Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Frank "Sugar Chile" Robinson
What a phenomenon Sugar Chile (pronounced like Child with out the "d") Robinson was.
Just to prove that Frank was no midget.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
James Morrison - Brass Man Extraordinaire
Lalo Schifrin wrote this piece and here he is in old age still preforming.
James starts the piece off, playing the theme on the pedal tones of the trombone - I've never seen anyone else be able to do it. He is play the theme an octave below the "range" the trombone. Most trombonist can play a couple of pedal tones, not that entire scale - AMAZING!
The baby trombone player with the hair, really James Morrison.
The baby trombone player in the conservatory days - Wow! The sound tracks are a little off on purpose - don't worry about it just enjoy.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Symphony Hall Compositions, by Marion Robinson
The Symphony Hall Compositions
Music Composed by Marion Robinson. (a.k.a. Piano Butch, a.k.a. Bond Robin).
Starting in 1979 for five days every summer for fifteen years I would have Symphony Hall Atlanta to myself as I tweeked the 9' Steinway Concert Grands readying them for the Fall Concert Season. Every year I would compose a piece of music as I voiced and fine regulated the pianos. So as you listen to these pieces picture a young piano tuner with no musical training playing his soul to an empty hall, listening carefully to each tone and more carefully to exactly how each note felt under his fingers. Each piece was a prayer, asking God to bless my work, the piano and the artists who would play them. I hope you enjoy them.
Elise Fantasia
Starting in 1979 for five days every summer for fifteen years I would have Symphony Hall Atlanta to myself as I tweeked the 9' Steinway Concert Grands readying them for the Fall Concert Season. Every year I would compose a piece of music as I voiced and fine regulated the pianos. So as you listen to these pieces picture a young piano tuner with no musical training playing his soul to an empty hall, listening carefully to each tone and more carefully to exactly how each note felt under his fingers. Each piece was a prayer, asking God to bless my work, the piano and the artists who would play them. I hope you enjoy them.
Elise Fantasia
Cloudland Canyon
Cannon Theme
Kiev Waltz
Seascape
Innocent
Bierstadt
Dogwood Blossoms
Classical Romance
Far Away Eyes
I was in a 120mph headon collision in 1991. For some years I rarely played because it was painful and I didn't have the strength. When I started playing again this is the first piece I wrote. While I was recovering my wife moved us to this beautiful location on Lake Olympia in Western Georgia. I wish my music paid proper homage to the beauty of this peaceful place.
Lake Olympia
I wrote using the famous piece as it's base.
Elise Fantasia (Locomotion)
Written on September the 11th 2001.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Favorite Tracks - Volume Two
Rostropovich - Bach - Complete Cello Suites
Yo YO Ma - Bach, Cello Suites
Johann Sebastian Back - Complete Preludes and Fugues for Organ
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Organ Concertos H 444 & 446
Handel's Water Music - English Baroque Festival
J.S. Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No 5. Croation Baroque Ensemble
Zbigniew Preisner: Requiem for my friend
John Tavener - Funeral Canticle (The Tree of Life) FULL VERSION
John Tavener (1944-): The Protecting Veil (Yo-Yo Ma cello, Baltimore
Tom Barabas - My Favorite Composer
Free Spirit
Adagio
After The Rain
Endless Time
Solar Wind
Sunrise On The Beach
Visions
Kaleidoscope
Shades of Love
Caressed By The Wind
Clouds
Lover's Sonata
Misha Dichter - Classical Pianist
Part One
Part Two
Maria Yudina
I would love to have known Maria Yudina, because she is a genuine hero of mine. She was a russian in volatile times. The Tyrant Stalin suppressed her career. She is one of the brave souls who clung to her Faith in God, specifically her Christian Faith, publicly proclaiming her Faith in Jesus Christ, in the face of Stalinist persecutions. Her style was very innovative, and I'm sure held a great influence over Glenn Gould, at least in my mind I hear shades of her technique in his gymnastic performances. She and he, let the piano be the piano in a unique way that frankly I know when I hear it but I cannot put into words.
For her resistance to Stalin the Russian propaganda machine slandered her. She was portrayed as a cynical and promiscuous deviant in an autobiographical novel by the Russian Philosopher Aleksei Losev. It seems that his ego could not get over being rejected by Maria. I included a short biography before a documentary about her - because the documentary is in Russian, with no English subtitles.
Maria (Mariya) Veniaminovna Yudina (Russian: Мари́я Вениами́новна Ю́дина, Mariya Veniaminovna Yudina; September 9 [O.S. August 28], 1899 – November 19, 1970) was an influential Soviet pianist. Yudina was born to a Jewish family in Nevel, Russia. She studied at the Petrograd Conservatory under Anna Yesipova and Leonid Vladimirovich Nikolayev. She also briefly studied privately with Felix Blumenfeld. Her classmates included Dmitri Shostakovich and Vladimir Sofronitsky. Though primarily known for her interpretations of Bach and Beethoven, she was a keen champion of contemporary composers including works of her good friend Shostakovich. Yudina was also a highly regarded champion of J. S. Bach's music. Some have claimed that Yudina's way of playing Bach foreshadows the style of Glenn Gould. Yudina was one of the few Soviet artists who openly opposed the Communist regime, resulting in her being banned from teaching or performing on stage on several occasions. She can also be considered one of the great Christian thinkers of Russia in the twentieth century (among her friends was the philosopher Pavel Florensky). After her graduation from the Petrograd Conservatory, Yudina was invited to teach there, which she did until 1930, when she was thrown out of the institution because of her religious convictions and vocal criticism of the Soviet leadership. After being unemployed and homeless for a couple of years, Yudina was invited to teach the graduate piano course at the Tbilisi State Conservatory (1932–1933). In 1936, upon Heinrich Neuhaus's suggestion, Maria Yudina joined the piano faculty of the Moscow Conservatory, where she taught until 1951. In 1944-1960, Yudina taught chamber ensemble and vocal class at the Gnessins Institute (now Gnessin Russian Academy of Music). In 1960, Maria Yudina was thrown out of the Gnessins Institute because of her religious attitudes and her advocation of modern Western music. She continued to perform in public, but her recitals were forbidden to be recorded. After an incident during one of her recitals in Leningrad, when she read Boris Pasternak's poetry from the stage as encore, Yudina was banned from performing for five years. In 1966, when the ban was lifted, Maria Yudina gave a cycle of lectures on Romanticism at the Moscow Conservatory. Yudina has the distinction of being Joseph Stalin's favorite pianist. One night, Stalin heard a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 on the radio performed by Yudina and asked for a copy. It was a live broadcast so officials woke up Yudina, drove her to a recording studio where a small orchestra had quickly been assembled, and made her record the concerto in the middle of the night, a single copy was pressed from the matrix and then presented to Stalin (the matrix has survived and the recording has been available on CD). It is said that he broke out in tears after hearing only the first notes of Yudina's playing. Despite the recognition from Stalin the pianist remained an uncompromising critic of the Stalinist regime with unprecedented impunity. She was awarded the Stalin Prize and donated its monetary portion to the Orthodox Church for "perpetual prayers for Stalin's sins". She died in Moscow in 1970. Yudina's playing was marked by great virtuosity, spirituality, strength and intellectual rigor. However, her playing was also very individual in style and tone. Sviatoslav Richter said of her playing: "She was immensely talented and a keen advocate of the music of her own time: she played Stravinsky, whom she adored, Hindemith, Krenek and Bartok at a time when these composers were not only unknown in the Soviet Union but effectively banned. And when she played Romantic music, it was impressive – except that she didn't play what was written. Liszt's Weinen und Klagen was phenomenal, but Schubert's B flat major Sonata, while arresting as an interpretation, was the exact opposite of what it should have been, and I remember a performance of the Second Chopin Nocturne that was so heroic that it no longer sounded like a piano but a trumpet. It was no longer Schubert or Chopin, but Yudina."[1] The art of Yudina represents a whole epoch in the Russian cultural history. Unlike other fellow musicians, Yudina always tried to go beyond her personal comfort zone, making friends and collaborating with famous writers, artists and architects. Among her friends were Boris Pasternak (who did the first reading of his novel Doctor Zhivago at Yudina's apartment as early as February 1947), Osip Mandelstam, Mikhail Bakhtin, Pierre Suvchinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen and many others. Thanks to efforts of Yudina's friends in Russia, particularly Anatoly Kuznetsov, Yudina's letters and writings were published in the late 90s-early 00s. There were several attempts to complete the set of Yudina's recordings. Most of her recordings released on LPs in Russia are hard to obtain.
Maria (Mariya) Veniaminovna Yudina (Russian: Мари́я Вениами́новна Ю́дина, Mariya Veniaminovna Yudina; September 9 [O.S. August 28], 1899 – November 19, 1970) was an influential Soviet pianist. Yudina was born to a Jewish family in Nevel, Russia. She studied at the Petrograd Conservatory under Anna Yesipova and Leonid Vladimirovich Nikolayev. She also briefly studied privately with Felix Blumenfeld. Her classmates included Dmitri Shostakovich and Vladimir Sofronitsky. Though primarily known for her interpretations of Bach and Beethoven, she was a keen champion of contemporary composers including works of her good friend Shostakovich. Yudina was also a highly regarded champion of J. S. Bach's music. Some have claimed that Yudina's way of playing Bach foreshadows the style of Glenn Gould. Yudina was one of the few Soviet artists who openly opposed the Communist regime, resulting in her being banned from teaching or performing on stage on several occasions. She can also be considered one of the great Christian thinkers of Russia in the twentieth century (among her friends was the philosopher Pavel Florensky). After her graduation from the Petrograd Conservatory, Yudina was invited to teach there, which she did until 1930, when she was thrown out of the institution because of her religious convictions and vocal criticism of the Soviet leadership. After being unemployed and homeless for a couple of years, Yudina was invited to teach the graduate piano course at the Tbilisi State Conservatory (1932–1933). In 1936, upon Heinrich Neuhaus's suggestion, Maria Yudina joined the piano faculty of the Moscow Conservatory, where she taught until 1951. In 1944-1960, Yudina taught chamber ensemble and vocal class at the Gnessins Institute (now Gnessin Russian Academy of Music). In 1960, Maria Yudina was thrown out of the Gnessins Institute because of her religious attitudes and her advocation of modern Western music. She continued to perform in public, but her recitals were forbidden to be recorded. After an incident during one of her recitals in Leningrad, when she read Boris Pasternak's poetry from the stage as encore, Yudina was banned from performing for five years. In 1966, when the ban was lifted, Maria Yudina gave a cycle of lectures on Romanticism at the Moscow Conservatory. Yudina has the distinction of being Joseph Stalin's favorite pianist. One night, Stalin heard a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 on the radio performed by Yudina and asked for a copy. It was a live broadcast so officials woke up Yudina, drove her to a recording studio where a small orchestra had quickly been assembled, and made her record the concerto in the middle of the night, a single copy was pressed from the matrix and then presented to Stalin (the matrix has survived and the recording has been available on CD). It is said that he broke out in tears after hearing only the first notes of Yudina's playing. Despite the recognition from Stalin the pianist remained an uncompromising critic of the Stalinist regime with unprecedented impunity. She was awarded the Stalin Prize and donated its monetary portion to the Orthodox Church for "perpetual prayers for Stalin's sins". She died in Moscow in 1970. Yudina's playing was marked by great virtuosity, spirituality, strength and intellectual rigor. However, her playing was also very individual in style and tone. Sviatoslav Richter said of her playing: "She was immensely talented and a keen advocate of the music of her own time: she played Stravinsky, whom she adored, Hindemith, Krenek and Bartok at a time when these composers were not only unknown in the Soviet Union but effectively banned. And when she played Romantic music, it was impressive – except that she didn't play what was written. Liszt's Weinen und Klagen was phenomenal, but Schubert's B flat major Sonata, while arresting as an interpretation, was the exact opposite of what it should have been, and I remember a performance of the Second Chopin Nocturne that was so heroic that it no longer sounded like a piano but a trumpet. It was no longer Schubert or Chopin, but Yudina."[1] The art of Yudina represents a whole epoch in the Russian cultural history. Unlike other fellow musicians, Yudina always tried to go beyond her personal comfort zone, making friends and collaborating with famous writers, artists and architects. Among her friends were Boris Pasternak (who did the first reading of his novel Doctor Zhivago at Yudina's apartment as early as February 1947), Osip Mandelstam, Mikhail Bakhtin, Pierre Suvchinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen and many others. Thanks to efforts of Yudina's friends in Russia, particularly Anatoly Kuznetsov, Yudina's letters and writings were published in the late 90s-early 00s. There were several attempts to complete the set of Yudina's recordings. Most of her recordings released on LPs in Russia are hard to obtain.
Alicia De Larrocha
Alicia was truly a sweetheart. I remember the first time I prepared a piano for her, I was so young she actually pinched my cheek and hugged me. It was a pleasure seeing her warm face on tour over the years. May she rest in the loving glow of the Divine Light, a tiny portion of which always flashed in her eye.Rudolf Serkin - Music and Interview by Isaac Stern
Rudolf Serkin was a genuinely sweet and gentle man. I'm proud to have worked for him. Very few concert tuners can say that they prepared pianos for the Maestro Rudolf Serkin. For thirty years he shared a tuner with Vladimir Horowitz. The only time I was needed was when Serkin and Horowitz had performances at the same time. Horowitz's ego had first call, so poor Rudolf ended up with me.
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Monday, July 9, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Rodolf Firkusny
One of the most poignant and precious moments of my life was when a dying Rudolf Firkusny cancelled a national appearance on PBS, that was honoring the music of Czech composer, Janacek whose compositions Firkusny has both premiered and promoted. It was a huge showcase for him. But, he was weeks from dying of bone cancer. He said that he wanted to play his last concert surrounded by friends, (Dave Young, Marion Robinson, Luly Hay and others,) and where yours truly cared for the piano. We had been friends for more than twenty years at the time. Once he had come to my defense when I was in a little professional trouble and the Atlanta music critic had it in for me - he was a true friend.
That evening was one of his best performances - it was truly awesome and there is a recording of it somewhere (one of my recording engineer friends has it.) When he existed the stage for the very last time, this usually very reserved man, looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "Marion, part of that applause is for you, you know." He was referencing my piano work, I had just rebuilt the hall's piano. He actually hugged me. When he did I could see how terribly frail he was under his tux. The Lord Blesses us with moments and memories capable of creating sweet tears, if our hearts are open to Him and others. - Maestro - May you repose in Christ's Divine Light.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Chet Baker
via Rick Stolk
When I was reading Jeroen de Valk's beautiful book 'Memories Of A Lyrical Trumpeter' (available in English under the title: 'Chet Baker: His Life And Music') there was a passage I was very intrigued by:
"...On April 1st, there is this peculiar performance for the German television: Chet looks like a living corpse and wears a ghostly white suit. But his playing is breathtaking. There is an atmospehere of urgence, of 'now or never', as he pushes endless streams of melodies out of his trumpet..."
When the guitarist's amplifier produces feedback, he says in an irritated way: 'Please don't play with it while I'm singing this tune!' (You can see that bit on25:50)
(From Jeroen de Valk's book as mentioned above, page 199)
I immediately want to find footage described like that. It is on a DVD called 'Torino 1959/Stuttgart 1988' from Impro-Jazz) which happened to be in my personal collection.
It's a saddening piece of film, and it breaks my heart to see my beloved Chet so tired and cranky on April Fools' Day 1988. On the 13th of May he was gone.
Theaterhaus Jazztage, Stuttgart Germany
April 1st, 1988
Chet Baker - Trumpr, Piano
Walter Schmucker - BassVincent Seno - Drumset
Nicola Stilo - Guita
When I was reading Jeroen de Valk's beautiful book 'Memories Of A Lyrical Trumpeter' (available in English under the title: 'Chet Baker: His Life And Music') there was a passage I was very intrigued by:
"...On April 1st, there is this peculiar performance for the German television: Chet looks like a living corpse and wears a ghostly white suit. But his playing is breathtaking. There is an atmospehere of urgence, of 'now or never', as he pushes endless streams of melodies out of his trumpet..."
When the guitarist's amplifier produces feedback, he says in an irritated way: 'Please don't play with it while I'm singing this tune!' (You can see that bit on25:50)
(From Jeroen de Valk's book as mentioned above, page 199)
I immediately want to find footage described like that. It is on a DVD called 'Torino 1959/Stuttgart 1988' from Impro-Jazz) which happened to be in my personal collection.
It's a saddening piece of film, and it breaks my heart to see my beloved Chet so tired and cranky on April Fools' Day 1988. On the 13th of May he was gone.
Theaterhaus Jazztage, Stuttgart Germany
April 1st, 1988
Chet Baker - Trumpr, Piano
Walter Schmucker - BassVincent Seno - Drumset
Nicola Stilo - Guita
Norah Jones - What's Not To Like?
Ravi Shankr and Beetles Famed George Harrison
Ravi Shankar's Daughter
Nora's sister.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
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