Roger O Green

Rebecca Jade Xmas and Burt Bacharach

Dave Koz and Jonathan Butler

Dave Koz Christmas 2021 I got to see the Rebecca Jade Xmas show! Oh, yeah, and Dave Koz, Jonathan Butler, and others were there, too.

OK, I jest here. Koz has been the frontman for a holiday tour for a quarter of a century. The saxophonist’s music is labeled “soft jazz”, and that is true. But read this review of Dave Koz And Friends 20th Anniversary Christmas album in 2017: “Yes… you’ve heard all these classic yuletide songs before. But have you heard them the way [he] arranges them?”

In 2020, the C-year, he and his friends were unable to go on the road. So they did a one-off virtual concert – teased here, and featuring Rebecca Jade. My wife and I saw it; REALLY good. So in 2021, he and his cohorts were back on the road. But there is only stop in New York State, and it ain’t in Albany.

Two trains

Sunday, December 5, my wife took me to the train station. I could have taken the CDTA bus, which is convenient, but that was a nicer way to depart. I decided to go all-digital with my new phone. This is the first time I didn’t print my ticket.

Then I went to the vending machine to get a ticket to the Oyster Bay on the Long Island Railroad. Literally, the only thing I know about the place I learned from passing references in two Billy Joel songs.

I had booked a place via Hotels.com, a little wary of the geography. But Andrea, my sister’s friend who picked me up at the train stop, noted that it was pretty close to both my hotel and the concert venue. She dropped me off at the East Norwich Inn to check in. More about this anon.

We followed her GPS four miles to get us to a Greek gyro place 800 feet away, where we got some grub. Then we headed to the concert venue, the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post in Brookville. I had moved my ticket from Ticketmaster to some Apple Pay app, as though I knew what I was doing! Everyone had to be vaccinated; the picture of my card was on my phone. We had some overpriced cups of wine with an interesting couple we did not know, but who welcomed us to sit with them.

The show

The show began with Koz, South African guitarist/singer Jonathan Butler, trumpeter Rick Braun, and saxophonist Richard Elliot trading licks. Then vocalist Rebecca Jade came out and sang with Butler on one of my favorite songs of the season, What Christmas Means To Me by Stevie Wonder.

A bit later, she and Butler dueted on Mary Did You Know. They performed this last year on the virtual show. It’s a great song and exquisite pairing. I heard it on Butler’s Christmas Together album with another vocalist, but the live renditions were just better. Shortly thereafter, possibly the least suggestive version ever of Baby, It’s Cold Outside.

There were other highlights as well. Each year, Dave does a Hannukah section, since he was born Jewish. A giant dreidel descended from the rafters. Kids from the college, I assume, were wearing Santa hats and bringing Koz the right sax, sometimes mid-song.

Dave reminds me a little of another underrated musician, Doc Severinsen, who could play the clown with Johnny Carson, but who was/is a great jazz trumpeter.

Life on the road

Dave Koz Christmas 2021 locations Afterward, Andrea and I got to see Rebecca briefly. The tour started around Thanksgiving and ends December 23. Just for the Long Island show, the band came from Newport News, VA, seven hours away, where they performed the night before. The following evening, they would be taking the tour bus, which sleeps 12, to Detroit, 10 hours away.

Then a day off before trekking through Ohio, Indiana, and Louisville, KY. Good thing they have a day between there and El Paso, TX which is 21 hours away. Life on the road may be rewarding, but it’s tough.

Andrea drove me back to the hotel. I finally got a good look at the photos on the walls. They were often of horse race winners, with the jockey usually the famed Willie Shoemaker. And Burt Bacharach was prominent; Angie Dickinson, who I had forgotten had been married to Burt for a time, I recognized instantly. There’s a headshot of Edward Winter, who played the annoying Col. Flagg on MASH.

For the East Norwich Inn used to be called Burt Bacharach’s East Norwich Inn. The old sign was embedded into a wall. And the exterior still looks like this. The place is a bit worn; there was a squeak in my room floor, but it was in key. The venue was clean, convenient, and quite inexpensive. Burt also owned at least one restaurant in the area but I’m uncertain where that was.

Going home

The next morning, I called a taxi company; the guy at the front desk of the hotel had given me a phone number. But the man at that location gave me a second number, and the guy at the second number referred to the first. This left me with Uber. My driver was great, as he told me I could have taken a closer and more frequently running LIRR train, such as Hicksville. Next time I’m in the Oyster Bay area, I’ll remember that. My LI geography knowledge might fill a thimble.

Back to Manhattan to eat some lunch while sitting on the stairs between the entrances to the Moynihan train Hall. It was a beautiful day. Amtrak home to rain; fortunately, my wife picked me up. And my daughter might have even missed me a little.

The very few things I know about cooking

I’d rather do the dishes than prepare them

Cooking There are very few things I know about cooking.

1. In general, longer is better.

I discovered this when my father would spend hours cooking spaghetti sauce on the stove at low heat when I was growing up. Ask any barbecue chef and they’ll tell you that time is their ally in creating a great taste.

Bt it’s even true with mundane food such as oatmeal. My wife makes instant oatmeal in the microwave most mornings. But she always says it tastes better when I just boil a pan of water and cook it on the stove for a minute. The process takes an extra four minutes, vital for her on a weekday morning.

2. Water is useful.

I was watching the CBS morning show on Saturday earlier this year. It always has a cooking section. The chef was apparently world-famous, white, male, older, and I think with an accent, but I had never heard of him. He was frying eggs when he put a little water into the hot pan, much to the puzzlement of host Jeff Glor, and me.

I started cooking eggs that way and discovered that, for the first time in six decades of cooking eggs, I could successfully prepare them over easy.

Also, I make omelets with fresh spinach. I would prepare the spinach with a little butter/margarine/Olivio. But my wife wanted to avoid the calories and suggested I use a pan spray. For me, the spinach did not reduce properly. But it did with relatively little water.

Cleanup time

3. All things being equal, I’d rather clean up afterward.

I’ve noticed that when my wife or daughter prepares food, they use far more dishes/pans/pots than I do so. As I try to keep up with the dishes, I’m forever surprised by that fact. If money were no object, I’d eat out or get takeout every other night. Maybe it’s that I’ve had more experience cooking for one.

But playing in soapy water: now THAT’S something I can get into. I get a certain joy from the cleanup than I ever get cooking or baking. At Thanksgiving dinner in 1987 with over a dozen people, I really didn’t mind the cleanup at all. It’s…USEFUL. Whereas others groan and kvetch about the scalded pots and sticky mixing bowls, I rather enjoy the challenge.

Coverville 1381: The 18th Annual Beatles Thanksgiving Cover Story

Does Pearl Harbor still “live in infamy”?

You’re not entitled to your opinion

I asked a not-so-random teenager if she happened to know what December 7, 1941, signified. No, but she did know the magnitude of the bombing of Pearl Harbor as the entry of the United States into World War II.

I’m constantly reminded why some folks keep chanting, “Never forget.” And as the generations pass, people WILL forget. I mean, these may be events that are marked in the history books, but it just won’t have the same resonance to another generation. 1776 and 1861 and 1941 all signify ancient history.

Born a little over a decade after Pearl Harbor, I can still hear in my mind’s ear not only the words of FDR’s address to Congress on December 8 but his speaking pattern. But I was learning this a mere quarter-century after the consequential event, as opposed to 75 or 80 years later. December 7, 1941, for many, I surmise, will not always be “a date which will live in infamy.”

What Holocaust?

It is inevitable that elements of history fall through the cracks. But it troubles me that history can be so distorted. I’m thinking of the Holocaust both-sides-ing debacle, in Texas, unsurprisingly.

One can analyze the Why. For instance, the Germans could not accept they had been defeated in World War I. They needed convenient scapegoats. The Holocaust was partly a result of that.

Surely, one may analyze what other countries, such as the United States, could have done to avert some of the slaughter. But what IS the “other side” that suggests that the events did not take place at all?

Always learning

This is not to say that ‘history” is inviolate. In my lifetime, I’ve learned a great deal, from the NASA women immortalized in the movie Hidden Figures to Tulsa 1921. These were not stories that were in my history books growing up. Invariably we will recontextualize what we learn.

But denial of facts troubles me greatly. I came across this article from 2012. “No, you’re not entitled to your opinion,” a philosophy professor wrote. “No one can stop you saying that vaccines cause autism, no matter how many times that claim has been disproven. But if ‘entitled to an opinion’ means ‘entitled to have your views treated as serious candidates for the truth’ then it’s pretty clearly false. And this… is a distinction that tends to get blurred.”

The only person wearing a mask

Unpopular opinion;

A segment on NY1 highlighted the return of in-person networking events.

Neil Gordon was quite possibly the only person wearing a mask there, which is why he was chosen to be interviewed. As Gordon posed in his newsletter:

“Was the segment about my area of expertise? No.
Was my contribution in any way related to my area of expertise? No.
Did they identify me as a ‘messaging expert’ when I was on-screen? No…
Please remember that, sometimes, having a media presence can be the result of simply showing up in the world.”

I guess there is a benefit in wearing the mask. Besides fighting a deadly virus, I mean.

Back in September, Mark Evanier paraphrased a New York Times article. “Let’s say you’re in a roomful of people who are not wearing masks during The Pandemic. Are you any safer if you wear one?… You’re better off not to be in such a room but if you are, Masked is better than Not Masked.”

And while I would never have purchased an N95 at the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve bought a handful of them recently, which I find more comfortable than most of the others I’ve used.

No problem

Kelly has an unpopular opinion about masks. “Here’s the thing: I’m fine with wearing a mask. As in, I’m genuinely fine with it. Not only does wearing one not bother me, but…I honestly kind of like it…

Like it? Well, I’m not in THAT group. I’m one of those people who he described thusly. “Hey, I hate wearing this thing, too! It sucks! I hate breathing through it…but I grit my teeth and do it because I’m a part of society!”

He’s in another category. “In truth, I get to the point now where I forget the thing is even on my face to begin with. There have been moments when I lift my coffee mug to my mouth only to forget that I have to lower the mask to sip the stuff.”

I’m not there. Instead, I’ve become That Guy who wears the mask on the chin, so it can be pulled up when I go onto the bus, enter the grocery store, or feel as though there are too many people around me at a street corner.

Also, I don’t understand what some people who wear masks are saying. And some don’t suss me out either unless I over-enunciate my consonants. This is particularly remedied if I speak with a bad British accent.

Controversy

Le Messor has a Controversial Opinion: Masks Don’t Work. It’s a bit of a ruse, and that’s all I will say about it.

I have started keeping about five unused masks in a bag inside my backpack for those folks who forget that particular accessory. And I’ll be thrilled to give them up, but I don’t foresee that happening until 2023.

Movie review: Belfast [Branaugh]

a breakthrough performance

In the summer of 1969, the stable life in the capital of Northern Ireland was suddenly disrupted by the Troubles. The father of one family has to go out of town to find work. Will the folks get caught up in the sectarian violence?

All of this is shown in the movie Belfast. And yet, the description misses the utter joy one feels after watching the film. It’s also about familial love in the face of adversity, a first crush, and the joy of cinema. One detail I read explains that the actors who sit in the movie theater are actually seeing that flick segment for the first as they are being recorded.

Kenneth Branaugh, the writer and director, was born on December 10, 1960, in that city. Check out this video. Much of the narrative of the film is seen in the eyes of Buddy, who is clearly Branaugh’s stand-in. Jude Hill, in his film debut, was very relatable. I believe the film works as well as it does because, in a child’s mind, the little things in life are just as important as the big issues.

The critics weigh in

In fact, the British Independent Film Awards for 2021 dubbed the youth’s work the Breakthrough Performance of the year. Other awards were presented to Caitriona Balfe, who played Ma, as Best Actress; Ciarán Hinds (Pa) as Best Supporting Actor; and Judi Dench (Granny) Best Supporting Actress. Also, the Best Editing went to Úna Ní Dhonghaíle.

Among the other nominees was Van Morrison, who was born in Belfast in 1945. His songs almost always fit the movie perfectly. My FAVORITE song in the movie was not his, however, but in the best scene, near the end of the film.

The Rotten Tomatoes score was 87% positive from the critics, 92% positive from the audiences. The negative reviews use terms such as inert, inorganic, cloying, over-directed, and contrived. I would disagree. Branaugh, I think, found the right balance between tension and joy.

The film won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival. Even the critical takes acknowledge that the film is beautifully shot in black and white.

My wife and I saw it at the Spectrum 8, a Landmark Theatre, in late November, the first we’d seen in the cinema in four months. And after the film, much of the audience milled around the aisles, clearly greeting old friends they had not seen in a while.

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