Tribute To a Jazz Knight

Ellie Shearing (center) and members of Berkshire Gateway Jazz
during a May 2014 interview regarding her husband, Sir George
Shearing. Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

This weekend marks the third annual Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend, to be held in my former town of Lee, Massachusetts. This year's festival, which runs from Thursday, June 5 through Saturday, June 7, will include a tribute to the late jazz pianist, Sir George Shearing.

Last March I was hired by Berkshire Gateway Preservation Inc. to travel to New York City, and film an interview with Shearing's widow, Ellie Shearing, in the beautiful apartment the couple shared near the City's Central Park/Museum Mile. The completed video, with Ms. Shearing recalling her famous husband's life and career (in front of his grand, Bösendorfer piano), will kick off this weekend's festival, with a free screening at the Lee Library, starting at 6 p.m. (the video will also be airing on CTSB-TV).

"The sounds of Shearing": behind the scenes.
Photo ©Jeremy Clowe. All rights
reserved.

I enjoyed putting this latest music documentary together. It was interesting to learn about Shearing, who triumphed over the odds (and blindness) to become one of the most influential piano players in the world of jazz, with a distinct style that became known as the "Shearing Sound." I had a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the Shearings' home/ recording studio, and heard stories of the many jazz greats who connected with the pianist over the years. It turned out that he and Ellie used to live part-time in Lee, Massachusetts, so this weekend's events seem especially fitting. 

Friday's concert, to be held at the newly restored First Congregational Church in Lee, will feature The Sounds of Shearing, a tribute band to the jazz legend, with members of George Shearing's original Quintet. Proceeds from the concert will help benefit the efforts of the Berkshire Gateway Preservation. For more information about the festival and how to purchase tickets, visit the Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend website.

Related Links (updated June 6):

"Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend: Shearing ensemble honors a master," Berkshire Eagle, June 6, 2014

"Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend tribute to George Shearing to open summer music scene," Berkshire Eagle, May 27, 2014

www.georgeshearing.net

Writing To Reach You

This past summer I wrote about the return of the Scottish band Travis, who have just released their seventh studio album, Where You Stand. It has been one of my favorite albums of the year so far, lead by such standout tracks as "Moving," "Warning Sign," and the title track... offering continued proof of the band's knack for creating thoughtful lyrics and engaging melodies.

Travis is currently touring the U.S., swinging through my old stomping grounds of Southern California this weekend. They kick things off tomorrow (Friday, October 4, 10:30 a.m. PT) with an interview and live studio session with the great Nic Harcourt ("Morning Becomes Eclectic") on KCSN 88.5 FM.

Speaking of interviews, I thought it was high time I revisited my own profile on the band, conducted during their 2007 American tour; check out the link below for the original half-hour interview, mostly un-edited. Taking a cue from Q, Jian Ghomeshi's CBC radio show, I decided to leave out the fancy post-production in order to offer a better idea of my developing interview skills and the individual personalities of my guests... why be precious about it? Again, special thanks to Sony BMG, CTSB-TV, and the band for helping to make it happen. 

Related Links:

www.travisonline.com

And The Band Played On...

Sad news last week in the passing of musician Levon Helm, formerly of The Band. Being a fellow Hudson Valley resident, I'm sorry that I never managed to make it to one of the Midnight Rambles at his home in Woodstock, New York, however I was fortunate enough to see him play live at Wilco's Solid Sound Festival last year, and record a couple songs for my TV music show. Here is a clip:




R.I.P. Levon...I'm still learning just how influential your music has been to my own favorite bands. 


Related Links:


"Levon Helm: 1940-2012, 'We will never forget his warmth and generosity," Daily Freeman, April 20, 2012


"Levon Helm, Drummer and Rough-Throated Singer for the Band, Dies at 71," The New York Times, April 19, 2012


"Levon Helm Was Perfect," The Atlantic, April 20, 2012


"Levon Helm: A Vintage EW interview with the late rock legend," Entertainment Weekly, April 23, 2012


The Band- Up On Cripple Creek- Circa 1969, YouTube

solid sounds

You could probably tell from my last blog that I was a little excited by the Coachella Festival live streaming. At the moment, I'm listening to the Buzzcocks and getting ready to check out Kaiser Chiefs, Squeeze, and Noel Gallagher. I admit it, I get a little giddy when it comes to music--especially all this great stuff that is so ME!

On the way home tonight I heard the singer Jamie Lidell on the radio, which reminded me of another top music festival that I attended last year. Wilco's Solid Sound Festival was held at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) June 24 through 26, 2011, and featured its own Coachella-worthy assortment of music acts, including Wilco (who curated this eclectic arts and music fest for the second year in a row); Lidell; Neil Finn and his new band, Pajama Club; and The Band's Levon Helm. I should mention that I was actually invited to document the three-day festival for my TV music show, and even had a chance to interview Pajama Club, which was a real thrill since Neil Finn has long been one of my favorite songwriters (especially with Crowded House)! 

As I listen to Coachella, I thought I would take time to share some photos from that other great festival... a little wetter than it is sure to be in Indio, CA, but certainly SOLID. Talk about desert mirage... apparently Coachella is repeating this year's entire festival next weekend to meet public demand--yup, same acts playing both weekends--crazy! So maybe next week I'll have  a do-over as well, and finally post some of my Solid Sound videos --not a bad goal for this would be concert-goer.

Photos top to bottom: Wilco at the press conference;  Liam Finn performing in Mass MoCA galleries; Thurston Moore and Nels Cline guitar jam; JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound; singing in the rain. Photos ©2011 Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

Related links:

Wilco Benefit, Mass MoCA, July 31, 2012

www.coachella.com

www.youtube.com/coachella

More Things Change, More They Stay The Same

The British rock band Keane has a new album coming out next month called Strangeland, and they have just released the first single called "Silenced by the Night":



This marks Keane's fourth studio album. They broke on to the international scene back in 2004 with their multi-platinum selling debut, Hopes and Fears, which I loved.


I actually had the good fortune of interviewing the band in Boston during their first tour of America-- in fact, I might have been their first TV interview (eat your heart out, Jimmy Kimmel!). They were actually the second act I ever profiled on Berkshire Soundstage, and I was basically a one-man band with camera during the day of the taping (I interviewed the band and filmed a performance they gave at Newbury Comics, a great Massachusetts-based record shop). 


Here is a clip from the interview, as well as part of their performance of the song "Everbody's Changing":





I had lost touch with the band after their second album, the equally brilliant Under The Iron Sea, so it is interesting to watch this old clip again after viewing the Jimmy Kimmel performance. Everybody is most definitely changing, even as some things remain the same (the lead singer, Tom Chaplin, still has some great pipes).

The day after this interview, I went on to interview original members from both the Temptations and the Four Tops after a joint performance in Albany, New York, so things were definitely underway with this new TV music show that I was asked to host... 


I have many more interesting videotaped music interviews that I need to produce... I just wish I had more hours in the day to work on independent projects. Hopefully I can find the time soon to give these talented music acts the dignified profiles they deserve... now that would be music to my ears.

Open Says Me

I've been busy compiling a playlist for my upcoming stint DJing on Capital Region radio station WEXT. I tell you, it's harder than it looks... there are plenty of great songs I would love to include, but I only get an hour... so I need to make this count−only the cream of the pop/rock crop! The other thing is that there is an art to making the "perfect mix tape"−it all has to flow just right. 

The Scottish band Travis will definitely be there. They're one of the best groups I have discovered over the past ten years, and I have a real fondness for their work: great melodies, melancholic strains... the kind of music I dig. Also a great frontman in singer/writer Fran Healy−definitely worth catching live. I had a chance to interview the band back in 2007 for my TV music program; here's a clip:

So yes, lots of "openness" planned for this upcoming radio show (hush, Sarah!). I'll also have a chance to plug the interviews I have filmed with many of the artists that I will be playing here. I record later in the week.

The "It" Factor

Continuing on the thread of the last post, it looks like the six-week graphic design course I have been eyeing is ON! I'm very excited-- I have been wanting to take a course on the subject again for some time (I had started college focusing on this and illustration, but moved away from it). In some ways I feel like graphic design has been a missing element needed to advance my work.

Of course another thing that would be helpful is a new camera. We had a TV crew stop by the Museum yesterday to work on an upcoming Christmas special, and the cinematographer (JP Lipa) was using one of the famed Red cameras. I was envious... not only of the work, but the equipment. There are a number of options for shooting high definition video nowadays, with using a Digital SLR camera being one of the more interesting. I have started doing some research, but it's going to take some money. I do think it would be wise to upgrade soon though, as I have been getting several inquiries about helping out on various projects in the coming months.

One of the higher profile works that Lipa had been involved with was shooting rehearsal footage for Michael Jackson's This Is It. Cool for me to hear about his experience, being the music obsessive and documentarian that I am (although my preference for the artist is concentrated from the Jackson Five to Thriller days). Sounds like MJ was quite interested in learning about more about the camera equipment being used. Lipa also told me about how in the weeks leading up to the musician's death, Jackson seemed extremely frail offstage, but could still "bring it" once he took the stage (he said that MJ weighed like 85 pounds during filming-- is that possible?). Some of this rehearsal footage made it into the final movie, which shows the process of Jackson rehearsing for the tour he never had a chance to complete. I'm not sure how intimate of a portrayal it could be (knowing how reclusive Jackson was), but I bet it is interesting. That reminds me... I still need to learn these moves:



Zombies... now that's interesting (and hip)!