Happy Holidays!

The Leopard hasn't updated this blog in months, but I wanted to punch in and let anyone who still subscribes to this blog know (if there is anyone left) that I'm still alive & kicking and will add entries in the near future.

In the meantime, have a mighty, mighty Obama new year, & see you at the inauguration !!

My Man Herbie Part 2

A couple of months ago, The Leopard wrote about how much I admire the brilliant jazz musician Herbie Hancock. Recently, I actually got the opportunity catch him at the famous Apollo theater. He was a guest on an upcoming episode of a new TV series taped in Harlem for the Sundance channel called "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with.."

It was kind of a strange evening.  As I waited outside on the ticket line, people seemed giddy with excitement about the show.  I chatted with several folks who were fans of either Herbie or Elvis and anticipating a great night.  But we were all a little unsure about what to expect.

The Apollo theater itself is much smaller than it looks on TV.  I was a several seats from the stage and I still felt like I could see Elvis' nose hairs a little too clearly.  He came out looking a little haggard and worse for wear in a rumpled fedora and his omnipresent horn rims.  He explained the simple concept of the show:  a program where he would interview his favorite musicians and discuss their careers. In the process, they would perform a song or two. Earlier in the week, he had completed a show with Sir Elton John.

Herbie came out with the superb bass player Christian McBride and a young drummer in tow. He was looking great, nowhere near his 69 years. 

Costello proceeded to interview him about his long career, reading his questions from an overhead teleprompter. Elvis' interview style was, in a word, unorthodox.  He tended to meander with his own ruminations and was rather longwinded. In fact, he spoke much more than Herbie ever did. Some of their conversation drifted into pure musician-speak, shoptalk which tended to alienate and bore the general audience.

Herbie only performed three full tunes during the nearly three hour taping. First, an ambiguous kind of solo piano noodling, meant to show his classical influences, then, a fun little musical interlude where he played his hit tune "Watermelon Man" first acoustically with his band, and then switching to synths, doing the Headhunters version. 

The last performance featured Elvis himself singing on a tune, Mike Douglas style, from the Grammy winning album River: The Joni Letters,  called "Edith and the Kingpin."  Accompanied by Herbie, he sang in that limited, reedy voice of his with little emotion or resonance.

By this time, almost half the audience had left, annoyed with the lack of actual music. Personally, I had a great time listening to Herbie tell (when he was allowed to) anecdotes & stories and discuss specific albums, songs and performances from his amazing career. He came off jovial and happy, and didn't seem to give a fig that some the audience wasn't as interested as his host, who, to his credit, seemed to be genuinely in awe of him.

  

Verrazano Bridge Blues

As the Leopard was riding the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan a couple of weekends ago, I began to reminisce growing up in the NYC area as a youth.   One of my earliest memories is of my dad occasionally gathering my family when the mood struck him, and as a "treat", we'd pile in our wood-lined station wagon and we'd drive across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge around dawn Friday or Saturday Summer evenings.  He'd look up at the lights and say emotively, "Look--Beautiful"!

As tacky as it sounds, I enjoyed this, because my Dad was seldom around during the week, working two jobs and taking classes. I think it was a a not-so-subtle attempt to bond with my sister, brother and me in some way.

8 things I love about Mad Men

1. The period detail: Everything looks right: The authentic looking 60's sets, production design, and props are perfectly realized.

2. The acting: Every actor on the show from walk-ons to the main characters, are top notch, and utterly convincing.

3. The costumes: They're almost characters in themselves. The wonderful ad-man flannel suits and the form fitting vintage dresses.

4. The writing: Fluid, straightforward, smart. Episodic, but avoids soap opera conventions.

5. The drinking: One of the funniest show elements is no matter where the characters are, in a bar, at work, in a restaurant, or at home, someone always seems to have a drink in their hand.

6. The smoking: almost as often as the drinking, someone is always seen lighting up.

7. The hair: From Don Draper's unnaturally perfect jet black locks to Joan's Lucy Ricardo red coif.

8. The comfort: Of cuddling with my girlfriend on a late night watching our favorite show.

Some of My Favorite Artists (1): Pj Harvey

I first encountered Polly Jean Harvey on David Byrne's old PBS music showcase, Sessions at West 54th, a terrific series that featured up-and-coming artists. Through that show, I also began love affairs with Chocolate Genius and Tricky,  two other amazing musicians I also saw for the first time.

I had never seen anyone quite like her.  She had a beautifully harsh, controlled voice that she used to maximum effectiveness, screaming, hiccuping, shouting --while holding in her hands this huge, obscenely loud guitar despite her skinny, slight frame. At first glance, I thought she was physically homely, but her intensity and ferociousness made me quickly appreciate her image. She was womanly-- but not feminist. Her hyper wails of anger and frustration mingled with an aggressive sexuality.  

Harvey is an artist that continues to evolve.  Her first albums, Dry and Rid Of Me were all about raw, punkish rock n' roll, but her third disc, the critically acclaimed To Bring You My Love, despite having some effective rockers, was more experimental and varied in tone.  

Is This Desire? A near-concept record, had a quiet, folky atmosphere with beautiful, wistful songs.  Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea and Uh Huh Her, were  a return to a more rock oriented sound, though more commercial.  Her last album, White Chalk, is another subdued affair with a dark, gothic tone.   

An eccentric character, Harvey always continues to surprise. 

Favorite Songs: Victory, Happy and Bleeding, Legs, Rub 'Til It Bleeds,  50 Foot Queenie, Snake, Rid Of Me, To Bring You My Love, Meet Ze Monsta, Working For The Man, Electric Light, The River, Catherine, Big Exit, The Mess We're In

Sun Ra song: Nuclear War

(click title for song)

This an amazing Sun Ra song I happened to run into on the web. It's from around 1982,when there was a lot of buzz going around about the threat of nuclear war between the USSR & the states.  According to Allmusic.com, Ra really thought he had a hit song and took it to Columbia Records and had it soundly rejected. Listen to it for just a couple of moments and you'll realize he really must have had his head somewhere in space. The word motherfucker is used over a dozen times--and with lyrics like "It's a motherfucker don't you know/if they push that button yo' ass gotta go. and whatcha gonna do without your ass?"

But I love it. 

I'm talkin 'bout Isaac Hayes (Shut Yo' Mouth!)

The Leopard is sure that in the coming weeks there will be dozens of articles, obits and tributes about the original Black Moses, Isaac Hayes,  flooding the media. There probably won't be anything that The Leopard can contribute in that area that won't already be covered about the fruitful musical life of the man who was the very personification of soul.

So I can only offer a youthful rumination.  The first time I remember seeing Hayes' image, it was in the basement at my aunt's house. My aunt and uncle were the hippest folks in my family and they always had the latest records. I used to enjoy just looking at the album covers: Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and The Pips. I especially loved The Ohio Players covers, like the one for the album called Fire featuring a model with nothing on but a fire chief hat. Up until that time, it was the closest thing I'd come to an actual Playboy magazine.

Then there was Isaac Hayes. My aunt and uncle must have been big fans because they seemed to have all his records.  I remember the Black Moses album that folded out into a crucifix. But my favorite was Hot Buttered Soul. Of course, I had no idea what that meant, but I loved the cover image, looking down on Hayes's bald head. I used to stare at the cover while listening to the groovy, soulful sound of his voice.  I looked at it so much that I remember thinking if it's called Hot Buttered Soul, maybe they should have put a pat of butter melting on his head--pretty silly.

The music was different than anything I'd ever heard before--all the songs were abnormally long, sometimes as much as 20 minutes, a whole album side--and had fascinating spoken introductions recited in Hayes's trademark gravelly baritone.

Shaft was everywhere on the radio in 1971.  Everyone I knew had a copy of the album or the single. The Theme From Shaft is probably one of the most recognizable pieces of music ever written.  It is unforgettable. 

Kinda like the man himself.