Queen of Fado

Here is a beautiful song about Lisbon by Portugal's greatest and most famous singer, Amália Rodrigues.

Born in Lisbon, Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues (1920 - 1999) was known as the "Rainha do Fado" ("Queen of Fado") and was most influential in popularizing the fado worldwide. She was unquestionably the most important figure in the genre's development, by virtue of an innate interpretive talent carefully nurtured throughout a 40-year recording and stage career. Rodrigues' performances and choice of repertoire pushed Fado's boundaries and helped redefine it and reconfigure it for her and subsequent generations. In effect, Rodrigues wrote the rulebook on what fado could be and on how a female singer — or Fadista — should perform it, to the extent that she remains an unsurpassable model and an unending source of repertoire for all those who came afterwards. Rodrigues also remains the sole truly international star to have ever come out of Portugal, with an extensive international career between the 1950's and the 1970's, although in an era where such efforts were not as easily quantified as today.


-:- Enjoy Amália Rodrigues' inimitable style -:-






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Add Me

Spotlight on

C h u m b a w a m b a




Chumbawamba is an English band, formed in 1982, that started out in Yorkshire playing punk rock and went on to play music in a wide range of styles. Over their 25-year career they have gained world-wide notoriety. Their varied repertoire includes songs influenced by dance music and world music, but mainly populist, topical agitprop.
Through the years and through their many transformations they always maintained their signature undercurrent of rebellion and anarchism, comming from the 'Devil's Advocate' point of view.

Chumbawamba's watchword is still: change. Keep moving, keep growing. It's how the band carry on enjoying themselves, and it's how the band carry on asking questions of their audience, themselves and the world at large.

Nowadays their output is "an amalgam of pop, folk, acapella, politics, humour, four-part harmony and five-part anger."

Add Me

I'm a loner alone with neurosis and hate
Anger is a permanent character trait
My letter bombs are primed and they're ready to send
Would you like to add me as a friend?

I'm a wound-up whiner with a fetish for guns
I'm almost fifty and I live with my mom
I hope my nude picture doesn't offend
Would you like to add me as a friend?

Chorus:
Add me, add me,
Me mother says she wish she never had me
Add me, add me,
Would you like to add me as a friend?
Would you like to add me as a friend?

I'm a recovering alcoholic; I rarely leave my room,
Peeping through the curtains in my dark costume,
The voices in my head gonna get me in the end
Would you like to add me as a friend?

I really like to mail you the picture that I drew,
It's Kylie's body, but the head is you
I've asked you fifty times before I'm asking you again
Would you like to add me as a friend?

Chorus

Here's a picture of me in my Nazi uniform
Doing a trick with an egg that I like to perform
At a monster truck rally that my mom and me attend
Would you like to add me as a friend?

I've added Britney, and Paris, and you and Tom,
I'm gonna find your address so I can visit you at home,
I don't like people, but I like to pretend
Would you like to add me as a friend?

Chorus

© 2007 Chumbawamba

ADD ME is their most recently completed song.



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Follow your Bliss

"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music -
the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people,"

Henry Miller (1891 - 1980), American writer, perhaps best know for his novel Tropic of Cancer, published in 1934

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Following his bliss:

Myron Michael Hardy aka Money the Mystro
29 year-old poet, emcee and hip hop artist


-:- TAKE -:-
A
.......L I S T E N.......

(Instructions: Clicking on the link 'LISTEN 'will start up a music player in a new window. Click on a track. To stop the music, close player window.)

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[See related: The reason for Poetry]

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Killer Virus invades all Continents

(The stats in the graphic above are outdated but serve to illustrate the geography. The current statistics are as follows:)

In the quarter century since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, more than 65 million people worldwide have become infected, including more than 25 million who have already died.

In the U.S., there are now more than one million people currently estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is on track to be one of the worst epidemics in history, with millions more estimated to become infected by the end of this decade alone, if more is not done.

Multiple needs remain to be addressed globally in the areas of prevention, care and treatment, research, and funding. As such, the HIV/AIDS epidemic presents numerous political, economic, social, and scientific challenges to the United States and nations throughout the world.

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The vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, tours worldwide, teaching about their homeland and its culture. Their music genre of a-cappella style singing originated from the South African Zulus. In this video they perform the popular song "(We are) Homeless", by Bhekizizwe Joseph Shabalala, a fusion of native dialect and English lyrics.

Here they deliver a fundamentally sad message in the softest and gentlest musical hues.

Emaweni webaba
Silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni ...

Strong wind destroy our home
Many dead, tonight it could be you ...

And we are homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake ...

: World - Citizens :

We must show compassion NOW!

Kuluman
Kulumani, kulumani sizwe
Singenze njani
Baya jabula abasi thanda yo
Ho

[See also Losing a partner and best friend and "Goodbye Jim!"]

Ana Elsner speaks about The Arts

In a recent interview about the arts,
poet Ana Elsner said,



"It seems to be part of human nature to be single-minded. Art lovers go to exhibitions, music lovers go to concerts and poetry lovers go to readings. There is not enough cross-traffic.

I wanted to change that, if only for one night. So I choreographed a dialogue between a musical instrument and my poetry. I chose the oboe as my preferred partner and was most grateful when principal oboist Laura Griffiths of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra agreed to participate.

It was very exciting to design a program where my poems alternate with the oboe, in order to demonstrate the connection between the two. I called this project "The Sounding Reed", with a double meaning of (a) the actual reed of the instrument and (b) the 'reeds' of the human vocal chords. My concept was very well received by Robert Carlson of the San Francisco Public Library. He hosted it on June 12, 2007.

Having set the stage, I read in front of a combined audience of both music and poetry lovers and thereby made this cross-traffic happen. The evening was a big success and garnered excellent reviews."

Click to see Ana Elsner's event listing at The Academy of American Poets

--- See also: Ana Elsner's German Language Poems

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"Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature's monotony. The sublime idea men have of the universe would collapse with dizzying speed... There would be no seasons, no civilization, no thought, no humanity...,"

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) was a poet, writer, and art critic. The foremost French poet of the early 20th century, he is credited with coining the word surrealism and writing one of the earliest works described as surrealist, the play Les Mamelles de Tirsias (1917).

Related topic: Why Poetry?

Applause for the Oboe

When asked about her favorite musical instrument, poet and classical music aficionado Ana Elsner said,



"Without a doubt, the instrument that speaks to me most is the oboe. Although sometimes overshadowed by other woodwinds, not to mention the testosterone-laden brass, I perceive the oboe as being a full-bodied female voice. Perhaps this is due to its mezzo-soprano to soprano range. In fact, I have written a poem titled 'Oboe' which defines how I feel about it."



Later on in the conversation, Ana Elsner added,

"My favorite oboist, these days, is Ms. Laura Griffiths of the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestra. Her lyrical tone quality and masterful vibrato distinguish her among the woodwinds, indeed, among the entire orchestra. Her soli simply shine. It is a treat to hear her play."

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Side-by-side: Laura Griffiths and Ana Elsner

The
Sounding
Reed
(borrowed from a poem by Ana Elsner)


Born out of her affection for the oboe, Ana Elsner conceived of and choreographed a special evening of dialogue between the spoken word as represented by Elsner's poems and the voice of the oboe as presented by Laura Griffiths, acting principal oboist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra.

This unique event, headlined 'The Sounding Reed', will take place on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 7p.m. at the North Beach Branch of the San Francisco Public Library, located at 2000 Mason Street, corner of Columbus Avenue, (415) 355-5626.

The sponsor of this exciting program is 'The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library'. Admission is free.

Lovers of Poetry and Lovers of Classical Music: unite!

[Read OBOE, the signature poem for this event]

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Smooth Jazz: the Alto Sax rules

Listen to the Sound-of-the-Month-Pick :

Bliss out on Jazz Master Paul Desmond's bluesy rendition of "Where is Love?"



[Courtesy of Steve Khan]

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