ICON November 2014 by ICON Magazine

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Contents

NOVEMBER 2014

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS FLYING BY, FLYING HIGH | 22

Leon Redbone, the cool caretaker of long-ago grooves, known for his trademark sunglasses, Panama hat, ribbon tie and spiffy suit, is suddenly the star of two developing documentaries.

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

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

TONY BENNETT | 24

www.icondv.com

He calls his hit Cheek to Cheek duets album and his relationship with Lady Gaga a “wonderful gift” that’s creating a whole new level of excitement for him, and his storied career. “Everybody is raving,” he said, “and everyone is shocked that I’m 88 and still swinging!”

THE DICEMAN COMETH | 26

Clay’s career was on an upward trajectory in the ‘80s and ‘90s until religious groups, women and LGBQT organizations turned against him, and he began on an irreversible downward slide. Now, his stunningly dramatic role in Blue Jasmine has everyone taking a second, serious look at Andrew Dice Clay.

Robert Indiana signing HOPE poster, 2012. Photo: Michael McKenzie

icon

ACE OF BASS | 28

As a player, Ron Carter swings with a resoundingly melodic flair that you can hear on more than forty solo albums. As a leader, he radiates a calm, assertive charisma, playing with a deep emotional resolve that makes his bass notes soar.

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

ADVERTISING 800-354-8776

EDITORIAL Executive Editor Trina McKenna

DESIGN

COLUMNS 5 | CITY BEAT 5 | VALLEY BEAT 39 | ABOUT LIFE

A THOUSAND WORDS 7 | Fast Boat

ART Michael Keaton in Birdman.

Leon Redbone.

6 | ROBERT INDIANA 8 | EXHIBITIONS New Hope Arts Arthur Ross Gallery Santa Bannon Fine Arts 10 | PETER BLUME

FILM 12

| CINEMATTERS Men, Women & Children

| KERESMAN ON FILM Birdman

| BAD MOVIE Left Behind

| FILM ROUNDUP Algorithms Art and Craft Birdman John Wick

36 | KERESMAN ON DISC Willi Williams J. W. Jones Faust The Group Justin Townes Earle 37

| NICK’S PICKS Kenny Barron and Dave Holland Alicia Olatuja Otis Brown III Bill Frisell Kenny Shanker

38 | JAZZ LIBRARY | 38 Lester Young

DINING

Fine Arts Editors Edward Higgins Burton Wasserman Music Editors Nick Bewsey / nickbewsey@gmail.com Mark Keresman / shemp@hotmail.com Bob Perkins / bjazz5@aol.com Tom Wilk / tomwilk@rocketmail.com

ETCETERA

A. D. Amorosi / divaland@aol.com Robert Beck / robert@robertbeck.net Jack Byer / jackbyer@verizon.net Peter Croatto / petecroatto@yahoo.com James P. Delpino / JDelpino@aol.com Sally Friedman / pinegander@aol.com Geoff Gehman / geoffgehman@verizon.net George O.Miller / gomiller@travelsdujour.com R. Kurt Osenlund / rkurtosenlund@gmail.com

46 | L. A. TIMES CROSSWORD 47 | AGENDA

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

f z i

w b

PO Box 120 • New Hope, PA 18938 (800) 354-8776 Fax (215) 862-9845 ICON is published twelve times per year. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. ICON welcomes letters to the editor, editorial ideas and submissions, but assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material. ICON is not responsible for claims made by advertisers. Subscriptions are available for $40 (shipping & handling).

32 | THE LIST

MUSIC

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Valley Beat Editor Geoff Gehman / geoffgehman@verizon.net

40 | CROW & THE PITCHER 43 | DEANNA’S 45 | GRILLE 3501

ENTERTAINMENT

Andrew Dice Clay in Blue Jasmine.

City Beat Editor Thom Nickels / thomnickels1@aol.com

Food Editor Robert Gordon / rgordon33@verizon.net

20 | REEL NEWS A Most Wanted Man Land Ho! A Five Star Life Jersey Boys

34 | SINGER / SONGWRITER The Hello Strangers Otis Clay and Johnny Rawls Over the Rhine | The Stray Birds Mark Rogers and Mary Byrne

Designer Lauren Fiori Assistant Designer Kaitlyn Reed-Baker

ON THE COVER: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.

City Beat

THOM NICKELS

Valley Beat

GEOFF GEHMAN

ThomNickels1@aol.com

geoffgehman@verizon.net.

We visited the home of Norma Van Dyke to hear Terry Gillen. The former NYC financial analyst and director of federal affairs for Philadelphia wants to empower small businesses, create 5,000 to 10,000 new jobs for city residents, and make every city school “high functioning.” Two things that impress us about Gillen: her verve in helping to get bike lanes on the South Street Bridge, and her Joan of Arc “assault” against the Schuylkill River overlords, or CSX, to open the river trails there. In front of a crowd, Gillen uses an economy of words, gets her point across, and then frames her answers tightly during the Q and A.

From Thom Duffy’s art exhibit at the William Way Center, we headed to the café on Dilworth Plaza with our friend, a tour guide, who said that the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia seems to be inactive. This is so, he said, because Hidden City Philadelphia is coopting much of the latter’s architectural tours, leaving the venerable institution weak. He told us of this year’s Philly NoirCon weekend conference, a biennial event devoted to urban tales from the dark side, where filmmakers, writers and poets get together to tell stories or extol the merits of an Edgar Allan Poe or George Lippard. This year, NoirCon guests saw the 1951 film The Prowler at International House and participated in panels like Jewish Noir, Existential Noir and Veering off the Highway. The event’s closing party took place at Port Richmond Books, formerly an old theater with a few serious ghosts (and crimes) of its own.

The first thing I liked about the new PPL Center in Allentown was the cracking thwack of puck slapping Plexiglas. The second thing I liked was the ringing thud of bodies banging boards. The third thing I liked was the supersonic roar of the crowd during a hockey fight won, hands down and up, by a member of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, a minor-league affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers and the building’s main tenant. Named for an electricity supplier, the center is plenty electric. Sounds on the ice are exceptionally crisp, even for a mid-sized arena with 8,500-odd seats. Every seat has an exceptional view, which means that players actually resemble humans instead of ants, even up in the press box. Chairs are easy on the butt, lights easy on the eyes, piped-in songs easy on the ears. I especially enjoyed hearing “American Pie,” my adolescent anthem. Concession stands serve decent dishes: brisket, lobster mac & cheese, shrimp-topped burgers. Crust, a gourmet-pizza restaurant, has a street-side window, making it livelier than the average arena cavern. Outdoor and indoor windows brighten the first Lehigh Valley branch of Tim Horton’s, a chain founded by a retired Canadian hockey player. It offers superior coffee, muffins and, during one preseason game, the phenomenon of a line longer than a beer line. The joint will really jump once the concerts get cracking. The Eagles opened the house in September; in February Neil Diamond will launch his world tour in his first Valley show in my 38 years here. More neon-name acts, in turn, will help make the center the center of downtown Allentown’s rise from dead end to destination. In the works are the city’s first hotel in 30 years and its first luxury apartment complex in over 50 years. Among the spiffy new attractions is Roar, a Prohibition-saturated saloon. All this buzz makes me buzz. You see, I have a deep emotional investment in downtown Allentown, which I covered for 25 years as an arts writer for The Morning Call. I remember when the only reliable night life was provided by the Pennsylvania Stage Company, which died in 1996, and Hess’s department store, a local landmark demolished in 2000 for a hockey arena that was never built. Here’s hoping the Phantoms boost the community by starting a league for young urban hockey players, on ice and street. . The PPL Center is on the same block as Greg Weaver’s Loft, a 1977-80 counter-culture commune. It was a hub for envelope-ripping exhibits, readings, plays and theme concerts like “Welcome to the ’90s, the ‘80s Were a Bore.” Weaver, an Allentown native, was an impresario of happenings, particularly when he played his Cubist-sculpture guitars in the band Los Dominos. I felt Weaver’s magnetic, magnanimous spirit in a Penn State Lehigh Valley show of his art works. The serious artist is represented in lightly radiant geometric paintings and abstract landscapes. The sophisticated cartoonist is represented in portraits of goofy, spooky cows, his mascot. They have masked, melted faces; squashed, hobby-horse bodies, and colors earthy and psychedelic. My favorite bovine wears pools of blue sky shaped like palettes. The exhibit revives my vivid memories of Weaver, a Penn State graduate who died in 1994 at age 49 from diabetes and other complications. I remember the joyful maker of huge assemblages of junk objects—toys, hoses, bowling trophies—that he dubbed Abstract Expressionist putzes. The playful maker of small landscapes with plastic animals grazing on ledges of acrylicswathed bandages under swirling trees and river-running skies. The no-nonsense optimist whose bumper-sticker slogan still sticks: “Don’t blame, and don’t be lame.” “Greg Weaver: Urban American Folk Artist,” through Dec. 12, DeLong Gallery, Penn State Lehigh Valley, Center Valley. An auction benefiting the gallery will start at 7 p.m. Dec. 12. www.lv.psu.edu/gallery.

SEPTA’s Route 15 is probably the most confusing bus/trolley route in the city. PennDOT’s reconstruction of I-95 started the mayhem, which then led to the so-called SugarHouse Casino trolley loop, at Frankford and Delaware. The loop was constructed to appease casino patrons. SEPTA’s original plan was that the Route 15 from Port Richmond would head straight to Front and Girard and then back to Port Richmond. But Murphy’s Law, road problems, street blockages, road accidents, sinkholes, random police actions (those bike cops again), have diverted the northbound Route 15 into the dreaded casino loop vortex. The worst time to be on the SugarHouse detour is during rush hour, when for one reason or another, the Route 15 does not go straight to Front but takes the loop, which upsets work-bound passengers. When the bus driver announces the turn on Frankford, nearly every passenger vacates, choosing to walk the one block to the El rather than sit through a mini-trip to the casino. Our idea is this: force SugarHouse to provide their own loop bus from Girard. ■

“There are T-shirts that make your boobs look good, too.” So said Norah Jones during the merchandise-pitching portion of the Puss N Boots concert on Oct. 12 at the Musikfest Café in Bethlehem. The show was much like the pitch: pleasantly sassy and delightfully bra-zen. Jones and her Brooklyn buddies, Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper, could have been in a Williamsburg bowling alley or a rodeo. The occasional trio mates slapped around the American songbook. They turned Kris Kristofferson’s kiss-my-ass “If You Don’t Like Hank Williams” into a cracked, crackling lullabywaltz. A slow-dance, slightly surfer take on Roger Miller’s “Tarnished Angel” featured Popper on her knees in supplication. The planets really danced during “In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town,” a ‘30s big-band hit dusted with sincere saloon stardust. I imagined Dobson, Jones and Popper backing up Tom Waits, no stranger to 3 a.m. beery bleariness. They could call their quartet Angels with Axes. ■

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

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

We were told that the first annual Dead Poets Remembrance Day at historic Christ Church failed because of ill attendance due to a lack of advertising and poor performances at the mic. What happened? The noble idea to honor one-time U.S. poet laureate Daniel Hoffman, as well as Colonial era poets Nathaniel Evans and Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson, bombed when the poems’ readers mumbled and muttered. Years ago at a public speaking course, we learned how to speak up, make eye contact with the audience, and project. While it may be very Ivory Tower to have a highly awarded professor of ancient antiquities recite Hoffman or Fergusson, anyone with a good voice would have been a better choice than credentialed academics who read like they’re asleep on their feet. The bike cop invasion of Pennypack Park continues this month with raids on homeless panhandlers on Aramingo Avenue. While the avenue has become a magnet for druggies, these panhandlers are harmless, although persistent. Word is spreading that the Aramingo site is hot because some of the panhandlers there make as much as $10 an hour. Some even find their way to the nearby WAWA where they sit cross legged like beggars in India or hold doors for customers, hoping for tips. Solid citizen types have been up in arms about the flow from nearby drug infested Kensington. Maybe that’s why twelve bike cops recently zipped through the WAWA parking lot and handed out $200 tickets to America’s underclass, including the group’s patriarch, a benevolent, bearded Moses who lives in a box under I-95. Most of the plays that open and close on city stages tend to be flashy self-conscious shockers with superficial themes. Angst-filled monologues or family dramas may wow audiences for a season, but their luster usually fades. A play that stands the test of time is a play of ideas. That’s why the Lantern Theater Company’s production of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia had us thinking that this is what the people during Shakespeare’s time must have felt while watching one of the bard’s plays. Stoppard’s language is dense, intelligent—but let your brain doze at any point and you’ll have some serious catching up to do.

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Art

EDWARD HIGGINS

THAT OCCASIONALLY ROBERT INDIANA might be referred to as a sign-painter, albeit a talented one, wouldn’t bother him at all. The artist who calls himself, “a painter of signs” is the subject of a huge retrospective at the Allentown Art Museum running through January 25. Robert Indiana

Robert Indiana with LOVE Wall, 1969. Image courtesy of Robert Indiana

Alphabet Wall Red/Gold, 2011, silkscreen on canvas. © Robert Indiana. Image courtesy of American Image

from A to Z: The Alphabet and the Icons comprises some 75 works of painting, prints, and sculpture form 1934 to the present. Indiana, at 85 years old, works and lives in an old house that was once an Odd Fellows Lodge on Vinalhaven, an island off the coast of Maine. Indiana believes the American art tradition arose from sign painting and credits the Phillips 66 gas sign as his original inspiration. Indiana said, “The first ‘LOVE’ paintings were red, blue and green because my father worked for Phillips 66 and in those days, in the 30s and 40s, all Phillips stations were red and green; the gas pumps, the uniforms, the oil cans. It was a Edward Higgins is a member of The Association Internationale Des Critiques d’Art.

large Phillips 66 sign against a blue sky which I passed hundreds of times as a boy which determined the colors of the ‘LOVE’ painting.” He is, of course the Pop artist whose work includes the “LOVE” sculpture in Philadelphia’s JFK Plaza, better known as Love Park. His work is characterized by solid, vibrant colors, sharp edges and letters, words, and numbers. It is altogether appropriate that Indiana be celebrated in Pennsylvania, as his major artistic influence comes from Charles Demuth, a Precisionist painter from Lancaster, PA, who created the famous “5” painting. The connection to Demuth and other Precisionists such as Charles Sheeler, a classmate of Demuth’s at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, illustrates the origin of Indiana’s Pop art views. He is one with Claus Oldenburg who is known In Philadelphia for the “Clothespin” in City Hall Plaza, and the “Paint Torch” next to the Academy. Indiana believes that Demuth was the originator of Pop art. Demuth was a sophisticate and managed to get around; however, much of his life was spent on the second floor of the family home in Lancaster painting the garden below from the window. Other artists Indiana connects with include Marsden Hartley, Marcel Duchamp and Edward Fisk. Indiana’s approach to painting dismisses the entire Abstract Expressionist movement which many art critics see as not only original, but a movement that shook the art world centers from Paris to New York. Indiana has said he does not care for the “sloppy drip” form of art, and maintains that the Abstract Expressionist movement sidetracked the normal course of art in the American tradition. Indiana was born in 1928 in New Castle, Indiana, as Robert Clark and went on to become one of the most celebrated Pop artists in the country along with Andy Warhol, Roy

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Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns. He attended the Christian Scientist church and a number of art schools before entering the U.S. Air Force for three years. He then continued his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting in Maine, and the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. He moved to New York in 1956 and set up home and studio on the southeastern tip of Manhattan. With the community of artists there he began producing freestanding works of sculpture from found objects. As Pop art became more celebrated he exhibited in a number of New York City galleries and shows, but his big break came with the purchase of his “American Dream” by Alfred C. Barr of the Museum of Modern Art in the early 1960s. Indiana’s interest over the years has spread from words to letters and numbers. His “Alphabet,” for example, took many years of experiment before he was satisfied. Many of Indiana’s contemporaries are represented in another exhibit currently at the Museum, American Pop: The Prints, including Larry Rivers, Edward Ruscha, Mel Ramos, and James Rosenquist. A highlight is a recently acquired paper dress by Warhol for the Campbell Soup company in the mid-60s. This exhibit also runs through January 25. The Museum has traced Pop back to its post-World War II English roots when artists began using popular culture images in their work. This exhibition of Indiana’s work—which also includes some childhood works—will serve as a fine look at a distinguished career, and perhaps provide answers to folks who think they could paint the same images. ■ Allentown Art Museum, 31 N 5th St, Allentown, PA (610) 432-4333 allentownartmuseum.org

A Thousand Words

STORY AND PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

Fast Boat

WHEN I GOT TO Dougie’s boat shed Uncle Billy was sitting on a bench next to the stove, painting boards. It was the first time I’d met Uncle Billy. He is one of the older, sort-of-retired guys who stop by to say hi at the shed and get conscripted for whatever chore is at hand. Dougie leaned over the rail of the 38-foot wood lobster boat he’s been working on for a couple of years and introduced me. “This is Bob, the painter,” he said. The painter part was more important than the name. The previous year I had created a series of images working from life among the people of this fishing community. That project earned me Down East cred rarely achieved by people “from away.” Uncle Billy smiled and nodded in recognition. Another reason for my social integration is that I stand in one spot for hours when I paint. I was working at Stanley Beal’s lobster wharf when he walked past me saying he had to go to the drug store to pick up Ehue Sawyer’s prescription because Ehue wasn’t feeling well, and he’d be back in a couple of hours. He climbed into his truck and drove off. While he was gone Willis stopped by and asked where Stanley was. I said Ehue’s not feeling well and Stanley went to get his prescription. Willis told me to let Stanley know he took some gas and would settle up next time. I had become part of that efficient, lowest-of-tech communication network that serves rural communities. It was like being given the keys to the harbor. While I was painting Uncle Billy, Dougie leaned over the rail again and asked if I wanted to go for a fast boat ride. He has a 28-foot lobster boat that has a modified 409 Chevy engine with way too much horsepower for not much boat. Miss Brenda always takes first in its class at the 4th of July lobster boat races. Dougie knows fast. He had left his boat groundedout on the last tide—supposedly to inspect the hull but more likely to fit a new racing propeller—and I was sure the “ride” back to his mooring in the harbor would be high-spirited. I said no thanks. I know fast, too. He asked Uncle Billy, who said he had something to do, which was a lie. A young guy came in, dressed like someone on vacation in Maine. He’d been to the shed before and climbed the ladder leaning against the side of the boat to chat Dougie up a bit. There is a conversational divide when it comes to Mainers and us people from the northeast corridor. We are used to a verbal cadence and require silences be filled. Anything will do as long as it’s a noise. In Maine, the longer the silence and the fewer the words, the better. Dougie was polite to the guy but Robert Beck maintains a gallery in Lambertville, NJ. His annual exhibition, Open Road, runs through November 23. robert@robertbeck.net.

listening was getting in the way of finishing the cabin deck. Finally, the visitor ran out of thoughts and started to make those noises. Dougie casually asked him if he would like to go for a fast boat ride. The guy was so excited he nearly burst. He asked if he could bring his wife, and Dougie said sure. Uncle Billy and I kept our heads in our work as the guy scrambled past us to get home. We had our own business to tend to. I was back in my cottage along the harbor making some fish stew when the tide lifted Dougie’s boat off the mud a quarter-mile away. When he threw the throttle forward, the roar blew the curtains in and slid dishes across the shelf. I took a beer out onto the porch. Miss Brenda was scratching a silver line between Jonesport and the island, shooting

spray from the bow and stern, more on top of the water than in it. She certainly was fast. I could see the happy couple sitting at Miss Brenda’s stern. You know how people put their hands up in the air when they are on roller coasters? These two were hunkered forward gripping their seats like granite, and please, please, make this be over soon. Five times Miss Brenda screamed through the harbor, one way, then the other. When Dougie finally brought his guests ashore in his dinghy they half crawled, half fell out onto the dock. It’s my guess that they didn’t sleep, complete their sentences or go to the bathroom for days. It’s to be expected. That’s what a fast boat will do for you. ■

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Ray K. Metzker, Pictus Interruptus Series 1978. Courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery.

Philadelphia Photographers: 1975 to 1985 SB/FA at ArtsQuest Banana Factory 25 W. 3rd St.- Suite 93, Bethlehem, PA Wed.-Sun.10:30-5; First Fridays5:30-9:30 (610) 997-5453 SantaFineArt.com Through November 21, 2014 Artist Reception 11/7, 6-9:30

Tampumes: Casa dos Leões, 2009, VII Bienal do Mercosul, Porto Alegre, BR Bernie Houston, “Jugglers”

Works In Wood 2014 New Hope Arts 2 Stockton Ave., New Hope, PA 215-862-9606 Newhopearts.org Fri-Sun 12-5pm November 8 – December 14 Opening reception 11/8, 6-8 pm

Henrique Oliveira: Adenocalcinoma Poliresidual University of Pennsylvania’s Arthur Ross Gallery 220 S. 34th St., Philadelphia (in the Fisher Fine Arts Library Building) 215-898-2083 ArthurRossGallery.org Tues-Fri 10-5; Sat & Sun 12-5 Through January 15, 2015

New Hope Arts hosts its annual juried exhibition celebrating the woodwork tradition of Buck County. Featuring fine furniture, sculptural forms and vessels, more than 90 works in a wide range of styles and techniques present an exciting view of the wood medium in the hands of contemporary artists. Jurors, Paul Eisenhauer, director of the Wharton Esherick Museum in Media, PA and Andy DiPietro, nationally recognized wood artist, selected this year’s exhibitors from more than 300 individual works submitted.

Oliveira (b.1973, Ourinhos Brazil) is known for his cavernous, monumental constructions, which have taken over galleries and public spaces in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Brisbane, Houston and other cities around the world. This site-specific collaboration with the Arthur Ross Gallery, curated by ARG Associate Director Dejáy B. Duckett, marks the first time Oliveira’s work has been shown in Philadelphia. The sculpture is a three dimensional interpretation of a photograph, transforming the image into a largescale mixed media object. Oliveira says, “Various types of materials were used as coating, creating a kind of “skin”— metal sheets, plastic, asphalt, fiber glass, foam, etc.,” Oliveira says. “Mostly from synthetic origin, these components aim to establish a correspondence between one of the most common disorders in the human body (cancer) and the environmental aggression made by human kind”

Birdie Miller Rosewood, “Oak Bean Box”

Bololô, 2011, Smithsonian Natl. Museum/African Art, Washington DC, plywood

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As a participating gallery of the 5th Annual Olympus InVision Photo Festival, Santa Bannon/Fine Art Gallery presents a comprehensive exhibit, “Philadelphia Photographers: 1975 to 1985.” This historic contemporary collection includes 80 mostly vintage works and close to 100 monographs. A presentation with Stephen Williams, D.W. Mellor, Stephen Perloff, and Bruce Katsiff begins at 7:30 on 11/7. This highly curated exhibit examines work by veteran artists: Robert Adler, Robert Asman,Michael Becotte, Will Brown, Howard Brunner, Randl Bye, Donald E. Camp, Thomas Carabasi, John Carlano, Jack Carnell, Paul Cava, Trudy Cohen, Tom Davies, Candace diCarlo, Ed Eckstein, Larry Fink, Alida Fish, David Freese, Emmet Gowin, David Graham, Nancy Hellebrand, Walter Holt, Catherine Jansen, Bruce Katsiff, George Krause, Tom Levy, Martha Madigan, D.W. Mellor, Ray K. Metzker, Rebecca Michaels, Thomas W. Moore, Jay Pastelak, Jeannie Pearce, Stephan Perloff, Brian H. Peterson, Tom Porett, Paul Runyon, Laurence Salzmann, Leif Skoogfors, Thomas John Shillea, Michael A. Smith, George Tice, Tony Ward, John Weiss, Stephen Guion Williams, and William Earle Williams. All of these artists have their work represented in the permanent collections of some of the most prestigious museums worldwide; a majority of the participants are repeat recipients of Guggenheim, National Endowment of the Arts, Pew, and Fulbright Fellowships; and many have had the privilege of studying with venerated icons of photography such as Ansel Adams, Bill Brandt, Harry Callahan, Lisette Model, Irving Penn, Aaron Siskind, Minor White, and many others.

Loggers.

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Art

BURTON WASSERMAN

PETERBLUME

South of Scranton, 1930-31. Oil on canvas; 56 x 66 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art © The Educational Alliance, Inc./Estate of Peter Blume/Licensed by VAGA, New York

A MODERN MASTER OF exacting precision, the late Peter Blume is being honored with a solo retrospective of his talented career, given expression in such varied materials as oil, graphite, gouache, Conté crayon, ink and mixed media. The exhibit will be installed in the Fisher Brooks Gallery of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It is scheduled to be on public view from November 14 to April 5, 2014. Afterward, it will travel to Hartford, Connecticut for presentation at the Wadsworth Atheneum, from June 27 to September 20, 2015. Blume was born in Belarus in 1906. His family emigrated to the United States and settled in Brooklyn in 1912. By 1926, he had taken formal instruction at various schools and then opened his own studio as an independent artist. He received considerable notoriety when his painting “South of Scranton” won the first prize at the Carnegie International Exhibition of 1934 in Pittsburgh. The artwork was inspired by references observed on a trip across the Pennsylvania. The frequent need for auto repairs gave Blume ample time to carefully observe details of the changing scene. Today, that picture belongs to the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Stylistically, it combines aspects of folk art, Precisionism, Parisian Purism and Surrealism. From the very outset, he worked in a very deliberate fashion, joining dream-like images, rich with dramatic impact and crisply focused detail. Invariably, he put together many studies that served as preparatory drawings for what potentially emerged as a finished painting. For example, he worked from 1934 to 1937 on “The Eternal City,” a haunting allegory based on a trip he made earlier to Rome. It is a brilliantly colorful image in which Italian soldiers are seen beating political protesters on the site of the historic Roman Forum. At the same time, such details as a ragged street beggar, a tormented Christ figure, the remains of shattered pieces of classic marble sculpture, the hills that surround the city, all manner of botanical growth, and a hideous jack-in-the-box, with a smugly arrogant head in green and the bright red lips of the dictator, Benito Mussolini, stare out from the right side of the overall, cluttered composition. A rather large artwork, once seen, it cannot be easily forgotten. All through his career, Blume admired the techniques used by artists associated with the high renaissance in Italy. In addition, in the pursuit of his oeuvre, he assembled exceptionally elaborate images. Typically, they deal with the growth of urban settings, the universal driving force of the creative process, political power, life and regeneration and the look and feel of the modern age. This tendency looms up brilliantly in a picture of the cantilevered balcony patterns Blume painted of Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Fallingwater house over a waterfall for the Kaufmann family in western Pennsylvania. While it’s done on a relatively small canvas, it captures the monumentality of the actual architectural structure and its rural setting with an impressive interplay of light and shadow and an authentic interpretation of the poetic character of the building and its surrounding site. Most appropriately, the title of the show is Peter Blume: Nature and Metamorphosis. A heroically gifted, exceptionally virtuosic draftsman, he took his inspiration from wherever he found it. Blume’s work often deals with destruction and restoration at the same time. For example, “The Rock,” which he worked on between 1944 and 1948, in the latter part of World War II and afterward, is frequently interpreted as expressing hope and a desire for renewal after the sadly cataclysmic spell experienced by people during the period of the war. Accompanying the exhibition is an especially well-prepared catalog by Dr. Robert Cozzolino of the Museum staff. He was also responsible for organizing the overall exhibition with his customary scholarly expertise and professional, curatorial grace. ■ The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 118-128 N. Broad Street, Phila. pafa.org

From the Metamorphosis, 1979. Oil on canvas; 54 x 51 in. Collection of Dorothy Kobak. Art © The Educational Alliance, Inc./Estate of Peter Blume/Licensed by VAGA, New York

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Dr. Wasserman is a professor emeritus of Art at Rowan U. and a serious artist of long standing.

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Cinematters

MY SCREENING OF MEN, Women & Children, a look at suburban Texas mopes whose lives are affected by modern technology, was followed by a discussion about the movie. It promised to be insightful and hard-hitting, the kind of talk filled with solemn nods and unmet promises to fix some vaguely defined problem. I didn’t stick around. The 7:30 p.m. screening started 15 minutes late, and I wanted to go home. So did everyone else, apparently. As soon as the credits rolled, the theater emptied as if the aisles were engulfed in flames. A critic friend of mine reported that no more than ten people remained afterward. It makes sense. Men, Women & Children screams all its points, so there was nothing to discuss. Director Jason Reitman—the man who bravely reminded us in Up in the Air that getting laid off stinks—deals with the Internet in a Reefer Madness kind of way that would be comical if the material weren’t presented with such ponderous seriousness. This movie, adapted from Chad Kultgen’s novel, wouldn’t work in 2004. You can imagine how creaky it feels now. Every scene screams, “Social statement!” Oddly enough, Reitman can do small and introspective quite well. Look at Young Adult. It’s when he tackles “real world issues” that the eyes start rolling. He becomes a zealous innocent appalled by the harshness out there—and totally unaware that you have to kill your darlings to be heard. To wit, the size of this cast, which rivals the population of most counties: Adam Sandler and Rosemarie DeWitt play Don and Helen Truby, a married couple whose intimacy has been reduced to reading their tablets in bed. Their teenage son, Chris (Travis Tope), is incapable of ejaculating without using online porn. Chris lusts after classmate Hannah Klint (Olivia

PETE CROATTO

Men, Women & Children Crocicchia), a fame-obsessed twit. Hannah’s stardom is fueled by her ex-actress mom, Donna (Judy Greer), who posts her daughter’s randy photos for profit. The man she’s dating (Dean Norris), recently abandoned by his wife, has also lost his son (Ansel Elgort)—to an MMORPG (e.g., World of Warcraft). The boy is dating a girl (Kaitlyn Dever), who has every aspect of her digital life scrutinized by her mom (Jennifer Garner, playing the part like she’s trapped in a fart cloud), who keeps turning the screws. Also in the mix: a wispy girl (Elena Kampouris) who gets thinspiration online and the runaround from the aspiring troglodyte she adores, and Emma Thompson providing serious, measured, and pointless narration. You could devote time to any pair of characters—or Chris’s plight to have real sex—and get something useful. Reitman is in such a hurry to get through the lineup that they’re reduced to devices that communicate the Internet’s ills and its place in this spinning blue marble. Forget caring, we don’t even know these people. Some, like Chris and the narrator, get dumped like spoiled fruit. At least it looked good on the kitchen counter. Everyone is a strawman so Reitman can save the day with hard-hitting “points” such as: 1.) Relationships are hard, so just chill. 2.) Parenting is hard, so just chill. 3.) The Internet can be pretty isolating, but some stuff about it is pretty dope. 4.) High school boys are just the worst. 5.) Teenagers can make their own decisions, except when they’re fame-obsessed twits with loose morals. Garner’s character is especially terrible—she wears nerd glasses and dresses like a Kohl’s model—because there’s no recognition of a human being inside. She shows up in a con-

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text-less huff. Her daughter plays along (and rages by dressing up in dominatrix attire), the husband is there to remind Garner’s pill that Top Chef is on. I know I only have so much real estate to work with, so I’ll devote my ire to Don and Helen Truby. Their marriage is a sad mess, because, um, they have limp sex. (Reitman shows a shot of the portion of the bed rocking tentatively.) The next, logical step, of course, is for them to have flings with strangers in hotel rooms. The lack of understanding and perspective, the sloppiness and disregard shown in trying to capture real life, is enraging. If you read an article about this community trying to navigate a course among cell phones and social media and blogs, you’d throw the magazine—sorry, tablet—across the room after the third paragraph. There’s no depth. Men, Women & Children is one, long Facebook post where someone expresses shallow concern over a deep problem like global warming or school shootings. This time around, it’s the Internet. Why should I care? (Hint: Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot” passage and Thompson’s classy pipes don’t count.) I’m fine with directors using film as a form to tackle bigger issues, if they make choices and set limits. Reitman’s direction of Men, Women & Children is so expansive and rambling that no points of consequence get made. Sure, it’s a movie about us. It’s definitely not for us. End of discussion. [R] ■

An ICON contributor since 2006, Pete Croatto also writes movie reviews for The Weekender. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Broadway.com, Grantland, Philadelphia, Publishers Weekly, and many other publications. Follow him on Twitter, @PeteCroatto.

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Keresman on Film

MARK KERESMAN

Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) SOMETIMES ACTORS, WRITERS, SINGERS, and musicians can be “limited” by their own success. Virtually everything Rod Serling wrote post-Twilight Zone was in the shadow of that iconic TV show. Jimi Hendrix was known for his guitarburning showmanship but felt (legend has it) that the audience was there more for the show than the music. And Adam West was hopelessly typecast as Batman in that campy TV series. This is the main premise of Birdman—in a hunk of inspired casting, Michael Keaton (star of the Tim Burton Batman films) is Riggan Thomas, star of the “series” of superhero films of Birdman. Like Adam West, however, he finds himself washed-up…and like many that’ve fallen from public favor, he strives to reinvent himself. How? By writing and starring in a seriously dramatic Broadway play. Birdman the movie is his story. Warning: This is not a “straight” drama, and while there are some very funny moments, it’s not a comedy. In fact, it is a darkly excellent movie, full of high-voltage performances and you-are-there direction from director/co-scripter Alejandro González Iñárritu. Keaton is electrifying as an actor seeing his career circling the drain—he effortlessly goes from being shaky and uncertain to a man possessed. Emma Stone is excellent as his neglected daughter Sam, fresh out of rehab and

her father’s assistant in this theater production, an adaptation of a Raymond Carver story—she projects a character between wild-girl and little-girl-lost, between being devoted to her father (despite herself) and telling his father where to go (and I don’t mean Akron). Zach Galifaniakis is fun to watch as Riggan’s loyal and slightly Machiavellian lawyer as he tries to save Riggin from himself. Naomi Watts projects great vulnerability as an actress on the way up the B’way ladder of success (she hopes) and Edward Norton is hilarious as Mike, a very talented but willful, egotistical, and erratic actor who’s the “juice” that may make this play a success. If you know anything about Norton’s career, this role is even more appropriate than Keaton is in his—it has been spoken of Norton that he tends to “take over” movies in which he stars, changing dialogue and such, meaning that many directors do not want to work with him despite his talent. Norton’s Mike is such a character—one minute you respect him for his talent, the next you despise him for acting like a spoiled, selfish, my-wayor-no-way child. But Birdman isn’t your usual character-tries-to-reachieve success story. As with Black Swan, we are uncertain just how much on the screen is “real” and how much is in the mind of the central character. [Ever-so-slight spoiler:

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Does Riggan really have super-powers—can he move objects with the power of his mind?] There are no flashbacks to his past—it’s referred to in the dialogue but not shown. Most of the “action” takes place in the theater in which the play is set to be, and the story of the making of a story/play imparts an ambiance to the movie that’s both intimate and claustrophobic. The main reason to see this movie is the acting—it’s character-driven and nearly everyone is at the top of their game here, especially Keaton. Ever have the feeling a war is going on in your head, wherein the know-it-all notions collide with your yearnings and vulnerabilities? That’s what happens to Riggan herein, and it’s palpable the way Keaton does it. The movie touches on the precariousness of success (especially in show biz), fame, social media, ego, and doing the wrong thing at the right time. While there are a few heavy-handed moments (Look! By jove, it’s a shooting star!), Birdman is a dandy modern-day variant on Death of a Salesman. ■

Mark Keresman also writes for SF Weekly, East Bay Express, Pittsburgh City Paper, Paste, Jazz Review, downBeat, and the Manhattan Resident.

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Bad Movie

MARK KERESMAN

Left Behind

IT’S NO SECRET TO movie fans that Nicholas Cage is on the verge of being a pathetic caricature of himself. Because of financial woes, Cage has been taking paycheck role after paycheck role, appearing in movies that even Troy McClure would pass on. The latest nail in the coffin of Cage’s career is Left Behind, a silly Biblically-inspired “thriller” about what happens when The Rapture, uh, happens. The Rapture, for the non-Christians out there, is when all The Believers are spirited up to Heaven, while the Nonbelievers and Doubters are stuck on planet Earth, which naturally plunges into chaos. Cage is Rayford Steele, the only commercial airline pilot who doesn’t carry a flight bag and calls “dispatch,” which is something real pilots don’t do. (“Dispatch?” Like a cab company?) The cast of passengers is right out of Airport, the silly but popular movie that inspired Airplane—Cage, of course, is a philanderer—there’s the sexy/slutty stewardess; an angry dwarf (something of a human counterpart to Grumpy Cat); a recovering drug addict; a smug TV journalist named (get this) Buck Williams (of course he’s a Nonbeliever); a token non-terrorist Muslim; a conspiracy nerd (token Asian); a sleazeball businessman, etc. Naturally, the co-pilot and other Believers simply vanish from the plane and—whaddaya know—the control tower crew at the airport was all Believers, so it’s empty. By gum, they’re on their own! The cast is mostly C-list-ers: Lea Thompson, Chad Michael Murray, and Jordin Sparks (So You Think You Can Dance), so Cage is The Big Draw, I guess. After such turkeys as The

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Wicker Man remake and Drive Angry, are all that many people going to rally to this? But I digress…this movie is junk. For one thing, The Rapture is not exactly The DaVinci Code— lots of Christians (and for that matter non-Christians) know what’s supposed to happen when The Big Dude Upstairs changes the game completely. Even automated stuff (like satellite phones) stops working—I guess the good technology follow the good folks to Heaven. When the stewardess addresses the passengers on the microphone, she speaks into the earpiece of the phone. The plane loses a part of its right wing in a mid-air collision, but later scenes of the plane reveal the right wing is undamaged. Did the plane have a change of heart and was healed in mid-air by The Holy Spirit? No lights on the ground for the plane to land? No problem—a character flashes the lights of a pickup truck, which, of course, is enough illumination to land. Uh-huh. Left Behind has the look and feel of a low-budget made-for-TV movie from the 1980s/’90s. The “message” of the movie might appeal to the super-religious folks, the kind of people who think they’ve got a First Class reservation on God’s jumbo jet. The special effects are cheesy, the acting atrocious and, worst of all, Cage doesn’t even get to overact. In fact, he and Murray under-act throughout, as if wing-damage on a plane is no big deal. What’s the point of a bad Nic Cage movie if we can’t see him chewing scenery like a starving man at IHOP on free-pancakes day? ■

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Film Roundup

PETE CROATTO

Mark Landis, Art and Craft

Algorithms (Dir: Ian McDonald). Documentarian McDonald spent three years tracking blind youth chess in India, focusing his attention on three young players: golden boy Darpan, gifted but inconsistent SaiKrishna, and underachieving Anant (who appears briefly). McDonald has difficulty narrowing his narrative focus on this fascinating subject. He spends most of the movie hovering over ideas—the kids competing in international and local tournaments, interviews with their parents—before finding the spark: blind chess master, Charudatta Jahav. The demanding and quick talking Jahav is determined for this generation of kids to build on the legacy he started as a blind player. By the time McDonald locates the movie’s energy source, Algorithms is three-quarters over, making it much too late for him to explore the influence of Jahav’s lofty vision on his tender, impressionable protégés. Algorithms is not bad movie at all, just an incomplete one. [NR] ★★1/2 Art and Craft (Dirs: Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman). For decades, Mark Landis, a talented and self-taught artist, replicated classic works of art and successfully donated them to more than 100 museums across the United States. After he was exposed, Landis wasn’t punished; technically, he broke no laws. When Cullman and Grausman introduce the quiet, shaky voiced Landis, he’s still playing the role of “philanthropist” and getting an exhibit devoted to his own forged

work. Cullman and Grausman treat their terrific documentary as a character study, not a straight-up story of a most unusual con artist. Art and Craft is endlessly fascinating, even haunting. Landis is forever donning aliases—and even a priest’s collar—to continue his mission. His morals come from old movies. (The TV is always on in his filthy apartment.) Landis, who refuses to admit any wrongdoing, is deathly afraid to be himself in any endeavor. Deception and replication sustain his existence. [NR] ★★★★ Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). (Dir: Alejandro González Iñárritu). Starring: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan. Twenty years after he was a box office (super)hero as Birdman, fading matinee idol Riggan Thomson (Keaton) is stuck in an endless, brutal war between art and commerce. He’s staging a Broadway production of Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, an endeavor that manifests Thomson’s internal anxieties, including the character that defined and now mocks him. The treat is again seeing Keaton in a starring role that takes full advantage of his impish energy and crackling intensity, which were on display throughout the 1980s in fare like Night Shift and Batman. Keaton’s performance here is the brightest color in González Iñárritu’s (Biutiful, 21 Grams) stylish, manic account of the people left in the wake of an

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artist’s self-destruction. Norton is superb as Keaton’s egotistical co-star and nemesis, a brilliant actor who is only genuine when onstage. My colleague Mark Keresman digs deeper in his review in this issue. [R] ★★★1/2 John Wick (Dir: Chad Stahelski). Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Dean Winters, Adrianne Palicki, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane, Bridget Moynahan. Usually, another title such as Whiplash or Dear White People would round out this section and maintain ICON’s reputation as a high culture publication. But I was felled by a head cold that lasted longer than Gunsmoke’s network run, necessitating a last-minute grab for scraps—or in this case a Keanu Reeves movie. I was delightfully surprised. Reeves plays the title character, a legendary hitman who proceeds to destroy the NYC underworld after goons kill his dog—a gift from his late wife—and steal his classic car. If all this sounds preposterous, that’s the point. Veteran stunt coordinator Stahelski’s directorial debut revels in absurd comic touches, such as the grizzled villain’s reaction to Wick’s oncoming destruction (“Oh”) or Wick answering a phone call as he battles an attacker. And it’s all done with a straight face. The humor and verve in this jolt of energy summons fond memories of Commando and El Mariachi, lifting John Wick above the tired “middle-aged stoic seeking vengeance” genre (the Taken series, The Equalizer) that audiences now adore. [R] ★★★ ■

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Reel News

GEORGE OXFORD MILLER / REVIEWS OF RECENTLY RELEASED DVDS

A Five Star Life

A Most Wanted Man (2014) ★★★★ Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Grigoriy Dybrogin, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright. Genre: Spy suspense. Based on the novel by John le Carré. Rated R for language. Running time 121 minutes. Hoffman, in his last major role, plays Gunther Bachmann, the chief of an elite German anti-terrorist spy unit. When Issa Karpov (Dobrygin), a half-Chechen, half-Russian man on the run, emerges in the city's Islamic community, the spy agency goes on red alert. So do the U. S. counterparts, led by charming but conniving Martha Sullivan (Wright). Karpov claims he’s a refugee torture victim come to retrieve his Russian father’s fortune squirreled away in a German bank, and solicits the help of a human-rights attorney (McAdams). Or could he be a jihadist financing another 9/11 attack? Spymaster Bachmann races to put the pieces together before Karpov gets his money and another catastrophe can happen… but in classic le Carré fashion, nothing is as it seems, and nobody can be trusted.

Land Ho! (2014) ★★★★ Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Earl Lynn Nelson. Genre: Road-trip comedy. Rated R language, sexual references, drugs Running time 95 minutes. This road-trip comedy explores more than the rugged beauty of Iceland. Two elderly brothers-in-law map the bumpy road of life that brought them to their twilight years. But instead of a nostalgic reminiscence, they mount a charge from the past into the present, future be damned. Extraverted Mitch (Nelson), a wealthy surgeon forced into retirement, flirts with all the women and spends money like it grows on trees, except lava-covered Iceland has no trees, just geysers, hot springs, waterfalls, and volcanoes. Forlorned Colin (Eenhoorn), was married to Mitch’s sister. After she died, he married a younger woman who lost his life savings in a risky business venture. Now both men are on the rebound. Instead of the insipid comedies with aged actors currently popular, this adventure pairs the insightful dialogue of two men wise in the ways of life with a zest for living that never reaches forced retirement.

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A Five Star Life (2014) ★★★ Cast: Margherita Buy, Fabrizia Sacchi. Genre: Drama, comedy. Not rated (sex, profanity, adult themes) Running time 85 minutes. In Italian, English, French with subtitles. Cinema Awards: Best Actress, Best Comedy. Ever stayed in a $1,000/night hotel and dined in luxury in one of the most luxurious and romantic settings in the world, but instead of paying, being paid to do it? Irene (Buy) travels the world as a hotel critic and judges the most elite resorts. She’s a career professional who loves her job, and her job is her life, except she has to do all alone. And she doesn’t get any sympathy from her friends, but since she’s seldom at home, she doesn’t have friends, much less a personal life. Just a ditsy sister (Sacchi) with two daughters. So who’s found the secret to life? Irene who enjoys the best money can buy yet always alone, or her sister surrounded by family and love? Irene ping-pongs between two extreme worlds, but doesn’t really fit into either. This is a travelogue that really doesn’t go anywhere, a contemplative

character study that resolves no problems. Like life, it’s more about the journey than the destination. Jersey Boys (2014) ★★★ Cast: John Lloyd Young, Christopher Walken Genre: Musical, biodrama. Director: Clint Eastwood. Rated R for profanity, violence Running time 134 minutes. Clint Eastwood puts a little extra backstory spin on the Tony award-winning hit about a New Jersey quartet with a mob connection. Frankie Valli (Young) and the Four Seasons crooned to the top of the 1960s charts but couldn’t escape the dark realities of the music industry. When infighting, and skimming, not to mention the loan shark who finances their expenses, threaten their rags-toriches trajectory, Frankie’s loyalty to the group never wavers. Finally hometown mob boss Gyp DeCarlo (Walken) takes his favorite singer under his protection and shepherds him to stardom. Though no award-winner for Eastwood, this nostalgic musical hits all the right feel-good buttons. ■

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Exclusive Interview

GEOFF GEHMAN

Flying By, Flying High Leon Redbone, cool curator/caretaker of long-ago grooves, stars in two developing documentaries

LEON REDBONE AND I are being photographed on New Hope’s main drag near a horse drawing a carriage carrying a man masquerading as a woman. The photo, which is being taken by Jim Della Croce, Redbone’s longtime publicist. is a sort of souvenir from my interview with his client, who lives nearby. Turning New Hope into New Orleans seems entirely appropriate after our fun, funky chat about jellyroll and opera, crooning and whistling, channeling forgotten songs and the forgotten feeling of sentimentality. Redbone is pretty hot for a chronically cool cat. His new CD, Flying By, is a crisp, crackerjack collection of stardust shuffles (“I’ll See You in My Dreams”) and razzmatazz ringers (Blind Blake’s “Police Dog Blues”). Distinguished guests include

Actually, I don’t think of myself as too eccentric when it comes to clothing. The jacket, the hat, the tie—they’re pretty straightforward. Now, I’ve never worn jeans; they never appealed to me. I guess I’m stubborn. I mean, jeans could come in handy for cleaning the bottom of cars. jazz historian/impresario Vince Giordano, leader of the Nighthawks and music director for the TV series Boardwalk Empire. On the cover Redbone jauntily pilots a bi-plane in an illustration by Blake Redbone-Moyer, one of his two daughters with Beryl Handler, his wife, manager and producer. Redbone stars in two documentaries in development. Out of Time is being prepared by Jim Shea, a renowned photographer of musicians. Among the interviewees is choreographer Eliot Feld, who created two dances around Redbone renditions of old-time tunes. Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone: The Search for Leon Redbone is being prepared by Jason Charters and Liam Romalis, filmmakers in Toronto, where Redbone first made his bones. Among the interviewees is Ringo Starr, who dueted with Redbone on the Hawaiian ditty “My Little Grass Shack.” A YouTube trailer for the movie features a delightful story about Redbone announcing a tomato as his accompanist. All this attention is aimed at a lazy, hazy, some-

Geoff Gehman is a former arts writer for The Morning Call in Allentown and the author of the memoir The Kingdom of the Kid: Growing Up in the LongLost Hamptons (SUNY Press). geoffgehman@verizon.net.

times slightly crazy singer of antique numbers: cakewalks, rags, ukulele blues, Tin Pan Alley-cat creepers. A mysteriously hip entertainer iconic enough to lend his voice and visage to an animated snowman/wise man in the film Elf. A fiercely private gentleman who has dodged fiercely prying journalists by declaring that (a) he was born in 1670; (b) his parents were violinist Niccolo Paganini and singer Jenny Lind, both 19th-century celebrities, and (c) “I’m not a kind of prize where people are meant to grab a hold of me.” I met Redbone—born Dickran Gobalian in 1949 on Cyprus—in Havana, a New Hope restaurant/club where his other daughter, Ashley, once worked. He resembled a riverboat minstrel in his sunglasses, banded hat and ribbon tie. He turned our talk into a sly performance—delivering Groucho Marxian sleight-of-mouth quips, sprinkling conundrums like crumbs. He exuded studied nonchalance, a quality the Italians call sprezzatura. You know, Leon, I first tuned into you on Feb. 28, 1976, when you performed during the debut season of Saturday Night Live. Many viewers that night couldn’t make heads or tails of you; smartasses thought you were comic Andy Kaufman disguised in sunglasses, a Panama hat and a spiffy suit. I grew up with songs like “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Big Time Woman,” so I had a feeling that all you were doing was playing an authentic role, serving honest music honestly. I don’t mind if people scratch their heads over me. This music is what I like; it’s basically an indulgence. I like to perform an ancient song with which I’m familiar. A song appeals to me if it holds out, if it has some weight, if it can express some sentiment. I like to put across a song without showing my technique; if you show your technique, you might as well stop. I like to come across as genuine. If you can’t see through that, chances are you’re not going to like me. Actually, I don’t think of myself as too eccentric when it comes to clothing. The jacket, the hat, the tie—they’re pretty straightforward. Now, I’ve never worn jeans; they never appealed to me. I guess I’m stubborn. I mean, jeans could come in handy for cleaning the bottom of cars. What was the first song you couldn’t forget, that absolutely laid you flat? My first favorite songs were arias. I listened to them on 78s I borrowed from the library across the street from our home; they didn’t mind me taking out records. Caruso had an amazing voice; he could really belt it out. He didn’t go for any

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subtleties, but what he put across made it subtle. Unfortunately, he missed out on the great singers of an earlier area—the great castrati. There’s so little left of the voice of Alessandro Moreschi [18581922], the last of the unfortunates. Believe it or not, I was younger in those days. My first favorite singer was this young operatic tenor from Greece. I must have been three or four when I first heard him; Costa Milona was his name. He was put under the wings of this individual who evidently found him working in the fields, singing while he was cutting grass. Singing is always legitimate when it’s by someone who can sing. [Sings, then whistles] I envy your whistling; I can’t whistle for crap. You sound almost, well, operatic. I figure if you have lungs, you should be able to whistle. But it doesn’t always turn out that way, I hear. I didn’t take any whistling lessons. I learned by listening to a lot of incredible whistlers, not paying attention to who they were. There’s no reason why anyone can’t whistle, or whistle properly. On your new record, Flying By, you sing two tunes recorded by Lee Morse (1897-1954), who hit paydirt in the ‘20s and ‘30s with her almost masculine voice, her yodeling, her large repertoire, her vaudevillian spirit and her snappy bluegrass band with such up-and-comers as Benny Goodman. Why do you like her? Why was she such a Big Woman on Campus? I don’t hear the masculine quality, but she did have a wide [vocal] range. She had almost a theatrical presentation, with very tricky vocal cords. She was very confident, a natural. She could really put across a song; her version of “Just You and I” [covered by Redbone on Flying By] is as good as it gets. She was also very stubborn and very tough and some people just didn’t get her. She was asking people to put the world on hold. There’s nothing wrong with that—unless the tables and chairs start to float. You dig so much happy music minted by so many sad people who died young: Morse, Jelly Roll Morton, Blind Blake, Sophie Tucker, Billie Holiday. What’s the attraction? Well, Sophie Tucker came from a totally different era; her way of delivery was a totally different way of belting it out and making it work. Billie

Photo: Jim Shea.

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W TONY BENNETT n his 2011 biographical work, All the Things You Are: The Life of Tony Bennett, author David Evanier quotes a fascinating source on the stillgrowing, evergreening talents on the singer from Astoria, Queens: me. Pulling from an August 2010 feature that I penned for the Philadelphia Inquirer, the quote goes on to announce how after seeing 20 years of Bennett shows (and yes, I know he’s been singing long before this date, the late ‘40s in fact, where he developed his form with inspirational cues from horn men and pianists he loved), that somehow, on that August night, at the-then nice age of 84, he sounded better than ever.

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Exclusive Interview

A. D. AMOROSI

“Well, thank you,” says Bennett now when reminded of the quote in Evanier’s book, a tome that suddenly needs amendment to our amazement. With last month’s arrival of Cheek to Cheek, his duets album with electro-pop’s queen, Lady Gaga—and yet another notch on his belt as their pairing entered the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart at number one—Bennett proved an axiom from one of his famous songs is true: “The Best is Yet to Come.” Along with topping his own record—previously achieved in 2011 with his Duets II project— Bennett, with Cheek to Cheek, is again the oldest living act to earn a number one Billboard album in the U.S., at age 88. “It’s fantastic, isn’t it?” he says, beaming with pride. Joke with Bennett about aging and the touring process (obviously, he’s not in a van eating PB&J, so it’s not that level rigorous) and if the shows take anything out of him and he reminds me that “I could have retired 16 years ago, but I’m doing this because I love it.” He only works when and where he wants to work. One son is his manager, another his recording engineer, “and you know what my daughter does,” Bennett says of his opening act and on-stage duet partner Antonia. “So, it’s a family affair and that’s tight.” But then he goes back to Cheek to Cheek, still marveling at its public and critical response, and he calls it, and his relationship with Gaga a “wonderful gift” that’s creating a whole new level of excitement for him, and his storied career. “Everybody is raving and everyone is shocked that I’m 88 and still swinging.” Except him. He’s run the gamut of phases and sounds—Tin Pan Alley, pop, Broadway songs, bossa nova, straight jazz—and that’s certainly left him with favorite moments and influences, past and present. Bennett is quick to claim that his influences are still as they have always been. Most of the songs that he really loves were all written for Fred Astaire—“the Cole Porter, Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Harold Arlen stuff, the American classics.” Beyond that, there is Billie, Ella, Nat, and, of course, Sinatra and Bing Crosby, who started the whole crooning thing. “It’s not a style. Not old or new. It just is.” To him, the music they performed is timeless and genre-less. “You can listen to any Nat Cole record today and it sounds like he recorded it yesterday. There’s nothing old-fashioned about it, it’s strictly new. Sinatra’s earliest records are still powerful.” The mention of Sinatra reminds me of how Bennett has spoken, with respect and love, of their deep, abiding friendship. Though they were mostly contemporaries, Sinatra had a few years in the business before Bennett, whose first hit was 1950’s “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Was there advice that Sinatra gave Bennett, not just professional but personal, that Tony carries through to the present? “Oh, I have a good story,” he says, ramping up. “Perry Como made me a summer replacement for his television show when I started having hit records. That’s great, right? But they left me kind of high and dry. The budget got smaller, there were no big guests, the band was chopped to a small group, and I had nothing really but a bare stage to work. I became really nervous. Now, I had never met Sinatra by that point and he was at the Paramount Theater, seven shows a week, each where his voice sounded beautiful. Anyway, I had my first hit record and I asked to be invited to his dressing room. I get there and he says ‘What’s the problem, kid?’ That’s how he always talked to me. I told him about the Como show under those conditions and told Sinatra I was frightened. He says, ‘Don’t worry about it. If the audience sees that you’re frightened, they’re going to support you.’ Sinatra taught me that the audience is your friend, not your enemy. That’s why they’re there. There’s no such thing as a bad audience—just a lousy show or a bad performer. If an audience is there for you, then they’re rooting for you, they’ll get you through. The more you show them that you want to do well for them, they’ll come back at you and cheer you on, show you love. That was the greatest thing he ever taught me.” Sticking with the notion of an audience leads us to a discussion of how the young hipster nation—from the 1990’s appearances on David Letterman’s show, The Simpsons and 1994’s MTV Unplugged special to the present—have made Bennett an icon of cool; that the chance to hear and see these classic songs up-close and performed by a master would bring in the crowds. There was never any resistance to Tony’s manager-son, Danny Bennett, that they play into that audience. “No, I knew he was right and I knew that they would like me,” says Bennett. “Loved when The New York Times said we destroyed the demographics, broke the barrier between young and old, because when I play—then and now—I play to everybody.” Bennett believes that the big corporations made a huge mistake when they took to heart the urging of radio jockey Alan Freed who told kids that rock n’ roll was their music, and that their parents liked the “other kind.” “That was a tremendous blunder. Playing to everybody is key. Do you think Bing Crosby played to one audience? If only one crowd bought your records, you’d never sell enough, and that’s why they don’t sell today. Why rule out one crowd in favor of another? Sing to them all.” Bennett stops at this juncture to let me know that there is this one guy in Philadelphia that has been there for the crooner from the start: WPEN veteran Ed Hurst. “He played my records, plugged my shows and never stopped promoting Tony Bennett. He’s become like a member of the family.” Philly, too, gets this sort of shout out with Bennett claiming that “downtown Philadelphia to Atlantic, from 1950 to the present, each and every show has been a sell out. I adore your city.” Going back to where we started—Cheek to Cheek and Lady Gaga—reminds me that Bennett is no stranger to duets; he sang with Judy Garland and Ella Fitzgerald on television, recorded one full duets album with k.d. lang, and has had duet projects with Queen Latifah, Christina Aguilera and others. Mention the idea of a different generation of phrasing and intonation and he agrees that there is certainly a marked change. “But you have to remember, too, that Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney were being trained from the time that they were children. They knew everything about show business. They were the ultimate professionals.” Bennett reminds me that coming up in the business he got advice from the likes of Jack Benny and George Burns, each telling the young crooner to remember one important thing: “It’s going to take you seven years to learn how to perform properly, to learn what to keep in and leave out—and boy, were they right!”

Bennett stops at this juncture to let me know that there is this one guy in Philadelphia that has been there for the crooner from the start: WPEN veteran Ed Hurst. “He played my records, plugged my shows and never stopped promoting Tony Bennett. He’s become like a member of the family.” Philly, too, gets this sort of shout out with Bennett claiming that “downtown Philadelphia to Atlantic City, from 1950 to the present, each and every show has been a sell out. I adore your city.”

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

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Exclusive Interview The

A. D. AMOROSI

Diceman

Cometh

TO PARAPHRASE LL COOL J, don’t call it “a comeback” when you mention the current resurrection of Andrew Dice Clay’s career. Clay’s storied course— the iconic creation of actor/comedian Andrew Silverstein, a blend of Lenny Bruce and Elvis Presley at maximum volume—was an upward trajectory of latter 80s/early 90s stadium gigs, HBO specials, and platinum recordings filled with rude nursery rhymes and naughtily cunning linguistics punctuated by his haltering Brooklynese delivery. Dice came, cursed and conquered. Until he didn’t. He was lambasted by religious groups (as well as women and LGBQT organizations) on the cusp of the politically correct movement. Unsuccessfully trying to tame his brusque persona with several low rated sit-coms in the mid90s, the Dice Man laid low, tending to family, and taking smaller standup gigs. Until he didn’t. Appearances as an explosive version of himself on Entourage (2011) and a stunningly dramatic turn in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine (2013) turned his fortunes to gold again, with an autobiography, the just-released The Filthy Truth with David Ritz, acting as the cherry on top. Dice appears November 13, 7 p.m. at Towne Book Center & Café, 220 Plaza Drive, Suite B-3, Collegeville, PA. When your PR gentleman said you were in Australia, I thought maybe it was for a vacation, but casual reading reveals you’ve caused trouble Down Under telling news programs that you want to ‘kangaroo fuck’ half the chicks across Australia. Are you heartened to see that you have the same effect throughout the civilized world that you’ve had in America? The kangaroo fucking was all a big mistake. My publicist lead to me to believe this was a cable morning show and language wouldn’t be a problem. I was just having some fun. I was shocked when it made front page throughout the whole country. But all is good Down Under, I apologized and the audiences have been fantastic. At 57, why tell all now? Much of who you are at your best is only finally happening now? I had the idea of doing the book years ago, but put it aside as I didn’t think the timing was right. But after Entourage, a book came up again. That timing made sense. Plus, David Ritz certainly knows what he’s doing what with over 40 books from Ray Charles to Don Rickles. And I liked the fact he knows the rock and roll lifestyle; he just did Joe Perry’s autobiography. Within Filthy Truth, you talk about the jump between selling out Madison Square Garden and other arenas before ‘the fall’ and working tiny clubs. Other than the money, was there anything wrong about small rooms? Or is your comedy just not meant for the intimate environment? I always wanted to take stand-up to rock star heights and playing places like the Garden was the only way to do that. But I do like playing small places where I can easily fuck with people in the front row. I even wanted to shoot my special at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip so it would have a raw feel, but Showtime wanted it in a theater. And what happens next, Sarah Silverman shoots a special in a place the size of a closet. It seems to have occurred to you that during hard downtime, fashion always turns backward, and that everything would eventually be OK. But you seem to worry, too, as detailed in the book. Do you wish that you always

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Exclusive Interview

ACE of BASS

NICK BEWSEY

AS A CULTURAL INSTITUTION, the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village is surprisingly small. It’s a long, shotgun room with a snug stage set midway down against the left wall, the club’s glowing blue neon logo centered as a backdrop. Tables line up front in tight formation and fan out to the left and right with as many patrons squeezed into place as the room can hold. Since it is always about the music, there’s a collective understanding why you’re there, and last February, it was all about the man of the hour— the one and only, bassist Ron Carter. The buzzing you heard from the soldout room was amped-up anticipation and as Carter and his band took to the stage, it was if they were pushed into place by waves of applause. The bassist, 77, is among the preeminent musicians of our time, credited with well over 2,000 recordings as a sideman, which is an impressive output for anyone. Yet Carter’s impact on jazz is definitive, measured not only by his five-year tenure with Miles Davis—the galvanizing quintet that included Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and Wayne Shorter—or his collaborations with guitarist Jim Hall, but as a recording artist, composer, arranger, educator and author. As a player, Carter swings with a resoundingly melodic flair that you can hear on more than forty solo albums. As a leader, he radiates a calm, assertive charisma, playing with a deep emotional resolve that makes his bass notes soar. Despite a busy itinerary that often keeps him on the road, I got to sit down with Carter at his NY apartment one afternoon while he was preparing to head to Japan.

At your Blue Note gig you seemed more like a director than a bandleader. Your set is one continuous string of tunes, like a suite. How did this concept come about? I made a record around 1962 called Uptown Conversation, and I decided that I wanted the music to flow from the outside of the vinyl all the way to the spindle. The problem with that was that disc jockeys couldn’t see where to put the needle where songs started or stopped, so they couldn’t really program a song. But I thought the process was a good one -- segueing from tune A to tune B, without the pause or silence between tracks – the musical transition is more clear. I have a band now that understands and trusts wherever I put the key or the tempo. One thing I like about this is that it doesn’t allow the audience’s thoughts to get in the way of my thoughts. Or as near as we can control their experience in a club. What was the first instrument that first caught your attention? The cello. I started playing that at ten years old and switched to the bass at 17 or 19...this was around January 1955. My parents scraped by and got me a cello and encouraged me. Then I traded in my cello and got a bass from the local music store downtown and had a paper route to pay it off. I got the bass I have now in 1959 and borrowed money to pay for it since I didn’t have enough when I moved to NY. I’ve been playing this bass for all these years. Bass players I think look for a second fiddle and assists look for secondary instruments and I have three or four that didn’t quite pan out. But I have a second one I’ve made some adjustments to and it’s coming together. What’s happening now is that airlines won’t let you take your instrument on board – and it’s forced us to play whatever instrument is at the gig. We call that a “bass du jour.” When you were growing up it wasn’t possible for an African-American to join an orchestra. Knowing that, were you crushed or was that just a fact of life? Both. You practice your brains out and all these people who are knowledgeable about talent encourage you. You think about opportunities and

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Moravian Museum of Bethlehem Nov. 14-Jan 4. Mon.-Wed. 12-5 pm - gift shop only. Thurs.Sat., 12-5 pm, and Sun., 12-4 pm. Featuring Trees of Christmas Past and the Gemeinhaus Putz. Admission included with Pass Into History, starting at $12 for adults; $6 for children ages 3-12. 66 West Church St., Bethlehem. 610-867-0173 historicbethlehem.org Single Sisters’ House Nov. 14-Jan 4. Mon.-Sat., 12-5 pm, and Sun., 12-4 pm. Featuring "Trees of Christmas Past" and the Sisters’ House Putz. Admission included with Pass Into History, starting at $12. 66 W. Church St., Bethlehem. 610-691-6055. historicbethlehem.org SteelStacks Gingerbread House Competition & Exhibit Nov. 17-Dec. 23. Amazing gingerbread house creations in five different categories. Free. ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way. 610-332-3378. ArtsQuest.org/gingerbread Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem Nov. 20-23, 28-30 and Dec. 4-7, 11-14 and 18-21. Thurs. & Sun. 11 am- 6 pm, Fri. & Sat. 11 am- 8 pm. Named one of the best holiday markets in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure, Featuring aisles of handmade works by the nation’s finest artisans. Enjoy live holiday music, artist demonstrations, glass ornament workshops and jolly old St. Nicholas and more. $9 adults & 13 and up, $5 ages 6-12, free for ages 5 and under. PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 E. First St., Bethlehem, PA. 610-332-3378. Christmascity.org Christmas City Village Nov. 21-Dec. 21, every Fri. & Sat. 11am to 8pm, and Sun. 11am to 5pm, Tues., Dec. 22 & Wed., Dec. 23 11am to 8pm. Experience a German-inspired outdoor Weihnachtsmarkt, featuring traditional food, fine crafters and live holiday music in the same spirit as European Christmas festivals. Set throughout beautiful downtown Historic Bethlehem. downtownbethlehemassociation.com Holiday Cocktail Trail Nov. 22. Visit our popular boutiques and restaurants while enjoying samples of Holiday inspired cocktails, get your passport at downtownbethlethemassociation.com Jim Brickman, “On a Winter’s Night” Nov. 28, 8 pm. The best-selling solo pianist of our time will once again wow audiences by showcasing new music along with holiday favorites and hits. Tickets: $35-$75, plus fees. Miller Symphony Hall, 23 North 6th St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-6715. Millersymphonyhall.org Historic Downtown Bethlehem Carriage Rides Nov. 28-30, Dec. 4-7, Dec. 11-14, Dec. 18-24, Dec. 26-30 Carriages run every 20 minutes from 3-9 pm. Historic Bethlehem Visitor Center, 505 Main St. The perfect way to enjoy the lights, sights and sounds of Christmas City. $55. 610-691-6055. Historicbethlehem.org Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells Nov. 29, 2 pm. It’s Holiday time and everyone’s favorite first grader is back to celebrate. Tickets: $10 Child/$20 Adult, plus fees. Miller Symphony Hall, 23 North 6th St., Allentown, PA. 610-432-6715. Millersymphonyhall.org 30 ■ I C O N ■ N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4 ■ W W W . I C O N D V . C O M ■ W W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / I C O N D V

Breakfast with St. Nicholas Nov. 29, Dec. 6, and Dec. 13, 9 am. Enjoy a morning featuring old St. Nicholas. A delicious hot breakfast, photo and admission to Christkindlmarkt, goodie bag, arts & crafts and more are included. Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem, PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 E. First St., Bethlehem. $14.95 ages 11 and older, $11.95 ages 2-10, $6.95 age 2 and under. 610-332-3378. ArtsQuest.org Christmas City Stroll-Candlelight Walk Nov. 29-30, 4 pm. Wed.-Sun., Dec. 3-28, 11 am and 4 pm. Take a walk through downtown Historic Bethlehem with our certified guide in period dress. Tickets: $12 Adults/$6 Children 6-12. Historic Bethlehem Visitor Center, 505 Main St., Bethlehem. 610-619-6055. Historicbethlehem.org Edgeboro Moravian Christmas Putz Dec. 1-22, Mon.-Fri., 9 am- 2 pm, by group reservation. Thurs.-Sat. 6-8 pm, and Sun. 3-6 pm open to the public. The birth of Jesus Christ is presented through site and sound. 610-866-8793. Edgeboromoravian.org Live Advent Calendar Dec. 1-23: Every night at 5:30 pm, beginning. See what comes out of the door each night at the Goundie House, 501 Main St., the only Live Advent Calendar in the U.S. Free. downtownbethlehemassociation.com The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Christmas Rocks Extravaganza. Dec. 2, 7 pm. State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton. 610-252-3132, 1-800-999-STATE. Statetheatre.org Christmas with the Celts Dec. 3, 7:30 pm. The show is a blend of Celtic carols and modern pop elements. $20-$30. Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling, ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. 610-332-3378. ArtsQuest.org Christmas City Follies XV, Vaudevillian Holiday Hijinx Dec. 4-21, Thurs.-Sat. 8 pm, Sun. 2 pm. Come and enjoy this sweet and irreverent variety show for the holiday season! Tickets: $25 Students/$15 Seniors. Touchstone Theatre, 321 East 4th St., Bethlehem. 610-867-1689. Touchstone.org Vienna Boys Choir Dec. 5, 8 pm. Austrian folk songs and waltzes, classical masterpieces, beloved pop songs, holiday favorites and medieval chant. Gifted musicians that carry on the illustrious tradition as the world’s preeminent boy choir. Tickets: $35 Adult/$10 Student, plus fees. Miller Symphony Hall, 23 North 6th St., Allentown. 610-432-6715. Millersymphonyhall.org A Winter’s Tale Dec. 5- Jan. 4, Thurs.-Sat. 12-5 pm, Sun. 12-4 pm. Learn how famous artists Gustav Grunewald, Emil Gelhaar, and Antonio Martino played with hues and tones in an assortment of snow capped landscape paintings. Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts. 610-868-6868. Historicbethlehem.org Twelve Twenty Four, 13th Year Tour The holiday rock orchestra is inspired by the TransSiberian Orchestra and is an explosive, rockin, fun filled show. Multiple show venues and dates so don’t miss out.

Dec. 5 & 6: Mauch Chunk Opera House, 14 W. Broadway, Jim Thorpe, PA. Dec. 19: Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown. Dates will be announced for Zoellner Arts Center, Bethlehem. TwelveTwentyFour.net Bethlehem Historic District Holiday House Tour Dec. 6, 10 am- 4 pm. The tour includes nine residencies, Central Moravian Church and the impressive Hotel Bethlehem. $20 in advance/$22 online or $25 day of tour. Christmascity.org, Artsquest.org. The Bang Group’s Nut/Cracked Dec. 11, 8 pm. Featuring more than 30 students from Muhlenberg College’s dance department and The Lehigh Valley Charter School, Nut/Cracked is a journey into innocence through sustained fantasy, incorporating tap, ballet, contemporary, disco and toe tap. $20/$25. ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. 610-332-3378. ArtsQuest.org Micky’s Monkees’ Christmas Show Dec. 12, 7:30 pm. Micky Dolenz, the voice behind some of The Monkees’ most memorable songs, will perform a night of Monkees hits and Christmas classics, along with an intimate Q&A session during the show. $47-$57. Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling. ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way. 610-332-3378. artsquest.org 36th Annual Live Bethlehem Christmas Pageant Dec. 13-14, 1:45 pm. Singing, narration, actors and live animals come together in this reenactment of the historical events surrounding the birth of Christ. The event takes place outdoors. Free. Bethlehem Rose Garden Band Shell, off Eighth Ave., Bethlehem. The Nutcracker Dec. 13, 1 & 4 pm. Dec. 14, 2 pm. Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley Presenting Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Live music with full orchestra. Baker Hall, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org Luminaria Night Dec. 13, sundown. City-wide. Neighborhoods unite in an annual display of luminaria candles in bags lining the streets. Participation is encouraged; kits can be purchased in advance. Proceeds benefit community members in need. Viewing is free; $10 kit includes 10 candles sand and bags. 610-691-5602. Sponsored by New Bethany Ministries. facebook.com/Luminarianight Swinging the Holidays with the Rob Stoneback Big Band Dec. 20, 7:30 pm. Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way. Tickets: $18-$22. 610-332-3378. artsquest.org Jimmy and the Parrots: Holiday Parrot Party Dec. 28, 8 pm. Grab your beach chair, suntan oil, favorite drink and get ready for a trip to the islands. $10-$12 in advance; $12-$15 day of show. Musikfest Café presented by Yuengling. ArtsQuest Center, 101 Founders Way. 610-332-3378 artsquest.org

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The List : NOVEMBER 1 Lydia Lunch Transgressive poet, punk and cinematic high priestess Lunch has been wowing nervous audiences since 1978 with her foul-mouthed word play an empowered feminist rhetoric. She’ll appear at PhilaMOCA to perform her new work, Dust and Shadows, a piece she calls a “combination of otherworldly textures, images and sound set to themes, which deal lyrically with loss, rage, revenge and survival.” Yikes. 8 p.m. $17, PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th Street, www.philamoca.org 2 Split Red Guitarist Stephen Buono and the rest of Philadelphia’s Split Red (alumni of such local notables such as Many Arms, Make

4, 11, 18, 25 Philly Sings Philly As the name connotes, the PSP project will be filled with local singers, players and songwriters wreaking havoc upon other local singers, players and songwriters music. While most of the names will remain secret until right before show time, look for the participation of American Diamond Recordings (a new collective from Marley McNamara and Ron Gallo, Hezekiah Jones, Mason Porter, Kuf Knotz, DRGN King and Pine Barons—notable names all. 8 p.m. The Fire, 412 W. Girard Avenue. www.iourecords.com 6 Wired 95.6 Fest: Steve Aoki & Lil Jon The DJ and electro-making magician born of the Benihana fortune and the rapper best

A. D. AMOROSI

A curated look at the month’s arts, entertainment, food and pop cultural events Goapele, an artist who seems to toy with genre and gender roles more than many in

18 Marian Anderson Awards Jon Bon Jovi Ask yourself this question: if charitable philanthropic Philadelphia opera singer Marian Anderson was alive, would SHE give Jon Bon Jovi any awards? 8:30, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Broad Street. kimmelcenter.org

Goapele.

her art form. This makes her a modern day Annie Lennox-style androgene’, which is cool since Lennox doesn’t seem to be doing much about that these days. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street, $24- $35, 215-222-1400, philly.worldcafelive.com

Split Red. Lil Jon and Steve Aoki

A Rising, and Cuddle Magic) know good noise when they hear it, and have liberally applied some into its hardcore punk/blues/jazz mix on its new album, Serious Heft. 8:30 p.m., Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Avenue, $10, 215-739-9684, www.johnnybrendas.com 4 A Night with Chrissie Hynde: Pretenders and Stockholm Is that a promise or a threat? Actually, the Clevelander practically invented the whole tough girl punk genre with her sneering lyrics and low, throaty vocals, so this could be wondrous or tepid. 8 p.m., Tower Theatre, 69th & Ludlow, Upper Darby, PA., $75, 59.50, 49.50, 39.50, 29.50, 800-7453000, www.Ticketmaster.com 4 Gruff Rhys If you’re Welsh, miss the thick accent, and stuck in Philly overnight, Mr. Rhys is for you. Currently promoting his album/book/movie/app American Interior, Rhys is wryly engaging stuff, especially now considering that American Interior looks at (according to its notes) church-led push of anti-English nationalism across Wales where young men were persuaded to leave their homes and take the Welsh language and culture to the New World. 8 p.m., Boot & Saddle, 1131 S. Broad Street, $13-$15, www.bootandsaddlephilly.com

known for shouting out “Yeah,” “Wut” and his appearance on The Apprentice join forces for a mini-fest certain to titillate rave kids and fans of Donald Trump. 8 p.m. Electric Factory, 421 N. 7th Street, $61.45, 215-627-1332, www.electricfactory.info 7-9 Fall Experimental Music Fest Philly’s most exciting venue for avant-garde movement theater and sound takes on electronic music avatar Bruce Haack and other early experimentalists—as well as several original pieces—during this three day run at their Fishtown studios. 8 p.m, each night, the fidget space, 1714 North Mascher Street. $12 Online / $15 at the door, Festival Pass (on-line only) $30, www.thefidget.org 7 Mark Lanegan Mod-rock’s greatest collaborator and voice of choice (Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age, Moby, Soulsavers, UNKLE, etc) makes his own sad, dramatic music on occassion. His newest album, Phantom Radio, continues his losing winning streak. 8:30 p.m.,Underground Arts at the Wolf Building, 1200 Callowhill Street. $25. www.undergroundarts.org 8 Goapele Strong As Glass is the upcoming album from soul swinging composer

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Avenue. $149.50, 79.50, 49.50. 1-800-2984200, www.ComcastTIX.com

11 Usher Nu-soul’s best male vocalist, dancer and all-around personality (see his appearances on The Voice for proof) has a new album in the offing, but instead finishes 2014 with a tour that promises to be magnetic. 7:30 p.m., Wells Fargo Center, Broad and Pattison Avenue. $175, 95, 65, 39.50. 1-800-2984200, www.ComcastTIX.com 15 Paul Anka He wrote several of Frank Sinatra’s signature, latter-day songs, made a hit out of “She’s Having My Baby,” and is way too tan for his own good: this show sells itself. 8 p.m., Sands Bethlehem Event Center, 77 Sands Blvd, Bethlehem, PA. $90, 75.50, 49.50, 800-745-3000, www.SandsEventCenter.com 16 Isabella Rossellini What is Ingrid Bergman’s daughter’s story with bugs and sex, what with her having dressed up like a gnat, filmed insect screwing and such (along with her own performance) and screened it all under the banner of Green Porno? I’m in, no matter what the answer. November 14, 8 p.m., World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street, $37.50, 215-222-1400, philly.worldcafelive.com 16 Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life I disagree with most that this double album is Wonder’s best, but crowds and critics think otherwise, so who am I to stop Stevie’s fun and jazzy R&B hit-making sensibilities? 8 p.m., Wells Fargo Center, Broad and Pattison

20 Daniel Lanois The man most famous for producing a bunch of U2 albums has a handsome solo career on his hands, equally as atmospheric as any of his Irish pals. 8 p.m., World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street, $25 $30, 215-222-1400, philly.worldcafelive.com 21 Randy Newman Family film’s favorite composer and America’s one-time wryest lyricist makes a rare pit stop in the Lehigh Valley; interesting as he isn’t scheduled for additional shows in the area. 7:30 p.m., State Theatre, 453 Northampton Street, Easton, PA. 1-800-999-STATE, www.statetheatre.org 21 Brian Posehn Having referred to himself as creepy makes it easier to check out the comic best known for his role in the Sarah Silverman Show, 2005’s The Comedians of Comedy, and his Nerd Rage LP. 7:00 p.m., Arts Quest Center at Steel Stacks Campus, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, PA. $24-28/$28$32, 610-32-1300, www.artsquest.org 21-23 Bob Dylan While it’s rumored that Dylan has an album of new songs and Tin Pan Alley classics planned for release soon, these shows seem to be timed to the release of his six-disc box of The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 with The Band, as well the gi-normous, 960 page, 15plus pound The Lyrics: Since 1962. 8 p.m. each night. Academy of Music, 240 S Broad Street, $240/$192, 215-893-1999 www.academyofmusic.org 26 Slayer with Suicidal Tendencies and Exodus Headbanging metal has no better brotherhood than Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies. Request anything from Reign in Blood and stand back. 7:30 p.m., Sands Bethlehem Event Center, 77 Sands Blvd, Bethlehem, PA. $39.50, 800-745-3000, www.SandsEventCenter.com ■

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Singer / Songwriter The Hello Strangers ★★★1/2 The Hello Strangers IMI Records Sisters Brechyn Chace and Larissa Chace Smith have teamed up as the The Hello Strangers to record one of the top debut albums of 2014 with their self-titled CD. Their harmonies at times recall a distaff version of the Everly Brothers and a country-influenced Indigo Girls.

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

vocals; Craven steps to the forefront on the bittersweet “Stolen Love”; Muensch takes his first lead vocal on “Pallet” as the band transforms the folk standard with a Western swing accompaniment. Craven’s “Simple Man,” a tale of a farmer down on his luck, and de Vry’s “Black Hills,” a song about Native Americans, reveal the breadth of the trio’s songwriting. 12 songs, 45 minutes.

Know,” a hit for Delaney and Bonnie that was written by Britsh rocker Dave Mason, starts the album on a high note. “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted,” Jimmy Ruffin’s finest moment as a balladeer, works well as a duet, with Clay and Rawls trading verses about love gone wrong. “Turn Back the Hands of Time,” a hit for Tyrone Davis in 1970, may be the ultimate song in pleading for a second chance

Over the Rhine.

We Make It Through December” finds Detweiler and Bergquist sharing vocals on a timeless tale of the economic blues of Christmas. Bergquist shines on “New Year’s Song,” a torch song about the hope for better times as the chronological odometer rolls over to another year. It wraps up the satisfying album on an optimistic note. 9 songs 37 minutes.

The Hello Strangers.

Both women demonstrate a knack for strong songwriting that tells a story. The spirited “What It Takes to Break a Heart” is an up-tempo, Saturday night on the town song. They easily switch genres for “Ruined,” a country-flavored, long-gone-wrong tune that could have been recorded by Patsy Cline. The wistful “Never Roam Again,” elevated by Wanda Vick’s viola, has the poetic simplicity of early John Prine. Jim Lauderdale contributes vocals on the haunting “What You Don’t Know, which he co-wrote with John Leventhal. Producer Steve Ivey keeps arrangements uncluttered to allow the vocals to come to the forefront. “Conococheague” sounds like a traditional British ballad with voices intertwined like a couple embracing. “Que Sera Sera,” a tribute to the sisters’ paternal grandfather who sang with Doris Day, is turned into a bittersweet waltz that plays to the sisters’ vocal strengths. 14 songs, 51 minutes Otis Clay and Johnny Rawls ★★★ Soul Brothers Catfood Records Soul Brothers is an album that pays tribute to the soul music that flourished from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, while also demonstrating there is still life in the genre in the 21st century. Longtime singers Otis Clay and Johnny Rawls bring a grit and energy to their performances, recalling work of such duos as Sam and Dave and Mel and Tim. The briskly paced “Only You Know and I

tomwilk@rocketmail.com

Otis Clay and Johnny Rawls.

and Clay and Rawls do it justice. Newer songs, such as “Road Dog” and “Hallelujah Lord,” which Clay and Rawls had a hand in writing, show the album is more than an exercise in nostalgia. “Hallelujah Lord” highlights soul music’s roots in gospel. The Rays provide strong backing throughout, especially a four-piece horn section that captures that soul music flavor. 10 songs, 37 minutes Over The Rhine ★★★★ Blood Oranges in the Snow Great Speckled Dog Blood Oranges in the Snow, the third album of Christmas music in 18 years by Ohio-based duo Over the Rhine, covers the gamut of emotions felt during the holidays. Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist, have crafted an intimate, acoustic recording that invites a listener to savor the music. The title track is a traveling song about the anticipation of reuniting with family and friends for the holidays. “Snowbirds” is a lighter song on those fleeing cold weather for warmer climes. “Another Christmas” and “My Father’s Body,” both sung by Detweiler, are somber reflections on the holiday. The former incorporates lyrics from Hark! The Herald Angels Sings, while the latter connects Christmas past and present with a meditation on the loss of a parent. Merle Haggard’s “If

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Mark Rogers and Mary Byrne ★★★ I Line My Days Along Your Weight Important Records Mark Rogers and Mary Byrne bring a lowkey intensity to I Line My Days Along Your Weight, the debut album for the husbandand-wife duo. Recorded live with minimal overdubs, the largely acoustic CD has the feel of a recording session in a living room. Byrne’s impressionistic poetry mixes well with Rogers’ skills on a variety of stringed instruments, including guitar, lap steel guitar and mandolin. The layered instruments symbolize the closeness of a relationship on “First Fall Nights,” which includes the album’s title in the lyrics. “A Racing Heart” opens with an a

The Stray Birds ★★★1/2 Best Medicine Yep Roc The Stray Birds combine the versatility of The Band with the vocal prowess of Crosby,

Mark Rogers and Mary Byrne.

The Stray Birds.

Stills and Nash on Best Medicine, a strong follow-up to their debut album of 2012. The trio of Mayer de Vitry, Oliver Craven and Charlies Muensch, who all hail from the Lancaster area, demonstrates a deepening musical chemistry on this rootsy collection of acoustic music. The title track sets the tone for the CD with its celebration of a music store as a cultural center and the promise of new sounds as an emotional balm. On Best Medicine, each member of the band is showcased: “The Bells” is a vibrant, up-tempo selection featuring de Vry on lead

cappella introduction by Byrne as she and Rogers make effective use of pauses and silence in their music. Call it inspirational minimalism. “Walk With Me” is a haunting, romantic ballad that features fragile guitar work by Rogers. “Green Gold Velvet” serves as a compelling memory of childhood; Rogers and Byrne grew up near other in Central Pennsylvania but did not meet until later in life. Set in their current home of New York City, “Sirens Call” is a sketch of life and death and the desire to persevere amid the urban landscape. “I won’t stop till the ambulances come for me,” Byrne declares “Always more chances till the sirens come for me.” 10 songs, 38 minutes. ■

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Keresman on Disc Willi Williams ★★★★★ Unification: From Channel One to King Tubby’s Shanachie While not many folks that aren’t hardcore reggae fans are familiar with singer/songwriter/producer Willi(e) Williams, many are familiar with one of his songs: “Ar-

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

rock with contemporary electronic and avant-garde music.) Paired down to two members, Zappi Diermaier and Jean-Herve Peron, Faust are still somewhat ahead of the

In a slightly similar vein is The Group, which is short for Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, an Italian collective spanning 1964-1980, one of whose primary members was film composer Ennio Morricone (the very same gent that composed for “spaghetti westerns” and more than 500 films). Feed Back was originally released in 1970 and though the players were mostly fellows with classical backgrounds in their 40s, it sounds oddly similar to Can and Faust in that it features cinematic and seemingly abstract motifs ‘n’ noises fluttering/clashing over insistent grooves. Portions herein even anticipate Miles Davis’ electric period circa Live/Evil and Can’s Ege Bamyasi...strange, yet true. (3 tracks, 29 min.) ishtar.it

B g

m l

p i l

i Justin Townes Earle ★★★★ Single Mothers Vagrant The son of alt-country patriarch Steve Earle (who at one time called his style “heavy metal bluegrass”), Justin Townes

J. W. Jones.

Willi Williams.

mageddon Time” was famously covered by The Clash in 1979 and made its way into movie soundtracks Ghost Dog and Grand Theft Auto. While Williams released only a handful of singles, he’s something of a legend among reggae aficionados—Unification collects some of those singles and previously unreleased studio material from 1978-80. Williams has an engagingly smooth, expressive, and pliant voice—imagine perhaps a teenage Bob Marley. These songs feature backing by Yabby You, Sly & Robbie, The Gladiators, Jackie Mittoo, and The Soul Syndicate, and it’s earthy, earnest, righteous roots reggae of the highest order—throbbing, hypnotic bass; deep grooves, gospeltinged organ, and faraway-sounding horns. If you’re a reggae fan and you value early Marley & the Wailers, Toots & the Maytals, and Steel Pulse, this is an absolute must. (12 tracks, 40 min.) shanachie.com J.W. Jones ★★★1/2 Belmont Boulevard Blind Pig Darn right, Canadians get the blues just as we Americans and our UK cousins. Take J.W. Jones, a young fellow (b. 1980) who’s

shemp@hotmail.com

got the Right Stuff. He’s a sharp guitarist who knows when to rein it in—Jones’ solos are short, stinging, and to the point. Speaking of stinging, his style is a nifty amalgam of the terse fire of Otis Rush and Magic Sam, a bit of Gatemouth Brown’s swingin’ jazzy élan, the clean wail of B.B. King, and the rock-charged punch of Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan. Belmont is not for any kind of purist—Jones is like a stylistic chameleon, which is fine as he puts a lot of panache in whatever mode he takes on. The sly, irresistable mid-tempo groover “If It Feels This Good Tomorrow” could be a John Hiatt or Southside Johnny song in its mixture of classic (pre-1972) R&B and just the right touch of pop sophistication. The slightly sinister, guitar-effect-laden “Cocaine Boy” and the cynical “Never Worth It” are the most rockin’ songs here, guaranteed to warm the hearts of Robin Trower and Leslie West fans. Jones isn’t the greatest singer ever, but his voice has a plainspoken honesty that’s hard to resist. If you like your blues uncluttered and laced with rock and soul, take a trip down this Boulevard. (12 tracks, 50 min.) blindpigrecords.com Faust ★★★★ jUSt Bureau B The Group ★★★1/2 The Feed Back Schema Formed in Germany in 1971, Faust were in the vanguard of what’s come to be known as Krautrock, including such ahead-of-theirtime fellow travelers Kraftwerk and Can. (Thumbnail: Krautrock generally had an experimental bent, combining progressive

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j Amaury Cambuzat, Werner “Zappi” Diermaier, Olivier Manchion, Jean-Hervé Péron | 2006

curve—jUSt features short, enigmatic instrumentals (mostly) featuring eerie, alternately from-the-depths-of-the-netherworld and crack-of-thunder percussion, quasi-tribal rhythms, throbbing bass, and ghostly textures that’ll make you wonder how they’re making that sound. Faust achieve a rare synthesis of sounding primitive and sophisticated simultaneously—imagine if the Mad Professor or Lee “Scratch” Perry deconstructed the Grateful Dead circa 1968. (12 tracks, 54 min.) bureau-b.com

Ennio Morricone.

M A h

b i h T i

Justin Townes Earle.

u Earle has carved out a niche very distinct from his father. While JT Earle’s sound is based in country it’s closer to the eclectic Texas sphere of Willie Nelson, Doug Sahm, and, yes, Townes Van Zandt than most anything emerging from Nashville. He’s got a somewhat smooth, reserved, melancholy voice with a slight drawl and he keeps his ammo use to a minimum—acoustic, electric, and steel guitars, bass, and drums. Earle’s songs are like little slices of life, probing the legend of Billie Holiday (“White Gardenias,” haunting), dysfunctional families (“Single Mothers”), and unrequited love (“Wanna Be a Stranger”). The highlight is the ruminative, loping, yet sparkling “Time Shows Fools,” which is old-school Southern soul (think Otis Redding, Solomon Burke). Single is a beautifully understated mix of American roots musics. (10 tracks, 30 min.) vagrant.com ■

f w

Nick’’s Picks

NICK BEWSEY

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

Kenny Barron and Dave Holland ★★★★1/2 The Art Of Conversation impulse! Two superior musicians, pianist Kenny Barron and bassist Dave Holland, have a beguiling rapport on The Art Of Conversation, a lively and hauntingly beautiful duo recording that elicits not only good feeling and intimate swing, but also a profound, seemingly effortless grasp of why melody and rhythm matter. It also makes for a fun listen. Their lead track, Holland’s “The Oracle,” sets a tasteful mood and thrums with a breezy pulse, but each song is a lesson in tuneful improvisation and pace—Barron and Holland play as they breathe, their solos unfold as poetic cadenzas that flow with endless ideas.

Alicia Olatuja ★★★★1/2 Timeless World Tune Records The Brooklyn-based singer/vocalist Alicia Olatuja is a classically trained mezzo-soprano, but her heart is deeply invested in jazz and soulful pop tunes. Timeless is her refreshing, modern recording that wraps her warm friendly voice in a blanket of exceptional sound; bassist Christian McBride, pianist Christian Sands and saxophonist Jaleel Shaw each make impressive appearances. This star-turn of an album has

Otis Brown III ★★★★1/2 The Thought Of You Revive/Blue Note Without a doubt, drummer Otis Brown III is narrowing the divide that keeps jazz segregated from mainstream (read: marketable) recordings. Brown’s terrific debut, The Thought Of You, is a collaborative production from Revive Music and Blue Note and it’s a winner as fitting a release on the classic Blue Note label as anything they released in the ‘60s. The innovative drummer’s facility and outsized talent was already apparent backing Joe Lovano’s Us Five band, Terence Blanchard and Oliver Lake over the last few years.

ly feels like a lost soundtrack to a David Lynch movie, especially the way it mixes multiple guitar sounds (bass, electric and acoustic) in an earthy, cosmic stew. It’s out there, but satisfyingly accessible that’s almost too cool. He dips into surf music with deep respect and flips that anachronistic genre into something pleasurable with current arrangements that hang tight. Pete Seeger’s timeless

Bill Frisell.

Alicia Olatuja. Otis Brown III.

Kenny Barron and Dave Holland.

Both are distinguished leaders with long careers, born of the same generation (Barron is 71 and Holland is 69) and they smoothly weave medium tempo tunes and smoky ballads into a seductive blend on Conversation. Barron contributes three originals and Holland four, with welcome jazz standards popping up by Charlie Parker (the tricky, off-kilter “Segment”) as well as Monk (the finger-popping “In Walked Bud”). Among the originals, Barron’s “Seascape” has a percolating, head-bobbing flair. And there’s something about Holland’s swirling ballad, “In Your Arms,” that’s transfixing and illustrates how the bassist can be as graceful here as he is assertive on his own projects. The pair couldn’t have chosen a better ending—their styles melt together on the delicate Strayhorn-Ellington ballad “Daydream,” a harmonic convergence that drifts by like slow clouds in the sky. (10 tracks; 63 minutes)

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

the substance of Stevie Wonder’s early records and, like him, Olatuja pins her recording with a keen assortment of styles and rhythmic moods. Vocally, Olatuja has a salt-of-the-earth voice and genuine embrace of the lyric— she’s like a rebooted Lizz Wright, but with her own sense of majesty. There’s her gospel soul combined with riveting storytelling style that pours joy, heartache and optimism into spellbinding originals like “Truth In Blue” and “Speak The Words” co-written by her husband, Michael Olatuja. She crushes on the ethereal arrangement of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature,” by adding a slo-mo emotional twist that takes that song into new territory. She even covers Wonder’s heartfelt ballad “Stay Gold” and lifts it anew with a graceful reading amplified with arresting accompaniment by harmonica player Gregoire Maret. But Olatuja shines brightest on the dazzling samba tune “Serrado,” a vocal and percussive tour-de-force. Timeless is a consistently great album. Doubtless, some singers would unravel interpreting these gorgeous, challenging songs, but Olatuja keeps the vocal somersaults under control along with her confidence. Also with pianist Jon Cowherd, guitarist David Rosenthal and drummer/producer Ulysses Owens, Jr., whose contemporary beats blend elegantly with Olatuja’s brilliantly knowing voice. (10 tracks; 49 minutes)

The album is enjoyably entertaining and feels unselfconscious. It essentially means that his percussion and beats underpin his compositions rather than dominate. Even the gospel melody performed by Nikki Ross fuses reverence with diva soul power. There’s a powerful singular drive throughout (the bass is pleasingly amped up), yet the compositions are as strong and confident as the musicians that play them—distinctive pianist Robert Glasper, trumpeter Keyon Harrold, saxophonist John Ellis and bassist Ben Williams whose tight, beefy notes steer the propulsive frontline horns on “The Way-Truth and Life.” Mixing hearty originals (“Stages Of Thought” is a groove-textured wonder) with wholly unexpected covers (Shania Twain’s “Still The One” is breathlessly sung by Gretchen Parlato), Brown, along with co-producer Derrick Hodge, gives The Thought Of You a kinetic energy with a jazz/pop sheen that bears witness to a promising and significant artist. (11 tracks; 56 minutes) Bill Frisell ★★★★ Guitar In The Space Age Okeh Guitarist Bill Frisell, 63, is a wonderfully restless musician. Just when you got used to his languid, golden wheat style of Americana jazz, he turns the tables and makes one of his finest albums. Guitar In The Space Age initial-

“Turn, Turn, Turn” is lush with rhythmic twang and its revisionist melody catches you off guard. Likewise, Brian Wilson’s “Surfer Girl” is inflated with juicy harmonics and a sweet backbeat. Frisell reflects on the ‘50s, inspired by the way he and his fellow musicians grew up and what they liked; the album’s zeitgeist is all about California summers and first guitars, along with a mutual love of jazz, blues and rock. Because it all works so beautifully, Guitar is nothing short of a sonic gem with layers that peel back to reveal superb musicianship and honest grooves. (14 tracks; 55 minutes) Kenny Shanker ★★★1/2 Action City Posi-tone This album from New York-based saxophonist Kenny Shankar, is the kind of unpretentious straight-ahead jazz that goes down easy. Shanker’s strong, all-original set hearkens back to the Prestige-era’s classic quintets—tight melodies and urbane solos are the rule here and it’s a fine combination. Action City is highlighted by “Times Square,” defined by its strong melody and Jazz Crusaders-style groove. “Another Morning” pops with an astute sense of swing, while “Summer Siesta” clicks with a breezy flavor. The band works well together, but pianist Mike Eckroth is a dazzler in the tradition of a young Hank Jones or Tommy Flanagan, and together Shanker and he make these tunes bounce. Stick around for the enticing ballad, “Riverbank At Dawn,” and the closer, “Snow Paws”—its pop contours fade away to reveal Shanker’s gift at composing music that’s sure to make your day. (12 tracks; 55 minutes) ■

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Jazz Library

BOB PERKINS

LESTERYOUNG

S THERE REALLY A fine line that divides genius from off-beat behavior and even insanity, as many have proclaimed? Over the years, strange behavioral patterns have been ascribed to people in the art world, and the strange antics of some brilliant artists brought has them as much attention as their artistry. Lester Young distinguished himself not only as a world-renowned tenor saxophonist, but as an innovator, a musician that many up-and-comers wanted to sound like. Lester had it all going for him, but failed to put it together and capitalize on his great talent. Lester Willis Young was born in Woodville, Mississippi, August 27, 1909, into a into a very musical family. He apprenticed with the family band—that included his father, a brother and sister—and then, at 13, the non-conforming Young quit because he refused to tour the south, and put up with its strong racial indignities. He was an important part of the family unit and played saxophone, violin, trumpet and drums. When the family moved to Minneapolis, he left home and toured with another band for a couple of years before returning to the family band in 1929. By then he’d become an accomplished tenor sax player and freelanced with the likes of Benny Moten and King Oliver, among others. His first engagement with the Count Basie Band came in 1934. He quit Basie’s band the same year to work for Fletcher Henderson, where he was to replace—and was expected to sound like—the legendary Coleman Hawkins. But Young was a different kind of player, and carried a much lighter, cooler and laid back sound, as opposed to Hawkins’ muscular approach. It was a bad fit, and after a couple months Young was gone. He was back with Basie in 1936, and this is where he’d begin to make a name for himself, recording with the band, and starring with fellow band members, pianist Teddy Wilson and vocalist Billie Holiday. It was with Basie that Young and Holiday began a long lasting, platonic relationship, which culminated in her naming him “Pres,” short for “The President,” because to her, he was number one on the tenor sax. He in turn gifted her with the sobriquet “Lady Day.” Leaving Basie again in 1940, he failed to capitalize on the fame he’d garnered and his career stalled. He started his own band, which didn’t bear fruit, and later formed a band with his younger brother Lee, who played drums. This union also went nowhere. Young joined Basie again in 1943, and this association jump-started his failing career. While with Basie he took first place in the Down Beat poll for tenor saxophonists. He was again riding high. But then came a draft notice, and with it, a major turning point in his life. Young didn’t want to be a soldier, but thought he’d tough out his army tour of duty in a special service unit, playing sax and traveling at home and maybe abroad—after all, he was Lester Young, who’d played with Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Moten, and who had recently been named the world’s number one tenor saxophonist by Down Beat. But for whatever reason, he was not allowed in special service, and was ordered to soldier like other draftees. His rebellious nature told him to fight back by not making reveille or following the orders of commissioned and non-commissioned officers. In my teens I worked in a dry cleaning establishment, and it was there that a co-worker who knew I liked jazz told me he was in the army with Young—and even produced a photo of himself and Young as soldiers. He said Young defied his superiors for almost a year-and-a-half, and that he was even thrown into the brig for several months, because he (supposedly) was caught with drugs. Young’s champions refute this, and contend it was just another way to wear him down and break him. He was finally dishonorably discharged in 1945, and there are those who believe he never got over what the army had put him through. He began to drink heavily but maintained his lip, and there were still young players who loved his sound, the unorthodox way he held his horn when he played, dug his patented pork-pie hat, his hip vocabulary, and his nonchalant manner. After all, he was “Pres” and his way with the tenor sax was influencing budding jazz greats like Paul Quinechette, Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Wardell Gray, and others. Young didn’t play so-called bebop, but he later assimilated the sound of the more modern jazz sound, and was able to fuse some of its characteristics with his Swing Jazz style. He could

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jam with the younger and more adventurous players in his bands, and could hold his own on stage with players of any stripe. He began to drink heavily in the early 1950s, and his playing sometimes was not up to par. He made guest appearances with Count Basie in the ‘50s, but never became a regular band member again. Young was hospitalized several times toward the end of his life due to alcohol abuse. His health continued to decline and he lost considerable weight. He accepted an engagement in Paris in January of 1959, and while there became very ill. He returned to the States and passed on in March of 1959. Ironically, his once great friend, Billy Holiday, with whom he later had a falling out, died several months later. The two never ironed out whatever differences had separated them. Another bit of irony in the Lester Young story, is the fact that Lee Young, Lester’s brother— who played drums in the bands of Ellington, Basie, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, Nat “King Cole and several other top bandleaders—never gained anywhere near the fame of his older, more flamboyant brother but did escape the demons that plagued Lester. Lee, who lived almost twice as long as Lester, passed away at the ripe old age of 94. He laid aside the drumsticks midway in his life and became a very successful record executive with Vee Jay and, later, the Motown label. ■

Bob Perkins is a writer and host of an all-jazz radio program that airs on WRTI-FM 90.1, MonThurs. 6 to 9pm & Sun., 9am–1pm.

About Life

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

THE ART OF BLAME BLAMING ANOTHER PERSON IS simple and so easy that practically anyone can do it. Like most negative dynamics it requires no talent or creativity at all. Blame is is common and can be found in dyads, triads and systems. It can go from the younger generation to the older generation just as easily as it can go from the older to the younger. There is blame aplenty to be dished out on minorities, majorities, gender, religion, and, of course, politics. Even indulgent self-blame is an all too common phenomenon. Between two or more people it can be a destructive force, eroding trust and good feelings between the parties involved. Blame requires some level of misunderstanding or partial understanding of relational dynamics and motivations. Sometimes it arises from sadness, sometimes it’s the manifestation of inner unhappiness, and other times it reflects a lack of understanding of oneself. Whatever the reason, blame is considered to be a defense mechanism in the context of relationships. One frequent manifestation of blame is to disown a particular feeling, provoke another person until they behave or react in certain way, project the disowned feelings onto them—and then accuse or blame them for this or that reaction. Consider, for example, a husband who has had a bad day at work, is unhappy, and blames his wife for being the source of his unhappiness. This is also known as anger displacement. Instead of realizing the anger is really meant for a co-worker or the boss, the wife receives the blame. After a stressful day a mother may find herself yelling and blaming her children instead of processing the real source of her stress. While it’s easier to blame others, it’s better to examine how we explain undesirable aspects of life to ourselves. If a person assumes the boss doesn’t like him it may not occur to him that the boss may be having a bad day and is displacing anger onto him. Without a full understanding of what the blamer is experiencing it’s all too easy to misunderstand what’s actually going on. Distorted thinking more often than not creates distorted and inaccurate conclusions about other people. Those who indulge in excessive self-blaming—what Freud referred to as a “punishing super-ego”—often accept blame from others because of a distorted way of explaining the events of life to themselves. Folks with a punishing super-ego often unconsciously seek out relationships with blamers, just as those who are quick to blame often find an attraction to those they can control and manipulate through blame. In this way, each person fulfills an unhealthy wish for the other. Blaming others is not the same as teaching or helping them to accept flaws and shortcomings about themselves. Everyone makes mistakes and becoming conscious of those mistakes is the first step in improving. Helping someone to acknowledge flaws and mistakes is a supportive and motivational process. Blame is a defense mechanism and defenses are triggered by a threat to the self that’s either real or imagined. A defense protects a sense of vulnerability and the true underlying feelings, which are disowned by the blamer, are sadness, fear or a combination of both. To help a blamer it’s important to keep in mind the awareness that the feelings behind the defense are the real problem and that the defense is a symptom of a deeper problem with sadness and/or fear. Often the true message of the person who blames is “ I am hurting” and/or “I am frightened.” The use of blame is often a disguised call for help. Because excessive sadness or self-blame can spill over into blaming the other person for unhappiness, this defense is sometimes an advertisement of depression. Happy people are not so fast to blame and try to understand deeply and forgive quickly. Depression distorts thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Fear is equally powerful in distorting the world and the motivations of others. Blaming is then sometimes a display of fear. By attacking and blaming, the other person is reduced and experienced as less threatening. Being controlling is a related defense to blaming. We often try to control our fear, because we think that what we’re unable to control will hurt us in some way. The use of control and blaming as defenses often relieve inner turmoil and anxiety. While blaming and controlling are symptoms of deeper problems, they’re effective in the short run in reducing anxiety, which is fear based. These are, however, not effective solutions for resolving the deeper issues. These strategies are like a mosquito bite that, when scratched, itches all the more. Sadly, this prolongs the pain and inflicts pain onto others and has the capacity to kill love and destroy relationships. ■ Jim Delpino is a psychotherapist in private practice for over 33 years. Email: jdelpino@aol.com Phone: (215) 364-0139.

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Dining

ROBERT GORDON

CROW & THE PITCHER LIKE COMING HOME. STANDING gracious and elegant beside the Crow & the Pitcher bar was the iconic Le Bec-Fin cheese cart—possibly the one we saw in 1973 when my wife and I, and the rest of restaurant-deprived Philadelphia, entered a new gastronomical era, grace à Georges Perrier and other Philly food-front pioneers like Steve Posey, Fritz Blanc, and Jean-Marie La Croix. In Philly food legacy, the cart is akin to the Holy Grail. The cart now resides with Michael Franco, the personable, polished co-owner of Crow & the Pitcher along with partner, Chef Alex Capasso, formerly of Blackfish in Collingswood, NJ. I first met Michael years ago when, as GM at Le Bec-Fin, he was keeping the city FOH (Front of House, a CIA degree nowadays) standard high. A few years ago, Michael took off for the Big Apple and NYC’s Per Se, an internationally renowned offshoot of Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in Yountville, CA. The Per Se handle stems from a Keller quip. While planning his NY venture, Keller noted: “It won’t be the French Laundry per se.” Voilà. Life in the Big Apple was good, but Philly fealty is deep-rooted. A few years ago, I heard

abaster island of mascarpone. A battery of black-shelled PEI Mussels soaked in buttery, chivespiked vermouth sauce is a slurpy treat. Poached egg on brioche in a citrus sauce supports a trio of asparagus logs. Shavings of summer truffle added tableside lend an elegant touch. Golden Tilefish in Provençal sauce is served with hearts of palm harboring a hint of shiso. And then there’s Crow & Pitcher’s cheeseburger—a delicious nod to all-American grub. This version includes sinfully rich bone marrow and a heap of caramelized onions and roasted mushrooms. Fine cheese, Cabot cloth-bound cheddar—cheddar that’s carefully wrapped in layers of cloth and aged in a cave in order to release moisture and concentrate flavor—is the finishing touch in this wonderful composition. Nothing at C&P is an afterthought. Nothing is perfunctory; nothing unfussed-over. Whether you’re chilling with liquid refreshments and bar food, or sitting down and savoring a French-influenced entrée like Beef Rib-Eye, ringed by peaks of crispy fries, you can expect quality.

that Michael planned a return to the Quaker City; this time in a place of his own. I awaited his return with enthusiasm. “Is Crow & the Pitcher a place for some quick eats or a sit-down-dinner?” I overheard one customer ask the hostess. As with: “Would you like tea or coffee?” the answer is “Yes.” It’s no fluke we’re featuring Mackenzie Hilton’s work at The Tavern and Chef Capasso’s at Crow & the Pitcher in successive issues. Both chefs interplay simplicity with complexity. Both create upscale, sometimes cheeky takes on the familiar and mundane. And both democratize some normally specialized ingredients, like the curry that sparks bar-munchers’ and the coppa picante that braces deviled eggs. Crostini, a bar nosh available all day and evening, comes with smooth, lemon-tinged white bean dip rather than the ubiquitous garbanzo-based dip. Roasted cauliflower with hazelnuts, sultanas (golden raisins), and olives garnished with bits of scallion top an al-

A meticulously chosen cheese assortment, displayed and served from the Le Bec-Fin cart, brings accompaniments of whipped honey & agave, fig compote, caramelized onions, Meyer lemon jelly, and grapes. Whether munching or dining, you should make cheese de rigeur on any C&P visit. The dining room and bar communicate. The dining area is comfortable and casual. Walls clad in reclaimed wood frame attractive maroon banquettes. Filaments glow inside retro glass jars suspended overhead for light. The staff is knowledgeable, helpful, and cheery. And C&P benefits from an eminent eminence gris. Georges Perrier, Michael’s old employer visits daily. Since Perrier does not know “casual,” his visits come with helpful suggestions and observations. That’s just Georges being Georges. Recently, Georges was C&P’s guest chef at the Rittenhouse Row Culinary Collective. Yes, Michael might have the Le Bec-Fin cart, but Georges remains a Big Cheese. ■

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Crow and the Pitcher, 267 South 19th Street, Phila. 267-687-2608. crowandthepitcher.com

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

28 / RON CARTER

feel you have the skill level to take these opportunities. But then they tell you that someone with your skin tone can’t do it – and I didn’t quite get that. Racism was rampant before Rosa Parks, so it wasn’t completely unexpected—we were living this through the 40s and 50s. My thought was that if I didn’t emotionally crash, it wouldn’t be the end of me. That’s their view, not my view and here I am. During your years with Miles, you spent a lot of time with Herbie, Wayne and Tony. It sounds like a great fraternity—was it? We all had different interests. Herbie was always into electronics and gadgets and Tony was leaning that way, too. Wayne was interested in opera and a film buff. I was into sports cars. I had two kids at the time, too. Once the gigs were over, we went our own way, but always maintained a connection. To this day I still speak with Herbie and Wayne on their birthdays and special occasions. So while we aren’t playing together, the relationship is as strong as if we were. When you record albums like Herbie Hancock’s Maiden Voyage, Freddie Hubbard’s Red Clay, Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil or Jobim’s Wave, do you have a sense of its commercial value or that something special is being created? I like to think that anything I play on will be commercially viable and I’m not afraid to say that. When musicians get together, whatever their level, something special can come out. I think if you’re looking for it, you’re not going to find it. As it turns out, those records you mentioned happen to be important ones, whether it pertains to the advancement of sound or concept. We weren’t looking to make a famous record, only to have a great time playing and making as good a recording as possible. In the ‘80s, how bass was or wasn’t recorded changed. The “dreaded bass direct” is first specifically referenced in the liner notes on a Branford Marsalis record (Renaissance, 1987) and many subsequent Columbia/Sony releases. Their idea was that the bass didn’t need a microphone—didn’t need a pick up. They were wrong, every last one of them. If you listen to those recorded dates at Lincoln Center, you can’t hear the bass. Everyone on the bandstand has a microphone except the bass player who has the softest instrument on stage. The drummer has sticks the size of Hank Aaron’s baseball bat, the trumpets are playing into the microphone and the bassist is exhausted by playing so hard with nothing but calluses to show for it. What’s wrong with this picture? Some of these young players are missing the boat and hearing the wrong advice. When someone is playing a note you have to be able to hear it. If no one hears it but you, it doesn’t come together. I want the guy who’s sitting 25 rows back from the stage to hear me. I’m sorry that guys think that if bass players have a microphone, they’re cheating somehow. That’s nonsense. What’s it like getting the Ron Carter Big Band together again? I was just in London and working through some new material for that. It’s my chance to see if I can carry 16 people all night in a club. I love that kind of stuff. I’ve always wanted to do a big band and perform once a year at least, but it’s always tough to pull it together. I would like to go on tour with that band because they’re great people, they love the music and playing with me, and they’re sensitive to what it takes to bring it together. You still offer private lessons to musicians. As a leader and instructor, can you teach leadership? You can show them what it takes. Whether they come along that way is up to them. You can show them how to be responsible, disciplined, professional. You can aid their process as they move ahead. Don’t trust your instincts, write it down! You write the charts. What’s the drummer going to play? What’s the pianist going to do? As long as you have musicians who want to study with Kenny Washington, Kenny Barron or me, the core lesson we teach is how to be a leader. You can’t help what goes on in the club or out in the audience. But you can do your best to plan your program on stage, how your band is dressed and what your set list is. Once you start, it’s all about the moment. It’s all about the music. ■ Recommended recordings: All Blues (1973, CTI/Sony), Orfeu (Blue Note, 1999), Dear Miles (2007, Blue Note), Miles Davis, Four and More (Sony), Miles Davis, Seven Steps To Heaven (Sony) Recommended reading: Ron Carter, Finding The Right Notes, by Dan Ouellette (2008) 42 ■ I C O N ■ N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4 ■ W W W . I C O N D V . C O M ■ W W W . F A C E B O O K . C O M / I C O N D V

Dining

ROBERT GORDON

DeAnna’s THE SOFT SOUNDS OF dinnertime jazz flowed through the restaurant and greeted us like a warm hug. Since DeAnna’s beginning as a cozy 30-seater in a location cross town, I’ve been a fan. There was no dinnertime jazz then—no room for musicians and their instruments. But Chef/ Owner DeAnna Paterra still makes all her pastas daily, and her gnocchis remain the same rich, weightless wonders. Ravioli pouches still titillate the palate with sublime texture. Sauces remain spicy mélanges composed with tomatoes, onions, capers, and black olives, spiked with oregano and garlic. What most commends DeAnna’s is a refusal to stand still. They’re constantly striving to up their game, whether it be opening a pasta/dinner take-out shop next door or coming up with a $25 prix-fixe that’s offered twice weekly. In 28 years of writing about regional dining, I’ve met legions of dedicated, talented people—a statement that’s neither obsequious nor perfunctory given that Philadelphia recently placed 12 restaurants in Open Table’s list of the top 100 restaurants in the nation. Yet few who toil in this draining, pressure-filled industry match DeAnna and partner Lisa Nichols in terms of dedication, focus, and effort. Their passion is manifest in DeAnna’s cleanliness, its Cheers-like chumminess, its everchanging and glam-tinged decor, its tangible and intangible connection with the life of this quaint riverside town, and its vibrant schedule of events. On a recent check of DeAnna’s website I came across the headline: “Rounding out the total experience with live music.” I had never left DeAnna’s feeling something was needed in order to “round out” my dining experiences. Nor would my most recent visit have needed additional oomph. But it got some. I dined while the live music was playing and, as advertised, the live jazz nicely “rounded out the total experience.” Played at a subdued decibel level, the music creates an ambiance that’s kinetic without being invasive, thanks to the geometry of the interior. The musicians are in one corner, close enough for visibility and far enough away for maintaining personal space. As for rounding out the experience, “live” music—when properly done like this—trumps the robotic strain of the recorded. Thursday nights there’s a changing eclectic lineup of musicians. Friday nights feature Michelle Wiley and guest musicians playing covers of Ella Fitzgerald, Edith Piaff, Dionne Warwick, Billy Holiday, Frank Sinatra and others. Michelle is a fulltime professional who performs at the legendary Carlyle Hotel in NYC and has toured with the iconic rock group, Steely Dan. I’ve caught Michelle’s performances a few times over the years. She’s a true talent. And she knows when she sees me, a request for “Here’s That Rainy Day” will soon be headed her way. Music aside, DeAnna’s continues to score high on food, service, and setting. Lisa Nichols’ aesthetic taste infuses the neighborhood-friendly scene with Manhattan-like chic. Her ever-changing decorating schemes roll in harmony with seasons, holidays, and restaurant events. Eye-catching artwork, many done by local artists, is ubiquitous. The beautiful bar, peopled with chatty, friendly regulars, is the building’s energy source. And the fare is still what keeps bringing me back. My meal always starts with a breadbasket of house-made garlicky bread, charged with butter, which vies with anyone’s for the area’s finest. A recent salad of Bibb lettuce with roasted root vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, and parsnips) was perked with watermelon, delectably blurring summer and fall. A dish of back figs with gorgonzola deftly and deliciously paired two strong favors. An entrée of meltingly tender mahi mahi under lemon-basil beurre blanc sauce, is sided with spaghetti smothered in rich tomato sauce. Pasta or vegetables are offered as an alternative side. A pasta dish studded with sundried tomato and pine nuts underscored the kitchen’s attention to detail. Sun-dried tomatoes are made in-house (a practice done at too few other eateries), which makes all the difference.

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And yes, there is still a very popular—at this price, how could it not be?—$25 prix-fixe on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. One of the entrée choices, Sicilian meatloaf, is a longtime favorite of mine. Arguably, it’s the moistest meatloaf I’ve ever eaten. The third course, dessert, always includes DeAnna’s vibrant sorbets, like strawberry chardonnay, along with Lisa’s famous cheesecake and other baked treats. Did I mention the raw bar that’s available on Thursdays? Voted TripAdvisor’s “Best Raw Bar in New Jersey” there’s nothing like adding serious slurp to further round out your dining experience. ■ DeAnna’s, 54 N. Franklin St., Lambertville, NJ. 609-397-8957. deannasrestaurant.com

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22 / LEON REDBONE

Holiday could get inside a song because the song was inside her. Jelly Roll was a most unfortunate gentleman; he’s also one of my favorite musicians. And Blind Blake is definitely one of my guitar heroes. He had an advantage over people: his nails. My nails will snap. Blake couldn’t possibly break his nails because he had claws. It must have been his diet. Do you consider yourself a curator of time-lost songs? Oh, I don’t know about that. Maybe it’s my appreciation for the past; it depends on where the past was. I do believe very strongly in putting across an honest sentiment. Sentimentality is practically non-existent; it’s pretty much evaporated. I swear that 99.9 percent of the population is looking for noise, not music. They’re addicted to maximum volume and then some: the louder, the better. That’s a real puzzle, a mind-boggling phenomenon. But, then, what isn’t? If someone who likes having their eardrums blown out by lunatics hears a person like me, playing some ditty or dirge on an acoustic guitar, they’ll probably think: What the hell is this? It’s not music. And then they may start throwing things. What would you do if you weren’t playing music? If the opportunity arose, let’s see. I could do caricatures. Or I could be a voice-over whistler. It could work out; it could also be a pain in the neck. So, Leon, tell me: What was the deal with you and that onstage tomato? Sometimes tomatoes are the best accompanists. ■

25 / TONY BENNETT

We discussed the virtue of education, advice and training, and he referred to his current duet partner, one whose acquaintance he made at a benefit in Manhattan for that city’s poor and disenfranchised. “You can hear that with Gaga. Remember, she’s jazz trained as a vocalist and as a pianist. She’s got chops.” Bennett recalled seeing her on stage, and knowing immediately how “tremendous an improvising singer” she was, “such taste, such quality, such tone.” They met backstage that night, and Bennett, ever the sharpie, relied upon his intuition, and said that the pair should make an album together. “And she said ‘Let’s do it!’ She wanted it as much as I did, and made it happen.” While most of the song selections were Bennett’s, he said that it was Gaga’s response to those songs that led them to Cheek to Cheek’s catalog of cool. “The minute she heard ‘Lush Life,’ a very tough song to sing, she went wild. She cried every time she sang it. That song reminded her of her own life in her mind, and you can hear it. I watched her in the studio, tears rolling down her cheek. And when she was done, I had to do Duke Ellington’s song, ‘Sophisticated Lady’ with just me and the piano in response. It was only fair and fitting.” Heck, Bennett loves Gaga so much, he doesn’t even mind some of her most garish outfits. “She’s very glamorous. No, her costumes don’t bother me. I love the way she dresses. She’s beautiful.” ■ November 28, 8 pm: Tony Bennett with Antonia Bennett. Borgata Event Center, 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City, NJ. $146, 126, 86, 70. Tickets 866-900-4TIX (4849), www.TheBorgata.com.

26 / ANDREW DICE CLAY

played by that belief? Other than teaching your children the value of patience and hard work, you seem to have sabotaged yourself on occasion. I don’t what you mean by sabotage, I play by my open rules and guess what, I’m back on top again.

biggest comic in the world.

You also mention that under pressure from the Parents Music Resource Center, the National Organization for Women, and several gay outfits, you pulled back from your own career to let the smoke clear. Two things: do you think now that retreat might have been the wrong move? And do you think many rights organizations used you as a whipping boy for publicity, to find a face for their cause? There’s no question these groups made me a target. You know why? Because I was playing to 60,000 people a weekend and I scared the shit out of them. There were plenty of comics doing dirty shit on stage, but nobody bothered them because they were playing to 100 people a night in comedy clubs. All these groups were becoming a pain in the ass and made doing these shows not as a fun as they once were.

From the sound of the book, you really did study rock and big band music before studying comedy or comedians, as part of your art. Why? Comedians always bored the shit out of me. They would stand on stage with their stupid tie and tell airplane jokes and I’d have to walk after five minutes. But watch Buddy Rich, Elvis, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin—even Muhammad Ali. Now you’re talking exciting performers.

The move from doing Pips Comedy Club at the start to the Rodney Dangerfield HBO special Nothing Goes Right in 1988—people forget that you weren’t an overnight sensation, that you honed this. I know you tried to tame the ‘Andrew Dice Clay’ character for series television eventually. How many personae do you think you went through, concepts played with? I don’t like to think “my character” or “my personae.” Would you ask that same question to Slash, Axl and Keith Richards. I’m from Brooklyn, so that could explain some of what you see on stage. As for the TV shows, they were projects I was forced to do. So next question. I don’t want to turn it into Richard Attenborough’s cornball Chaplin bit where he found his bowler and his tramp cane, but when the curatorial process commenced on the ‘Andrew Dice Clay’ character, did you have all of ‘his’ elements in your mind at once or did it come in piecemeal fashion? Did you build it up? You’re funny with these questions. I will say having the right leather helped. In the beginning I was doing a Jerry Lewis nutty professor character and then I would into John Travolta with leather jacket. That’s the short answer. For the long answer, buy my book. Was making it big a huge ‘fuck you’ to people you were raised with who might have doubted your abilities, or is success its own reward? Same goes for the renewed success you’re having now. I only needed to prove things to myself. I don’t care what other people think. Was it hard bringing up the passages about your parents. They seemed to really ‘get’ who you were as a man and as a performer, like your mom knowing that you could do dramatic roles. My parents were the best—they believed in me from the beginning. No matter who represented me in my career, they had to talk to my father first. So writing about them was not easy ‘cause I miss them. Doug Ellin (Entourage creator) seems to believe in you as much as your parents, and that you have so much faith in yourself. Does that come from your parents? How much is survival, and how much simply comes from the fact that you say you are not a depressed comic like so many in the biz? Again with the psychobabble shit. I’ve never been a depressed person, just someone who was driven to be the

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Is it surprising that many comics you’ve known are so clinically down on themselves? Next question.

i At the time of the Woody Allen casting, you said how you’d understand if Scorsese called you would get the gangster casting, but that Allen was an entirely different ball of wax. How does it NOW feel to have Scorsese calling you in for his HBO punk rock project with Jagger—you’re playing a coke head radio exec—right? And did Allen let you do your own thing, based on the subtlety of the character as written or did you make your character in Blue Jasmine that subtle? Woody is an amazing director, he lets you bring your ideas to the script and if they work that’s great. And he being a stand-up comedian, I think we had a little extra connection in working together. And when Blue Jasmine came out, I did have a feeling that other producers and directors would be calling. So when Scorsese called, that was unbelievable—the guy that did Casino, Goodfellas. I don’t want to say anything about my character or the plot, but you’re gonna love it.

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Was acting, the genuine sort that you do in Blue Jasmine, an aim from the start of your stand-up career? My original plan was to be actor. Doing characters in my stand-up was my way of getting the attention of casting directors. I created “Dice” and the rest is history. You’re surprisingly gentle, open and friendly while discussing relationships with Howard Stern, Sam Kinison, Mickey Rourke, Sylvester Stallone, Axl Rose. Was it all as good as you make it sound, or are you protecting the guilty? Hanging with those guys back in the day was a lot of fun. Was it all good?…for the most part. If it was bad, it’s none of your fucking business. I’m just kidding. What do you think of opening comedy to the big rooms—and with that, other comics such as Dane Cook and Aziz Ansari who have followed in that wake? I do get a kick out of it that comics today feel they haven’t arrived until they’ve played the Garden. That’s great that Dane and Aziz can sell out the Garden, but come to me when they can sell out over 300 arenas. Let’s not forget playing the Rosebowl with Guns N’ Roses and Metallica. Why is Philadelphia a second home to you? I know we’ve always loved you here, and supported you even when you weren’t doing the stadiums. My ex-fiancé, Eleanor Kerrigan, who’s probably one of the best comedians working today, is from there. So I always had “family there.” Playing the Spectrum was amazing and I shot my Diceman Cometh special there. The people are real people—like Brooklyn people.

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J Can you see yourself doing this all again—the autobiographical process? You’re quite good at it. Would I write another book? I don’t know think so. This took a lot out of me. But don’t be surprised if someone makes a movie out of this one. ■

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Dining

ROBERT GORDON

GRILLe 3501 THE CHALLENGE FOR THE champion lies not in becoming but in sustaining—or so champions say. I first ate at Grille 3501 over a decade ago. I remember being blown away. As a Lehigh grad with a Muhlenberg-grad wife, I loved what Grille 3501 and other pioneers had brought to the Lehigh Valley. Restaurants of Grille 3501’s caliber were pretty much nonexistent in my campus days, not that my student budget would have allowed me to avail myself anyway. That’s why Parents’ Days were invented. Grille 3501 was one of the pioneers who surged the Lehigh Valley into culinary respectability. Thrillist.com recently awarded top-10 spots to Bethlehem’s Bolete and Easton’s Sette Luna in their “10 Best Restaurants Outside Philly” list. In my opinion, Grille 3501 merits serious consideration for a slot. I've eaten at a few of the Pittsburgh restaurants on the list. Grille 3501 bests them. Since my first visit, Grill 3501’s level of excellence hasn’t faltered. The bar keeps going up. An ambitious onsite expansion provides ample parking and will allow alfresco dining next season.

Dressed with sherry vinaigrette, baby arugula salad is partnered with Gorgonzola, and diced cubes of red beets doused with a generous tumble of pistachios. Sea-salt rare tuna has an ideal mate in Israeli cous cous topped with baby bok choy. Carrot slaw frizzes atop the tuna, which is ringed by four dabs of sweet ginger red pepper gastrique that lends subtle heat. The Vegetarian Selection changes daily. I recently enjoyed a fourlayer composition built on a base of jasmine rice and diced sweet potatoes. Rising above it were successive courses of sautéed spinach; roasted baby carrots; and pan-seared tofu capped with grilled sweet red peppers. A half-moon of ginger sauce rimmed the edible edifice adding further appeal to an enticing dish. Chef John Pukanecz was graduated from Johnson & Wales after his days at Whitehall High. His style explores a palette of flavors. His combinations are generally coherent, palate-pleasing mélanges—as the four-layer vegetarian dish exemplifies. After logging time in distinguished establishments like the Glas-

Trendy décor, absent pretentiousness, down-to-earth service, and one of Lehigh Valley’s best bar scenes—as the Grille’s frequent “Best of the Valley for Wait Service and Happy Hour” awards suggest—underlie some of the area’s most sophisticated fare. The fare is American contemporary. Asian flourishes flicker throughout the menu, like the ginger that tingles glazed pork belly poised over three sweet potato pancakes. The trio is laden with, successively, mango, carrot, and cucumber strands that line up near a streak of cranberry ginger vinaigrette. The pancakes, which nicely dial down the richness of the pork, also combine with the meat for a balanced texture. The tempura batter cladding asparagus rivals any I’ve tasted in Japanese eateries in terms of delicacy and crunch. The three accompanying sauces: sweet tomato jam, soy ginger, and sweet choy garnished with chopped green onion, help make this appetizer a house favorite.

bern Inn, John has been heading the kitchen at Grille 3501 (almost) since opening day in November 2001. I can trace the finesse of today’s pork belly appetizer back to memorable dishes of the past, like the Pacific-rim-inspired crabcakes on the menu over a halfdecade ago. Steamed edamame and shitake dumplings floated in carrot-ginger emulsion and harmonized delectably with the crab cakes and an accompanying plum-scallion sauce. Muted earth tones, low-intensity sconces and recessed ceiling lighting, sleek circular banquettes, and a swanky layout combine for lovely low-decibel ambiance. Grille 3501 nestles into a rustic, charming nook in West Allentown. It’s a long distance from Broadway in the Big Apple, where there’s always magic in the air. At 3501 Broadway, the magic is on your plate. ■ Grille 3501, 3501 Broadway, West End, Allentown, PA 610-7060100 grille3501.com

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The Los Angeles Times SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE

MAKE IT COUNT By Joel D. Lafargue Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

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Tatters Cousin of a Tony Staples Center player Certain candidate’s goal On Legally binding, as a contract Romney foe See 98-Down Diminutive flower? Cultural pursuits with limits? Ladder parts Datebook notation Kindle Fire, for one Overzealous Scriabin piece They may be cut by perps Choice group Mexican bread ’50s/’60s character actor Lyle After all adjustments Musician to feel sorry for? “Rule, Britannia” composer Discoverer of Vinland French governing body Sewer cover Prevailed Brylcreem amount 401, to Marcus Randy of country Czech. neighbor Near East inn Shocked Hot condition “Just a __” Novel set in a church? QB’s targets Sneaky chuckle Granada grain One needing a lift Beatles’ “A __ in the Life” Ominous words __ milk Audio receiver? Middle of England? Michelin products Pea pokers “__ Pierce”: Kate Winslet miniseries Prefix with space Indispensable poet? Brief reply? Met on the sly Party rides Ralph of “The Waltons” TD Garden, e.g. Everything, in Essen

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Historical record Miami daily Vatican vestment Commandment word Departure from the bookstore? Giant gods waiting for tickets? Lhasa __ Awakens, with “to” Small silvery fish Coastal irregularity Browning work Diner “raft” Shield border, in heraldry Belt

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Eminem genre Put away the groceries? Understood Enthusiasm Hot spot Entered rudely Lame answer to “Where’s your homework?” Grafton’s “__ for Evidence” Artist’s digs Free as __ West of Georgia Former “big four” record company Coiled menace Attempt Peerage member Old, in Oberhausen Screen __ Political pundit Myers Insolence, in modern slang Bridge position Uncool types Agree to more issues Olds compact Acerbic fruit? Flinders in Adelaide, e.g., briefly Help in a burglary Cartel acronym Twelve Oaks neighbor Serious transport? Having all the pieces Pieces of peanut butter? Kitty with no fur Messages on packages Atelier figure Iowa campus Do better than Beowulf’s foe Passbook entry

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58 Home of the Pac-12’s Wildcats 59 Hitter’s “lumber” 61 Seesaw complement 63 35mm camera option 64 Uncertainties 66 Studio sign word 68 Fired on 69 More spooky 71 Press closing 72 Clanton gang leader 78 “Not to mention ...” 80 Some summer births 82 Dog’s “Ouch!” 84 Round fig. 85 __-Wreck 86 Ford fiasco 88 Destroyer of some castles 89 Scandinavian toast 90 Part of the “M*A*S*H” set 92 It may be reached 93 Coastal irregularities 94 Short, shortened 95 Leighton of “Gossip Girl” 98 With 22-Across, extravagant account 100 Outlet site 101 Escapades 103 Bellini opera 104 Spring births, perhaps 107 Bucket of bolts 108 Athlete who’s now a

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National Provoked reaction Basic building block Little helper? Pay for a hand Word Casper seldom uses

118 “That’s what I think,” in chatspeak 119 This minute 120 Model/actress Mendes 121 Collector’s goal

Answer to October’s puzzle, TWELVE-STEP PUZZLE

Agenda CALL TO ARTISTS Philadelphia Sketch Club America’s oldest club for artists 235 South Camac St., Phila. 215-545-9298 2015 Annual Domenic DiStefano Memorial Works on Paper Exhibition January 2 31, 2015 Juried online exhibition open to all participants. For prospectus go to www.sketchclub.org Deadline for entries 12/6/2014 ART EXHIBITS THRU 11/16 Painting Pennsylvania and Painting People, a Face & Figure Exhibition. Patricia Hutton Galleries, 47 W. State St., Doylestown, PA. 215-3481728. PatriciaHuttonGalleries.com. THRU 11/21 Philadelphia Photographers: 1975-1985, part of Olympus InVision Photo Festival. SBFA at ArtsQuest Banana Factory, 25 W. 3rd St., Suite 93, Bethlehem, PA. 610-997-5453. SantaFineArt.com THRU 11/23 Robert Beck, Open Road. 204 N. Union St., Lambertville, NJ. 215-982-0074. robertbeck.net THRU 11/23 The Art of Autumn. Highlands Art Gallery, 41 No. Union St., Lambertville, NJ 908-7662720. highlandsartgallery.com THRU 11/30 Diane Greenberg. Opening reception 11/2, 2-4. Philadelphia Sketch Club, 235 So. Camac St., Phila. 215-545-9298 sketchclub.org THRU 12/13 Michael Pestel: Requiem, Ectopistes Migratorius. Williams Center Gallery, Main Campus of Lafayette College, 317 Hamilton St., Easton. 610-3305361. galleries.lafayette.edu THRU 1/15 From Houdini to Hugo: The Art of Brian Selznick. Delaware Art Museum, 2301 Kentmere Pkway, Wilmington, DE. 302571-9590. delart.org THRU 1/18 Henrique Oliveira: Adenocalcinoma Poliresidual. Arthur Ross

Gallery, 220 S. 34th St., Philadelphia. ArthurRossGallery.com. 215-898-2083. THRU 1/25 Robert Indiana, A-Z. Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley, 31 North Fifth St., Allentown, PA. AllentownArtMuseum.org 11/3-11/28 Essence Landscape Perspective in the Abstract. Su Knoll Horty. Reception 11/7. Bluestone Fine Art Gallery, 142 N 2nd St, Phila. 856-979-7588. bluestone-gallery.com 11/4-1/11 Christopher Kennedy & Richard Sherman, A Separate View. Red Filter Gallery, 74 Bridge St., Lambertville, NJ Tues.-Sun., 12-5. 347-2449758.redfiltergallery.com 11/6-11/30 Ideal Forms. Artworks by Alan J. Klawans and Andrew Werth. Opening reception 11/8, 3-6. Artists’ Gallery, 18 Bridge St., Lambertville, NJ lambertvillearts.com 11/7-12/28 Denise Dumont, Travels From the City to the Sea. The Quiet Life Gallery, 17 So. Main St., Lambertville, NJ. 609-3970880. Quietlifegallery.com 11/8-12/14 New Hope ARTS Center’s Annual Exhbition of fine furniture, vessels and sculpture celebrating the Bucks County woodwork tradition. Reception and awards 11/8, 6-8pm. 2 Stockton Ave, New Hope, PA. 215-862-9606. Newhopearts.org 11/8-2/8 Starstruck: The Fine Art of Photography. Michener Art Museum, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown. 215-340-9800. michenerartmuseum.org 11/14 - 11/16 Sherry Tinsman Annual Holiday Show. Artisans Gallery, Peddler’s Village, Lahaska, PA 215-794-3112. 11/15-12/28 Gifts from the Earth. Clay, wood and still life, small art from around the world. E-Moderne Gallerie, 116 Arch St., Phila. 267-928-2123. e-modernegallery.com 11/19-12/19 Holiday Gift Gallery, Fine Arts and Crafts by Local and Regional Artists. Mon.-Thurs. 9am -9 pm, Fri. & Sat. 9am- 3

pm, Sun. closed. Two receptions: 11/19, 7-9 pm & 12/10, 6-8 pm. The Baum School of Art, 510 West Linden St., Allentown, PA. 610-433-0032. Baumschool.org 11/28-11/30 Covered Bridge Artisans 20th Annual Fall Studio Tour, Fri. & Sat. 10-5, Sun. 10-4. For a tour map, visit Coveredbridgeartisans.com or www.Facebook.com/CoveredBridgeArtisans 11/29-12/31 Small Works Show. Opening reception 11/29, 6-9. Highlands Art Gallery, 41 No. Union St., Lambertville, NJ 908-7662720. highlandsartgallery.com 12/5-12/7 Sherry Tinsman Annual Show. A Mano Gallery, 42 No. Union St., Lambertville, NJ 609-3970063. amanogalleries.com THEATER / DANCE 11/5 & 11/6 Mamma Mia! State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton, PA. 610-252-3132. Statetheatre.org 11/6-11/8 Moving Stories, inspired by emerging choreographers. Muhlenberg College, Theatre & Dance, 2400 Chew St., Allentown.484-664-3333. Muhlenberg.edu/dance 11/19-11/23 Agamemnon by Aeschylus. Muhlenberg College, Theatre & Dance, 2400 Chew St., Allentown, PA.484-664-3333. Muhlenberg.edu/Theatre 12/3-12/14 Little Women, The Musical. Act 1 Performing Arts, Labadu Center for the Performing Arts, Main Stage Theatre. DeSales University, 2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, PA. 610-2823192. Desales.edu/act1 12/5-12/28 Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ 609-258-2787. mccarter.org DINNER & MUSIC Every Monday, Live guitar with Barry Peterson, 7-10. Karla’s, 5 W. Mechanic St., New Hope. 215-862-2612. karlasnewhope.com Thursday & Friday nights:

DeAnna’s Restaurant, 54 N. Franklin St., Lambertville, NJ. LIVE JAZZ. 609-397-8957. deannasrestaurant.com.

11/14

RACHELLE FERRELL

11/15

ARTIE LANGE

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

11/16

CESAR MILLAN

CONCERTS

11/20

STEVE HACKETT: GENESIS EXTENDED

11/26

ACE FREHLEY

11/28

THE MACHINE PERFORMS PINK FLOYD

11/30

SISTER’S X MAS CATECHISM

12/3

MARTINA McBRIDE

12/4

TEDESCHI TRUCKS

12/7

FORTE

12/13

THE TEMPTATIONS & THE FOUR TOPS

11/7 Christine Clewell, organist. Arts at St. John’s, St. John’s Lutheran Church, 37 S. 5th St., Allentown. 610-435-1641. Stjohnsallentown.org 11/9 Rhythmic Circus, Feet Don’t Fail Me Now! 4pm, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. 610-7582787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 11/21 Randy Newman. 7:30 pm, State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton, PA. 610-2523132, 1-800-999-State. Statetheatre.org 11/22 “Global Tonalities,” 7:30 pm. Award-winning saxophone soloist Ashu. Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, First Presbyterian Church, 3231 W. Tilghman St., Allentown, PA. 610-434-7811. PASinfonia.org, LVArtsBoxOffice.org 11/23 Touré—Raichel Collective. 7pm, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org 12/6, 8pm & 12/7, 4pm Christmas Concerts, 8pm, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, 2344 Center St., Bethlehem, PA. 888-743-3100, or Bach.org 12/20 Darlene Love, Love for the Holidays. 8pm, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA. 610-758-2787. Zoellnerartscenter.org KESWICK THEATRE Keswick Theatre 291 Keswick Ave., Glenside keswicktheatre.comFri., 11/7

BILLY GARDELL

11/8

ERIC JOHNSON & MIKE STERN

11/13 HOT RIZE feat. RED KNUCKLES & THE TRAILBLAZERS

11/19 JAD ABUMRAD from RadioLab

MUSIKFEST CAFÉ 101 Founders Way Bethlehem, PA 610-332-1300. artsquest.org 11/8

SARA SCHAEFER

11/9

JACOB WHITESIDES

11/14

TED VIGIL’S JOHN DENVER TRIBUTE

11/16

LAURIE BERKNER

11/21

BRIAN POSEHN

11/22

DAVE DAVIES

11/23

CARL PALMER BAND

11/26

PHILADELPHIA FUNK AUTHORITY

11/28

THE WAILERS

11/29 THE AARDVARKS & THE SOFA KINGS 12/3

CHRISTMAS WITH THE CELTS

12/4

DEAN WEAN GROUP

EVENTS 11/7 World Explorers Kids Club visits the Spinnery, 4 pm. 33 Race St., Frenchtown, NJ. Presented by The Book Garden. 908-996-2022. Bookgarden.biz 11/12

Black Women Singers of the Seventies, with Farah Jasmine Griffin. Penn Humanities Forum, Penn Museum, 3260 South St., Phila. 215-573-8280. humanities.sas.upenn.edu 11/19 The Colors of Human Skin, with Nina Jablonski. Penn Humanities Forum, Penn Museum, 3260 South St., Phila. 215-573-8280. humanities.sas.upenn.edu 11/28-12/26 Shopping Just Got Better. Each time you spend $25 or more in participating stores, you’ll receive an entry form to win a gift basket filled with gift cards from all of the participating merchants. Frenchtownnj.org 11/28-11/30 Celebrate Dickens Days in Clinton, NJ. Downtown is transformed into a magical Victorian village where you can experience an old-fashioned celebration with carriage rides and daily holiday performances. Clintonguild.com 11/30 Red Tulip Gallery. Demos, meet-the-artist opportunities and light refreshments. 11-8 pm, free. 19C West Bridge St., New Hope, PA. 267-454-0496. Redtulipcrafts.com 12/3 Tree lighting ceremony and caroling with the Delaware Valley High School Choir. 4 p.m., Main St., corner of Bridge and Harrison Streets, Frenchtown, NJ. Frenchtownnj.org 12/5 29th Annual Christmas Parade, 7pm. Clinton, NJ. Floats large and small, local High School Bands, the Polish String Bank, magicians. BOOK/POETRY READINGS 11/15 Poet Michael T. Young, 6pm. Young is the author of the new poetry collection, The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost, by Hoboken-based publisher Poets Wear Prada. Free. Panoply Books, 46 N. Union St, Lambertville, NJ. 609-3971145. Panoplybooks.com 12/14 Devastation on the Delaware Discussion & Signing with author Mary Shafer. 2 pm, The Book Garden, 28 Bridge St., Frenchtown, NJ. 908-9962022. Bookgarden.biz

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

NEWPORT RIDGE

FOX RUN FARM

SAUCON VALLEY

Luxury abounds in this magnificent home in the Lehigh Valley’s newest enclave of 16 premiere residences. Custom home builder, Myron Haydt, has created a sophisticated European-style dream home with first and second floor master bedroom suites, 9 and 10 foot ceiling heights, custom moldings and sleek granite, wood and marble finishes accenting the interior. The exterior has a thick stone façade and hand-laid brick paver patios offering relaxing vantage points overlooking 2.5 acres of rolling green hills. Finish details will be chosen by the buyer. $1,950,000 completed

Set on 18 acres, this stone farmhouse reproduction has extraordinary details including random width oak floors, beadboard walls, beamed ceilings and wood-burning fireplaces. Stylish amenities are incorporated beautifully. A kitchen is sleek with granite countertops and stainless appliances, and the master bedroom suite has a faux fireplace, soaking tub and double walk-in closets. A few steps from the main house, a bank barn is a comfortable haven boasting a kitchen, new carpeting and windows, and plentiful storage for vehicles and equipment. $869,000

All the elements of this wonderful Saucon Valley property combine to create an inspiring symphony of substance, elegance and bold design. Approached by a circular drive, the private 2.3 acre setting complements a classic exterior with stone, which in turn, is the overture for the splendid interior space. The main passage of the symphony is a broad, two-story entrance, graced with columns that provide dramatic venues in an open floor plan, perfect for entertaining. An incredible pool and 6 bedrooms beckon your family to settle in and enjoy. $1,049,000

COUNTRY PARADISE

GENTLEMAN'S ESTATE

DARLEA

Thoughtfully renovated, yet retaining many period details, Crabapple Manor is a 1860s stone farmhouse nestled off the road. A scenic approach leads to this 5-acre homestead privately sited in Upper Bucks County where dining, shopping, and recreational options are available in every direction. Random width wood floors and deep-silled windows blend beautifully with a modern kitchen and sun-filled dining room with Palladian windows and cathedral ceiling. Outdoor living spaces abound with stone patios, a hillside swimming pool, and a lush expanse of lawn. $699,900

True to its history, the interior boasts rich random width flrs, open beamed ceilings, a butterfly staircase, deep windows and a magnificent walk-in fireplace. Inspired by the home’s 1848 character, the recently remodeled kitchen has maple cabinets, stainless appliances, granite counters and adds architectural interest. A 1st fl bedroom and bath, with a private porch, 3 additional bedrooms, 2 fireplaces, and 2 family rooms offer plenty of room for family and friends. This is also a premier equestrian estate with a lighted outdoor ring and a lighted, indoor riding arena with an attached lounge and tack room. $1,250,000

This classically-appointed 1948 home was built with Philadelphia Chestnut Hill stone, with appointments of copper and slate, all reminiscent of a Hollywood era of glamour and prestige. Darlea sits proudly on a knoll, sequestered at the end of a long, winding drive, amidst a total of 7.55 acres. Details include a 1st floor master, 2 fireplaces, wood floors, 4 bedrooms, a bonus family space on the lower level and boasts a period, pecky cypress family room and an additional fireplace and private office. An attached garage can house three cars or extra storage. $535,000

EXTRAORDINARY CONTEMPORARY

URBAN GREEN

CHARMING FARMHOUSE

Big skies are the backdrop for this elegant and unique cedar home in the Parkland School District. An intriguing floor plan creates light washed spaces filled with warm wood accents over multiple levels. More than 3,600 square feet of open space plus a finished basement on 1.7 acres means room for everyone to have a little fun. 4 bedrooms, multiple levels and rolling lawns ready for your next adventure. Peaceful Skies is an imaginative home that makes life a lot more interesting. $549,000

An elevator whisks you from the built-in 2-car garage to the front door of this spectacular condo where the completely-renovated interior is a sophisticated oasis with a floor plan designed for entertaining. The polished parquet floors flow from room to room weaving the elegant but casual spaces... perfect for downsizing, just starting out or weekending. The living room has a brick fireplace and is just off the balcony. The kitchen is sleek - classic maple cabinets and stainless appliances combine with old school built-in benches creating the perfect vibe to cook in style. $260,000

Built in 1833, this classic stone farmhouse stands proudly on 10.5 acres of cleared and wooded land. Period details remain intake as evidenced by the random width pine floors, authentic door and window hardware, and wavy glass found in the charming rooms with high ceilings, built-in bookshelves and deep-silled windows. Summer breezes flow from the covered porch, steps away from the settler’s house, summer kitchen with the original bread oven and a 2-car garage. The lovely grounds offer plenty of room for gardening and the headwaters of the Saucon Creek traverse the property where wildlife is frequently spotted. $489,000 M AY 2 0 0 9

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