Posts filed under ‘music’
Miss Emily’s JukeJoint 5/21/12: New CDs and A Benefit for Furry Friends
Greetings all-
This coming Saturday May 26th, Dan’s Silverleaf will host a benefit entitled “The Big One-Five: A Benefit for The Denton Animal Shelter Foundation” starting at 9pm and costing $8.00. Chris Flemmons of The Baptist Generals dog Brunswick is the birthday boy. Entertainment/jamz will be provided by The Heelers, The Holler Time and Kelly Upshaw. Please see the event’s Facebook page and the poster posted right below. We will be getting Holler Time and Heelers CDs at the DPL in the very near future. I beseech thee to support this event: its what little d iz all about!
The Big One
New titles at the Emily Fower Library are as follows:
The Muppets – A Green and Red Christmas
Bowerbirds – The Clearing
Men – Open Your Hearts
Sent By Ravens – Mean What You Say
Black Bananas – Rad Times xpress IV
Dinnerstein, Simone – Something Almost Being Said
Now Thats What I Call Music 42
Dr. John – Locked Down
Williams, John – A Tribute To
Jones, Norah – Little Broken Hearts
Underwood, Carrie – Blown Away
Cappa, Adam – The RescueThe Jakeys – No Second Spring
Jesse and Joy- A Con Quien Se Queda ElMany Hands
Such a Sad Week So Far…
The last four days have been kind of bummer…one of my all-time favorite children’s book author/illustrator and one of my favorite musicians have died. Thankfully, their talents live on through their books and music:
and
-Dana
Miss Emily’s JukeJoint 5/8/12: Pops
As many of you have already heard, Denton’s long-time blues emissary and character, Pops Carter passed away a couple weeks back at age 93. Much has been written about him over the years and it doesn’t take long to find some of it so I won’t recount his life here. You might want to check out his Facebook page and communicate with them, perhaps. I do, however, want to tell a couple personal stories and share some of Alec Williams’ pictures from the Fry Street book he and we published last year.
One of my first live music experiences in Denton was in the Fall of 1987 when my then-roommate in Bruce Hall, John Rylander, got a gig for a night playing bass with Pop’s band at the Char Hut (later the site of Jackson’s Pizza and Texas Jive- now demolished). I went to hear them and wished I could’ve been playing with them but what I remember most is how wiped out John was when he got back to our dorm room. He wasn’t a regular gigging musician at the time and was concentrating on his music composition studies, so playing several hours was a workout. Never let anyone tell you that playing blues is “easy”.
Pops at The Depot, 1983
Pops also sat in with my band on at least two occaisons- there may have been more but that was a while back. I bet most if not all musicians around here who had Pops sit in would to a man or woman tell you how his presence lit up the joint. And, if your gig was dying, as some of mine surely did, he made you feel good about what you played and could make the people like you for at least as long as he was onstage. Well, that was my experience, at least. Thanks, Pops.
Miss Emily’s JukeJoint 3.29.12: Earl
Few musicians are able to revolutionize how their instrument is played and Earl Scruggs was one. He belongs in that category of rare species that mark a point in the evolution of an instrument where you can say there’s a ”Before” and an “After” along with Charlie Christian on electric guitar, Jaco Pastorius on electric bass, Coleman Hawkins on tenor sax, Clarence White on flatpicking acoustic guitar, etc.
Lester and Earl
Earl passed away on March 28, 2012 at the age of 88. We have his music here at the Denton Public Library and of course there are great videos on YouTube- specifically look for parts of the great documentary from about ’71-’72 when he formed a band with his sons and featuring a few folks named Dylan, Monroe, McGuinn, Doc, etc. Highly recommended!
Miss Emily’s JukeJoint, 3.15.12: Satan Is Real
The Louvin Brothers, Ira and Charlie, have been called one of the most influential duos in Country Music. And, as so often happens with brothers who collaborate, they fought like dogs but made moving sounds. Yin-yang. I just finished Charlie’s autobiography “Satan is Real”, completed shortly before his death at age 83 in 2011. Here is the cover in full pulp fiction glory:
Pulp Louvin
Pretty cool idea for a book cover: make it look like a dime store pulp fiction novel and base it on one of the cheesiest, classic album covers of all time. The thing is, its all true and reiterates my belief that reality is oftentimes stranger than fiction and more powerful because of it.
Charlie may have followed a straighter path than Ira’s womanizing, alcoholic one, but his storytelling pulls no punches both in language and subject matter. The reader gets a good sense of their hardscrabble upbringing, life on the road, and the volatile nature of their relationship. In full Nudie suit glory: Ira on the left, Charlie on the right-
Nudie Louvins
We naturally have some examples of their work and Charlie’s at the Denton Public Library and more Louvin goodness can be found on Youtube, such as this: That Great Atomic Power
Posted by Chuck
Ready. Set. Play! @ the North Branch
Have fun while learning about music at the Denton Public Library. Vivace Studios presents this 45-minute program that introduces the different musical instrument families and the fundamentals of music in an engaging, fun way. A live musical demonstration by a professional musician is also provided. This program is intended for grades 3-4, and no registration is necessary.
Tuesday, March 13 at 4:30 p.m. North Branch Library, 3020 N. Locust St.
For more information, contact Dana Tucker, Public Services Librarian, at 940-349-8715 or at dana.tucker@cityofdenton.com
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For other news items on the City of Denton, visit our website at www.cityofdenton.com, go to Quick Links and click on Press Releases.
Miss Emily’s JukeJoint, 12.8.11: Herschel Evans
In the late 1930′s, the Count Basie Orchestra featured two tenor saxophonists: Lester Young and Herschel Evans of Denton. Books, movies and thousands of words have, rightfully, been dedicated to the former. Only a true jazz geek knows of the latter. Herschel was born in Denton on March 9, 1909, and is found at our Ancestry.com database in the 1930 Census where he appears to be living with an aunt in Bexar County, Texas (San Antonio) while working in the Troy Floyd Orchestra. Click on image below for larger size:
Herschel in San Antone, 1930
In the census record you can see three important pieces of information that prove this is the same Mr. Evans: 21 years of age, Negro, and musician employed in an orchestra. Here is an early recording with Floyd from 1929, Dreamland Blues. His solo starts @ 1:58.
Lady Hersch
There is a storied Texas Tenor saxophonist tradition going back to Herschel and on through to Buddy Tate, Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb, David “Fathead” Newman, King Curtis, Donald Wilkerson, Booker Ervin, James Clay, Marchel Ivery, on up to UNT alum Shelley Carrol who performs regularly in Dallas. The thread that runs through all of them is a full-bodied tone that always has a blues flavor.
By the mid-’30s, he was working in Kansas City and landed a seat in the Count Basie Orchestra when they expanded their size after being signed to Decca Records in 1936. In the Basie band, he finally achieved fame through the following recordings (with time his solos start): One O’ Clock Jump 00:45, Doggin’ Around 00:40, Texas Shuffle 1:56 and his most famous solo performance, Blue and Sentimental.
In the Basie reed section
Herschel on left with fellow Basie-ite, Buck Clayton
Herschel died at age 29 in 1939 of a heart attack and was replaced in the Basie band by fellow Texan, Buddy Tate. It was said that Lester mourned his section mate, paid his funeral expenses, and Evans’ passing may have helped precipitate his leaving Basie the next year. Here is footage of the Count Basie Orchestra at Randall’s Island in New York City in 1938. The music on the video is overdubbed but, at 1:41, you can see him sitting down with his sax to the right of singer Jimmy Rushing who is standing.
posted by Chuck.
Ready. Set. Play!
Have fun while learning about music at the Denton Public Library. Vivace Studios presents this 45-minute program that introduces the different musical instrument families and the fundamentals of music in an engaging, fun way. A live musical demonstration by a professional musician is also provided. This program is intended for grades 3-4, and no registration is necessary.
Friday, December 2 at 3:30 p.m. South Branch Library, 3228 Teasley Lane
Tuesday, December 6 at 4:30 p.m. North Branch Library, 3020 N. Locust St.
For more information, contact Dana Tucker, Public Services Librarian, at 940-349-8715 or at dana.tucker@cityofdenton.com
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For other news items on the City of Denton, visit our website at www.cityofdenton.com, go to Quick Links and click on Press Releases.
Listen and Learn: Saxophone
Listen and learn about the artistic sounds of the saxophone from professional musician and music teacher Josh Ferman at the Denton Public Library. This event will take place Friday, November 4 at noon at the South Branch Library, 3228 Teasley Lane. This program is for home-schooled children ages 8 and up.
For more information, contact Rebecca Ivey, Public Services Librarian, at 940-349-8724 or at rebecca.ivey@cityofdenton.com
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For other news items on the City of Denton, visit our website at www.cityofdenton.com, go to Quick Links and click on Press Releases.
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