 |
| WTF?! Nicole Kidman |
And the Oscar goes to...Nicole Kidman for the best reaction to Will Smith assaulting Chris Rock during the Academy Award telecast.
Happy Monday, enjoy your week!
Monday, March 28, 2022
Sunday, March 27, 2022
The Academy Awards
 |
| The Hosts With The Most l-r Amy Schumer, Regina Hall & Wanda Sykes |
It's Oscar Sunday Minions, and aren't you happy??? Well I am, so there!
Mainly because I have seen many of the nominated films and performances so that amps they enjoyment factor of the show up a few notches.
Also with Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes & Regina Hall hosting the to do should be quite entertaining at the very least.
My favorite film of all the nominees is The Power of the Dog, but CODA (which I liked as well) looks to have gained momentum and will most likely win Best Picture.
There is however a chance that my favorite performance by an Actress this year could win being as the Best Actress category is a pretty open field.
Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana should, and deserves to win. While she may not, I call foul if she doesn't.
Everything is coming up Oscar today!
The Academy Awards on Wikipedia -
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Live From Vienna!
Dave Brubeck Trio - Live From Vienna 1967
Brubeck Editions is thrilled to announce the release of Dave Brubeck Trio – Live From Vienna 1967, the newly discovered recording of the extraordinary evening when the iconic Dave Brubeck Quartet was forced to take the stage as a trio. This electrifying album marks the only recording of jazz luminary Dave Brubeck, celebrated drummer Joe Morello and acclaimed bassist Eugene Wright performing in a trio context. During this performance at Vienna’s famed Konzerthaus, the pared-down instrumentation proves only to exemplify the genius of Brubeck and his legendary rhythm section. This historical release will drop as a compact disc on April 15, 2022, followed by a special LP release on April 23, 2022 for Record Store Day.
The date was November 12, 1967 and the Dave Brubeck Quartet was nearing the end of their very last tour of Europe. They had played in Hamburg on November 10th, but saxophonist Paul Desmond got “distracted” after going out on the town for one last evening to explore Hamburg with an old friend. When the rest of the quartet went to the airport on the morning of November 11th, Paul was missing. He didn’t make the lobby call or the flight and the rest of the group traveled to Vienna without him.
Grammy nominated composer and son of Dave, Chris Brubeck notes “Knowing my father, he was probably worried about Paul. However, Dave also would have suspected that Paul may have been out celebrating too hard.” Brubeck must have felt assured that Desmond would show up, as Chris indicates, “ there were later flights Paul could take to get to Vienna in time for the concerts”. But Paul never made it to Vienna, and the remaining members of the quartet were reluctantly pushed into an exciting place of spontaneous invention and exploration. As Chris notes “Dave often said that the audience was the fifth member of the Quartet. In this unique situation, the Trio played a singular and inspired set no doubt influenced by this particular concert’s fourth member of the ensemble – the Viennese audience. There was suddenly more solo space for all three musicians to explore with their inspired improvisations. These performers instinctively utilized the great sound and dynamics of this hallowed concert hall both to rattle the rafters and float gentle melodies up to the balconies.” The recording highlights the late “Senator” Eugene Wright, who sadly passed away December 30, 2020. The last surviving member of the quartet, he was always appreciated as the foundation upon which the other members of the quartet relied, but on this recording, he has more space to show off his formidable bass chops.
The trio sizzles with a ferocious energy right out of the gate with a spirited take on “St. Louis Blues”. For chorus after chorus, Brubeck offers up some of the finest examples of his signature chordal and rhythmic performing, while interspersing soulful, lyrical melodies in his right hand. About five minutes into the track during his bass solo, Gene quotes “I’m Going to Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair”, likely a joke for Brubeck and Morello referring to their missing bandmate, Desmond. The band continues with “One Moment Worth Years”, on which Brubeck and Wright’s touch can be described as charming, inventive and elegant.
“Swanee River” features an up-tempo syncopated groove that sets up a very polyrhythmic and high-spirited interpretation of the Stephen Foster composition that the trio had previously recorded alongside Desmond on the 1959 album Gone With the Wind. Notably, Brubeck engages in some very spirited trades with drummer Joe Morello. The trio calms things down with a sweet and tender version of “La Paloma Azul”, a Mexican folk tune rearranged with an ingenious polyphonic twist that appears during the closing melodic statement.
The crowd immediately recognizes “Someday My Prince Will Come”, and the piano leads the group on an intense romp that challenges the underlying time from the rhythm section with an elastic piano solo superimposing 3 against 2. As Chris Brubeck indicates “Dave bends the time to the near breaking point, a musical drama that an audience can really feel and follow.” The album concludes with a tune known throughout the world – “Take the A Train”.
As Chris Brubeck espouses, “I think if our dad were alive to hear this Brubeck Trio recording now, he’d be flashing his famous big smile. He would be extremely proud to hear how, more than half a century ago, he, Gene and Joe got thrown a curve ball and knocked it out of the park!”
Order Here -
Friday, March 25, 2022
Where Are You, Jay Bennett?
Wilco’s Jay Bennett rocks his own documentary from
directors Gorman Bechard & Fred Uhter
WHERE ARE YOU, JAY BENNETT?, a feature-length documentary on the renown multi-instrumentalist and recording studio savant, will have its BluRay and pay-per-view release on April 19th, 2022 from MVD Entertainment, and four days later a very special Record Store Day release featuring the film on DVD along with Bennett’s last two albums Kicking at the Perfumed Air & Whatever Happened I Apologize available for the first time on vinyl.
As a member of Wilco, Bennett was a large part of the genius behind their three seminal albums. He joined the band prior to the recording of their second album, Being There, and subsequently co-wrote most of Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with Jeff Tweedy (and has been called the sonic architect of both albums). Bennett was also instrumental in the recording of the Mermaid Avenue/Woody Guthrie sessions with Billy Bragg, and went on to a critically acclaimed solo career before dying tragically at the age of 45.
WHERE ARE YOU, JAY BENNETT? is one of the most intimate portraits of a musician ever filmed. Using a mixture of audio interviews with Jay, never-before-seen performance footage, animation, and extensive interviews with those who knew him best, directors Gorman Bechard and Fred Uhter give an extraordinary account of this fascinating artist’s life. We get a no-holds-barred history of how Jay Bennett helped create one of the greatest rock trilogies of all time, and an honest look at the other side of the narrative that had been created in the media once Bennett had been asked to leave the band.
“At the time of his firing, Jay’s behavior was cast in a negative light. But there are always two sides to every story.” Bechard explains. “In this film, we show just how instrumental Jay was to Wilco’s brilliance. How Bennett and Tweedy together truly were one of the greatest collaborative teams in rock history, but also how they were both perfectionists who needed to push boundaries. Ultimately, that was simply not sustainable in a band setting.”
The 104-minute film, funded completely through KickStarter, is an insight into a piece of American musical history exploring Bennett’s life, his influences, his art, his obsessions, his vices, music, recording, and, of course, Wilco and their unfortunate split.
“The animation by Ed Gendron brings to life these amazing interviews with Jay,” Uhter says. “To be able to hear his voice, to have Jay himself tell his side of the story, talk about how records were made, and what role he played… it’s a priceless piece of music history.”
Bechard is the filmmaker behind 2011’s COLOR ME OBSESSED, A FILM ABOUT THE REPLACEMENTS, which The Village Voice called the “rock version of Rashomon,” and Rolling Stone dubbed one of “The Seven Best New Music Documentaries of the Year.”
For more information please visit:
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Michael's Musings
Hello Lover
Michael Shinafelt
"Do you realize that people are still having sex? They've been told not to, perhaps they are perplexed." - LaTour, People Are Still Having Sex
Greetings Minions, guess what's on my brain this week? I'll give you two guesses and the first one doesn't count...Hey, lust keeps on lurking after all. That's all, time to get to it!
Break me off a piece of that Boobie Bar
KY, because no one should have to squeal like a pig (is that a banjo I hear?!)
Wanna buy a snake?
Finally saw Coda great movie, I think it's going to win the Oscar for Best Picture this Sunday
The word "nun" is just the letter "n" doing a cartwheel, the more you know...
Saw X this past weekend what a bonkers horror movie, I LOVED IT!!!
Fingers crossed the Kristen Stewart wins Best Actress for Spencer, she deserves it.
Rap music makes my ass vibrate
Woman Crush of the Week - Mia Goth for her dual role in X, she understood the assignment
Season four of You is now in production...Yes!
Lots of unintentional comedy this week but “rate your faith 1-10” is up there.
Somewhere right now Kate McKinnon is wondering what the hell to do with what she just saw
Although you can't see them or hear their breathing sounds
Hey, it hasn't gone out of style you know
Find out what I'm taking about (I think you know) here -
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Hump Day & Chill
 |
| Keeping Things Lively Blake Lively |
Another Wednesday another Hump Day & Chill. When I saw Blake Lively out and about in NYC I thought one thing: Wow!
I have got to say this midriff baring little black dress is something special and Blake pulls it off to perfection, perfection I say!
So hats off today to Ms. Lively - she is our Hump Day & Chill Queen.
Hey, nobody does it better than Blake, fight me...!!!
Blake on IG -
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
"A Dollar Today Keeps The Stigma Away"
Hey Minions! Remember Marla and Dave Thomas? Well on the off chance you might not recall them here is the link to our chat http://mshinafelt.blogspot.com/2022/02/love-story-marla-dave-thomas.html
They are on a fundraising mission to end the stigma of mental illness.
So if you have a dollar give a dollar, if you have more give more via the number above.
Make today a good one!
Watch and listen to Mental Health Mondays with Marla and Dave live on Mondays at 6:00 P PT/9:00 P ET:
www.youtube.com/c/MentalHealthMondays
https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/mental-health-mondays-with-marla-and-dave/id1527617186
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)