etc. importantrecords.com

shemp@hotmail.com

material either a cappella or with bare-bones accompaniment. Her alto voice has a husky, smooth, burnished, slightly smoky quality to it, caressing words in a manner not unlike Billie Holiday. Quercus is the debut of the same-named trio of Tabor, her longtime collaborator Welsh jazz pianist Huw Warren, and UK jazz sax-fellow Iain Bellamy (heard with Bill Bruford and Gil Evans), and it’s a slice of stark yet soothing beauty. Warren (spare, Nat “King” Cole elegance) and Bellamy (full-toned & Wayne Shorter-ish) play with restraint and sensitivity, their sounds intertwining around Tabor’s sleek, unadorned, somewhat stoic approach. This is not music for swingin’ and Tabor is not a jazz singer—but the two styles compliment each other magically. A rare combination of the simplicity and directness of folk and the mutability and passion of jazz, this is rare music for deep contemplation, for the times after an intense storm (whether meteorological or emotional). ecmrecords.com

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nick’s picks

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

Brian Landrus Kaleidoscope ★★★★1/2 Mirage Blueland Records

baritone sax, bass clarinet and other like reed instruments will definitely strike a chord with listeners on Mirage, an understated masterpiece of compelling tunes performed by a riveting quintet of jazz musicians and a string section conducted by Ryan Truesdell. Mirage sports a lucid, contemporary framework with a solid lineup of original tracks—Landrus taps a melodic vein that benefits from soulful improvising by ace guitarist Nir Felder and keyboardist Frank Carlberg. Sonically lush, Mirage mixes rapturous harmonics with tunes that clearly have emotional significance for Landrus. There’s an organic flow embodied in the sensitive “Someday” and the love song that is “Three Words.” The beautiful title track is full of good feeling, from the opening chorus of strings to the modern, low slung groove anchored by Plaxico and Royston. Carlberg gets a choice Fender Rhodes feature on “Don’t Close Your Eyes,” while the reggae-tinged “I’ve Been Told” and backbeat-driven “Jade” balance strings against Landrus’ horn to create a sound that’s not coincidentally reminiscent of early dates by Grover Washington, Jr. The charts that Landrus wrote for Mirage treat strings (there are four credited players, led by violinist Mark Feldman) like a sixth instrument, which gives the leader another voice to interact with his horn and the rhythm section. While there are honorable swathes of R&B, soul and contemporary jazz folded into the mix, Landrus has an uncanny ability to weave serene and gorgeous jazz melodies together that make an ultimate connection directly to the heart of the listener. (12 tracks; 57 minutes) On the afternoon of July 2, 2013 I had the privilege of conducting an interview with Brian Landrus and Ryan Truesdell, meeting with them at Joe Papp’s Public Theater prior to Brian’s sound check for his CD release performance of Mirage. To read more about our conversation about music, connections and Esperanza Spalding, visit my JazzInSpace blog.

There’s a matter-of-fact dignity to the bass saxophone, a horn of magnificent size and heft that produces the lowest notes from a brass instrument, that makes for a comfortable

Brian Landrus.

fit for the six foot, seven inch saxophonist Brian Landrus. A prodigious writer and bandleader originally from Reno, Nevada, the saxophonist started playing tenor sax in his teens with the Coasters and the Drifters, two bands that schooled the young Landrus in R&B, soul and pop music styles. Back then, Landrus says that he often had his butt kicked nightly by the pros in those groups, but admits they gave him an irreplaceable education that informs much of his writing today. One of his teachers and mentors, trombonist and bandleader Bob Brookmeyer, steered Landrus to the low reeds after listening to him on baritone and comparing his style to none other than Gerry Mulligan. His authority on

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

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touch of New Orleans funk. Charles is a lyrical trumpeter, with a keen style and sweet, rounded tone. At 30 years old, he mixes the potent with the poetic on Creole Soul with a confidence more like Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove, two musicians that exert an influence on Charles’ style. Listening to his seven originals, especially the stout, straight-ahead “Midnight” and buoyant “Doin’ The Thing,” you know you’re hearing a major new voice on the scene who has made one of the best records of the year. (10 tracks; 54 minutes) Earl Klugh ★★★★ Hand Picked Heads Up After more than 30 recordings and award-winning collaborations, Earl Klugh remains one of the most tasteful and accomplished guitarists around. Unlike his recent group ef-

Etienne Charles ★★★★1/2 Creole Soul Culture Shock Music

Earl Klugh. Photo: Tenner Photography.

Creole Soul flaunts a polished groove, heavy on the beats and the bass that dares you to try to sit still. Trinidadborn trumpeter Etienne Charles is the man behind the sound, a uniquely fired up combination of calypso and modern jazz that reflects his musical upbringing. For this fourth solo effort on his own label, Charles assembles a dynamic core of peers and smoothly exploits the natural soul on choice covers (reggae singer Dawn Penn’s “You Don’t Love Me”) and the Mingus-inspired original “Roots,” a gutsy floor shaker. Pianist/keyboardist Kris Bowers, bassist Ben Williams and drummer Obed Calvaire ground the extraordinary rhythm team to which Charles adds tenor saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart and alto player Brian Hogan, along with the hyper-hot guitar of Alex Wintz and a crew of vocalists. From the start, Charles’ fusion of spirited Afro-Caribbean rhythms reaches critical mass on the splashy “Creole,” which hitches an infectious groove to a swaggering horn arrangement, while tunes by Monk (“Green Chimneys”) and Bob Marley (“Turn Your Lights Down Low”) are freshened with skillful tempo shifts and a

forts, Hand Picked is a mostly solo effort featuring old school standards and four breezy originals played with Klugh’s customary charm and one-of-a-kind sound. Deceptively spare, his interpretations of “Alfie,” “Cast Your Fate To The Wind,” and The Beatles’ “If I Fell” are soft and gentle with easy going tempos, over which Klugh adds light-as-afeather improvisations. The album is highlighted by two particular duets. Guitarist Bill Frisell first met Klugh back in 2007 when they were playing in a guitar trio along with Russell Malone. The mutual admiration between these guys is tangible throughout their sonically blissful version of “Blue Moon.” Then there’s the dazzling ukelele player Jake Shimabukuro who sits in with Klugh for a delicately tuneful 8-minute take on “Hotel California.” Though it may confound jazz purists (the sixteen tunes are generally brief, favoring quality over quantity), Klugh’s introspective album is essentially a valentine to his fans, one that’s sealed with a cover of “This Time,” a Klugh original with a profound melody that lingers. (16 tracks; 53 minutes) ■

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singer / songwriter

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

Otis Redding ★★★★1/2

Merry Clayton ★★★1/2

Candye Kane featuring Laura Chavez ★★★1/2

The Complete Stax-Volt Singles Collection

The Best of Merry Clayton

Coming Out Swingin’

Shout! Factory

Ode/Legacy

Sister Cynic/Vizztone

Otis Redding’s songs have been repackaged in numerous anthologies and box sets since the soul music star died at 26 in a plane crash in December 1967. The Complete Stax-Volt Singles Collection, a 3-CD compilation, offers a

Backup vocalists are the unsung heroes and heroines of rock ‘n’ roll, a theme that is explored in 20 Feet From Stardom, a new documentary film. That has served as the catalyst for the release of The Best of Merry Clayton, one of the singers featured in the movie.

Resiliency has been a hallmark of Candye Kane’s career, from her days as a teenage mother in the early 1980s to her current battle with pancreatic cancer. Coming Out Swingin’ is a portrait of a singer who is not going down without a good fight.

Merry Clayton. Photo: Alan Mercer. Otis Redding.

fresh perspective on his classic work. Thirty-five Redding singles, first released between 1962 and 1970, are presented in monaural sound in a retro package that recalls a 45 rpm sleeve. The chronological order of the songs traces the singer’s artistic evolution and progress as a songwriter. Redding initially made his mark as a balladeer with the pleading “These Arms of Mine” and “Pain in My Heart.” Backed primarily by Booker T & the MGs, Redding also excelled on up-tempo selections, such as “I Can’t Turn You Loose” and “Respect,” the latter a hit for Aretha Franklin. In concert, Redding was a captivating live performer, with James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” or an electrifying “Try a Little Tenderness” that starts slowly and builds in intensity to a cathartic finish. The box set also shows Redding was a fearless interpreter, be it the work of Irving Berlin (“White Christmas”) or Smokey Robinson (“My Girl”).

tomwilk@rocketmail.com

Clayton, who has sung with such artists as Ray Charles, Bobby Darin and the Rolling Stones, most notably on their 1969 song “Gimme Shelter,” effectively made the transition to lead singer as demonstrated on this 17-song anthology. She brings a soulful power to her interpretations of Bill Withers’ “Grandma’s Hands” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” She added a jazz sensibility to Leon Russell’s “A Song for You” and intensified the gospel spirit of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Trouble Water.” Clayton was at home on folk-oriented material, such as James Taylor’s “Country Road” and the romantic pop of Carole King’s “Walk on In” with King helping out on harmony vocals. Clayton was unafraid to stretch out, performing a spellbinding version of “The Acid Queen” from The Who’s Tommy with the London Symphony Orchestra and London Chamber Choir. [Merry Clayton is one of the backup singers featured in the new film, 20 Feet From Stardom, reviewed in this issue by Mark Keresman.]

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Candye Kane.

The vibrant title track, a shot of high-octane jump blues, opens the album with a clear statement of purpose—life is worth living to its fullest. “I’m The Reason Why You Drink” is a tough-edged rocker that shows off Kane’s witty lyrics. The horn-powered “When Tomorrow Comes” reflects Kane’s optimism for the future where she declares “My trials will all be over.” On “Rise Up,” Kane serves up a torrid blues built around the need for self-empowerment that recalls the best work of Bonnie Raitt. With guitarist Laura Chavez, Kane has found a solid accompanist from the frisky “Rock Me to Sleep” to the bitterness of “Invisible Woman,” which details the distortion of

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the image of older women in the media. Co-producers Chavez and Thomas Yearsley give the album a lively sound that’s a perfect fit for Kane’s vocal style.

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Oscar Pettiford ★★★★★ The Lost Tapes: Germany 1958/1959 Jazz Haus

Donna The Buffalo ★★★ Kurt Edelhagen Orchestra w/Mary Lou Williams ★★★ Big Bands Live Jazz Haus

Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday Sugar Hill Records As Donna The Buffalo prepares to celebrate its silver anniversary, the veteran jam band has released Tonight, Tomorrow and Yesterday, its 10th studio album. It’s a cohesive and diverse blend of sounds that remains true to the group’s adventurous spirit. The CD starts with “All Around,” a shuffle with Cajun overtones with a spoken-word interlude that serves as a call to talk responsibility for the world around you. “I Love My Tribe” is a love letter to the band’s longtime fans (affectionately known as The Herd).

Oh, those Germans—they do tend to appreciate American sounds more than some Americans, I’ll tell you that. Continuing the series by the Jazz Haus label in which unissued music recorded for broadcast on German radio (some from studios, some from live shows) gets on that once-popular CD format are platters from a boss of the bass and the German Stan Kenton. Oscar Pettiford (1922-1960) was that boss of bass, the Ron Carter of his day—he was one of the first bebop bassists and played in the orchestras of Woody Herman and Duke Ellington. Further, he was also one of jazz’s first cellists. Lost Tapes is a treasure trove, a cornucopia of Pettiford leading small groups of American expatriates (Kenny Clarke, Lucky Thompson) and the then-crème-de-la-crème of European hepcats (Attila Zoller, Rolf Kuhn). It’s full of terse, hard-swinging bop presented with Continental cool and snazzy, thoughtfully-arranged flair worthy of Gil Evans—highlights include a exquisite, soulful duet between Pettiford and Serbian trumpet whiz Duško Gojkovic. Kurt Edelhagen (1920-1982) led a multicultural big band featuring players from all over Europe (including Claus Ogerman, who went on to do arrangements for Frank Sinatra, Lesley Gore, and Diana Krall). Edelhagen idolized American big band-er Stan Kenton, and his volume reflects Kenton’s brassy, tightly arranged, nearly Wagner-ian style. Guesting on five tracks is the legendary, most excellent pianist/arranger Mary Lou Williams, whose approach was inclusive of jazz both before and after bop. This set is 1930s/‘40s hits—“Pennies From Heaven,” “Tuxedo Junction”—and is primarily of interest to devotees of Williams and big band swing. But if you’re a fan of swinging acoustic jazz, the Pettiford volume is ESSENTIAL—truly. Sonic quality of both: Excellent. Misfit Toys ★★★★ Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? Innova

Donna the Buffalo band members.

Founding members and songwriter vocalists Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins are responsible to the lion’s share of the material. “Working on That,” which features lively organ work from David McCracken, is a tale of striving for self-improvement. The band ventures into reggae (“Ms. Parsley”) and an appealing mix of Zydeco and ska (“Love Train”). Like its mammal namesake, Donna the Buffalo likes to roam musically but still finds its way home

Musical satire(s) and song parodies have been with the Collective Us for a long time, and while some ages well (Frank Zappa), some does not (Weird Al Yankovic). One reason rockin’ musical humorists They Might Be Giants is so eminently listenable is their knack for funny (original) songs that are also durable good songs. Misfit Toys—Matt Wilson, Paul Elwood, Dan Moore, and the late Robert Parades—share that aesthetic in the way they “do” ‘70s standards such as “Hello It’s Me,” “Alone Again (Naturally),” Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” and Three Dog Night’s paranoiac mini-epic “Mama Told Me Not to Come” via an approach that mixes affection with cheerful derision; wry invention applied to corniness, and a genuine desire to reinvent the familiar in zany but substantial ways. The latter song becomes a nightmarish vision, part Devo, part Hee-Haw. Styx’s “Grand Illusion” is transformed into an elegant fantasia that’s equal parts baroque classiness and jagged Zappa quirkiness. Those missing the inspired (both musically and comedically) vistas of Zappa should sip at this trough posthaste. innova.mu Hackamore Brick One Kiss Leads To Another ★★★★ Real Gone Music

Earl Poole Ball ★★★1/2

Pianography Tin Tube Tunes

Pianography, the new album from legendary pianist Earl Poole Ball, serves as a musical biography with some performances that span nearly half a century. Best known as the piano player for Johnny Cash for 20 years, Ball has played behind a wide range of artists, including Gram Parsons, Merle Haggard and Wanda Jackson. The reflective title track is a memoir set to music as Ball recounts his journey from aspiring piano player to elder statesman. “Say You Love Me” is a slice of classic honky-tonk as Ball duets with Julieann Banks. At 72, Ball confronts his mortality with the grim humor of “Something’s Gonna Get Us All.” Four songs recorded live show Ball isn’t ready to call it quits. He pays tribute to Cash with a heartfelt rendition of “Big River.” Ball shows off his rockabilly side with a fiery version of Roy Orbison’s “Down the Line.” On the gospel standard “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” Ball revisits the theme of mortality with help from Lisa Mills on vocals. Ball ends the album with “Second and San Antone,” a song from 1967 about Southwest women that lyrically would fit on a Beach Boys album, and the somber “Flowers on Papa’s Grave,” a plea to remember those who have passed on.. ■

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Sometimes things DO work out in this crazy, mixed-up world. Take Hackamore Brick, a NYC-area band that got to release one album in 1970, only to be swallowed up by the obscurity of the bargain bins: One Kiss Leads To Another, some of which sounds so much like the Velvet Underground that a critic in the legendary rock-‘zine Creem wrote a complimentary but erroneous review claiming the Brick’s songs were early VU demo recordings. Like fellow semi-legends Big Star, H. Brick were a band that bucked the thenprevailing trends—their songs were concise, über-tuneful (similar to the VU in their genial moods), and witty (“I was just about to make that sweet potato turn over/then her poppa hit me with a cabbage, said I get no older”), like unto an amalgam of the Kinks and the VU (with a hint of Soft Machine—go figure), their hearts proudly on their sleeves along with Brooklyn soot. It’s taken 43 years for this album to see re-release—don’t let it slip away again, discriminating rock fan. realgonemusic.com ■

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jazz library

BOB PERKINS

ROY JACKIE CAIN and KRAL

RGUMENTS OVER WHO DID a certain thing first and perhaps best, have, and probably will always continue. To illustrate this, consider the jazz style of singing called vocalese, a word coined by the noted jazz writer and critic, Leonard Feather. The term is applied to blending a voice or voices in unison, and note-for-note with instrumentation. The vocal duo of Jackie Cain and Roy Kral—who ultimately became husband and wife—may not have been the first to performed vocalese, but they were among the first and most successful to do so in the very early days of this innovative jazz phenomenon, and they did so as well as any individual or group that ever attempted it. I heard Jackie and Roy, as they were best known, many moons ago when I became interested in jazz. There was a radio DJ who played bandleader Charlie Ventura’s music regularly, and Jackie and Roy sang in Ventura’s band. By Cain’s own admission, she’d first heard jazz done by the likes of progressive singers Buddy Stewart and Dave Lambert. Lambert later became a member of the famed vocal threesome of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, but Jackie and Roy were the first I’d heard do it. Jackie Cain was born May 22, 1928 In Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She studied voice as a teenager and started appearing on local radio shows and singing with local bands that played dances, social engagements and nightclubs. One night she was invited to sit in with a local band, whose pianist, Roy Kral, let it be known he didn’t like backing girl singers. After Cain did a couple of numbers, he changed his mind. What might have precipitated the change of mind, was that Cain knew what she was doing, had a good voice…was blonde and had great legs. Cain was invited to join the band, and while there, she and Kral worked on developing a style that would become their trademark; make them internationally known, and launch them into a professional, and later, a matrimonial union, each lasting more than half-a-century. Pianist/vocalist Roy Kral was born October 10, 1921 in Cicero, Illinois. He Studied classical piano; played in army bands during WWII, was staff arranger at a Detroit radio station after the war, and toward the latter 1940s, he joined the band in which he met Cain. Jackie and Roy played a gig in Chicago along with saxophonist Charlie Ventura’s band, and were invited to join the band. They recorded some fine arrangements with Ventura during their two-year stay. With Kral at the piano, and his voice along with Cain’s blending with the ensemble’s horn section on the arrangement of “Pena Colada,” “High on an Open Mike,” “Lullabye in Rhythm,” and “East of Suez,” were exciting to hear. The arrangements and execution was so tight, the voices might as well have been horns. This effect is what the great ones—Ella, Sarah and Billie—often spoke of: wanting their voices to approximate horns. One had to have an ear for this stuff to be sure; some critics didn’t, and Ventura never got ample credit for his forward-sounding band, which he dubbed “Bop for the People.” He was a swing musician, but he hired musicians who were into the new music, called “be bop,” and his swing and their bop, melded well. Jackie and Roy left Ventura’s band in 1949, got married, worked clubs, concerts, appeared on radio and TV, recorded frequently, hosted their own TV show in Chicago, and recorded jingles for TV commercials. As musical tastes changed, so did their repertoire, and while remaining jazz singers, they delved heavily into the great standard songbook when working classy venues, which broadened their audience. They were a successful team for more than five decades, and along the way, still managed to raise four children. Roy’s health began to fail in his 70s, and he passed away in 1992 at age 81. Jackie continued to perform, until her health began to falter. A few months ago, I received an email from a friend of hers which informed me that she is terminally ill. Jackie Cain is in her 85th year. Jackie and Roy: The dynamic duo of vocalese, a vocal-art they swung with the greatest of ease. 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 & Sun., 9am–1pm. W W W. FA C E B O O K . C O M / I C O N D V

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dining

ROBERT GORDON

SLATE BLEU I’D TRAVEL ALL THE way to Paris just for one of their sublime skate dishes. Olivier Desmartin of the Caribou Café transported that artistry to Philly. In equal measure, so does Slate Bleu Chef-OwnerMark Matyas. Matyas graduated the celebrated Cordon Bleu in Paris and logged time at NYC’s iconic Le Bernardin before setting up in Doylestown. Slate Bleu occupies the historic building where Jacques Colmaire introduced Doylestown to authentic French cuisine at Café Arielle in 1986. Slate Bleu bills itself as “Casual European Dining.” But it’s the Matyas’ Gallic mastery that makes the eatery one of the ‘burbs finest. When I first visited in 2005, Slate Bleu fussed over plats principaux like striped bass in white wine with artichoke barigoule, or trout in grain mustard sauce with sautéed endives, or medaillons of filet mignon in red-wine topped with foie gras and a side of Pommes Anna. Today, small plates rule with prices ranging from $7 to $14. At $20.50 (and worth every sou) Seared Foie Gras with Rhubarb at $20.50 is the sole outlier. Nonetheless, there are nightly entrée specials, including a not-to-be-missed Monday Dover Sole night. The sole, alabaster within and delicately browned without, is sided with long spears of white and green asparagus. On Wednesdays, half-price Happy Hour bar prices prevail all day.

Salade Ardoise, a bounty of greens, figs, French bleu cheese, Prosciutto, and pecans dressed with balsamic vinaigrette headlines a slate of healthy soups and salads. Other menu categories include Fish Tapas, Meat Tapas, Cheeses, and Vegetable Sides. Duck Parmentier is a rounded sweet shredded duck confit topped with delicately puréed potatoes, marvelously textured, crowned with a thin tomato slice. Rich, soulful roasted tomato sauce distinguishes Goat Cheese Spinach and Leek Crêpe. Bar Steak Au Poivre sees ruby-red centered slices of rim-charred steak fanned across half a plate with a mound of perfectly crisped pommes frites on the other. The two accompanying pots of zesty house-made mustard give each bite sweet edge. Chicken Paillard is a scallop of chicken pounded flat and quickly sautéed floating on saffron risotto braced by Niçoise olives. Flaky puff pastry encases Escargots [en Croûte] in herby garlic and melted butter. Slate Bleu occupies the Rhoades Livery, an 1864 building included on the National Registry of Historical Places. Varnished wood floors glistening under high sloping ceilings where the original timber is exposed provide a pleasant dining atmosphere, and Slate Bleu serves its tasty small plates till midnight on weekends. Now, to rhapsodize on Slate Bleu’s Millefeuille of Skate. Yieldingly moist layers of browned skate fanning over a green mound of lightly sautéed spinach bask in an aurora of beige sauce rife with cubed tomatoes and a liberal sprinkle of parsley. “It’s as good as being in Paris,” I told my wife, who agreed … but refuses to let me off the hook for the Parisian trip I promised her this year. ■ Slate Bleu, 100 S. Main Street, Doylestown, PA (215) 348-0222. www.slatebleu.com Please send comments or suggestions to r.gordon33@verizon.net

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

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dining

ROBERT GORDON

AMADA ARGUABLY THE LAUNCH-PAD FOR Philly’s love of small plates, Amada is still keeping Philly foodies smitten. Hungry hordes still queue up here even on muggy Mondays when the dining room is still fully abuzz at 10 PM. Amada cuisine pays homage to the Pyrenees—a brooding swath of unsettled, unsettling real estate straddled by France and Spain, and inhabited by an enigmatic ethnic group known as Basques whose gastronomic tradition is bright, varied and delightful to explore. Looking through the menu, you’ll find Boquerones, a refreshing take on anchovies where salt does not overwhelm the the natural flavor of these sublimely textured fish and pine nuts and olives lend savory crunch. Alcachofas y Setas Flatbread is heaped with artichokes, wild mushrooms, and black truffles in Manchego cheese. Amada’s Empanada, a vegetarian dish, brings flaky crusts bursting with spinach and Manchego above a cluster of artichokes, sweet onions, and sweet red peppers. The honey-kissed sauce that pools around it is delectable. Another vegetarian dish, Alcachofas à la Parmesana is one of the best-presented veggie dishes you’ll find this side of Rich Landau’s Vedge. A sculpted pair of artichoke hearts lolls in a pool of cream and Parmesan stoked with pine nuts and sweet onions with enough texture and taste to satisfy inveterate carnivores. Pulpo a la Gallega is a signature dish centering on the smoky grilled essence of octopus. Though the taste is sublime, on one occasion I found the texture to be tough.

Ensalada Verde is a composed salad that nicely complements the smoky octopus. Baby lettuce, avocado, asparagus, favas, green beans, and other garden ingredients are drizzled in dulcet vinaigrette that plays delicate counterpoint to the assertive smokiness of the octopus. Merluza brings a couple slices of Spanish Sea Bass that stretch along the center of a long dish. Littleneck crabs cluster at each of the dish’s extremities. Though the fish itself is well-prepared and succulent, the accompanying melted-butter, herbed sauce, lacks typical Amada pizzazz. From the “A La Plancha” section of the menu, do order Setas (Mushrooms). Seasonal wild mushrooms are served in an intriguing dark, tangle amid a pool of green pesto flecked with parsley. Oyster mushrooms and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms contribute to the mélange, which, after grilling, are lip-smacking complements to the parade of tapas. Some knock Amada for its din. Others find its energized ambiance ideal for group grazing. Include me in the second group. Amada’s luster has not dulled, despite its success and continental breadth of owner Jose Garces’ empire. Amada remains a flagship of that armada. ■ Amada, 217-219 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. (215) 625-2450. www.amadarestaurant.com Email comments and suggestions to r.gordon33@verizon.net

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Whoopee! Winner of the

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AUGUST 2013

10 / NELSON SHANKS

Shanks is at home with all sorts of subject matter. However, he appears to be most attracted to painting the human figure. For him, this theme is the ultimate challenge for a serious artist, especially with regard to capturing the relationship between a given subject and his or her environment. On this account, though he is certainly a seasoned practitioner of his craft, he says he thinks of himself as “just a beginner.” Perhaps this outlook is at the root of his ability to maintain both the inspired freshness of approach and the spontaneity of touch that mark his many accomplishments. I also believe his rigorous dedication to maintaining continued contact with talented students in his school, Studio Incamminatti, plays an important role in helping him avoid the settling-in of a deadly stodginess and the onset of creative sterility. This also accounts for his protracted insistence on being an example of a working professional that students are motivated to emulate. Incidentally, the Italian word incamminatti means “moving forward.” It reflects Shanks’ feeling that the best art education for his followers should be based on following the great achievements of the past and to seek progress by the pursuit of mastery over increasingly difficult disciplines. This is why the curriculum he promotes aims to move students from developing sound techniques of representation to advanced stages of creative expression. In actual practice, his teaching consists mostly of demonstrating his individual manner of combining traditional painting procedures inherited from the historic past with the luminous color of the Impressionists and a personal quest for dealing with the serious concerns of the present day. Interestingly, one viewpoint on art from long ago does not harmonize well with Shanks’ aesthetic philosophy. Specifically, the great Greek philosopher, Aristotle, maintained that while art should imitate nature, the ultimate aim of the artist should not be to merely present the outward appearance of things but rather, to reThe White Blanket, 2010-2011. Oil on canvas. 14 x 20 inches. Private Collection. veal their inner significance. This, not a complex of external details, constitutes true reality. If one considers this a valid premise, then some of the most honored artists of the contemporary period would include such painters as Picasso and Matisse who did not necessarily adhere to Shanks’ approach. As a matter of fact, Shanks has indicated that he places little value on what is generally labeled as “Modernism.” From many examples in the show, one would be inclined to gather Shanks is quite partial to the practice of painting portraits of well-known celebrities of the present day. Typically, his interpretations of such well-known personalities as Princess Diana and Lady Margaret Thatcher project fascinating images of two highly regarded women of recent memory. In addition, one of the most striking portraits he has done of prominent men includes his eloquent treatment of the late pope, His Holiness, John Paul II. The presence of this subject’s depth of soul and moral character resonate in the picture on view in the show with a spiritual intensity and a truly profound human consciousness. n

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7 / EARLY MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Kertesz, Brassai and Pal Funk Paul Angelo were Hungarian, Bing was German, and Maar was born in Croatia and raised in Argentina. All made gelatin silver plates where the whites are pearly, the blacks velvety and the grays luscious. For most, the camera of choice was a Leica. One of the interesting points of the show is that it demonstrates the lack of a single style. Each of the photographers was a creative individual seeking to find the limits and the fulfillment of the camera. The first images from cameras were from the mid-1800s, and by the time of the Civil War it was clear that the new medium was there to stay. However, the jump to the fine arts didn’t come so quickly and markets really didn’t open up for the sale, trade and collecting of fine art photography until the mid-1900s. This then was the state of the art when Mattis/Hochberg began their collection in the early 1980s. They buy, sell, trade, and collect photography and, since it is a fine line between collector and dealer, they could wear both hats. Suffice to say that the family’s income derives from photography rather than on their working lives. The prints collected by Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg all are, according to their stated collecting philosophy, “vintage”—that is not just old snapshots, but work considered fine art printed by the photographers themselves or shortly after their deaths. Atget’s work wasn’t even considered fine art but was championed by Abbott and Ray. Both Abbott and Ray did all they could to enhance Atget’s reputation—however, it wasn’t collectible until 1985 when the Museum of Modern Art staged an Atget show and his work was acclaimed by critic John Szarkowski. The Mattis/Hochberg combination is an interesting one that speaks to the age of photography and its maturity as a fine art. Easterners, they met while both were PhD students at Stanford. From there they began collecting and Mattis took a position at Los Alamos. Their first purchases soon made a profit, and before long the collecting got more and more serious. After making money from an investment in Irving Penn photos, collecting became full time for Mattis. It is said that one print purchased for $500 is currently worth around $50,000. Mattis described the business of collecting as “self sustaining” in that the sale of photographs allows them to buy more and they keep repeating the process. Not to say that they live in high style. Forbes magazine describes the family home in Scarsdale, New York, as a bit shabby, the family car well-broken in, and the clothes less than stylish. Still, the Mattis/Hochberg collection is currently estimated to be worth millions. As for the quality, one can judge for oneself at the Delaware Art Museum. n

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sally friedman

Lo ve War and

DURING A RECENT WEEK, two out of my three adult daughters seem to have conspired to inflict misery on me at once. Yes, in duplicate! In separate encounters, there were cross words (dare I say hostile words?) with all of us a bit bruised and dealing with the inevitable hurt feelings left in the wake of this uneasy week. Worst of all, those encounters came after 11 p.m., which seems to be the preferred time in our daughters’ lives for confrontations. Then they go off to sleep, and I am left nursing my emotional wounds as dawn breaks. Adult children—such a strange oxymoron. And such a perplexing time of life for those of us who have presumably done our bit long, long ago with parenting, and now lay claim to real people with real lives out there in the big world. So we assume, in our blissful ignorance, that since we’re now all bonafide adults, we’ll be living out those tender Hallmark moments. Hmmm. Despite all indications to the contrary, parenthood goes on...and on...and on. Those emotional muscles need to stay flexed for those glorious times when one or the other of these grown-up hostages to fortune decides that you’re (check one) too intrusive, not interested enough, too controlling, hopelessly dysfunctional, overly critical, or, as the recent accusation hurled my way, not centered. I bit my lip and accepted the small dose of psychobabble with resignation. When you have a daughter who’s a psychologist, you take it as it comes. I earnestly believe that we who parent young adults need some sort of voluminous guidebook, or at least a compact little manual of do’s and don’ts for these testing times when those adult kids seem to have regressed back to nine, and are bent on replaying old rages to a new beat. That’s when you’re reminded that while other jobs you’ve had for a while gain benefits and long, built-in vacations, parenthood is bereft of both. With parenthood, you simply have to be prepared for a widening beam of angst. And it comes. If I were the perfect mother, I’m sure I would not have flinched when one or the other of our daughters told me that she’d decided to go trekking in Nepal, or had made plans to break her ironclad lease, or had fed her baby Thai food, figuring that he should develop a sophisticated palate at eight months. If I really knew how to handle adult daughters, I would smile benignly at the sight of the one I had once dressed in little pleated plaid skirts and crew-neck sweaters appear at a family gathering in a something resembling military fatigues and combat boots. Yes, clothes are a flashpoint. So are issues of time management and why it makes sense to not to jam ten pounds of activity into a nine-pound time frame. So yes, we argue. Maybe that is the dirty little secret of mother-daughter alliances. We love each other madly, and yes, we sometimes raise our voices not in song but in anger. I do try to be wise and non-judgmental, aware of their boundaries, discreetly supportive. Sometimes, I even succeed. I button my lip as I watch them handle issues with their own children in ways I feel are—well, let’s just say “unwise,” and let it go at that. But tell me, please, how to keep your cool when the adult daughter who has borrowed your best pearls for a wedding announces that she lent them to Sharon who lent them to Lisa who left them in a hotel in Hartford? So yes, I’m fresh out of patience this week. I’ve not been accepting and unflappable. I’m wishing that these very grown-up daughters were back in those first ten years of life when they earnestly believed that I was basically passable and even occasionally wise, funny, and even fun sometimes. How weird that I’m regressing, even as these three get more brilliant, competent, all-knowing. Maybe get back to me next week when I’m “centered.” Then I’ll be absolutely unstoppable! ■ 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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The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

MOCK TIME By Robert Harris Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

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ACROSS GPS determination Hint BlackBerry downloads ’70s tennis star Nastase Altar agreement One working on a bench? Mmes., in Monterrey Cloister group Drill presses, lathes and the like? Ways a fish avoids capture? Small, in Saint-Lô 12-Down, e.g. Hostile calls Serving a purpose Summary Verbally assault Nasty Rubs out External hard drive capacity prefix Part of a fancy setting Cop’s dog-days domain? Queue at a rest room, to a tot? “__ Was a Rollin’ Stone”: Temptations hit Basketball tactic Some religious sects Hard-to-approach type, perhaps One going on and on Waterproof cover Pea house __-pitch Most inane Clothing line Many an ex-lib Short read? Time for promoting awareness about electrical hazards? Passé TV hookup Fixed beforehand Funny Johnson Rebel’s crime Collecting Soc. Sec. Tear Other considerations Ready for the sea Feed bag feed Makes __ cuisine Property title Promo for a prominent baby doctor’s book? Deity’s online forum comment? Absinthe flavoring

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Topog. map stat Just down the road from Bold poker bet Electromagnetic physicist Michael Enjoy, as a hammock Fields of study Lazy __ Actress Peeples Check endorser Aid in moving an army bed? Late-afternoon marina observations? Sri Lanka setting Courtroom fiction name Add value to, as a deal Unwanted phone connection Mao’s successor Lock openers Op-ed piece “The Fountainhead” writer Rand

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DOWN Speech imperfection Stick Horn blower Bro or sis Muslim’s pilgrimage Slippery as __ Urgings, as of one’s conscience New England hrs. Fop’s tie Diplomatic formality Inflates, as a résumé Retired flier Signs off on, in a way Clear Woven linen tape Latin 101 word Fertilizer ingredient Warm-weather top Typesetting measure Like undercooked eggs __ shoestring: with little to spend Streisand classic Baker’s supply Doesn’t divulge, as bad news Emphasize URL initials Big __: WWI cannon Cocoon occupants Dedicate, as a book at a signing Court plea, briefly Jet-black, in verse Correspondent’s “Oh, and another

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thing ...” NPR journalist Shapiro South Carolina state tree Map collection Work for a captain Detroit athlete Set as a price Crafty sort Bungle Slices in a pizza, often Typically reddish-brown ape Smokers’ buys: Abbr. “Annie Hall” actress Paid players Get as a return It might match cuff links Big rig fuel Bullfight cry Actor Beatty Mates Did a smith’s work Reprobate With regret Progress Kosher deli buy Thyroid and pituitary Clavell novel set in Hong Kong Historic chapter Enjoy a story, say Prius automaker Like some airline tickets

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Got up Allow to enter Beasts of burden “Heavens!” Many a prep sch. Sun-cracked Film terrier

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“Baseball Tonight” channel Frightened reaction Have yet to pay “Ahem” cousin

Answer in next month’s issue.

Answer to July’s puzzle, TEE TIME

agenda CALL TO ARTISTS DELAWARE VALLEY ART LEAGUE: DVAL Juried Members Art Exhibition. Oct. 20, 2013- Nov. 23, 2013. Wayne Art Center. Opening Reception: Oct. 20, 3-5pm Winter Show Nov. 2, 2013 - Feb. 1, 2014. The new permanent venue at Bryn Mawr Medical Arts Pavilion, 130 South Bryn Mawr Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA Artist of the Month Series Tredyffrin Township Bldg, 1100 DuPortail Rd, Berwyn, PA. Mon-Fri 8-4:30. To be considered, contact Monique KendikianSarkessian at monique.kendikian.sarkessianfineart@hotmail.com. Must be a member of Delaware Valley Art League. DVAL, founded in 1947, is a non-profit association of professional artists that exists to promote interest in the fine arts within the community & to advance the skill and creativity of its membership. For information: delawarevalleyartleague.com Portfolio submissions requested for consideration to participate in a new event in downtown Bethlehem this September. ArtINplace, an event that offers a window into the process of developing fine art by giving viewers the opportunity to see a work in development. Merchants design vignettes from which the artist will draw their inspiration for an original artwork. ArtINplace, Sat. Sept. 14,12-5:30. Submissions to atelierdualis.com/search/art or erin@atelierdualis.com. ART EXHIBITS THRU 8/30 French Fridays. Lautrec tour at 2pm. Café plats du jour. Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley, 31 N. Fifth St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-4333. allentownartmuseum.org THRU 8/31 New Work. Schmidtberger Fine Art, 10 Bridge St., Suite 7, Frenchtown, NJ. 908-268-1700. sfagallery.com THRU 9/1 “Toulouse Lautrec & His World:” The art and life of one of the most fascinating artists and personalities of the Belle Époque. Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. Fifth St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-4333. allentownartmuseum.org THRU 9/7 Summer Juried Show. Penn Medicine at Radnor, 250 King of Prussia Rd., Radnor, PA. Delaware Valley Art League. delawarevalleyartleague.com THRU 9/8 Red Filter Gallery, "Legends of Summer," Bruce Murray, Sr. (1893-1969). "Retrospective" group exhibition continues in Gallery II. 74 Bridge Street, Lambertville NJ. Thur.-Sun. 12-5. 347-244-9758. redfiltergallery.com THRU 9/8 Guy D’Alessandro: The Nature of Things. Quiet Life Gallery, 17 So. Main St., Lambertville, NJ. Wed-Sun. 609-397-0880. quietlifegallery.com 8/7 Noon Gallery Talk, Allentown Art Museum. Chief curator Diane Fischer will lead a tour of the exhibit “Illusions in Ink: Photorealist Prints.” Free with Museum admission. Access to Lautrec exhibit. 31 N. Fifth St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-4333. allentownartmuseum.org

8/10-8/31 Summer Social Art Show. Reception, 4:30-9. Work of David Hahn, Kay King, Richard Lennox, Jan Keith Lipes, Jim Lukens, Nancy Shill, Jas Szygiel and Trisha Vergis. Small to large pieces ranging in style from traditional to abstract. Trisha Vergis Gallery, Laceworks Complex, 287 S. Main St., suite 11, Lambertville, NJ. Trishavergisgallery.com. 609-460-4710 8/11 “Lautrec and His Muse,” 1:00pm. Encore presentation by Lisa Norris, Assoc. Professor of Art History, Kutztown University. $5 members/$15 non-members. Allentown Art Museum. 31 North Fifth St., Allentown. 610-432-4333. allentownartmuseum.org 9/14 artINplace, an event that will treat attendees with a rare look into the unique creative process of nationally acclaimed fine artists. Lehigh Valley, PA. artinplace.atelierdualis.com for information. THEATER 8/15-9/1 The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, by Charles Busch. Directed by Boyd Gaines. Cast includes Lynn Cohen, David Garrison, Marilu Henner, Marsha Mason & Ryan Shams. Bucks County Playhouse, 70 South Main St., New Hope, PA. 215-862-2121. bcptheater.org DINNER & MUSIC Saturday nights: Sette Luna Restaurant, 219 Ferry St., Easton, PA. 610-253-8888. setteluna.com Thursday nights: DeAnna’s Restaurant & Bar, 54 N. Franklin St., Lambertville, NJ. Live music and raw bar. 609-397-8957. deannasrestaurant.com. Every Thurs.-Sat., Dinner and a Show at SteelStacks, Bethlehem, PA. 5-10:00pm. Table service and valet parking. Information, menus and upcoming events visit artsquest.org CONCERTS Some organizations perform in various locations. If no address is listed, check website for location of performance. 8/15 ABBA: The Concert. Sands Bethlehem Event Center. 610-297-7400. Sandseventcenter.com 8/18 Valley Vivaldi chamber music concert by principal instrumentalists of Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra. Music by Vivaldi, Bach and more, featuring harp, flute, cello, oboe and violins. 7:30 p.m., Wesley Church, 2540 Center St., Bethlehem, PA. Tickets, $20-$35 in advance/at door. 610-434-7811. PASinfonia.org 9/13 Borromeo String Quartet, 7:30pm. Chamber Music Society of Bethlehem, Foy Concert Hall, Moravian College, W. Church & Main Sts., Historic Bethlehem. Tickets available at door or lvartsboxoffice.org or cmsob.org 9/13 The Queen Extravaganza. Sands Bethlehem Event Center. 610-297-7400.

Sandseventcenter.com 9/14 Aaron Neville, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University. 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, PA. Free parking attached to center. 610-758-2787 Information: zoellnerartscenter.org 9/28 Jeff Foxworthy, Sands Bethlehem Event Center. 610-297-7400. Sandseventcenter.com

8/8 8/8 8/9 8/9 8/9 8/10 8/10 8/10 8/11 8/11 8/11

8/11 Jay Leno, Sands Bethlehem Event Center. 610-297-7400. Sandseventcenter.com 8/18 Valley Vivaldi chamber music concert by principal instrumentalists of Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra. Refreshing sounds of Summer. Featuring harp, flute, cello, oboe and Bach’s “Double” Concerto for two violins. 7:30 p.m.,Wesley Church, 2540 Center St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-434-7811. PASinfonia.org ARTSQUEST CENTER AT STEELSTACKS MUSIKFEST CAFÉ 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300. artsquest.org 8/19 8/22 8/23 8/31 9/5 9/6 9/7 9/11 9/14 9/16 9/20 9/26

Bethlehem Charity Event Auction Classic Albums Live: The Beatles Kenny Vance & The Planotones Big Shot: Billy Joel Tribute Project Blue Album: Weezer Tribute MewithoutYou Doug Benson Gaelic Storm Billy Bauer Band with Kalob Griffin Band Bethlehem Charity Event Auction SteelStacks Stunner Ball Mickey Hart Band

8/4 8/5 8/5 8/5 8/6 8/6 8/8 8/8 8/9 8/9 8/10 8/10 8/11 8/11 8/11

MUSICFEST Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300. artsquest.org SANDS STEEL STAGE AT PNC PLAZA Skillet Sonny Landreth BB King Frampton’s Guitar Circus Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes George Thorogood The Family Stone KC and the Sunshine Band Darius Rucker Chase Rice Semi Precious Weapons Ke$ha Avenged Sevenfold Fight or Flight Mindset Evolution

8/5 8/5 8/5 8/6 8/6 8/6 8/7 8/7 8/7 8/8

MUSICFEST Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300. artsquest.org AT AETNA AMERICAPLATZ at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks Todd Wolfe Band The Royal Scam Jamie McLean Band Mike Scala Station Hadden Sayers Holly Williams Idol Kings Duffy Kane Mike Dugan and the Blues Mission

8/5 8/5 8/6 8/6 8/7 8/7 8/8 8/8 8/9 8/9 8/9 8/10 8/10 8/10 8/11

Trespass Rick Estrin and the Nightcats The Hunts Lights Out - Frankie Valli Tribute Here Come the Mummies Quiet Company Sarah Ayers Band Splintered Sunlight Erick Macek Jeff Thomas’ All Volunteer Army Blues Brotherhood

8/9 8/10 8/15 8/17 8/30 8/31 9/6 9/7 9/13 9/14 9/20 9/27 9/28

MUSICFEST Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300. artsquest.org AT NATIONAL PENN BANK JAZZ CABARET STAGE Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas Kristi Lynn Quartet Tony Gairo Trio Alignment Helix Dan DeChellis Trio Jessy Carolina and the Hot Mess Pamela Webb Frenchy and the Punk Bumper Jacksons Blair Crimmins and the Hookers The Associated Mess Frank Giasullo Quartet Hot Bijouxx Randy Tonge Ben Mauger’s Vintage Jazz Band

EVENTS THRU 8/31 Experience history aboard Coryell's Ferry Historic Boat Rides located along the banks of The Delaware River in New Hope Pa. New Hope was instrumental in winning freedom for The US in 1776. Safety was provided for our Continental soldiers and finally a victory for George Washington! Visit us at coryellsferry.com and facebook THRU 8/31 Treat Yourself Tuesday, every Tuesday night at the bar and in the dining room, Apollo offers an additional menu. The menu includes a variety of appetizers, and martinis for $7 each! Apollo Grill, 85 West Broad St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-865-9600, apollogrill.com

MUSICFEST Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300. artsquest.org AT MARTIN GUITAR LYRIKPLATZ Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas 8/5 Graham Alexander 8/5 Kenny Ferrier 8/5 Tall Tall Trees 8/5 Skyler 8/5 Chris Pickering 8/6 Tracy Walton 8/6 Jared Weintraub 8/6 Nyke van Wyk 8/6 Annalise Emerick 8/6 Ryan Tennis 8/7 Lily Mae 8/7 Shane Cooley 8/7 Angelo M 8/7 Lizanne Knott 8/7 Karen and Amy Jones 8/8 Rachel Marie 8/8 Our Griffins 8/8 Melissa Van Fleet 8/8 McClain Sullivan 8/8 Louis Defabrizio 8/9 Heidi Winzinger 8/9 Matt Wade 8/9 Dina Hall 8/9 Twin Ghost 8/9 Rodger Delany 8/10 Dani Mari 8/10 Madison Cano 8/10 George Dennehy 8/10 Kwesi Kankam 8/10 John Childers 8/11 Amanda Duncan 8/11 The Vulcans 8/11 Brittany Ann 8/11 Reverend TJ McGlinchey 8/11 Angela Sheik

THRU 8/31 Therapeutic Thursday, every Thursday from 5-7pm enjoy Apollo’s version of “happy hour”. Stop in and enjoy a signature martini of the week for $7, and $5 glasses of chosen wines and tasty appetizers at the bar. Apollo Grill, 85 West Broad St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-865-9600, apollogrill.com THRU 8/31 Every weekend in August, drink of the month, Brandywine Valley Iced Tea at Chaddsford Winery. Sit and relax in our tasting room after a day of shopping! New drink specials every month. Peddler’s Village, shop #20 Street Rd., Lahaska, PA. 215-794-9655. Chaddsford.com THRU 8/31 Wines by the glass are half-price at Chaddsford Winery, Mon-Fri in August, 4:30-5:30. Peddler’s Village, shop #20 Street Rd., Lahaska, PA. 215794-9655. Chaddsford.com THRU 10/12 Lehigh Valley Arts Council, Benefit Bus Trip to Grounds for Sculpture on 10/12. For more information visit www.LVArtsCouncil.org 8/6 Rice’s Market is holding its 2nd ‘Wow! I Painted That” event. Come join a local artist in a class and become the next Rembrandt. 9:30 am; rain date August 13th. Afterwards, stay and shop Rice’s for great prices on all of your Back to School needs. Contact info@rices.com for more information. www.rices.com. 6326 Greenhill Rd., New Hope, PA. 215-297-5993 9/7 Bethlehem Vegfest, The Vegan & Sustainable Living Event of the Year! 11am-6pm, Bethlehem, PA. Bringing together vegan natural food providers, top national speakers, chefs and more. Visit www.Bethlehem-vegfest.org ■

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

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Joe Louis Walker Forward Motion The Dustbowl Revival An Evening with Larry Coryell, Victor Bailey and Lenny White Billy Burnette Band Deb and Bev’s Blues Night Out Solas Mary Fahl of October Project David Wax Museum John Denver Tribute by Ted Vigil and Steve Weisberg Dancin’ Machine Bill Kirchen and Too Much Fun The Soft Parade

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