The Hicks Place

Voices In Song

Tonight the Prairie Home Companion show originated from the campus of St. Olaf College and featured the exceptional musical talent for which it is noted.  The orchestra and the a cappella choir were exceptionally impressive, and the harmony of the voices of the latter sent my spirit soaring.  Nothing soothes and nourishes my soul and mood like the sound of beautiful voices in harmonizing song!  I particularly enjoy Garrison's show when he occasionally gets the audience to join in on a hymn or old classic, the voices of hundreds of people united in song is extremely touching to me.  Another very pleasing moment in tonight's show was a rendition of Sting's  Fields of Gold .    

Although I went to a very small high school, I was fortunate to have had a good music teacher.  We were too small at the time to have a band but Mrs. Johnson developed many of our voices into what, I believe, was a reasonably good choir.  We of course sang at various school functions, but she also took us to the county choral festival every Spring, and also brought some of us to Indianapolis to be part of a state-wide choir that performed at the State Teacher's Institute at the Cadle Tabernacle .  I was also fortunate to have been the youngest member in a quartet in my church when I was a teen.  I was the baritone, my father sang bass, and the two Wyatt brothers, Isaac and Dave sang lead and tenor.  We were good enough to be asked to sing at several funerals.  And, my dad and I did a magnificent rendition of the Silver Dollar song (A Man without a Woman), but the only place we performed that was behind the barn about dusk while we were waiting for the cows to come in from the pasture.

Spent the late afternoon installing a new router for our home wi-fi network.  The old one quit Thursday night, but I drove for Red Cross on Friday so couldn't get a replacement until today.  I should be able to waste time surfing the net a lot faster now.  It wasn't a good day for Indiana football anyway, but then there seldom have been lately.  

 

My Emotions.

Spring is a time of year, perhaps more than any other, when I have highs and lows.  Having grown up on a farm, it brings to me thoughts of new growth, the smell off the earth freshly plowed in preparation for planting.  The smell of honeysuckle and locust trees in bloom, the moist woods and the musk of mushrooms.  A time when today may be sunny and warm, but tomorrow rainy and cold.  But however uncertain the weather of Spring may be there is always the hope and certainty that as time passes there will be more sunshine than clouds and more warmth than bleakness. 

In other words, this is the time of year when my emotions take a roller coaster ride.  This last week has certainly been an extremely wild ride indeed.  Last Sunday afternoon it was sunny and warm here as Marcia and I walked along the banks of the Roanoke River.  I didn't realize how much sun my legs were getting until Monday morning, when the redness from my knees to my ankles stood out in contrast to the whiteness of my thighs and feet.  My outlook on life is always positive at such times.  My soul is at peace when, in the early evening I can watch the lengthening shadows of the sunset, catch a glimpse of sunlight still on the surrounding mountain tops, and feel a gentle warm breeze on my skin as I enjoy daylight softening on our patio or balcony.  Those are the good times for Marcia and me!

Then, more quickly than the good feelings, came death and destruction.  I watched with sadness welling up in my eyes as the television pictures showed the widespread devastation brought across the South by the worst outbreak of tornados in this country since 1925.  At such times, one feels so helpless, as indeed we are because we are at the mercy of the forces of nature, of  weather, earthquake, tsunami; the power that gives us such pleasure at the beauty of mountains, valleys, oceans, rivers, sunsets and sunrises, must inevitably also give us the sorrow of  destruction, loss of property and life.  Then at the end of the week our TV screens were filled with pictures of beauty and love, of a Prince by the simple act of marriage giving a beautiful young lady the title of Princess.  Life promissing renewal. 

My emotions take similar rides as I read.  I guess that is a major reason I do so.  I was lead to "Winter's Bone" by Daniel Woodrell after having recently watched an episode of Anthony Bordain's "No Reservations".  Bordain was in the Ozarks, experiencing the life and food of the hunters and fishers who live there.  He had come there because of his liking of the writings of Woodrell, who was his guide during the filming of that show.  "Winter's Bone" describes the determination of a sixteen year old girl - her dad who "cooks crank" out on bond but missing, her mother who sits as her mind drifts in and out of reality - trying to keep her young brothers in school, fed and clothed and away from the drug society which surrounds them.  Rural poverty.

Then I saw where the 2011 Pulitzer for fiction had been awarded to Jennifer Egan for her book, "A Visit From The Goon Squad".  The characters in the life of Sasha, bound together by their involvement with her or the music industry, their struggles to grow up, each with a "pause" in their life, which either they survive to become better or just live through, or sadly do not.  I think we all have pauses in our lives.  I hadn't thought of life that way before, but it is somehow comforting.  Like a pause in a song, a short time to reflect, and then it continues.

How much more precious life is when we acknowledge how fortunate we are to have survived the pauses.  God help and be with those who are less fortunate than we.   

New Discoveries at Jazz Fest

It was a great Father's Day weekend in Indianapolis and at the 8th annual Jazz Fest.  Eighteen different artists performed during the 3 day event this year.  The crowd was somewhat disappointing, only around 15,000 while the organizers had hoped for 25,000 to make a profit.  Friday and Saturday were clear and beautiful, well maybe a little warm for some Saturday afternoon and rain about 10:15 Saturday night cut Bonnie Raitt's performance short.  Sunday brought more rain and threatening skies.  We were prepared with umbrellas and ponchos when the Sunday afternoon performances were interrupted a couple of times with 15 minute showers, luckily without lightning. 

Herbie Hancock finished his short hour concert at 8 pm. Sunday in the rain.  His concert was the highlight of my day.  We didn't stay for the Neville Brothers which followed. 

Previously during the weekend we saw some fabulous groups.  I'm obviously not up on the latest developing performers, so maybe others are already aware of these people, but if not I strongly recommend you check out the following:

Grove Society, an A Cappella group of six people from Denver, http://groovesociety.org/ .  If you walked behind the stage and couldn't see them you would swear they were playing instruments.  But no, all of the sounds are coming from their mouths!

E.S.T., three guys from Sweden, a pianist, bassist, and drummer who come up with some unusual and intriguing sounds, http://www.est-music.com/  . I didn't know jazz was big in Sweden.  They played Saturday afternoon, but the review in Sunday's paper didn't even mention them.  Sunday, the reviewer was sitting a couple of rows in front of us, so I took the opportunity to tell him that I really liked E.S.T. and asked why he had left them out of his story.  He said, "I didn't much like them and I only had 10 inches".  I  just replied that I was disappointed he left them out because I really liked them. 

Finally, I was really impressed with Ilona Knopfler, http://www.ilonaknopfler.com/.  She performed with only the pianist that is on her CD, "Live the Life", plus a bassist from Detroit and drummer from Pennsylvania.   We bought the CD but I think I liked the sound of the smaller performing group better than the larger group on the CD. 

If you haven't heard these three groups, you should check them out.  And next year, plan to come to Indy for Father's Day weekend.  You'll have a wonderful time!

They don't make 'em like they used to

I don't know if anyone pays any attention to my TIVO list which appears at left, but if any of you do and you saw or have seen "Maytime" you got a real treat.  I never like to spend a sunny afternoon watching a movie, particularly if it is nice enough to be outside.  But today I realized I was going to lose them if I didn't soon watch some Turner Movie Classics I'd recorded on TIVO.   It had been cloudy all morning but cleared up just after lunch when I started to watch "Maytime."  I recorded it because I am a sucker for a Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy duet, not realizing this is likely their best picture. 

Jeanette is a budding American opera star in Paris, asked by her older voice teacher to marry him.  Realizing his devotion and love, and that she owes all her success to him, she accepts.  But alas, she meets another American, a young music student who loves her at first sight and makes her promise to come to his place for lunch of "Virginia" ham and eggs.  The music these two make together is of course legendary.  Jeanette marries her coach, but years later there is the expected tragic ending when she and Nelson are brought back together as stars in an Opera in New York.  It's easy for me to get teary eyed just listening to beautiful music; combine that with a tragic love story and great acting by MacDonald and you have me in an emotional high.   The video is available from amazon.com.    You must see it!

I Get Around

Late last summer I drove my 1995 Jeep Wrangler (Sacajawea) on a 3,500 mile round trip from Indianapolis to Bar Harbor, Maine, sticking to mostly 2 lane roads and stopping at locally owned motels, restaurants, at museums, scenic spots and historical points of interest.  In Erie, Pa. I happened to have dinner at the Colony Pub & Grille.  I sat at a table on the bar side because a young man there was playing the piano.  There used to be a lot of restaurants like this, and maybe there still are, but the atmosphere was something out of the 50's or 60's, and the patrons at the bar reflected that era, as I guess I did too. 

A lot of conversations were going on and no one was giving the pianist any feed back, until I applauded one of his numbers.  At his break, he came over to the table and I learned his name was Brandon Kent (www.brandon-kent.com).   When I asked about his training he said he was mostly self taught, then went on to explain that he was pretty excited about the possibility of soon being asked to join the Kellie Lynne Band (www.drcnashville.com) on tour.   He played a rather wide selection and styles of music; the CD I bought included "Candle in the Wind", "Wind Beneath my Wings", and "Proud to be an American".

I don't know if Brandon has actually played with Kellie either on tour or on her recent CD, but it appears that Kellie Lynne may in fact be a budding country music star.  You can learn more about her at www.kellielynne.com and at  ://www.clubcafelive.com/calendar.asp?id=12&year=2004&index=1 . 

I don't closely follow developments in the world of country music, but I do get a kick out of occasionally being able to suprise daughter Jen with something she wouldn't expect me to know.  I find that unplanned encounters such as this one always seem to have some significance, expanding my interest or knowledge in a way I would otherwise not have pursued.  "Everything is Connected."  Who among you have visited "Club Cafe" in Pittsburgh?