Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Tonight, Falmouth Town Band will host a special guest, Mildred Allen, who will conduct the “Stars and Stripes Forever.” This has become an annual event for Mildred, who will be103 years old on her next birthday.

The concert will feature the trombone section in a performance of “The Trombone Rag” and the woodwind section with “Bubbling Woodwinds.” There will be plenty of real bubbles on display for both.

Other selections on the program include: “Fairest of the Fair March,” “Oliver,” “Tennessee Salute,” “Sammy Davis Jr. Highlights,” “A Friend Like Me,” “New York, New York,” “Laura,” “El Capitan March,” “Hands Across the Sea March,” “Beguine for Band,” and “Feelings.”

All Town band concerts begin at 7:30 PM every Thursday throughout the summer. They are held at the Music and Arts Pavilion, also known as the Oscar Wolf Band Shell, on Scranton Avenue on Falmouth Harbor.

Refreshments and restrooms are available. Bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on.

Sunday’s TD Bank 25^th Anniversary Pops by the Sea concert, presented by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, was a spectacular, star-studded event, with special guests Rachael Ray, Chris Cooper, and Idina Menzel, as well as local talent: the Colum Cille Pipes and  Drums of Sandwich who began the evening performances with a march down to the main tent, and Kandice Wood of South Dennis followed with a beautiful arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The real star of the show was, of course, Keith Lockhart and the 73-piece Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, celebrating the 125^th of the Boston Pops, and bringing a glorious array of music to the Hyannis Village Green on a gorgeous summer afternoon.

The concert was sold out, and the green was packed with people, their lawn chairs as close as possible to allow more and more people in, an estimated 15,000, a large crowd for downtown Hyannis.

After the national anthem, Rachael took the stage to conduct “The National Emblem March,” joking about how nervous she was, but that former Pops guest conductor William Shatner had assured her that all she had to do was wave the baton around and the orchestra would know what to do.

They did, and Rachael came through it all just fine, adding her own warm humor to the event.

Rachael Ray prepares to conduct.

After a rousing performance of Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown” from Rodeo (made famous, Lockhart said, by the “Beef, it’s what’s for dinner” commercial), Lockhart provided a short history of the Pops, which has had 17 conductors from 1885, the year it was formed, until Arthur Fiedler took over in May of 1930. Understanding popular preferences, Lockhart said, Fieldler was “a huge advocate of American musicians and composers” and shaped both the orchestral sound and public taste to create one of the world’s most popular orchestras: “American’s orchestra.”

John Williams took over in 1980, and Lockhart has been conductor since 1995.

Lockhart paid tribute to Fieldler’s influence by conducting Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown” from Rodeo, or, as he put it, the “What’s for dinner?” theme from the beef commercial.

And he honored Williams with the flying theme from “E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial,” one of many movie scores he composed. As if on cue, a cluster of five red balloons broke loose and wafted off into the clear blue sky.

Fieldler, said Lockhart, knew that people liked to sing along, and offered opportunities for them to do so on “Old-Timer’s night.” When Lockhart arrived, he was told by some outspoken older audience members, even one in his 90s, that they did not consider themselves “old-timers,” and the term “sing-along” came to be used instead.

Yesterday’s sing-along featured music of the Beatles, “adding a new tradition to the old tradition,” said Lockhart.

“The Beatles sing-along began with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” not an easy song to sing along to, though the words were printed in the program. But the words fit: “the singer’s going to sing a song, and he wants you all to sing along.” This was followed by “With a Little Help From My Friends (“Lend me you ears, and I’ll sing you a song, and I’ll try not to sing out of key), “Twist and Shout” (the crowd was particularly vocal on the ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhhh part), and “Yellow Submarine,” which had a nice mellow, community feel.

Chris Cooper reads "The Dream Lives On."

Next was actor Chris Cooper’s narration of “The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers,” with music by Peter Boyer and words by Lynn Ahrens, which was commissioned by Lockhart last fall. The words, largely quotations from each of the three brothers in turn, speak to the legacy of the Kennedy brothers, their idealism and enduring sense of optimism, “a human vision of what our country can be.”

It was not only the words, by their delivery, by the Jack, Bobbie, and Ted, that made them so eloquent and effective. Chris Cooper gave the words, many of which we know by heart, renewed vigor,  backed by the inspiring orchestral music.

It was particularly meaningful, in such close proximity to the Kennedy Museum on Main Street and Hyannisport. (The Kennedys had been on my mind, having seen, on Saturday night, a preview of the Cotuit Center for the Arts’ “American Camelot” exhibit of photographs, paintings, and sculptures of the Kennedy family. CCftA’s production of “Camelot” opens Thursday, August 5.)

Part of the huge crowd at the Hyannis Village Green

After intermission, vocalist and actress Idina Menzel took the stage. Star of Broadway hits “Wicked” and “Rent,” and a recent addition to the popular television series “Glee,” Menzel was a big hit with the crowd, particularly the younger members.

She seemed surprised that the audience was so attentive, her green dress matching the color of the leaves on the trees of Hyannis Village Green.

“I’m really a wedding singer at heart,” she said. “I’m expecting people to be clinking glasses. You’re all so nice . You’re really listening. I appreciate that. I could cry.”

There was plenty of reason to listen. Menzel has a beautiful voice, and she sang a hauntingly beautiful “Love for Sale,” and some of her big hits: “No Day But Today” from “Rent,” and “For Good” and “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked.”

Idina Menzel

She talked about her 11-month-old baby, Walker Nathaniel Diggs, with husband Taye Diggs (they met on the set of “Rent”) and how their “good morning” baby talk evolved into both a rap and a song, a jazzy, bouncy, bubbly song that she shared with us.

She offered a poignant “Funny Girl,” which she had recently sung on “Glee.” As an encore, she sang a moving “Tomorrow” from “Annie,”  ”the song my mother always made me sing at family gatherings.”

By this time, the crowd, growing fearful of being caught in the huge outgoing traffic jam, had begun to disperse. It was sad to see so many people leaving while Idina was still singing. Fortunately for me, though, it opened up a spot where I could stand, shielded by a tree, and catch her last song.

The orchestra ended with “Stars and Stripes Forever.” While, as you can see, people continued to stream out, most of the audience thoroughly enjoyed it.

A wonderful concert!

I love Arts Alive. It is a wonderful display of local arts and music with a great sense of community.  It took place this year on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 18 to 20, and I took videos of various events to share with you.

A taste of Arts Alive. Roger and Judy Day, coordinators of  Arts Alive, say hello.

The Russ Wilcox Band helped to kick things off on Friday night with mellow jazz that got people dancing:

Later, Groovy Afternoon rocked the Town Dance, bringing out more dancers.  Christine Mascott is the lead singer, sounding like Janis Ian, Grace Slick and other woman singers of the 1960s and 70s. Other band members are Paul Mascott on lead guitar), Tracy Ferrie on bass, Byrd Preston on rhythm guitar, and Andrew Ianniello on drums.

On Saturday, artists and craftspeople set out their paintings, jewelry, pottery, fiber arts, and more, filling Shore Street Extension with arts of all kinds.

The Falmouth Artists Guild had a booth, staffed by Kathy Taylor, who told me about guild activities.

Kim Collins of Artful Beadworks had some beautiful beaded necklaces on display and was busy working on more.

Tamara Clark showed off her natural science illustrations and sparkly fish T-shirts.

Singer-songwriter Annie Rich sang her own compositions, folk, and popular music. Here, she sings “You’ve Got a Friend.”

Photographer Suzanne Livingstone shows off some of her photographic note cards.

Donna Vaness of Bead Muse talks about her jewelry: beads, ‘text tiles,” and ancient rocks.

The Sonnay Fiddlers took the stage to play “100 Pipers” and “Cock of the North.” Nikki Engstrom leads this group of her young and not-so-young students. Sonnay stands for “students of Nikki, not all young.”

Tobai Leighton offered instruction in knotting, for children and teens. They made necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and bookmarks.

Hollis Engley of Hatchville Pottery had functional pottery for all types of uses.

The Falmouth Flute Choir played flute music, here, excerpts from a longer piece, “Galway Fantasie.” Playing with the flute choir are, from left, around the semi-circle, Denise Dias, Fran McLean, Marilyn Brice, Tamara Clark (who also exhibited her art in the festival), Marilyn Rowland (me), and Kathryn McGlynn. (Tamara’s husband Peter shot this video for me.)

Nicole Bergeron talks about making Ukrainian eggs from real eggs.

Entertainment of Saturday featured rock bands and lots of them. Here are some performances by Funktapuss and DoubleBind.

I was sorry not to be able to attend on Sunday. There were many more musicians, entertainers, and artists and craftspeople. The weather was perfect–a great weekend for the arts!

I spoke with Mwalim (Morgan James Peters) of Mashpee on March 28 outside the Nimrod Restaurant in Falmouth, where he performed as part of a fundraiser for the Masonic Temple’s Angel Fund. (The fund supports children in need. Mwalim is a presiding member of a Prince Hall Freemason lodge.)

Mwalim describes himself as a Black-Wampanoag performance artist and arts educator. His name is pronounced “mwah-leem,” which means “teacher” in Ahramic. In Wampanoag, his name is “Kukutumtunup” or “Speaking Turtle,” which also means “teacher.”

Mwalim is unique and multitalented: he is a singer, pianist, percussionist, composer, performance artist, record producer, author, poet, playwright, screenwriter, actor, director and professor of English and African American studies at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

In the first video clip, below, he talks about his first two CDs, “The Bass Mint Brothers” and “The Liberation Sessions,” as well as his third, which he expects to be released in October. His music can be describe as R&B, jazz, soul, Afro-beat, or house music (a style of electronic dance music influenced by soul, funk, and disco.)

“The Liberation Sessions: Soul of the City” is an imaginative CD, reflecting not only Mwalim’s musicianship, but his personal philosophy and his sense of humor. The CD is presented as an hour of programming  on a black urban radio station, WBAR-FM (Black Ass Radio), “where the DJs sound cooler than you can ever hope to be.” The DJ, Bob B., is very cool, silky smooth, and the music is earthy R&B, cool jazz, and very engaging. We hear the reverberating station jingle, the news with Ron E. (about the demise of black urban radio stations), and lots of good music.

The album has been nominated for many awards (Best R&B CD, Best Spoken Word CD, Best Producer, Best Caribbean Male Vocalist, Best R&B Single, and Best Caribbean Singel for “Dem Big Girls”), and deservedly so. Mwalim’s music video of “Dem Big Girls,” which he sang at the fundraiser, is on Youtube.

Mwalim also spoke to me about his recent appearance in “Porgy & Bess: Music and Stories,” which was presented March 5 to 7 by the Cotuit Center for the Arts. As Morgan James Peters, he gave the pre-performance talk, an interesting and informative discussion of African Americans in the theater. He also played the role of Sportin’ Life, singing, ““It Ain’t Necessarily So,” a song he has incorporated into his musical act.

For more information on Mwalim, see his websites:

Mwalim’s Jazz, Funk’n Folklore, The Portal to Everything Mwalim,

Mwalim’s Word Lounge,

his MySpace page,

his CD Baby page, or

his Facebook Fansite. Mwalim knows how to communicate.