Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

Spielberg, “5-25-77,” & Super 8 Nostalgia

Some interesting comparisons can be drawn between Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans,” now in theaters, and Patrick Read Johnson’s coming-of-age-in-the-era-of-“Star Wars” comedy, “5-25-77” (2002). Both filmmakers clearly poured their hearts and souls into these creative reminiscences of their early discoveries and explorations of the magic of film, largely through experiments with their families’ home movie equipment. In their cases, the cinema bug bit early and it wound up shaping their lives.

On the next “Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner,” Roy and I will talk a little bit about Johnson’s “new” film (actually 18 years in the making), but mostly we’ll be using it as a springboard for our own personal recollections of writing and producing Super-8 movies all throughout our teens

My cousin and Roy’s lifelong friend, Joe Metz, will join us, along with special guests, a few of those who appeared in the films and helped out behind the scenes. We’ll talk about our undiscovered treasures, projects that occupied our formative summers (mostly), including “The Last Plot,” “Omelet,” “Inner Vorzyd,” “AERO/VOID,” “An Hour to Live,” “Journey to Where,” “Leviathan,” “The Pterodactyls,” “Man and Thin Man,” “The Road to Insanity,” and “A Gorgeous Guy in a City of Women.”

Sadly, the films themselves will not be shown, but we’ll have plenty of stories, a few stills, some first-hand accounts, and boxes of paraphernalia.

Self-indulgent? You bet. But Spielberg and Johnson’s passions were not unique. They just happened to be blessed with that magic combination of calling, talent, drive, and good luck to get where they are today. I’m sure there will be others among our viewers who’ve had parallel experiences.

We’ll be ready for our close-ups on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Join the paparazzi in the comments section when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc. The geekery and nostalgia will be strong with this one, this Friday evening at 7:30 EST!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

PHOTO: Whipping up “Omelet” (1981), written and directed by Joe Metz, with yours truly, center, and Roy, obscured, on far right

January 5, 2023
Rediscovering R. Nathaniel Dett in Ewing NJ

R. Nathaniel Dett was born in what is now Niagara Falls, Ontario, the grandson of refugees who fled slavery on the Underground Railroad. He became an important figure in American music of his time, but it’s not until comparatively recently that we’ve had more opportunities to hear much beyond “Juba,” the concluding movement of one of his piano suites, “In the Bottoms,” once championed by Percy Grainger and others.

“In the Bottoms” will be featured on an upcoming concert by Clipper Erickson, piano and friends, to be held at 1867 Sanctuary in Ewing, NJ, on Sunday, January 15, at 3 p.m. Erickson, a world authority on the music of Dett, and the first to record all his keyboard works, will be joined by violinist Lenuta Atanasiu and cellist George Atanasiu.

Also on the program will be “Lamento,” by Ukrainian composer Bohdana Frolyak, written in remembrance of the the 1932-33 famine; a world premiere, “La petite phrase retrouvée,” by Italian composer Alberto Caprioli, commemorating French writer Marcel Proust; and the Piano Trio in E-flat major, Op. 1, No. 1, by Beethoven. In addition to his most famous music, Dett’s “Ramah,” a rarely-heard work for violin and piano, will also be performed.

The concert can be enjoyed in person or via livestream. You’ll find more information here:

https://mailchi.mp/38212c7a1c34/music-for-the-soul-is-now-on-youtube-13770610?fbclid=IwAR0T-9ZLYD4GFlKaLRLrzyFhGjatII1fP1MA03iSKqoeLPdD2Wcar9x4SDA

1867 Sanctuary is located at 101 Scotch Rd. in Ewing Township.

Here’s a clip of Clipper playing Dett’s “Barcarolle,” also from “In the Bottoms,” at the venue:

January 4, 2023
Victor Borge Birthday A Classic Performance

An old pro, performing one of his classic routines. Happy birthday, Victor Borge!

January 3, 2023
HK Gruber Turns 80!

The Austrian composer Heinz Karl Gruber (who styles himself professionally as HK Gruber) attains four-score years today.

Gruber is a veteran of the Vienna Boys’ Choir, with which he sang in the 1950s. It was then that he acquired his nickname, Nali, he says, because he snored.

He is perhaps the foremost representative of the so-called Third Viennese School. A graduate of the Vienna Hochschule für Musik, he studied with, among others, Gottfried von Einem. In 1961, he joined the ensemble die reihe (“the row”, or “the series”) as a double-bassist. The group was founded by Kurt Schwertsik and Friedrich Cerha (the composer who would complete Alban Berg’s “Lulu”). Gruber also became principal bass of the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra.

In 1968, with composers Schwertsik and Otto Zykan, and violinist Ernst Kovacic, he established the ensemble MOB art and Tone ART, as a means of performing their own music. His “Bossa nova,” written for the group, became something of a hit tune.

He attained perhaps his greatest notoriety with his cabaret piece for chansonnier and orchestra (or “pan-demonium,” as he describes it) “Frankenstein!!” in 1978. The work, a freewheeling collection of song settings of absurdist poems by his friend H.C. Artmann, about James Bond, Batman and Robin, etc., employs an array of unusual instruments and children’s toys.

Interestingly, Gruber claims descent from Franz Xaver Gruber, composer of “Silent Night.” “Frankenstein!!” is a very long way from “heavenly peace.”

Happy 80th birthday, HK Gruber!

Gruber performs “Herr Superman” from “Frankenstein!!”

Performance of the complete piece with illustrations

“Charivari”

“3 MOB Pieces” for trumpet and orchestra

Yo-Yo Ma introduces Gruber’s Cello Concerto

HK Gruber on HK Gruber

January 3, 2023
Slatkin Family Hollywood Golden Age Secrets

For the new year: Leonard Slatkin shares a family reminiscence written by his brother, the cellist Frederick Zlotkin, who died only a few months ago. The focus is mainly on their mother, Eleanor Aller Slatkin, who played in the Hollywood String Quartet with her husband, Felix, and as principal cellist in the Warner Bros. studio orchestra. In the latter capacity, she frequently recorded cello solos for the films. There’s plenty here to fascinate, both in terms of Saltkin family history and glimpses into what it was like for a musician, particularly a female musician, to work in Hollywood during the “Golden Age.” Furthermore, it concludes with a great anecdote about Arnold Schoenberg, in Eleanor’s own words.

JANUARY 2023

January 2, 2023

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