DOuG pRATt

Atlantic Soul Classic

Jerry Wexler has died. He was born in 1917, the same year as singer Jo Stafford, but Wexler preferred a different genre of music. He produced this recording in 1959. It has the sort of wide separation sound, typical of the early days of stereo, that I really enjoy hearing.

1 comment August 15th, 2008

Music, Art & Politics In Western Massachusetts

Last Sunday we were at Tanglewood, in Lenox, MA, where the Boston Symphony Orchestra plays every summer. It was an all Mozart program, and well attended, although the age of the audience skewed decidedly 40 and up. I caught some of the applause on video at the end of the concert, following Mozart’s Symphony No. 38, “The Prague.”

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While waiting in line to buy a snack during intermission I happened to stand next to political consultant and former presidential adviser David Gergen, and I overheard him discussing — what else? — politics.

A few miles up the road, at the Norman Rockwell Museum, there’s an exhibit of political cartoons by leftist artist Stephen Brodner. I like Brodner’s work a lot. His style seems to show the influence of Al Hirschfeld, as well as Ralph Steadman’s earlier drawings, with perhaps a dash of Arnold Roth tossed in here and there.

And in North Adams, MA, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, aka Mass MoCA, Eric really enjoyed Jenny Holzer’s PROJECTIONS. It’s hard to say what it is. Here, watch and decide for yourself.

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A kid happened to be screaming, and his echo gives you an idea of how big the room is. The museum is in the former Sprague Electric factory, and that hall is the same one I mentioned last September, about a failed exhibit. However you want to describe PROJECTIONS, Holzer took good advantage of the space. This is the view from the other end of the room.

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There are huge bean bags on the floor, so you can lie back and look up at the projected poetry. A fascinating side effect of the exhibition were all of the sleeping children, totally zonked in the bean bags. Walking through the cavernous hall, with its weird lighting and echoes, it was as if the kids had become part of the exhibit.

Add comment August 15th, 2008

Peanuts Rocks The Vote

I took some time off from blogging. Let’s pick up where we left off, with Peanuts and politics. The Charles M. Schulz Museum has an exhibit called Political Peanuts, running through December 1. And Peanuts Rocks The Vote this year with a nicely designed Flash animation page.

Happy birthday to Amy Schulz Johnson, back on August 5. And speaking of the Schulz family, in this photo there’s an extra swimmer in the pool with the Schulz kids. Who is that?

9 comments August 15th, 2008