Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble
Dos Glasgo director
CubaNOLA: More than the Spanish Tinge
With special guests Arturo O’Farrill pianist/composer/leader and Donald Harrison alto saxophone/composer/leader
The initial Cuban counding
The Master
The Master has generated some buzz around the performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and that seems understandable for both. Phoenix is a sort of twisted Freddy Quell ready to explode at a moment’s notice, with dark shadows in his face and a darkness within. Hoffman is the charismatic “Master”, and he exudes calm, and smooth talking, with every now and then a minor explosion. Supposedly he sees in Freddy some kind kindred spirit, with a deep connection from the Franco-Prussion war (so a previous life in the 1870’s). But one that seems inexplicable to his family and followers, and seemed inexplicable to me too.
The movie seems to jump from episode to episode, a lot of it not making any sense. One moment, the Master is singing “Here we go a roving” for a group of friends, and a moment later, all the women are nude, and he is still singing. Is this Freddy’s madness or part of the “story”? The final scenes seemed strange and irrelevant.
This is supposedly about Scientology, the baffle-gab pseudo-religion that L. Ron Hubbard created in the early 50’s, just like in the movie. Perhaps there are some parallels: the boat, the legal troubles, the jargon, etc. But it doesn’t get at the heart of the matter, I don’t think, of knowingly perpetuating a fraud on oneself, one’s family and one’s friends.
Fatoumata Diawara
I bought these tickets without really knowing anything about the artist or the music. Our seats were in the second row, which turned out to be fantastic. The songs were very beautiful, mellow and similar in tone. This is her first tour in the USA, and I hope it is a successful one. She sang in Bambara, which was as she explained after the show, her mother tongue, and the only one where she feels she can communicate musically. About halfway through, she started to do more dancing, with a more uptempo beat and inviting people to join her on the stage. Several (presumably) African students joined her, with a big hug before they left stage. Soon everyone was dancing in the aisles, in front of the stage, even stodgy folks like myself in the second row.
After the concert, she came back for some questions. Paris seems to be their home base, and their manager translated English questions from the audience into French. Corine Thuy, doing backup vocals and percussion, is from La Réunion, a French DOM-TOM island north of Madagascar. The other band members are from Cameroon, Togo, and Brazil/France. In her responses, she explained that she isn’t interested in politics, that it hasn’t helped anyone, that she is interested in peace. She also acknowledged the difficulties she has encountered in the music world, where a woman may perform as a man’s wife, sister or cousin, but not as the lead.
A very enjoyable concert, all in all.
Song Trailer
Interview and singing at the Hop office on Dartmouth campus
Hop Program Notes (PDF)
Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers
I received the email on January 31 that Steve Martin was coming to the Hopkins Center in May. It was an unexpected show opportunity and tickets were expensive. However, I did buy tickets that day, which was a good thing because it sold out right away. As it is, ours seats were near the back.
Although I remember back to some of his shows where he played banjo, I didn’t really know what to expect. Indeed, Steve said during the show, its a bit like Jerry Seinfeld having a concert of his bassoon music: you don’t know what to expect.
But it was a great show, of rollicking bluegrass with a great band, and Steve’s very dry and self-deprecating wit. Hard to believe he’s 67! He wrote most of the music (“to avoid paying royalties”), and he played one of 5 multiple banjos, alon with some singing, in particular the “Atheists have no songs”. He is clearly an accomplished player, and so were the other musicians.
The band was great, both vocals and instrumentals, and the finale featured some funny violin riffs (Flintstones!) during a very fast song.
All in all a fun performance!