My Musical Journey. Part 6: Aftermath.

I wasn't really into pop/rock in high school. I much preferred folk/roots music to what I heard as bubblegum music. I thought Elvis was a greasy, doughy hick. The Beatles were a teenybopper scream dream. 

But Bob Dylan's electrifying turn to rock instrumentation aroused my curiosity. And then, sitting in the parking lot at Orange Coast College waiting for class one day, I heard "Paint It, Black." I rushed out and bought "Aftermath." It was the first rock album I ever bought.

"Paint It, Black" is such a dark, angsty song that I immediately fell in love with the Rolling Stones. It was years before I found out what the song was actually about. As much as I now love the Beatles, (I even learned to appreciate the early Elvis) I have always preferred the Stones' blues-rooted rock to McCartney's music hall pop.

I still love their smart, sarcastic lyrics. And though Jagger is sometimes a parody of himself, Keith and Charlie keep them grounded and rocking hard, even into their 70s!

Not all their songs or even their albums are great, but they have amassed an unmatched catalog of incredible songs over the years. They are still the greatest rock-and-roll band in the world.

P.

My Musical Journey. Part 5: The Times They Are A'changing.

My love for folk music led inevitably to Bob Dylan. I was immediately drawn to his iconoclasm, his dry, bitter, sometimes silly sense of humor, his seeming unschooled voice, his visionary poetry, and his rage at the injustices of 50s and 60s America.

The times were a-changin' indeed.

And just I grew bored with the droning sameness of most folk music, Dylan made a radical change, embracing electric instrumentation, much to the outrage of more traditional folkies. I loved it.

Highway 61 Revisited is still one of my all-time favorite albums. It features some of his greatest lyrics and the accompaniment of some of the most interesting musician of the time: Al Cooper with his jazz-inflected keyboards and Michael Bloomfield with his endlessly inventive blues guitar riffs. Blonde On Blonde is a close second--Visions of Johanna is probably my favorite Dylan song.

My Musical Journey. Part 4: Giant Steps--John Coltrane

I had listened to jazz fair amount when I discovered Coltrane in my mid-teens. "Giant Steps" was the first album of his I listened to and it really opened my mind and my ears to what jazz was about. “Coltrane says of Giant Steps that it gets its name from the fact that ‘the bass line is a kind of loping one. It goes from minor thirds to fourths, kind of a lop-sided pattern in contrast to moving strictly in fourths or in half-steps.’ Tommy Flanagan’s relatively spare solo and the way it uses space as part of its structure is an effective contrast to Coltrane’s intensely crowded choruses.” --Nat Hentoff, original liner notes. Sure the technical stuff is interesting, but what moved, and still moves me is the sheer jumping, soaring joy of it. The man had a mighty spirit and a mighty heart. I think I have every album he ever made, and I love them all, from his early more traditional efforts to his soulful cosmic wailings suffused as they are with joy and pain and rage and love. P.

My Musical Journey. Part 3: Classical Music.

My mom introduced me to classical music at an early age. Her tastes ran toward the romantic—lots of Tchaikovsky and Chopin. That music is deep in my cells, even if it’s not entirely to my taste these days.

One vein of classical music that I enjoyed early and still love today is classical guitar . My mother’s father was an accomplished classical guitarist, and since he and my grandmother lived nearby, I heard him play Bach and many of the Spanish masters a lot. Andres Segovia was my grandfather’s idol, so we also listened to Segovia’s records over and over.

In my early teens I discovered Beethoven, who I still love. I was also exploring Norse mythology at the time, so I was drawn to Wagner’s Ring Cycle. These days I find his music ponderous and turgid, but at the time I was enamored of sheer scope of his romantic vision.

And then I discovered Bela Bartok’s Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet and Piano. It changed my world. Music that was both cerebral and emotional, without falling into sentiment. I loved the way the instruments interacted with each other, like a conversation between people with different voices and different ideas. 

I next discovered his foreboding Concerto for Orchestra, still one of my favorite pieces of orchestral music.  

P.

My Musical Journey. Part 2: Soundtracks.

The first movie I ever saw was Walt Disney’s 1954 version of “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’ with Kirk Douglas, James Mason, and Peter Lorre. I managed to persuade my mother buy me the 45 of Kirk Douglas singing “A Whale of a Tale” from the movie, and I pretty much wore the record out. 

Here's the clip.

In my early teens, I began to buy more sophisticated soundtrack albums. It particularly loved the themes from “Exodus” and “Mutiny on the Bounty.” I then got hooked on the Bond movie soundtracks — “From Russia With Love,” “Goldfinger,” and “Thunderball.” I especially loved the Jamaican-influenced soundtrack from “Dr. No,” which led me to calypso music and Harry Belafonte and set up my later attraction to reggae music.

My Musical Journey. Part 1: Folkways Records

I’ve been thinking a lot about music during this long period of isolation. Specifically, about the music I’ve discovered over the years that has changed and shaped my musical tastes. Over the next days and weeks, I’d like to share my musical journey and I’d love to hear about yours. 

As a kid I had a small portable record player in my room that played 78 and 45 rpm records.

The first records I remember playing were children’s songs from a series of records put out by the Folkways label. My mom subscribed to the series, and once a month I'd get a new record. The songs were mostly classic folksongs like “Polly Wolly Doodle” and “Oh, Susanna.” Folkways had a decidedly leftist bent, so there were also a lot of work songs like “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” Woody Guthrie sang “This Land is Your Land.” Pete Seeger sang “All You Lucky Campers” and “Blow Ye Winds.” 

As I got older, I graduated to 33 rpm and started listening to folk music and protest songs.

P.

Quarantine Fun!

Though we have lots of projects to do around the house, the hours do stretch out as we attempt to survive the Great Pandemic of 2020.

Here's a fun little time-killer: what bands have you seen in your lifetime?

My list turned out to be quite a bit more extensive than I anticipated. Especially the jazz section.

Bands I have seen

Blues/Funk

Albert Collins

Albert King

Alberta Hunter

Alvin Youngblood Hart

Big Mama Thornton

Charmaine Neville

Blind Boys of Alabama

Bo Diddley

Buddy Guy

The Chambers Brothers

Denise LaSalle

Etta James

Fairfield Four

James Brown

James Cotton Blues Band

Joe Lewis Walker

Johnny Otis

Mike Bloomfield

Muddy Waters

Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Robert Cray

Taj Mahal

Rock

Alice Cooper

The Animals 

The Bevis Frond

Blue Cheer

The Byrds

Cadillac Tramps

Canned Heat

Chuck Berry

Country Joe and the Fish
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

The Doors

Dr. John the Night Tripper

Drywall

Dweezil  Zappa

The Electric Flag

The Flying Burrito Brothers

The Flying Lizards

The Grass Roots

Grateful Dead

Illinois Speed Press

Iron Butterfly

Jefferson Airplane

The Kinks

Los Lobos

Merry Go Round

Mickey Hart

Nashville Pussy

Oingo Boingo

Quicksilver Messenger Service

Reverend Horton Heat

Rolling Stones

Santana

Sha-Na-Na

Sister Double Happiness

Sleater-Kinney

Sonny and Cher

Steppenwolf

Things To Come

Tiny Tim

Velvet Underground

Punk

Butthole Surfers

The Clash

Dead Kennedys

Dropkick Murphys

Fear

Gogol Bordello

Hatebreed

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros

Molotov

The Ramones

Rancid

Social Distortion

Tiger Lillies

Violent Femmes

X

Reggae/Ska

Alpha Blondy

Bob Marley

The Selecter

Country/Folk/Cajun

Alison Krauss

Bill Monroe

Buck Naked and the Bare Bottom Boys

Buck Owens

Buddy and Julie Miller

Chris Smither

Clive Carroll

David Grisman

Doc Watson

Emmylou Harris

Gillian Welch

Hot Club of Cow Town

Johnny Cash

Junior Brown

Mamou

Merle Haggard

Osbourne Brothers

Ralph Stanley

Willie Nelson

Jazz

Afro Blues Quintet

Alice Coltrane

Anthony Braxton

Anthony Coleman

Astrud Gilberto

Avery Sharpe

The Bad Plus

Bill Frisell

Bill Laswell

Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet

Bitches Brew

Bola Sete

Broun Fellinis

Buddy Rich

The Budos Band

Cab Calloway

Cal Tjader Quintet

Cecil Taylor

Charles Lloyd

Compostela

Courtney Pine

Craig Taborn

Dave Brubeck

David Murray

David S. Ware

Duke Ellington

Fanfare Ciocarlia

Fred Ho and the Monkey Orchestra

Gli Evans Orchestra

Hiromi

Industrial Jazz Group

James “Blood” Ulmer

Jan Garbarek

The Jazz Crusaders

Jenny Scheinman

Joe Zawinul

John Handy

John McLaughlin

Jon Hendricks

Joshua Redman

Keith Jarrett

Lizz Wright

Matmos

Matthew Shipp

McCoy Tyner

Michael Brecker

Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe

Miles Davis

Modern Jazz Quartet

Music Revelation Ensemble

Ornette Coleman

Peter Apfelbaum

Peter Brotzmann

Pharoah Sanders

Odean Pope
Roscoe Mitchell

Salvation Air Force

School Days
Sonny Simmons

Trilok Gurtu

Vandermark Five

Vince Guaraldi Trio

Vi Reed

Wadada Leo Smith

Wayne Shorter

I know there are others that I have forgotten, but that's pretty close.

What does your list look like?

P.

The hookah of Seville.

Spanish Spanish is quite different than Mexican Spanish. Mostly we can understand despite the accent, if we can get them to speak slowly. But the Castilian lisp takes some getting used to.

I ordered a cup of espresso at a little cafe one afternoon, and the barista asked me if I wanted a hookah. I was a bit baffled, so I asked him to repeat. "A hookah?" he asked again. It took me a long second to realize that he was asking me with a very pronounced Castilian lisp if I wanted "ahuca." Azucar: sugar. 

No. No hookah for me, grathias.

Sevilla is a beautiful town very much built to human scale. There are no high rises, and the pace of life is relaxed.

It's very pedestrian-friendly. We took walking tours of the city that were quite informative. Unfortunately, the last day O got sick and missed the last tour.

The bull ring is still a going concern. Having a box here for the season is like having a box at the Met in New York--a marker of high status.

We toured the Real Alcazar, the royal palace of the rulers of Sevilla back when the city was the capital of its own country. Built for the Christian king Peter of Castile by Castilian Christians on the site of an Abbadid Muslim alcazar, or residential fortress destroyed after the Christian conquest of Seville. The upper stories of the Alcázar are still occupied by the royal family when they are in Seville.

The palace is a preeminent example of Mudéjar architecture in the Iberian Peninsula but features Gothic, Renaissance and Romanesque design elements from previous stages of construction. 

When the palace was built, just after the Reconquest, the best architects and artisans available were Muslim, so the resulting structure is mainly built with Islamic design features. 

The palace gardens are lushly planted and incorporate many beautiful water features.

Fanciful Italian tile works enlivens the interior.

Los Baños de Doña María de Padilla. These beautiful baths below the palace offer cool water for bathing, even when the weather is hot.

Legend has it that this little balcony is the one where Count Almaviva and Figaro courted Rosina in Act II of The Barber of Seville. Unlikely, since the opera was based on a French comic novel, but who knows, maybe Rossini was charmed by this picturesque location and so included it in his libretto.

Sevilla's warm Mediterranean climate brings forth a profusion of color even in early March. I'm convinced that the pleasant climate contributes much to the easy-going ambiance of the city.

Sevilla's Cathedral of Saint Mary is the largest Gothic church in the world. It was completed in the 1500s, at the peak of  Sevilla's power as the main conduit for the wealth of Spain's colonial empire.

La Giralda, the cathedral's bell tower, was originally the minaret of Sevilla's main mosque.

It was built to resemble the minaret of the Koutoubia mosque that we saw in Marrakech. 

The cathedral houses the grandiose tomb of Christopher Columbus as well as those of various Spanish royalty.

The builders spared no expense is making the cathedral as ostentatious as possible. Local tradition has it the the designers' guiding principle was "Let us build a church so beautiful and so grand that those who see it finished will take us for mad."

You might say they lost their heads.

And after all the miles of walking, they have gin.

The sun was setting as I walked back to our hotel. O was feeling a bit better, and it was time to rent a car and head for Málaga.

P.

Out of Africa.

Tanger looked much more attractive from the deck of the ferry to Spain. The dismal overcast had parted, and the sun sparkled gaily on the white buildings.

From the ferry, you can get a good idea how close Africa and Europe are to each other. Spain is on the left.

Jesus welcomes us to the harbor in Tarifa.

Our hotel had a lovely patio.

The weather was brisk and windy. Great for kites, not so great for swimming.

There were a lot of kites.

The old customs house and fortifications.

The Island of Doves marks the transition from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean.

All the fun spots were closed for the season.

It was a profound relief to get back to pork and alcohol. 

There are even bars for children, apparently.

P.

Among the Tangerines.

Thus far Morocco had greatly exceeded our expectations. We loved the people, the food, and the varied beauty of the country. So we were excited to visit the famous port city of Tanger. Alas, it failed to live up to the hype. It was gray and grimy and not at all appealing. Still, we did find things to like.

O came with me to the Casbah.

Our hotel was quite nice, with a good view of the harbor. Too cold to swim in the pool, though.

The outdoor markets were significantly less vibrant than those in other cities.

There was, however quite a lot of interesting street art.

And beautiful old doors.

The old fortress still sports the original cannons.

We ate a good lunch at Café Hafa. Open since 1921, the café  was a favorite haunt of the Beatles and the Stones in the 60s. 

The café's many terraces offer sweeping views of the Bay of Tanger and the Straits of Gibraltar. We could just make out the Spanish coast in the distance. 

The weather cleared just enough to allow for a gorgeous sunset, our last in Africa. We were sorry to leave Morocco, but looking forward to our return to Spain.

P.