Meeting Minutes #1

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On January 11^th, 2007 we held our first Bloomington-based Music Club at 417 N. Indiana Avenue. I thank you all for coming and the contributions that y’all made. Whether it was through your words or your music I loved hearing where you were coming from. Please keep coming every other Thursday. It only gets better. Check the links if you get a moment…I hope they work. Here are the results:

OPENING EXERCISE: We sustained silence (a tribute to John Cage) for over three minutes in order to attune our ears to the following sounds:

Chris

Kaki King “…Until We Felt Red” from …Until We Felt Red

You know when you hear a lecture or read a book and it is as if the author/professor had stolen the words from the depths of your subconscious? The feeling of how refreshing it is to have someone put those thoughts so clearly in front of you? That is how I feel when I listen to Kaki King. Her creative approach to the guitar is extremely refreshing and inspiring. It makes me interested in approaching my daily life in the same way. Additionally, show me a beautiful 26 year old girl from Brooklyn who plays lap steel guitar and I will show you a happy man. I was asked to be specific about what exactly I liked about this song and found it hard to describe…still do. Describing music is a difficult dance and one that I think we will be dealing with at each and every meeting. There is no right or wrong answer. I am so glad we established this in the beginning. I welcome all of you to share music that varies from “Bach to Britney.”

Rebecca Geitz

Johnny Dilks “Growing Old”

While applying to graduate school, our own Rebecca Geitz stumbled upon a musician named Johnny Dilks on “The Myspace.” After spending time she concluded the following about the country musician, “he’s super-gorgeous but he’s got some issues.” That could possibly be the greatest introduction ever. Lucky for us Rebecca’s graduate school application found its way here. Check out Johnny’s myspace. I did. Thanks Rebecca...

Fredera

Herbie Hancock(feat.Chaka Khan)"The Essence" from Future2Future

The only issue I see with Fredera Hadley is her cell phone addiction. Spend 10 minutes in a room with Fredera and her cell phone will be buzzing. It is obvious that the world has gotten hip to the class act that is Fredera Hadley. Her musical choices seem to reflect this as well. This song demonstrates the infamous producer/pianist/legend Herbie Hancock doing his best in the world of “drum and bass.”

Maria

Over the Rhine “Ohio” from Ohio

I believe Maria brought the house down so to speak with her presentation of her local favorite Over the Rhine. Art mentioned that the song reminded him of driving across the Midwest, “miles and miles of nothing.” The lead singer just has such a sultry voice. I looked up the band on the “world wide web.” Can someone get me her number? (Elyse/Stef- if you score me a photo of the lead singer she will be on my cardboard box immediately).

Lauren

Calexico "Crystal Frontier" from Even My Sure Things
Fall Through

Speaking of driving music, Lauren brought us some music that reminded her of driving across her home state of AZ. The band is called Calexico and they seem to be sweeping the country with their Mariachi brand of rock. I love the horns and Mexican influence. We found it difficult not to get up and dance to this tune. What’s stopping you people?

Hsin wen

Lin-Sheng-Xiang “Shall We Dance Ma Please”

Listen, I am really impressed that you all showed up with your iPod or your Compact Disc recording of your favorite song that you purchased. But how many of you can show up with an album that you helped produce? Shin-Wen brought us some “new folk music” from Taiwan that he played a role in producing. The song is a reflection of the struggle of the 2^nd largest minority group of Taiwan called “Hakka.” A young man is talking to his mother about becoming a farmer and how he wants to do something for his hometown. A common term in this community is “growing trees” which refers to doing something to help your offspring.

Gabi

Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” from Tiger Man

My fabulous roommate brought us an interesting performance of Elvis Presley during his comeback years of 1968. It features The King doing his famous “Heartbreak Hotel” and stumbling over the lyrics. This recording was taken from Elvis’s “Comeback Special” that aired live on “the television.” It is known as “the sit down” segment of his comeback as opposed to his infamous “waist up” performances on The Ed Sullivan show. The pelvis of Elvis was too dangerous for the masses. This recording was an extremely raw performance of Elvis. You could hear Elvis bantering with his band over the screaming girls in the background. Tell me about it Elvis. This is how I feel every single day my man.

Jim

Red Hot Chili Peppers “This Velvet Glove” from Kalifornication

Before I moved to Bloomington I had a neighbor that lived downstairs from me in Brooklyn. Every morning at 6am sharp he would rise out of bed, scream at the top of his lungs, and then start a cigarette smoking marathon that would last for hours. In between drags of cigarettes he would belt out lyrics to classic rock bands like Queen, Aerosmith, and Led Zeppelin. He was truly insane and seemed bent on making me insane as well. One morning I woke up to him screaming the intro to Guns N’Roses “Welcome to the Jungle.” The exact words were, “Welcome to the Jungle baby, you’re gonna die.” I took this personally. That day I did not leave the house. Thankfully I now live underneath one of the coolest guys on the planet, Jim. Ironically, Jim sings Karaoke in his apartment on a daily basis. Thankfully I have yet to hear any G’n’R but Jim did share some Red Hot Chili Peppers with the group. He remarked on their clean and precise approach to music, and their ability to stay relevant for over 25 years. How have they pulled that off?

Karen

Eliane Elias “Running” from Around the City

This song frequently accompanies Karen during her workout routine, or as Karen put it, “groovin’ at the gym.” Eliane Elias is a singer/pianist with a sultry voice accompanied by a Bossa Nova rhythm. We questioned why someone with this much talent was not better known on the streets of Bloomington or beyond.

Selina

Nina Simone “Seems I’ll Never Tire Loving You” from Nina Simone and Piano!

Selina played a beautiful Nina Simone song that accompanied her down the infamous “aisle.” I wish I could have seen that walk but I think we all got close to that moment thanks to Nina and the look on Selina’s face when she talked about it.

Jeremy

Tilly & the Wall “Nights of the Living Dead” from Wild Like Children

This group hails from Omaha, Nebraska and exchanges tap shoes for traditional drums. Jeremy talked about his initial distaste for the band but could not resist the tap dancing drummer.

Kristiana

The Decemberists “Yankee Bayonet” from The Crane Wife

I ran into Kristy in the bookstore at the beginning of the semester. She told me she had not been reading too much for classes yet as she is trying to control her mystery novel addiction. She told me she is averaging 1.3 mystery novels a week. Or was it a 1.3 mystery novels a day? Either way, it is not surprising that she played the Portland, Oregon storytelling songs of The Decemberists. She dubbed this type of music, “geek rock.” It all makes sense.

Aaron

John Coltrane “Resolution” from A Love Supreme

Speaking of geeks, Aaron introduced this John Coltrane masterpiece by telling us how he became intimate with the melody of this song. When he was 19 years old, Aaron walked around the streets in Mexico performing a pleasant bastardization of this song’s melody on his flute. Again, another Aaron and Selina moment I would have liked to have witnessed.

Elise

Robert Shaw Singers “O Magnum Mysterium”

The title of this religious song translates to “Oh Great Mystery and Wonderful Sacrament.” Elise is recovering from her roots in religion but finds comfort in this beautiful song. I think all of us were moved. Elise commented on how meaningful these songs are to people. I think we all envy that. She wondered if one day she could suspend disbelief and just enjoy the gifts that music like this brings. Whenever I spend time listening to Elise talk about anything I always end up picturing myself in front of a classroom of (stoned) wannabe ethnomusicologists bragging to them how I used to know Elise Anderson, the famous Ethnomusicologist.

Stephanie

Marvin Gaye “His Eye is on the Sparrow” from In Loving Memory

Here we have Marvin Gaye performing a traditional gospel spiritual written by Thomas Dorsey. Fredera informed us that the title is inspired by the words of Jesus in the Book of Matthew in the Bible. It translates roughly to the notion that “if God takes care of those things, he will surely take care of others.”

Jim

Willie Nelson “Faded Love” from Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be)

Jim gave us the option of either Springsteen or country music. We chose country in the form of Willie Nelson. Jim enjoys country music and occasionally gets out to the Little Nashville Opry here Nashville, Indiana. He described his experience there as one of the only music venues where “the old chick next to you taps you on the shoulder and asks what church do you go to?” From what I know of Jim he always has good lines that crack me up. I look forward to hearing more.

Audrey

Ronny Fordatkosu "Gonjan Ganjing" (album unknown)

This traditional musician from Indonesia was introduced to Audrey during a museum opening that she attended while doing her undergraduate work.

CLOSING SONG: Fredera helped us pay tribute to The Godfather of Soul, James Brown. There will never be anyone like him.

NEXT MEETING: January 25^th, 2007 @7pm