Music Group 2021-04-08:
Musicians we've met or heard in person

The idea here is music written or performed by someone you've met. If not comfortable with that, you can go to the next degree of freedom: someone you've heard in person but have not necessarily met. Either way, it will hopefully generate an interesting story.

  Liz

  Michael Masley

• The clip is over seven minutes long, but you only need to listen to the first minute or two to get the idea.
• I have known Michael Masley for over 20 years. Michael is a street musician, and this is a video clip of him playing his cymbalom on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.
• Michael invented the bowhammers he uses to strike, slide across, and pluck the cymbalom's strings.
• BONUS link — Michael Masley's music without the street noise, and with animation. The animation is kind of cool.

  Mike

  Asiya Korepanova — Franz Liszt — Liebestraum

• One of the best active performers of Liszt's repertoire.
• Story on how I found out about her to come on Thursday.

  Lewis

  Johnny Costa

• A brief performance by Johnny Costa of Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things".
• Costa's nickname was "The White Art Tatum".
• A Pittsburgh institution, Costa was MisterRogers' accompanist on WQED-TV. He received a 1988 Emmy nomination.

  Myndall

  Clovice Lewis, Jr.

• A performance with the University Symphony Orchestra, March 6, 2016.
• In this video, he is the cellist, and he layers track upon track during his performance.
• Guide: Listen to how Clovice records and layers each section of his solo starting with what I call the babbling brook section in 6/4 time (02:05 to 02:50). He adds pizzicato (hard to hear until another layer is added) at 02:55 and adds another layer at 03:40. After 04:25, he plays a single solo, and then adds the layers again at 05:00. If you'd like to hear more, the orchestra comes in at 06:22. There is a nice crescendo near the end with the final resolving chord at the end at 08:52.
• Clovis' Website

  Keith

  Ron Perl — Four at Three

• Guide: Listen to Night Bells, starting at 07:15.
• Ron is a composer and guitarist. Here he plays his own composition.
• Emeritus professor at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, MD.
• His page.    His music page.

  Mary

  James Galway — Irlandaise

• James Galway is among the most famous flutists in the world.
• As a student of Bonnie Lake at Peabody Prep in Baltimore, I met James Galway on his first American tour in a workshop at the University of Maryland.
• In 1976, I was scheduled to study with him at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, Ireland. Sadly, he was in a bad accident and broke both of his arms and legs.
• In the early 90s, I serendipitously met him on Amtrack between NYC and Philadelphia and had a long and lively conversation. I was walking on air.
• Continuing Myndall's discussion, I selected another piece from the Claude Bolling Jazz Suite for Flute and Piano, Irlandaise. I love Mr. Galway's rich tone, especially in the lower registers, and his effortless and fluid musicality.

  Deb

  Joe Cocker — You Can Leave Your Hat On

• Joe Cocker and I lived on Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden's ranch in Santa Barbara, CA. He lived in the Hill House and I lived in the Rose Cottage. Joe and Jane were friends and he rented their house for a couple of years while he was building his own house down the hill on Painted Cave Road. I was Jane's Administrator and Camp Nurse for 9 years. She and Tom started a Performing Arts Camp (Camp Laurel Springs) for kids of all ages. Joe and I were close friends and he married my girlfriend, Pam. I will save the rest of our story for our Thursday call.

  Bob

  Weather Report — Mysterious Traveller

  Larry

  Toure Raichel Collective

• This is a song by the Toure Raichel Collective, which is an ensemble of Vieux Farka Toure (son of the famed Malian guitarist Ali Farka Toure) and an Israeli pianist named Idan Raichel.
• I was fortunate enough to catch these guys at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, Maryland about 5 or 6 years ago. I met them after show and we spoke for a while as they signed the CDs I bought.