IL DIVO

My early attachment to Mario Lanza and Italian ballads seems to have re-surfaced.

" Il Divo" is a group of four young men of different national background -American, French, Swiss, and Spanish. The group was brought together by Simon Cowell (of American Idol infamy).

The name of the group means "divine performer" - the male version of more familiar 'Diva'.

Il Divo's official website declares

"The fusion of four exceptional voices, bringing the passion and virtuosity of their classical training to the interpretation of romantic and popular songs, has brought a sense of opera into the mainstream and thrilled the world in the process."

From the first time I heard them sing on TV in the UK, before their first record, I was hooked. As well as sounding wonderful, they look so good !

There's something special about song in the Romance languages ,French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, ( languages derived from Latin - Rome-ance). Songs gain an extra dimension, a different quality which I find entrancing. Il Divo's versions of "Unbreak My Heart" and "Nights in White Satin" were a revelation!

This is one group I'd love to see performing live, but an opportunity seems unlikely in this part of the world - adrift between the Great Plains and the Great South-western Desert.

LIVE PERFORMANCES

This small-ish Oklahoma town boasts a surprisingly modern and well equipped leisure, fitness and cultural center which contains a state of the art theatre seating 750. The local Arts Council is responsible for organising shows at this theatre. My husband's son-in-law, Jeff, serves on the Council and is responsible for booking the acts featured in an annual season of monthly performances. Financial constraints limit the type of artists who are bookable, so we shall not hope to see Madonna, Michael Buble, or Paul Simon here !

Over the past two seasons we have been treated to a wide variety of music, including, recently the Turtle Island String Quartet. Jimmy LaFave, a Texas-based singer-songwriter is next up in February, and in March the theatre will host a really unusual show by The Drepung Monestary Monks "Mystical Arts of Tibet". I'm looking forward to that! The season closes with Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband.

Next season, starting September, is set to be exciting. Leon Russell(above) has agreed to perform here. One of his best known compositions "A Song for You" is a long-time favourite of mine. Jeff was slightly taken aback at Mr. Russell's requirements - part of the contract he entered into. As well as very specific details of parking facilities for his tour bus, he states that there must be proper access to the stage, steps constructed from piles of beer crates will not be tolerated. He will need six able-bodied and SOBER assistants to help unload his equipment. It's obvious that Leon Russell paid his dues in some less than salubrious dives ! He'll be pleasantly surprised by this little theatre in his home state, where the assistants are mainly God-fearing tee-totallers !

I've been so many places in my life and time

I've sung a lot of songs, I've made some bad rhyme

I've acted out my life in stages, with ten thousand people watching

But we're alone now, and I'm singing this song for you

I know your image of me is what I hope to be

I treated you unkindly, but darling can't you see

There's no one more important to me, baby can't you please see through me

Cause we're alone now and I'm singing this song for you

You taught me precious secrets of the truth withholding nothing

You came out in front when I was hiding, but now I'm so much better

And if my words don't come together, listen to the melody

Cause my love is in there hiding

I love you in a place where there's no space or time

I love you for my life, you are a friend of mine

And when my life is over, remember when we were together

We were alone and I was singing this song for you.

RE-CYCLING THE BEATLES

I was unimpressed by the Beatles first time around, in the 1960s. More than 40 years later I've discovered their true worth. I've come to the conclusion that their strength was as composers and lyricists, not performers. Oh, they performed well enough to delight millions of teenage fans. They shook their mop-head hair-dos at the screaming hordes, but sang and played neither better nor worse than many other groups of the time.

The key, and the real magician, I've come to realise, was and is their former producer George Martin. He issued a tribute album called "In My Life" on which an unlikely selection of performers put their own stamp upon Beatles music. It was from listening to this album that I understood why Beatles' music has become iconic. It has true, lasting quality, and in the hands of a genius like George Martin it blossoms, especially when performed by others.

George Martin has done it yet again, recently. The "Love" album is a compilation of Beatles music re-arranged, layered, mixed and re-mixed. Again, Martin's genius allied with Beatles' talent produces yet another perspective of the Fab Four's work.

Many famous performers choose to include Beatles' songs in their repertoire. Sinatra sings, for me, the definitive version of George Harrison's "Something" . Neil Diamond sings "And I Love Her" and makes me love the song I'd looked on as a jingle. Johnny Cash sang "In My Life" , and Sean Connery recited its lyrics on George Martin's tribute album. Every version of this song is affecting, but strangely Sean Connery's narration tops them all for me, it cannot be heard without a bunch Kleenex to hand.

In My Life, by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

There are places I remember all my life,

Though some have changed,

Some forever, not for better,

Some have gone and some remain.

All these places had their moments

With lovers and friends I still can recall.

Some are dead and some are living.

In my life I've loved them all.

But of all these friends and lovers,

There is no one compares with you,

And these memories lose their meaning

When I think of love as something new.

Though I know I'll never lose affection

For people and things that went before,

I know I'll often stop and think about them,

In my life I'll love you more.

Next.. More re-cycling, and a few live performances.

GINGERLY SAMPLING JAZZ

Until I met my husband, jazz hadn't figured at all in my music consciousness . He is such a dedicated jazz fan that it was impossible for me to ignore any longer. He used to tell me that I'd probably been listening to jazz oriented music more than I realised, for jazz takes many forms. This was reassuring!

The first real jazz I related to was Concierto de Aranjuez played by Miles Davis. Yes, this was good! I was later weaned on Ben Webster's easy to love sexy saxophone. I haven't moved on far, jazz-wise, since then. I do not like the strident, "chalk on blackboard" type jazz. I need to recognise a melody - can't do without that! I've heard "My Funny Valentine" played in a variety of styles by five or six different musicians. It was a throw-away song for me, before this, but now I look on it with respect. The melody lends itself wonderfully well to jazz treatment. Miles Davis and Paul Desmond tie for my first prize playing "Funny Valentine" !

As for jazz singers, Diana Krall appeals to me. She's the first female singer I've mentioned in these blog entries. kd lang, while not a true jazz singer, fits more easily into this category than any other - and she's a favourite. Sinatra was on the edge of jazz, much of the time. Ella Fitzgerald never fails to appeal, she was the epitome of class.

As for songs, I recently heard, and loved, Diana Krall's version of "A Case of You" - a Joni Mitchell song. I think Diana Krall's treatment is exactly right - better even than Joni Mitchell's.

"Oh you are in my blood like holy wine

Oh and you taste so bitter but you taste so sweet

Oh I could drink a case of you

I could drink a case of you darling

And I would still be on my feet

Oh Id still be on my feet"

And "Midnight Sun", sung either by Ella or Diana Krall is beautiful -

"Your lips were like a red and ruby chalice, warmer than the summer night

The clouds were like an alabaster palace rising to a snowy height.

Each star its own aurora borealis, suddenly you held me tight,

I could see the midnight sun.

I cant explain the silver rain that found me--or was that a moonlight veil?

The music of the universe around me, or was that a nightingale?

And then your arms miraculously found me,suddenly the sky turned pale,

I could see the midnight sun.

Was there such a night, its a thrill I still dont quite believe,

But after you were gone, there was still some stardust on my sleeve.

The flame of it may dwindle to an ember, and the stars forget to shine,

And we may see the meadow in december, icy white and crystalline.

But oh my darling always Ill remember when your lips were close to mine,

And we saw the midnight sun."

I might have travelled to my limit jazz-wise, but my cycle of song isn't over yet . It continues in cyclic fashion, to revisit much that I discarded the first time around.

COUNTRY MUSIC

In 1987, on one of our annual trips from England to Tenerife in the the Canary Islands, quite by accident one evening we wandered by an open air cafe fronting the seashore. A singer was entertaining diners. We leaned on the promenade rail a few yards distant and listened. I didn't recognise the songs, but I liked the atmosphere, and "the voice". He was obviously either English, American or Australian. His accent was London-ish, the songs were American, and his outfit was reminiscent of Crocodile Dundee ! We were intrigued.

This was the start of a new musical trend for me. Tom Keenan, a Londoner, "the voice", introduced me to country music that evening, and I became a fan of the music and a friend of "the voice".

The photograph, atop this blog entry shows Tom centre, with me and my late partner, sometime in the 1990s.

Songs of Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Don Williams... and countless others had me hooked. Classic, intelligent, emotional and sometimes witty lyrics do not deserve the derision they often get from music snobs. This was a whole new vista for me to explore. And I did.

We continued to visit Tenerife once or twice a year until 2000. Tom still sings on the island. He is "of a certain age", but from his energy and voice you'd never guess it. I took my husband on a brief trip to Tenerife before I emigrated to the US. I introduced him to Tom. Tommy sang all my favourites that night, including Merle Haggard's "Ramblin' Fever"

My hat don't hang on the same nail too long
My ears can't stand to hear the same old song
An' I don't leave the highway long enough
To bog down in the mud
'Cos I've got ramblin' fever in my blood
Caught this ramblin' fever long ago
When I first heard a lonesome whistle blow
If someone said I ever gave a damn,
Man, they damn sure told you wrong
I've had ramblin' fever all along


And Tommy sang a special song in memory of my late partner (his favourite song , written by Waylon Jennings)

Omaha you've been weighing heavy on my mind
I guess I never really left at all
I'm turning all those roads I've walked around the other way
And coming back to you, Omaha.

Omaha, Nebraska wasn't good enough for me
I always thought I was the roamin' kind
With a pocket full of dreams and my one shirt on my back
I left there looking for some things to find.........................

Now I live in Oklahoma, not far from the Texas border, country music is at home here, and so am I. I miss Tommy though!

I'm sad to have to add here that Tommy died on 28 January 2008, in hospital in Tenerife. Nobody who knew him, and his voice, will ever forget him. RIP old friend.

********************************

My new circumstances have brought me into contact with yet another musical genre - jazz.

NEIL DIAMOND, SIMON and GARFUNKEL

Neil Diamond dragged me by the heartstrings into ''70s contemporary music. I think he touches me in the same way Sinatra did and does - his depth of emotion. He lives his songs, as did Sinatra. That's important. Diamond wrote his own songs, as well as some gems for other performers of the time. I used to play his LP "Tap Root Manuscript" over and over again, to the exclusion even of Sinatra's records. Later, when he starred in the re-make of "The Jazz Singer" I fell in love with all the songs from that film.

He says:
"You have to go out there and give a piece of yourself -- your life, your soul. And you better give the audience everything you can -- physically, emotionally, musically. Then maybe they'll accept you and give you a standing ovation at the end." (Neil Diamond)

Neil Diamond wrote so many wonderful lyrics and tunes - which to quote? This one makes me smile - he invented his own version of the past tense of the verb' to bring' in "Play Me"
You are the sun

I am the moon

You are the words

I am the tune

Play me

Song she sang to me

Song she brang to me

Words that rang in me

Rhyme that sprang from me

Warmed the night

And what was right

Became me........

So I travelled with Neil Diamond through the 1970s, with occasional diversions into Bob Dylan, and not forgetting Simon and Garfunkel. How could I ? Their songs are classic, meaningful, melodic and unforgettable. My late partner had connections with boxing. In his memory -

"In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade,

And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down

Or cut him 'til he cried out in his anger and his shame:

I am leaving, I am leaving,

But the fighter still remains

Yes he still remains......"

The cycle continues. The 1980s brought me what journalists call "a sea change" - I accidentally discovered country music.

For jazz fans

A short intermission here while I recommend to any jazz fans who might have wandered here by accident, my husband's recent and rare musical entry into his blog. It's about Paul Desmond, the saxophonist. http://jabberclarks.blogspot.com/

SINATRA AND ONWARD......

Frank Sinatra has been an idol of mine for over 40 years. He makes every song he performs into a work of art. I use the present tense advisedly because, for me, he will never die. The wonderful lyrics of Sammy Cahn, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter and their ilk come instantly to life when Sinatra performs. His magic embellishes less classic offerings with quality they perhaps do not deserve. He is able to take modern classics by Lennon and McCartney, George Harrison, Neil Diamond, Kris Kristofferson and make them golden.

Appreciation of Sinatra was possibly the only thing I took from my first short and disastrous marriage. Fortunately, both my subsequent long-term partners shared my love of this man's music- that wasn't a prerequisite, it just happened that way (I think).

I could wax lyrical all day about favourite Sinatra renditions, but the title of this blog refers to a Glorious Cycle - so, with a few lines from one of 'em, I'll move right along.

"I have been a rover

I have walked alone

Hiked a hundred highways

Never found a home

Still in all I'm happy

The reason is, you see

Once in a while along the way

Love's been good to me."

The Beatles, who made such an impression on the popular music industry in the 1960s, hardly entered my consciousness in those days. I looked on their music as no more than "jingles". They were of my own generation, but I didn't relate to them - at that time. I have since begun to appreciate their music, especially some of their later offerings. Maybe I'm just a late starter. Or maybe, like a good wine, they improved with the keeping; that is something I've discovered about many artists from that era.

From the psychedelic 60s I have retained few clear memories of notable songs. I ought to add that this is not from the usual cause of blurred 60s memories! I didn't ever have an opportunity to move in those circles, sadly I missed out on such delights. The Mamas and the Papas sang "California Dreamin" and "Monday, Monday" - these still have a place in my archived memories. Gerry and the Pacemakers, who ran concurrently with the Beatles, but to less acclaim, sang "I'm into Something Good". This song brings back a memory - a temporary boyfriend and me driving the length of England south to north, going home for the weekend, in a Triumph sports car with the top down and the radio blaring out that song. As it happened I was NOT into anything approaching "good", but the memory lingers.

As the 60s morphed into the early 70s I discovered Neil Diamond.

IN THE BEGINNING

In the beginning there was radio, and a wind-up gramophone, and records known as "78s" made from brittle, breakable, shiny black stuff. It was wartime in England, I was very young and the only song I can recall from that time is "Bless 'em all, bless 'em all, The long and the short and the tall, There'll be no promotion this side of the ocean, so cheer up my lads bless 'em all".

With the war over, and a few more years passed, newfangled "LPs" arrived. Instead of containing just one song on each side, they were able to carry five or six , and they were unbreakable. A new player was needed, of course. The first LP I ever bought was of Mario Lanza singing songs from "The Student Prince". 78-type records were still available, and around this time Bill Haley and his Comets, with seminal rock and roll, burst upon the music scene in England. I bought several "78" records of his offerings, but was never greatly enamoured of this new music, preferring to stick with songs from the shows, and big band ballads (I was always something of a square!)

In the late 1950s/early 1960s, after "45s" had been around for some time (these smaller versions of the LP, carried one song on each side) juke boxes were becoming all the rage in coffee bars and pubs. Juke boxes carried dozens of 45s. The now burgeoning popular music industry was throwing up new product at an alarming pace. Buddy Holly, The Beatles, Elvis, and others too numerous to name filled our ears. None of this impressed me much, to be honest. None of it "got to me".

In the early 1960s I met and married an Italian. We spent some short periods in Italy, and as it happened Italian songs were quite fashionable at that time. "Ciao Ciao Bambina", "Three Coins in the Fountain", and some others by Dean Martin and Perry Como. These were more to my taste. My then husband also helped me to appreciate a singer I had until then overlooked (amazingly!) Frank Sinatra. Now I'd found "the real deal"!