Thursday’s Music Scene, Nov 21, 2013

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Today, we're holding "four aces" -- it's the Guide's 1111th edition since moving to this site.
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Today’s sections…
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♪   Today in history, a star was born
♪   a note about what’s on TV
♪  One quick heads-up for a very special show on FRIDAY
♪   tonight’s live music events
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♪   Yesterday’s two editions are loaded with NEWS FEATURES, and they’re still available just below, at separate clicks. Along with NEWS, there are features on a major MUSIC CONFERENCE, happening now, plus two TICKET ALERTS.
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♪   Today in history…

A STAR IS BORN, THIS DAY IN 1934

by Frank Beacham

On the evening of November 21, 1934 — 79 years ago — a young and gangly would-be dancer took to the stage of Harlem's Apollo Theater to participate in a harrowing tradition known as Amateur Night.

Finding herself onstage as a result of pure chance after her name was drawn out of a hat, the aspiring dancer spontaneously decided to turn singer instead—a change of heart that would prove momentous not only for herself personally, but also for the future course of American popular music.

The performer in question was a teenaged ELLA FITZGERALD, whose decision to sing rather than dance on this day in 1934 set her on a course toward becoming a musical legend. It also led her to victory at Amateur Night at the Apollo, a weekly event that was then just a little more than a year old but still thrives today.

Born in 1917 in New York City and orphaned at the age of 15, Ella Fitzgerald was a high-school dropout and a ward of New York State when she made her way to the Apollo that autumn night in 1934 with two of her girlfriends.

"It was a bet," she later recalled. "We just put our names in....We never thought we'd get the call." But Ella did get the call, and as it happened, she came to the stage immediately after a talented and popular local dance duo.

Afraid that she couldn't measure up to the dancing talents of the preceding act, Ella was petrified. "I looked and I saw all those people, and I said, 'Oh my gosh, what am I going to do out here?'" she told National Public Radio decades later.

"Everybody started laughing and said, 'What is she gonna do?' And I couldn't think of nothing else, so I tried to sing 'The Object of My Affection.'"

By her own admission, Fitzgerald was blatantly imitating the singer who popularized that song, Connie Boswell of the Boswell Sisters, and the first few notes were a disaster. Rushing onstage to protect her from the jeers of the notoriously tough Apollo Theater crowd, however, was the famous Amateur Night master of ceremonies, Ralph Cooper, who helped Ella gather her wits and try again. On her second attempt, she brought down the house.

Within the year, Ella Fitzgerald had been discovered by Chick Webb, to whose band she was legally paroled by the State of New York while still shy of her 18th birthday.

It was with Webb's band that she scored her career-making hit, "A-Tisket A-Tasket" in 1938, but it was as a solo performer that she would become a jazz legend in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a revolutionary innovator in vocal jazz.
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♪   TV WORTH SEEING OR RECORDING…

In two parts: notes about what’s on TV
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1)  JOHN F. KENNEDY is being examined, celebrated, and exploited on TV all this week. You can find everything from thoughtful documentaries of his presidency and its legacy, to wild speculation and the conspiracy-theory-du-jour about the assassination that happened 50 years ago on November 22, 1963.
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Here are our recommendations for the ones to watch tonight  and to set your recorder your recorder to catch during the day on Friday (more tomorrow, for Friday evening and weekend programming on JFK):
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THURSDAY on TV, Turner Classic Movies has a full evening of quality JFK-related programming:

√  5-6:03 pm  “PRIMARY,” the 1960 documentary by filmmaker Robert Drew, following then-Sen. Kennedy on the campaign trail for the Democratic nomination.

√  6:15-7:20 pm  “ADVENTURES ON THE NEW FRONTIER” (1961) is a portrait of JFK’s early days in the White House.

√  7:30-8:26 pm  “CRISIS: PRESIDENTIAL COMMITMENT” (1963) is documentarian Robert Drew’s behind-the-scenes account of President Kennedy’s confrontations with Alabama George Wallace as the latter refused to desegregate the all-white University of Alabama, and Kennedy made it happen.

√  8:45-9 pm  “FACES OF NOVEMBER” (1963) is a film short that looks at the faces of mourners at the time of the Kennedy funeral.

√  9-11:15 pm  “FOUR DAYS IN NOVEMBER” (1964) recounts, in depth, the funeral and events surrounding the chaos and dignity of the end of the Kennedy presidency.

√  11:15 pm-1:45 am  “PT 109” is the 1963 Hollywood film depicting the wartime experiences of Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy in the South Pacific.

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FRIDAY on daytime TV, the History Channel takes a rare break from its infatuation with junk collectors, junk hoarders and junk sellers to bring a quality morning and afternoon of JFK-related programming:

√  8:30-9 am  “10 THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT” the Kennedy Presidency, from 2012.

√  9-10 am  “INVESTIGATING HISTORY” is a 2004 forensic rehash of the assassination.

√  10 am-noon  “LOST KENNEDY HOME MOVIES” is a 2011 documentary that covers JFK’s youth, up through his final weekend with his own children.

√  Noon-4 pm  “JFK: 3 SHOTS THAT CHANGED AMERICA” (2009) is a documentary (two parts, two-hours each) that rehashes speculation and controversy after the assassination.

√  4-6 pm  “KENNEDY ASSASSINATION: 24 HOURS AFTER” is a 2009 doc that chronicles the history and the transition of power to LBJ.
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2) ABRAHAM LINCOLN and the 150th anniversary of the GETTYSBURG ADDRESS was all but forgotten on its actual anniversary day this week, but PBS West is taking a few steps to correct that on Friday:

√  5-6 pm & 10-11 pm  “THE GETTYSBURG STORY” is a new 2013 documentary on the pivotal battle of the Civil War, when we came closest to becoming two separate nations.

√  6-7 pm & 11 pm-midnight  “LINCOLN: PRELUDE TO THE PRESIDENCY” (2009) chronicles Abraham Lincoln’s years as a lawyer (1837-60) on Illinois’ Eighth Judicial Circuit, and how his experiences there led to his successful run for the presidency in 1860.

√  9-10 pm  “LINCOLN@GETTYSBURG” is a fine new 2013 documentary that reveals how Lincoln’s embrace of the telegraph made him the first media-savvy president, and is the reason why he limited the Gettysburg Address to just 272 words.
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♪  FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIAL SHOW – PLAN NOW…

One quick heads-up for a very special show on FRIDAY...

(this originally ran as a news feature in the Guide on Nov 18)

JFK: THE 50th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

Fri, Nov 22, in Venice:
7-10 pm "JFK: THE 50th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT" in observance of November 22, 1963, produced by performing host ROSS ALTMAN, happens only once, at the Talking Stick Coffee Lounge, 1411 Lincoln Bl, Venice 90291; 310-450-6052.
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With special guests poet SHERMAN PEARL, finger-style guitarist JILL FENIMORE, storyteller MARTHA STEVENS, psychiatrist / musician DR. NEIL HARTMAN, blues musician ALEX “ALEJANDRO” SOSCHIN, and "Change-Links" Editor JOHN JOHNSON, the evening promises to be informative, inspiring, and entertaining. Ash Grove alumnus and Venice Arts Council Webmaster ERIC AHLBERG will be running the sound board.
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From “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” to That Dallas morning on November 22,1963, "In Memoriam JFK" looks back on the major themes and events of President Kennedy’s Thousand Days in office, using songs, poems, and a prose narrative to tell the story of a time that is indelibly etched in history books and the personal memory of everyone who lived through it.
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It's hosted by Los Angeles folksinger ROSS ALTMAN on the 50th anniversary of the sudden end of the Kennedy presidency on that long ago Friday, November 22nd.
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The event is FREE and open to the public, with a one-purchase minimum (drink or food) to support the venue.  "JFK: The 50th Anniversary Concert" is a © production of Grey Goose Music (BMI).
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♪   THURSDAY NIGHT’S LIVE MUSIC SCENE…
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Thursday, November 21, 2013
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Thu, Nov 21, in Long Beach:
5 pm  KEN O’MALLEY brings original and authentic Irish music to the Auld Dubliner, 71 S Pine Av, Long Beach 90802; www.aulddubliner.com  
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Thu, Nov 21, near UCLA:
5 pm  Weekly “THURSDAY NIGHT SOFA JAM” at Westwood Music, 1627 Westwood Bl, Los Angeles 90024; 310-478-4251.
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Thu, Nov 21, in OC (Fountain Valley):
5:15 pm  Weekly “FOUNTAIN VALLEY BLUEGRASS JAM” at Orange County Archery, 18792 Brookhurst St, Fountain Valley 92708.
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Thu, Nov 21, in San Diego:
6 pm  Monthly “SAN DIEGO OLD TIME FIDDLERS JAM” at New Expression Music, 4434 30th St, San Diego 92116; 619-280-9035.
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Thu, Nov 21, in Monrovia:
6:30-8:30 pm THE LICATA BROTHERS and musical guests play Friends Cafe on Myrtle Av, Monrovia.
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DUANE THORIN says, "For a change, they are the stars and I open, and sing with them. We work out a lot of new ideas there, and it is nice food and a lovely place."
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No cover.
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Thu, Nov 21, in Echo Park:
7 pm “STORIES BOOKS & CAFÉ 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY” includes live music from Adam Payne, Jeffrey Davies, Alex Maslansky and Paul Bergmann, a visual art show from Kate Ward, Jalise Woodward, Emily Hillburg, Leanna Robinson and Chris Sullivan, and drink, food “and lots of interesting people who have a lot to say,” at Stories, 1716 W Sunset Bl, Echo Park (Los Angeles) 90026.
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Thu, Nov 21, in Kern Co (Lake Isabella):
7 pm  MEN OF WORTH, that legendary Scottish group, plays the Lake Isabella campus of Cerro Coso College, 5520 Lake Isabella Bl, Lake Isabella 93240.
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Thu, Nov 21, in OC (Westminster):
7:30 pm Monthly "SONGSALIVE! SONGWRITER SHOWCASE" features Songnet chair JIMI YAMAGISHI performing, at Sam Ash Westminister, 14200 Beach Bl, Westminster 92683. No cover.
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Thu, Nov 21, in Hollywood:
8 pm  Annual “HOLLYWOOD MUSIC IN MEDIA AWARDS” features a performance by EILEEN CAREY, nominated for the “COUNTRY SONG OF THE YEAR” (as close as they get to Americana), at the Fonda Theater, 6126 Hollywood Bl, Hollywood 90028; 323-464-6269 ex 101; www.hmmawards.org
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Thu, Nov 21, in L.A.:
8 pm  OVER THE RHINE with NOAH GUNDERSEN plays the El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Bl, Los Angeles 90036; 323-936-6400.
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“There may be no more soothing voice in music than Karin Bergquist’s. She could be interpreting jazz standards, but fortunately she applies that balm to her and husband Linford Detweiler’s beautifully languid originals...” – Entertainment Weekly.
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"Meet Me At The Edge Of the World," their double album produced by Joe Henry, was released Sep 3rd on their Great Speckled Dog label. The album's 19 tracks were all recorded live in only six days, with Grammy-winning producer Joe Henry (Bonnie Raitt, Bettye LaVette, et al) at the helm.
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Most of the album's songs were literally born out of the land surrounding the 1830s brick farm house Bergquist and Detweiler purchased eight years ago in southern Ohio. The couple refers to their home as Nowhere Farm. Upon moving there, they knew little about the land’s flora and fauna. Over time, the land began to slowly reveal itself to them as they became more in tune with the natural setting and began calling trees, birds, weeds and wildflowers by name. Eventually the surroundings seeped into the music, both physically and spiritually, that would become "Meet Me At The Edge Of The World."
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All songs on the new record were written by Bergquist and Detweiler, with the exception of their stunning rendition of The Band’s “It Makes No Difference.” The transitional experience of moving from the city to the farm is captured on “All Of It Was Music,” while the two trade vocals for the first time on the beautiful “All Over Ohio”. The heartwarming “Earthbound Love Song” cites the love of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash as an important reference for any aspiring musical couple, and “Favorite Time Of Light” documents the daily ritual of stepping outside when the changing evening light conjures an imaginary Ohio Ocean. “Baby If This Is Nowhere” is an affirmation that Nowhere Farm is where they know they are meant to be. And on “Sacred Ground” and “Blue Jean Sky” the couple discovered a new sound as they began singing in unison for the first time. Through the years, Over The Rhine’s  songs become close friends to their fans and often accompany the band’s followers during life’s major milestones, both happy and sad.
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Tix start at $27, at: http://bit.ly/18dhjyc
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Thu, Nov 21, in Hermosa Beach:
8 pm  DAN NAVARRO plays the “Live at the Lounge” series adjacent to the Comedy & Magic Club, 1014 Hermosa Av, Hermosa Beach 90254; 310-372-1193.
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Thu, Nov 21, in Altadena:
8 pm  JOHN YORK, BILLY DARNELL & CHAD WATSON (formerly THE BYRDS & BEYOND) at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena 92675; reservations (by phone only) at 626-798-6236.
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Thu, Nov 21, in Burbank:
8 pm MURPHY'S FLAW brings their "bluegrass without pity" to Viva Cantina, 900 W Riverside Dr, Burbank 91506.
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No cover. Venue is known for its Mexican food and full bar. Park free across the street at Pickwick Bowl (same owners).
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Thu, Nov 21, in SFV (Chatsworth):
8 pm  JIMI NELSON performs at the Cowboy Palace, 21635 Devonshire St, Chatsworth; 818-341-0166.
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This is L.A.’s last real honky tonk. No cover, full bar, lots of fun. Go early for the nightly free dance lesson.
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Thu, Nov 21, in L.A.:
8 pm  Weekly “L.A. HOOTENANNY” at Villains Tavern, 1356 Palmetto St, Los Angeles 90013; 213-613-0766.
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Thu, Nov 21, in Hollywood:
9 pm LYNDA KAY presents "An Evening with Lynda Kay" at Three Clubs, 1123 Vine St, Hollywood 90038.
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Tickets $10. Doors 8:30 pm. Get there early, it gets crowded.
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More tomorrow,
with the entire tuneful weekend.
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Direct to the current editions /
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www.acousticamericana.blogspot.com
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CONTACT US / Questions / Comments / SUBSCRIBE to our notices, etc., all at
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tiedtothetracks@hotmail.com
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Contents copyright © 2013,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
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The ACOUSTIC AMERICANA MUSIC GUIDE endeavors to bring you NEWS and views of interest to artists everywhere, more specifically to musicians and the creative community, and music makers and fans of acoustic and Folk-Americana music, both traditional and innovative. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues, and schedules of performances in Southern California venues large and small. We cover workshops and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kids o’ things in the world of acoustic and Americana and accessible classical music. From washtub bass to musical spoons to oboe to viola to banjo to squeezebox, from Djangostyle to new-fangled-old-time string band music, from sweet Cajun fiddle to pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to proto blues.
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The Acoustic Americana Music Guide. We’re on it.
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