jazz with kids

The best part of the Winter Jazz Concert at Savannah Country Day?

The absolute pride the two teachers had in their students!

As a retired teacher myself, I recognized that joy evidenced by Alyse Hudson and David Elliott there on the stage.

How wonderful!!!

Here's Ms. Hudson with her 8th graders, bouncing around almost as much as they did!

She started out tonight with 32 students, all in the 6th grade and fairly new to playing their instruments.

They'll get better with experience, but their renditions of "When The Saints Go Marching In" and "Ode To Joy" were still recognizable.

Next up she had 18 students, in the 7th grade, so they were in their second year with their saxophones and trumpets, flutes and trombones.

Yes, their pieces were much smoother and, although I didn't know "Grooved Pavement Ahead" or "Orangutango", I could definitely appreciate them!

Then came her last bunch, the 11 she's having for her 8th grade class.

She put them to work clearing the stage, then had them stand to perform!

And their music?

Such a wide assortment, from the fierceness of "Brass Attack" to the familiarity of "Favorite Things" and the newness of "Back In The Day" - I loved it all!

And she just beamed the entire time, so proud of 'her' kids!

(smile!)

Then it was time for the Upper School Jazz Band to take the stage with their 2 keyboards, 7 saxophones, 6 trumpets, 3 trombones, and rhythm section of bass, drums, and vibes.

Impressive bunch!

Mr. Elliott made sure to note the new instruments that were supplied by the school's fundraising group - kudos to them!

These students really knew how to play them, too, and all seemed to enjoy not only their music makers, but the music they were playing.

Trust me, due to their enthusiasm I was dancing in my seat for "Low Country Shuffle" and "Mas Que Nada"!

I will gladly stand up and dance the next time they perform!

Thanks for the free concert, y'all!

Now, it's time for my free dinner from cousin Penny and Panera.

I'd ordered it on the way, intending to eat at the school's parking lot, but the restaurant was abnormally slow, so I settled for only eating the chips.

I'd kept the bag shut tightly, so the Ciabatta Chicken Pesto Dipper and sauce were both still warm when I got home - nice!

Now, to settle in for "Ghosts" and "Elsbeth" while I dine...

what a busy, different, day I've had!

(smile!)

concert w longhorn

Hallelujah!

I didn't feel up to going to church this morning, but I did watch from fb.

I also told Carolyn about the Fall Concert by SING! scheduled for 3 PM.

I also let her know it was free... yeah, that worked for both of us!

I was glad Asbury Memorial was quite full for the three choirs' performance.

I just loved "On Top Of Spaghetti" - the take-off of "On Top Of Old Smoky" - and it was clear the K-2 singers loved it, too!

Not to be outdone for humor, the 3-5 grade singers were sure to ham it up for "Trolls" - rawrrr!!!

Then the Illuminate Choir, made up of middle and high school students, sang and performed two dance numbers!!!

Yes, very much a welcome event at the church!

After, she and I went off to Longhorn Steakhouse for a nosh.

That was her suggestion, as there was a strawberry Greek salad she liked.

I paired the Spicy Chicken Bites appetizer with the House chopped salad and made the absolute perfect meal for me!

She got a kick out my using slices of the House Bread to make little sandwiches - yum!

We spent two hours there, indulging in each other's company and good food.

Hallelujah! 

such good fortune at the sound!

"At the sound of what?"

No, you misunderstand. "The Sound" is the name of the band I just heard after seeing "Good Fortune" with Carolyn.

"You went to hear a band? Was that over at Savannah Arts Academy?"

Nope. "The  Sound" is the name of one of the ensembles that are part of the Gretsch School of Music at GaSoU. They performed tonight at the Fine Arts Auditorium on Armstrong - and the concert was free! I tried to get Carolyn to go, but she wanted to see "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" at the cinema. We didn't have time to grab dinner between the end of "Good Fortune" and the start of our next events. I had hoped we would. She still had something to eat, though - I finally remembered to bring her the two bottles of Butter Pecan Ensure that I told her about months ago! She loved them, too!

'Very good. You've had those saved for her since the spring."

Yes, I know. This time, I knew she would be at AMC, so I made sure to bring them."

"And how was the concert you attended?"

It was fabulous!!! Three women and one man did most of the singing for the seven-member band. Olivia did those songs requiring a deeper tone, like "Living For The City" and "Live And Let Die". Elizabeth had a higher voice that worked great for "Black Velvet" and Toto's "Africa". Anna had just one solo, "Running Up That Hill", sung while she played guitar. Christian also strummed as he sang Jackson Browne's "The Road".

"Wow, what a great variety of songs! Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney And Wings, Alannah Myles, Kate Bush!"

Yes, it was, and I sang along with almost every tune they did! I think I surprised them with that. They stumped me twice with new artists. The very first song was Yola's "I Don't Wanna Lie", then again a couple of songs later with Laufey's "From The Start". I recognized the Joni Mitchell song, but I had to look up its name: "In France They Kiss On Main Street".

"Yeah, I don't think I would have known that one."

 Yes you would have, just not that funky name. I know you would have been singing along with Bonnie Raitt's "Angel From Montgomery", as well as Steely Dan's "Peg" - two of my favorites! Plus, they sang "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" - classic Tom Petty!

"Wow. That's quite a set list for a bunch of twenty-first century college students."

Right? I was so impressed! Can't wait to hear them again! Right place, right time!

fall choral concert at 7 on the 7th!

I do so love this event every year!!!

It's just a perk that it's also free - very budget-friendly for a retired person like myself...

and like Sherry Moore, too!

I had noticed on fb that she was 'interested' in going... maybe she would like to go with me in tow?

After all, she'd been the one to answer my call for a ride years ago.

So I sent her a message... and she called me right back!

She'd love to go, especially as it was free, especially with company!

But, of course!

Most folks don't like going somewhere alone; most times, I'd much rather go alone than stay home alone.

And this concert promised we would be going, going, going!!!

 

Its subtitle was "Vocal Music From Around The Globe!" and it delivered, no passport required!

Three vocal groups were there at Savannah Arts Academy tonight.

Those empty seats on the right were vacated when the Garrison Voices rose to join the Pulaski Chorus and the Savannah Arts Academy Chorus.

Altogether, there were 189 young singers regaling us there at the end!!!

That was for a South African greeting song called "Hlohonolofatsa", which basically meant "Bless everything in the Name of the Father" - hallelujah!

 

My favorite, as always, was the sea chantey from the all-male contingent of the high school, all swinging their arms in time - I so love that!!!

This year's offering was a whaling song from New Zealand called "Wellerman", which they followed up with "Viva Tutti", an 18th Century Glee.

Sing on, my boys!!!

The girls joined them for "Good Night, Dear Heart", based on the Robert Richardson poem that I knew from the episode of "Quantum Leap" in which a young German woman is killed.

How touching that this poem is also on the tombstone of Samuel Clemens' daughter - I've always loved Mark Twain's works.

Then the boys left the stage for the girls to grant me "Skylark" - yes!!!

So, what other countries were in the mix?

We had "Arirang" from Korea, "Sisi Ni Moja" in Swahili from the East African coast, "Lake Isle of Innisfree" from Ireland, "Dies Irae" in Latin from 13th Century Italy, "Ad Astra" from a modern composer in Kansas, "Crowded Table" by a US group of women, and Durme, Durme from the Sephardic Jews of Spain and Portugal.

Some were done by the Garrison Voices alone, some by only the Pulaski Chorus, both middle schools with 6-8-grade singers.

They'll be coming to this high school when they move on to higher grades.

That means I'll get to enjoy their voices for years to come!

 

Sherry thanked me for inviting her to this feast of song!

She told me she felt that she was "failing retirement" because she hadn't gotten out much these four years so far.

I assured her that everyone approaches that freedom differently, but now that I knew that she truly wanted to go out and about more, I'd help motivate her.

I know well how hard it can be to "throw yourself out of your house", but that's a choice worth making.

Life is outside... be part of it!

In fact, she and I already have plans for Thursday!

Good!!!

And I had thought being without my car this week was going to leave me stranded.

Actually, it has motivated me to reach out to others...

and find helping hands, right there.

i thank You, God! 

musical, concert, musical... all at a cinema!

What a marvelous time I've been having at NCG Cinema this week!

I have been there for three days in a row - that's unprecedented!!!

Monday was just a 'mystery' movie a la Jim Reed's PFS, right?

Tina Tuesday was a double header with Carolyn, which was a great treat!

I'd invited her and Sandy to come see "Hamilton" with me at the matinee... and Carolyn responded to my invite!

Hooray!!!

I've wanted to see this musical for five years.

I know so many of my theatre friends who subscribed to Disney+ that first year of the pandemic, when the filmed Broadway show was released in July of 2020 on that streaming service.

I'm so glad to have seen it on the silver screen!!!

I felt like I was right there at the Richard Rodgers Theatre where the original Broadway cast was filmed over three performances in 2016.

WOW!!!

Lin-Manuel Miranda is so incredibly gifted!!!

He wrote the lyrics, the music, and the book for this historical, modern, musical, about events that actually occurred from 1776 to 1804, when the United States Of America was a brand-new country made up of immigrants from around the world.

How incredible to have finally seen this Tony-winning production as the 250th Anniversary of that start approaches!

My very favorite song was "Hurricane" - that one scene captured beautifully both the fury and the energy that represented Alexander Hamilton.

WOW!!!

Utterly astounding!!!

I could watch that one scene over and over and over and still be captivated.

Carolyn was as taken by the musical as I was.

We both intend to see it again next week!

Meanwhile, we  popped out for some Zaxby's, as it was across the street, then back into the NCG Cinema for a bit of silly fun.

Yes, I'm talkin' 'bout "Spinal Tap II: The End Continues" with those wacky musicians from forty years ago!

 

There's Michael McKean from that 1984 farce, "This Is Spinal Tap", when he was 37 years old.

 

And here he is from his turn as Lenny in "Laverne & Shirley" at 31 yo.

 

Plus, he was that dispicable Area 51 agent, Morris Fletcher, whose body gets switched with that of Fox Mulder.

McKean was 51 years old in that 1998 episode of "The X-Files".

 

And now he's 77, back to being David St. Hubbins, lead singer of the band.

His 78th birthday will be October 17th.

Except for the increased wrinkles of human aging, he really hasn't changed, has he? 

Of course, Christopher Guest is 77, too, while Rob Reiner is 78, and Harry Shearer is the oldest of them all and will be 82 in December.

Yet, when they perform their classics - "Big Bottom" and "(Listen To The) Flower People" and "Stonehenge" - the movie really pops!

I was so amazed how familiar I was with those songs, even though I doubt I've seen the original movie even once in about two decades.

T'was very nice to see, and hear, Sir Paul McCartney (83 yo) and Sir Elton John (78 yo) performing with the band, too.

What a totally twee Tina Tuesday... and for just $12 total!!!

 

Then, today, I was back again at  the NCG for their 'Wicked Wednesday' $5 treat - that 1986 musical that I so love that I've done one of its songs in karaoke on multiple occasions: "Little Shop Of Horrors"!!!

Apparently I share that love with Jimmy Fallon - major coolness!

Plus I've seen - and danced in my seat! - to the live musical versions at least twice during the last decade, including once in a TV show!!!

Yes, I have been well and truly blessed this week by NCG Cinemas - and they have just started two discount movie festivals this week.

Many thanks, y'all!

 

blessings so far in 2025!

This dining room wall, with the painting of the Wormsloe Plantation gifted by step-sister Susan (for my wedding to Jeff back in 1992), is where I always begin posting the programs and tickets from events attended.

Amazingly, I paid for only eleven of those events I attended between January and April.

Several of the free ones are from events at the Telfair or Jepson museums, courtesy of my membership to those cultural sites.

Some are free events I found on fb.

And quite a few are from volunteer stints for the Savannah Music Festival (SMF36) or the Savannah VOICE Festival!

Plus, the Savannah Jewish Cultural Arts Festival and the Black History Month events were all free this year, too.

That pink mesh bag?

That's a party souvenir, as well as a memento of my trip to Tallahassee!

This smaller bit of dining room wall, graced with a framed bit of embroidery done by my one-and-only Grandma, has the next set of blessings.

Those events, between mid-April to mid-June, include six that cost money.

Technically, the week-long vacation to Orlando with Christina and her daughters also cost money, but Christina covered the gas and food expenses, so I consider it fairly even.

But that meant I had two trips, in fairly quick succession - hooray!

Then there's my third dining room wall on which I post event mementos.

That's the wall with the painting I bought in Italy for less than ten Euros.

I had actually resisted putting anything up there for almost a month.

I was a bit blue then and thought I'd just forget about that wall.

Then came the second party at Bonnie Blue's little blue house and I taped all the programs and museum lecture notes and such right on up there!

Amazing what that did for my mindset!

Four events had a fee attached, but that was all.

Then I had volunteer duties for eight glorious events with SFV13!

Now, that wall is full... and life is good.

I am surrounded by the proof that I am not missing out on fun!

Hooray for retirement!

thrice to the wooded areas we go!

As I told Sherrill Milnes before the show tonight, this is the third time this year that I've been treated to this musical!

The first had been at the same venue as yesterday's SVF13 event, but only middle-school kids were involved.

The second time was at Tybee, less than a month ago.

Good thing I love "Into The Woods"!!!

Mind, I'm not saying that the musical in its entirety was reproduced this time, as that was certainly not the case.

Oh, far from that!

However, of the fourteen songs presented, five were from that one Stephen Sondheim creation.

Impressive!

The First Presbyterian Church was the host site for tonight's "Once Upon A Time: Fairy Tales Come Alive", with the front bedecked with flowers and greenery galore.

'Twas truly lovely!

I had not yet placed the purple cloth bands on the first five rows of pews for the premium patrons before that photo.

I ended up being the volunteer in charge, as Kim left about 20 minutes into our shift.

That was all fine, though, as everyone knew the drill by this time!

After all, there is just one more show before the grand finale party, so we've all become quite familiar with each other and the routine.

The big differences have been with the venue layout and the location of the bathrooms.

The show tonight also had children in attendance, though certainly not as many as there had been at the school venue last night.

How wonderful that there have been $15 tickets to encourage families to come!

Any who were there for the opera would have been treated again to two songs from "Cinderella", the classic they would have known well!

This arrangement was a bit different, though.

Peter Lake sang his part of "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful"...

then the two stepsisters stepped in with their Lament...

before Ashley Nunez sang her portion of the duet with Peter.

Very nice!

Later, there was a fabulous interaction between Eric Šebek and James Williams III when their songs as Shrek ("Who I'd Be") and the Shadow Man ("Friends On The Other Side") played off each other.

Of course I just ate all of that up!

I wonder how many of the folks there knew both of those musicals?

Not that I knew all of these fairy tales.

The lone numbers from "Falstaff" and "Rusalka" threw me, but I recognized those from "The Magic Flute" as well as "Hansel And Gretel". 

Nice to have some music I'd not heard! 

 

Thankfully, we were rain-free, too, except for a slight drizzle as folks were slowly heading out afterward to their cars.

That was good!

The last time Savannah VOICE had a festival event here had been in 2019 and there had been pouring rain before and after.

I'm so glad Joan Silver got me involved with ushering for opera!

These two weeks have been glorious!

I understand why John Suchower would go to Europe every summer to follow the trail of operas being performed.

He certainly wasn't going to get that here, back in the 80's and 90's.

Thank you, Sherrill and Maria, for bringing your dream to life in Savannah.

genetics and VOICE

"Just because someone's voice is classified as "tenor" doesn't mean they sound just like someone else with that classification. Genetics has something to do with all that, too, as it effects the formation of the vocal chords and mouths, for one thing."

No argument from me on that! I wouldn't expect tenors from different families to sound the same. However, tonight's SVF13 concert was "The Three Tenors: A VOICE Family Concert" and the three men were all related. Christian Šebek is the dad and he sang with his sons, Eric and Zachary, here at Asbury Memorial Church. And, as I told Eric at the reception afterward, they all have such distinctly different voices!!!

"Now, that is interesting! Might those different qualities be due to their ages or builds?"

Well, as can be seen in the photo above, I don't think it's their build. Eric is the one face-on to the camera, standing next to his older brother, Zach. Christian is in the back looking over at someone else. His voice has a little warble to it, like Sherrill's does. Perhaps that is from performing classical operatic pieces, but I believe it to be natural. Just listen to "Impossible Dream" and see what I mean. Zach, who was here as a student of the VOICE program back in 2018 or so, has a... 'clean'... sound, for lack of a better word. No warble like his father, no musical theatre anbling like Eric has. Zach is just a solid tenor., even when he's hamming it up with a love song to a toaster oven! Whereas Eric's sound is brighter, as can be heard when he did "At Last", that famous blues number.

"I see what you mean. They're all rather theatrical on stage, though, as was especially evident when they did that medley."

You mean "Pretty Women/What Is It About/Maria/Johanna"? Yes, that was an amazing number!!! With songs from "Sweeney Todd", "West Side Story", and "The Phantom Of The Opera", that one wove together the love songs from three of my all-time favorites - wow!!! I talked to Christian about that at the reception and he told me he and a friend put that together. What a superb job they did!!!

"Oh, wow!!! I would love to hear that again!!!"

Me, too, but I haven't found it yet. I'll keep looking! Meanwhile, I did find the encore piece they sang for us today! It's one of my favorites, though I've never seen the opera - "Turandot" - that it's from. I just remember hearing it a few years ago by none other than Peter Lake, and wishing that it was on tonight's program as soon as I heard the trio's first song, "Til I Hear You Sing". 

"G'friend! Stop beating around the bush! What was that song???"

Oh, that was "Nessun Dorma"! I though I'd mentioned it. Sorry!

"Okay! Much better! And what's going on in this photo? A movie?"

Yes!!! Two former Savannah VOICE alums, Scott Joiner and Jessica Fishenfeld, had created a little opera for the Šebek trio a few years ago. It's a sketch book set to music about a magic ring and which of the sons will inherit it to continue the singing tradition. Very funny! Even the title of it is a pun: "Death Of A Grailsman" - hahahaha!!! Amazingly, it's free on youTube!!! That has these three tenors - and Beth Howard, the sons' mom - on Memorex, but we had them perform it live!!! I can't wait to share that with my great-nieces and great-nephews! They might get inspired to sing opera some day!

"Hey, that could happen! Here's hoping! Mama would have loved that!"

(smile!) 

before - and after - at oldest church

This time, "Voices In Sacred Song" was at First Baptist Church, which has been here on Chippewa Square for 200 years.

I was the first SVF13 volunteer to show up and happened to catch the singers in mufti.

That's Benjamin Sokol, Henry Drangel, James Wright III, Jason Lambros, Lavonya Johnson, Ina Torres O'Ryan, Ashley Nunez, and Samantha Talora, left to right.

That was just before 4 PM.

Flash forward to about twenty past 6 PM.

The last vibrations of Handel's "Hallelujah" still linger from the 103-year-old organ.

Now our line-up has Benjamin Sokol, Ryan Lustgarten, Ashley Nunez, Henry Drangel, James Wright III, Jason Lambros, Lavonya Johnson, Ina Torres O'Ryan, and Samantha Talora.

That means we started with 8 singers and now have 9.

What gives?

Ryan Lustgarten wasn't there for the rehearsal and used a tablet for the two songs he performed; in solidarity, Samantha Talora also used a tablet for their duet.

Very nice, y'all!!!

I did love singing "Hallelujah" with everyone at the end, too.

That's a long-standing tradition at these free gospel concerts.

The best part is watching Sherrill Milnes as he enthusiastically conducts it!

Very nice!!! 

iz dos geven a niu-yorker kabaret?

Here's the reason I ask.

With cabaret-style, you get a bit of banter between the songs, a bit of insight into how they came to be or some words to set the stage... 

so to speak.

(A little pun to get things rolling!) 

However, this third SVF13 concert had a simple title with a complete absence of that word: "David Friedman: My Simple Wish". 

See what I mean?

And yet, the entire evening's entertainment was most def cabaret!

Even the title song was pure whimsy, sung with as much panache and moxie as Tevye exhibited when he fantasized about being wealthy!!!

Indeed, I laughed repeatedly during "My Simple Wish", especially with Eric Sebek emoting so well during his performance!!!

And what, pray tell, had Friedman's 'wish' been?

To be "rich, famous, and powerful"!!!

Hahahaha!!!

Two out of three ain't bad... as I knew nothing of him before last night.

Even so, I took him to simply be a long-time piano-playing friend of Sherrill and Maria, and a fellow who occasionally wrote music.

Even when I took this photo before the show, when my volunteer duties were waning, I still thought that.

See that tall guy in the glasses and yellow shirt, standing to the right?

That's him, quite possibly chatting with Sherrill and Maria as they also stood.

Well, I'm here to say I was mistaken.

David Friedman just may be famous as well as the other two things he mentioned in "My Simple Wish".

I realized that later in the program, when he broke out the big guns: the songs in several of my favorite Disney musicals for which he was the conductor.

Say what???

Yes, Angela Lansbury sang to him when she recorded "Beauty And The Beast" - done every bit as soulfully tonight by Samantha Talora.

Yes, Robin Williams sang to him when he recorded "Friend Like Me" - done in very animated fashion by James Wright III, with the others backing him up.

Yes, Judy Kuhn sang to him when she recorded "Colors Of The Wind" - done in beautiful voice by the charming, and intelligible, Ina Torres O'Ryan.

[I made sure to compliment her on not "losing the words", as so many sopranos and mezzo-sopranos do when they're swinging for the rafters.]

And, yes, Tom Hulce (my "Amadeus"!) sang to him when he recorded "Out There" - done by Peter Lake in that tenor tone I so love!

Wow.

David Friedman has also written songs for other Disney productions, he's written songs for original Broadway musicals, he's regularly written songs for the "Today Show" on morning television, and he's written books.

Wow.

This was quite a show, tonight, and much more than I'd expected.

Many thanks to David Friedman for being a storyteller and entertainer!

Also, happy 75th birthday, as this year is a special number for him. 

Many thanks to the six singers of his songs - Eric, Ina, James, Samantha, Ashley Nunez (not visible in the photo), and Peter - for bringing out the heart in those songs!

Many thanks to the Savannah Voice Festival for allowing me to be a volunteer!

 

And many thanks to Asbury Memorial Church - and especially to Randy - for making this an easy, and beautiful, venue for SVF13, even on this rainy day!

Right place, right time...

i thank You, God.

bday90 party with aarp!

Remember that "AARP Happy Hour" party that I went to on July 18?

Yeah, the one at Savannah Technical College that no one else attended.

Well, as it turned out, I had the date wrong.

That meant I was double-booked for the real date, which was today.

What to do, what to do?

Well, I did what any busy, vibrant woman would do: I attended both events!

(smile!)

I started off at Eckburg Auditorium, and even had my photo taken!

That's because the AARP Georgia chapter was present, as well as other attendees like myself, unlike that other rainy afternoon.

Hooray!

That photo of me looks pretty good, doesn't it?

I was dressed in my 'blue daisies' dress, with my hair plaited to the right, all ready for my volunteer usher duties at SVF13.

I said I was overbooked, didn't I?

My plan was to celebrate with these folks, then head downtown.

After all, there was food here, and dance music, too!

It was all for the 90th birthday of the Social Security Act, which will actually be on August 14th.

Thank you, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the 74th U.S. Congress!!!

All of us at this shindig, and millions more, would be in deep poverty without that public payroll savings program instigated back in 1935.

That got us in line with other industrialized nations, so that was good.

I wish I could have stayed for some of the games and trivia, but by 5:15 I was out the door, back into a light drizzle, and headed north to Unitarian Universalist Church for the second of two nights of opera at that location.

I'm glad those were Mock Mojitos for that soiree!

(smile!)

figaro! figaro! figaro! figaro!

"Yo! What's up with all the Mozart shouting?"

Not shouting... singing!!! Four of the seventeen aria-lists total chose songs from that opera to highlight their voices! I'd like to say I recognized all four of those tunes, but I did not. It wasn't until Hunter Thompson stepped to the stage that I heard one I knew: "Non piu andrai". Marvelous! I wonder if Sherrill Milnes had his 90-year-old foot tapping, there in the front row? My feet and hands were keeping that beat!

"Did you just slip a pun in there? And did you make up that word 'aria-lists' based on the 'aerialists' in the SavChTh shows?"

It could also refer to the spring show at TyPostTh... but, hey, good for you! You were paying attention and not distracted by the photo! Yes, I did make up that word, but it was totally in keeping with this first concert of SVF13. Titled "Aria", rather than "Death By Aria" as it was formerly known, it consisted of songs our of context, songs the singers chose, much as I do at karaoke. Well, except they didn't have a cheat sheet of words to keep them on track. Still, these were favorite songs of theirs, much like the songs I choose to sing, so words really weren't needed. Still, it might have been nice to have had some translation available. Only one of the songs was in English... and that was from "Little Women"! I thought for sure that Ina Torres O'Ryan was singing to a guy named 'Joe', not the tomboyish sister, 'Jo'. Very nicely done!

"Wow, that sounds cool! I recall really liking the musical a few years back. I'm sure the opera version is very interesting."

That would be my guess. This year's Savannah Voice Festival has this theme: "Once Upon A Time" - and you know how much I love fairy tales! None of the songs tonight had anything to do with that theme, as far as I know, but I'll be looking for it in the other shows this month. I'm so glad I can volunteer with this!!! Kim Owens was the other usher this evening, with Emily Gallagher riding herd on us. Marvelous!! And for this first concert ever at the Unitarian Universalist Church, this was a splendid outing! The house was packed!!!

"Most excellent! I do hope that will be the case tomorrow night, too. That show is at the same venue, isn't it?"

You are correct! Yes, I hope it will be packed, too. It's actually a rather small church, but the sanctuary makes for quite an intimate setting. Oh, sidebar: this is the church Evelina attends. I do hope it will become one of the regular venues. Even though it's downtown, the parking is free after 5 PM, so that's a nice break. This concert was at 6:30 PM, like the one tomorrow will be. Even with the volunteers arriving an hour early, the parking is still free.

"Oh, that is a nice touch. And the acoustics?"

Fabulous! Maria's voice will be showcased tomorrow, so that will be quite nice. Yes, quite nice, indeed! (smile!)

billy billie bill

 

And my birthday celebration just keeps going!

Late last week, Tybee Post Theater rewarded me for being "a loyal follower", gifting me two free tickets to a concert. 

Woot woot!!!

That's 58 dollars of free entertainment... and I could bring a friend! 

Happy bday67!!!

Fortunately, mi amiga Sandy was glad to go with me - hooray!!!

Happy bday 57 to her!!!

Did it matter that neither of us knew Jacob Khalil, the pianist?

Nope, not one bit!

We both love that he was to play music "from Billy Joel to Billie Eilish" 'cause we both know many of their songs!

And when he started off with "Just The Way You Are", we were thrilled!

I was even more elated when he followed that with "Vienna"!!!

The only time I ever hear that is when I sing it at karaoke, and it's one of my favorite Billy Joel tunes - even if it was just the B-side to that first song tonight.

(smile!)

The pianist followed that with another I knew by heart: "Lovely Day", by Bill Withers, and i swear he was looking at me, in F-18, the whole time.

That's because I'd been singing along with everything so far!!!

He switched it up with two from Elton John.

"Rocket Man" had me singing and dancing in my seat!

 

And "Your Song" - well he left me in tears with that one.

Sam Johnson would either sing that to me or request that I sing it at karaoke.

I knew Jacob Khalil was looking at me then, as he wiped away tears, too, as he took a few moments after the end.

Time to bounce back with a Beatles tune about looking for 'Mary Jane'!

Yes, that got the good times vibe back in the house!

"I Won't (Give Up)" was his very own song and helped slide the musical time scale into this century.

Two more from so-called 'divas' - "Birds Of A Feather" from Billie Eilish, then "Levitating" from Dua Lipa" kept it solidly there until the break. 

Magnificent!!!

They returned to the stage with "Valerie", a song that I thought was much older than it turned out to be. 

Only from 2006? Really???

Then we got the debut song from Billie Eilish tune, as well as a the debut song from Britney Spears - very nicely done with his fresh takes!

Time for another one of his own tunes, "Rest Of My Life", with us all singing along for the chorus - loved that!

And he finished up with a sing-along of "Piano Man", flashing us right back to the 1970's where the concert music began - perfect!!!

Kudos to Ethan Marsh on bass and Robert Saunders on drums!

(smile!) 

As we told the piano man afterward, we had loved his refashioning of the songs, the way he made them sound new yet still familiar.

He loved that!

We kept talking about the music all the way home and while we ate.

She and I stopped off at Carey Hilliard's on Skidaway to cap off our evening with dinner.

We took her car, with me driving there and back, as it has air conditioning.

That's because we had a triple-digit high today... and that was without including the +15 for the heat index.

I'm glad that weather nonsense didn't keep us from an evening out!

What a marvelous cool treat on this hot summer night!

(smile!)

35th? 37th? Levy Concert

Honestly, does the number of years really matter?

I found that I'd referred to the concert in May of 2016 as the 28th of these free, open to the public, concerts with a dessert reception beforehand.

Then, I wrote that the 29th Annual Levy Concert had been in October of 2018... which must have been wrong, as these events are always coinciding with Passover.

So, this year's would have to be the 37th or the 35th, depending on which of my previous values was correct.

But what about the missed annual event due to the pandemic in 2020?

Is that number skipped or does it stay as a placeholder?

I doubt any of that would matter to Jack and Miriam Levy.

It was important to them that people have something to brighten their spring, so they'd set up a fund to give folks music for dancing...

hallelujah!!!

 

This year, we were treated to a most curious and entertaining group: Six13.

Apparently, they had been here to the Savannah JEA before, but that was long before their most avid fans had been born.

That's that they said!

They consisted of six young men, all clad in blue gingham shirts and dark blue jeans, and they mostly sang in Hebrew.

For real!

And, although they did perform a few serious pieces, most of their songs were humorous, Jewish-centered, tunes which struck me as a mixture of the creative outputs of Adam Sandler, Weird Al Yankovic, and Raffi.

That certainly explained the enormous number of middle school-aged children present, as well as the grandparents of those kids!

My absolute favorite piece was a spoof of "Bohemian Rhapsody", but with all the lyrics changed to contain Chanukah references...

I'm so glad that one was in English!!!

I'll have to play around on their youTube site and see what other hilarity these six guys sing about!

Oh, but wait: the group has been around for more than 20 years.

So, the six men entertaining us might not be the ones in the videos...

that's okay, it's like that group from Italy that I heard at the SMF36!

The group has been around for more than half a century, but most of the people on that stage weren't even in their 40's.

Cool beans, I can accept that!

Now, I'm off to take four smiley-face pot holders to Tony and Laura.

At the same time that I'd given him a set, I'd bought one for me, too.

Mine were still fairly pristine, but theirs were showing signs of having been used, and used often, during those eight years.

I still use the orangey-peach ones that I've had for a few decades.

Time to give those cheerful yellow smiley faces to someone more appreciative than I!

(smile!)

buttercups building up!

"Hey, that sounds like a song, kinda sorta. Or maybe it's a problem in the garden with a particular species of flowers running amok?"

Good joke! Hahahaha! It was the former, actually. As soon as I heard the opening bars of the song, I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be! Right place, right time!!!

"Wonderful!!! So, that was playing as you arrived?"

Oh, no. That song from my youth was the grand finale at today's Lower School concert and musical theater. I'd arrived a few minutes late to the standing-room only show, which meant I had to stand alongside the wall for the entire time. I wasn't the only one, either, and that was all along the back and both sides of Jenkins Auditorium.

"Wow."

I know! This was a free show, just as the Middle School event had been. I guess that's to give something back to the parents who have paid all year to send their kids to Savannah Country Day. Very nice! I'm glad I was able to be there for free, too.

"Did this show have a theme, or was it randomly put together?"

Oh, yes, it definitely had a theme: building. The title was "Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site", named for the book written by Sherri Duskey Rinker.  That's actually the last in her series about the machines that are needed for buildings. You know: cement mixers, dump trucks, cranes, excavators, bulldozers. For this concert-performance piece show, each of the pieces were composed by the 3rd-5th grade students as well as AP music theory students. I'm sure their teacher, Mrs. Graves, also helped. (smile!)

"Wow. That's impressive for students that are around Alyssa and Leila's age. They were in 5th grade this year."

It really was impressive! I'm going to talk about it to Christina and maybe her school will take on such a project. It'll certainly make the parents feel more involved in their children's education. I think they could do it! The 3rd graders got to demonstrate the sounds of the building site, but it was the task of the 4th and 5th graders to make the equipment itself come alive, so to speak, through spoken word and layered melodies, using xylophones and percussion. Essentially, these boys and girls told the story and then created the 'song' for each piece of equipment. I so liked it!!!

"Just imagine how much more you would have enjoyed it if your great-nieces were in the show!"

That's what I'm saying! The public schools could do this, too. I hope they will! I'll be glad to drive to Hinesville for their show!

ablaze! kick in the brass! blue beamer!

Alex, what are three songs I heard tonight?

"Seriously? Those are song titles?"

Correct! To my knowledge, none of the tunes have words, just music, but, oh! What fresh groupings of notes they bring to the ear!

"Very nice! I take it, then, that you knew none of those three?"

Hey, I'll do you one better... I knew naught of the majority of the songs I heard tonight. I had returned to Savannah Country Day, having heard last week of this Middle School Fine Arts Night. I thought it all started at 6 PM and was so pleased to be on campus a little past 5:30! But, oops! I'd missed two portions by then. Oh, well. You can't have it all - where would you put it?

"Hahahaha! You used to say that quite a bit!"

I did. I think I'm going to bring it back. (smile!)

"Okay, I see the items you've crossed out, so those must have been missed. That means you had orchestra and multiple jazz bands, right?"

You're correct again! The first song in the post title - "Ablaze" - was one the students chose, a modern piece by Chris Bernotas. Why did I say it's 'modern'? The composer's only 56 years old, two years younger than my youngest brother. Several of the students even had solos in that piece.

"Oh, nice!"

The other pieces I liked were "Double Trouble", by Lauren Bernofsky, a 58-year-old woman; "Finger Rock", a piece by 72-yo Bob Phillips [that included finger snapping!!!]; and Johannes Brahms' "Hungarian Dance No. 5", especially because it was performed by three basses. That was really awesome to see! Nice of the teacher to say before that one that "the b-a-s-s is the b-a-s-e of an orchestra." 

"That's a very nice acknowledgement for those folks! They're typically relegated to playing at the very back of the band."

Yes, I agree. I'm sure those parents were pleased as punch about that! Speaking of parents, many of them did not have kids both in the orchestra and any of the three jazz bands. When we had a break so they could change up the stage, over half the audience left and didn't return. Not that anyone would have noticed that wasn't there for the orchestra! By the time the 6th graders came on for the Beginner Jazz Band, Jelks Auditorium was at least as full as it had been.

"Well, that's in keeping with family size now, right? Most folks have no more than two kids, and quite a few have only one. Just think about Stephen, Jason, Michael, Christina, Hope - each have two. Then there's Emily, Christy, Zach, Tyler - just one apiece. Damon is the only one with more than that - but that's a different story. In so many ways he reminds me of our Uncle Jimmy."

Yeah, he ended up with seven children from four different mothers. There's no way he would have been able to afford to have them as students at that school.

"Back on track shall we go?"

Yes, let's! Okay, I'd gotten to the jazz portion of the evening. There were three of those bands: Beginner, Intermediate (7th grade), and Advanced (8th grade). Remember, this was a Middle School only event!

"That's right! So they're the source of the other two songs in the post title?"

Kinda sorta. (smile!) I really liked "Drama For Your Mama" from the 6th-graders, but that was too long to use up there. (smile!) "Blue Beamer" was a very lively piece, but I admit to having a preference for a song I knew and loved: "Gimme Some Lovin' ". Oh, yeah!!! Nice of "The Blues Brothers" movie to give it an extended life on radio!

"I get a chuckle from that "Drama For Your Mama" - hahahaha!"

Right? I think part of my attraction to "Kick In The Brass" is the pun in its name, but, let me tell you, that truly was a kick ass tune!!! There were five - F-I-V-E - trumpet players lined up in front of the others, playing like they were grown ups, too!!! Wow! The look, the sound - just amazing!

"Wow! I know you loved that!"

I did, I most def did. Then they played Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" a couple of songs later and did me proud on that one. I know their grandparents must have been thrilled to hear that one from their past, too. I'm so glad I was there tonight!