I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: CÉCILE McLORIN SALVANT-Tiny Desk Concert #790 (September 25, 2018).

The blurb talks about Cécile McLorin Salvant’s punk roots.  This made me thing that their might be some rough elements in these songs.

But these songs sound akin to old-fashioned-sounding jazz standards (even if she wrote them recently) in the vein of Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughn.

The nod to punk seems to come in the vaguely erratic piano which verges on atonality at times.  And yet:

From listening to McLorin Salvant’s exquisite performance here, I also couldn’t tell that when she was 15, she was listening to Alice in Chains, sported a Mohawk and was into what she calls “radical feminist punk stuff,” as she told NPR after the performance. “Sometimes I still really like Bikini Kill, and I still have my little Pearl Jam grunge moments.”

What can be heard in each song is a seasoned jazz singer with a vast vocal range, meticulous technical execution and a superb classical vocal foundation, which actually began when she was just 8. Her background in classical piano is evident in the inventive harmonic and melodic construction of the first three songs heard here; all are romantically themed McLorin Salvant compositions from her third album, For One to Love, recorded in 2015. The record won her a 2016 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

“Fog” opens with some striking minimalist almost atonal piano playing.  The song veers through many different tones and styles throughout its five plus minutes.

About “Look At Me” she says, “This was originally called “‘Friend Zone’ which is a zone I know so well.”  The piano is delicate–twinkling–as she sings about being the friend when she wants more.

She says the next song is called “Monday,” “Lets see if I remember the lyrics.”  After introducing Foster, he comments, “I just learned this on the train here, so bear with me.”  This is notable because there is a lengthy, lovely piano instrumental part in the middle.

After a hog, Foster leaves and McLorin Salvant prepares for the last song.

McLorin Salvant closes with “Omie Wise,” an American folk song that tells the tragic story of murder victim Naomi Wise and her husband and killer, John Lewis:

Then pushed her in deep waters where he knew that she would drown
He jumped on his pony and away he did ride
The screams of little Omie went down by his side.

Feminist themes are common in McLorin Salvant’s music, and while “Omie Wise” addresses gender-based violence, she says she sings difficult songs like this to address an important historical legacy. “We don’t sing to our kids and we don’t know any of our folk music anymore,” McLorin Salvant says. “But like all of the history of race songs, coon songs, minstrel music, music from Vaudeville, all of that is like, ‘No, we’re not going to address that — that’s too ugly.'”

This song is especially powerful sung a capella and even more so when it is heard on the weekend that that piece of excrement Kavanaugh is having his Supreme Court hearings.

[READ: January 19, 2018] “Admiral”

T. Coraghessan Boyle is an incredibly prolific writer.  He writes about a huge variety of topics as well.  Some of his stories are down to earth and realistic while others, like this one, are based in a near-future fantasy.

The premise of this story is simple and not all that far-fetched (especially in 2007).  A rich couple has cloned their beloved dog, an afghan named Admiral, for $250,000.  They want to raise this dog exactly as the first Admiral was raised.  They believe in the cloning to create an identical dog, but they also believe in the nurture aspect which means they need the girl who dog-sat for him to do everything exactly as she did all those years ago.

That girl, now a woman, was recently laid off and needs some cash. So when Mrs Striker called and told her she had an opportunity, Nisha said… why not?

She returned to the house where she hadn’t been in four years but which was such a large part of her childhood.

The door was answer by a young woman of color, much like herself, but this one was wearing a maid’s uniform.  The thoughts of her mother popped in her head–a woman of color does not clean house!  Nisha never cleaned house, but dog-sitter was something entirely different.

Mr and Mrs Striker informed her of what they had done and what they wanted her to do–exactly what she did last time with their beloved Admiral–and offered her $20 an hour.  She pushed them to $25 (if they’d spent $250,000 on the dog, what was and extra $5 an hour) and full benefits.   And the next day she started with the lanky, dopey puppy version of the lanky, dopey Admiral, even wearing a T-shirt that she wore the last time around.

We learn a bit about what she used to do–let her friends sneak in while the Strikers were out all day.  They wold drink, swim in the pool and keep a reasonably close eye on an Admiral.

Why had she left in the first place?  To go to college!  She had gotten a scholarship which she thought would please the Strikers, but they simply asked, “What about Admiral?”

The main difference this time around was the maid.  There was no maid last time.  The maid’s name was Frankie and she is suspicious and dismissive of Nisha at first.  But they soon bond over the absurdity of their situation.

A solid happy month went by and then one day there was a guy waiting outside of the gate.  His name was Erhard.  He was a reporter.  He wanted to know about Admiral (this was not unusual, a quarter of a million dollar dog was newsworthy).  So she invited him in and they talked.  She pretty quickly determined that he wasn’t a reporter so much as one of “those animal people.”  Erhard admitted he was.  And he said he wanted her to help him.

When Mrs Striker got home she told Nisha that despite her desire to have everything the same something would have to change.  This Admiral was not allowed to chase cars–the first one he loved the shining hubcaps–because that was how he died.  He was also not allowed to eat his…shit.

Nisha really likes Erhard despite his ulterior motive.  She can’t decide if she wants to mess with what she has, but his plan isn’t that sinister.  He want to bring in another purebred Afghan to see if the Strikers can tell the difference between her so called beloved Admiral and a stranger.  Before Nisha can even agree to the plan, Erhard shows up with a dog that looks identical to Admiral.

How will this play out?  In a couple of ways, all of which I really liked.

I keep thinking I want to read more of Boyle’s work, but he’s so prolific, it’s impossible to catch up!