Weatherman

Weatherman live at the Hideout, Chicago, IL Friday, January...

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:58:00 -0500

Weatherman live at the Hideout, Chicago, IL

Friday, January 4

10pm | $7

http://www.facebook.com/events/419579478114341/?fref=ts

Weatherman live at the Comfort Station, Chicago, IL 7:30pm...

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 11:39:00 -0400

Weatherman live at the Comfort Station, Chicago, IL

7:30pm | Free

http://www.facebook.com/events/279349772177601/

Baby Dodds, Talking and Drum Solos, 1946

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 12:11:00 -0400

Baby Dodds, Talking and Drum Solos, 1946

JIM COOPER: Conversation III Full disclosure: I have worked...

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:31:00 -0400

JIM COOPER: Conversation III

Full disclosure: I have worked directly with Jim in several ensembles, I’ve known him since attending the same university, Annie and I both consider him to be family, and he was one of the primary inspirations for starting the Weatherman interview project.

I know first-hand that he’s a player and composer with great intelligence and heart - not an easy feat - and a great conversationalist. Here he discusses composition as a craft rather than an art, explains qualities unique to Chicago music-makers, and looks over his eighteen year path as a composer with great insight and self-awareness, now that he’s “got some grey in [his] beard.”

We dug deep to uncover a 12-step program of pieces that Jim recorded in college that I remember well. We’ve spliced them in to the audio recording of the interview. Make sure you also check out the transcription though as the very end of our audio recording was cut off.

Now, it is our great pleasure to grant you passage to the very eloquent, articulate, active, courageous, and generous mind of Jim Cooper….

Weatherman Conversation III

-Jason, July 19th, 2012

JAMES FALZONE: Conversation II In addition to his musical...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 09:57:00 -0400

JAMES FALZONE: Conversation II

In addition to his musical abilities, I’ve known James Falzone to posess a strident mind, an impressive cultural intellectualism, and great articulation. These qualities make for a fascinating interview here with Annie.

“You know when I have the horn in my hands, playing music that I care about, I’m right in the sweet spot of what I’m on this earth to do … It was just that channeling what I thought was this, what I still think is, this incredible voice of creation to people through something that I have a talent in doing, just makes the world lock into place.”

They also discuss the intimacy and spirituality of improvisation and the notion of modality, and then Annie tries out a lightening round.

Presenting Weatherman Conversation II, recorded in James’ Oak Park home before joining his family for dinner.

-Jason, April 26th, 2012

MARK MESSING: Conversation I Last month Annie sat down with...

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:39:00 -0500

MARK MESSING: Conversation I

Last month Annie sat down with Mark Messing, co-founder of the uproarious Mucca Pazza and the avant-garde city street invaders, Opera-Matic, and behind the scenes composer for the music in many of our city’s most reality bending films, plays, and productions.

Presenting Weatherman Conversation I … Mark discusses the genesis of a modern-day marching band, what makes a piece of music important, and his favorite manner of composition:

“You know my favorite composer is ‘Anonymous’ because those were melodies that came out of peoples lives and were sometimes a matter of survival. Like you’re working and working really hard and the only way you can keep going is because you have this song that you sing to yourself, and it’s born out of your physical movements, or your labor and the repetition. It’s got the same rhythm as that. Or you’re traveling; you’re marching somewhere, and you have this song that keeps you going. Or you have this moment of joy or this time of sorrow and it comes out and it’s so strong, it’s physical. Ah, so it’s all physical.”

Opus Orange “Our Love is Here To Stay” Our Los...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:44:00 -0500

Opus Orange “Our Love is Here To Stay”

Our Los Angeles friends, Opus Orange, did a wonderful version of the Gershwin song, featuring Eleni Mandell.

Duke Ellington, Piano in the Foreground, 1961 Captivating...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:53:00 -0500

Duke Ellington, Piano in the Foreground, 1961

Captivating sounds and arrangements on this album. And I’m particularly floored by the effortlessly elegant piano flourishes and signoffs that end many of these songs.

Duke Ellington’s “So” from Piano in the Foreground

Annie Fisher plays Chopin Chopin’s Concerto no. 1, 2nd...

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:28:00 -0500

Annie Fisher plays Chopin

Chopin’s Concerto no. 1, 2nd movement. Played by Annie Fisher, a Hungarian pianist, born 1914, died 1995 in Budapest. Critics hailed her as having “spiritual depth” in her playing.

Ginette Neveu plays Chausson The amazing French violinist,...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:54:00 -0500

Ginette Neveu plays Chausson

The amazing French violinist, Ginette Neveu, playing an excerpt from Chausson’s Poème, at a performance in Prague, 1946. Both Neveu and Chausson were famed French musicians who died at a young age. Neveu was 30 years old when the plane that her and her brother (concert pianist Jean-Paul) were on crashed. Chausson was 44 years old, when he died unexpectedly and mysteriously in a bicycle accident.

Chris Hefner, illustrator Chris Hefner’s “Stanislawa P. ...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:04:00 -0500

Chris Hefner, illustrator

Chris Hefner’s “Stanislawa P. Demonstrating One of Her Uncanny Abilities: The Unaided Levitation of a Pair of Scissors.” Charcoal & graphite on paper. February-March 2011.

Chris Hefner on tumblr

Björk interviewing Arvo Pärt, for BBC’s “Modern Minimalists”...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:15:00 -0500

Björk interviewing Arvo Pärt, for BBC’s “Modern Minimalists” program, 1997

Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer, born September 11th, 1935. He has written over 90 vocal/choral works, orchestral works, instrumental pieces, and works for solo instrument and orchestra. His work has been perceived as minimal and being influenced by sacred music from the Renaissance period. Some of his work has made it’s way into pop culture in movies such as “Heaven” (Spiegel im Spiegel) and “There Will Be Blood” (Fratres).

“Sibelius Amongst Saplings,” Billy Childish, 2010 Oil and...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:33:00 -0500

“Sibelius Amongst Saplings,” Billy Childish, 2010

Oil and charcoal on linen. Part of an installation of his work showing at the Lehmann Maupin Gallery (lower east side, NYC) through January 21st, 2012.

Childish is a British painter, musician, poet, and writer who was born in 1959. He is known for his extremely prolific work in many different mediums. In 1999 he started the Stuckism Art Movement, with Charles Thompson. The group’s focus is to promote art derived from real object sources, as opposed to conceptual art. They have also emphasized the importance of authenticity in art and an aim is to produce art with spiritual value regardless of style or subject matter. The group has started with 13 members and is now up to 226 groups in 52 countries. They are “anti-anti-art.”

Childish has recorded and released over 110 records, both solo and with British bands that he has fronted. He has written and published numerous novels and poems. He continues to be an influential figure in the present day art, music, and literary world.

Billy Childish website

“Free But Lonely Motif (F-A-E),” Johannes Brahms,...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:48:00 -0500

“Free But Lonely Motif (F-A-E),” Johannes Brahms, 1887

“Free But Lonely” F-A-E motif. F-A-E stands for the German saying “Frei aber einsam.” Brahms Double Concerto (for violin and cello) in A minor, makes use of this motif. This was written during the summer of 1887, and premiered on October 18th, 1887, in Koln, Germany. The piece was written by Brahms for the violinist Joseph Joachim, in an attempt to reconcile due to Brahms siding with Joachim’s ex-wife, Amalie, when they divorced. Clara Schumann and other critics were not fond of this piece, and said as much. This was Brahms final work for orchestra. He wrote a second concerto for violin and cello but later destroyed it because of the cool reception from this one.

This is a performance of the 2nd movement, with soloists Giuliano Carmignola and Mario Brunello, Renzetti conducting and performed by the Orchestra della Toscana.

“Portrait of Nathalija Gontcharova and Mihajl Larionov,”...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:47:00 -0500

“Portrait of Nathalija Gontcharova and Mihajl Larionov,” Aleksei Alekseevich Morgunov, 1913

Nathalija Gontcharova and Mihajl Larionov were two avant-garde Russian artists who first met at the Moscow School of Painting, and went on to start a group called “The Donkey’s Tail.” This group was made up of Russian artists who protested the conservatism of the late 19th and early 20th century Russian art. They were heavily influenced by the cubo-futurism movement. These two particular artists from this group formed a strong union and remained together, living in Paris, until Nathalija’s death in 1962.

Painting on display at The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute

Nathalija Gontcharova

Maria Callas, 1961, performing Camille Saint-Saens “Printemps...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:54:00 -0500

Maria Callas, 1961, performing Camille Saint-Saens “Printemps qui Commence,” (Spring Begins) from Samson and Delilah

Samson and Delilah first premiered on December 2, 1877, in the German city of Weimar.

Saint-Saens (b.1835 d.1921) was a French composer who composed over 300 pieces during the late Romantic time period. in 1870 he co-founded the Société Nationale de Musique, to promote new french music and have new french composers perform their music in public. One of his most remembered pieces, The Carnival of the Animals, was dedicated to his close friend, Franz Liszt, and premiered in 1886. He is also credited for being one of the first composers to write a score to a film in 1908 (The Assassination of the Duke of Guise, adapted by Henri Lavedan).

Maria Callas