Pinnacle of Modal Jazz

Kind of Blue (1959) by Miles Davis

It's been 52 years since the release of Miles Davis' great album, Kind of Blue. We can't let the anniversary of such a Jazz classic go uncelebrated. Although it isn't my favorite record, it certainly is one of my favorites. Kind of Blue has often been called the greatest jazz album ever. I think that is a fair claim.

For those jazz enthusiasts who like dividing up the genre into "Ages", Kind of Blue and the modal style that it represents marks the twilight years of the "Silver Age" which started with the development of Bebop in the mid-'40s and ends with the passing of John Coltrane in 1967. I see jazz history as a smoother continuity than the "Ages" paradigm suggests. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the modal style is a distinct part of the post-Swing jazz dialectic and Kind of Blue makes an early and powerful aesthetic statement that fully initiates this era of jazz experimentation.



Miles Davis' So What is the opening track to Kind of Blue


So let's listen to some music. ;-)

Father of Science Fiction

Amazing Stories, April 1926 (Illustration by Frank R. Paul)

A quick hit to celebrate the birthdate of Hugo Gernsback, born August 16, 1884. Here are a couple covers to the original Science Fiction magazine, Amazing Stories.



Amazing Stories, Febuary 1929 (Illustration by Frank R. Paul)


Enjoy!!!

Music for Aliens and Oddities

Flying Saucers from Mars Attacks! (1996)

We can't let the birth date of Leon Theremin pass without celebrating his great invention, the Theremin! An electronic instrument, the theremin is played without being touched by the performer. Here's Wikipedia's description of how it is played:

The theremin is almost unique among musical instruments in that it is played without physical contact. The musician stands in front of the instrument and moves his or her hands in the proximity of two metal antennas. The distance from one antenna determines frequency (pitch), and the distance from the other controls amplitude (volume). Most frequently, the right hand controls the pitch and the left controls the volume, although some performers reverse this arrangement. Some low-cost theremins use a conventional, knob operated volume control and have only the pitch antenna. While commonly called antennas, they are not used for receiving or broadcasting radio frequency, but act as plates in a capacitor.

The sound is weird and unearthly, yet with a distinct and authentic quality. It has been featured in science fiction soundtracks ever since the '50s, most notably in Bernard Herrmann's score for The Day the Earth Stood Still.



Leon Theremin demonstrating his electronic invention.


Let's listen to some examples.

Ominous Bird of Yore

The Raven by Edouard Manet (1875)

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore —
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door —
            Only this and nothing more."

That's the opening stanza to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", first published in 1845. Over the past few weeks, I've been discussing ghost stories. This poem isn't exactly a ghost story, but it plays off a related trope, the obsessive sorrow of the bereaved turning into madness. Although the story holds no supernatural occurrences, the protagonist is still "haunted" by their memory and desire for the departed. Later authors, such as Henry James or Edith Wharton, will follow in Poe's footsteps addressing this trope in their own style.



The Raven by John Tenniel (1858)


I'm a big fan of Poe's work. It's hard to say which of his works is my favorite. But "The Raven" is certainly a contender. ;-)

Mahadevi on My Mind

Vishnu flanked by Sridevi (left) and Bhudevi (right)

Ever since our Friday Flowers celebrated the Hindu goddess Kali, I've been wanting to go see some classic Indian sculpture. Perhaps the finest collection of such work in the Los Angeles area is at the Norton Simon Museum. So a quick trip to Pasadena was in order.

The collection is very extensive and impressive. Therefore, I'm limiting this post to focusing on my favorite goddess statues. The Norton Simon website has brief audio tour lectures for some of these statues. I'll provide the links after at image.



Vishnu embracing Lakshmi


Here's the link to the Norton Simon page with the audio information. ;-)

Queen of the Triple Axels

Midori Ito at the 1996 Figure Skating World Championship (Photo by J. Barry Mittan)

Here's wishing a Happy Birthday to figure skating great, Midori Ito, born on this date in 1969. I'm a big fan of skating, especially the Ladies events. Midori Ito is one of my all-time favorites in this sport. She really brought the athleticism to the competition. Her performances were transformative and served as an inspiration for the current generation of amazing Japanese skaters.

She won the World Championship in 1989, delivering on a triple axel and triple/triple jump combination. It was a record setting event. Here's a vid of her performance:

As the figure skating season draws closer, I'll probably start posting on this topic more.

Enjoy!!!

We're Off to Never Never Land

Metallica (Black Album) released in 1991

It's weird to think that it's been twenty years since Metallica's Black Album was released. I was an enthusiastic fan of their previous album, . . . And Justice for All, and was looking forward to this new album. I wasn't a hardcore thrash fan, but I found their style compelling. When the Black Album came out, I was mixed in my assessment.

On one hand, I wanted more of the style that they had developed through their early work. On the other hand, although the style was significantly different, the music was engaging. Twenty years later, I can comfortably say that this was a good record. We can play "What if. . ?" games regarding Metallica's thrash style, but the answer to the "What did. . ?" question is clear: the band changed their style and created a compelling heavy metal classic that would appeal to a more mainstream rock audience.

More importantly, I like it. ;-)

Enjoy!!!

Friday Flowers: Hibiscus

Pink Hibiscus

Poem to Kali

(By Ramprasad Sen)

The most exalted experience of bliss
in any realm of being
is directly knowing the universal Mother,
the supremely blissful one.
Ecstatic lovers of Kali the Sublime
are not pilgrims to sacred shrines,
for they hear all existence
singing the glory of the Goddess.

I could have gone many different ways with a Hibiscus-related poem, but I went with a good old bhakti poem to the Hindu goddess Kali. Why not a poet from the American South or a cozy tea-related bit of verse? Because I just realized that those flowers associated with Bengalese images of Kali are hibiscus. Yeow! That's something that I should have known!!!

Years of serious study in myth, religion, symbolism, and iconography. . . Well, you learn something new every day. ;-)

Biber: Music from a Real Bohemian

Vanitas Still Life by Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraeten

One of my favorite baroque composers in Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber. His music has a rich intricacy that keeps the ear engaged but never overwhelmed. There is an elegant progression to his compositional style. This is most obvious in my favorite piece, the Mensa Sonora seu Musica Instrumentalis (1680). Yeah, it is a series of courtly dance pieces, but I like dance music even if it's over three centuries old. ;-)

Here is a bit of the Mensa Sonora:

And here is Biber's most famous work, the Passacaglia for violin solo in G minor from the Mystery Sonatas. Haunting, yet entrancing.

So, if you've never listened to Biber's music before, then take the opportunity to today to remedy the situation. The Mensa Sonora and the Mystery Sonatas are great pieces to develop an appreciate for this master of the Baroque.

Enjoy!!!

Waterfalls of Caramel

Betty White stars in the first "You're not you when you're hungry" Snickers ad (2010).

Sometimes it may seem that I generally prefer older advertising campaigns and styles over contemporary ads. There's some truth to that accusation. However, there are some modern campaigns that I adore, which dramatically improve upon a brand's prior marketing while retaining a core product message. The current "You're not you when you're hungry" ads from Snickers is a prefect example.

Through out the '80s, Snickers distinguished their candy bar from the competition by emphasizing its capacities as a fulfilling snack food, which will provide a hunger fix and energy boost between meals. It was the proto-energy bar. Whereas other candy bars were mere sweets, Snickers were a helpful way to keep going through a hard day. This branding was summed up in the slogan "Snickers satisfies you."

Although somewhat boring, this branding concept continued into the early '90s with the "There's a hunger inside you" campaign which focused upon athletic excellence, especially in regards to the 1992 Olympic Games. By the mid-90s, Snickers started to lose brand focus, going for cheap laughs and gimmicky slogans that did nothing for creating a coherent product vision.

Snickers "Sings a song of satisfaction to the world."

Certainly, some of these ads are memorable, but is the product being promoted memorable? I don't think so. We remember the Kansas City "Chefs", not the candy bar.

Her Name Means Luck: Ihirwe

Baby gorilla, Ihirwe, rescued from smugglers (Photo by Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project)

Discovery News has an article, "Baby Gorilla Found in Jail with Poachers", that relates the plight and rescue of a baby mountain gorilla. I'm always amazed at the ignorance and cruelty that people have towards endangered species. Honestly, I can understand how profit will motivate foolish behavior, but certainly these poachers must be able to see how their "cash critters" are going extinct. And yet they still hunt them! It's a loathsome lack of perspective.

Fortunately, for this little gorilla, named Ihirwe, was rescued in time. However, it is depressing to consider how many precious creatures get needlessly destroyed through poaching and smuggling.

Here's a link to the World Wildlife Fund.

Weekly Wrap: Wednesday Night #4

At the Bowers Museum

Well, it's been a rough week. I haven't been able to post as much as I would like, but I think I've maintained a decent quality over the past few days. With only nine posts to review, I was thinking of instituting a new "wrap" policy of a ten post minimum. If I can't hit ten per week, then I'll just bundle them up into the next week. I'm still considering it for future weeks.

In regards to post frequency, I'm thinking about doing a easy morning post each day, similar to the quickies that I wrote up back in March when I was beginning to blog. It'll be a picture, a paragraph or so, and a link. Of course, I'll still offer up my normal style posts on a daily basis. The "quickies" will be posts that I can throw together in a few minutes, so they will not intrude upon my quality blog time. ;-)

Now let's review the week.



Betty Boop and Bimbo in Minnie the Moocher (1932)


We had three art posts. We looked at Alexandra Grant's text based artworks. Then we considered Andrew Uchin's "Reader" series in conjunction with bibliophilia. Finally, I reported on my visit to the Bowers Museum.

Our Friday Flowers displayed some pretties from the Madrona Marsh. On Spooky Sunday, we considered the Haunted Hotel story, specifically as represented in The Shining.

Our birth date celebrations were held for Louis Armstrong and Alfred Tennyson. We also commemorated the 81st anniversary since Betty Boop's first appearance.

Finally, we got to enjoy Tany Ling's fantastic performance of the Yiddish Policemen's Union at the Hammer Museum. Good stuff!!!

Well, here's hoping for a fun and productive week to come. And we can't finish the Weekly Wrap without leaving a disturbing image for you all.



Here's Johnny!


Enjoy!!!