Monthly Archives: June 2013

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV, Music

Legendary Singers Merry Clayton and Tata Vega Lend Oomph to SIFF Screening (Photo Gallery)

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Merry Clayton, Morgan Neville.
Tata Vega.
Tata Vega.
Merry Clayton.
Merry Clayton.
Merry Clayton.

Backup legends Tata Vega and Merry Clayton on the SIFF red carpet. (photo by Tony Kay)

Tata Vega, Merry Clayton, and director Morgan Neville on the SIFF red carpet. (photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

Tata Vega takes on James Brown. (photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

Merry Clayton turns the Egyptian into the Karaoke Parlor of the Gods. (photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

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Keep track of all The SunBreak’s festival coverage on our SIFF 2013 page.

Saturday night marked SIFF 2013’s first screening of Twenty Feet from Stardom, the new documentary chronicling the careers of several of the music industry’s greatest backup vocalists. It’s a big, handsome, impeccably crafted, state-of-the-art Cadillac of a doc that puts a loving focus on practitioners of an unheralded (and in these days of Autotuning and studio overdubs, vanishing) art form.

Director Morgan Neville follows several of these singers, tracing the ups and downs of everyone from Darlene Love (a legendary singer on several Phil-Spector girl-group pop symphonies, who was reduced to cleaning houses before a late-career resurgence and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction) to Lisa Fischer (a powerhouse who tasted solo success with the 1991 hit single, “How Can I Ease the Pain,” only to retreat happily to the background as a successful backup singer for Sting).

Neville’s an old pro at music docs, but Twenty Feet might be his best. It’s a welcome female-dominated ensemble piece that presents an array of distinctive, well-rounded characters. And it points up two elements frequently overlooked by music historians and fans alike, up until recently. One, the shades and coloring offered by these vocalists often made indelible marks on scores of classic rock and pop songs (can you possibly imagine the Stones’ apocalyptic classic, “Gimme Shelter,” without Merry Clayton’s stratospheric guest vocals?); and two, but for fate intervening, any of these women coulda been superstars.

Two of the movie’s subjects — Clayton and fellow singer Tata Vega — took to the red carpet at the Egyptian Theatre, along with Neville. The three of them also participated in a post-film Q&A, with a super-special surprise: Both women sang, superstar-karaoke-style for the packed house of filmgoers. Vega brought the house down with a rendition of James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” while Clayton, brassy and sassy as all get-out, tore the roof off with a cover of an old Leon Russell chestnut (whose title, alas, escapes me). As Vega sang with gusto, it may indeed be a man’s man’s man’s world, but it ain’t nothin’ without a woman or a girl.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Italy Lends a Hand for “Mostly Nordic” Celebration of Norwegian Chamber Music

Inger-Kristine Riber

Norway was the featured country Sunday afternoon, as the Mostly Nordic chamber music series wrapped up its season with a concert given by two gifted pianists, one Norwegian, one Italian, playing solo or four-hands together.

For the past 18 years at the Nordic Heritage Museum, the concert series has followed its unique pattern with considerable success: five concerts a year representing in turn the Nordic countries of Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway. After each concert most of the audience stays for a smorgasbord of food from those countries.

In the past, concertgoers sat in rows facing the stage of the old Daniel Webster school auditorium, with large round tables behind set for the smorgasbord. After the concert, many willing hands would rearrange tables and chairs throughout the hall. This season, it was decided to have the tables in place and listen to the concert from them, nightclub style. Walking in Sunday afternoon, the appearance was welcomingly festive with the tables set in Norway’s colors.

This concert nearly didn’t happen as one of the pianists became sick recently and couldn’t travel, but Norway’s Inger-Kristine Riber made herculean efforts and found a colleague, Italy’s Alessandra Giorgia Brustia, able to join her both for practice time and to come to the U.S for a mini-tour. Practice time can’t be just a run-through for performers playing piano four-hands. It takes deep communication in sensing how the music should go and complete synchrony between the two players. If these aren’t there, the performance sounds clunky.

It was nothing short of remarkable how close a meeting of minds there was in style, tempo, phrasing, and dynamics between Riber and Brustia, given that they had a scant ten days to achieve this. Their performances of Grieg’s Walzer-Capricen and his Norwegian Dances showed them excellent musicians and collaborators.

Alessandra Giorgia Brustia

Riber performed alone works by two other Norwegian composers of the 20th century, Alf Hurum’s Water Colors and four selections from David Monrad Johansen’s Suite No. 1. Both composers’ works are in similar impressionistic style, with a bow to Debussy and Ravel. Subtle colorations abound, as does well-planned use of pedal, while they are technically quite difficult. Riber had no problem with them, and gave each an appealing performance which should send local pianists hunting for the scores.

Brustia took on a couple of selections from Grieg’s Lyrical Pieces, and also Busoni’s transcription of Bach’s Violin Chaconne in D Minor. In this last, she managed at times to make the piano sound like an entire organ thundering out some of Bach’s most majestic music, and at others brought out the delicacy of incredibly fast runs.

Bach works in just about any guise. I’ve heard Bach sung by the Swingle Singers, or played by a steel band. The absolute essential is that it must be totally clean, completely orderly. There were moments where it felt Brustia was taking parts a tad too fast, bordering on breaking out of that cleanliness and orderliness.

The two performers returned after enthusiastic applause to play five delightful variations on a Norwegian folk song — in the style of Bach, Mozart, Chopin, and Grieg; and in a jazz vein — by contemporary composer Nils Henrik Asheim, which left the audience appreciative and laughing.

Education, News

Seattle’s Meteorologist “Math Squad” Pushes for Better Math Textbooks

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Cliff Mass
Cliff Mass

Mass & McDermott sounds like it could be an ABC odd-couple crime show from the ’80s — who didn’t love the hijinks of Hardcastle & McCormick? — but in fact the duo here are meteorologists pushing for better math curricula in Seattle’s public schools.

“Middle school math textbooks (Connected Math Program – CMP2) were last adopted in 2006, and elementary school books (Everyday Math – EDM) was last adopted in 2007,” argues University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass on his blog, “…it is time to secure new books.”

Mass’s antipathy to “discovery-based” math studies is well known– that hobbyhorse was part of what led to his parting of the ways with KUOW — but you’re probably more familiar with M.J. McDermott from TV, she’s a meteorologist at KCPQ 13. Her problems with the math curriculum come from her own exposure to it as a parent (she has twin boys), and as a volunteer algebra tutor at Ingraham High School.

In the following video, she explains why she believes “reform” math is failing students, by prioritizing a narrative approach to math understanding over proficiency in performing math operations. Now, in theory, Seattle Public Schools agrees with her on the importance of proficiency, but in practice test results, sadly, do not.

Some of the resistance to swapping out math curricula seems to be driven by the cost (and perception of waste). But the jumps in test scores from schools that have abandoned the approved math textbooks has made it hard to hold that line. As Mass explains, the district has essentially given in and is letting each school decide:

The current Seattle math curricula is so poor that several schools went “rogue” and moved to better books, at first against district wishes (it is now “legal” for local Seattle schools to change books if they can get the funds). For example,  many West Seattle schools have moved away from Everyday Math to Singapore Math and Mercer Middle School dropped CMP2 for Saxon Math.

Mass hopes that new superintendent José Banda and the school board will address the situation head on — but that said, Banda recently announced, in dealing with a separate testing controversy, that schools could opt out of a Measures of Academic Progress test in the next school year. Allowing schools to opt out of bad administrative decisions is not the same thing as good leadership, and it creates arbitrary winners and losers in what is supposed to be an equitable public education system.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

What We’re Hearing This Month: Classical Music Picks for June 2013

It’s time to celebrate the start of summer! Seattle’s classical music scene offers plenty of reasons to party this month. Honor the 100th anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s birth with concerts by the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Choral Company. Help local choral ensemble The Esoterics celebrate twenty years with two festive concerts of vocal favorites. World premieres also abound, including debuts of new works by John Luther Adams and Jefferson Friedman.

For those who plan further ahead, be sure to mark your calendars for a spectacular summer of chamber music. The Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Summer Festival and the Olympic Music Festival both begin in late June and continue through July.

Pianist and harpsichordist Byron Schenkman (Photo: Will Austin)

Jun. 6 — A bassoon becomes an electronic resonance chamber in the hands of musician and instrument creator Leslie Ross. Catch this unique instrument in action at an intimate recital presented by Wayward Music Series. Outfitted with fifteen microphones, Ross’ bassoon is transformed into an electronic hub that directs sound to speakers placed around the intimate Chapel Performance Space.

Jun. 8 — Seattle Choral Company commemorates Britten’s 100th birthday with a performance of the composer’s 1963 work Cantata Misericordium, which honors the efforts of the International Red Cross. The concert also includes music by up-and-coming Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, whose “Dark Night of the Soul” and “Luminous Night of the Soul” incorporate the writings of St. John of the Cross.

Jun. 9 — Experience Romantic music as it was originally performed. Music historian, pianist, and harpsichordist Byron Schenkman integrates historical performance practice into an all-Schubert program at Town Hall. A cast of talented local musicians will accompany Schenkman onstage for some of Schubert’s most celebrated works, including Shepherd on the Rock for soprano, clarinet, and piano.

Jun. 11 — In 2011, New York-based JACK Quartet wowed the crowd at Town Hall with their performance of Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 2. This month, they return for a concert with Seattle’s favorite cellist, the ever-energetic Joshua Roman. The group will perform a blend of ancient songs and shiny new pieces, including a specially-commissioned work by composer Jefferson Friedman.

Jun. 13 & 15 — Members of the Seattle Symphony and Chorale, Seattle Pro Musica, and Northwest Boychoir join forces for Britten’s monumental War Requiem. Completed in 1962, this masterpiece combines the Latin text of the traditional funeral mass with English writer Wilfred Owen’s poems about World War I. The War Requiem requires an army to perform, including three vocal soloists, chorus, boys’ choir, organ, and a full orchestra.

JACK Quartet (Photo: Stephen Poff)

Jun. 15 – 16 — The ballots are in! The Esoterics celebrate twenty years of choral music with “Score!”, two performances of their favorite repertoire, as voted by members, friends, and fans. The June 15 program focuses on secular pieces, while the June 16 concert celebrates sacred music. Hear works by composers young and old, including Strauss, Barber, Schnittke, choral director Eric Banks, and others.

Jun. 20, 22 & 23 — An avid nature lover, composer John Luther Adams draws inspiration from the rugged wilderness that surrounds his Alaskan home. The Seattle Symphony premieres Adams’ Beyond Ocean, a tribute to the waters of the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the world premiere, the SSO performs Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with soloist Sergey Khachatryan.

Jun. 29 – Jul. 26 — Kick off summer with the city’s biggest chamber music festival. With opening concerts and recitals scheduled for the end of the June, the Seattle Chamber Music Society‘s Summer Festival brings the brightest stars of the classical music world to Benaroya Hall’s intimate Nordstrom Recital Hall. Concerts feature repertoire ranging from Bach and Haydn to Simon and Garfunkel.

Jun. 29 – Sep. 1 — Concerts in a barn? This summer, if you’re heading to the Peninsula for a weekend getaway, be sure to stop by the Olympic Music Festival to experience classical music in a rustic setting. Now in its 29th year, the chamber music series features weekly performances of beloved works, including spotlights on Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert.

 

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

SIFF 2013 Week 3 Picks

Keep track of all The SunBreak’s festival coverage on our SIFF 2013 page.

Here we are, in the final full week of SIFF 2013. Among this week’s special events are a long-on-standby-only Evening with Kyle MacLachlan followed by a screening of the Twin Peaks pilot (tonight, 7:30 PM), a “Gay-La” presentation of G.B.F. followed by a dance party at Q (June 5, 7:00 PM, Egyptian), and two benefit screenings of Decoding Annie Parker, about current UW (then Cal) geneticist Mary-Claire King’s discovery of the BRCA1 gene’s role in breast cancer. Helen Hunt takes on the role of the scientist and Samantha Morton plays the title role patient. Tickets cost $25 and benefit the King Lab at the University of Washington.

  • June 6, 2013 7:00 PM Egyptian Theatre
  • June 8, 2013 1:30 PM Egyptian Theatre

Also close to home, the Sonicsgate team give last year’s marijuana legalization campaign the big-screen documentary treatments with Evergreen: the Road to Legalization in Washington, putting the recent political news on film while its still fresh in our memories.

  • June 6, 2013 9:30 PM Egyptian Theatre
  • June 8, 2013 12:00 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

Sadourni’s Butterflies: Dario Nardi’s melodrama about a circus dwarf enduring incarceration for a crime of passion reportedly draws from German expressionism and film noir. Whether that means it’s pretentious twaddle or something magical will be in the beholder’s eye, but one thing’s for sure: It certainly doesn’t look dull.

  • June 3, 2013 4:30 PM Pacific Place Cinemas
  • June 5, 2013 6:30 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

Here Comes the Devil: Two kids lost in some mysterious caves in Tijuana come back not quite the same, to menacing effect. The newest directorial effort from Adrian Garcia Bogliano promises eerie atmosphere and visceral shocks in a stew that hearkens back to the dead-serious, boundary-pushing genre cinema of the 1970s.

  • June 4, 2013 9:30 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown
  • June 9, 2013 9:00 PM Pacific Place Cinemas

Flicker: All of Sweden wants you to go see Patrik Eklund’s “Coens-ish comedy” (Hollywood Reporter) about a telecom giant that’s trying to modernize, if they can just keep the power on. (SPOILER: They cannot.)

  • June 3, 2013 6:00 PM Kirkland Performance Center
  • June 6, 2013 9:30 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown
  • June 9, 2013 9:00 PM Egyptian Theatre

Improvement Club: All you On the Boards fans may want to show up for a fictionalized “making of” film directed by Dayna Hanson as she went about creating her real-life work, Gloria’s Cause, reviewed here. It’s shot by Ben Kasulke.

  • June 4, 2013 7:00 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown
  • June 5, 2013 4:30 PM Harvard Exit

Unhung Hero: Local boy Patrick Moote has some massive cojones, as exhibited in this doc. Moote gets dumped by his girlfriend because of his penis size, but that rejection fuels an exploration of how the world views male sexual ideals. Does size matter? In a world that has no qualms about picking apart women’s bodies and sexuality, it’s refreshing to see a doc that even begins to put that question to males.

  • June 4, 2013 6:30 PM Pacific Place Cinemas
  • June 5, 2013 4:30 PM Pacific Place Cinemas

Aayna Ka Bayna: In this “mash-up of the Step Up films and the musical Moulin Rouge” — we know, you’re sold, right?  We’re told it gets predictable later on, as nine Marathi Indian boys from a juvenile home dance their way into a national competition, but the choreography and music carry the day.

  • June 5, 2013 9:30 PM Egyptian Theatre
  • June 7, 2013 6:00 PM Kirkland Performance Center

The Forgotten Kingdom: Buzz is good for this meditative story about young Atang Mokoenya’s travels with his father’s body, from South Africa’s Joburg back to their homeland, Lesotho. City-raised Atang is a fish out of water, but neither do tribal customs know what to do about AIDS.

  • June 5, 2013 9:00 PM SIFF Cinema Uptown

Note on the food-front: this week includes a second screening of More Than Honey, the Swiss honeybee documentary that enchanted MvB and Josh last week (June 4, 4:30 PM, Egyptian Theatre). For oenophiles and the people who love them, there’s a near-impossible pairing of sommelier certification-as-sport documentary SOMM (June 4, 7:30 PM, Kirkland Performance Center) and Red Obsession (June 4, 6:00 pm, SIFF Cinema) which looks at the beverage from the point of view of the insatiable Chinese market for coveted varietals. There’s also Putzel (June 3, 7:00 PM and June 7, 1:00 PM, Pacific Place) an quirky fish-shop romance vs. L’Amour des moules (June 3, 7:00 pm, Harvard Exit), where the shellfish themselves are the objects of affection.