if it's too dissonant in the inverse retrograde, you're too old

I know I was about too old to talk about rock 'n' roll anymore, but I figured I had a couple more years before I was too old to talk about contemporary classical music



ganked from aworks, pwned by hexachordal

[Country Roads] It Takes a Roomful to Milonga

In the November 2008 issue of Country Roads

The world often acts as a crowbar between people, fracturing the melody of life into individually heard ditties, but once that unmistakable beat of Tango kicks in, people become instantly drawn together.

Tango has come to mean more than just a stylized dance, it has become an embodiment of close contact—it takes two to tango, as they say.

Born in the balmy back streets of Buenos Aries in the 1890s, the sensuality of tango has transcended its origins over the last century. In ballroom dance competitions, it is the tango that draws the viewer in, watching the perfected interplay of feet and bodies mirror the intricacies of being a couple. In the icy confines of Finland, about as far from Argentina as one can get and still be on the planet, tango has inexplicably caught on, developing into its own style, warming the stoic blood of the Finns. Today Tango is everywhere, creating a framework where couples can find their own rhythms through the intricate dance steps.

That includes the upstairs bar of Avoyelle’s on 3rd street in downtown Baton Rouge, where I found out there is a lot more to it than I had realized.

For the past two years, a group called Tango Lagniappe has been meeting in the cozy loft bar every Wednesday evening for what they call a milonga—or dance party (it is also the name for a faster variant of the tango). Elaine Stenski is one of those people. She and her husband took tango lessons at Rick & Robin’s from Fuad Adra and Kathie Sanborn (who provide lessons at The Roux House down the street on Monday nights), and looked for a place downtown where they could start a practice night. “I walked up the stairs and it had the atmosphere of Buenos Aries” says Stenski .

When I followed suit up the stairs, there was a nervous man in his thirties, standing a number of feet away from the door, looking at the sauntering mass of couples in the ballroom with trepidation. I can see why, for a lot of people, dancing is up there with speaking in public in terms of fear factor—and tango is analogous to having to make a commencement speech. One of the regulars was dispatched to talk to the guy, trying to convince him to brave the dance floor.

“We never charge on the first visit,” said Stenski when I handed her my $5 admission fee, “in case they don’t like it, or like us.” It would be hard to imagine anyone not liking this group, idly chatting in chairs lining the walls, snacking on hors d’oeuvres and casually taking spins around the floor. “We have a beautiful group here, all ages and nationalities,” Stenski smiles.

I take a seat near the windows next to Nalini Raghavan, the graphic designer for the group and tango enthusiast, so I can watch the procession and try to figure out the relationship of the steps to the music emanating from the DJ’s laptop in the corner (Note: a couple of people from the milonga have taken to learning the instruments and are forming a band that will perform there on occasion.) I remark that tango seems to be all about the woman, that she is the star of the show, and am quickly corrected. “The kicks that woman dancing right there is doing,” Raghavan explains, “are being led by the man. It is all in the movement of the body.” When I ask how the man led her to a particular move, Raghavan explained that I would have to take the lessons to understand it.

Fortunately, Tango Lagniappe has lessons—every two weeks, Ector Gutierrec comes up for a one-hour lesson at 7 pm to instruct beginning and intermediate dancers on the steps. Raghavan notes, “Each woman has her own embellishments she might do, but the movements in tango are always directed by the man.”

Stenski explains that one of the fun things about a milonga is experiencing how the different men lead their partners. “Argentine tango has a flexibility that lends itself for great diversity for the man. It’s an everyday dance, one that gives you that simplicity of form, just doing that one dance and have a great time. I love the fact that who I dance with, each dancer has their own flavor.”

Towards the end of the evening, a regular named Walter comes in and it is announced that it is his birthday. He celebrates by taking each of the women in the room on a turn around the floor. It is intimate, playful and welcoming the way the different dancers cut in for their turn, each picking up where the last partner left off. “The man and the woman are like one in that dance, the woman follows the man with great attention,” says Stenski . She explained that for her and her husband, “It brings back the youth and sensuality, makes us aware of parts of our body and the beautiful patterns they form.”

Alex V. Cook is a Baton Rouge-based music critic and author. He listens to everything and writes about most of it. The full effect can be had at www.alexvcook.com.

DETAILS.details.DETAILS

Tango Lagniappe
Wednesday evenings at 8 above Avoyelle’s
Restaurant (enter through the 333 Bistreaux next door)
333 Third Street, Baton Rouge
$5 covers entrance, snacks, and a chancefor a door prize. Free on the first visit.
Contact Kristin Balmer at 225-387-3425 or write to tangolagniappe@gmail.com. www.tangolagniappe.com.

[The Record Crate] Stevie Wonder is appearing at the Manship Theatre (maybe)

Editor’s note: As of Wednesday morning, tickets are not available through the Manship Theatre’s Web site. 225 will keep you posted on any updates to the show.

From the Manship Theatre Web site: J2 Youth & Family Center presents 1st Annual Fundraiser- An Intimate Evening w/ Stevie Wonder & special guest. Fundraiser for Family Social Service Organization, silent auction & concert. Tickets: $350 performance & pre reception in Brunner Gallery at 4:00 p.m. $100 & $200 tickets available for performance only at 6:30 p.m.

This article was written as people were dragging out to the polls early Tuesday morning, but by the time you read this, we should be at a peak of community spirit fueled by joy/outrage at the results of the national and state elections, but like any other “big day” like a birth or a marriage or landing a job, it is but the beginning—the real important part comes with what you do with that momentum down the line, and how you keep cynicism and entropy at bay.

I saw community spirit in action this week at the Carlotta Street party, where the event had the perfect balance of unhinged DIY fun and cooperation among the neighborhood residents, partygoers and city officials. Spring Break Shark Attack! proved once again to be one of the most consistently exciting live acts in the city, and I got a chance to see newcomers An Empire at Sea, an ambitious guitar and drums duo that with a minimum of effects and personnel effectively cover the orchestrated-instrumental-rock spectrum. Costumed revelers, DJ Otto, a beer truck even—The Carlotta Street Party has grown into a real event. Kudos to the organizers and participants for making things happen.

So successful was the party that only a handful made it out to see Vic Chesnutt, in my opinion one of our finest contemporary songwriters, play a sweet, intimate set with Elf Power, who serve as his backing band on his latest album, Dark Developments. Vic was in excellent spirits and the playful charm that embodies much of his material came through with his parlor-sized nylon guitar and his earthy croon. Probably not the best night for business, but having a near private audience with one of my all-time favorite performers worked out just fine for me.

I suspect there will be more of a crowd for Regina Carter’s two shows at the Manship Theatre this week. In the music pantheon, Regina Carter sticks out as a female jazz violinist, but her deep knowledge of classical and jazz as well as musical acumen transcends any novelty her choice of instrumentation might imply. Her albums Motor City Moments (reimagining R&B and jazz tunes from her home town of Detroit) and Paganini: After a Dream (combining classical, jazz, and Latin strategies in idiosyncratic homage to the master of the violin) offer a glimpse of what this sparkling talent will have to offer at the 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. performances at the Manship Theatre this Thursday.

Brightblack Morning Light is a group that takes a communal approach to creating an atmospheric groove that is so laid back, it nearly falls over. Their latest record, Motion to Rejoin, finds the group mining the psychedelic folky throb as on their earlier records, but with more finesse, more command of their muse. This band may not be exactly driving the spirit train, but they have finally gotten a hold of the reins. Soak it all in at their Spanish Moon performance on Friday.

And maybe I’m stretching things to view participation in a music scene as a microcosm of the larger culture, but if I may make that analogy - we are living in interesting times. The establishments that have long been condemned to sapping the life out of things are tumbling down, and the responsibility for building it, guiding it and supporting it is now in all of our hands. Cultural assets are like any other: if we take what they give is, we are stuck with what we get, but when we guide these things with our support, the possibilities are endless.

Wednesday, Nov. 5
Mike Foster Project at Chelsea’s

Thursday, Nov. 6
Regina Carter at Manship Theatre
Pat Green at The Varsity
Andrew Duhon and Kelcy Mae Band at North Gate Tavern
Livin’ the Music Singer/Songwriter Fundraiser at Boudreaux & Thibodeaux’s
John Gray & Existential Audio at The M Bar

Friday, Nov. 7
Brightblack Morning Light at Spanish Moon
Eric Lindell at Chelsea’s
Chee-Weez at The Varsity
The Tomatoes and Horseshoes & Handgrenades at North Gate Tavern
Hughes & Rae and Blaine Roy & Second Wind at Boudreaux & Thibodeaux’s

Saturday, Nov. 8
sBACH, Panthalassa, and You & Me Got Faces at Spanish Moon
The Ryan Moock Band at North Gate Tavern
The Circuitbreakers at Teddy’s Juke Joint

Sunday, Nov. 9
Stevie Wonder and india.arie at the Manship Theatre
Big Al & The Heavyweights at Teddy’s Juke Joint

Monday, Nov. 10
Dirty Dozen Brass Band at The Varsity

Tuesday, Nov. 11
Perpetual Groove at The Varsity

Link to original

Happy Birthday to my awesome wife Jerri

You are still the hotness after all these years! xoxo

RIP Michael Crichton

Jasper Johns by Michael Crichton

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars


RIP Michael Crichton

Among his many accomplishments in the world of fiction, movies, and television, Michael Crichton also wrote one of the finest, most readable artist monographs ever penned. His Jasper Johns goes beyond the usual exhaustive detail of the artist's early life and breathy impenetrability about the work that one usually flips through to get to the color plates. Crichton loved this artist and his art and what it meant in the grand scheme of culture. If only we had more writers with a sense of audience and as lucid a writing voice as Crichton's illuminating the arts.

View all my reviews.

5 things about the election

5 things about the election, originally uploaded by real_voodooboy.

1. My daughter has been very invested in this election to an almost Art Linkletter degree, saying things like "Someone at school said O-Rock Obama is going to race taxis if he gets elected. I think that sounds awesome!" She went in the booth with me to make sure I didn't fuck around and do something stupid with my vote, and even pressed final button with me. Racing Taxis! C'mon, how fun would that be!
   
2. I've never felt optimistic about elections before now in that I don't have much faith in the idea that society will hold up because it is profitable for powerful people to keep it held up. My experience with powerful people is that they will drop something the instant a better thing comes along. I don't believe Obama is Jesus or that he will bring about an era of hummingbirds and manna.
   
3. My biggest hope, and it's a meager one, is that he will not be an embarrassment of a President, that people around the world will be excited by the course our country is taking rather than cautious and guarded. I think its the least we can do after interjecting ourselves in every narrative and squabble possible.
4. I don't expect the world to be shaken out of old habits immediately, but I hope there are some black people that can get a cab, can enter a store without being followed, will no longer be "the black guy in my office," will not be assumed to be criminals or stupid or drug addicts or leeches on society. I hope the notion of things being better ripples through war-torn Africa, just the notion of a person with dark skin becoming President of the United States.
   
5. I like the sunshine and rainbow feeling I have about the election, how things seem to imbued with a positivity. John McCain even sounded excited about the results while conceding. I like how I came across the above Yoko Ono postcard that somehow got stuffed in with the pile of bills I had to pay, something a lot of people have vehemently proclaimed was going to be more difficult to do with this outcome, and I was compelled to hold it up to the sky and look through it.
   

My fellow Americans, interplanetary funksmanship is at hand!

I was hoping this would at least creep up as bumper music in the election coverage

George Clinton - "Paint the White House Black"