Category: Writing Life

writerly thoughts & activities

On The Edge

In my mailbox has been languishing a note from my friend, drummer Michael Stephans. It announces an audio interview he did with Richard Paske who produces an online monthly half-hour audio magazine called Notes From The Western Edge. Michael’s interview is one of the two pieces produced for October, and October is almost over. I logged on to hear it, but it cost money — $24/year for a streaming audio subscription, $36/year for the downloadable subscription.

I balked; what if Michael’s interview is the only one that will interest me? $24 is a lot to spend for one 15-minute audio clip.

But how dare I balk? Am I not also endeavoring to share my thoughts and skills via the internet for a price? SnapSizzleBop had a few free goodies, but yes, I hope people will become paying participants, even if only at the lowest $20 level. So, fair is fair and I decided to check out Notes From the Western Edge.

The home page of each issue offers brief excerpts so I was able to verify the excellence of both the interviewer and the production. In doing so I was delighted to find interviews with Maria Schneider, Joe Zawinul, Bennie Maupin, Chris Potter, and Ron McCurdy. I’m not sure how much I’m going to like David King’s “sonic tsunamis” or Nels Cline’s “Armageddon of screeching and howling feedback,” but I’ve put my money where my mouth is.

I encourage you all to support artists on the Internet. Perhaps you’ll find my “People On The Page” book project of interest…or not. Perhaps Notes From The Western Edge will be your cup of tea…or not. Maria Schneider, Jim Hall and Bob Brookmeyer are only three of the three-dozen-plus who have ArtistShare websites; browse through the ArtistShare list of Featured Artists. Check out Joe Lovano‘s, Billy Taylor‘s, Bill Mays‘ and Sonny Rollins‘ web sites too — all impressively produced by Bret Primack, and they are replete with wonderful audio and video clips and podcasts. On Taylor’s site I just watched a three-piano rendition of Perdido with a young BT playing with Duke Ellington and Willie “The Lion” Smith on the David Frost show. On Lovano’s site Primack has conceived and produced Video Liner Notes ™ for Lovano’s Streams of Expression recording. On Mays’ site you can watch Video Highlights that include clips with Freddie Hubbard, Red Mitchell, Gerry Mulligan, Toots Thielesman, and others.

I’ve put lots of links in today’s post, please click and enjoy. Surely there is something out there for you. And if you find something else that you think might be of interest to DevraDoWrite readers, please let me know and I’ll spread the word.

(P.S. This is not an invitation for every publicist in the world to send me their pitches. Either know me, or at least know my taste before sending anything.)

SnapSizzleBop!

My ArtistShare-powered site has finally launched. I know I’ve been talking about it for awhile now — I didn’t know how big a job it was to prepare — but now it’s ready for the world to see.

SnapSizzleBop.com was born today, October 16, 2006 at 1:15pm Pacific Time. Weighing in at approximately 34 web pages, proud parents are all doing fine and are anxious for you to visit.

Here’s the overview press release with links to more detailed releases about the two projects that are ready.

The Launch of SnapSizzleBop.com
A consortium of projects powered by ArtistShare

Three is a magic number and SnapSizzleBop.com is all about magic.

  • SNAP: the magic of music – Clairdee
  • SIZZLE: the magic of making people come alive on a page of words – People on the Page
  • BOP: the magic of seeing through a camera’s lens – At the Feet of a Jazz Master

SnapSizzleBop is a web site powered by ArtsistShare featuring a team led by writer Devra Hall, with jazz singer Clairdee, photographer Leroy Hamilton, and personal manager/jazz master John Levy. Their first ArtistShare odyssey is a group of three independent projects, each of which has a Snap-Sizzle-Bop three-pronged approach.

The Inside Story: Have you ever wondered who an artist really is beyond the music they make? Clairdee takes participants on an exclusive expedition to discover the vignettes of song that will become a limited edition 12-track ArtistShare recording. The Inside Story brings you into the life of this artist and behind the scenes in the making of this recording. Inspirational, educational and part memoir, this experience will focus on

  • SNAP: The art of storytelling – lyrics are more than words set to music.
  • SIZZLE: Revealing a common thread between music and Clairdee’s life, and
  • BOP: The various steps Clairdee is taking to move her career to a strong national presence.

People On The Page: If you like to read biographies, People On The Page will give you a new perspective on what goes into researching and writing someone’s life story. And if you have any interest in jazz, Broadway musicals, or African-American history, you will also be intrigued by the life of Luther Henderson, a Black man who attended Juilliard in the 1940s, was Duke Ellington’s “classical arm” and musical director for both Lena Horn and Polly Bergen, composed and arranged music for many of Broadway musicals, and had a hand in dozens of popular recordings and television shows. People On The Page is:

  • SNAP: Part memoir of Devra Hall’s life as a writer and the issues she grapples with as a biographer
  • SIZZLE: Part behind-the-scenes look at her process as she works on the biography of Luther Henderson
  • BOP: And part exploration of what readers and writers of biographies think about…. with insights from several biographer colleagues such as Walt Harrington, Doug Ramsey, Terry Teachout, and Bill Zinsser, among others.

At the Feet of a Jazz Master: This is a soft-cover coffee-table book with photos by Leroy Hamilton and text by Devra Hall that will share the current thoughts and wisdom of John Levy. This project is slated to roll out after the first two, but here’s a little preview. In January 2006, John Levy, the jazz bassist turned talent manager, was named an NEA Jazz Master. Photographer Leroy Hamilton was on the scene and shot some 7000+ photos over a period of several days, following John through:

  • SNAP: The official NEA events (Jazz Masters luncheon, panel discussion and awards ceremony attended by so many legendary jazz people who John has known),
  • SIZZLE: Interviews and book signings, and
  • BOP: Rehearsals with the newest artist on his roster (Clairdee) as well as in the studio with Nancy Wilson.

At The Feet of a Jazz Master is a sequel of sorts to Levy’s life story, “Men, Women, and Girl Singers,” and will include snippets and stories, reminiscences and ruminations, from a man who, at the age of 94, has lived a long life in jazz.

While each of these three projects stands alone, you may surmise some crossover appeal. Those who are jazz fans may find interest in all three projects. Those interested in the art of biography may also enjoy the highly biographical flavor of the photo/essay book. “At The Feet Of Jazz Master.” Fans of Leroy Hamilton will enjoy exploring one of Leroy’s personal passions, jazz, as documented through his unique lens. Clairdee fans curious about her manager, John Levy, will especially enjoy the section of “At The Feet Of Jazz Master” that will be devoted to his work with her and Leroy’s photos of her rehearsal and performance at IAJE in January of 2006.

So please visit and then comeback and let me know what you think. SnapSizzleBop.com

Drink Jazz?

Jazz, the word, has defined a music that I love. But over the years, the word — not the music — has lost its meaning. In some ways, you might consider it to be evolution — a good spin. After all, if the word was to adhere its meaning to a specific sound, jazz could be synonymous with Dixieland. So as the music grew in scope, jazz became an umbrella term – music that swings, uses syncopation, and, of course, music that is improvised on the spot. We had Dixieland, swing and be-bop, avant garde, modern and contemporary, even fusion.

The generic quality of the term also speaks to an increasing penchant for homogenization. Today, the only “jazz” you hear on radio or television is “smooth jazz” – Dave Koz, Kenny G, even The Rippingtons. The only “jazz singers” recognized are Jane Monheit, Michael Bublé, Nora Jones…even Mindi Abair makes the wiki list.

To add insult to injury, jazz is now a soft drink. For the last week or so television has been bombarding me with an ad for Jazz – Pepsi’s new diet cola drink — likely named to counter the high visibility garnered by the coke folks in sponsoring Jazz at Lincoln Center Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola — and Pepsi’s Jazz also comes in multiple flavors such as Strawberries & Cream, Black Cherry French Vanilla…

Look, to each their own flavor. I’m not going to knock The Rippingtons (whose new anniversary CD I am enjoying), I won’t even knock those performers whose work I do not care for at all, but I do not consider it to be jazz. Similarly, I’m not sure that the music of Maria Schneider or Bob Brookmeyer — music that I DO love — is best served by being dubbed “jazz.” As a writer what disturbs me is the loss of specificity in the use of the word. The umbrella is now so large as to be unwieldy, and any real meaning has taken flight on the winds of change leaving nothing on solid ground.

We need a new word to stand for that je ne sais quoi that I hear when listening to that music that I will now call “real jazz” — just until I find a better word. At first I thought that it was a matter of old vs. new, but I put that notion to rest when I listened to Serenade as played less than six months ago by Sonny Rollins at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center in California on April 11, 2006 (in celebration of his 70th birthday a video clip was made briefly available on Sonny’s web site). Then I thought maybe it was a difference in the sensibilities of older artists vs. younger ones — but dismissed that idea by listening to Ingrid Jensen‘s rendition of “There Is No Greater Love” on her At Sea CD. What is it that best describes this visceral reaction I have, and how can I describe the music?

I’m going to give this some more thought, meanwhile, write in and tell me what words you would use. If you could rename jazz, what would you call it?

Spoils of War

Perhaps taking my cue from the jazz world, riffing off one another’s postings I take note of Mr. Rifftides latest post re our “conversation” about music being used as a weapon or punishment, a dispatch wherein he has included words penned by the esteemed Gene Lees. While Gene’s words were prompted by a prior Rifftides post in which Kenny Drew held forth on the subject of rap music (here), they are nonetheless right on target vis a vis my query.

You may remember that a few days ago I asked anyone who knew of any such stories to please share them with me. I made that request because for some time now I’ve been percolating an idea for a book about the myriad ways in which the America uses music to further policy objectives. My book proposal is making the rounds; here’s an excerpt:

While it is true that technological advances have made it no longer necessary to use musical instruments to command and control the troops in battle, music still has many wartime uses. Sometimes the employment of music seems heart-warming, such as when it serves to soothe and help heal the wounded, or even inspire perseverance in the face of adversity. Uplifting stories of entertaining troops on the front lines have always been fodder for fictional movies and factual newsreels. Troop morale is crucial, and while the world might think Bob Hope and the USO handled it all by themselves, the truth is that there are places that Bob could not go – places where the danger was too great, the need even greater….

Marching bands always stir up patriotic feelings; everybody loves a parade…. Music is used in ceremonial events, presidential funerals, state dinners, and official events galore. In towns large and small, all across the country, military buglers play taps, and military bands of all types and sizes march in parades to pay tribute to homecoming soldiers and honor those left behind.

But music can be applied and exploited for purposes that may be depressing, distressing, or to some, even despicable. One who finds beauty in music will likely be appalled to hear a young American soldier fighting in Iraq describe how he and his buddies patch rock music into the headphones in their tank in order to pump themselves up for the fight. While employing music to whip soldiers into a fighting frenzy may seldom be discussed, it is not uncommon. Nor is it unusual to use music as a weapon. As seen in the capture of Manuel Noriega and the Siege of the Church of Nativity in Israel, music has been an effective tool for soldiers in PsyOps (Psychological Operations)….

A friend, now retired from the US Air Force, once told me that music money is “miniscule in terms of the overall defense budget, but the payback is so huge, you can’t even begin to calculate how important it is.” Hmmmm….

An Unexpected Treat

I like it when jazz shows up in unexpected places. Jazz is no stranger to NPR, still I was peasantly surprised last week to hear Susan Stamberg use a clip from the new Roger Kellaway CD (Heroes, IPO Recordings) on her report about a Paris shop where art and history intersect — it’s the store where Cezanne and Picasso bought their art supplies. The Kellaway clip from the track titled “Nuages” begins about 6:15 minutes into the report and plays for 1 minute and 3 seconds. (With a release date of September 12 it’s not yet posted on IPO’s web site, but you can pre-order it at Amazon.)

I normally don’t expect to hear much jazz on television, but for a relative moment I seemed to be hearing a lot of it used in tv commercials, and I took note of it. The Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond recording of “Rondo a la Turk” was used in an ad for the Post Office. For a while Ella was everywhere: “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” on a Ralph Lauren “Style” perfume commercial, “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” for K-Mart, and I thought I heard her voice behind a Marshall’s ad as well. Sassy was selling cars singing “Key Largo” and the Dinah Washington & Brook Benton duet on “Baby You’ve Got What It Takes” was selling whatever it is they carry at Talbots.

And then there’s the “jazzy” music written for ads, most of which is horrible, but some is created by real jazz folks like Benny Golson who has composed national radio and television spots for for Borateem, Canada Dry, Carnation, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Clorox, Dodge, General Telephone, Gillette, Heinz Foods, Jack in The Box, Liquid Plum’r, MacDonald’s, Mattel Toys, Monsanto, Nissan, Ohrbachs, Ore-Ida Frozen Potatoes, Parliament Cigarettes, Pepsi Cola, and Texaco, to name more than a few.

John McDonough wrote an article about jazz and advertising for Down Beat (Jazz Sells), but that was back in 1991. A few years later, in one of his Downbeat editorials, John Ephland noted an increase in jazz visibility due to advertising. I wanted to write an updated piece but could not get anyone at any of the advertising agencies to talk to me about it. That was eighteen months ago.

I still take note, but the occasions are on the wane again. If you hear jazz in any unexpected places, please let me know.

A Quick Trip

Off to Chicago early Wednesday morning. Thursday there’s an early evening concert in Millenium Park honoring Johnny Pate. Coincidentally, it was a year ago this Thursday that I posted a piece about a Johnny Pate tribute concert that had taken place two years prior (in 2003). This Thursday’s concert starts at 6:30 PM at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion and features a big band conducted by Johnny Pate and Henry Johnson’s Organ Express, plus Nancy Wilson as a special guest singing two tunes with Henry’s group and two with the big band. It should be a lot of fun. Then I’m heading straight home on Friday morning, and with the time change should get home mid day, just in time to finish the liner notes for a 2-CD compilation of Jim Hall tracks for Concord Records. What a life!

Making A Difference

Yesterday I saw an article in The New York Times (Facing Their Scars, and Finding Beauty) about a portrait painter who has done a series of strikingly beautiful pictures of burn victims. Andy Newman wrote:

“The painter, Doug Auld, 52, says that if people have a chance to gaze without voyeuristic guilt at the disfigured, they may be more likely to accept them as fellow human beings, rather than as grotesques to be gawked at or turned away from.”

Admittedly, as Newman points out, the painter is making a living and even gaining some notoriety for this project, but he is also making a difference, not only in the lives of his eleven adolescent and young adult subjects (one of the ten portraits is of two sisters), but potentially in the lives of everyone who views these portraits.

Auld has a website featuring this State of Grace project; here’s an excerpt from his mission statement:

I cannot think of a more difficult time to endure such a tragedy then to be facially burned as a teenager. A time when most normal teens are coming into forming friendships, sexual awareness, and dating. A time when ones self- perception is so fragile. An adolescent scarred by burns would be forced to grow up fast and develop a sense of who they really are at their core.

…I hope to show the inner beauty and courage of these young people. They have endured a hardship that has forced them into a place most of us know nothing about. I want an audience to see this and confront the traditional issues of acceptance and rejection due to surface deformity.

…I am not interested in shock. I am interested in reality and confrontation. These works confront the viewer with our fear and our repulsion of the unknown while simultaneously displaying a unique disarming beauty.

In his project history Auld concludes:

“Science has determined that what we call ‘beauty,’ is determined by angles, measurements and symmetry of features. However, non physical ‘human’ traits such as personality, inner strength, confidence, and character can redefine our perception of who we find to be beautiful.”

After I won my war with cancer ten years ago I thought a lot about doing work that could make a difference. My past careers as a publicist and computer trade book author seemed shallow and unrewarding, albeit lucrative. Post cancer, I did do a few projects for Microsoft Press to pay off the medical bills and keep up with my overhead, but I was still searching, still berating myself for not volunteering at a children’s hospital. When I returned to California I taught computer science, “Education is a valuable service,” I told myself. I taught one year at a local community college and a second year at a state university, but I was greatly disillusioned by the students’ complete lack of interest. It seemed that the students were just marking time, and that reconfirmed my cynical assessment that college is wasted on the young.

During this time I completed the book I had started many years before (my husband’s biography) but I was acutely aware that I had never studied the craft of writing. I had read many books on craft, but I knew enough to know that there was much more to learn. So I went back to school myself, to get another master’s degree in creative nonfiction. During my two years in that program at Goucher College I wrote a book that has yet to find a home with a publisher.

Roots and Wings is an intimate portrait of a group of teachers who trip over their own passions and predilections for the betterment of their students and education as a whole. Every year, these teachers work with their students at a California private school to produce the sixth grade project, always an original and often abstract creation melding music, dance, theatre, art, and technology to express a theme relating to core academic subjects such as social studies, language arts, or science. It is the culminating event prior to graduation. Cathleen, the arts coordinator, is on a mission to integrate the arts with core academic subjects. Not all of the team is onboard, and challenges range from pedagogical differences and personal insecurities, to the amorphous nature of the creative process and a lack of objective measures of accountability and success. Even in a private school the challenges are huge.

Being a proponent of the arts, and one who bemoans the lack of arts education our schools, I thought that this story about a school that integrates arts education with basic core curriculum could make a difference. Naive, perhaps. I am still looking for stories that can make a difference, and hopefully stories that can also sell. The Luther Henderson biography, currently in progress, means a lot to me personally, and I do believe his contributions to music and the stage should be noted and preserved. Interviews have made it clear to me that Luther made a difference in the lives of those he touched, and that is perhaps all that any of us can hope for — to set a good example and be helpful to those we encounter. Meanwhile, still looking for that story that will make A Big Difference with a capital D, I applaud (with a touch of envy) those like painter Doug Auld, and even TV personality Ty Pennington of Extreme Makeover, who have found a way through art and entertainment to make a living while making such a powerful difference in people’s lives.

Responsibility, Truth and Honor

I just started reading “Telling the Untold Story” by Steve Weinberg. On page six he writes:

“An accomplished contemporary biographer must be an investigative journalist, historian, psychologist, sensitive interviewer, gossipmonger, and compelling storyteller rolled into one. The best biographies capture life at a deeper, more intense level than does any other form of literature. Through biography, we learn how other individuals have handled the stuggle between freedom and fate. Leaving a mark on on this earth beyond one’s immediate family is unusual; biographies tend to be written about people who have managed to leave such a mark. Biographies scratch beneath the subject’s personal myth, looking for the slippages and the fittings.”

And on page 14 he shares these words written by Margaret Oliphant in 1883 and quoted by Edgar Johnson in One Mighty Torrent: The Drama of Biography:

“The position of the biographer carries with it a power which is almost unrestrained, the kind of power which is doubly tyrannous to use like a giant. Not even the pulpit is so entirely master, for we all consider ourselves able to judge in respect to what the clergyman tells us and we have his materials in our hands by which to call him to account… but the biographer has a far more assured place, and if he is not restrained by the strictest limits of truth and honor, there is nothing else that can control him in heaven or earth…He has it in his power to guide the final deliverance, like that judge whose summing up so often decides the final verdict.”

I’m not sure I believe that biographers are quite so god-like, but holding someone else’s life in your hands is an awesome responsibility not to be taken lightly.

Nothing Is Simple, But It’s All Good

I got a lot done yesterday, although no blogging. The morning started with a trip to the dentist for an 8 AM teeth cleaning. I have to do this every three months because the radiation treatments burned out my salivary glands and left my teeth unprotected. Hard to complain about such things when the alternative was death… And there’s always an upside: the dentist’s office manager bought a copy of “Men, Women, and Girl Singers” as a Father’s Day gift.

Anyway, I hurried back to my home office and set up to record a phone interview. In 1998 we installed 4-line phones throughout the house, but GE’s proprietary wiring or whatever prevents me from simply plugging in my recording device. I use an inexpensive single-line princess phone coupled with a Telephone Recording Control (both purchased at Radio Shack) that plugs into my minidisc recorder.

At precisely 9:30 AM the phone rang and my long-awaited conversation with Sir Simon Rattle began. Because of his hectic schedule, and the time difference, it took months to arrange this call. But again, I cannot complain because we spoke at leisure for just over an hour and he was gracious to call me on his dime. (Granted, he has more dimes than I do, but generous nonetheless.) He was calling me from Berlin and had just concluded a rehearsal that he said was hard work but went well. He told me how the Classic Ellington project came to be, described the fear and the excitement experienced by all parties when the Birmingham Symphony joined together with some heavy-weight jazz artists (Clark Terry, Joe Lovano, Regina Carter, Bobby Watson, Joshua Redman, Geri Allen, Peter Washington, and Lewis Nash) to perform a complete program of Luther Henderson’s orchestrations.

While I was transferring the recorded interview to my computer, I started filling out worksheets given to me by the folks at ArtistShare. I mention ArtistShare on this blog from time to time, usually in reference to Dad or Maria Schneider or Bob Brookmeyer, but I don’t think I’ve told you that I have been thinking about launching an ArtistShare site of my own. It’s been on my mind for some time now, and it will soon be a reality. ArtistShare is all about sharing the creative process, but planning the experience is a well-thought out and intricate process all its own…hence the worksheets.

I am actually planning to launch three projects, if not simultaneously then in quick succession, but I will not be going it alone. One of the projects will be a new CD by Clairdee, to be recorded in September at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. John is Clairdee’s personal manager so I asked him to start on the worksheets for that project while I tackled the other two projects (more about those soon).

At some point yesterday I took a break from ArtistShare to check the audio levels on the recorded interview and when satisfied, I sent the file, via the Internet, to my trusty transcriptionist. I took other breaks — one for a brief phone conference with a client who needed me to edit a press release, another to re-write a Nancy Wilson press release, and lastly to cook and eat dinner — but it was after 11 PM when finally I emailed one set of worksheets to my Project Coordinator and toddled off to bed.

Today is a new day and this morning my reward will be to go horseback riding. Hi ho, Silver, away……….

Neiman’s Narrative Web Site

The Neiman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University has launched a new web site called Narrative Digest. While the site does feature lots of craft advice, definitions, bibliographies and such, anyone who enjoys reading true stories should check out the Notable Narratives section that contains links to some wonderfully written series running in various newspapers around the country. One of the most powerful of these stories is a 22-part series (“Through Hell and High Water“) running in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution describing “the saga of two hospitals and their staffs’ struggles to keep their patients alive after Hurricane Katrina.” In this month’s edition, the featured Notable Narrative is “A Father’s Pain, a Judge’s Duty and a Justice Beyond Their Reach” — this is an article that I remember it vividly today, even though it ran in the Los Angeles Times five years ago. In addition to the article, you can also read an essay by the author, “Why We Should Care: Writing well about endangered kids.”