Haunting . . .

. . . song . . .


(from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_That_All_There_Is%3F)
". . . The song [Is That All There Is? by  Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller]was inspired by the 1896 story Disillusionment (Enttäuschung) by Thomas Mann. Jerry Leiber's wife Gaby Rodgers (née Gabrielle Rosenberg) was born in Germany, lived in the Netherlands. She escaped ahead of the Nazis, and settled in Hollywood where she had a brief film career in films noir. Gaby introduced Leiber to the works of Thomas Mann. The narrator in Mann's story tells the same stories of when he was a child. A dramatic adaptation of Mann's story was recorded by Erik Bauserfeld and Bernard Mayes; it was broadcast on San Francisco radio station KPFA in 1964. . ."

I remember this song stirring some emotionality in me as a child during the days of the daytime talk-variety televisions shows such as Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin and the like. It's either a very prudent perspective based in reality or a deranged one being expressed by a purely hedonistic personality. Either way, as art, it is the consummate, although somewhat dated, pop song.

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 

My latest solo offering, No Frills, is now available at - No Frills

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Get your copy of OHO's  Where Words Do Not Reach now!
The Ocean City Ditty Video is now on YouTube
Also, be sure to visit: www.rayjozwiak.com and www.ohomusic.com

Tweet  

Strange . . .

. . . but compelling . . .


(from http://www.npr.org/2012/09/05/158933012/the-strange-story-of-the-man-behind-strange-fruit)
One of Billie Holiday's most iconic songs is "Strange Fruit," a haunting protest against the inhumanity of racism. Many people know that the man who wrote the song was inspired by a photograph of a lynching. But they might not realize that he's also tied to another watershed moment in America's history.

The man behind "Strange Fruit" is New York City's Abel Meeropol, and he really has two stories. They both begin at Dewitt Clinton High School, a public high school in the Bronx that has an astonishing number of famous people in its alumni. James Baldwin went there. So did Countee Cullen, Richard Rodgers, Burt Lancaster, Stan Lee, Neil Simon, Richard Avedon and Ralph Lauren.

Meeropol graduated from Dewitt Clinton in 1921; he went on to teach English there for 17 years. He was also a poet and a social activist, says Gerard Pelisson, who wrote a book about the school.

In the late 1930s, Pellison says, Meeropol "was very disturbed at the continuation of racism in America, and seeing a photograph of a lynching sort of put him over the edge."

Meeropol once said the photograph "haunted" him "for days." So he wrote a poem about it, which was then printed in a teachers union publication. An amateur composer, Meeropol also set his words to music. He played it for a New York club owner — who ultimately gave it to Billie Holiday.

When Holiday decided to sing "Strange Fruit," the song reached millions of people. While the lyrics never mention lynching, the metaphor is painfully clear:

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

What do you think?

Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet  

Dews. . .

. . . Tom, that is. . .

(based upon http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tomdews and http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/tomdews2)
Georgia-born singer/songwriter/bluesman TOM DEWS puts guitar/simultaneous harmonica and vocals together to create a satisfying blend of original acoustic folk and blues. Growing up in South Georgia and Central Florida he soaked up roots rhythms and fished the Flint, Ocmulgee, Chatahoochee and Oklawaha rivers. After recent sojourns in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, Dews makes his home now in Washington, DC.

Tom released his first recording, EPIPHANIES & EPITAPHS, after a successful tour in Ireland several years ago. The CD features original songs and instrumentals, some collected from years of playing coffeehouses and bars from Savannah to Minneapolis, and some stuff inspired by the time in Ireland. Reflecting on his musical adventures Dews says, " A novelist creates a fictive dream, and when done well there are revelations for the reader. My interest is in creating a mood, at once mirthful and melancholy - a sort of re-creation of the old 'hearth' experience. Created by artist and audience together, this mood-edifice can generate spontaneous improvisations that are nourishing for everybody - a sort of musical epiphany can strike its seal into the world."

Tom surrounds gritty vocals with deft acoustic guitar and haunting harmonica to provide a satisfying foray down the back roads of literate folk/blues. Collected on his third CD (DRIVING DREAMS), are songs of loss and regret, blues to soothe, and anthems of hope. He counts among his influences Mose Allison, Lyle Lovett, J.J. Walker, Delbert McClinton, Pierce Pettis, Keb Mo and Tom Kimmel. You’ll hear him in his familiar mode here doing the simultaneous guitar/harp thing in an inimitable way, but there are also two piano solo pieces and several National Resophonic instrumentals.

Hear the songs.

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

It's magic. . .

. . . when the music takes you directly, authentically and effortlessly AWAY.

A haunting, angelic voice capable of moving you to tears with a whisper before whisking you away to a smokey bar amid screams and shouts. And a band that fills in every gap with breathtaking color and nutritionally and emotionally satisfying musical sustenance while providing freight-train unstoppable rhythm and heavenly ambience.

I actually witnessed this in action last night. Music is, without a doubt, MAGIC. These magicians demonstrated their expertise and then some. . .



download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak

Please Visit
http://www.rayjozwiak.com


Tweet