Passages

[HerrSchreck]

Oh wow, the Minkman.

RIP brother.

[Tribe]

Mike Seeger, old timey musician extraordinaire, direct influence on Dylan's work, half brother of Pete, and frontman for the longest running band in the country: The New Lost City Ramblers, is gone.

EDIT: And for that extra connection to Criterion, he was instrumental in getting Hazel Dickens (bluegrass musician who appears in Harlan County USA) to sing in public.

[Donald Brown]

The New Lost City Ramblers were terrific.

[bamwc2]

The New Lost City Ramblers were terrific.

I just heard them for the first time today on NPR during a piece on Mike Seeger's death. What I heard was quite impressive. I hate to say it, but as someone who counts himself as a casual fan of Pete Seeger and folk music in general, I had no idea that he even had a brother. I will certainly look into some of his work now.

[Tribe]

The New Lost City Ramblers were terrific.

I just heard them for the first time today on NPR during a piece on Mike Seeger's death. What I heard was quite impressive. I hate to say it, but as someone who counts himself as a casual fan of Pete Seeger and folk music in general, I had no idea that he even had a brother. I will certainly look into some of his work now.

Most of Mike Seeger's work was not "folk music" a la his half-brother Pete. Mike's solo work, as well as his work with the New Lost City Ramblers, was focused much more on traditional old-time American music...which tends to be quite different (in degree and in substance) from early to mid-sixties music originating in the Great Folk Scare.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

John Quade

[dadaistnun]

Les Paul

[dadaistnun]

Rashied Ali. fuck.

[FerdinandGriffon]

Rashied Ali. fuck.

Wow. Just this past Sunday I went to see By Any Means play at the Newport Jazz Festical and thought they were terrific, easily the highlight of my festival experience, but for reasons no one ever explained Muhammad Ali was subbing in for his brother Rashied. Now the mystery is solved, but tragically. Very sad news.

[HerrSchreck]

In memoriam of Rashid Ali... perfect funerary toll with him on drums:

Peace On Earth by Coltrane.

[skuhn8]

Les Paul

One of my vicarious pleasures living so far away in Budapest is getting my weekly New Yorker, reading through the already-by-then outdated concert venues, particularly the jazz listings and finding comfort that some of these old-timers are still keeping the faith. Every Monday Les Paul was doing the same gig until a few weeks ago. His contribution to the evolution of the electric guitar is almost impossible to describe.

[flyonthewall2983]

Clip from a recent documentary on Les that aired on PBS, and is out on DVD now.

UPDATE: The entire movie is now on Hulu.

[Fiery Angel]

Tullio Kezich

[esl]

Shingo Yamashiro

[domino harvey]

Don Hewitt

[tavernier]

Soprano Hildegard Behrens

[fiddlesticks]

In tribute, I just cued up my DVD of the Levine/Schenk Die Walküre. I admit I teared up at Behrens' curtain call. Having revisited Siegfried just the other day, tonight I may have to give Götterdämmerung a spin as a final farewell. Perhaps she wasn't the greatest Brünnhilde ever, but she was great in her day. Brava, Hildegard.

[Morgan Creek]

In tribute, I just cued up my DVD of the Levine/Schenk Die Walküre. I admit I teared up at Behrens' curtain call. Having revisited Siegfried just the other day, tonight I may have to give Götterdämmerung a spin as a final farewell. Perhaps she wasn't the greatest Brünnhilde ever, but she was great in her day. Brava, Hildegard.

Not to mention an unforgettable Fidelio (sorry, Karita, she still has you beat), a heartbreaking Marie in Wozzeck, and the best of all modern-day Salomes in the Karajan recording - a real tour de force of vocal acting.

[esl]

Virginia Davis of Walt Disney’s Alice Comedies passed away. She was 90 years old. In 1923, Davis was picked by Walt Disney in Kansas City to star in his proposed series of live action and animation shorts. Davis followed the Disney Studio to Hollywood to star in over a dozen Alice Comedies. She was Disney’s first movie star...

[MichaelB]

Producer Clive Parsons, who with longterm business partner Davina Belling was responsible for getting Gregory's Girl off the ground - for my money one of the very best British films of the last half-century.

[swo17]

It is a great film, and that's sad news.

[dad1153]

Senator Ted Kennedy.

[HerrSchreck]

Dang.. how far apart were Shriver and him-- a week? Two weeks?

Anyway, at least it was natural causes. I think Rose (the lobotomized sister who died in 05) was the first to die from natural causes of all the kids of Joe P. Then Eunice, now Ted... at least they lived their lives, and to the fullest too.

[Fiery Angel]

Dominick Dunne

[dad1153]

Hewitt, Kennedy, Dunne... yikes!

BTW, I had no idea Dominick moonlighted as a movie producer in a previous lifetime. From the Vanity Fair obituary (http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/ ... ntPage=all):

Dunne began his career in New York City as the stage manager of The Howdy Doody Show, and in 1957 he moved to Hollywood, where he became the executive producer of the television series Adventures in Paradise. Later, Dunne was made a vice president of Four Star Productions, a television company owned by David Niven, Dick Powell, and Charles Boyer. He then moved on to producing feature films, including The Boys in the Band, Panic in Needle Park, Play It as It Lays, and Ash Wednesday.