Album art gems from our LP collection

Due to the rarity and vulnerability of some of our LPs, their shelves are necessarily closed to the public for browsing (though if you find something in the catalog that you want to hear, just ask Media Services desk staff). However, there are some fantastic items in there that deserve to be seen. So we begin now with a new series of posts highlighting some of the beautiful and bizarre album art from our collection. Click on the images below for a larger slideshow.

First pictured is Ben Bagley’s Harold Arlen and Vernon Duke Revisited Vol. II. Broadway producer Bagley founded his own record label, Painted Smiles, which released around fifty albums over his lifetime. Most of these feature semi-to-very racy sketches of burlesque dancers on the cover, but this one has some very proper cat-headed women (sphinxes?) modeling fur-lined coats. The artist for this and most of the other Painted Smiles covers was graphic designed and Broadway composer, Harvey Schmidt, Tony winner for Best Composer for the Fantasticks. I’m not sure what, if any, meaning the cat women have. On the back cover, Bagley is pictured with his cat, Fogerty, and asks listeners to write to them both, so maybe it’s no more complicated than this: the guy liked cats.

Continuing clockwise, we have an album of works by Swedish composers Ingvar Lidholm, Wilhelm Stenhammar, and Hilding Rosenberg on the Caprice label, a long-running, government-subsidized label specializing in contemporary Swedish music. The cover is a watercolor (I think) by the artist Gunnar Erkner shows the outline of a woman walking along a field of green, which I assume to be the icy Swedish sea, with a deep green, black, and brown sky. It reminds me more than a little bit of the Werner Herzog version of Nosferatu.

Erkner also has several smaller works in a similar vein inside the gatefold.

Next up is a record from Decca’s short-lived, and much-loved Headline series, which specialized in music composed after World War II. This particular record contains works by Witold Lutoslawski, Lennox Berkeley, and David Bedford, and like most other records in the series, has an outstanding over. This one was done by Decca staff artist Bill Picknell, who also did other Headline covers, as well as for rock artists like the Rolling Stones. It has a very ’70s pop art feel with the bright colors and simple shapes painted over a photograph of a man in profile with his neck craned, but the black background and the man’s uncomfortable posture give it a somewhat ominous aura as well. Or maybe that’s just because it reminds me of the poster for Altered States.

Lastly, I have three images from the same item, because it’s such an incredible and unique object. The album is Circus in Town! by Merle Evans and his Circus Band. Evans was the bandleader for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for fifty years, and released a number of recordings, which I assume were aimed at children and other circus lovers. This one from 1958  has one of the most inventive and bizarre covers I’ve ever seen, with a gatefold that opens at the center of the album, and liner notes stapled as a mini-booklet at the top of the open gatefold. The opening for the record is at the top of the of the sleeve, meaning that either side could be the front cover.

We’ll start with the garish clown photo. Now, a photo of a clown entertaining a child with some uninflated balloons is certainly not out of place on an album of circus music, but what’s striking about this particular photo is how slovenly everything looks. The clown’s makeup is smeared, and the lines are sloppily drawn – check out the mess to the left of the fat, wet sliver of tongue. He doesn’t appear to have shaved that morning, and the lace trim on his outfit is being held on with safety pins. The boy is cheerful enough, but GOOD GOD how did he get that much dirt underneath his nails. The album credits Seymour Green for the photo.

The open gatefold, however, is marvelous. It features a small portrait of Merle Evans in his concert finest: a red and gold horse head hat with long plumes of feathers, and a bedazzled pink jacket with gold curlicues and a multitude of large tassels hanging from the epaulets. The large stock photo of trained lions, tigers, and bears is a little depressing to modern sensibilities, but must have thrilled the kiddies when it came out. Finally, the closed gatefold features several small photos of circus acts. All the circus photos were done by circus fan and researcher Sverre O. Braathen of Madison, Wisconsin – just down the road from Ringling/Barnum headquarters and winter home, Baraboo, now home of the Circus World Museum.

Hope you enjoyed this brief look into our LP collection. We’ll be back soon with more great and/or bizarre art.

Cene’s Staff Picks

  Austin Peralta – Endless Planets (CD 10056)

The final album from the young jazz pianist – released about a year and a half before his untimely death last fall – is both a melancholy marker of what could have been and a rousing, modern jazz  album, brilliant in parts, and never less than interesting. Peralta wrote all the tunes on the album, and, while he is the leader of the group, his collaborators have lots of opportunity to stretch out, particularly the talented alto player, Zane Musa. It’s not a perfect album, but there aren’t many better jazz albums by 20-year olds in the history of the art.

Morton Subotnick – Silver Apples of the Moon/The Wild Bull (CD 10011)

My man, Morton. “Silver Apples of the Moon” and “the Wild Bull” are both classics of early(ish) electronic composition. While it’s hard to describe either of them as easy to listen to, both are surprisingly engaging, and reward repeat hearings. The synthesized bloops and rapid-fire tape effects take on a structure that’s not necessarily evident on first listening, and after a few times through, you start looking forward to your favorite parts.

Kashmere Stage Band – Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974 (CD 10047)

The Kashmere Stage Band was a high school (seriously!) band out of Houston, that happened to put out some of the funkiest large-group recordings of the era. This release has one disc of the official release versions, a disc of alternate takes and live recordings, and a DVD documentary of the band (a nice corollary to the Thunder Soul doc that came out recently), so it’s about as definitive an overview as you’re likely to get. They run through strong covers of contemporary funk hits like James Brown’s “Super Bad,” Dennis Coffey’s “Scorpio,” and Isaac Hayes’ “Theme from Shaft,” but the originals are just as good. It’s an album that will make you regret all the days you wasted in high school not being as superbad as the KSB.

Herbie Hancock - Thrust (CD 10010)

At the Music Library, we’ve been listening to a lot of those funky mid-70s Herbie Hancock records lately, especially Secrets and Head Hunters. Thrust might be the best of that bunch. The album consists of four extended tracks giving the band a chance to stretch out. Hancock plays an extended array of classic synths and electric pianos, and is accompanied by his longtime collaborator and multi-reedist, Bennie Maupin, and the textbook perfect funk rhythm section of Paul Jackson on bass and Mike Clark on drums. Bill Summers handles percussion, adding a relaxed Latin feel to “Butterfly,” the album’s sole ballad.

 

Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke’s Passion & Threnody (CD 9973)

This double-disc release combines two of Penderecki’s most famous and affecting works – “St. Luke’s Passion” and “Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima” – and throws in a few more great pieces such as “Dimensions of Time and Silence,” which sounds exactly like you’d expect from the title. My favorite piece is the expansive, atonal, swirling, spooky Passion. Once heard, it’s not easy to forget.

Concerts in the Neighborhood – Tristan Pfaff this Friday

One of the great things about being in upper Northwest D.C. is the wealth of cultural events available through the multitude of embassies located in this area.

One such event is happening this Friday at the Hungarian Embassy. They’re partnering with Alliance Francaise to bring in the pianist Tristan Pfaff for a (nearly) all-Liszt program. The concert kicks off at 7pm. Additional program information and tickets are available from the Alliance Francaise event page. The Hungarian Embassy is located on Tilden St. NW as you head down towards Pierce Mill – just a hop, skip, and jump from Howard Law and the Levine School of Music.

For future reference, you can find out what’s going on at the embassies by searching “embassy” over at Cultural Tourism DC.

 

DRAM streaming audio database now available!

Of all the new additions to our collections that we added over the break, perhaps the most exciting is the Database of American Recorded Music (DRAM) streaming audio database.

The backbone of the 3,700 album collection is the output of legendary labels, New World Records and Composers Recordings, Inc, making it the single best streaming source for 20th century and contemporary American  classical music. It also incorporates twenty-eight other labels and collections as well, including Albany Records, the Dartmouth Archive of Jon Appleton’s works, and the Ben Hall Gospel Archive.

Though Naxos Music Library is a fantastic resource, finding contemporary composers and works is sometimes spotty. The DRAM database fills in the gaps with its incredible collection of rare and important recordings.

And if you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the full range of our streaming audio and video resources.

 

UDC’s JAZZforum is on bagpiper, Rufus Harley 10/24

UDC continues their monthly JAZZforum series tomorrow with a discussion on Rufus Harley, who, as the only jazz bagpiper, occupies a unique place in jazz history. The event is FREE and open to the public, and just a short walk or bike ride from AU.

From the website:

JAZZforum: A Family Celebrates the Life and Music of Rufus Harley “the world’s first jazz bagpiper”

Wednesday, October 24, 2012
7:00 PM

Multi-instrumentalist, Rufus Harley (1936-2006) started studying the bagpipes after watching the Black Watch at John F. Kennedy’s funeral procession in 1963. In addition to several recordings as a leader, he recorded with Herbie Mann, Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins—and in later years, the Roots and Laurie Anderson. In 2007 Pipes Of Peace, a documentary by George Manney, was released. Several of his children—sons and trumpeters, Messiah and America Patton Harley, who frequently performed with their father, as well as daughters, Noah Harmony and Egypt will join us for this special evening. Recital Hall (Performing Arts Bldg. 46-West).

 

 

Boring but Important!: Learn the ins and outs of fair use

Knowing how to correctly determine fair use of copyrighted material is a must for college students in general, and especially students of the arts. The next Digital Futures Forum tackles this topic with a variety of experts.

When can you use copyrighted materials without permission? How has fair use shifted recently? Join Patricia Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi for an interactive exploration and in-depth discussion of fair use in a multi-media context. Their presentation will be followed by a discussion of what’s next in fair use, led by Brandon Butler.

Keynote presenters:

Patricia Aufderheide is University Professor in the School of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C., and founder and co-director of the Center for Social Media there. She is the co-author with Peter Jaszi of Reclaiming Fair Use: How to Put Balance Back in Copyright (University of Chicago Press, July 2011), and of Communications Policy in the Public Interest (Guilford Press, 1999). She heads the Fair Use and Free Speech research project at the Center, in conjunction with Prof. Peter Jaszi in American University’s Washington College of Law. She received her Ph.D. in history from the University of Minnesota.

Peter Jaszi is a professor of law at the American University Washington College of Law, teaching domestic and international copyright and supervising students in the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Clinic. Jaszi is a Trustee of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., and a member of the editorial board of its journal. Since 2005, Jaszi has been working with Patricia Aufderheide of the American University’s Center for Social Media on projects designed to promote the understanding of fair use by documentary filmmaker and other use communities, including research libraries. Their book, Reclaiming Fair Use (Chicago), was published this year. Professor Jaszi received his A.B. from Harvard University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Discussant:

Brandon Butler is the director of public policy initiatives at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), a group of 126 major academic and research libraries in North America. His responsibilities there include analysis and advocacy regarding copyright, privacy and surveillance, free expression, and telecommunications. He also writes the ARL Policy Notes blog and the @ARLpolicy twitter account. Before working at ARL, he was an Associate in the Media and Information Technologies practice at the law firm Dow Lohnes PLLC in Washington, D.C.

For more information and to RSVP, contact 202-885-3847 or LibEvents@american.edu

Latin Soul legend, Joe Bataan, FREE on Friday

Living in DC has its benefits, like free stuff all over the place. For example, this Friday the 19th, Joe Bataan is going to be taking part in a talk and giving a free performance at the National Museum of Natural History’s Baird Auditorium. All the information is on the event website, and in the flyer below.

This is a great opportunity to see this Latin soul pioneer in person. Don’t miss out!

 

DC Jazz Loft returns at a new location

CapitalBop’s Jazz Loft series returns with its first concert of the new school year this Sunday. It’s their first in the U St. corridor, as they move to a new location at Montserrat House, 2016 9th St NW.

Here’s the brief write-up from their regular “Weekend in Jazz” feature:

D.C. Jazz Loft, Montserrat House, 7 p.m. | This month, the D.C. lays down roots at Montserrat House, its new home on the U Street Corridor. The acts include one of the city’s most ambitious, enriching acts: Siné Qua Non. Led by the versatile and energizing bassist Michael Bowie, the quintet offers singular arrangements of everything from classic rock to Western classical. Its music will be accompanied by projections from the video artist Michael Pino. Other performers include Howard “Kingfish” Franklin and his straight-ahead quintet, and the Pete Muldoon Project. $10 suggested donation, no minimum.

The full website for the event has longer bios of this month’s musicians, as well as YouTube videos, so you can see what you’re getting yourself into (hint: it’s something good).

Happy 100th Gene Kelly

Today is Gene Kelly’s 100th birthday (posthumous, of course). NPR had a lovely tribute on Morning Edition today, and there’s no end of clips and documentaries on YouTube. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen Gene Kelly dance, right now is a perfect time to re-appreciate just how good he was.

Of course, the best way to gain an appreciation for this genius of dance is to watch his groundbreaking movie musicals. The Music Library has On the Town (ML DVD 247), An American in Paris (ML DVD 218), and of course Singin’ in the Rain (ML DVD 265). And if that’s not enough, Media Services has more.

 

Gene Vincent BBC doc

Here’s a documentary the BBC made of rockabilly star Gene Vincent’s low-budget tour of England in 1969, just two years before his death at 36. It’s grim, but fascinating, watching this early rock and roll legend – worn out and in the autumn of his career – rooming two-to-a-bed and getting ripped off by sleazy promoters.

To hear him in happier days, check out CD 9413 at the Music Library, all the recordings on the American Song streaming audio database, and this wild video: