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Every month, Cosmik Debris brings you many CD and record reviews, but the writers manage to find a little time for other pursuits, like reading, going to movies and watching videos. That's where Everything Else In Review comes in.
VIDEO: The Mists Of Avalon
Starring Angelica Houston,
Julianna Margulies and Joan Allen
Directed by Uli Edel
Screenplay by Gavin Scott
Book by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
I saw the first broadcast of Marion Zimmer Bradley's take on the Arthurian legend on TNT last summer and enjoyed it immensely. The video version is now available and I'm pleased to report that the production holds up very well under multiple passes.
This is a TNT production and true to form Mists outclasses most all mini-series the other networks mount. Is it true to the book? I can't say because I haven't read it, but it certainly stands on its own merit. The production values are all topnotch, damn near feature movie quality. Indeed I like Mists Of Avalon much better than all the other big screen attempts at the story of Arthur such as John Boorman's Excalibur or any of the stilted epics that came out in the 50's and 60's.
The story of King Arthur is one of the great ones. Popularized about 150 years ago by Mort D'Arthur, the legend is a dark story of magic and conflict in England when the old Druidic Gods were strong and Christianity did not hold sway over all. The narrator is Morgaine Le Fey herself, the villainess in earlier versions, who warns us to forget all the other stories of Arthur right from the start. This is what "really" happened. Bradley's story turns the Druidic Gods into something much more feminist than what Tennyson envisioned, bringing the Lady Of the Lake into the middle of the plot. Therein lies much of this video's power. Bradley also adds in a little incest and a royal three-way for spice.
Julianna Margulies is Morgaine, half-sister to Arthur, swept up in the struggle of the old religion versus the new. Angelica Houston is perfectly cast as Morgaine's aunt Viviane, the current Lady Of The Lake who lives in Avalon, a fortress of the Goddess where magic is taught and wielded. Morgaine's half-brother Arthur must balance the demands of the old gods and the new, all the while trying to defend his kingdom from all-too real attack by the Saxons. The King of Camelot seems to believe more in the Goddess than God but he gets wed to Guinevere, who as a faithful Christian is resentful of Arthur's respect for Viviane. Morgaine's other aunt, Morgause, played by Joan Allen, is a schemer who turns Morgaine's son Mordred against both her and Arthur.
Forget historical accuracy, they didn't built castles like this in pre-Saxon times, but I love the interplay of the Druid versus Christian themes in the screenplay. This could have been a trashy Dark Ages soap opera, but instead it rises to the material and gives a thought provoking twist on the Arthurian legend.
(C) 2002 - Rusty Pipes
BOOK: Swing
Written by Scott Yanow
Published by Miller Freeman
Reviewed by Ron Saranich
Swing is a wonderful book covering the major musicians and groups of the Swing era (1935-46). From Louis Armstrong to Duke Ellington to Coleman Hawkins to Lester Young to Roy Eldridge to Benny Goodman to Cab Calloway, all the influential contributors to the Swing genre are discussed in loving detail. Yanow, a major contributor to The All Music Guide, has also written extensively for Cadence, Coda, Downbeat, Jazziz, JazzTimes, and the L.A. Jazz Scene among others.
The author knows his jazz and has an admirable way of providing relevancy and interest to musicians and events from at least a half century ago. For example, when discussing the incomparable Art Tatum, Yanow writes "It was said during his lifetime that other musicians could not perform with Tatum (since he often left little space) but in reality it was more accurate to say only the best could.....Even decades later his records can still scare any pianist!" In less than 50 words, Yanow paints a picture of the prodigiously talented Tatum that remains in the reader's mind long after they put down this book.
Yanow uses a rating system for his CD reviews based on a one to ten scale, with one meaning the CD stinks to ten which signifies a gem that belongs in every jazz listener's collection. Since he reviews only significant recordings, very few CDs score less than five. In addition, if the artist was active during the swing era, works done before 1935 or after 1946 are also included for review. For those few swing CDs I've heard, Yanow has a wonderful musical ear and thus his reviews are generally right on the money.
Since the majority of Cosmik's readers were not living during the swing area, this is a must read in order to learn more about a significant musical era when jazz was king. Life then was paradoxical. It was a simpler, almost magical time. Yet racism was rampant and a fact of life for many of the musicians of the Sswing era; finding a job was difficult; and social programs such as unemployment, welfare, and social security did not exist. Music helped ease life's daily hardships. And swing, with its emphasis on a smooth beat perfect for dancing, was an integral part of the Nation's collective conscience. Yanow captures the era and the musical genre perfectly, making Swing a must read.
(C) 2002 - Ron Saranich
CONCERT: Tab Benoit
Live at Larry's Blues Café
Seattle, WA
Reviewed by Eric Steiner
The City of Seattle may have cancelled the annual Mardi Gras celebration in historic Pioneer Square, but Tab Benoit's show at Larry's Blues Café showed that the Louisiana spirit behind this annual party is still alive and well in the Pacific Northwest.
Tab Benoit is touring behind his Telarc debut, Wetlands, and his Seattle show drew a standing room only crowd at one of Seattle's best blues rooms. Larry's Blues Café features national and regional blues acts like Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, the Mark Whitman Band, and the Paul de Lay Band, among others. Tonight belonged to Houma, Louisiana's own Tab Benoit, who took us to Louisiana and back again with his masterful command of the guitar.
He picked up his 1972 Fender Telecaster Thinline, a guitar that has seen much better days. Tab told me after the first set that he got it in mint condition, but it's held up over years of playing. When I saw it in person, after seeing it on the Wetlands CD, I couldn't believe that he could wring such magic out of such a road-tested instrument.
Those years include six CDs for three labels (Justice, Vanguard, and now Telarc), and more than ten years as a working bluesman.
Benoit started his set with "I Got Loaded" from the new CD. Many of Larry's Blues Café faithful raised their glasses at this ode to gin, whiskey and wine, but Tab used this tune to set the standard for the night's songs, which usually involved six to eight minute explorations of the fretboard. He followed that up with "Traveling South," from his 1999 Vanguard CD, These Blues Are All Mine.
Tab said that he missed the late Albert Collins. Truth be told, I do too. Albert would have been mighty proud of his version of "Too Many Dirty Dishes" from his 1997 Vanguard CD, Live Swampland Jam.
Last month, Assistant Editor Shaun Dale sang the praises of the late Zydeco king Boozoo Chavis on the screens of Cosmik Debris, and chills ran up and down my spine when Tab tackled "Dog Hill" live. It's also on his new CD, and Boozoo's legacy is secure in the pantheon of Louisiana's best.
Tab slowed it down just a bit when he played "These Arms Of Mine," one of Otis Redding's hits from the early 1960's. Two other songs got the Larry's Blues Café crowd up and rocking, and they also were from the new CD, "Her Mind Is Gone" and "Muddy Bottom Blues."
Tab energized Willie Dixon's "29 Ways To My Baby's Door" from his 1999 release on Vanguard, These Blues Are All Mine. That disc also included Hank Williams'"Jambalaya."
As soon as Tab lit into the opening, funky chords of "Jambalaya," the dance floor filled to its frenzied capacity. This dancefloor filler lasted 15 minutes while Tab weaved in two other musical icons that often define the Big Easy, musically: "Iko Iko" and "When the Saints Go Marching In."
Tab's website features a great photo of him playing with the late Luther Allison in Chattanooga 1996, and I'd like to think that Tab's carrying the blues torch for that Chicago blues legend in his own way. His joy at playing with one of the true legends of the blues is unmistakable at www.tabbenoit.com.
Next month, I'll review Tab Benoit's new CD Wetlands in our CD Reviews pages, but here's just one hint of what I'm going to shout about it: please, please don't wait for my review. Go out and pick one up. There's a lot to like on this Louisiana blues classic in the making. If Tab's touring near you, go and see a true master of Louisiana blues at work.
(C) 2002 - Eric Steiner
BOOK: If The Gods Had Meant Us To Vote
They Would Have Given Us Candidates
Revised Edition
Written by Jim Hightower
Published by Perennial Books
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes
Jim Hightower was once a public official in Texas, a rare progressive in that state. Since his tenure he's become a populist firebrand, writing columns, books and doing radio commentary. The original edition of If The Gods came out in time for the 2000 Presidential Election and was perhaps the most strident incisive criticism to be found anywhere about our flawed political process that makes a mockery of "government by the people." The revised edition contains more material about the unique election end game that cost Al Gore the Presidency, saving us all from a fate worse than anything. Except Dubya of course.
The book could be dense and pedantic but Hightower's wry sense of humor and a wealth of Texas idioms always make his rants go down like so much five-alarm Austin chili. It's an entertaining read, but beware, you will not come away unchanged.
Basically Hightower believes that there's only one party in this country, controlled by the rich, and the people need to be awakened from a corporately-induced slumber. He doesn't mince words about the need preserve to democracy. "...There has been a radical backsliding of democratic control in the past few years," he writes. "A majority of Americans now find themselves effectively shut out of economic and political decision making and even greater threats to our sovereignty loom in the form of the WTO, NAFTA and other antidemocratic creations of the global corporate powers."
Sure the revised edition came out last year, but we're in an election year again and this eye-opening take on the political process should be required reading all across the country.
(C) 2002 - Rusty Pipes