Déjà entendu

Hello, Everybody!
(Now imagine this greeting in the voice of Dr. Nick from The Simpsons)

So, I know that you probably do not want to hear about any more of that “folk stuff” from last class. However, for those who may be interested in getting to know this side of American music a little bit better, I am posting two videos: the first one is the 16-minute documentary by Alan Lomax (it is really good, because you get an overview of how folk came to be); the second video is a recording taken from a documentary about Lomax, where you can see how music was an important element in the lives of prison-farm workers.

 

Also, for those who may want to get acquainted with folk music but do not want to dwell too much on the past, there are some really good folk/indie folk/folk rock musicians which you can listen to. Here is a small list (I am sure you know most of these names anyway, because they are kind of famous):

• Ani DiFranco
• Bon Iver (although Bon Iver is considered indie folk, I have serious doubts about it, but check it out anyway. It is awesome! Holocene)
• Damien Rice (IRISH!)
• The Decemberists
• Devendra Banhart (Venezuelan-American musician)
• Don McLean (American Pie)
• Fleet Foxes
• Great Lake Swimmers (Canadian folk rock)
• The Head and the Heart (indie folk-pop)
• Iron & Wine
• The Lumineers (Stubborn Love)
• The Mountain Goats (This Year)
• Mumford and Sons (English, but too good not to mention)
• Noah & the Whale
• Of Monsters and Men (Icelandic indie folk: yup, it’s a thing)
• Steve Earle (The Galway Girl)

Now go and enjoy your Easter Holidays.

And, you know...

Don't forget to be awesome,

Sara Santos.

So..do you think THEY can do a Dracula Musical?

 

I now this has nothing to do with our period...but since we talked about Draculia (or Dracula) musicals...Here is the link for the grand finale (Japanese version). Unfortunately I wasn´t able to upload the vídeo ...
Wao Yoka as Dracula (yes...a woman!) and Hanafusa Mari as Mina

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0vtAuvPkN0

The German version - Draculia versus Van Helsing - Zu Ende (2007)

 

Sang de Vie Productions - featuring a professional cast of West End musical theatre performers with Michael McCarthy as Dracula. The musical is by Gareth Evans and Christopher J.Orton, with orchestrations by the noted British composer and producer, Ian Lynn (Dracula Musical Project continues)

 

Dracula´s solo-I am Condemned

 

A more cheerful song sung by the ensemble



 

And finally (...my favourite...) She Devil , Nosferatu

 featuring Lucy, Van Helsing, Quincy, Jack and Jonathan

 

I hope you like it!

If not...well...hmmm...should I .... hmmm...shall I say.. what?...Sorry?

 

Ana Correia

 

Blues vs Jazz

I found an interesting article with a short overview of the differences between Blues and Jazz, in case anyone feels like learning a bit more about this: Press here


"Blues is a simpler and more rigidly structured form of music than jazz. Blues is usually intended to convey a feeling of sadness (via flatted notes), and usually uses simple chords with emphasized downbeats, whereas jazz is usually intended to convey a feeling of cheerfulness (via syncopated rhythm), and usually uses complex chords with emphasized upbeats. In short, blues is basically a fixed chord progression whereas jazz is a general style of rhythm and chord embellishment.

A "blues" composition is based on a certain fixed chord progression that is exactly 12 bars long, and typically uses a certain scale (viz., the 5-note minor pentatonic scale or the 6-note blues scale) for the melody/solo, whereas "jazz" is a more general term that describes a musical style that uses certain types of chords (viz., chords containing four or more notes in stacked thirds), certain rhythms, and is less limited in the scale that is used (though typically a 7-note scale like the major scale is used). Jazz compositions are not limited in the number of bars or in the underlying chord progression, unlike blues compositions.


The two styles are not mutually exclusive. For example, blues compositions can be played in a jazz style by adding notes in stacked thirds to the original blues chords (e.g., C can be changed to C7 or C9 or C11 or C13). The result is a "busier," more complex, more interesting, slightly more dissonant set of chords. This is where the term "jazz it up" comes from: it means to make something fancy out of something plain.

More specifically, the basic 12-bar blues chord progression in general (keyless) notation is:

I I I I IV IV I I V V I I

For example, in the key of "C" these chords would be:

C C C C F F C C G G C C

Innumerable pop and rock songs, especially from the 1960s, use this same general blues chord progression, such as "Johnny B. Goode," "Jailhouse Rock,"' "Hanky Panky," "Green Onions," "Long Tall Sally," "Surfin' USA," and "Going Up the Country."

In contrast, almost any existing composition, even if originally a pop song, rock song, or Christmas carol that does not even use the above chord progression, can be turned into a jazz composition by enhancing the chords as described above. This has been done many times to popular or standard songs such as "Day Tripper," "Windy," "Over the Rainbow," "What Child Is This," "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'."

The main similarity of blues and jazz is merely historical: blues turned into Dixieland jazz, which often used blues chord progressions, but then developed into the more familiar modern styles of jazz, which has typically used complex chords ever since the 1940s. In their modern forms, blues and jazz usually sound quite different in their mood due to the aforementioned differences of their underlying musical structures, except when blues is played in a jazzy style.


There was a quote from William Farris saying
'The difference between jazz and blues is really a difference of class and education'

this is basically saying that the blues musicians had no education, they just played to relieve their woes, but jazz players had an education in music and knew what to do"

"I speak for the forgotten ones"

Umm Kulthum - Born Fātimah ʾIbrāhīm as-Sayyid al-Biltāǧī , Kulthum was a egiptian songwriter, singer (contralto vocal range), actress and the greatest female singer in Arabic music history. She was born in 1904 and died in 1975. Kulthum is known as Kawkab al-Sharq ("Star of the East") and achieved international fame from 1930s to the 1970s. To this day, her music has a significant influence in numerous musicians, both in the Arabic world and beyond. Maria Callas, Salvador Dali, Jean Paul Sartre and Charles de Gaulle were among her admirers. Bono (U2) and Led Zeppelin also speak highly of her and even today, she has retained a near-mythical status among young Egyptians.

 

 

 

 

Toni Rossi - French Singer (born in Corsica) and film actor (1907 - 1983). He is the only french artist to have sold over 300 million records.

 

Edith Piaf - ................huh? What? Why are you all staring at me? Do I need to introduce this Lady?! Fine! Edith Piaf was born  Édith Giovanna Gassion in 1915 and died in 1963. She is one of France´s greatest international stars (who would have guessed...). Her legacy goes on everytime we hear  "non, je ne regrette rien", "La vie en Rose", "L´Accordéoniste", "Padam...Padam..." ...Do I need to keep going? .....I thought that much!

Charles Trenet - French songwriter and singer (1913-2001). His career reached its zenith from 1930s till 1950s, although he was still active in the 1990s. He fought in World War II in the barracks at Salon-de- Provence. After the war, he decided to move to the United States and began touring in New York, forging a long last friendship with Louis Armstrong and Charles Chaplin. His best known songs include "La mer","Y'a d'la joie","Que reste-t-il de nos amours ?" among others.

 

 

Väinö Eerikki Raitio (1891-1945) - Born in Helsinki, this composer was part of a smal group who appeared in Finland in the 1920s with new ideas and a new music style, far different from the National Romanticism music. He was influenced by Scriabin and his nordic music cicles (which inspired him to compose the famous Joutsenet op. 15 ('The Swans'/'Les Cygnes')

Raition mostly wrote ensembles for piano, violins and orchestra but he is mostly remembered for his eight large symphonic poems. He also wrote 5 operas but they are only known from the composer's hand-written manuscripts.

 

"The people we lost or the dreams that faded...never forget them..."

 

Ana Correia

 

 

Walt Disney

"Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O. Disney, he was co-founder of Walt Disney Productions, which later became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation is now known as The Walt Disney Company and had an annual revenue of approximately US$36 billion in the 2010 financial year.

Disney is particularly noted as a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created some of the world's most well-known fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, for whom Disney himself provided the original voice. During his lifetime he received four honorary Academy Awards and won 22 Academy Awards from a total of 59 nominations, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual in history. Disney also won seven Emmy Awards and gave his name to the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the U.S., as well as the international resorts Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland."







"Mickey Mouse is a funny animal cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at the Walt Disney Studios. Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves. As the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is one of the most recognizable cartoon characters in the world.

Mickey first was seen in a single test screening (Plane Crazy). Mickey officially debuted in November 1928 in Steamboat Willie, one of the first sound cartoons. He went on to appear in over 130 films including The Band Concert (1935), Brave Little Tailor (1938), and Fantasia (1940). Mickey appeared primarily in short films, but also occasionally in feature-length films. Nine of Mickey's cartoons were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, one of which, Lend a Paw, won the award in 1942. In 1978, Mickey became the first cartoon character to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Beginning in 1930, Mickey has also been featured extensively as a comic strip character. His self-titled newspaper strip, drawn primarily by Floyd Gottfredson, ran for 45 years. Mickey has also appeared in comic books and in television series such as The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1996) and others. He also appears in other media such as video games as well as merchandising, and is a meetable character at the Disney parks.

Mickey generally appears alongside his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, his pet dog Pluto, his friends Horace Horsecollar, Donald Duck, and Goofy, and his nemesis Pete, among others (see Mickey Mouse universe). Originally characterized as a mischievous antihero, Mickey's increasing popularity led to his being rebranded as an everyman, usually seen as an ever cheerful, yet shy role model. In 2009, Disney began to rebrand the character again by putting less emphasis on his pleasant, cheerful side and reintroducing the more mischievous and adventurous sides of his personality, beginning with the video game Epic Mickey."


                                                                                                                  ~ César ~

The Three Stooges

"The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–twentieth century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" or "Moe, Larry, and Shemp," among other lineups.

                     

"Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included popular and classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female and male impersonators, acrobats, illustrated songs, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and movies. A vaudeville performer is often referred to as a vaudevillian. Vaudeville developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and literary burlesque. Called "the heart of American show business," vaudeville was one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America for several decades"

          The Three Stooges made the first parody on Hitler, the short film "You Nazty Spy!" 

PART 1

PART 2

                                                                                                                                                 ~ César ~

The Jazz Singer

When The Jazz Singer was released as a feature-length movie in 1927, it was the first movie that included dialogue and music on the filmstrip itself.

Adding Sounds to Film

Before The Jazz Singer, there were silent films. Yet despite their name, these films were not silent for they were accompanied by music. Often, these films were accompanied by a live orchestra in the theater and from as early as 1900, films were often synchronized with musical scores that were played on amplified record players.

The technology advanced in the 1920s, when Bell Laboratories developed a way to allow an audio track to be placed on the film itself. This technology, called Vitaphone, was first used as a musical track in a film titled Don Juan in 1926. Although Don Juan had music and sound effects, there were no spoken words in the film.

Actors Talking on Film

When Sam Warner of the Warner Brothers planned The Jazz Singer, he anticipated that the film would use silent periods to tell the story and the Vitaphone technology would be used for the singing of music, just as the new technology had been used in Don Juan. However, during the filming of The Jazz Singer, superstar of the time Al Jolson ad-libbed dialogue in two different scenes and Warner liked the end result.

Thus, when The Jazz Singer was released on October 6, 1927 it became the first feature-length film (89 minutes long) to include dialogue on the filmstrip itself. The Jazz Singer made way for the future of "talkies," which is what movies with audio soundtracks were called.

So What Did Al Jolson Actually Say?

The first words Jolson recites are: “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” Jolson spoke 60 words in the first scene and 294 words in the second scene.

The Storyline of the Jazz Singer

The Jazz Singer is a movie about Jakie, the son of a Jewish man, who wants to be a jazz singer but is pressured by his father to remain at home. After setting off on his own, Jakie (played by Al Jolson) becomes a success in the field of jazz. However, at the climax of the movie, Jakie must choose between a career on Broadway or returning to his deathly ill father and the synagogue.

Maria João Pereira