#scenes from an execution by howard barker

[the-bug-carnival]

love a woman who just sort of walks around shattering people’s inner peace and self-confidence

[mosaicrecords]

A Mosaic Review

Mosaic's Woody Herman Box set Traces a Decade of Many Changes

In case you haven’t picked up our Woody Herman set yet, perhaps Will Friedwald's review from the Wall Street Journal will sway you: "It’s March 25, 1946, and you’ve come to Carnegie Hall to hear the most exciting jazz orchestra then playing, Woody Herman and His Orchestra—known to fans and followers as “The Thundering Herd.” Herman starts the concert agreeably enough with “Caldonia,” the Louis Jordan R&B classic that was also a hit for him, and then he launches into “Bijou,” the darndest thing you’ve ever heard. It begins with a polyrhythmic pattern like none ever known previously in jazz, as expressed by an unusual combination of vibes, bass and percussion; this is immediately followed by another off-kilter staccato rhythmic passage, this one played mostly by the brass. "Did composer and arranger Ralph Burns provide a hint when he gave “Bijou” the subtitle "Rhumba a la Jazz?” It’s more like a misleading clue: The piece is more Middle Eastern than Pan-American, as Jon Hendricks realized when he wrote a lyric to “Bijou” a decade or so later and set the scene in Istanbul. The first solo instrument is leader Herman’s distinctive alto saxophone, which functions as a sideshow barker, beckoning us into a tent where a scantily clad belly dancer begins to undulate, slowly shedding her seven veils. This central “dance” is executed by the stunning trombonist Bill Harris, who transforms this singularly exotic number into something more down to earth: It’s like coming across a blues singer in the middle of a little street in Singapore. "Herman’s 1946 Carnegie Hall concert is documented in an 80-minute recording that is the centerpiece of the new Mosaic Records seven-CD package “Complete Woody Herman Decca, Mars, MGM Sessions (1943-54).” But the boxed set begins in 1943, when Herman’s orchestra was still being billed as “The Band That Plays the Blues,” and this is what distinguished them from virtually any other white band of that period. (During the Carnegie concert, Herman even sings the songbook standard “I’ll Get By” as if it were a 12-bar blues.) The earlier tracks borrow heavily from Duke Ellington, even to the point of featuring several key Ellingtonians, such as Johnny Hodges and Ben Webster. "It was with the arrival in 1944 of pianist Ralph Burns—who quickly became Herman’s dominant arranging voice, and worked with the remarkable rhythm section of bassist Chubby Jackson and drummer Dave Tough—that the band found its own distinctive sound: grounded in the fundamentals but facing the future. Even its basic variations on the blues (“Panacea”) sound unique. The Herd genuflected in the direction of the nascent bebop revolution, but—more important—they embodied the euphoric spirit that accompanied the ending of World War II. The Herd thunders with the ecstatic energy of an American battalion marching—make that swinging—into Paris or Berlin. There’s an inherent optimism in the band’s music. "While the first three discs document the birth and the height of the original Herd (1943-46), the remaining four CDs bring us the Third Herd of 1951-54, as documented on two records labels. The MGM recordings include some overtly commercial material, scorned by jazz purists then and now; still, there are lovely collaborations with crooner Billy Eckstine and movie soundtrack composer David Rose. But the box’s most satisfying material from the early 1950s comes from the Mars label, which Herman owned and operated for several years in partnership with music publisher and friend Howard Richman. "Richman briefly steered Herman in a direction no one could have foreseen: He was the only major American swing band leader to record a whole series of big-band calypsos. The taste and imagination of Herman and Burns led to an inspired orchestral jazz treatment of “Jump in the Line” utilizing flutes and bongos that surely was an inspiration for Harry Belafonte almost a decade later. Nearly every session here contains some previously buried treasure: The same 1952 date that included “Jump in the Line” yielded Burns’s highly imaginative paraphrase of “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” in which the familiar riff melody is played, well, sort of sideways, and Burns’s original “Terrissita,” essentially a gorgeous sequel to “Bijou” that continually shifts meters and keys in a genuinely exotic fashion yet never stops swinging. "Burns’s brilliance is all over this box, no less than Herman’s genius as a bandleader, musician, coach, cheerleader, editor, blues shouter, musical dramaturge, and—as his increasingly younger sidemen called him—“Road Father,” helping his musicians to do the best work possible. In these two somewhat random chunks of Herd history, Herman gives us 141 examples of why his orchestra—which lasted more than half a century from beginning to end—was among the greatest in all of American music."

-Will Friedwald writes about music and popular culture for the Wall Street Journal.

You still have a chance to purchase this set: go here for more info and to order your set. Follow: Mosaic Records Facebook Tumblr Twitter

[surana17]

Things to Do in Cape Town We hope it won't be all work and no play for our Outlander cast. Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. It has mountains with the ocean on both sides, unique flowers, fabulous beaches, a vibrant city life and lots to do, no matter your interests. The Great Outdoors Cape Town's main physical attribute is Table Mountain whose linking chain of mountains runs all the way down the peninsula to Cape Point. Sam Heughan could certainly exercise his mountain legs by climbing this amazing massif. The views from the top are stupendous. While Caitriona Balfe has been known to do a good hike or two — remember that cute selfie she and Sam took on top of a munroe early in the first season? — she and other members of the Outlander crew might enjoy a ride up in the rotating cable car that gives 360 degree views of the city, Robben Island and out to the mountains around Stellenbosch. They can meet at the top for lunch —a picnic with local cheeses and wines is a great way to go.

South Africans love their sport so many people run, walk, cycle, swim and surf – our climate makes outdoor sports a pleasure. Newlands Stadium with its view of the mountains will host Super Twelve rugby games with teams from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina while the crew is in the area. Sam should take in a game to watch the local Cape team, the Stormers — they wear blue and white so he should feel quite at home. Surf spots abound but Muizenberg and Noordhoek have miles of sandy beaches with great surfing on offer. If they want some help in that direction, just give me a call and I can arrange it for them! Cape Town also has a number of sacred sites with standing stones (sounds familiar). There is the holy Grailstone at Houtbay, the Great Motherstone at Llandudno as well as Table Mountain itself, which was called Hoerikwaggo or The Mountain In the Sea and which has a number of legends associated with it. Part of the story is that the Earth Mother, Djobela, came to Qamata's aid, creating four mighty Giants to guard the corners of the Earth.... After many battles with the Sea Dragon, the Giants were mortally wounded. Before they died, they asked the Earth Mother to turn them into mountains, so that even in death they could guard the Earth. And so the Greatest Giant of All, Umlindi Wemingizimu, became Table Mountain, the Watcher of the South. Cape Town spreads out around the spine of the Table Mountain range so the area offers outdoor experiences galore. A drive around the Peninsula reveals penguins at Boulders Beach and baboons and other wild life at Cape Point while also offering spectacular views of the Atlantic and Indian oceans. I really recommend a visit as well to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and a walk on the elevated tree walk. It is beautiful any time of the year and one of my favourite places in the world. Kirstenbosch also hosts sunset concerts once a month that are something special.

Theatre is another option for our Outlander crew; the Baxter Theatre and the FugardTheatre have some great productions. Howard Barker’s play Scenes From An Execution is on the schedule for April for example. Of course no serious trip to Cape Town is complete without a trip to Robben Island to see the cell where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in captivity. Daily tours leave from the V&A Waterfront by ferry or you can fly in by helicopter as well. This is a great way to view the city and its mountains and one I would love to do myself sometime. You can even take the Jolly Roger Pirate Boat out to sea if you want to know what it feels like to voyage on a sailing ship.

Just small extract from really interesting article. Outlander crew are in for the real treat

[artsvark]

Jennifer Steyn stars in Scenes from an Execution

Jennifer Steyn in Scenes from an Execution. Pic by Oscar O’Ryan.

Jennifer Steyn stars as the rebellious artist in Scenes from an Execution at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town this March and April.

After her phenomenal, double Fleur du Cap-nominated performances in A Doll’s House and The Inconvenience of Wings last year, Jennifer Steyn returns to the Baxter stage as the remarkable anti-heroine Galactia in Howard Barker’s Scenes from an Execution, at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio from 30 March to 22 April at 7.30pm nightly and a matinee on 1 April at 2.30pm.

Clare Stopford directs a stellar cast made up of theatre favourites Steyn, along with Graham Hopkins (The Mother, Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood) and Nicky Rebelo (West Side Story, The Kreutzer Sonata) and a dynamic ensemble of young actors Khathushelo Ramabulana (Black Dog/ Inj`emnyama, Letters To Madiba), Cleo Raatus (The Fall, District Six Kanala), Elizabeth Akudugu (Twelfth Night, Have you Seen Zandile?), Phoebe Ritchie (Cincinnati, The Seagull) and Lauren Blackwell (Girl in The Yellow Dress, Cincinatti).

Except for Steyn, Hopkins and Ramabulana, the rest of the cast play multiple characters to bring the thrilling story to life. Set design is by Patrick Curtis, costume design by Leigh Bishop and set and props construction is by Nick Mayer.

Barker’s Scenes from an Execution makes 16th century Venice the setting for a fearless exploration of sexual politics and the timeless tension between personal ambition and moral responsibility, between the patron’s demands and the artist’s autonomy.

Jennifer Steyn in Scenes from an Execution. Pic by Oscar O’Ryan.

The story revolves around Galactia, an impossibly transgressive artist, who is commissioned by the Venetian republic to create a painting celebrating the triumph of Venice at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. What emerges in her uncompromising pursuit of truth is the ugliness of slaughter.

Galactia herself is brilliant, vain, arrogant and politically naive. Will this most transgressive artist be co-opted by the state? This study of the relationship between the artist and the state is known to be British playwright Howard Barker’s most accessible and commercial play.

The play was first seen in South Africa at the Market Theatre in 1994 where it garnered multiple awards including the best director for Clare Stopford. Graham Hopkins, who reprises his role as the Doge nearly 25 years later, also clinched an award.

Stopford once again teams with Jennifer whom she directed in Mike van Graan’s Green Man Flashing in 2005. Other productions which she has directed at the Baxter in recent years include Black Dog/ Inj`emnyama, Blue Orange, Purgatorio and Reach. She facilitated the Baxter’s hit production of The Fall.

“I wanted to do this play for a second time because the central character is a woman and my hero (ine). She’s who I want to be when I grow up, so to speak,” says Stopford. “Galactia is a female fantasy figure of epic proportions: an incredibly talented painter with an unstoppable compulsion for the truth, a formidable intellect and wit, as well as fearlessness in the face of opposition from state and church. Moreover, she is also sexy, a mother and the lover of a younger man. She even has a sense of humour.”

Production information Written by Howard Barker Directed by Clare Stopford

Set design: Patrick Curtis

Costume design: Leigh Bishop

Set and props construction: Nick Mayer

Cast: Jennifer Steyn, Graham Hopkins, Nicky Rebelo, Khathushelo Ramabulana, Cleo Raatus, Elizabeth Akudugu, Phoebe Ritchie, Lauren Blackwell

She continues, “Galactica is judged as a shrill, aggressive, promiscuous and over-zealous witch by the establishment and she is thrown into jail for refusing to valorise Venice in a state-commissioned painting of the Battle of Lepanto. Ultimately, for me, the play is a meditation on the nature of the relationship between artists and the establishment who often fund them, and more than anything, about the effect of art on an audience. In the end the piece belongs to the viewer; meaning is finally in the heart and eyes of the audience.”

Last year Jennifer Steyn wowed audiences with her riveting performances in A Doll’s House, directed by Christian Olwagen and Lara Foot’s The Inconvenience of Wings, which earned her Fleur du Cap nominations for both productions in the same category. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 19 March.

Howard Barker is an internationally renowned dramatist, whose first plays were performed at the Royal Court and by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Since 1992 his work has been presented by his own company The Wrestling School. Barker’s theatre is characterised by his poetic, non-naturalistic form and inhabits worlds of contradiction, suffering and sexual passion. Barker is also a poet and theorist of theatre, who’s Theatre of Catastrophe defines a new form of tragedy for our times.

Scenes from an Execution previews from 30 March to 3 April, opens on 4 April and runs until 22 April at 7.30pm with a matinee on Saturday, 1 April at 2.30pm. Ticket prices are R130 (previews and matinees), R140 (Mondays to Thursdays) and R160 (Fridays and Saturdays).

For discounted corporate, schools or block-bookings, charities or fundraisers, contact Sharon on 021 680 3962, e-mail sharon.ward@uct.ac.za or Carmen on 021 680 3993, e-mail carmen.kearns@uct.ac.za.

Jennifer Steyn stars in Scenes from an Execution was originally published on Artsvark