“...I have been circling for thousands of years, and I still don't know if I am a falcon, or a storm, or a great song.” -- Rainer Maria Rilke
My projects in partnership with The Shedd have nearly all been built upon a theme, a narrative arc -- whether that be a kind of retrospective biography or, around a central idea. There's a beautiful structure and grounding to this approach. I like the sense of story of my past Shedd shows. I got curious, nevertheless, about how it would feel to perform a set of music not tethered to a set narrative. How about performing music that I love but that for whatever reason remain un-sung, and in a file folder in my piano bench, marked “for future.”
That is essentially this November's show, Save For Later. Our set list is a high contrast mix of old, dear favorites and not-so-guilty pleasures. Opera, art song, gospel, blues, Broadway, jazz, Weill & Brecht, French chanson, Brazilian, Spanish, movie soundtracks of my youth, and classic and contemporary pop. At first glance, it’s a crazy funhouse collection from the ridiculous to the, if I dare say, sublime.
Most sublime for me, has been to discover connections and similarities amid the contrast. Old music, old forms and ideas reverberate into today. The world we inhabit now, finds its reflection in the past. We do circle back in ways -- even as our present current now world seems to careen so far from old tethers... turning, turning, in the widening gyre. That thread between old song and new, is my mysterious comfort and nerdy thrill.
This music has edges, and sometimes heady things to say, to be sure. But a lot of joy, and fun, wackiness and quirk. I’m really excited.
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Event Personnel |
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Creative Team |
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Musicians |
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| | Saved (1960) Jerry Leiber (w) Mike Stoller (m) First recorded by LaVern Baker |
| | Seeräuber-Jenny (1928) Die Dreigroschenoper Bertolt Brecht (w) Kurt Weill (m) |
| | La mamma morta (1898) Andrea Chénier Luigi Illica (w) Umberto Giordano (m) |
| | J'arrive (1968) J'arrive Jacques Brel (w) Gérard Jouannest (m) |
| | Chance (2019) All Mirrors Angel Olsen (w/m) |