Mets take season's first "Subway Series"

Going into the ninth inning of today's game at Citi Field, the Yankees had a 6-3 lead that, based on how the Mets had played in the previous innings, seemed likely to hold if not improve. Sean Manaea, he of the 6.56 ERA, managed to hold the Bombers scoreless in t, he top of the inning. In the bottom of the inning, facing Yankees closer David Bednar, the Mets scored three runs, tying the game. The decisive hit was a three run homer by Tyrone Taylor.

In the top of the tenth Devin Williams held the Yanks scoreless. In the bottom of the tenth Yankee pitcher Tim Hill allowed two hits and a fielder's choice to put runners on second (following a steal) and third. Carson Benge then hit a chopper that allowed Marcus Semien to score from third for a walk off 7-6 win.

At the season's beginning I tried reading the Mets' tea leaves based on their performance in an 11-7 win over the Pirates. Noting that five of the Mets' runs were scored in one inning against a pitcher who was having a very bad day, and that the Bucs outscored them over the rest of the game, I concluded that I could just be "cautiously optimistic." Things went well for the Mets until April 8, when they plunged into a twelve game losing streak. For a time, they had the worst record in the Majors. They are now out of the MLB basement, though still fifth in the National League East. Some young players, like Benge, are showing promise. We now have New York City bragging rights; at least until the next Subway Series, at Yankee Stadium in September.

Joy Luck Trio Give a Stunning Performance at Bargemusic.

The Joy Luck Trio, consisting of (left to right in the photo) Karen Han on ehru, Donna Weng Friedman on piano, and Gao Hong on pipa, had their first Brooklyn performance at Bargemusic on Sunday, May 3. As I've noted before, I'm a fan of syncretism in music (and in other things). Joy Luck, in my estimation, does an awesome job of combining Asian and Western instruments and musical traditions.

They opened the concert with The Swan (Le Cygne, 1886) by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921), which they did as written except for some improvisations. According to my sketchy concert notes Han's ehru produced a "dreamy melody" while Hong's pipa yielded "versatile sounds." Friedman's piano was precise. This was followed by Hong's own composition, Flying Dragon, done solo on pipa. As its name implies, it had a soaring quality until the last note, which evoked the dragon's descent, and was made by Hong's dragging her thumbnail down a string, a move that produced a pleasing sound. Han then had a solo turn on ehru with Birds Singing in the Empty Mountains, by the Chinese composer Liu Tianhua (1835-1932). My notes indicate "conversational sounds" and "scope of timbre."

Next on the program came three pieces by the composer Stefania de Kenessey, who was present for the concert. These were from Microvids, a series of nineteen short pieces she composed after the worst of the pandemic had passed. The three performed at the concert were Reach for the Sky, Clouds, and Pure Joy. They were written for solo piano, but the concert performances included improvisations on ehru and pipa. It all worked brilliantly.

Hong then had another solo turn on pipa with a piece, Pastoral, that she said was inspired by the Mongolian countryside. Its evocation of a spacious landscape reminded me, in a good way, of Neil Young's instrumental, The Emperor of Wyoming. Friedman then had her solo turn on piano with The Three Maries (1939) by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959). These three short pieces, Alnitah, Alnilam, and Mintika, were given the names of the belt stars in the constellation Orion that are sometimes called "The Three Marys." My notes on each in order were: "playful"; "loving"; and "reflective."

The last two pieces in the program were Hong's Nostalgia, which she described as "chasing a dream" and for which my notes are "plaintive, then lovely," and Horse Racing, by the Chinese composer Huang Haihuai (1935-1967) which evoked the propulsive rhythm of hoofbeats and concluded with a convincing whinny on the ehru.

I have friends who think that the purpose of music, or of any art, should be to provide pleasure. I believe that great art should not only please, but also challenge the listener, viewer, or reader to hear, see, or understand in a new way. For me, Joy Luck Trio fulfilled that purpose. It made me hear music in a way I never had before.

(Also published on Brooklyn Heights Blog)

Emmylou Harris, "Red Dirt Girl"; happy birthday Emmylou!

In the clip above she sings her song "Red Dirt Girl"  at the 2005 Farm Aid Concert in Tinley Park, Illinois. She was accompanied on guitar and harmony vocals by Buddy Miller, whom I'm delighted to see was wearing a t-shirt promoting the Texas gubernatorial run of my now late Lion's Head drinking companion Kinky Friedman. 

I first became aware of Emmylou Harris as the harmony vocalist on Gram Parsons' solo albums GP and the posthumously released Grievous Angel, on which Linda Ronstadt joins Emmylou on harmony on the track "In My Hour Of Darkness". On the cut "We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning", on GP, Emmylou got a turn as lead vocalist on one verse.

Sometime in 1976 I got my first Emmylou Harris album, her third to be released, Elite Hotel. It includes three Gram Parsons songs done beautifully: "Sin City", "Ooh Las Vegas", and "Wheels". The cut that moved me most, though, was her version of Rodney Crowell's heart tugging "Till I Gain Control Again", on which Linda Ronstadt does harmony, along with Jonathan Edwards and Fayssoux Starling.

Elite Hotel confirmed me as a fan of Emmylou in her own right, and I continued to collect her albums. I saw her in live performance once, at the short lived Lone Star Cafe outpost in Midtown. Happy birthday, Emmylou; thank you for all the enjoyment you've given me over fifty plus years. May you continue to enchant.

Mets win opener 11-7; is this a good sign?

The Mets won their opening game from the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7, at  Citi Field. One game is no way to predict how a season may go. What, if anything, can we conclude from this game?

 In the bottom of the first inning, down two runs, Mets batters jumped on the Bucs' starter, Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, for five runs. Skenes was taken off the mound before the inning ended. What could this mean? Were the Mets batters really hot? Or, was Skenes just having a very bad day? I suspect it was more the latter than the former. 

What happened after Skenes' awful outing? In the top of the first Mets' starter Freddy Peralta had given up two runs. He then allowed one in the third and another in the fifth, when he was retired. The Mets' bullpen gave up one in the sixth and two in the top of the ninth. Over the post Skenes period Mets batters scored one in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two in the sixth. Not bad, but if we discount the five Mets' runs scored off Skenes in the first, which I consider a "black swan" event, the Bucs outscored the Mets 7-6.

So, what can I conclude from this game? Not much. I remain cautiously optimistic.

Notes on becoming an octogenarian

If I had been asked, at age eight, if I could imagine reaching the age of eighty, I would probably have said I could not. My hope for my future was to die gloriously in battle, and with my dying breath to utter words that would prove inspirational for generations to come. 

Fortunately, that was not my fate. Here I am at eighty. I can't resist sharing a story I've shared recently in other contexts. If I recall correctly it comes from the Scottish writer and broadcast executive Moray McLaren, according to whom a collector of folklore visited a remote Scottish island. He got off the boat and, walking along the island's main street, sought to find someone with a long memory. He stopped a man and said, "Excuse me, but do you know if there are any octogenarians on the island?" The man furrowed his brow for a moment, then said, "Octogenarians? ... Ah, yes. There was two. But my brother shot the one and the other flew away. Octogenarians, yes, there was two." 

 I shall avoid remote Scottish islands.

Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny, "My Heart's Tonight in Ireland"

I met Andy Irvine sometime in the late '80s when he performed at the Eagle Tavern on West 14th Street. I was introduced to him by my date, Zane Berzins, of blessed memory. She may have been the only native speaker of Latvian who was also fluent in Irish Gaelic. Later I learned that Martha, my future wife whom I had yet to meet, was at the same event. Beannechtai na feile Padraig!

"Sloth" by Fairport Convention, a timely song from 56 years ago.

This was Fairport Convention's second song at a Carnegie Hall concert I attended in October of 1974. Although it was written and recorded four years before, it likely seemed timely in 1974 because memories were still fresh of the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, which threatend to expand into World War III because it pitted an ally of the U.S., Israel, against those of the Soviet Union, various Arab nations. It seems timely now, as Russia allies itself with Iran.

Why "Sloth"? It is one of the seven deadly sins, defined as the "culpable lack of physical or spiritual effort." I believe Richard Thompson, who wrote the lyrics, had in mind the indifference, or unwillingness to make the effort to protest, that allow war to begin. The second verse begins, "She's run away." I suspect that the "She" refers to peace.

I've referred to that 1974 concert before in a post about the late Sandy Denny.

George Thorogood & the Destroyers with John Hammond (1942-2026) doing Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?"

At New Orleans' House of Blues sometime in the 1980s George Thorogood invited John P. Hammond, who died yesterday, to join him onstage in a rendition of Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love." Hammond's growling vocal and his skill on blues harp, accompanied by Thorogood's guitar, made this a memorable performance. Hammond was the son of John Henry Hammond (1910-1987), record producer and civil rights activist, who promoted the careers of Black musicians. Young John's godfather, from whom he got his middle name, was Paul Robeson.

Neil Sedaka (1939-2026), "Oh, Carol" - a teenage trauma resolved through songwriting

Neil Sedaka, who died today at 86, was a prominent contributor to the soundtrack of my adolescence. From 1959 through 1960 he had a series of catchy pop hits that were staples on the radio and at James Monroe Junior High School dances. One of these, "Oh! Carol" (1959, clip above) was inspired by his own adolescent trauma. He dated a classmate at Abraham Lincoln High School, Brooklyn, named Carol Klein. It seems the relationship ended unhappily. She, later known to the world as Carole King, along with her husband Gerry Goffin, wrote a joking reply song, "Oh, Neil". 

Today, Carole King posted a tribute to Neil Sedaka, noting that he had inspired her to become a songwriter.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson (1941-2026)

Born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1941, he belongs in the company of Rosa Parks, The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, John Lewis, and others who, in the middle years of the past century provided the energy and knowledge that led our country out of the shameful past of legalized segregation and discrimination. Robert Reich provides the full text of Rev. Jackson's speech to the 1988 Democratic National Convention, in Atlanta, which included these words:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lies only a few miles from us tonight. Tonight he must feel good as he looks down upon us. We sit here together, a rainbow, a coalition — the sons and daughters of slavemasters and the sons and daughters of slaves, sitting together around a common table, to decide the direction of our party and our country. His heart would be full tonight.

Rest in peace, Rev. Jackson.  We are a better nation for your having been among us.

Andy Statman and Michael Daves, "Surfin' Slivovitz": musical syncretism at its finest

I'm fond of syncretism, "the combination of different forms of belief or practice" (Merriam-Webster). Christmas, of which we are now on the eighth of the twelve days, is a syncretic holiday, combining Christian celebration of Jesus' birth with Roman and other pagan rites appropriate to the winter solstice. Where I especially enjoy syncretism is in cuisine, where I encounter it regularly when I enjoy a bánh mì for lunch, combining Vietnamese fillings with a French baguette, and in music. As I noted in a previous post, most of what we consider American popular and church music has African influence.

Andy Statman is a musical syncretist. He first became known as a bluegrass performer on mandolin, but became interested in combining bluegrass sounds with jazz, and with the klezmer music he knew from his Jewish childhood. In the video above he plays mandolin, while Michael Daves plays guitar, on "Surfin' Slivovitz," which Andy wrote and which combines elements of bluegrass, klezmer, jazz, and '60s California surf guitar music. Their performance took place at the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music, which annually presents the Brooklyn Folk Festival.

Slivovitz is a potent plum brandy made in Eastern Europe that has a special place in Jewish tradition.