Shake Out The Cobwebs
I have tried to maintain a commitment to live music but I've not been very diligent about it. But every now and then, a necessity arises and this week, it was buying a ticket to see the wonderful jazz singer Basia who's coming to The Birchmere in early November. Inasmuch as I have all of her recorded music, absent her collaboration in Matt Bianco, I felt I had to see her live at long last.

I have to tip the lid to my old college buddy Michael for connecting me to her music. Very samba, bossa nova influenced jazz. I believe I have gone on about this lovely lady at length in the past. So I'll just embed a viddy to close this post out.

I Appear To Be Leaking Ocular Fluid



I bought the song from Amazon. Hat tip on this to Don Surber.

The Continuing Distraction
Another blast from the neo past with the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones bringing their talent to a revival, of sorts, of ska back in the late 90's. I only have one of their discs but it's almost perfect which makes acquiring another risky (see Fratellis, second album). That being as it may, I hereby post "The Impression That I Get" for your listening and dancing pleasure. Yeah - I'd bop to this 'un in a stone second, infectious and driving with immaculate horn charts, what's not to like?

A Brief Distraction
Just because. Ladies and gentlemen, The Brian Setzer Orchestra!

A Song For The Holiday
Ladies and gentlemen, the Pat Metheny Group with "(Cross the) Heartland" from the great "American Garage" album. This is one of the top 10 instrumentals of all time in my estimation. And check out that big honkin' Gibson jazz box he's playing (a Gibby ES-175 if Wikipedia is to be believed). I'm no fan of the trapeze tailpiece but he makes that thing sing. Plus the opening piano riff is a classic. Enough blather - American electric jazz for the Fourth of July!

This Is Dallas Ft. Worth Tower,
Yasmine Villasana You Are Now Cleared For Takeoff
A rare two line headline for this story:

Renée Fleming
Commentary later. Video now.

Anzen Chitai - Deai
A very beautiful song by the Japanese group "Safety Zone."
One of my favorite songs. I meant to post this some time ago but it wasn't posted until late last year. This version is shorter than the one I have on CD but the CD has the "arubamu baashiyon" (album version). In any event, even half a minute shorter, it's a lovely song.

L'amour Est Enfant De Bohème
(editorial comment deleted as no longer relevant)
This will be featuring the stunningly beautiful Romanian diva Angela Gheorghiu. A treat worth the wait, I assure you.

More comment on the morrow, but for now, you know the music but the face and voice may be new to you. It' a little unusual for an aria to be put together as a music video per se but here it is. Yes, she is that gorgeous.

The Continuing Women Of Opera Posting
Today, for your listening and viewing pleasure I present the lovely coloratura soprano Diana Damrau in the role of Queen of the Night in Mozart's glorious "Die Zauberflöte." The Metropolitan Opera recently broadcast "The Magic Flute" in its regular Saturday "Live from the Met" series and it was superb. I haven't listened to it for, well, I really can't recall when I last listened but it was so beautifully done that I bought the DVD whence Ms. Damrau's performance here was taken. I love the staging and her performance has all the beauty and simmering menace the Königin der Nacht is meant to have.
I know the opera is supposed to be laden with all sorts of intentional references to Freemasonry but that's one of those aspects about which I care not a whit. It's an opera (technically a "singspiel" since not all the dialog is sung) that's dramatic, funny (Papageno has to be one of the best comic characters in all opera) and the music ... Well, it's Mozart. Need one say more? So, without further delay, the lovely Ms. Damrau sings.

Your Sunday Opera Moment
For your listening and I rush to say, viewing pleasure, the absolutely stunning mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca singing "Una Voce Poco Fa" from Rossini's "Barber of Seville." Her singing stands on its own (for those who watch the viddy) but I want to point out the facial expressiveness. This woman acts while she sings which is not always the case with great singers. I may have to dial down my enduring crush on Renee Fleming in favor of Ms. Garanca. And, if Latvian women looks like this, I know where I'm going for my next vacation!

Maybe Not Certifiable, But Close
The following viddy was produced by the strange folks at The Ginger People from whom I've acquired many a gingery treat over the years. It's hokey but kind of sweet at the same time. Of course I'm so insane about ginger that I don't find this weirdness 'out there' at all. And as for the allegations that gingers have no souls, well, phooey!

A Little Feat For A Troubled Time
Slightly less than a year old so not featuring the late, great Lowell George but his music. I'm gonna write a letter....

Do You Believe In Jazz?
I do. So in lieu of actual blogging I give you the superb Manhattan Transfer in a slightly shaky video of "Soul Food To Go (Sina)" recorded live in Madrid just last year. The song is lacking the Brazilian musicians used on the original recording (on the "Brasil" disc not surprisingly) but it's still, well, wonderful. Enjoy.

I Like It!

Whoa
High winds tonight. If the house had sails we'd be in Jamaica by now. Or maybe even Grand Cayman. That would be nice.
And while I'm a gittin' wound up on the meteorological conditiaments, a light blanket of snow right now would not be amiss. The big snow that was heaped and piled has melted down to the point where only the big heaps and piles are left and the ground is muddy and just ... ugly. A glowing cloak of diamond dust would be an improvement. But after I go to Costco, please.
On the plus side, I went out to the Country Orchard today to get my allotment of agricultural products and have two bags of lovely York apples. Still crisp and juicy, with the one I snaffled out to munch on my drive home a sweet chilly delight. Like candy it was.
I was hoping to segue from that into the Manhattan Transfer's version of "Candy" but alas it's not on uToob. Instead, I offer one of their amazing a capella performances of the gorgeous and sensuous "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square." Enjoy.



Just by the by, I could listen to Cheryl Bentyne sing for ages and never grow tired. She has one of the most feminine and at the same time versatile voices I've ever heard. Plus, her phrasing is just so perfect, it sends chills up my spine. Often an artist makes a song his or her own (Think Ol' Blue Eyes here) by individualizing the phrasing or tempo. Bentyne just kind of moves in and fills up the song with herself. The lyrics come spilling out just exactly where my ear expects them to be. I've used the words "lush and gorgeous" before but they deserve to be used again for this lady's music. And it doesn't hurt that she's drop-dead beautiful as well.

This Joke Kills Me
It was funny enough to begin with and when you add monkeys.... Well, any joke is funnier when monkeys tell it.


Also a comment queue full of jokes and thoughts on joke-telling at neo-neocon.

A Video For Next Year's SOTU Speech
Barry, baby, let me save you some trouble:

Retro Thursday
Another place holder day here on PoW. A little 70s flashiebackie with a man who managed to pen a couple of iconic songs, sing a superb re-make of an icon's iconic song (Roy Orbison's "Crying") and then be left adrift in the ocean of time and the culture passing. I give you one of my favorites of his oeuvre:

Since Rachel Ray's Ass Gets More Comments Than Anything Else
I see your static image and raise you Lisa Loeb in a thong:


UPDATE: In the "teach a man to fish" category of assology, The Other McCain posts something worthwhile.