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Archive for the ‘#10yearsof01’ Category

Faith Erin Hicks–The Nameless City (2016)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Adventure, Faith Erin Hicks, Fantasy, First Second :01, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Mavis Staples, Supernatural, Tiny Desk Concert, Trilogy, Tweedy, Unfinished series, War, Wilco, YA Books on August 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »

nameless SOUNDTRACK: TWEEDY-Tiny Desk Concert #391 (September 22, 2014).

tweedyI’ve recently become a major fan of Wilco and Jeff Tweedy’s songwriting.  This band is Jeff Tweedy and his son Spencer (on drums).  They usually perform with a full band, but here it’s just father and son.

The songs sound very much like Wilco (Tweedy’s voice is unmistakable), but there is a different, almost patient feel to these songs that makes them seem not-Wilco.  Spencer’s drumming is not flashy (that wouldn’t work here anyway), but it is right on the beat with occasional flourishes.

“Wait for Love” is a sweet ballad.  “New Moon” is a bit more upbeat.  There are 20 songs on the record.  After the second song, Jeff says he doesn’t know how many songs they’re supposed.  Bob says they’re supposed to play til 6″ (it appears to be early afternoon).

Jeff says they can stay till six, There’s nothing happening in the world, right? Bob states, “There is no news today.”  Jeff smiles and says that later “Spencer and I are going to reveal our strategy for ISIS, so it’s a good thing you’re here.”

“Low Key” is more rocking with some cool chord change progressions in the middle (ans a little drums-only section).

Before the final song, he says he wrote it for Mavis Staples (She didn’t sing it when I saw her…bummer).  He says that “Spencer didn’t play on that record… but we know how to play it together.”  He pauses and says, “We know how to play all of our songs together.”  Pause  “I’m such a good front man” (to much applause from everyone).

Jeff laughs and says that Spencer is gonna get a microphone and “you’ll have to talk to people.”

“You’re Not Alone” is a bit more complex and powerful than the others and that repeated refrain of “open up this is a raid” is really great.

The Wilco Tiny Desk Concerts have been raucous and fun.  This one is much more low-key and shows off a different side of Tweedy.

There’s a sweet moment at the end of the set where Spencer give his dad a hug.

[READ: April 20, 2016] The Nameless City

Faith Erin Hicks has been consistently excellent with her graphic novels.  I was pretty excited to see that she had a new book coming out.  And I was even more excited to go to the library and see that Sarah had requested it already.

I dove right in to this story.

It begins with some unnamed people riding down the River of Lives and going into a city.  They ask several different people what the name of the city is and they get several different titles.  They determine that this is the nameless city.

It turns out that every civilization that has conquered the city (which happens every thirty years or so) renames the city.  And, depending on which invaders you like best, that would be the name you would choose to call the place.  We later learn that most of the conquerors only conquer the main walled city proper and that the houses and markets on the other side of the wall pretty much just go with the flow.  The people who live outside hate everyone who is in charge and just try to keep their heads down to survive. (more…)

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Grady Klein–The Lost Colony: Book No. 3 Last Rights (2008)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Drugs, First Second :01, Grady Klein, Graphic Novel, Huh?, Luluc, Nico, Racism, Religion, Slavery, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfinished series, Violence on August 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »

colony3SOUNDTRACK: LULUC-Tiny Desk Concert #390 (September 15, 2014).

luklucBob Boilen has loved Luluc for a while.  I never really appreciated them as much as I do on this Tiny Desk Concert.  The duo is from Australia (and now Brooklyn), and I’d always felt that their songs were nice but nothing special.  But you can really hear what’s going on in them.  Zoë Randell’s voice sounds like a revitalized Nico and Steve Hassett’s accompaniments are really interesting.

“Small Window” starts with Zoë strumming a small acoustic guitar and singing.  Steve accompanies on electric guitar.  It’s a pretty song with a nice melody. And his solos accentuate the song.  But when the song shifts gears to the “crystal waters” section and an unexpected chord change it becomes much more than a simple folk song.

For the second song “Without A Face,” Steve switches to bass.  When Zoë talks, her speaking voice is gentle and somewhat high-pitched so when she begins singing she sounds even more shockingly like Nico.  And the bass is wonderful on this song.  He throws in a lot of little fills that really add a lot to the verses.  And the “oh oh” section in the middle is wonderful with some great harmonies from each of them.

Zoë says they used to play with just two guitars and mics and they have added a lot more gear lately, but that they’ve they’ve stripped down for this show.  For “Reverie On Norfolk Street” he plays electric guitar (cooly vibrato’d) and his gentle backing vocals on this song are a nice almost bass addition to the song.  There’s even a guitar solo which after the song he says is “the quietest guitar solo in existence.”

Luluc really surprised me with this session and I may have to give their studio tracks another listen.

[READ: July 23, 2016] The Lost Colony 3

Book 3 ramps up the excitement quite a bit,  and also a had a lot of flashbacks that fill in some story lines.

Like the other two, it also begins with someone lost saying “Dear God where the %$!* am I?”  But this time he is a beautiful hunk of a man with gorgeous blond locks.  He is Buck Swagger and he is transported to the island on the ferry because of a letter from Olympia Snodgrass (the Mayor’s wife and Birdy’s mom).
(more…)

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Grady Klein–The Lost Colony: Book No. 2 The Red Menace (2007)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Drugs, First Second :01, Grady Klein, Graphic Novel, Huh?, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Justin Townes Earle, Racism, Religion, Slavery, Steve Earle, Tiny Desk Concert, Townes Van Zandt, Trampled By Turtles, Unfinished series, Violence on August 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

colony2SOUNDTRACK: JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE-Tiny Desk Concert #389 (September 8, 2014).

 jteI had an idea that Justin Townes Earle was a country singer.  Although I’m sure I’m conflating him with Steve Earle (his father) and Townes Van Zant (whom he’s named after).  But I realized I’d never heard him.  He’s more of a folk singer and he’s very charming.  He implies that he flew from Nashville just to play the show (“a quick trip just for y’all”) which gets an awww from the crowd) and like Trampled by Turtles and Jessica Lea Mayfield, he’s heading back home right after he’s done.  He also had his guitar maker send his guitar to him in DC so he didn’t have to travel with it.

He has an interesting percussive strumming style (he doesn’t use a pick) and he sings about love and loss.  The first song, “Burning Pictures” has a great line about how he doubts you even remember your love’s name since it’s another girl in the picture frame.

“When The One You Love Loses Faith In You” is a bit more bluesy sounding.  He picks some melodic notes between full-fingered strums.

Amazingly, he seems like he might quit after just two songs.  Bob asks him to do one more–doesn’t have to be new–it can be one he loves.  His favorite so that he ever wrote was “White Gardenias” (for Billie Holiday).  He says it feels like he’s about to miss the beat as he’s starts singing–which scares the shit out of a rhythm section.

Before beginning, while tuning, he says he has to learn a lot of his old songs for the upcoming tour.  Bob asks if he listens to the records, and he laughs and says he Googles the songs, which is just so ridiculous.  Bob asks if he illegally downloads them but he says no he just streams them.

“White Gardenias” is a lovely song with beautiful lyrics although I don’t really get that Billie Holiday vibe from it.

[READ: July 22, 2016] The Lost Colony 2

The inside cover of book 2 gives a little summary of book 1 (which is helpful). It also give s little recap of all of the main characters (which all series should do, frankly).

I loved that book 2 also starts with someone asking “where the %#!* are we,” it’s a man and a very large woman.  They also convinced Fud’na (the screeching violin playing guardian of the ferry) to ferry them to the island.  The large woman reveals that she is wearing a  stars and stripes dress which is very tacky.  But more importantly, she is a singer herself (almost as bad as Fud’na perhaps).

As the bok opens, Louis the slave boy is being set upon by the rocks bugs (although we dont know why).  He is recused by Jo’Pa an Indian who lives on the island (it is rumored that he used to be a real savage Injun).  And there’s Birdy, she is dressed as Squinto, compete with feather and bow and arrow.

Then we meet the Snodgrass family and Birdy’s heretofore unmentioned Gramdy, a cantankerous old man (who is her mother’s father). Turns out that Grandy hates the Injuns and is very mad that Birdy is dressed like one. “We’re at war with the Indian, dont you know they’re evil.” (more…)

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Grady Klein–The Lost Colony: Book No. 1 The Snodgrass Conspiracy (2006)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Drugs, First Second :01, Grady Klein, Graphic Novel, Huh?, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Racism, Religion, Slavery, Tiny Desk Concert, Trampled By Turtles, Unfinished series, Violence on August 18, 2016| Leave a Comment »

colonySOUNDTRACK: JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD-Tiny Desk Concert #388 (September 6, 2014).

jlmI had an idea about who Jessica Lea Mayfield was.  I thought she was sort of a folkie/country singer who I had heard of but had no real exposure to.  So I was quite surprised to see this performer with pink hair, short shorts, no eyebrows and a ton of pink glitter under her eyes.

Turns out that her earlier records are kind of folkie but that for her 2014 album she was inspired by her grunge roots to make a noisy album.  This Tiny Desk concert has her playing three guitars–one for each song.  Each guitar is covered with glitter and one has stickers all over it.  For “Standing in the Dark” she plays her pink glitter 12 string guitar with lots of reverb.  It’s a fairly upbeat song.  The melody is simple and she sounds happy while singing it (this is notable).  The middle section has a solo which sounds really alien by itself (that 12 string with vibrato), but which works really well for the song.

She says she brought all of her guitars because she wanted to show them off.  Her speaking voice is cute and adorable.  And she seems almost childlike asking if “you have any cats” are you allowed to bring them to work.  Bob says that bands have brought their dogs and she says she wishes she’d brought hers.

“Party Drugs” is a slow song with more echo on the guitar.  It’s a slower , darker song “party drugs just make my head sing…  I won’t die in this hotel room, I’ll be here when you return.”  It ends with a dark chord and mildly distorted whammy bar and is rather creepy.

The final guitar is a hollow bodies white guitar.  The stickers on the knobs are ponies.  She says the direction of the ponies tells her how the knobs should go.  There’s a pony, an alien cat and a unicorn “system I got going on.”

“Seein* Starz” is slow chords (with more echo).  Her twangy accent peeks its way in a few times in this song.  I like the way the picking notes are vibrated enough to sound unpredictable.

There’s something really captivating and almost vulnerable (but not really) about her performance.   She says she could stay here and do this all day and show you how loud it usually is.   Bob mentions something about six hours implying that she traveled six hours just to play for them (like Trampled by Turtles did the previous show).

[READ: July 22, 2016] The Lost Colony 1

I read this book last year.  But since I wanted to  read the other two books in the series, I wanted to re-read this before moving on to Books 2 and 3.

My recollection is that I didn’t really like the first book all that much, so I wasn’t prepared to enjoy it this time around either.

But, as it turns out, I really did enjoy it (and I’m not reading wheat I wrote the first time, just to see how this reading compares).  I think perhaps I didn’t really know what I was getting into the first time.  And now with hindsight, and understanding how and when some of the things are supernatural, it made more sense. (more…)

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Jack Vance (adapted by Humayoun Ibrahim)–The Moon Moth (1961–adaptation 2012)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Carlo Rotella, Etiquette, First Second :01, Fraud, Funny (strange), Graphic Novel, Huh?, Humayoun Ibrahim, Jack Vance, Sci-fi, Surreal, Tiny Desk Concert, Trampled By Turtles, Violence on August 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »

moonmoth SOUNDTRACK: TRAMPLED BY TURTLES-Tiny Desk Concert #387 (September 3, 2014).

trampleI love the name Trampled by Turtles and it conjures up something very specific in my head.  And a bluegrass folk band is not it.

Although their first song on this set, the super fast “Come Back Home” does rather convey what their name does.  Bluegrass can be fast (often is, in fact) but, man, this song scorches and the violin solos that flow through the song are totally intense.

So I was a little bummed that the next two songs are really mellow ballads.  For “Winners” the band’s harmonies are spot on and I do like the sliding bass line.  In fact all of the instrumentation (mandolin, violin, guitars, bass) is really nice.  And I think if this didn’t follow that first song, I might like it more.  Perhaps they should have ended the set with “Come Back Home.”

Before beginning “Lucy,” they ask if they are doing one more.  Bob says yes unless they want to stay longer.  The singer asks if they’ve got beer and Bob says they can work something out.  The band is not ready to head back to New York yet–they came from New York just to play the Tiny Desk (which elicit’ awww’s from the audience).

“Lucy” opens with some cool staccato strumming.  It too is a pretty song that makes great use of all of their instruments9espeicoally the mandolin).

I have recently begun to enjoy bluegrass a lot more and I could see Trampled by Turtles being a gateway into more bluegrass.  But I need more fast songs like the first one.

[READ: May 10, 2016] The Moon Moth

This First Second graphic novel opens with a lengthy essay called “The Genre Artist” by Carlo Rotella.  In this essay Rotella sings the praises of unheralded genre master Jack Vance (whom I’ve never heard of–which is the point of the essay).  Rotella says that Vance has been described by his peers as “the greatest living writer of science fiction and fantasy.”  He has been writing for six decades and has won many awards.  But this success has mostly kept him in the genre ghetto.  Other writers have suggested that if he was born South of the border he’d be up for a Nobel prize [which is a strange thing to say, in my opinion].

The essay talks about how so many other writers love Vance (and the list of writers who contributed to a tribute volume is impressive). So after all of this hagiography, I expected to be blown away by this story.  And I wasn’t.  Although that might have been because of the illustrations.  The illustrations aren’t bad–they’re not my style, but they’re not bad.  However, the story is fairly complex, or shall I say it may not lend itself to visuals because so much of the beginning is about sound.

Although while I was confused by the beginning of the story (and maybe I’d have been confused if I read it too), by the end, Vance totally sold me on what was happening. (more…)

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Leland Myrick–Missouri Boy (2006)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Drugs, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Leland Myrick, Nostalgia, Romance, Sturgill Simpson, Tiny Desk Concert on August 16, 2016| Leave a Comment »

missouriSOUNDTRACK: STURGILL SIMPSON-Tiny Desk Concert #386 (August 30, 2014).

sturgSturgill Simpson is a (relatively) new country singer that everyone seems to want me to like.  I like some of the musical aspects of his new album, but his voice is just too twangy for me. So even if he’s singing about drugs or whatever, it all just sounds country to me.

Simpson is a funny guy though, he says that “Turtles All the Way Down” is a song that everyone is talking about bit no one gets what it is about.  “It’s about drugs.  And other stiff.”  When the song is over he says he was siting on a porch and a friend said,  “Hey man, you ever heard of DMT?” He said “Nope.”  I hadn’t either but evidently that was the inspiration for that song.

“Time After All” is a pretty song with some wicked guitar playing.

“Life of Sin” is a fast song with what I consider a pretty typical country music riff.  Simpson also has a big powerful voice which he uses to good effect here.

He introduces “Water in a Well” by saying he’s gonna do one for the ladies “I’m just bullshitting, they’re all for the ladies.”  It is a nice ballad that goes on pretty long.

I’d like to enjoy Simpson more as he has been experimenting with interesting ideas, but really, I just can’t get past his voice.

[READ: June 5, 2016] Missouri Boy

I genuinely had no idea what this graphic novel would be about.  I was vaguely familiar with Myrick’s work but wouldn’t have been able to pick it our. Although after reading this I see that his artistic style is quite distinct and his drawings of himself and his father from back in the 1980s are really affecting and powerful.

The overall story of this book is quite simple (and brief) and is done in short episodes.

It begins with the narrator’s birth in 1961.  On the day that he and his twin were born, his grandmother died. (more…)

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Lewis Trondheim–Kaput & Zösky (2002 ) [translation 2008]

Posted in #10yearsof01, Charles Lloyd, Edward Gauvin, Eric Cartier, Jason Moran, Lewis Trondheim, Tiny Desk Concert on July 7, 2016| Leave a Comment »

kaput SOUNDTRACK: CHARLES LLOYD & JASON MORAN-Tiny Desk Concert #544 (June 28, 2016).

lloydCharles Lloyd is a saxophonist and Jason Moran is a pianist and that’s pretty much all I know about them.

Lloyd has been playing since the 1960s.  I have no idea what he used to play like, but in this Tiny Desk, he couldn’t possibly look more like an “old man.”  In what is one of the more disconcerting Tiny Desks I’ve watched, Lloyd sits in a chair and doesn’t take off his big puffy coat or his toque for the whole performance [I don’t know when this was filmed, so maybe it was cold that day, but come on].  Nor does he move, wave, acknowledge anyone or even smile (except once at the end).  Since he never takes his sunglasses off, he could be asleep (except that he really wails on the horn).

Moran is the youthful member of the duo and his piano playing is a lot of fun to watch.  In addition to playing some very lovely sections, he also plays some intensely dissonant parts as well.  This is free jazz in all its glory

“Hagar’s Lullaby” (by Charles Lloyd) has a pretty (but not lullabyish) melody on sax—a simple 8 note melody which is constantly in danger of being overtaken by some wild riffing.  About 4 minutes in Moran plays super fast and loud–almost a drone for a minute or so.

“Prayer” (by Charles Lloyd) opens as a more mellow piece with occasional moments of Moran’s louder piano. After about three minutes in, it turns into utter chaos as Moran is all over the piano with rumbles of dissonance–it’s really noisy (and cool) before returning to the main melody.  Since I don’t know anything about these songs, I don’t know how much is improvised.  I have to assume a lot, but I don’t really know.

Lloyd’s only reaction comes when Moran starts playing the loud, fast intro notes of the final song, “Sand Rhythm” (by Charles Lloyd & Jason Moran).  He smiles at Moran.  The song is pretty dark and intense with some wild riffing on the piano.  About 2 minutes from the end, Moran does something to the piano to really impact the overall sound—it sounds more than deadened, but it really give anew tone underneath Lloyd’s skronking.

While I’m sure that Lloyd is the main draw in this duo, I was far more interested in Moran’s playing.  There’s was nothing wrong with Lloyd’s work at all, but the presentation was so flat that I had to keep looking elsewhere.

[READ: February 15, 2016] Kaput & Zösky

Lewis Trondheim is a prolific cartoonist.  I had only seen his book A.L.I.E.E.E.N before so I didn’t know what to expect from a book with real words.  I certainly didn’t expect this collection to be filled with short “skits” and one page interstitial (translated by Edward Gauvin).  Eric Cartier is also credited in the book, although I don’t know what for.

Kaput and Zösky are alien creatures bent on destroying everything and ruling the world.   Pretty much each strip has them landing on a new planet with the intent of destroying it. Typically the short, rounder one, Kaput is ready simply to destroy everyone while the taller one with yellow ears, Zösky, seems to wan to take a more reasonable approach.

In the first one (only one page) they land on earth and are intimidated by a spider.  The second one involves a bureaucratic nightmare which is quite funny.  The third one is very funny as the creatures on the planet literally do everything K&Z say (that must have been hard to translate). (more…)

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Glenn Eichler & Joe Infurnari–Mush! Sled Dogs with Issues (2011)

Posted in #10yearsof01, Advice, Brandy Clark, Dogs, First Second :01, Glenn Eichler, Graphic Novel, Greed, Joe Infurnari, Tiny Desk Concert, Unfunny, Violence, Yuck! on July 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

muashSOUNDTRACK: BRANDY CLARK-Tiny Desk Concert #542 (June 20, 2016).

brandyCountry is pretty much the only genre I really don’t like, and, sadly for me, the genre seems to be seeping over into areas that I like (such as what happened in the alt-country movement in the 90s).  The one saving grace, (and actually major draw), of a lot of this new country is that the songwriters are exploring new lyrical territory.  And in particular, the women are writing sassy, funny, ass-kicking songs.

Brandy Clark (in black leather pants no less) has written for many other singers and finally decided to do her own stuff.

The entire lyric of “Daughter” is hilarious.  It’s an awesome revenge fantasy which, as the blurb suggests, “knows that fate is likely to do more damage to a cad than a key would ever do to his car’s glossy paint job.”

It’s got the great chorus:

I hope you have a daughter and I hope that she’s a fox / Daddy’s little girl just as sweet as she is hot / she can’t help to love them boys who love to love and leave them just like her father / Yes karma’s a bitch so I hope you have a daughter.

The second song is a sentimental song about her dead father.  The melody is very pretty, but I don’t need to hear songs like this.

But it’s back to the funny with the really sassy “Girl Next Door.”  It takes to task another cheating man:

If you want the girl next store then go next door… [much faster] and go right now and don’t look back and don’t turn around don’t call me when you get bored, yeah if you want the girl next door then go next door.

It’s a genius line and I really like the tone of her voice in this song (less twangy and more angry).  It could make me like country more.

[READ: April 1, 2016] Mush!

The title of this book promised a very funny story.  I really didn’t expect the “issues” to be quite so existential.

This book is broken into 10 chapters, with the first one opening on a man and his sled dogs mushing across the frozen tundra (actually Alaska).  We are introduced to The Boss and his Mate and the six dogs (from the dog’s perspective).  And then we see the dogs talking to each other. The crux of their conversation is that they are bored and wish they were running.  The lead dog, Dolly, loves to run, although she is unsure is she is qualified to lead the other dogs.

For some reason Buddy has a really big nose and is rather dumb.

Then we jump inside the house and see some intense friction.  The man of the house is a loner, a rebel, Dottie.  He hates society and doesn’t even like going into the city to get supplies.  His mate, meanwhile, loves him and wants to be with him–she knows the risks and troubles of doing it off the grid, but she also likes to go into town from time to time.  And she misses apricots.  Frankly, he is such a dick that I can’t imagine why she stays with him. (more…)

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Dominique Roques & Alexis Dormal–Anna Banana and the Chocolate Explosion! (2015) [translated

Posted in #10yearsof01, Alexis Dormal, Chick Corea, Children's Books, Dominique Roques, First Second :01, Funny (ha ha), Gary Burton, Mark Siegel, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation on July 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

chocolateannaSOUNDTRACK: CHICK COREA & GARY BURTON-Tiny Desk Concert #540 (June 13, 2016).

chickI have known of Chick Corea for decades, although I never really knew anything about him.  I’m sure I’ve heard him play at some point (he’s been around since the 1960s), but never so specifically.  And Gary Burton is an unknown quantity to me (although apparently he has played with Corea for years–they recorded their first album together 44 years ago!).

Corea plays a beautiful, fluid jazz piano.  And while his work is really special, it’s actually Burton who I focused on more (at least at the beginning).  Burton plays the vibraphones–with four mallets!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen vibraphones so up close in action before  Apparently the bar can be lifted (which must account for the vibe).

They play two songs, “Love Castle” which is from 1976 and “Crystal Silence” which is from their debut album (1973).

“Love Castle” begins with some great piano and fun soloing on the vibes.  It’s mesmerizing watching Burton hit these bars.  After 5 minutes of intense vibe playing, Corea takes over for solo section for almost 2 minutes before Burton returns (this time providing more background where as the earlier section was more soloing from Burton).  The song is just the two of them for about ten minutes and it’s really something.

“Crystal Silence” is the first song they ever played together.  It opens with some great vibes and then soars and swirls for another t en minutes.  It’s a really cool piece and the crowd is appropriately jazzily appreciative.

[READ: March 1, 2016] Anna Banana and the Chocolate Explosion

This is another First Second picture book (as opposed to graphic novel).  It’s the second in the Anna Banana series.  Once again, I thought the cover illustration was a little sloppy compared to the inside of the book–for many graphic novels I like cover illustrations better than the interior. But this is a picture book so maybe the rules are different.  Nevertheless, both parts are drawn by Alexis Dormal.

Anna is a little girl with a lot of friends: Pingpong the penguin, Grizzler the bear, Zigzag the bunny, Foxface the fox, Whaley the whale and Fuzzball the, well, fuzzball.

Anna’s friends want her to make them a chocolate cake.  But she says she will teach them how to make their own instead. That sounds like a great idea. (more…)

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Dominique Roques & Alexis Dormal–Sleep Tight, Anna Banana! (2012) [translated 2014]

Posted in #10yearsof01, Alessio Bax, Alexis Dormal, Children's Books, Dominique Roques, First Second :01, Funny (ha ha), Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Lucille Chung, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sleep, Tiny Desk Concert, Translation on July 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

sleepanna  SOUNDTRACK: ALESSIO BAX-Tiny Desk Concert #541 (June 17, 2016).

alessio2Alessio Bax is a pianist and a new father.  His daughter Mila is 22 months old and, a first for Tiny Desk, she is visible through the whole show.  And, no matter  Alessio is playing, all eyes are on Mila because she is completely adorable (and very well behaved).

In honor of his new daughter, Bax plays three pieces which are essentially lullabies.

Perhaps in honor of NPR/PBS, Mila is playing with a cookie monster doll for most of the set and she is being quite cuddly with it–even putting it on her head and resting it on the piano.

Introducing the first piece, J.S. Bach’s (arr. Petri): “Sheep May Safely Graze,” Bax says that Bach asks the pianist to do three things at the same time which is similar to a new parents life.

It is a lovely (somewhat familiar) piece with some beautiful melodies.

alessioWhen the song is one Mila smiles very big and claps along with everyone else and says “papa”

He acknowledges her and says, “She’s my fan #1.”

Lucille Chung, Bax’s wife and Mila’s mom duets with him on the second piece, Brahms: Waltz No. 15 in A-flat major, Op. 39.  They share the piano, which is pretty cool.  As she sits down, Mila says, “Mama too,” which wins over everyone.  Chung takes the high notes while Bax plays the lower notes. It’s a brief song, and very sweet.  Once again when the applause starts, she happily claps along.

Bax says, “We should have her play something–it will be her debut.”

He introduces the final song, Rachmaninoff: Prelude No. 4 in D, Op. 23, but before he starts, Mila says “no practicing” which he says they deal with all the time.

The song begins as a kind of lullaby and then gets much more “hot-blooded” with a stormy middle section that eventually returns to a dreamy ending.  Mila has a small keyboard of her own.  She starts “playing” it, although it proves to be a little too loud and her mom takes it away.  The song does indeed get a little intense in the middle, but is overall quite lovely.  And as it finishes she says papa piano and then beams with a big smile as she applauds with everyone else.

[READ: March 1, 2016] Sleep Tight, Anna Banana

I didn’t realize that this book was a translation at first.  I also didn’t read the biographies of the two people involved. It says that the author Dominique decided to write picture book when her adult son Alexis became a picture-book artist.  So his success inspired her to write these books.  They were translated by Mark Siegel.

We seem to read a lot of translated picture books in our house. Sometimes the very premise behind them is so unfamiliar it’s obvious they were not created by Americans.  Other times the books feel just a little …off somehow.  Like in their rhythm or something.

This book never really came to life for me. (more…)

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