tunes for walpurgisnacht

It's Walpurgisnacht, and what better way to celebrate than with some Black Sabbath, Andrew Hill, The High Strung and even a personal favorite by Friedrich Chopin. Have a nice holiday and a big shout out to all of you atop the Brocken.







BLOG SABBATH


A month or so ago Mr. Coates posted a comment lauding the awesomeness of the Black Sabbath song, "A National Acrobaut." Later that day, I dug my first guitar out of my parents' basement and joined brother James for an impromptu performance of that same tune. It was amazing how easily it came back to me. It's also amazing just how much Black Sabbath you hear these days in coffee shops and bars like the Replay Lounge in Lawrence.

As absent as Sabbath has been from my playlist the past few years, that original fondness for it never goes away. Ever since my friend Peter gave me the "Paranoid" album for my ice-skating/basketball-themed 7th grade birthday party, I've been a big fan. I liked how their song "War Pigs" was paired with the instrumental freak out, "Luke's Wall." I liked the Halloweeny cover art of the first album, and I marveled at what a fine sample "The Wizard" made for Cypress Hill's, "When The Shit Goes Down" (You Better Be Ready).

Most bizarre regarding Black Sabbath was the appearance of frontman Ozzy Osbourne at Bush's White House correspondent's dinner a few years ago, where the President hailed Osbourne for making such recordings as "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath," "Face in Hell," and "Bloodbath in Paradise." Now I'm not the biggest Ozzy enthusiast out there, but these don't seem like the obvious songs to praise him for. Probably some rock consultant-speechwriter is to blame for the selection, but what would be even weirder is if those songs were really the president's personal favorites.

Regardless, the video I am here to present today is a fine one. I was going to include it last month to mark the 4-year anniversary of the Iraq War, but it's no less relevant (unfortunately) or enjoyable a month later. Regardless of how you feel about the war, it's hard to protest the pentatonic scale.

THE HIGH STRUNG


Last Monday we saw the High Strung carry on their Library Tour on the rooftop patio of the downtown Kansas City Library. There were snacks, including brownies, chex mix, coffee and apple juice. The crowd ranged from little tykes to grandparents.

The High Strung is a great band with good songs and a sweet color scheme. What's even more exciting to me is how they're inspiring kids to go out and do something cool, too.

After their regular set, the band brought the audience together to write a song on the spot. A library volunteer passed out books, instructing everyone to pick one line from each book that would then be used to make up the lyrics to an entirely spontaneous song. Percussion instruments were handed out to young and old before the song's performance, and a teenage girl from the crowd joined in on lead vocals.

To hear more about them, listen to this story about them on "This American Life" or check out their Web site. And thanks to the High Strung for letting me sing along on an impromptu cover of Pink Floyd's "The Gnome." That was so very kind of them.

DINU, FREE OF SORROW


If someone asked me my state of mind last week I would have had to play them a Polish Mazurka. Recent rainy days have whisked me back to my wanderings along the Eppendorfer Moor, a time when my iPod all but got stuck on a particular version of Chopin's Mazurka in A-minor Opera 17, Number 4. I've since listened to 30 second samples of 37 recordings of this song, but have not yet been able to identify who performs this specific version. The closest recordings I can find in tone and sound quality are those by the Romanian pianist Dinu Lipatti, who was regarded by his contemporaries as "the manifestation of the spiritual world, immune from all pain and sorrow." Listen to his version of a different Mazurka, and perhaps you'll feel the same way, at least for 3 minutes and 44 seconds.

POINT OF DEPARTURE


Virtuoso jazz pianist and composer Andrew Hill died this past week. I'll remember him for "Passing Ships," his 1968 recording that was not released on any format until 2003, but mostly for a night a year later when BWB and I stayed up and listened to no less than five of his albums in a row. For those of you interested in a similar experience, I've uploaded "Passing Ships" to rapidshare to give you a jump start. You'll need a winrar extractor, which you can find online for free.

LAST AND LEAST...

Today I dreamed that Nirvana released a censored version of "Rape Me," only the title and lyrics were changed to "Rape Seed." If Kurt were around now, at age 40, he might get a kick out of that!