December 18, 2011 – Mar Azul

I remember when we discovered Cesária Évora in San Francisco back in the 1990’s. I was hearing her wherever I went. It was a time when I was doing a lot of painting. Cesária was the soundtrack I would paint to for hours. I don’t think I was unique. I remember going to open studios back then and you heard her wherever you went. It seemed every artist was playing Cesária Évora. It would be difficult to measure how much art was created to her music in San Francisco at that time. I finally got to see her live, her shows usually sold out months in advance. Even in the soulless cavern of the Masonic Auditorium, she was wonderful. My only regret was not being one of the fortunate ones who saw her back in the 1980’s in some small, smoky, intimate Parisian dive.

October 28, 2011 - Recycle to Rufus

This week I am back on Cape Cod helping mom get ready to emigrate to the Golden State. 36 years in a big New England House with a lot, a lot of stuff. Much of it is packed and we’re selling plenty more. The attic had a few hundreds albums (for you kids, albums were a big disk of vinyl that a magical needle would be used so you could listen to music in the olden days). We found someone who took them all away today. They were much loved and many were played hundreds of times. But if I want the song now, I’ll just download it.

Out of the rack I pulled out the Rags to Rufus album (back when Chaka Khan was singing with Rufus). The cover was a photo collage of images of embroidered denim. All us cool kids had moms who embroidered denim for us. So today for the 2011 Project, a bit of recycled Rufus.

September 13, 2011 – Yma Sumac

“Do you actually listen to her?” I still remember when I heard that question for the first time. Of course I do. I love Yma Sumac. It all started one afternoon at the Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree about 20 years ago. It was getting close to the Yma Hour. Cocktails, Yma, and dancing — don’t forget to play her loud. 

I had the good fortune to see her live a few years later. At that stage in Yma Sumac’s career it was more of a happening than a concert. At first she was a bit timid until she remembered she was in San Francisco. Yma came to life as the audience screamed and cheered for her like the megastar she truly was.

So yes, I listen to Yma Sumac. At times, there is nothing better than a bit of Yma. Like when driving on those empty roads between Twentynine Palms and Death Valley. Racing along, windows down, sun roof open, hot desert air blasting into the car and the coyotes turning their heads up to listen to that magical voice.

September 4, 2011 – Music for Every Mood!

I am not sure where all the paper sleeves for 45’s even came from, but they are in one of my drawers of collage fodder. No records, just the paper sleeves. Tell the people from Hoarders to back off! I am making art with them.

Some of the artists were from rather obscure singles. I particularly liked (and used) the sleeve from Mercury Records that was labeled Music for every mood! That sleeved listed some of the big stars on the Mercury label. A few I had never heard of — Rusty Draper and David Caroll for example. Of course I know who Patti Page is (I grew up on Cape Cod). And I have a stack of Dinah Washington CD’s. I even have seen one the artists live a few times – Dick Contino of course, he usually headlines at the Cotati Accordion Festival. And right now I am listening to Quincy Jones because I always need music to make art too. I just worry if the neighbors hear What’s New Pussycat? one more time they’ll start pounding on the ceiling…..

June 9, 2011 – My First and Favorite CD

Even back to the days when albums still meant vinyl, I always have purchased and listened to music the same way. Depending on how much I like the album, I tend to play it constantly for a period of days or weeks and move on to the next “new” thing. The ones I really like stay in rotation and make gradual reappearances. I do not think I am unique in the pattern. Ironically, the first CD I ever purchased 20 years ago, the day I bought a CD player, remains an all time favorite that I still listen to regularly. It was a release called The Legendary João Gilberto. The CD contains 38 original bossa nova tracks recorded between 1958 and 1961. It is perfect and flawless. A few years back I was able to see João Gilberto in concert, or I should say, bask in his presence. Today is João Gilberto’s 80^th Birthday. Feliz aniversário!

May 22, 2011 – 8 Tracks

Remembering 8 Track Tapes always makes me cautious when the latest iGadget comes along. When my friends are a buzz over some new thing I reflexively make the same cynical remark over and over, “It’s the new 8 Track….” Once in a while I am even right. When you think of how large and clunky an 8 track was and the amount of music we now can fit into such a small little device, it is pretty cool. The way we acquire, store and play music has radically changed in the last 30 years and especially in the last 10 years. Yet with all the changes, we still are listening to the same music that used to be available on 8 Tracks. Well, not always, I can’t imagine many people are still listening to the Bay City Rollers or Tony Orlando.

March 18, 2011 — Life without the Liner Notes

I often use my mixed media collages as a way of preserving lost or soon to be lost elements of our lives. In some ways all visual art captures and preserves a moment in time. And there are times when artists do it with a real intent of preservation. I certainly am not unique. Just a week ago I saw an exhibition of the work of Lauren DiCioccio (see my art blog for details). She does an amazing job of preserving day-to-day items in her art.

For today, the item I want to preserve is liner notes. Acquiring music by downloading has all but ended liner notes. Just a few albums have a PDF of notes (and it is not eally the same). Without the notes, and ability to speak Portuguese, I would have no idea what Cesaria Evora was singing about. Or for that matter, that she never wears shoes. Nor does Susana Baca. I’ve seen them both in concert — great experiences and definitely barefoot.

What is really missing without liner notes is the experience of listening to the album for the first time. The ritualistic unwrapping of the CD or record; the first playing, the sitting down or lying on a floor; and reading and looking at the liner notes. It’s a cultural pairing that we’ve lost. Listening to an album for the first time by hitting play on the computer is not the same.

March 4, 2011 – The Accordion is cool

Yes, the accordion is cool. If I had to pick my favorite instrument, the accordion wins. It’s an instrument that is exceedingly difficult to learn (oh to have the time). In less than two hundred years the accordion has spread and been incorporated into local music all over the world. As the accordion has traveled it has given birth to many musical genres from Forró in Brazil to Cumbia in Columbia to Norteño in Mexico. And of course, the happiest music of all, Polka!

The accordion is still often maligned in American culture. Years ago, it often was seen as the “ethnic” and working class instrument for immigrants. Generations later, many people who dismiss the accordion don’t even realize they are perpetuating bourgeois and anti-immigrant attitudes that linger in our culture. They need to step back and just listen. The accordion is the ultimate immigrant and has made a home for itself in all corners of the world.

Now mark those calendars, it’s less than six months to Accordion Festival in Cotati, California.