This time from the Otta Orchestra I mentioned a few weeks ago, a seven piece all female 'orchestra' often supplemented by 'real' symphony orchestras on stage and in their albums:
"OTTA-orchestra is a Russian female instrumental group. Li Otta, whose name formed the basis of the band's name, is the band's composer and arranger. The group plays her music. The mention of the word orchestra is also not accidental. Music is based on the orchestral style of new age, world music.
The origin of the group dates back to 2007. At this time, Li Otta was brought in as an orchestrator to work with Russian guitarist DiDuLay. This is how his album “Music of Unmade Films” was born in 2007, which began the close collaboration of these two creative people working in the genre of instrumental music."
As promised and as requested, Friday music with a difference to celebrate Burns Night!
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'The Merry Muses of Caledonia' is among Burns' best known, but least read, work. This collection of bawdy poems, some written by and some collected by Burns, ranges from celebrations of spirited women in 'Ellibanks', to misogyny in 'There was twa wives' and male fantasy in 'Nine Inch will please a lady'. These engaging poems are not lewd or distasteful but possess a great wit and charm.
"Many scholars and Robert Burns enthusiasts prefer not to mention his association with the Merry Muses of Caledonia because they don't like him to be associated with this sort of material. Burns allegedly made no secret of his interest in erotic verse and bawdy song but apparently he kept this in a locked drawer at home. Well, you would, wouldn't you?
"t was first published within three or four years of his death and of the original only two copies are known to exist but it has since been published several times in facsimile editions. Burns both wrote and collected this material so there is no knowing how much of it is actually his. While some of it is local and clearly from the hand of the bard he may also have collected other material during his tours around Scotland.
"It is also worth mentioning that some of Burns's most admired works were sanitised versions of the bawdy originals.
"Many people who read these verses are surprised at Burns' awareness and his macho attitude to sex more than 200 years ago. But then sex is not new and isn't it strange that each successive generation thinks that they have just invented it? It is also worth noting that some of the words used by Burns in this connotation are still in use today, including of course the "F" word. Some recent commentators have compared the Robert Burns of the late 1700's to the rock stars of today. Maybe that's not too far off the mark?"
More recently the film producer Harvey Weinstein was called a predator by quite a few women on his hit list. Just before disappearing from the scene completely he had the cheeky guts to say that he didn’t understand all the fuss that was created around his person. Our bawdy Burns was more open about his behavior and described himself as a fornicator in his poem with the same title. Mitigating circumstances ?
"Wi’ ruefu’ face, and signs o’ grace,
I paid the buttock hire;
The night was dark, and thro’ the park,
I couldna but convoy her.
A parting kiss, what could I less;
My vows began to scatter,
Sweet Betsy fell, fal, lal, de ral, And I’m a fornicator"
Burns knew his sexual flaws and accepted the responsibility like a true Freemason. In one of his letters he described his struggle: ‘[…] I have a sore warfare in this world; the devil, the world and the flesh are three formidable foes’. And he comments on this last foe: ‘[…] but the third is my plague, worst as the ten plagues of Egypt’. Ladies and gentlemen, wasn’t it Burns fellow scribe Oscar Wilde who said ‘I can resist anything except temptation’?"
After Leonid and Friends last year, another excursion into the hidden musical heartland Russia and such a vast country is bound to have more musical talent waiting to be discovered.
"Otava Yo (Russian: Отава Ё, ота́ва meaning "aftergrass") is a Russian folk rock band from Saint Petersburg, formed in 2003.
Alexey Belkin, Alexey Skosyrev, Dmitriy Shikhardin, and Peter Sergeev worked together as buskers on the streets of St. Petersburg for about three years. The positive feedback from the listeners inspired them to officially form a band in 2003. Of the initial members, only Shikhardin had formal musical education; the rest were self-taught. Initially the band was called Reelroadъ and they played The Pogues-styled Celtic punk, but later changed their name to Otava Yo and turned to Russian traditional music." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otava_Yo https://otava-yo.spb.ru/en/
Отава Ё - Про Ивана Groove (русское готическое R'N'B) - Otava Yo
Two of these videos feature bagpipes. Russian bagpipes? I didn't know they had a tradition of the pipes in Russia so I did a search and found this -
"The Volynka bagpipe (from the word ‘vol’ meaning ‘ox’), valynka \pipe (duda) \goat (kozel) \bubble (puzir) was, until recently, an unexplored part of Russian instrumental music. However, it is also an unexplored spot on the map of European bagpipes. Whilst Russians know relatively little about bagpipes, there are several images of bagpipes in European and Russian travellers’ drawings, references in lists of musical instruments of the Russian Empire before the mid‐19th century, several images in folk pictures (lubock) and in church chronicles as well as references in literature and folklore. In recent years, the media has introduced new, previously unknown, sources." https://www.bagpipesociety.org.uk/articles/2015/chanter/winter/the-revival-of-the-russian-bagpipe/
We went to a gig by Katie Hopkins on Thursday in a pub near Stroud. There was a demo opposite the pub and at the last minute someone smashed a glass door. Here is what I have sent to the local paper:
LETTER TO THE EDITOR (OF STROUD NEWS AND JOURNAL)
Dear All
As a witness to the 'window-smashing' at the Star Inn Whiteshill (Stroud News, 12 January) I should like to offer a couple of corrections. Firstly it was a strong double glazed door, and a good thing too as people inside might have been seriously injured by flying glass had the rock weighing several pounds come through one of the windows.
Secondly, your writer says 'There is no suggestion that the damage was linked to the protesters who gathered beforehand.' Allow me to make that suggestion. This was not the early hours suburban bus shelter vandalism common where I live, but an attack carried out before 10 p.m. when the room was still full of people facing the speaker at the end of her talk. I can hardly say the perpetrator was actually from the well-policed crowd of protestors gathered on the other side of the road, but it is not likely pure coincidence that someone came round the back of the property to do this to a crowded room. The febrile atmosphere generated by campaigners was bound to inspire a thuggish moron.
History is repeating itself. My mother grew up in East Prussia when the National Socialists took over and as with all extremist organisations the first target was dissidents: everybody must think the same way. All the teachers joined the Party and tried to browbeat my mother into doing the same, but her father forbade it. She had to fight classmates in the playground but was strong enough to beat them. The school library suddenly had big gaps on the shelves where books by socialists and Jews had been removed. The history teacher was sacked and replaced by the caretaker - who needs nuance when you know the right answer to everything?
So now I am the son of a war refugee, born abroad in a country that no longer exists, and I am seeing another lot of Puritans take over (as though we learned nothing from Cromwell's joyless 1650s Protectorate, but then what history do they teach in British schools today?) Go round Cirencester's Parish church of St John the Baptist as we did yesterday and see how the black-clad right-thinkers vandalised its frescoes during Henry's Dissolution. You cannot say you are inclusive if you claim a hotline to God and use a mailed fist to impose unanimity on the people. It begins with Kristallnacht in well-heeled Whiteshill and among the 97.9% White population of Stroud District, but where will it end?
You may not know the name but Steve Wickham is/was fiddle player with Scots/Irish band The Waterboys in the 1980s and here are a few songs from his solo career as well as some tales.
Steve Wickham is an Irish musician. Originally from Marino, Dublin, but calling Sligo home. Wickham was a founding member of In Tua Nua and played violin on the classic U2 song "Sunday Bloody Sunday", as well as recordings by Elvis Costello, the Hothouse Flowers, Sinéad O'Connor, and World Party. He is a long-standing member of The Waterboys. Wickham plays both rock and roll and traditional Irish music, and has developed a rock music technique for violin he calls the "fuzz fiddle".
Wickham is also accomplished with the mandolin, tin whistle, concertina, saxophone, piano, guitar and bones.
Not a Theme Night - Saints and Angels (Steve Wickham)
Pascal - Steve Wickham
Recorded live as part of Theme Night #31 - Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo, Ireland.
Steve Wickham plays The Gold Ring
Pascal - Steve Wickham
Recorded live as part of Theme Night #31 - Hawk's Well Theatre, Sligo, Ireland.
All Will Be Well - Steve Wickham
Stopping By Woods
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In 1984 Wickham was in a band called InTuaNua who were one of the supporting acts when Bob Dylan played at Slane Castle in county Meath Steve tells how he met Dylan and was invited to perform with him:
"A tall American guy came over and told us that Bob would like to meet ‘the fiddler and the singer’. He brought Leslie Dowdall and myself over to see Bob in his quarters, an oasis of peace and tranquility away from the madding crowd. Bob came out of his tent to greet us, casually smoking a cigarette. Dylan’s eyes were startling and lined with heavy black eyeliner. He was wearing a jungle print shirt hanging open to the waist and a very robust looking pair of biker boots with brass hoops at the ankles. He looked otherworldly and spoke quietly. Bob praised InTuaNua and asked if Leslie and I would join him for a song during his set. Bob suggested that we play ‘Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat’. ‘It’s a regular blues’ he drawled in his familiar voice."
"Singer Linda Ronstadt was born in Tucson, Arizona, and grew up surrounded by music. One of Ronstadt's early musical influences was the Mexican songs her father taught her and her siblings. Her mother played the ukulele and her father played the guitar. Following in her father's footsteps, she learned to play guitar and performed with her brother and sister as a trio.
In 1987 Ronstadt explored her Hispanic heritage by recording a Spanish-language album, Canciones de Mi Padre (1987), which was filled with traditional Mexican songs like the ones her father loved."
(In Mexico and other S.American countries the word 'linda' means beautiful and her parents and grandparents would be well aware of that when they christened her Linda.)
LA CIGARRA - Linda Ronstadt (Live - 1987)
Linda Ronstadt - El Crucifijo de Piedra - Yo soy El Corrido
Mi Ranchito (2016 Remaster)
Linda Ronstadt - Yo soy el corrido
Linda Ronstadt Opens Up About Health, Career, Mexican Heritage
In 1858 Camille Saint-Saëns composed his Oratorio de Noël for five vocal soloists, mixed choir, strings, organ and harp. The work, sung in Latin, is based on texts from the Old and New Testaments, the Psalms and Gospels, as well as the Catholic Christmas liturgy. A distinctive chamber music-like instrumentation, with lyrical soloistic parts and a modest choral part combine to create a basic pastoral mood which has led this Christmas Oratorio to become one of the most performed works by Saint-Saëns.
Saint-Saëns: Weihnachtsoratorium / Christoph Poppen / DRP
A small selection from around the world of other, and very different, Christmas musical offerings Including what is possibly the earliest Christmas carol (if carol is the right word for it.)
Christmas Song by St. Gregorios Orthodox Church, Trivandrum
Veni Redemptor Gentium
This is the oldest Christmas carol ever documented. Dates back to 4th century Rome. (Come, Redeemer of the nations) is a Latin Advent or Christmas hymn by Ambrose of Milan
Today, a mix of Irish, French and French Canadian:
Chieftains - A Breton Carol (1987)
The Christ Child's Lullaby - Celtic Christmas
The "Huron Carol" (or "'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime") is a Christmas hymn, written in 1643 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Christian missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Canada. Brébeuf wrote the lyrics in the native language of the Huron/Wendat people; the song's original Huron title is "Jesous Ahatonhia" ("Jesus, he is born"). The song's melody is a traditional French folk song, "Une Jeune Pucelle" ("A Young Maid"). The well known English lyrics were written in 1926 by Jesse Edgar Middleton.
This version is performed by Heather Dale, and sung in Wendat (Huron), French and English.
As noted yesterday there are too many Elvis impersonaters out there and some of them make fake videos pretending to be the 'King'
There is one however who made no secret of his copycat Elvis style and that was the late Les Gray of the pop/rock band called 'Mud' and you have heard the song every Christmas for as long as you can remember.
Mud -
Lonely This Christmas
Love Unlimited -
It may be winter outside (but in my heart it's spring)
Darlene Love -
All Alone On Christmas (Official Video)
25th Anniversary of Darlene Love's annual appearance performing "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" on The Late Show with David Letterman. December 23, 2011. (I think 2014 was her last performance on Letterman with this song)
It wouldn't be Christmas without Elvis! Two problems finding suitable videos, one being the lack of good picture and sound quality. The other is trying to avoid the 'fake' Elvises out there and there are quite a lot so I hope I have the real one every time with these four.
Elvis Presley - On A Snowy Christmas Night, (HD)
Elvis& Priscilla Presley- Christmas in Graceland
Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas ('68 Comeback Special)
Elvis Presley - If Every day Could Be Like Christmas
My enforced restriction in drinking has meant no Christmas best buys this year, but I have managed to sample a lot of English sparkling wines, simply because they agree with me and are ever more available.
No longer can they be called a poor facsimile of champagne: they are a worthy comparison in their own right.
Climate change has over time made the champagne region begin to worry about the long term future for grape growing. This of course like all weather predictions could turn out to be a blind alley[ only time will tell. More worrying for the champagne houses is he cost of land: in recent years it has become astronomical as any land for vine production has to be within the designated area to be allowed to use the term champagne and there simply isn’t any left.
So small growers are selling up to the big houses and getting out of the business altogether, receiving offers they can’t refuse, leaving an ever smaller number of big growers and owners to dominate the business.
Even among the big boys expansion is limited so other areas are being considered and the South Downs in particular is a target for these outfits. No they can’t call it champagne but if the product is good enough it will sell regardless and what is now being produced in England more than holds its own on the world stage re sparkling wines. A few years ago we would have laughed at such a thought but here we are with some world class bottles.
Price was a big stumbling block for English wine and still is for still wines but the premium paid for sparklers puts them in a different category. No they can never compete with the cheaper Cava and Prosecco and other sparklers from the New World, but by concentrating on the premium end of the market the tax differences are to a great extent evened out and we certainly do compete.
Where we really excel is in vintage sparklers and we have a lot of them. In France the vintage bottles can reach eye watering levels of cash necessary to purchase them which is why most champagne is Non Vintage NV.
We do have NV sparkling here but the vintage section is where it gets interesting. Whilst being a vintage sparkler does not guarantee quality it does guarantee a more interesting product as each vintage has its own nuances. NV wines are blended from different vintages to get a more uniform standard in the bottle i.e. you know after buying brand x that any year is going to be in the same mould as previous wines; many people prefer that approach ‘a reliable taste and product that they can recognise’.
Although grapes used here do not have to conform with the champagne rules, that is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, Blanc de Blanc champagne is Chardonnay only, surprisingly there are eight grapes allowed in champagne the others are Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Petit Meslier, Arbane in very small quantities, and Voltis.
Outside of France many other grape varieties are used to make sparkling wine. Prosecco is made using the grape of the same name and Cava using Macabeo, Parellada, and Xarel-lo plus the champagne grapes are being added to the mix.
But back to the UK: the best of the country's sparklers are from the mainly chalk South Downs. Such has been the success that the French are buying land there partly to offset climate change and more likely to pick up relatively cheap acreage compared with home that can grow the grapes as well as champagne. Tattinger and Pommery plus Henkell Freixinet the German Spanish giant are the big players and Tattinger have released their first vintages here.
The best of the UK's vineyards are well spread across the south. Those with a big coverage and seen in supermarkets are the likes of Chapel Down, usually the cheapest but no drop in quality for the price, Ridgeview, and Nyetimber are the most prolific and none are to be sneezed at. Gusborne owned mainly by Lord Ashcroft do a range of sparklers including probably the best of them all a Blanc de Blanc a pricy £65 yet it is as good as any French equivalent; they even do a limited edition at £195 a bottle called Fifty One Degrees North, a lot of money for any champagne styled wine, yet their cheaper cuvees are a good to excellent buy and a special edition for Waitrose I can vouch for, but you won't go wrong with any of their offerings.
Many of the smaller vineyards do great work and turn out excellent wines. A short list of those I have sampled and liked includes Hambledon, Wiston who also do a splendid rose, Hush Heath another who do a splendid rose, Hattingley Valley, Camel Valley, plus many more all good and Waitrose have by far the largest range.
My own favorite is the one in the header above made from the Seval Blanc grape, a vintage wine that improves with age and is so smooth; their Chardonnay version is not to be sniffed at either.
So at Christmas give our own winemakers a go, you will be happily surprised.
More from Loreena McKennitt because she wrote and recorded a lot of 'winter' songs.
Loreena McKennitt - In The Bleak Midwinter
The draft horses of Cedar Knoll Farm take you through the snow-covered New England country side to Loreena McKennitt's beautiful song, "Snow". Lyrics by Archibald Lampman.
Honorary Colonel Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, CM OM CD LL.D. D.Litt is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern influences. McKennitt is known for her refined and clear soprano vocals.
Loreena McKennitt’s ‘eclectic Celtic’ music has won critical acclaim worldwide and gold, platinum and multi-platinum sales awards in 15 countries across four continents.
Loreena McKennitt in a haunting piece from the album "To Drive The Cold Winter Away", accompanied by chosen nature pictures.
The album was recorded in The Church Of Our Lady in Guelph, Ontario, and, in Ireland, a Benedictine monastery and The Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig.
Loreena McKennitt - Huron Carol (Jesous Ahatonhia)
I have no idea who she is and her videos have very few 'views' but according to this note on the YouTube page the songs are recorded in her 'home studio' using a laptop, a microphone, a guitar and her voice and very good they are too!
"Die Lieder nehme ich in meinem "Heimstudio" auf. D.h. ein Laptop, ein Mikro, eine Gitarre und eine Stimme"
Zona vom Herberstein - We Three Kings Of Orient Are
Zona vom Herberstein - The Gloucestershire Wassail A Cappella
It is not the first time that a compilation of top dancers on the screen has been put together, in fact it has been done many times. One of the reasons is nostalgia, for an age when entertainment was almost solely reliant on the big screen or the theatre.
The dancers who became household names and huge stars were often multi-talented and had learned their craft as part of the necessities required to earn a living on the stage. Many who became famous went on to become stars of the big screen as actors and their dancing days have faded from memory.
My wife was a very good dancer even at competition level, and it was the reason she first came to my notice at a dance hall; me, not so much but one day whilst at an upstairs bar I espied a crowd in front of the bandstand and in the middle of all those watching was a couple practising dance moves; a distinctive style stood out; we met a week later and the rest is history.
It was while talking about those great dancing stars of mainly yesteryear that she remarked on all the others that are so often forgotten today. The greats such as Astaire are are a go-to for the pinnacle of dancing in that age but others have been largely forgotten for their dancing prowess.
So for a Christmas treat we have the known and the not so known in examples of this Golden Age and a couple from later musicals.
No compilation of screen dancers could leave out Astaire and there are many examples of him with all the leading ladies of the time. This is not shown quite as much - the famous solo ceiling dance.
You could fill pages of dance numbers with Astaire classics but this is an attempt, however feeble to show something a little different.
Gene Kelly was to many the best of the male dancers, very balletic when the occasion demanded and as versatile as any of them. This was one of his best screen efforts, from the 1955 film It’s Always Fair Weather:
The first of the dancers who are not so well remembered for their dancing, outside of aficionados, is Russ Tamblyn. He had exceptional acrobatic skills which he used to great effect in his dancing as here in the never to be forgotten, for us of a certain age, film Tom Thumb.
And while we are in that area of almost forgotten dancers or little known for their dancing skills, this is a delight: Ricardo Montalban dancing with the beautiful Cyd Charisse - he even did a few moves on Fantasy Island!
Cyd Charisse had the looks, the legs as well as the skill which sets her apart from her contemporaries. All can be seen in this solo dance from Silk Stockings (1957) - you have to go to 5.00 for the dance sequence, but it is worth it.
Many believed Eleanor Powell was the best female tap dancer of all. This clip is a showcase for all her talents and it was said she was the only female dancer with tap that Fred Astaire did not outshine. Whatever the truth of that she was superb and this dance proves it, from the film ‘Ship Ahoy’ with Buddy Rich on drums as a bonus:
Rita Hayworth made quite a few dance based films, sadly most have been buggered about, edited, had inappropriate music added or all of these. Just a clip with Astaire shows her talent. She came from a dancing background: both her parents were dancers and she was taught to dance from a very early age, at 12 she was part of the family act, the Dancing Cansinos, so was no slouch in the dancing department.
James Cagney was a terrific dancer. His Yankee Doodle Dandy routine is the stuff of legends, but something a little different here and the chance to show a surprising Bob Hope strutting his stuff:
This little piece of Cagney descending the stairs in the film Out of the Blue from 1937 is as good an example of old twinkle-toes as any:
Donald O’Connor was another who failed to get the recognition he undoubtedly deserved. This scene includes Lew Parker and the bartender was actually O’Connor's tap teacher:
George Raft will always be associated with his gangster roles, yet is another who in his early career had dancing at the forefront of his talents. Taught to dance by his mother, his early dancing was at carnivals and amusement parks with his parents but he won a Charleston competition and became a professional dancer. His dancing fame came about with his promotion of the tango in the States and abroad. His life could never be described as dull.
A live duet with Anne Miller and Ray Bolger - a long way from the scarecrow role in the Wizard of Oz. His elastic leg routine is worth seeking out but here in later life he shows he can still make it:
And finally a modern classic. I was fortunate to see the original version on stage in London, it was and is fabulous. This is from the movie which I haven’t seen but is a tribute to all the boys and girls without whom no musical would be possible. The work they put in is astounding to get the end product, so a thank you to all those unsung dancers of the Chorus Line:
No wine piece this year: a year ago I nearly died and it has taken all this time to get back to somewhere approaching normal. One of the items I have had to ‘refine’ is my wine drinking: although I was told I should in moderation be back to imbibing as before in reality it has not worked out like that. I had a negative reaction to red wine the first time I attempted to drink it and subsequent efforts proved to be not worth the risk, so only white wine has filled my glass and in much smaller quantities. So no, with no sampling a Christmas wine piece was out of the question, we shall see if things right themselves in coming months.
For Friday here is Rod Stewart croaking his way through a few Christmas songs. I know he can't sing but even so I enjoyed his Christmas concert from Stirling Castle about 10 or 12 years ago.
Rod Stewart And Cee Lo Green - Merry Christmas, Baby
Rod Stewart - Blue Christmas (Live)
Rod Stewart And Ella Fitzgerald - What Are You Doing New Year's
Colorado-based Celtic duo Beth Gadbaw and Margot Krimmel have performed together throughout the U.S., the U.K, and Ireland. Recently featured on Colorado Public Radio, their newest release Icy December was described by The Folk Harp Journal as “a wonderful compilation…that will make you feel nostalgic and warm” and by British folk magazine What’s Afoot as “an absolute joy to listen to.” All-Ireland harp champion Sylvia Woods said, “This is my favorite harp and vocal CD.”
Beth Gadbaw & Margot Krimmel perform their own unique arrangements of Celtic & American folk music, as well as their own compositions. Angelic vocals, sparkling harp, rhythmic bodhrán, and surprisingly intricate vocal harmonies define their unforgettable sound, delivered with masterful musicianship and genuine joy.
"Keith and Kristyn Getty have been called the "preeminent" modern hymn writers in the world today by Christianity Today, with a venerable catalog of songs sung around the world including the renowned hymn, "In Christ Alone."
Born in Northern Ireland and based in Nashville, they are multi award-winning artists (including a Grammy nomination for Confessio: Irish American Roots) with Keith being the first musician of the modern era to be awarded the OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for service to music and hymn writing.
With a desire to help teach the Christian faith, their music intertwines deep theology with a unique musical genre, drawing from both inside and outside the classical church form, to reinvent the hymn. According to CCLI, they have written or published 38 of the top 500 songs sung in USA & UK churches, and Integrity Music estimates that more than 100 million people in the world sing their music each year. Learn more at www.gettymusic.com."
Keith & Kristyn Getty - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Sing We Now of Christmas (LIVE) — Keith & Kristyn Getty
Sleigh Ride Medley (Live) - Keith and Kristyn Getty
