Kae Tempest — Photo-Artistry by kenne from a Photo by Wolfgang Tillmans
A couple of years ago, I posted: “I’m a new fan of Kae Tempest, an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist, and playwright — a great performer by any measure. Then, in January 2022,
I did a post on Kae’s latest book, “On Connections,” in which they extolled the importance of finding meanings in the little things.
Like most people, when I first hear about an artist, I feel like I was the one who discovered the artist.
So, I was both surprised and pleased to learn about Kae’s appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show this past Monday.
Mr. Theodorakis conducting the orchestra at the Herodes Atticus theater in Athens in 2005. Credit…Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Listening to NPR this morning, I learn that Greek composer and politician Mikis Theodorakis died Thursday at age 96. Theodorakis’ music for the film Zorba the Greek became a worldwide shorthand for a seize-the-moment kind of joyfulness.
The music and the film scene still provide one of the most memorable scenes in my lifetime.
Just like the white-winged dove Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing Ooh, ooh, ooh Just like the white-winged dove Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing Ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
And the days go by, like a strand in the wind In the web that is my own, I begin again Said to my friend, baby (everything stopped) Nothin’ else mattered
He was no more than a baby then Well, he seemed broken-hearted Something within him But the moment that I first laid Eyes on him, all alone On the edge of seventeen
Just like the white-winged dove Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing I said ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh Just like the white-winged dove Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing I said ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
‘Hold Tight’ — Oil Painting in Black and White by kenne
Hold tight Hold tight If you wanna make this feeling stay Hold tight Hold tight Don’t let this moment fade away Hold tight Now tears gonna stay Everybody gets the chance someday Call it once it last you think you’ve got it made Not a word that anyone can say That can change the way you feel Cause you know that love is real You can choose within you fall in love Anybody any moment any way ‘Cause no matter who you chose There’s a chance that you might loose Gonna the best that I can do Hold tight
— from Hold Tight by David Romani / Davide Romani / Mauro Malavasi / Paul Adrian Slade
I can’t let this month get by without recognizing the 50th anniversary (May 21, 1971) of the release of Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece album, What’s Going On.
“OK, let’s just get this out of the way. Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On LP is a masterpiece. If it’s not in your top five or at least within the realm of your top 10 albums of all-time, then I seriously think you need to reevaluate your list. Not many albums give you a snapshot of the world at the time of its release and still remain very relevant decades later. What’s Going On most certainly does.” — Terry Nelson (albumism.com)
Gaye released the single, What’s Going On, after co-writer Renaldo “Obie” Benson saw police in Berkeley, Calif., brutality beat anti-Vietnam War protesters. Gaye would later say, “What mattered was the message. For the first time, I felt like I had something to say.”
The album went platinum, and Rolling Stone would place it among the greatest albums of all time. Now fifty years out, its influences are evident today as the nation wrestles with inequality and a racial reckoning.
Fishing Boats Docked at Galveston Bay, Texas — Image by kenne
[Verse 1] Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come Watching the ships roll in And then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah
[Chorus] I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay Watching the tide roll away Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay Wastin’ time
[Verse 2] I left my home in Georgia Headed for the ‘Frisco bay ‘Cause I’ve had nothing to live for And look like nothin’s gonna come my way
[Chorus] So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay Watching the tide roll away Ooo, I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay Wastin’ time
[Bridge] Look like nothing’s gonna change Everything still remains the same I can’t do what ten people tell me to do So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes
[Verse 3] Sittin’ here resting my bones And this loneliness won’t leave me alone It’s two thousand miles I roamed Just to make this dock my home
[Chorus] Now, I’m just gonna sit at the dock of the bay Watching the tide roll away Oooo-wee, sittin’ on the dock of the bay Wastin’ time
Oh… (CHORUS): Shrimp boats is a-comin’ Their sails are in sight Shrimp boats is a-comin’ There’s dancin’ tonight Why don’t ‘cha hurry hurry hurry home Why don’t ‘cha hurry hurry hurry home Look here! The shrimp boats is a-comin’ There’s dancin’ tonight (Shrimp boats is a-comin’, there’s dancin’ tonight)
: They go to sea with the evenin’ tide And the women folk wave their good-bye (There they go… There they go) While the Louisiana moon floats on high And they wait for the day when they can cry…
: Happy the days while they’re mending the nets ‘Til once more they ride out to sea (There they go… There they go) Then how lonely the nights will be ‘Til that wonderful day when they sing…
: Happy the days while they’re mending the nets ‘Til once more they ride out to sea (There they go… There they go) Then how lonely the nights will be ‘Til that wonderful day when they sing…
Kae Tempest (formerly Kate Tempest) — Source: scenestr.com
I’m a new fan of Kae Tempest, an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist, and playwright — a great performer by any measure.
— kenne
People’s Faces
[Verse 1] It’s coming to pass, my country’s coming apart The whole thing’s becoming such a bumbling farce Was that a pivotal historical moment we just went stumbling past? Well, here we are, dancing in the rumbling dark So come a little closer, give me something to grasp Give me your beautiful, crumbling heart Another disaster, catharsis Another half-discarded mirage Another mask slips I face off with the physical My head’s ringing from the love of the stars There is too much pretense here Too much depends on the fragile wages And extortionate rents here We’re working every dread day that is given us Feeling like the person people meet really isn’t us Like we’re gonna buckle underneath the trouble Like any minute now, the struggle’s going to finish us And then we smile at all our friends (Click Here for all Verses)
Australian-born singer Helen Reddy, whose hit “I Am Woman” became a feminist anthem in the 1970’s, died in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon. She was 78 years old.
“Into the Mystic” in Van Morrison’s 1970 Moondance Album
We were borne before the wind Also younger than the sun Ere the bonnie boat was won As we sailed into the mystic Hark, now hear the sailors cry Smell the sea and feel the sky Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic And when that foghorn blows I will be coming home And when the foghorn blows I want to hear it I don’t have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy soul Just like way back in the days of old And magnificently we will flow into the mystic When that fog horn blows You know I will be coming home And when that fog horn whistle blows I got to hear it I don’t have to fear it and I want to rock your gypsy soul Just like way back in the days of old And together we will flow into the mystic Come on, girl Too late to stop now
“Into the Mystic” — the words and melody ethereally flowing together as one — is about a spiritual quest. But over the years the song has become much more — an affirmation of life for me, and I would like to think for my generation, as well, should we choose to embrace its sentiments, an anthem of lives lived as we float down that stream, merrily or otherwise, after leaving this mortal coil. I am honored that my path intersected with friends departed, and I am a better person because it did. The fog horn has blown for them and they will be coming home.
“Over the last few decades, the Sparrow has gone from being one of the world’s most common and widespread birds to being Red Listed as a species of high conservation concern,” Emily reflects. “When writing the song, my thoughts returned to the sparrows outside my window – how sad it would be to look out and not see and hear their vibrant movement and chatter. I hope that day never comes.” Read more . . .
If Johnny Mandel had just composed “The Shadow of Your Smile” – one of the most beautiful songs I have been honored to record – it would have been enough to earn his standing as one of the finest composers of our time.
. . . and let’s not forget the arrangement Mandel did for Natalie Cole in the song “Unforgettable!”
Album Cover of Emily Barker’s Latest CD.
Johnny Mandel
Becoming is Superior to Being 