My poor front yard

Inundated with invasive flowers;  Trumpet Vine, Rose of Sharon, black Eyed Susan, Delphinium, wild sunflower, Phlox, Hosta, Daisy, and many more.

"Sing" As played by Oscar Peterson

Rye Bread Music Festival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG8A_vCd_JQ

In Upstate NY there is a little known music festival that has been going strong for 37 years:  Rye Bread.  The festival started out by invitation only and remains small and intimate to this day.  It attracts about 300 people and many of the concert goers have been attending year after year.  The beauty of this festival as opposed to larger ones, such as Bisco, is that the crowd is smaller, it costs only $20 and it is very welcoming to families and pets.  Bad behavior is not tolerated and not only will you be asked to leave but, the person who invited you will also be banned - so I hear.  Over the weekend I did not witness any bad behavior on anyone's part.  This festival is not designed to make money and is very much like a mini Woodstock of peace, love and music.  Even the bands play for free. 

As a hiker, there is a phenomenon called "trail magic," where everyone treats one another on the trail as an old friend and is willing to share food, water, directions and stories.  That same relaxed magic is immediately evident at Rye Bread.  You can be walking by someone's camp and they will invite you in for food or a drink and you will be treated as if they had known you for years.  This was my first time at Rye Bread and I immediately felt at home with everyone I encountered. 

Rye Bread.

Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson will be inducted into the Canada Walk of Fame on September 21, 2013 at the Elgin Theater.  ROAD TRIP!  Oscar has had a very distinguished musical career spanning over six decades.  He has recorded over 200 albums, won eight Grammy Awards and received sixteen doctorates from both American and Canadian universities.  He has also won many awards as best jazz pianist. 

Many of my musical friends know that I am a huge fan of Oscar.  Both he and the music of Bach can render me breathless when I listen to them.  Back in the early 80's Oscar had a television show and I taped every episode on video cassette.  Here is a track called "City Lights." I hope after his induction someone will re-release the series in digital format.  My apologies in advance for the quality, hiss and clicks of my recording.

I have a friend who took piano lessons from Oscar.  She had many wonderful stories about him although many of them revolved around racism and the discrimination Oscar faced here in the US.  In Canada where Oscar was from, racism wasn't much of an issue, at least it wasn't spoken.  But, here in the US Oscar experienced it a lot and rarely quailed in the face of prejudice. 

Oscar once went into a barber shop to have his hair cut and the barber said that he was closing.  Just then a white man walked in and sat in the chair and the barber began to cut his hair.  Oscar confronted the barber to no avail and then went to the police station to report it.  They said it was a civil issue, not criminal. 

Another time he went into a store for a pack of cigarettes and all he had on him was a twenty.  The cashier asked him where he got so much money and if he had stolen it.  Oscar said it was legally obtained cash and the cashier threw Oscar's change on the floor.  Oscar was going to confront him but there was a cop standing nearby who said "Pick it up, boy" and placed his hand on his gun.  Oscar left the store and sat in his car waiting for the police officer to leave but his bass player Ray brown convinced him to let it go.

Another time when Oscar was playing the Jazz at the Philharmonic tour, the concert manger, Norman Granz, insisted that the concert hall organizers not segregate the audience by color.  The police were called and three officers went backstage where they discovered some of the black musicians playing cards.  They were all arrested on trumped up gambling charges and were taken to the police station.  Norman paid their bail and immediately called his lawyer who advised him to just pay the fines which I beleive totaled to about $5,000.  One of the musicians was Ella Fitzgerald and she was livid.

Psalm 69 Lord In Your Great Love

Shameless Plug

I am unable to insert a video into Blogger today for some reason so you'll have to follow the link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qs_sOT4Ilg

If you are interested in the sheet music or CD:
 

https://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=4414

"That's Life" as performed by Earl Grant

Earl Grant was an American pianist, organist, and vocalist popular in the 1950s and 1960s.  Earl drew huge crowds at the Copacabana in NY and the Flamingo in Vegas.  He also toured in Europe, Australia and Japan.  During his short life, Grant cut 30 albums for Decca.  This track is from the Decca album "Gently Swinging."

Grant's unique Hammond organ style made use of big block chords and wonderfully percussive staccato glissandi.  Being born one of twelve to a Baptist Minister, Earl cut his teeth playing in church and later honed his skill while serving in the army.

Earl died instantly in a car accident in New Mexico, at the age of 39.  He was driving from Los Angeles to Juarez, Mexico for a gig. His 17-year-old cousin was also killed in the accident.

I first discovered the music of Earl Grant at the age of 14 when I landed a gig playing in a bar two nights a week for several months.  There were several recordings of Earl in the juke box including:  Ebb Tide, Volare and, I Can't Stop Loving You.  Although I never got drunk, I got to sample practically everything behind the bar.  The patrons were very generous in those days.  If only my friends who used to steal from their parents' liquor cabinets only knew.

The bartender and owner were huge fans of Earl's music as were many of the patrons.   One night my school bus driver walked in with his wife.  The whole place lit up as he walked into the bar.  He was the meanest bus driver in the whole district and all the kids hated him but in the bar he was jovial and very much loved.  When he saw me, he screamed my name and came running over with the biggest smile.  It turned out that he too played the organ and loved Earl Grant.  

The bus stop was three tenths of a mile from my house.  After that night, the next day he dropped all the kids off at the assigned bus stop location and told me to stay on the bus, he then drove to my house and dropped me off there.   That continued every day since and he always smiled and dispatched of me with a pop gun gesture as I crossed in front of the bus.    He would often ask,
"Are you going to the bar tonight?"
Sometimes he would hand me sheet music or record albums as I got off the bus.  He also invited me to his house quite often for his family parties and gatherings where we would each take turns playing for them.  He had a wonderful and caring family and these gatherings revealed to me why he was so mean to the kids on the bus.  You know, it's impossible to go through life unscathed. Nor should we want to.  By the hurts we accumulate, we measure both our losses, follies and our accomplishments and, we learn to love, forgive and survive.

I didn't know it then, but I know it now, that that scrawny 14 year old boy I once was, just by being there, helped that man who lost much, to realize that life was worth another chance.  That's life.

Goldilocks and the Three Churches

A friend of mine just moved several states away and relayed to me about her search for a new church to call home.

She said that the first church was close by, in an old strip mall, very non-traditional, no organ, but great music.  They have a rotating music team that does a great job.  They have about 200 people at each service and  it is a little too large for them.  They have three clergy and all three deliver great sermons.

They then visited another church nearby which was very modern, had a big (overpowering) organ, modern stained glass windows and incredibly BORING sermons.

Then they found another church, about 20 minutes away, that was established in 1752.  The building was from 1825 and they have an old tracker organ from 1883 which was recently refurbished.  It is a smaller church and has about 75 in the congregation.  The sermon was great, the organ didn't overpower the congregation, there were very good singers in the congregation and this one pleased them in every way.

What do you look for in a church?