Discography Year Two - Week 20

Week 20 is a very quiet week on the Discography.  I think we're all deeply, although hopefully not irreparably, bruised from the passing of our dear friend and brother Gary Beatrice.  Later, when we're in a better place, we'll arrange some sort of tribute week (in addition to the Kathy Seiler organized GB-themed trip to New Orleans, which will happen).  Yesterday several of us were involved on an email chain discussing the woebegone Cincinnati Reds.  A couple people made the point that it hurt to talk baseball without Gary, who, like all right-thinking individuals, was a devout baseball fan.  Nevertheless, in the midst of the exchange a couple of us proposed that in the great fantasy baseball league in heaven GB was going to get caught running up the bidding and end up with Hal Morris on his team, again, and then get chastised for excessive profanity.  That's how healing comes to us: quietly and randomly, and usually in the presence of friends.  Let's continue to lean on each other, and we'll get through this painful stretch.

And while I'm thinking about it.  KS has proposed a Memorial Day trip to New Orleans.  We'd be arriving on Friday 25 May and staying through Monday 28 May.  I know a couple folks have already said that it conflicts with their schedule so it would be impossible.  What do the rest of you think?

Dave Wallace

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Friends - Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Gary Beatrice, our fellow blogger, died on Monday evening, January 8.  In April 2015, Gary was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, an especially virulent form of the disease, and he was told at that time that the average period of survival from the time of diagnosis was nine months.  It was a bittersweet joy for those of us who knew him and loved him that he lasted much longer than that.  For me, the silver lining in the cloud of the last three years has been all of the time that we got to spend together and enjoy our friendship.  It's easy to take friendship for granted, and Gary's cancer was an unwelcome and vivid reminder to never do so.

I met Gary when I was twelve years old, and he has been one of my best friends since that time.  It's natural, and sometimes misleading, to laud the recently-departed, but I think that I can say with clear eyes that he was a terrific father, a wonderful husband, a fantastic friend, and one of the best people I've ever been lucky enough to know.  He was smart, wise, and compassionate, and you could always count on him whenever you needed support, encouragement, or comfort.  And he was funny ... really funny!  As I get a little farther away from his death, I think the thing that I'll remember the most is his humor and all of the laughter that we shared over the years.  

I send out Will the Circle Be Unbroken to Gary today.  Gary loved authentic bluegrass and country music, and he introduced me to its virtues when I was slow to appreciate it.  The sincerity and genuine nature of this music was also a reflection of Gary, and I will always think of him when I hear songs like this.  Will the Circle Be Unbroken is a song about mourning and death, but this version feels jaunty and upbeat.  It seems about right as I mourn the death of my friend but also celebrate the joy of his life.

Dave Kelley

"Boots of Spanish Leather"  Written by Bob Dylan, covered by Mandolin Orange

So my choice this week is an audible called in honor of my beloved friend Gary Beatrice.  Gary was the biggest Bob Dylan fan that I have ever known, and somewhere he is giving me grief for choosing a cover of this Dylan song instead of the original version.  I fear his wrath, but not enough to change my mind.   :)

This is certainly not Dylan's greatest song and may not even be in his top twenty-five, but I have always found it to be his most melodically beautiful.  It really cries out to be performed as a duet between a man and a woman, and I think Mandolin Orange's version is just amazing.  Two fantastic voices and simple instrumentation with just a violin and an acoustic guitar.  (Oh please Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, you need to do a version.)

This is a song about love ultimately lost.  In that aspect, it has absolutely nothing to do with GB.  He was fortunate enough to meet and marry the love of his life Margie.  They did not quite make it to the forty years mentioned in "If We Were Vampires", but they came close.  DW and I were talking about Gary a few days after his funeral.  Hell, we will be talking about that amazing son of a bitch for the rest of our lives.  We agreed that along with all of the great, solemn, and important things that have been said about him since his passing, somewhat lost in the shuffle is that Gary was a funny, irreverent, and fun loving guy.  The vast majority of my memories involve laughing and having fun.  He was always happy to give you shit and poke fun at himself.  To paraphrase The Truckers, "he danced on his own grave, thank you."   

Even though this is an audible, I am in keeping with my January theme based upon the fact that there is a female singer/ violin player in this selection.

P.S.  Fuck Cancer  

Miranda Tavares

I had the excellent fortune to meet Gary in person just once, and had I not known who he was it would have figured it out immediately. His sharp wit and gentle humor are ever present both in the blog and in casual conversation. I am thankful he shared his wisdom, insights, and love for Bob Dylan with all of us; my life is better because of it. I am not a religious person, but I think it is obvious that we leave part of ourselves with those we love. Gary was generous in spirit, and left much of himself with all of us, even those he never met in person. He lives within all of us, and as long as we exist, so does he. I'm glad his suffering is over, I am glad to have known him, and I am glad to know his friends who keep him alive in memory. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jATthXzPpIc

Kathy Seiler

Naughty Boy Ft. Emile Sande – Wonder 

The last few weeks have been incredibly stressful, with far too many big, heavy things going on with different parts of life; some professional, some personal. This week was the height of the professional stress that culminated with a high-stakes event, for which I was ultimately responsible, that could either positively or negatively affect my work colleagues. I’ve been going at such a fever pitch for so long leading up to this week that it was getting hard to keep the energy I needed to get through each day. There’s always a song that helps. In grad school, it was Nine Inch Nails “Head Like a Hole” because I felt like a slave to my advisor (science graduate school is a lot of physical labor along with reading and writing). Listening to Head Like a Hole was the only way I could get through having to do someone else’s bidding, both physically and mentally, for 60+ hours a week.

Now that I’m older (although whether or not I’m wiser is arguable), the songs that get me through aren’t quite so angry. Enter the song Wonder – it has a very life affirming, uplifting message, with a beat that can keep you going if you are exhausted or if you are sad; both things I’ve felt a lot of lately. This song helped get me through this week and kept me in the mental space I needed to be in. Another song to add to the soundtrack of my life. 

Phillip Seiler

October Project

Falling Farther In

Mary Fahl has one of those voices that seems beyond this world. There is so much restrained power and it exists across the breadth of her vocal range. It is astounding. I have no idea why she split from the band after their second album. I suspect that the label had no idea what to do with this music as it fit no popular genres for the early 90s. Which is a shame as something different can be something very good. And October Project was very good.

No real deep thoughts on this track and the band's lyrics certainly slide to the pretentious. But so what. It's a good song and I love the gorgeous harmonies. This is a song I unapologetically sing at the top of my lungs whenever it comes on. 

Alice Neiley

I Loves You Porgy -- Miles Davis 

https://youtu.be/GV2K1Y407fk

First of all, my deepest, most sincere apologies for neglecting the blog these last two weeks--I was laid flat with a cold, and also I hadn't written any posts in advance, which made everything even more confusing in my clogged up mind, especially with Scudder out of the country etc. etc. Excuses, excuses. 

Anyway, I know I've mentioned my obsession with Porgy and Bess before, likely the Nina Simone version of "I Loves You Porgy" still, without question in my opinion, the best version). Lately, though, I've re-immersed myself in Miles Davis music for a class I'm teaching, and his version of that tune (arranged by Gil Evans), is breathtaking. 

The melody itself is flawless--notes of long, elastic sorrow--especially those first five notes. Once I hear them, I cannot, under any circumstance, turn it off. 

It's extra interesting in the context of Miles Davis's career, because he was really coming into his own style (one of the many): a mix of bebop where he cut his teeth, the more spacious, modal jazz Gil Evans was known for, and the 'cool' rather than 'hot' improvisation. Even MORE interesting was how, after quitting Julliard, he remained so tied to classical music, at least the intellect of it, because partnering with Evans was certainly a shout out to the necessity of theory and 'big ears' (aka listening hard to everything from Shostakovich to Jimi Hendrix). 

Anyway, the only thing better than Miles's trumpet moaning up the scale of those first few bars of "I Loves You Porgy" is the first few bars of another Porgy and Bess tune he and Evans knocked out of the park: "Bess You Is My Woman Now"  https://youtu.be/X8nK9PDB_jE   --mysteriously even more heart-bursting than the one I've always named as my favorite. I mean, the first three notes have me actually aching. 

Miles, man. He's done it again.

Gary Scudder

Miles Davis, My Funny Valentine (Live)

I absolutely love this live cover of My Funny Valentine from a 1964 live Miles Davis album of the same name and recorded at Lincoln Center.  It featured Davis on trumpet, George Coleman on tenor saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on double bass, and Tony Williams on drums.  The entire album is epic and a must-own, although there are only a couple places in this song where I can actually hear My Funny Valentine (especially if you're used to the classic Chet Baker version, which I also love and think that it somehow should make it's way into a David Lynch film).  I've always thought that one of Davis's greatest attributes was how he would trust a song and respect its integrity, even when improvising. This cover of My Funny Valentine works beautifully, although in this case he goes pretty far afield from the original.  In light of GB's passing I was going to going to switch to another song but somehow this all worked as a metaphor for me at this moment.  We are a deeply flawed species but one of our most extraordinary attributes is our ability to hope in the face of hopelessness.We all knew that Gary was dying, but in our heart of hearts we assumed he'd get that one free pass and beat this particularly terrible form of cancer.  Essentially, in spite of everything else, I don't think we thought we'd be here, and we'll just improvise week to week as best we can.  Life won't always be recognizable as life, but eventually we'll be able to pick out the familiar strains and learn to appreciate the new forms it takes.