Look Hugh's Talking, 2

I've blogged about The Hugh Laurie before (check out the post called "Let Hugh Talk"), and I've told you how incredibly fascinating and obscenely talented the man is.  Well, I had the very fortunate fortune of seeing him perform in person.


If you've read that post, you know that Laurie is an accomplished musician (and an actor, novelist, comedian, and all around smart person), and earlier this year he released a blues album.  The concert I attended featured Hugh and the fantastic Copper Bottom Band.  It was a sold out show at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City.

Laurie is a natural showman, ready with a joke or wry comment, and equally adept on piano, guitar, or shot of whiskey.  I was, admittedly, a bit star-struck at being so close to someone I truly admire.  The Englert is a small theatre, in turns a movie theatre and live theatre, and I had a great seat (I could see that he was wearing a plastic, green watch).  The show was sold out and the audience was very appreciative, though I wondered how many people were there just because Hugh is a TV star, and if they even knew that he was a blues musician.

The man himself.  :-)

The musicians played many songs from his album Let Them Talk, and several more.  The band did a great job of staying within the blues style, which is a big deal for me.  It's sometimes discouraging to hear otherwise wonderful players try to play more than the music asks of them.  He had the typical rhythm lineup, with a bass, drums, and guitar, plus an organ/accordianist and a man that Hugh introduced as "the master of all things blowy,"a reed player who played all saxes, clarinet, and harmonica.  At one point, he was even playing two saxes at once.  That takes talent!

Along the way, he gave the audience interesting tidbits of information about the songs and the blues musicians who wrote them, so I can count this as an educational concert, too.   The band also took a brief break to enjoy a bit of whiskey.  While we watched.  Funny stuff.

It was one of the most enjoyable, non-DMB concerts I've ever attended.  What a great show!

Clarinetfest 2012

"Let the clarinet games begin!"

Over the week of August 1-5, I attended the International Clarinet Association's 2012 Clarinetfest in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Clarinetfest is the annual gathering of clarinet professionals, teachers, amateurs and enthusiasts.  It moves around the globe (as it is an international organization); held at different locations each summer.  The Lincoln Clarinetfest was my second one; I'd attended the one in Kansas City, MO about four years ago.

This year's festival was wonderfully diverse and had a good range of lectures and recitals to attend.  The evening concerts alone are worth price of admission, featuring many world-renown clarinetting artists, including bass clarinettist and electronica genius Michael Lowenstern, Klezmer artists Corrado Giuffredi and David Krakauer, and jazz clarinettist Allan Vache, to name a few.

Attendees could attend lectures, demonstrations, and masterclasses, or simply listen to new music from attending recitalists.  I attended a lecture about teaching young beginners music (beyond the clarinet, but also how to integrate it), a masterclass led by Fred Ormand, a couple of Klezmer/Jewish clarinet workshops, and several pedagogy lectures (how to teach, or different traditions and methods of teaching).  The theme of the convention was "Heritage to Horizon", which meant a bit of looking back to several influential teachers within the discipline of clarinet playing and a look forward to what clarinet playing can become, and what the clarinet can do.  With regards to the heritage aspect, some legendary teachers were discussed, including Daniel Bonade, Robert Marcellus, and Kalmen Opperman. 

A panel on the teaching methods and contributions of Robert Marcellus.

Tim Puwalski, demonstrating Klezmer music.  He taught us a tune, by ear, and eventually we were marching around the room, Pied Piper-style, playing a tune.

Allan Vache and his band.  An outstanding evening of jazz music.

It was a great week, overall.  I picked up some new ideas, met up with some old friends and teachers, and have a stack of music and information to start sifting through.  A terrific way to recharge the clarinet batteries!  Now, I must go practice!

In the Mood

It should be clear by now that I am not opposed to driving waaaay out of my way to visit musical landmarks.  On the way to Lincoln, Nebraska to attend Clarinetfest 2012 (more on that later) I left the Interstate to visit Clarinda, Iowa.  Clarinda is important to Music Zombies because it is the birthplace and home of Big Band Era superstar Glenn Miller.

Clarinda is a small town in the southwest corner of the state.  There isn't much else to see, unless you like farmland, and if you keep driving south for about 15 minutes, you'll end up in Missouri.  When you get into town, that is remarkably unremarkable, watch closely for the small signs directing you to Miller's home.  Once you get close to it though, it's evident that you are in the right place.

This museum is sort of a temporary one.  There is a scale model inside of a new planned museum.

Pennsylvania 6-5000!

One of the band's stand fronts.

The ubiquitous big band anthem.

Awarded posthumously in 2003.

One of Miller's trombones.  The horn only survives today because he didn't have it with him on the  flight to Paris.  He was traveling without the band because he was planning to make preparatory arrangements for a European tour.  The plane disappeared over the English Chanel in December of 1944.

The mouthpiece has Miller's name engraved on it.

His birthplace and home.

Glenn was born March 1, 1904.  Many of the items in the house did not belong to the family (they took their stuff when they moved away from Clarinda) but this calendar is authentic.

His piano, where he did his arranging.  The picture shows him working at it.  The curators have recreated the scene in the shot, down to the blue Wedgwood orb on the right corner and the Chesterfield cigarette on the left.

The front porch.  Cute little house.  Glenn was born in one of the upstairs rooms.  After the Miller's moved away the house was purchased by someone else, who had it completely renovated and remodeled.  Only recently was the house de-remodeled back to its original state, which is what you see now.

Because Miller's body was never recovered, there is no official grave site for him.  There are memorial sites to him, though, and a headstone can be found in Arlington National Cemetery (he had served in the Army).  He was only 40 years old at the time of his death, and the music world lost him much too soon.