Super Bowl: The National Anthem

What is it about singers that prevents them from putting aside their egos long enough to sing their country’s song of praise?

Why are they determined to use our National Anthem as a stage upon which to prove that they are more vocally dexterous than the person who last sang the National Anthem on national television and before thousands of sports fans?

A large number of singers and more than a few sports fans apparently haven’t a clue as to why The Star Spangled Banner is performed prior to sporting events, which is a little odd because if you ask them why the American flag is displayed in schools, government buildings, sport venues, and thousands of public places, there’s a fair chance that most entertainers will actually know why: It’s a symbol of our nation deserving of reverence and respect.

But the National Anthem is viewed as an opportunity not to celebrate our love and respect for the United States as a place we are grateful and fortunate to live, which one should demonstrate by performing it in a dignified and respectful musical manner, it is viewed as an opportunity to demonstrate the singer’s command of every conceivable trill, turn, arpeggio, high note, yodel, and vocal firework, designed more to impress the audience, to convince the doubting that they are the most nimble singer on the planet, than to show the deserved respect for their country.

It isn’t the singers’ talent in question; it’s their taste and judgment. Those are in dramatically short supply.

Most Americans detest it when some yahoo burns the American flag, but don’t object—and, indeed, seem to enjoy—the destruction of the National Anthem when some self-absorbed entertainer thinks they can do a better job of crafting the melody than Francis Scott Key. But doing what some of these yahoos do to The Star Spangled Banner is comparable to modifying a photograph of Ben Roethlisberger so that he's dressed in pink lace panties and a push-up bra, or by using a magic marker to black out a couple of teeth on a photograph of Michelle Pfieffer. It just isn’t right.

A little advice for future singers who are offered the opportunity to sing The Star Spangled Banner in public: Sing the song straight and unadorned. If you can. It’s a difficult song to sing as written, spanning a melodic range that is a challenge for even talented singers.

So, if you can’t sing it as written, don’t sing it with ruffles and flourishes to cover up your lack of ability, or to impress the world, just politely decline the offer to perform it in public. And if you can sing it as written, you don’t need to show off. Be proud enough of your pure vocal ability to sing the song as written, confident enough in your professional reputation to sing it as intended by the composer, and be respectful enough of your county to sing its song of praise in a dignified and musical manner.

This year Jenifer Hudson was chosen to sing The National Anthem. As usual, I was suspicious; history was heavily against Ms. Hudson doing an acceptable job. But she did pretty well, mostly avoiding the temptation to “get fancy” with the song. She has a big, pretty voice, and more than enough ability to rise to the musical challenges of the song.

I give her an A- for voice and ability, a solid B for interpretation, and overall an unequivocal B+. And my thanks for maintaining the dignity of the song and showing a reasonable level of respect for it.

Click Here to Comment

Technorati Tags: America, National Anthem, Entertainment

Key West – Friday

The last day at Key West was a little different. We had absolutely no plans, except to get out in the sun for a while, but this time we opted to go to the beach, which was just across the street from where we were staying, a five minute or so walk. You might wonder why we didn’t go to the beach until the last day, or even why we waited until day four to get out in the sun, and the reason is quite simple: we went to Key West to see Key West, not get a tan. We also thought the temperatures would be too cool to lie in the sun, and neither of us are sun bunnies, anyway.

We were at the beach by right around 11 and stayed about an hour. After getting cleaned up we headed out to nowhere in particular. Well, actually, we did have a destination, which was a tapas place called Santiago’s Bodega, which was highly recommended. It’s downtown two blocks off Duval where so many neat places are, but parking is such a problem in some areas, and we finally decided to go back to a place on the beach that had its own parking lot that we passed earlier, a decent little Italian deli called Saluté Ristorante. The atmosphere was terrific, with the dining area open to the beach, and the lunch menu provided some nice choices.

Diane had a Media Noce sandwich similar to a Cuban Mix, but without the salami, which she said was good. I had an Italian sausage on a bun with peppers, onions and marinara sauce that was great. The wine and the atmosphere made the meal a delight.

We drove back into town and found a free spot on US 1, which we had done before, but we were a few blocks further away than before. We visited a few shops, a great place called Glass Reunion that had a wide variety of nifty things, including kaleidoscopes, sculptures and more than I can remember. We stopped by a place called Mangoes and sipped some Cuban concoctions, and kept wandering around and decided to hit Sunset Pier again around five p.m., hoping to hear those two guitarists from Wednesday. As fate would have it, only one of them was there, and he told me that the other guy was really the Wednesday fill-in for the guy who was there that day, a soul singer who was pretty good. Honestly, the two guitarists were way better. We listened to the music for a while, and then headed down the waterfront to Mallory Square.

On Wednesday on a trip to the bathroom I had heard two guys playing Latin music outside a Cuban restaurant, one a conga player and the other who sang and played a little flute now and then. When we went by that restaurant on Friday, guess what? The missing guitarist was there with those two guys and they were playing some blazing Latin tunes. The conga player turned out to be pretty good, so I tried to get some pointers. He turned out to be a schmuck (the schmuck is shown at right in the photo). So, we dined on Cuban fare at El Meson de Pepe’s and enjoyed their music.

Diane had the barbecued ribs special and I had the mixed seafood, both of which were accompanied with yellow rice, black beans, and fried plantain. All in all, a very good meal with very good music to go along, and as good a way to end a great week that I can think of.

Key West – Wednesday

A lazy day reading, watching TV and lounging by the pool was the prescription for today. We finally made it out around 4 p.m. and hit the Publix market for a few items, and then went downtown for the sunset activities at Sunset Pier.

The Pier is a neat place, facing west at the point that a lot of the commercial boats head out and back in, and there was a lot of activity on the water in addition to the big boats. We found good table along the banister and right in front of the stage. Almost immediately two guitarists took the stage, creating a little concern that they might be loud and they might not be very good. We shouldn’t have worried: they were just loud enough, and were fantastic. Their music was Latin, with both guys alternating playing guitar solos and rhythm over recorded bass and percussion tracks.

Their music was energetic and quite well done, and they played such things a “Hotel California,” “Volare,” “Spain,” some things by the Gypsy Kings and Santana, some music from Cuba, all with Latin and jazz influences. The guy on the right was Hispanic, and sang as well as he played guitar. If you are familiar with Chick Corea’s “Spain,” it has a challenging riff that eludes many players: these guys were quite a pleasant surprise.

We looked over the menu for a drink with our food and almost immediately decided against the Liquid Jelly Monkey Luv in favor of more conventional libations. We first had some chips with three dips: salsa, con queso and guacamole; Diane ordered a Cuban Mix sandwich and I had Crab and Lobster on a Croissant. Once again, my choice wasn’t all I had hoped or expected. The half of Diane’s sandwich that I had after downing my own was pretty good.

The Pier is not far from Mallory Square and other activities along the waterfront. We saw jugglers, acrobats, a one-man band, a guy with a dog that did tricks, a woman who swallowed a long balloon that ought to have choked her and other entertainers after the sunset dinner at the pier. After walking around the downtown for a while, we headed back and caught the end of the Republican debate. All in all, it was a good day.

Technorati Tags: Vacation, Music, Travel, Key West

The Week That Was

A couple of days ago I posted a whiny rant about how horrible this past week was going to be. It was all of that, and more. But now it is over, and I survived.

Brad let me down by failing to be sympathetic, and added insult to injury when he called me a “wealthy southern gentleman,” I mean, how low can you go?

Buff expressed the idea that I would be able to handle it; I appreciated his confidence and his encouragement.

Steve, bless his heart, let me know that he has it worse than I, and I think he was right about that.

Nuri, the sweet lady that she is, understood why I like to visit the Caribbean.

Today the main problem was stress, with two performances. If you aren’t a performer/musician, it may be a little difficult to identify, but you always want to do well. Being the leader of this jazz band is a mixed blessing. I don’t get to play much, which is what I like, and why I was in the band to start with, so it’s frustrating from that point, alone. Right after our dress rehearsal Thursday, one of our trumpet players, the guy who is the best soloist, told me that he wasn’t going to play on the concert. He’s 85 years old and has some health problems, so I fully understood where he was coming from, but nevertheless, it was another screwdriver in the gears.

So, in addition to running the band today, I had to sight read his parts. I did get to play, though, and I count that as a blessing. The concert went pretty well, and everyone seemed happy. Hallelujah!!!

Thanks, good friends! And now on to other things.

Home Cookin'

So, we fixed ourselves a home-cooked dinner tonight consisting of rib eyes and asparagus on the grill (it was about 51 degrees today) and some salad and a piece of ciabatta toast with a Sterling pinot noir that was very tasty (and not at all expensive).

We are in the process of decorating for the season, and we have been listening to some Christmas music on the stereo as we went about our business. First was a glorious CD featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra, one of my favorites; then one by the Airmen of Note, the USAF big band, which is a truly wonderful CD; and then Chris Botti’s “December” album, which is very fine; and finally a Christmas album by James Taylor titled, “James Taylor at Christmas.” James is a guy who just continues to put out good stuff, year after year, starting way back in the 70s (I think). One tune came up, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” which involves some singing along with some spoken words (what the opera people call “recitative”), which is really just some banter between the man and the woman doing the song, he trying to convince her to stay because it’s “cold outside,” and she saying, “I really should go.” Diane ventured that the woman was Natalie Cole, and I wasn’t convinced that it was Natalie, although I didn’t rule that possibility out.

Here, I must tell you that I have a very good ear for voices, and have a very good record at identifying singers. But, I just thought that it didn’t really sound quite like Natalie.

Well, guess what? It was Natalie!

Damn! I hate it when that happens; when she’s right.Fortunately, it doesn’t happen that often. (Don’t tell her I said that, okay?)

As Buffalo would say, life is sweet when … your wife is right and you aren’t?

Well, maybe that’s not exactly what he’d say.

Sometimes, Life Gets in the Way

I visited Buffalo’s Ruminations recently, as I do nearly every day, and found that my ol’ buddy was whining again about how uncomfortable he is in wonderful Friendly Manitoba. Buff seems to think that 25 below is a problem. Some people just can’t be happy. So I’m taking a cue from Buff and seeking sympathy from my gang, as he was from his.

Here’s my schedule for this week:

Sunday: Layout and prepare print job for printer; work on 900-name mailing list for event on Dec. 28 (fairly easy day)

Monday: deliver job to printer; work on agenda, etc. for 11 a.m. meeting tomorrow at which I am, as Mr. Bush might say, the “presider;” work on agenda, etc., for meeting at 12 at which I am, again, the presider; read notes and prepare for board meeting tomorrow at 5:30 at which I am merely an “attender;” in between, work on mailing list for event coming up on Dec. 28; conduct rehearsal for group with concert on Sunday, find out I have a challenging solo that no one else wants to play, finished at 9:40 p.m.

Tuesday: Complete prep for meetings at 11 and 12; practice for solo no one else wants to play; be the presider at the 11 o’clock meeting; be the presider at the 12 o’clock meeting; be an attender at the 5:30 meeting; in between work on details of next Wednesday’s annual dinner of another organization I am involved in; 6:00, attend annual dinner of local business organization; get home at 9:50

Wednesday: preliminary work on the newsletter and Web site update due Thursday; attend holiday reception as representative of organization; work on details of next week’s annual dinner; be attender of, and involved in reception at 5:30 for potential members of organization for which I was presider yesterday; perform in hand bell group I am a member of at 6:15; rehearse with group for Christmas cantata following hand bell performance, finish up at 9:30 p.m.

Thursday: Complete newsletter and Web site update (aprx 4 hours); 1:30 confirm arrangements and equipment transfer for Sunday concert/Thursday dress rehearsal; attend to details for next week’s annual dinner; dress rehearsal from 6 ‘til 9:15, including setup, rehearsing band, and playing solo that no one else wants to play (NOEWTP)

Friday: 9:00 a.m., practice for cantata and solo NOEWTP; work on details of annual dinner for next week at which I must give annual report and introduce the Governor of West Virginia; cook dinner and enjoy an evening and some wine with my wife

Saturday: Work on decorating the house; practice for cantata and solo NOEWTP; work on mailing list for event on Dec. 28; copy and fold programs for tomorrow’s concert; try to relax a little

Sunday: 9:30 a.m. prep for 10:30 hand bell performance; 11:45 aprx, lunch for hand bell choir; 1:00 setup for concert; 1:30 warm-up for concert; 2:30 concert; 4:00 rehearsal for cantata; 5:30 or so, home

Next week has its challenges, but isn’t as full as this week.

Don’t you feel sorry for me?

It’s not so much that I’ve been busy, although I certainly have been, but there is a lot of responsible attached to these activities, which is stressful. But the worst of it is that I just haven’t had much time for writing and visiting other sites. That is the real shame of all this.

Sunday

I slept late today, the result of a couple of short nights last week. I got up at 10:30, surprised at how late it was. We had some coffee and a muffin—well, I had some coffee and a muffin: Diane was up and going around 8:00—and then decided to go hunt for the beach.

The place we’re staying doesn’t provide you much information about stuff like how to get to their beach, and even some of the info they do provide is wrong, like the TV listing, for example. It’s totally different than the reality.

Anyway, we asked someone how to get to the beach and headed there, and got there in about five minutes, by car. Sunny and warm, but not hot, it seemed a perfect time to lie on the beach and let the sound of the surf de-stress us, so we walked out the boardwalk toward the beach. We walked into gale-force winds that were giving the ladies ahead of us a fit trying to hold onto the little kiddie surf-boards one of them was carrying. Undaunted, we turned right down the beach. After finding a good spot, we attempted to put down a blanket, which proved impossible. The windward edge of the blanket wouldn’t stay down, and sand quickly covered everything. So, knowing Mother Nature was going to win this game, we headed back to the pool, which was much calmer.

Later, we cleaned up and went out, bought a couple of books, one on how to clean up your computer to make it perform better, and the other a book on the environment. Then, we had dinner at Marley’s Island Grille, where we both had a great meal, and after that headed to the Coligny Theater for a jazz concert.

A few years ago, after I had taken over as director of the big band I had been playing in, we had a guest artist come and play with us on our spring concert. The guy’s name was Bill Prince. I first got to know about him when I was in the Air Force, stationed at Langley AFB in Virginia. A few of us musicians headed for DC one weekend to hear Buddy Rich’s band at the Cellar Door, and Bill Prince was the jazz trumpet player. He was terrific. I lost track of him until we were setting up the spring concert, and one of the guys in the band knew him well and made the contact, and Bill came and played the concert with us. He’s an amazing guy. He played trumpet with Rich, but he initially had been offered a seat in the sax section. Turns out, he plays darned near every instrument. On our concert, he played trumpet, sax, trombone and piano, and tonight he also played flute and clarinet. Tonight’s concert was a good one, and the group backing Bill up was pretty fine, too. As it turned out, Bill remembered me, which was a surprise.

So, it was a good day. The rain I had expected didn’t come, and still hasn’t. Tropical Storm Ingrid is falling apart near South America and likely won't be a factor, so we’ll see what tomorrow holds.

Technorati Tags: Vacation, Music, Jazz

I Just Love Creativity!

And when you add Ray Charles into the mix, it gets even better.

There Is Talent, And Then There Is TALENT

A lot of people watch American Idol, and a lot of people like it. I watch it on occasion, but not regularly, usually toward the end of the cycle when the better singers are the only ones standing. There are a few truly talented people among all those wannabes, but not many. Even the winners sometimes are not top-flight talents.

In Great Britain there is a similar program, “Britain’s Got Talent,” with Simon Cowell as one of the judges, and Piers Morgan of “America’s Got Talent” as a judge, and a truly gorgeous lady named Amanda as the third judge. The following YouTube video shows one contestant on the British show that actually is a tremendous talent.

Technorati Tags: Entertainment, Great Performances, Music

A Stunning Performance

As many of you know, I am a musician and have been for 50 years. I love music; I love great performances, regardless of the genre. That means I like good rock, good jazz, good "classical," good gospel, good country ... well, you get the idea.

The video below is a great performance. I urge you to plug in your good speakers, or put on a headset and listen to this tune. Forget the words; forget the genre. Just listen to a truly great singer accompanied by a truly great pianist.




The tenor is David Phelps and the piano player is Anthony Burger, both outstanding musicians. The performance is from one of the Gaither Homecoming concerts titled "Christmas in the Country."

I invite and welcome your comments.