The January Post

♥ Streep (Why? - because of the Art that lives within her, her Humanity, her obvious talent, and for every single word also - that she says here, with her faltering voice. Love her. It's impossible not to)






- ♥ Bowie (Why? - well, he's Bowie, I don't really feel a need to give any other particular reason...)






and now - ♥ ♥ ♥ a beautiful friend whom I cherish,
Christian.
(Why? Well, besides the friendship, the talent, the extraordinary heart, and will, it's similar to the two above, for his Humanity.      Love him, and he knows it)

- So, I'll repeat two videos with him playing (two samples) - One where we can see another, so fabulously playing along side his beloved friend - (my goodness, speaking of talent, and art and so forth..) Richie Beirach. It's so pleasing (among other things) to see this quartet perform.
The other is a ''trio'', one I love to hear - so very much.

(well, I do of course have the Record, but I'll leave the demo of it, firstly)

(ok ok ok - I said I'd place two, but I'm incorrigible, so here's a third)

These five things I place above, other than exemplifying what I personally wish to dedicate this year on our tiny blue dot (as Sagan used to call it): Friendship, Love, Talent, Art, Humanity, and so much more than what I say (for not everything I know how to say, in words), they show great spirit - the kind that not only shine's through one's own talent, but even more when said talents are made stronger and even larger - through the bond of friendship shared therein.


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As the country where I was born prepares its farewell to one of it's towering figures of the XX'th century, an unstoppable Human Right's lawyer - one that up to his age of 50 - amidst the known oppression of the prior regime, defending even others who were (attorneys for Human Rights), and great minds such as Salgado Zenha (to mention one, but there were more such lawyers and activists defended, and those from other fields as well), whom after 74 set the ground work for our latest ''democratic'' rule (the one occurring in the xx century still, born through the hands of other great minds and men as well - Alvaro Cunhal, instantly coming to mind, and of course others such as Sá Carneiro, not to mention who actually changed the regime in 1974 (among others), - in the nation's armed forces, the only ones who actually could ... but I shall not linger on the subject at this time) - and as a statesman, internationally, his working alongside other European heads of state, leaving at the time he had done so his ''footprint'' (so to speak)  upon the EU during the timespan of his influence -
(I was saying)
- as the country prepares its farewell, I write this post.


Yes, the arts make us more Human, mirror us, are food for the soul (et cetera, yes, and indeed they are). The sciences take us further on our journey (within our Humanity - as a collective), and are somewhat similar (also so important) for such things (especially as the tool that it is, and depending on how and by whom it's wielded), just as contemplation / meditation and so forth, through our spirituality (be it though any ''organized'' religion or not) does, as well.

So now I leave three or four links - that concern the activity that seems to epitomize (mirror, make us more Human (in the noble sense of the word, as always when I use it), and yes - are also ''food for the soul'' (for so many reasons), and never any less than the afore mentioned ones (of the previous paragraph).




LINK



LINK



LINK


OOoops, I was searching for a LINK, in one of two blogs (pertaining to this one, that is) and since Gandhi is rather stretched ou in - and throughout either, I'll just simplify with an image I'd made some years back on the occasion of his birthday and place it here (also) as a symbol of the Civil Rights (Human Rights) Lawyer.

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So this is my first post for the year (because the previous one, made two days ago, would have been made any time of year that a statesman such as he leaves...). 



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Blessings, hope, and love, to all. (to whomsoever reads this post, and to others who might not spot it even).

Greg

Photo from ''Pictures At An Exhibition'': - LINK

Aw, Greg..
(I always thought that you looked and sounded like an angel, since I was a bitty kid and saw you thusly.., back when at an age where we find it normal to see angels, and Father Christmas, and elves and leprechauns...... One look at you and it was instant - ''Oh, see, he's an angel, with bangs coming down and touching his nose''. As time passed, with all of us in our mortal forms walking this earth, it still seemed as if it were perfectly natural for one to see that even through Time painting any of us - though line, hints of silvery greys here and there, and so forth, that you resembled just that all the same, when contemplating you as an ''artist'' - on various stages. To your loved ones the painting was certainly more complete and sweet to look upon, with any imperfections that even make us more endearing to whosoever loves us... ) ... what took you is a terrible thief.

Photo - LINK

..ah that beautiful final Bach cadence ♥

(Bless you forever, dear Gregory Lake)

Yes, so beautiful..

(sincere condolences to his loved ones in their moment of grief)

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(and now, I'll post a picture of someone that..  (he was just a puppy here, but) He always helps me when I cry...)

Reflections -

When I heard of Paul Bley going I stopped for a moment, reread the news and cried (had to be sure it wasn't some hoax - in bad taste). Moments after, a phone call, and  Pierre Boulez...

I thought to myself, no..
No, no way..

LINK - 















Within a few days, David Bowie -
...........(As I thought to myself, before hearing of Bowie, - no way am I opening this year (in this blog) with news of such socially, and artistically moving icons passing.. Grabbing onto a beloved painter - turning 90, I rejoiced and wrote, for the year at least in terms of this master - is gracious enough to let us rejoice, but, within hours came the news of one with whom I passed from youth into adulthood, symbolic - beyond music (as an icon of my emancipating teen years, even though I loved those of my brothers and sister: Otis, Procol, Deep Purple, Beatles and so forth, but Bowie - though not far from their age (not that age mattered, or our perception of their age was acurate, and regardless hitting me more deep inside ones or the others, while listening) ,
was what I felt more inline with mine
 - I felt I gave him to my brothers and sister - as they had given me those mentioned, and as beloved mentors and loved ones gave me Boulez, Beirach, Stockhausen, Berberian, Gismonti, Holland, Jarrett, Rivers, Coltrane, DeJohnette, Swallow, Jessye Norman, Cohen, Hendrix... (some to such an extent one is unsure whom is given to us, and whom we give to others)
(some of those mentioned, thank God - still here, others not)
(some of the musical treasures - eventually turning out to be those mentors themselves, dear friends and/or loved ones - Capdeville, Peixinho, and ♥ C. Azevedo, among others)

and we all gave each other, with great love and happiness many, those mentioned - and others.)


..But Bowie, .............with his aura of his own unique self, sometimes touching on Dali (where oneself is a work of art), and more "Pop" icon than Warhol - to me, because he went beyond that..,
 and so tied to my teens, when although not wanting to use "labels" and "groups" to tie myself down to any categorized peg (so to speak) - I felt reflected parts of me as I went through life's stage of emancipation, sometimes baring a few strands of coloured hair flowing within my natural tones, pins and safety-pins on my teenager purse, as I listened to him, to Miles and to Evans, to Bach and to Chopin, to Gabriel, to Lauper, to Purcell, to Zappa and Joni...., among so many others, and the ones mentioned above; and
 not long afterward - having watched his Mr. Lawrence -
- was special in a different sense, in an almost Dali-like sense, where one is a work of art, a constant, mutating, work of art.


I will miss him, and what he would still give us.



So I bid a goodnight, hoping the year - despite such a start, its conflicts and strange treaties,
brings us, with Arts -
(all of them that is, as they do save and deliver us, as many of us find - I leave a LINK, regarding such matters -  circa 5'20'' into Ian McKellen's interview, for instance),
- and with Human kindness, an unspoiled world that does not hurt the soul to see.

Thank you for reading this blog.
I was, in these past days, with all of this in mind, attempting a translation, and if somehow it is completed shall post it.
It is not a lengthy thing to translate, but so....... ah, can't even begin to say what it is to make such an endeavour - for it is Pessoa.

Goodnight

Some things are timeless (Há coisas que dão para qualquer altura, faça chuva ou não..)

There are things that live on throughout the ages, seldom enterprizes, logos or stocks & bonds, but Art and arstistic achievement (the kind that creeps into your soul and finds there its home, whether it be on an individual or a collective level).

Since the dawn of time tribes are overrun and dissappear, empires fall, we are physically born and die, but an artistic gesture (the kind that moves you whether it be: the Cave of Hands / A Cova das Mãos / Cueva de las Manos - in Argentina, Os Cegos by Júlio Pomar, Rodin's hands.. or any other by any other) is eternal like few of Mankind's things are, a mirror to the individual's or collective's soul, in transformation and transforming us from within.

Having thus said, I leave you with a piece written and arranged by a friend, performed by a number of them, where one can feel such a gesture reflecting through an art form (whithin the stylistic currents of  jazz, european jazz in this case),
that besides bringing to heart & mind those very friends (and through that path to another so very, very precious to me eventhough not directly involved in this lovely project, and who like one of the soloists on this precise recording is no longer on this plane of existence),
- nourishes my inner being (and makes me more human).

Goodnight.

Se os Britânicos têm uma versão de Tomás num Kenny Wheeler, de um João Courinha, Jorge Reis (*ou Edgar...) num John Surman, ou do Carlos num John Taylor, é porque não só o Jazz ou a música chamada de "erudita" (neste caso, europeia) não está morta, como vibra bem viva acima das nações e do tempo, pois é de Arte que se trata e não um entretém de feira, que, até pode entreter mas que não deixa registo, na alma
Estive várias vezes para escrever sobre um querido amigo que em Outubro passado passou para outro(s) lado(s), o que é uma falha minha não o ter feito, grave, mas, como é alguém que, para além de muito querido, me leva invariavelmente (com memórias, gargalhadas e sons) para alguém que me dói não estar ao meu lado (ou melhor, connosco..), não tive forças nem palavras para o fazer.
Assim é mais fácil, com um belíssimo registo musical, vivo, intemporal, e que serve para dias de chuvas e não-chuvas.

Ei-lo, Raiz, de Tomás Pimentel 
(com um arranjo lindíssimo, e com um belo registo do Jorge)

Nota*(para não falar doutros,
que belíssimos músicos são,
alguns dos quais neste disco tocam,
também, mencionando os que
em termos de sonoridade e expressão,
e apenas aqui em termos Luso/Britâncos,
algo a ver uns com outros a meu ver..
embora naturalmente tenham todos a ver
com outros de outras parágens
e esses com eles) 

photograph - Guida Almeida

October 5, the founding of a Repubic and what has become of her.. (pela Republica, um Requiem, 5 de Outrubro)

"During the economic crisis, in 1836, in which I was forced to make budget cuts of all kinds I raised as far as I could the funding for Public Education." (translated words of Passos Manuel in Parliament, May 21st - 1856)

"Em momento de crise, em 1836, em que fiz todas as economias, eu aumentei quando pude a despeza da instrucção pública" - Discurso de Passos Manuel, Sessão da Câmara dos Deputados, 21 de Maio de 1856.


(Passos Manuel or Manuel Passos - b. 1801 | d. 1862)



Today being a national holiday in Portugal commemorating the founding of the Republic and the end of monarchy in the land, I leave you with an exquisite Requiem written to pay homage to statesman Passos Manuel - a celebrated 19th century 'Minister for the Kingdom' and noted 'Constitutionalist' Liberal (Left-Wing).
Please bear in mind that the century before the onset of the Republic was one of Civil Wars in the country, and other than being a monarchist, this brilliant politician nevertheless embraced what some could deem to be or label as being Left ideals  (please see *note: at the bottom of the 'blog post')




I quote the man bilingually once again:

The Queen rules the entire country and before my being leftist I already was 'for the country'. My country is my 'political party'.

"A Rainha é o chefe da nação toda. E antes de eu ser de esquerda já era da Pátria. A Pátria é a minha política."


I now leave a Requiem masterfully written in 2004 by a talented Eurico Carrapatoso.
The first public hearing of the piece was two years afterward and by 2008 finally a recording was made.  In my opinion 2008 being a turning point in the world crisis, the "bursting of the bubble" so to speak, I find it rather ironic that this requiem in a "cd" format finally reach daylight.



(I also re-post a painting placed in this blog at the beginning of the
year - link to ORIGINAL POST)
© de Guida Almeida, c. 2002 (fotografia de Sandra Ramos)


Happy October 5.

















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*Note:


( labels are always a subjective thing though their purpose may be objective, so their worth is a two sided street - that of who pins the label - and that of whom or what is labeled. NO, I'm wrong.  Actually, it's more of a three way street, depending on who reads the label is no less significant. Sometimes labels can be quite confounding - such as ''progressive'' and ''conservative'' - as can be and the grouping of both as one, but I suppose context can help in such cases. If we look at the root or core meaning in words, words such as ''Liberal, ''Conservative, ''Social, ''Progressive, ''Constitutional, ''New'', or any other - notice that other than being adjectives they may have a historic placing, in certain societies along with their respective ''time-set''. Take for instance a political party's name - New Democratic Party. I am at ease to mention this example, because I am not affiliated with it, though it is one that I value and has sometimes gained my vote - when it made sense to vote in elections where that party exists. Let us look at its two adjectives: New, and Democratic, and not look South to a neighbouring country that is not a constitutional monarchy.  Also, let us look at another example: The Liberal-Conservative Party. This one is interesting, no? Why am I using these examples? That is easier for me to answer. Both are or were parties in the land where, as a citizen, I began to vote, albeit when I had finally achieved an age when I could vote, and do so in conscience, and, when any of the contenders could convince me to do so.   Not being a ''dictatorship'', I was thus free to vote or to not vote according to my own conscience. If a party could ''win'' my vote, they would be receive it, but they had to ''win'' it. I despise laying guilt trips (and the laying of guilt trips) upon those who vote or do not vote.

Now this has to do with both countries [that of Manuel de Passos, and that of John A Macdonald] where I can place my vote ''in conscience'' when asked to do so, and when it makes sense for me to do so. (Depending on where I live, when doing so, has weight in the matter to be better equipped to do so in an  ''informed'' manner, for instance. But I shall not side-track myself.., and shall proceed). 
When or if promises are broken, when or if things are ''corrupted'' or twisted, who's fault is it? 
Is it of the person who voted or didn't trust any with their vote or for one reason or another didn't feel fit to do so in ''full conscience'' - ? Is democracy only dependent on there being ''elections'', from time to time? Or is it more than that? ).




Once again, wishing whomsoever reads this 'blog-post', a happy Oct.
(no - I'm not thinking of the ''October Crisis'' - or rather - the one called ''October Crisis'' [used to be called, if I recall correctly '' the FLQ crisis,  Ooof, whatever..] , please indulge me, I need some humour from time to time ..)

 💓