Motley Moose – Archive

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in “Cheers & Jeers”. For example …..

OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS? – two political conservatives: singer Pat Boone and former congressman Todd Akin.

   

OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.

ART NOTES – an exhibition entitled African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond will be at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California through September 21st.

BRAIN TEASER – try this Quiz of the Week’s News from the BBC.

MUSIC NOTES – the jazz pianist Billy Childs is set to release a tribute album to Laura Nyro – featuring guest vocalists such as Rickie Lee Jones, Shawn Colvin, Alison Krauss and the opera singer Renée Fleming – early next month.

THURSDAY’s CHILD is Sugar the Cat – an Edmonton, Alberta kitteh found … in a storage locker, but is recuperating well.

CHEERS to seeing that the new commuter rail system in Orlando, Florida named SunRail – derided by numerous critics as a boondoggle – is drawing praise after its initial ninety-day launch, including plaudits from merchants as well.

IN THE EASTERN EUROPEAN nation of Moldova there are old mining tunnels that house 70 miles of wine cellars … with bottles taken from Hermann Göring’s private collections.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is Zeke the Cat – a Florida animal shelter mascot who wound up … reaching 911 on the phone. Even better: the news enabled this kitteh to be adopted as a result.

WITH THE 40th ANNIVERSARY of the resignation of President Nixon – as a seventeen year-old, I didn’t cheer the night he made his address: instead, I felt … well, what Digby said ….

I didn’t experience euphoria. I was stunned, though. Seeing the most powerful man in the world brought low by his own hubris (and psychic wounds) was an early lesson in human nature. A real life Greek tragedy in front of my very eyes.

And the next day, I recall watching the inauguration of Gerald Ford at the public library (where I had a work-study job). A TV set was brought into our break room at lunchtime so that I and my (mostly female) colleagues could see it. And while most people remember the “long national nightmare” line from his inaugural address: for me, the money quote was …..

“I am indebted to no man, and to only one woman – my dear wife – as I begin this very difficult job”.

Instinctively, I looked at the faces of the adult women in the room … and nearly all had a lump in their throats, it seemed to me.

OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS? – two political conservatives: singer Pat Boone and former congressman Todd Akin.

   

…… and finally, for a song of the week ……………………. one of those musicians who has a recognized sound, yet can be heard in many other formats is Bruce Hornsby – who achieved success first as a songwriter, session and touring player before hitting the Top 40 in the late 80’s. And then in the early 90’s he walked away from stardom: choosing instead to play what he truly wanted – as a reviewer in the Guardian wryly noted, ‘that’s just the way it is’. You can hear him on pop/rock dates, but also bluegrass, jazz, R&B plus classical music. And along with Dave Matthews, his style has been dubbed the Virginia Sound – blending the wide range of musical styles noted above, coupled with a sense of progressive Southern sensibilities and themes.

Born in (and living much of his life) in the university/historical town of Williamsburg, Virginia: he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston as well as the University of Miami. As a twenty-six year-old, he moved to Los Angeles with his songwriting brother John in 1980. They found work at 20th Century Fox writing songs for others, with Bruce also playing in studio sessions and local dates. He toured with Sheena Easton before his big break came when Huey Lewis helped him get an RCA record deal (and became his first producer).  

Bruce Hornsby and the Range hit #1 in the charts in April, 1986 with The Way It Is – featuring his syncopated piano along with a look at racial attitudes of his youth – which has been sampled by at least six rap performers (most notably the late Tupac Shakur). The band’s debut album (named after the title track) also spawned two other Top 20 hits Mandolin Rain as well as Every Little Kiss – and helped them win the 1987 Grammy for Best New Artist.

Their 1988 second album had hits in the songs “Look Out any Window” plus The Valley Road – which had another noted piano sound – and Huey Lewis went on to have a #1 hit with Jacob’s Ladder – another song from the album.

In addition, you may have recognized that it was Bruce Hornsby playing the piano on Don Henley’s 1989 song End of the Innocence (which Hornsby co-wrote) and also on Bonnie Raitt’s 1991 song I Can’t Make You Love Me – both of which Hornsby has in his concert repertoire today. When the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded a Vol. II sequel in 1989 to their landmark Will the Circle Be Unbroken? – they had Bruce Hornsby as a guest musician to record a bluegrass version of “The Valley Road” – which won a 1990 Grammy for Best Bluegrass recording.

This exposure had an effect on The Range’s 1990 third album A Night on the Town – with guest appearances from Jerry Garcia, jazz musicians Wayne Shorter and (the recently deceased) Charlie Haden as well as banjo star Bela Fleck. The album had more improvisation and musical styles represented.

It did, however, cause a re-think in Bruce Hornsby’s career path, and he split from The Range in 1991 to lead more fluid line-ups in the future. And a conscious decision to walk away from Top 20 success.

First, though, he spent time as a producer (directing a Leon Russell comeback album) and becoming the father of twin boys. And most notably: he became a touring member of the Grateful Dead in 1990 (after the death of Brent Mydland) and continuing until Vince Welnick took over full-time as the band’s keyboardist. Thus Bruce Hornsby is ½ of a trivia question: with the deaths of Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan, Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland and Vince Welnick: only Hornsby and Tom Constanten (who played briefly for the Dead in the late 60’s-early 70’s) are the surviving keyboard players for that band. He has continued to work with the band’s members over the years – small wonder that when the Grateful Dead were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 … it was Hornsby who made the formal introduction.

Bruce Hornsby’s first solo album Harbor Lights was released in 1993, with guest stars such as Jerry Garcia, Phil Collins and Bonnie Raitt, plus jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Hornsby won his third Grammy for co-composing (with Branford Marsalis) the instrumental Barcelona Mona (for the 2004 Olympics).

1995 saw the release of his album Hot House – seeking to blend jazz and bluegrass (with the cover showing an imaginary jam between Bill Monroe and Charlie Parker). 1998 saw the release of the double album Spirit Trail – once again with many different styles of music and themes about the South (including Sneaking Up on Boo Radley – referencing “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

A live album followed in 2000, followed in 2002 with Big Swing Face – a true departure from the norm, which had synthesizers, drum loops and tape editing, garnering mixed reviews.

2004 saw a more traditional album release, Halcyon Days – with guests such as Sting, Eric Clapton and Elton John. And while he has not yet released a classical album: Bruce Hornsby has played some of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations in concert. He performed in that same year on bassist Charlie Haden’s Rambling Boy – with a Grammy nomination for Is This America? – Pat Metheny’s look at the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina.

He recorded two albums in 2007: a bluegrass album with Ricky Skaggs that had a cover of the Rick James funk song Super Freak – yes, in a bluegrass style. He also recorded his first jazz album with Jack DeJohnette along with Christian McBride – one of one of my favorite bassists (and also a 3-time Grammy winner). Hornsby has in recent years released several live recordings, one with his new band The Noisemakers as well as another bluegrass outing with Ricky Skaggs just last year. And perhaps as a result of his Grateful Dead touring days: his set-lists are rather loose, never the same and often taking requests.

Other projects of his are: contributing tunes to a play (including a Donald Trump spoof), performing in 2007 at a fundraising party for Nancy Pelosi and – as a basketball fan – composing the score for a Spike Lee documentary about NBA star Kobe Bryant (among other projects with the filmmaker). Hornsby spends time attending college games throughout Virginia and named his twin sons Russell and Keith after two of his piano idols: Leon Russell and jazz star Keith Jarrett.

Bruce Hornsby will turn age 60 this November, has three Grammy Awards (as well as other nominations), has appeared on albums (not already mentioned) with Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks plus Crosby, Stills & Nash, and was honored by the Steinway company with a signature piano model. His current tour features him on (a) solo concerts, as well as (b) dates with guitarist Pat Metheny, and (c) still others with Ricky Skaggs. Though he chose to leave the limelight: his wide of range of material ensures that he will be relevant for some time to come … and no less than Elton John declares he “is one of the best pianists – if not the best – out there”.

   

Of all his work: it’s the 1990 song Across the River – the last of his six Top 40 songs – which is my favorite. In the liner notes for his 2004 greatest hits album, Bruce Hornsby said of the guest guitarist on this tune, “It may have been only the second time Jerry Garcia ever hit the Top 40 chart (the first being the Grateful Dead’s 1987 hit “Touch of Grey”. And below you can hear it.