Hey, Ho! Christmas

Nineteen hundred seventy four. Year zero that marks the birth of rock and roll's bad seed -- punk -- by its forefathers: The Ramones.

Originally a trio from Forest Hills, New York, comprised of Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee) and John Cummings (Johnny) both on guitars and Jeffrey Hyman (Joey) on drums. The group later christened themselves with surnames of Ramone whom they have taken after Sir Paul McCartney's alias Paul Ramon.

Hyman had difficulties keeping pace with their tune's fast tempos while singing. This prompted their manager Thomas Erdelyi (Tommy) to sit on drums -- moving Hyman in front as the quartet's vocalist.

The Ramones at the onset was the record industry's undisputed bête noire. Not a single member was technically proficient with his instrument. As a group, they learned music as they played it. Their songs' lyrics were criticised as senseless; often touching on juvenile issues like boredom, alienation, and rejection. To top it all off, they sported a threatening image owing much to street alley hoodlums.

Despite the group's apparent limitations, a handful of people noticed the raw energy and dark twisted humor that came with their unembellished music. These sophisticated few understood Ramones' overall simplicity as the ultimate expression of rebellion.

Through uncompromising persistence, the group gained critical acclaim in the underground scene earning regular gigs at CBGB's and eventually striking a deal with Sire Records. The succession of favorable events helped establish Ramones as an upcoming band that played loud, fast, and catchy bubble gum tunes.

A typical Ramones live set or album were all blink-you-miss deals. Twenty songs in 25 minutes or less -- including gaps in between. Full speed ahead like thoroughbreds off from the starting gate. All with 3-4 barre chords of chainsaw guitar plus grinding bass and thundering drums clocking at an average of two minutes per song. Their music, in short, was similar to that of The Beach Boys when they run amok.

NYC's punk quartet have set themselves as models for rock bands of the future.  In the words of Spin magazine editor-in-chief Alan Light, "All the better-known punk groups that followed - The Sex Pistols, The Clash, whoever - would be the first one to say that without The Ramones, the whole punk movement never would have happened." The Ramones, without a shadow of doubt had reinvented rock and roll.

The new melodic noise was so infectious that even presidential daughter Amy Carter, who could not catch an actual show, had to contend with the group's sound check under the watchful eye of eight secret service agents.

What was once thought as threatening outlaw gang of four image has been finally accepted as radical fashion statement. Jim Bessman, author of the book Ramones An American Band, asserts "Black leather jackets, sneakers, frayed jeans, cartoon T-shirts, dark sunglasses. Over the next few years the Stones, Queen and even Billy Joel would steal their look".

Despite all the success and recognition, the band never reaped commercial rewards they have hoped for. Their legacy, however, forges ahead well into the 21st century, gaining more fans and inspiring new artists. A museum dedicated solely to the group sits at Germany's historic city of Berlin. The Ramones was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 2002.

In total: they logged 2,263 live performances, released 21 studio, live, and compilation albums over a tireless two decade stretch.The super group Ramones, in their own inventive primal way, administered rock and roll's successful shock treatment.

One-two-three-four!....




  Update 07 May 2010: Alternate site for the music video (low res)... Long live The Ramones!!!!

Images from top to bottom:

(1) The Ramones first self-titled album [L-R Cummings/Johnny, Erdelyi/Tommy, Hyman/Joey, Colvin/Dee-Dee]. LP cover from Mental Defective League.. Original Photo by Roberta Bayley.

(2) The Ramones Gabba-Gabba Hey group shot. Reshot, cropped and reprocessed from the book, Punk An A-Z by Barry Lazell p. 112 (Hamlyn, ISBN 0600586359). Original Photo by Ian Dickinson.

(3) The Ramones live performance group photo from Ickmusic [Front: L-R Johnny, Joey, Dee-Dee Back: Tommy]

(4) The Ramones car group photo from The Bacchanals. [L-R  Marky/Mark Bell, Dee-Dee, Johhny, Joey]

(5) The Ramones stairs group photo from Risky Business. [L-R Tommy, Dee-Dee, Johnny, Joey]

(6) The Ramones colored pose group photo from Untossed Coin. [L-R Dee-Dee, Marky/Mark Bell, Johhny, Joey].

Video:
(7) Ramones video from youtube by FKostas. Merry Christmas Baby (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight). ( Joey on vocals, Johhny on guitars, Marky on drums and C.J./ Christopher Joseph Ward on bass)  
(8) Alternate Ramones video from Tu.tv by elapetocho. Personnel same as above.

Cultchas crew will appreciate those who could help name original photographer/director/artist included in this post. All credit goes to them. Merry Christmas !!

Jan Steen: Master painter of fun and rowdy times

Among the painters of the Dutch Golden Age, no artist had masterfully captured the lives of common people in their jovial state as Jan  Steen did.

Jan Havickszoon Steen, son of a brewer was born in 1626 at Leiden where he spent his formative years.  An unknown artist from Germany named Nicolaes Knupfer was his first art teacher. He then sought work and lessons outside his hometown moving from Haarlem, The Hague and Delft. While in Hague, Steen studied under the landscape artist Jan van Goyen whose daughter, Margriet, he later married.

Customarily placed next in rank to his contemporary Jan Vermeer, the vibrant portrayal of subjects in Steen's works, however, are still unparalleled.  His well known pieces are bizarre during their time: Holland then was largely a puritan society, and in contrast, Steen's works were mostly comical, festive and on occasion -- raucous.

It could be assumed without difficulty that compositions of Steen's paintings were mostly improvised and never planned in detail. The scenes are usually cluttered and disorderly that an unkempt Dutch home is now regarded as a Jan Steen household.

The charm of Steen's works lie in their genteel ambiance. Subjects are rendered with precise and  elaborate skill showing each individual's character. He is also known for his paintings of children and fine detail for textiles. His mastery of light is highly distinctive as his skill in handling colors specially rose, salmon red, pale yellow, and blue green.

Steen was often perceived as a wanton drunkard because of graphic themes in his paintings. While he owned and operated taverns on separate occasions at Delft in 1654 and Leiden in 1672; Jan remained prolific in his craft throughout his career.

The widely imitated Dutch master had produced around 800 paintings. He died in 1679 at the age of 53 where his remains were laid to rest in Pieterskerk, Leiden.

Images from top to bottom: 

(1) Jan Steen Self-Portrait, 1670,  from Carolus
(2) The Rhetorcians, 1668, from Gallery of Baroque Paintings

(3) The Row During Gambling, shot and cropped from The Story of Painting by Anna C. Krause, ISBN 3-89508-083-7 Konemann Verlagsgesellschaft. Original Photo by Jorg P. Anders
(4) Jan Steen, the dissolute Household, 1668,  from Persephone
(5) The Family Concert, 1666, shot and cropped from Museum Cafes and Arts Vol. XVII by Sharon O' Connor, ISBN 1-883914-34-5 Menus and Music Productions Inc.. Posted with kind permission from The Art Institute of Chicago
(6) The Village School, 1670 from Gallery of Baroque Paintings

(7) Jan Steen Self-Portrait as a Lutenist, 1663,  The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by Direct Media Publishing GmbH.

Video:

(8) Video from Youtube with kind permission from meesterschilders. Music by Peter Tchaikovsky, The Waltz of the Flowers.

Goodbye Sirone

Gone is another jazz artist for year 2009. Bassist and composer Sirone died last October 21 at his second home, in Berlin, Germany.

Norris "Sirone" Jones  was born on September 28, 1940. He got into music by playing trombone and eventually switched to bass in the late fifties after being expelled from his high school band. A decision that would lead him to a life-long career in jazz beginning with George Adams in their hometown Atlanta, Georgia.

Sirone was always on the move. Like most prodigious jazz artists, he was drawn to the big apple relocating there in 1965. He established himself as a leading contributor to 70's avant-garde jazz movement with the Revolutionary Ensemble. A reed-less trio with AACM's Leroy Jenkins on violin, and Jerome Cooper on percussion. Their group was among the first to meld contemporary classical music to avant-garde jazz. Favoring color, tone, abstraction of rhythm, and intense musical interaction now known to many as chamber jazz.

A story he often told with both amusement and rancor, was their trio held a badge of notoriety for drawing displeasure to Quincy Jones. When their album The People's Republic was played by Herb Alpert at a party, A&M's artistic director Jones dismissed it as "not music". The album was released under Alpert & Moss' ill-fated subsidiary label Harmony.

In 1989, a grant received from the German Academic Exchange Service allowed Sirone to teach in Europe. While in Germany, he was able to express himself on various forms of media -- composing and playing music for film and television. Aside from doing live performances and studio work, he also has theater to his credit, collaborating with his spouse Veronika and Pulitzer prize winner Samuel Sheppard.

Sixty nine year old Sirone has recorded three albums under his name. He also appeared on numerous free jazz albums of Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders, Marion Brown, Sonny Sharrock, and The Jazz Composers Orchestra.

He is survived by his wife Veronika Nowag-Jones.

Together with colleagues, friends, and us fans of Sirone, Cultchas crew expresses its sincerest sympathy to his family for the loss of a remarkable artist. Goodbye Sirone.

 

(1) Sirone portrait was shot and cropped from Pharoah Sanders LP cover, Izipho Zam (My Gifts), released under Strata East Label. Original photo by Martin Bough.

(2) Video and audio by Robert O'Haire at straw2gold pictures. Posted with kind permssion from Mr. O'Haire. Project L'Afrique Garde: Michael Wimberly (drums & percussion), Nioka Workman (cello), Abdoulaye N'Diaye (saxophones), and Sirone (bass) Ras Moshe's MUSIC NOW at The Brecht Forum, NYC June 28th, 2008.

Vioncello's Fireman Emanuel Feuermann

With four strings tuned C, G, D, and A; the Vioncello or simply Cello has been a mainstay of classical music since the 16th century.

It is difficult to fathom chamber music without the sound of Cello in its spectrum. However, on a larger setting, its sound is easily engulfed by an orchestra during solo passages. Chief reason why this instrument has fewer concertos over its smaller sibling, the violin.

By the same token, there are only a handful of string artists who belong to the Pantheon of great cellists. There is Pablo Casals; his former student, Jacqueline Du Pre; and of course, Emanuel "Munio" Feuermann.

Born 22nd of Novermber 1902 in Kolomyia, Galicia. Emanuel belonged to a household  exceptionally predisposed to music. His parents were both amateur musicians while his elder brother Zigmund was a violin prodigy.

Emmanuel was destined to be a cellist. At four, tutored by his father, he insisted to play the violin  they way Antonio Stradivari redesigned the cello -- upright.

He made his concert debut playing Haydn's Cello Concerto in 1914. A few years later, barely seventeen years of age, he became a professor at Cologne Conservatory until 1923.

An unrelenting perfectionist who despised compliments and the instrument itself; he lamented cello as monstrous beast, difficult and  impossible. Words hard to reconcile against his performances' facile elegance.

Feuermann was well respected by his peers. "Feuermann is the true fireman of cello!", once exclaimed by his friend, violin virtuoso, Jascha Heifetz. Even his idol Casals, who is considered by many as history's finest on the instrument, regarded him as the greatest living cellist.

Word has it that Feuermann could play the original score of Mendelssohn's violin concerto on his cello. Another version of this story is him performing the entire frenetic third movement by bowing a violin held in vertical position.

His untimely death in 1942 via a routine medical operation is one of the great tragedies in the annals of classical music. A day marked by outpouring of grief, with no less than the great Arturo Toscanini crying "murder!" on Emanuel's funeral.

Cultchas crew now present the volcanic genius of the vioncello, Emanuel Feuermann.

(1) Emanuel Feuermann portrait posted with kind permission from Mr. David Sanders of Montagnana books
(2) Young Emanuel Feuermann portrait posted with kind permission from Ms. Selma Gokcen of Well-Tempered Musician

(3) Emanuel Feuermann performance photo with Jascha Heifetz from the Internet Cello Society
(4) Video from Youtube with kind permission from Marking19. Last known surviving footage of Emanuel in 1939 performing Antonin Dvorak's Rondo Op. 94 and David Popper's Spinnlied with Theodore Saidenberg.

Boss Guitarist George Benson

Growing up during the eighties meant playing, with a lot of imagination, Doctor J vs. Larry Bird on Atari; watching Mr. T and the rest of the gang build DIY anti-bad guy contraptions on A Team; Thriller of Michael Jackson, (yes, I tried to dress, sing, and dance like MJ, not a pretty sight) and of course, the famous ballads of George Benson.

It has been years since I've last played George Benson cuts even for casual listening. If it weren't for a recent thread on one of the Internet's biggest online Jazz resource, AAJ, his albums will still remain enclosed and untouched on my inactive shelf of LPs, tapes and CDs.

I first encountered George Benson via his hit tunes Nothing's gonna change my love for you and In your eyes. Apart from those, my knowledge about him was limited to his dandy vocals.

It took me a while to realize he was a "good" guitarist. When I saw him play live on TV , my interest was piqued as he was playing notes from his guitar exactly how he sang them. First time I saw such a feat.

This led to a series of search, starve, and buy missions starting off with a Don Sebesky backed session White Rabbit on CTI records. It wasn't long when I got hold of his releases with Columbia where he was playing serious stuff. At the onset, I could not believe what enormous skill and talent he had put to waste by singing pop tunes. I labeled him a sell-out and at the same time, guitar god.

Benson's guitar work is full of flawless, razor-sharp phrasings and explosive single note runs. It was as normal as breathing. Just when I thought he had run out of gas, he'll put in full- bodied octaves reminiscent of Wes Montgomery during solos. His rhythmic and harmonic sophistication was also something to marvel. While listening, I could not stop thinking him saying, kiss my axe!

Years have passed, I now realize my grave mistake of Mr. Benson's criticism. It was all borne out of ignorance for good musicmanship, and being insensitive to his circumstance.

Along with elite artists like Nat King Cole, George Benson is one of few musicians who have attained critical and commercial success in different genres. It is with greatest love of all that cultchas crew vote him as one of the world's versatile artists and most wicked six string slingers to have walked on this planet. Take it away boss George....

 

1. Images from George Benson website
2. Video  from Youtube by JazzAudrey. Live cover of Dave Brubeck Quartet's classic hit, Take Five (plus Buck Rogers Nihonggo) with Sadao Watanabe.

Shutter Maestro Roberto Polillo

In a field where names such as Herman Leonard, Lee Tanner, Francis Wolff, William Gottlieb, William Claxton reign supreme; anyone who dabbles into jazz photography is destined to play camera aide. Their works adorned countless jazz publications and albums throughout the years. Each with famous shots marked indelibly into our minds.

It is only a matter of time that lens work of a prodigious youngster be rediscovered forty years after they have been taken. With great pride and pleasure, Cultchas crew now feature a hidden gem in jazz photography, Roberto Polillo.

 

Roberto, then aged sixteen began to cover important jazz artists for the magazine Musica Jazz. These were taken during concerts in Italy and neighboring countries in Europe from 1962 till 1974. His photographs could never have been caught by luck alone -- they are enough to fill an entire art gallery. In fact, his work has been on exhibit at various cities of his homeland Italy. A book aptly titled Swing, Bop, and, Free showcases jazz legends of the sixties captured by him.

A permanent exhibition of Roberto's masterpieces can be seen at the Centro Studi Fondazione Siena Jazz. A center for jazz studies dedicated to the memory of his father, the late, Arrigo Polillo.

All rendered in striking monochrome, his frames are never drab and unceasingly depict stories. Part of his pictures' dynamic appeal is his ability to capture what underpins an artist, possessing transparent sharpness as though his camera have pierced through their souls.

Like the musicians in his pictures, Roberto has impeccable timing, near-psychic sensitivity, and splendid skill in composition.

It is interesting to note that Roberto was never a professional photographer. He was software entrepreneur and co-founder of Etnoteam. At present, he is a professor of computer science at the University of Milano Bicocca on human-computer interaction. 

Nearly three decades of sabbatical in photography, he is now back capturing images -- no longer on film but digital. Other than Jazz, he is currently into different themes, in particular, street and pictorial arts. 

An online gallery maintained by Roberto himself can be accessed at flickr.

(1) Swing, Bop, and Free; Marco Polillo Editore, Milan
(2) Through the generosity of the Polillo family, Centro Studi Arrigo Polillo was established in 1989. The center now holds all documents and recordings amassed by Arrigo through decades of his involvement in jazz.
(3) The url of Roberto Polillo's flickr photostream: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertopolillo

(4) The url of Centro Studi Arrigo Polillo: http://centrostudi.sienajazz.it

(5) All images are posted by Cultchas with kind permission from Mr. Roberto Polillo.
(6) Images from top to bottom: Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Lester Bowie,  Wayne Shorter,  Lennie Tristano, Horace Silver, Don Cherry with Sonny Rollins,  and Famoudou Don Moye

Happy Birthday Martial Solal

Cultchas crew greets its favorite artist Martial Solal a happy 82nd birthday!!!

Born on August 23rd of French-Jewish parents in Algiers. Martial Solal began establishing his name when he moved to Paris in the fifties playing piano with American expatriates and Europe's best jazz musicians.

The sixties became pivotal to his success. This was a period marked by a string of key recordings and began writing film scores starting off with Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless. 

On one account, Oscar Peterson gave up performance dates in France to watch this man swing. 

Solal's decision to play to a wider audience across the Atlantic gained him more favorable attention to jazz musicians and critics.

Duke Ellington:
Martial Solal has, in abundance, those indispensables of the musicians' craft: sensitivity, creativity, and a prodigious technique. Most of all, he sparkles with refreshment -- and for a jazz musician to sound refreshing in 1963 is no ordinary thing! 

Dizzy Gillespie:
It is remarkable to discover that an artist so far removed from the roots of jazz as Algeria and France can adapt himself so magnificently, and can create from the soul so basically as Martial Solal.

Martin Williams:
One of the best jazz musicians in the world. 

Lee Jeske:
Martial Solal has it all: heart, brains, chops. Calling him the greatest pianist in Europe is like calling Frank Sinatra the greatest crooner from New Jersey. Ridiculous! 



Merci de faire la musique merveilleuse. Joyeux anniversaire monsieur Solal!!! 


(1) Original photo by Mirko R. Boscolo, re-taken and cropped from Bluesine LP sleeve released by Soul Note Italy

(2) Video from youtube by HLORG

Montezuma II's Golden Goblet Delight

Rainy Saturday evening calls for a warm and relaxing beverage. Several drinks come into mind:

a. Coffee - Not tonight. Cultchas secret coffee, by design, is a suitable alternative to psychostimulant drugs.
b. Tea - Not tonight. Its diuretic property would be bothersome for playing records.
c. Chocolate - Ting! :) Montezuma's divine drink.

Cacao derived products are always associated to fun times and good memories. Could the controversial study on chocolate be true? It states that our brains produce a natural substance called Anandamide. This chemical, researchers from Neurosciences Institute in San Diego say is capable of simulating the mental effects of cannabis.

While the theory is undeniably interesting to pursue, this is not the time to probe Cheech and Chong science. It's a weekend to enjoy music and a cup of hot chocolate.

Through the kindness of one cultchas comrade, packs of sweetened Pantagruel were shipped here at mbase. This Portuguese gold in 200 gram bars is made by Imperial, a brand respected for its culinary chocolates.

Preparation for this drink does not require iron chef skills. Just break the bar into small portions and let it melt in warm milk. Add, stir, and melt according to taste..... Pantagruel!!! Chocolate bars with gargantuan taste!

Cultchas crew shouts out giant thanks to Montezuma II and Hernan Cortes for spreading the joys of this delicious beverage to the world!!
 





1. According to William H. Prescott, the Aztec emperor, Montezuma II, took no other beverage than the cold "chocolatl". A potation of chocolate, flavored with vanilla and spices, reduced to a froth of the consistency of honey, and gradually dissolved in the mouth.
2. Photo taken in cultchas kitchen at mbase

Departure of an Ezz-thetic Stratusphunk

What Bela Bartok and Arnold Schoenberg are to classical music, George Russell is to jazz. 

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, band leader, educator and theorist; Russell pioneered fusing Afro-Cuban rhythms to jazz and liberating its approach to improvisation from the shackles of chord changes.

Mr. Russell died yesterday of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 86.

Developed during the fifties, his theory called "The Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization" has influenced jazz innovators like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy. This important work on modal music, which many consider ahead of its time earned him numerous accolades including the prestigious MacArthur Foundation "genius" award in 1989.

The entire Cultchas crew mourn the passing of a remarkable man. He will always be remembered for his stratuspheric contribution to the arts.

(1) The birth of Afro-Cuban Jazz is credited alongside Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillespie at the Carnegie Hall in 1947; Cubana be, Cubana bop.
(2) Image was re-shot and cropped from the LP cover of George Russell Sextet at Beethoven Hall (MPS); Original photo by Ove Alstrom, graphics by Gigi Berendt.
(3) Video posted is from youtube. With kind permission from JazzVideoGuy, Mr. Bret Primack.

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