A Magazine of the Arts
Better late than never…I’m finally getting the rest of the promised Spotify playlists up. This one is currently available for listening. Growing up in the sixties and seventies near Detroit, most of what you heard on the radio at that time was R&B, those Motown greats and we were blessed with so many talented ones. I’ve compiled some of my absolute favorites here…my Motown Memories.
All sunsets are beautiful, some more than others…this one was stunning. The bare tree, against the purples and peaches of the evening sky held me for a time in wonder at God’s creative splendor – even with the very cold November breezes…
I can’t remember a first snow this early in November, usually a beautiful light snow happens on Thanksgiving… But this year, in Michigan, that lovely light snow began falling yesterday. I always enjoy the first snow, it energizes me and lifts up my countenance. It always feels like a fresh start, a renewing and the air never smells so clean as it does after a snow. I bundled up in my new coat and pink knit hat for a walk around the park and it was refreshing. Back home, I tucked into some homemade veggie soup (so easy to make) and felt like a kid again, home after walking from school.
In winter
all the singing is in
the tops of the trees..
∼∼Mary Oliver
LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!
Spent the afternoon at a local art fair. It was such an enjoyable day hanging out with interesting characters like this guy. Incredibly, he seemed to have no problem juggling, even at such heights. And then…
Hula Girls
This little girl was transfixed by this lovely lady, who had a talent for all things Hula. When I was this little one’s age, I loved my hula hoop and not just because it was my favorite color, pink. I got pretty good at it myself and I loved seeing the way she was studying the older girls moves. Then it was on to…
Corn Dog Palace…
I dubbed it thus as a play on the Corn Palace out west. This food truck was everything you could want in a summertime fair experience. Hot dogs, burgers and cool pop…what else do you want? Actually, they had so many food truck options, wraps, ice cream, lemonade and even authentic Polish food this time out. It was a beautiful, albeit quite hot, summertime day and everyone seemed to have great fun!
Sixto Rodriguez/Searching for Sugar Man, 2012 Sony Pictures Classics
Finally got the chance to view “Searching for Sugar Man” over the weekend and I highly recommend this truly extraordinary documentary. The film tells an unbelievable story of the musician, Rodriguez, who was famously unsuccessful here in America and across the world in South Africa was….just famous, which would have been great, if only he had been made aware of it.
“The dream was always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that was the miracle.” – Anais Nin
The reason why his two albums released here in America, which were quite accomplished with poetic, soulful lyrics failed to take off is a bit of a musical mystery and one Rodriguez himself shrugged off by saying, “it’s the music business, there are no guarantees”. However it was a very different story playing out in South Africa, to the people suffering through the oppressive forces of the apartheid era – they were frustrated, fearful, largely cut off from the rest of the world, yet at the same time, ripe for revolution and looking for inspiration, which they found in the lyrics and spirit of Rodriguez’s albums Cold Fact & Coming from Reality. His lyrics inspired them to fight against their circumstances.
Rumors of his death have been greatly exaggerated….
The film follows two Cape Town fans who were anxious to uncover the mystery surrounding the artist Rodriguez, and to discover the truth behind his rumored death. As they were nearly ready to give up, Rodriguez’s daughter Eva saw their website pleas for information and the rest as they say is history. And so finally Rodriguez, very much alive…found out that he had been an icon and hero of the South African people for over twenty years and prepared to meet his longtime fans for the first time.
Rodriguez in Detroit
What I found even more amazing than the story was Sixto Rodriguez himself, a man full of grace, humble and hard-working, who when he found that in another country he had been more famous than Elvis, didn’t lament his misfortune at all but merely enjoyed finding some recognition for his work before returning to his everyday life back here in Detroit. Truly extraordinary.
“It was the first time I ever saw a band play live blues with harmonica. At the Chessmate, anyone could go because it was all ages – this was around ’66. Detroit had a great blues scene back then. At the Chessmate you could go in and catch a Muddy Waters set and then see the backstage shows. They’d have jams in the dressing rooms with John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters & James Cotton – it was just a really great time to grow up in Detroit.” ~James Montgomery {Metro Times/Brett Callwood}
Although James Montgomery was born in Detroit, by the end of the sixties he’d made his way to Boston, hoping to make a name in the more blues-heavy northeast. Apparently James made the right choice as he did well for himself, playing cities where blues and jazz artists are well appreciated and even today gigs are easy for him to book.
A life-long blues man, {singing & harp} James has played, collaborated and formed friendships with some of the best: B.B. King, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker to name a few. He has played alongside his longtime guitarist, Jimmy McCarty, as well as, Johnny Winter, the Allman Brothers, Aerosmith, J. Giels, and Wayne Kramer (MC5).
Montgomery will headline the ‘Antifreeze Blues Festival’ at The Magic Bag in Ferndale on January 6th and has an upcoming record, collaborating with The Uptown Horns, James Cotton, Brad Whitford (Aerosmith), Johnny Winter, & DMC from Run DMC – called “From Detroit to the Delta”. For info on the blues fest & his new cd:
The Poet’s Dream, Robert Weir, c. 1830/Detroit Institute of Arts Collection
The Detroit Institute of Arts is currently holding an exhibition called, “Once Upon a Time: Prints & Drawings that Tell Stories” which runs from December 21, 2011 thru May 13, 2012. The exhibition features works that have rarely or never been seen at the museum before.
Some examples on display, (from the DIA website): David Hockney’s etchings from Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm, a volume of Moby Dick with illustrations by Norman Rockwell, a copy of the 15th-century Nuremberg Chronicle, Wassily Kandinsky’s Klange, Henri Matisse’s Parsiphal, Jim Dine’s Picture of Dorian Gray, and many more European and American works on paper from a variety of eras.
The DIA’s Facebook page says that the exhibition is free with museum admission. If you live in the area or are visiting family or friends over the holiday season, be sure to check it out.
The Detroit Institute of Arts
Once Upon a Time: Prints & Drawings that Tell Stories
Just Under the Surface 