The Great Gray Bridge

I’ll be eager to take in a new exhibit at the City Museum of New York, marking the 175th anniversary of Brooklyn’s Green-wood Cemetery, which its 19th century planners designed to be a pastoral enclave amid the cacophony of the ever-growing metropolis. According to the City Museum’s website, the exhibit “features original artifacts, sculptures, drawings, and Hudson River School paintings; historic documents; and photographs.” Even its antiquated spelling, with the hypen mid-name, rather like the New-York Historical Society, has a 19th century air about it.

Last October, I visited Green-wood for the first time–for the unveiling of the “Angel of Music,” a new memorial statue at the grave of pianist and composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk–and discovered that its 478 acres of rolling hills, big hardwood trees, and sparkling views of Manhattan and NY Harbor, make it a pastoral, soothing place for mourners to say goodbye to their loved ones. As the New York Times‘ Joseph Berger reports after a recent visit to Green-wood, the cemetery is still a pastoral balm to the daily cares of all city-dwellers. Here are some of the pictures I took on that day last fall, on a gorgeous Saturday that turned out to be just three weeks before Superstorm Sandy wrecked hundreds of trees and gravestones in the memorial park, damage they are still working to clean up in one of NYC’s most historic treasures.

Sunny THURS bike ride in upper Manhattan, heading up the Hudson to the Great Gray Bridge. Placid river, little wind. twitter.com/philipsturner/…

— Philip Turner (@philipsturner) May 2, 2013

I heard a great musical act last Tuesday at one of my favorite NYC venues, the Living Room**. That night I discovered singer and songwriter Marc Berger who’s assembled a tight acoustic band to create a roots-rich concept album called “Ride,” which takes its inspiration from the American West. As Berger writes on his website, “Clouds that forever stampede the endless sky, shadows gliding over canyon walls–the West is a vast expanse of magic and mystery. American artists from John Ford to Frederick Remington to A.B. Guthrie have used film, canvas and the printed page to convey the essence of its unique landscape and mythology.” To those associations, I would add the 1962 Kirk Douglas film, “Lonely Are the Brave,” where he plays a latter day cowboy unable to conform to modern society. The movie was based on  Brave Cowboy, a novel by legendary iconoclast of the American West, Edward Abbey. Relatedly, Kirk Douglas also played the lead role in the 1952 adaptation of Guthrie’s novel, The Big Sky. Adding to the association with the movies is journalist Glenn Frankel’s new book, The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend, on John Ford’s 1956 film with John Wayne. Now, Berger has written songs and created a sound that reflects the West of yore, and the West of today, exemplified by the lyrics of the title song, “Ride:

Used to be silent/Used to be open/Used to be romance in a life on the plains/Now it’s Exxons and K-Marts/Best Westerns, McDonald’s/And my cattle graze on the big missile range
Ride, ride/Get along little doggies/Ride, ride/So gold in the sun/Yippy-aye boys/Here the dinner bell ringin’/Get along little doggies/For day’s about done

Though I had never heard these songs, I instantly liked them, and the way Berger and his band presented them. The musicians on stage with Berger were his co-creator, Mike Ricciardi (a steady presence on drums, especially with the soft brushes; he also took landscape photos in Momument Valley for the handsome CD package, graphics that are viewable here); Deni Bonet (on violin and accordion, continually interjecting tasty textures); Rich DePaolo (playing lead guitar on a plugged in acoustic, as rich a contributor as any Stratocaster axe-wielder); Rob Meador (on mandolin); and Jeff Eyrich (upright bass). Berger’s deep voice brings an appropriately weathered sound to his songs, sometimes talking the lyrics, other times belting them out, often in the same song. His harmonica and guitar added another layer to the rich mix. They performed with great energy and care for the material. I was really impressed and look forward to hearing these songs many times over the weeks and months to come. Below are pictures I took of their performance and two videos from Berger’s excellent website, which has many resources devoted to the project. Please click here to see all photos.

** The Living Room is unfortunately facing the loss of its longtime comfortable home at 154 Ludlow Street sometime this summer. Its management is in search of a new venue, and conducting a fundraising drive to help finance the move. I urge you to consider supporting them with a contribution at any level. To do so, please visit their website.

Thursday night my wife and I greatly enjoyed the reception and opening for the new exhibit, “Jazz. Covers. Politics–Album Art in an Age of Activism.” We had been invited by Elisa Pritzker, artist and art curator, who assisted Nathan Cummings Foundation and Romare Bearden Foundation staff in mounting and hanging the show. They’ve assembled over 150 album covers as examples of social activism from America’s civil rights struggle, the opposition to the Vietnam War, and the campaign to end apartheid, among many other historic milestones shown.

The musicians and albums on display constitute a veritable hall of fame of jazz recordings, including Max Roach’s “We Insist!,” the signature piece for the whole exhibit, that used for its cover a news photograph of three African-American activists sitting in at a segregated southern lunch counter, as they and the white-uniformed counterman, all eye the camera challengingly; Nina Simone’s “Emergency Ward!,” with its backdrop of war headlines from daily newspapers; and Duke Ellington’s “Liberian Suite,” with its red masks, and his “Afro-Eurasian Eclipse,” with a tableau showing dozens of faces from the human family. The artists whose work is found on these covers are equally important, from Jacob Lawrence’s painting decorating a Jelly Roll Morton LP to several Romare Bearden works, on Wynton Marsalis, Billie Holiday, and Ricky Ford covers. There’s so much more on these walls: Miles Davis’s “Bitches Brew,” Paul Robeson’s “Songs of Free Men,” Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” and dozens more.

The spacious quarters of the Nathan Cummings offices on Tenth Avenue were ingeniously used to hang the album covers, as each time we turned a corner there was something new and splendid to see and read about, with insightful text alongside the images. In addition, a room was set aside for a listening booth where we sampled the music from the albums on display, and another room was reserved for a video about the album covers, musicians, and artists. The exhibit can be seen Monday-Friday, by appointment via email to exhibits@nathancummings.org. It will be up through August 23, so if you’re in NYC I urge you to make plans to see it. As an indication of the wealth of material on display, here are some pictures I took during our tour of the exhibit last week. Click here to see all photos

I knew Peter Workman, founder of Workman Publishing, who died last Sunday at age 74. I started ordering Workman titles from him and his sales reps in 1978, when I opened a bookstore. The past 5 years Peter and I were fellow members of the same monthly lunch club. He last attended one of our luncheons last November, after which he missed the next month and we learned he’d become ill. He never rejoined us. Peter’s company was one of the most successful independently owned publishers of our time.I’ve been tweeting and sharing about him since Sunday. Here’s a selection of my timeline since then.

RT @shelfawareness Sad news: @workmanpub founder Peter Workman has died, age 74.

— Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) April 7, 2013

Peter Workman – best publishing entrepreneur of his time RT @publisherswkly: Peter Workman Dies at Age 74 pwne.ws/ZISzct

— Dominique Raccah (@draccah) April 8, 2013

A few details hint at Peter Workman’s legacy-publisher of Preppy Hndbk, Silver Palate Ckbk&What to Expect franchise. bit.ly/ZbdoOJ

— Philip Turner (@philipsturner) April 7, 2013

Sad-thinking of Peter Workman passing today. After I went thru a layoff in ’09 he had me at his office&to talk abt my next steps-he listened

— Philip Turner (@philipsturner) April 7, 2013

Stunning stat in Peter Workman @nytimes obit-”worthy of Cooperstown-1 of every 3 @workmanpub books sold 100K or more. nyti.ms/17ow58c

— Philip Turner (@philipsturner) April 9, 2013

Had a fun time Monday night at the Studio at Webster Hall, where Vancouver bands We Are the City and Hey Ocean! stopped off on their current US tour. I had not seen either group before, though I enjoy hearing them on CBC Radio 3, so it was a real treat to hear both groups live.

We Are the City are a trio led by gorgeously expressionistic vocals from keyboard player Cayne McKenzie, complemented by guitarist David Menzel and drummer Andrew Huculiak. They play an anthemic sort of big-sound pop, with Cayne’s great vocals. They played “Happy New Year,” a favorite of mine from their 2011 EP “High School.” You can hear it and more of their music at their band page on CBC Radio 3. Their first full album will be released this coming June.

By contrast, last night’s headliner, Hey Ocean! have been around longer, with three albums to their credit. At their core, they are also a trio, which they supplement with additional musicians. The central threesome is bassist and producer David Vertesi, guitarist David Beckingham, and spectacular lead singer, and flutist, Ashleigh Ball. She has a great pop/rock n’ roll voice, full of character, inflection and power. She’s also cute and lots of fun on stage, bouncing around like a bundle of positive energy, which is also reflected in the striving message of their lyrics. Hey Ocean! just released their later album, “Is,” which I picked up at the merch table last night. For info on the rest of the US tour of We Are the City and Hey Ocean! visit this page at the latter’s website. Upcoming cities are Akron, OH; Lansing, MI; Chicago; Minneapolis; and Billings, MT. Here’s a video of one of their best songs, “Big Blue Wave.”

Making the night even better, it included meeting a new member of the #R3NYNJ, the local music appreciation group (and Twitter hashtag) I recently started with Steve Conte–owner of Funnybooks, a comics store near Parsippany, NJ– to share information on shows by Canadian artists in the NY area. Our new pal is Kennedy Davey, a transplant to NYC from Vancouver by way of Los Angeles, newly working in advertising after some years in the film industry. She’s only ever lived on the West Coast of North America, so this is going to be a big change for her. Cold winters, late-arriving springs, living on the eastern edge of a time zone–instead of the blessed western edge–with nightfall coming earlier even in summer. She’s an avid show-goer like me and Steve, so it will be fun bumping into her at live shows of Canadian artists, and perhaps at other live musical shows, such as the Brooklyn Folk Festival, which is the next music event I am excited about, April 19-21. Below are my pictures from last night’s fun. Please click here to see all photos.

Following many days of late winter gloom and cold winds off the Hudson River where I regularly ride my bike things brightened up a bit today. With temps edging over 50 degrees and light to moderate winds, I wasn’t forced to don the usual gear I’ve been wearing on my rides since the fall. More lightly clad than usual, I pedaled north along the river, stopping for a break about even with 140th Street. Perched atop an old picnic table I read my current book, Heretics: Adventures With the Enemies of Science by British journalist Will Storr; phoned my sister to wish her a happy Passover; and took these pics of the Hudson and the Jersey side of the river. Even with the noticeable warming, there were still a lot gray, glowering clouds hanging low in the sky, but maybe now we’re in for a spell of fair weather. Please click here to see all photos from my bike ride.

Walking from the #5 bus stop at the Fireman’s Memorial opposite Riverside Park in my Manhattan neighborhood on a recent morning I saw a woman combing her dog on one of the site’s marble benches and letting the white fluff fall where it might. Walking past the bench, I picked a tuft of the furry detritus off my wool coat and asked her why she was making no effort at containing the mess. She said, “Oh, don’t you know, the birds use it in their nests.” Having in the past encountered this form of urban littering–and the same birds’ nest rationalization, a seeming urban legend subscribed to by some dog owners–I once asked a NYC park ranger about pet grooming in the parks. He answered that regardless of whether or not animal fur is used in birds’ nests, the stuff stays around forever and that they do ticket pet owners for such carelessness. On Thursday, I told the woman that actually she was littering and could be ticketed for it, and asked that she make the effort to clean it up. She ignored me and went on combing her dog, with white hair flying around like so many dandelion puffs. I walked away stiff-jawed, gobsmacked at how willing to break the urban social contract some city dwellers are.

I have heard some New Yorkers say they believe that commuters who clip their fingernails on public transit, a startling act, if you’ve never observed it, or heard it, may be the most anti-social conduct engaged in by our fellow urbanites. On the other hand, this pet-grooming–rationalized with the self-serving assertion that they’re somehow helping birds thrive–is, outside of violent crime, in the running for the most selfish and outrageous of all urban behaviors.

I think it’s fair for readers here to wonder why I’ve bothered chronicling such behavior. I’m not sure, except for the fact that I kind of still can’t believe a fellow NYer would do something like this, and then bat away responsibility with such an airy rationalization. By sharing it and calling attention to it, I’m hopeful it may lead to more social opprobrium. Sadly, though, this woman was incapable of embarrassment or shame, always a problem when anti-social behavior is afoot.