Two Alices and Gene Lees

This week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed Alice Waters, the chef who launched California cuisine and the organic-food movement at Chez Panisse in Berkeley in the early 1970s (go here). For my "House Call" column, Alice talked about childhood her family garden, her wild streak and studying in Paris during her junior year of college—a decision that changed her life and how many Americans view food differently today. You'll find Alice's new memoir, Coming to My Senses (Clarkson Potter), here.

Also in the WSJ this week, I interviewed novelist Alice McDermott on Memory from the musical Cats (go here). But don't jump to any conclusions. She latched onto the song at a piano bar before the musical opened on Broadway. At the time, Alice felt the lyric was about her and her inability to earn a living as an author. It's a funny tale. You'll find Alice's latest best-selling novel, The Ninth Hour (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), here. [Photo above courtesy of Alice McDermott]

Laugh until tears roll. That's what happened to me when I watched this clip...

Gene Lees' Jazzletter. Last week, Claude Neuman sent along the following note:

"I've long been an admirer of the late Gene Lees. I loved his Jazzletter newsletter, which he published monthly for almost 30 years. They were such a treasure trove of first-hand information on jazz history and of musical, historical and sociological analysis. Some of them have been republished in his books, but a lot of them weren't. For example his series called 'A Death in the Family: The Rise and Fall of the American Song' ran through seven issues of the Jazzletter in 1992 and '93.

"I plan to have the Jazzletters copied in searchable PDF format and made available online on the site of my friend, Donald Clarke. It's a non-commercial project.

"I'm missing a few issues: September 1991, January 2002 and issues after March 2005.

"Can you let readers know? Hopefully someone will have these or can copy them. I can be reached at the following email: neumanclaude@gmail.com."

What the heck. Here's the Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose singing Too Late to Turn Back Now in 1972...

Oddball album cover of the week.

Considering that our male model above looks like Seinfeld's Frankie Merman (the guy who runs into the woods and sits in a hole when upset), he's got quite a scene going at his pad. Best of all, he found two women pretending to care about the stereo equipment he's demonstrating.

       

from JazzWax http://ift.tt/2yeYvaL

The Most Important Thing To Fight Cabin Fever

I am pretty excited about being a part of the Great Plants Symposium next week. I am looking forward to hearing Heather Lynn Poire talk about The World of Roses and Hydrangeas. Heather is a professional sales associate with Bailey Nurseries. Bailey Nurseries is one of the few plant developers with a focus on bringing really cold hardy plants to market. They’re based in Minnesota, which is almost entirely USDA Zone 4. Heather is sure to have some great tips about growing these plants in my climate.

I may have mentioned before that I like to grow plants that no one else is growing. Suzanne Thatcher’s talk on Unique and Unusual Perennials for the Northeast is just the kind of insider info I like to have. Kerry Ann Mendez, the organizer of this symposium, is giving two talks. The one that I’m really looking forward to is A Thrifty Gardener’s Guide to Luxurious Gardens, because I am a penny-pincher at heart. I’m sure I’ll enjoy her other presentation, Ravishing Foliage Plants Steal the Show!, even though I doubt she can talk me out of my flower garden.

And me? I’m going to tell you how to Combat Cabin Fever with Your Garden! What’s the most important thing to consider when designing your garden to fight cabin fever? The photo above is the only hint I’m going to give you. Why don’t you come to the symposium to find out?

It’s not too late to register!

Click here to get all the details! I really hope to see you there.

from Cold Climate Gardening http://ift.tt/2xJSG3O

Is It A Garden Plant Or A Weed Wildflower?

Every flower is a wildflower–a native plant–somewhere, though this is easy to forget when that “somewhere” is on the other side of the world. On the other hand, it’s easy to take our own native wildflowers for granted, or even despise them as weeds. And many popular garden plants native to North America had to be recognized as garden-worthy by gardeners in other countries before they were adopted by gardeners here.

For example, the British call asters Michaelmas daisies because they bloom around the time of Michaelmas, a holiday for them and not for us.

And yet many people in North America call them Michaelmas daisies, too, because that’s what the British call them. Is it a garden plant or a wildflower?

For me, it’s both. There are asters I’ve purchased or gotten from friends because they were a particular color, but asters also grow in the fields and verges surrounding my garden, and there’s many an aster seedling I’ve weeded out of the borders. But this time of year, I can’t help but let the ones that escaped my notice bloom before yanking them.

How about Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)? I know many gardeners curse it as a weed.

But it’s also sold as a vine for it’s brilliant fall color.

Is it a garden plant or a wildflower? It doesn’t grow in my garden and strangely enough, I’ve never found seedlings I needed to weed out. It does grow along the road and along the edge of wooded areas around here.

Goldenrod positively glows in the fields right now.

Is it a garden plant or a wildflower? That depends on which goldenrod you’re talking about! I’ve already ranted about the thuggish behavior of Solidago canadensis. I weed it out as soon as I find it in my cultivated gardens. But Gail of Clay and Limestone endorses several cultivars and species as garden-worthy, well-behaved plants. I haven’t tried any of them. Yet.

‘Lemon Queen’ perennial sunflower is “naturally-occurring midwestern US hybrid of Helianthus pauciflorus var. subrhomboideus x Helianthus tuberosus“, according to Plant Delights Nursery.

It’s not native to my area, though I find many plants native to midwest North America do very well here. I was given a small piece of this beauty in 2015, and look how much it’s grown in two years!

Is it a garden plant or a wildflower? It started out as a garden plant, but I am hoping it will become a wildflower. I recently dug out this big clump and planted a shrub in its place. I replanted a small piece in another part of this bed as insurance, in case the three bigger clumps I planted in a wild area along the road don’t “take”. ‘Lemon Queen’ is marvelous with tall ornamental grasses such as Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’, but in order for it to stay in the Slope Garden it will need yearly editing. I really love it, but I’d rather grow it in an area where I can just let it be without constantly checking its growth. At least its stolons don’t range as far as those of goldenrod.

I am more tolerant of weeds wildflowers along the side of the garden shed, where the lawnmower will keep them in check.

I planted the black-eyed Susan, but the asters and the jewelweed (profiled here) just showed up. Is it a garden plant or a wildflower? By now you’ve figured out that–it depends. It depends on the behavior of the plant, and it depends on your expectations–what do you want from the particular piece of land under your care? What else do you want to grow there, and how much time do you have to tend it? One gardener’s weed is another gardener’s botanical treasure.

Posted for Wildflower Wednesday, created by Gail of Clay and Limestone, to share wildflowers/native plants no matter where you garden in the blogosphere. “It doesn’t matter if we sometimes show the same plants. How they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. It’s always the fourth Wednesday of the month!”

There’s still time to register!

There’s a few spots remaining for the Great Plants Symposium in Sturbridge, MA, where I’ll show attendees how to Fight Cabin Fever with Your Garden. This exceptional symposium features dynamic lectures filled with inspirational plants and design ideas for creating exuberant, planet-friendly gardens. Gardeners of all ages and abilities will enjoy five informative lectures: Unique and Unusual Perennials for the Northeast; Ravishing Foliage Plants Steal the Show; Combat Cabin Fever with Your Garden – Tips, Techniques and Great Plants to Create a Winter Wonderland and Brighten Your World; The World of Roses and Hydrangeas; and A Thrifty Gardener’s Guide to Luxurious Gardens. The symposium includes morning coffee and refreshments, a buffet lunch, handouts, door prizes, book signings, and a garden gift. $93 per person; $88 for Master Gardeners, members of Nursery and Landscape Associations, or Groups of 5 or more. For more information click here for details or call Kerry Ann Mendez at 207.502.7228.

from Cold Climate Gardening http://ift.tt/2wm4tC2

U.S. Department of Labor Awards $10.5 Million in Training Grants To 80 Nonprofit Organizations for Workplace Safety and Health

Sept. 26, 2017 U.S. Department of Labor Awards $10.5 Million in Training Grants To 80 Nonprofit Organizations for Workplace Safety and Health

from OSHA News Release http://ift.tt/2k2ITAN

Things You Need To Know Before a Bathroom Remodel

Content originally published and Shared from http://perfectbath.com

Renovations are always exciting. Yes, you might have to spend a lot. But if the work is excellently done, then you’ll definitely get your money’s worth. Remember to take note of the following things before you proceed on your project.

Image Source: Flickr

Consider these master bath must-haves
Sharing with your sweetie is simpler when you’ve made space for these features.

1. Toilet room:Gives this area privacy; best if it’s got a door.
2. Separate shower stall:Lets bathers and shower-takers clean up simultaneously.
3. Dual workstations:Place double sinks 36 inches apart or more, measured drain to drain, so that you’ll have elbow room. Give each sink enough outlets and lighting, as well as mirror, countertop, and storage space.
4. Wide pathways:Traffic lanes 36 to 42 inches wide allow two people to pass each other without having to squeeze by. Source: ThisOldHouse

Don’t make the toilet the first thing you see when open the door
Ask a bathroom designer what his or her best tried and true tip is, and this is what you’re likely to hear. The reasoning is simple. Oftentimes bathroom doors get left open, meaning that you or any guest in your home walking by will see the toilet — which, come on, isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing thing to look at. If you’re hoping for a spa-like vibe, putting the john front and center in the design can sort of kill the mood as you’re transitioning into the room. So, what should you make the focal point? Anything but the toilet. Source: Houzz

The golden rules of bathroom renovations

• Draw up a clear plan of the room to remodel, and make it to scale. This will be a great reference not only for you, but also for your subcontractors.
• Estimate the approximate total cost of your renovation beforeyou begin your work. This includes quotes from workers, for materials, new fixtures (bath, shower, toilet, and faucets), furniture, decor and lighting.
• Ask for at least two or three quotes from different workers.
• Shop around for your bathroom fixtures. You’d be surprised how much you can save.
• Prepare yourself for surprises and extra expenses along the way, especially if you decide to open up the space and remove walls.
• Do not touch a load bearing wall without first consulting with an expert. Source: Yellowpages

Find top of the line fixtures that will surely fit in your new bathroom. Call us today!

 

Contact:
Perfect Bath
Phone: Toll Free 1-866-843-1641
Calgary, Alberta
Email: info@perfectbath.com

The post Things You Need To Know Before a Bathroom Remodel appeared first on Perfect Bath Canada.

from Perfect Bath Canada http://ift.tt/2xvZ5Qw

3 Benefits of Home Automation

Living in a smart house may sound luxurious but the benefits are definitely worth the investment. Get to know how home automation can positively affect your daily routine by checking out the following:

Image Source: Flickr

It’s Energy Efficient
Having precise control over the power used as well as the temperature can ensure that your home is more energy efficient. This is why smart homes are a part of the appliances that you can use to be more environmentally conscious in your home. Depending on the system that you have in your home, it can suggest energy efficient settings. Source: Property24

Increases Peace of Mind
Perhaps this benefit will not apply to everyone, but for those who habitually worry about whether or not they have taken care of everything at home before leaving for the day, a home automation system is a perfect investment. In short, it offers peace of mind. This is quite beneficial for those individuals who leave each day, obsessively worrying if everything is in order. With so many stresses in daily life, it is nice to take at least one off the list by being able to see what is going on at home without physically being there. Source: Freshome

Convenient
Convenience is one of the biggest reasons that people build and purchase smart homes. These homes give users remote access to systems including heating and cooling systems, intercoms, music and multimedia devices throughout the home. Integrated hard drives allow homeowners to watch video or listen to audio in any room; video intercoms make it easy to communicate with others in the home or visitors at the door. All of these smart home technologies streamline common tasks. Source: HomeGuides.SFGate

Can you imagine how convenient it would be to have automated window treatments? It’s entirely possible! For more information, call us today!

 

Contact:
Universal Blinds
601 – 1550 W. 10th Ave
Vancouver, V6J 1Z9
Canada
Phone: (604) 559-1988

The post 3 Benefits of Home Automation appeared first on Universal Blinds, Shades & Shutters.

from Universal Blinds, Shades & Shutters http://ift.tt/2hy0VXj

OSHA Cites Chicago Container Manufacturer After 4 Workers Suffer Injuries

Sept. 25, 2017 OSHA Cites Chicago Container Manufacturer After 4 Workers Suffer Injuries

from OSHA News Release http://ift.tt/2xx07JC

Interview: Tony Bennett

Two weeks ago, I had an opportunity to catch up with Tony Bennett in advance of his upcoming Radio City Music Hall concert in New York on Oct. 6. The venue is Tony's favorite, and he's performed there dozens of times over the past seven decades. Talking to Tony is always a joy. His voice is so lyrical and warm. Listening to his replies, I often find myself listening as intently to the sound of his words as to what he's saying. It's like interviewing a musical instrument. [Photo above courtesy of Tony Bennett]

At Radio City, Tony's daughter, singer Antonia Bennett, will open for him. Then Tony will appear with his quartet—Tom Ranier on piano, Gray Sargent on guitar, Marshall Wood on bass and Harold Jones on drums. For more information and tickets, go here. [Photo above by Marc Myers]

JazzWax: From your perspective on the stage at Radio City, what’s exactly is so special about that venue?
Tony Bennett: It seats around 6,000, which is the perfect for me and my voice. The hall is big but it somehow remains intimate. When I go out on center stage to perform, I find the sound of the hall is very alive. I can whisper and somehow everyone in the audience can hear what I'm singing. It's magical. [Photo view from the stage at Radio City, courtesy of Radio City Music Hall]

JW: Before you perform, do you work out different approaches to song passages and endings?
TB: I don’t plan any of it. Deviations from the melodies are all improvised at the last second. I just follow my instincts based on the reaction of my audience up until that point. Mostly everyone in the audience knows the American songbook songs I'm singing. So when I vary notes or a series of notes, it catches them off-guard and they're delighted. It's another way to entertain them.

JW: How do you know when to do this?
TB: I listen to the audience and feel their enthusiasm. Then I go along with that. I feel their spirit and sense when they want to be entertained that way. I'm reacting to what's happening out there. And that’s how the show becomes reality. I listen and based on the audience's attitude, I know what to leave out or put in. Once I know the audience is enjoying me, that they love me, I'll do something in response. It's almost as if we're having a conversation in the dark.

JW: You were close to pianist Bill Evans in the 1970s, when you recorded two albums together and appeared on TV. Is there something Evans told you about jazz that you never forgot?
TB: About eight months after we finished the second album, Together Again, in 1977, I was appearing in the Midwest someplace. He called me at my hotel or in the green room. I forget. I was shocked. I said, "How did you find me?" Bill said, "Through your agent." For some reason, Bill said, he had this premonition that I needed a good word from him. So he was calling to tell me something. I said, "What did you want to tell me?" Bill said, "Just go with truth and beauty tonight, and leave it at that." I was stunned for a second. I really was. What a thing to tell me. I said, "Whatever you say for me to do, Bill, I’m going to do." I followed Bill's advice and thought of him throughout the concert.

JW: The Columbia album in the '60s that sounds most like you—meaning, you at your most relaxed and completely in love with what you're singing—is The Movie Song Album, which you recorded in 1966.
TB: That's funny you should say that. I agree with you. For my first 10 years recording at Columbia, they always presented a producer who insisted I do certain songs that they wanted to promote. Many of these songs were fine, but I always fought them on those songs I disliked. In the mid-'60s, I finally decided never to compromise again and to just follow my instincts. The Movie Song Album was the first album that featured only songs I wanted to do.

JW: You chose the songs?
TB: Yes, all of them. I still love that album—Maybe September, Girl Talk, Emily, The Pawnbroker. The songs I'm mentioning aren't just songs. I’ve always tried to record definitive versions of songs, and in this case, I feel I accomplished that goal on all of them. There wasn't a moment on that recording session that I didn't believe in the song I was singing or the arrangements and pacing. Listen to The Shadow of your Smile, The Second Time Around and Days of Wine and Roses. It was the first time I bucked them on what they wanted to do and told them what I wanted to sing. Later in the 1960s, I couldn't believe what they were trying to get me to record. I finally picked up my suitcases and moved to Britain.

JW: What's one thing you still tell yourself before you go out to sing?
TB: Know when to get off. You can’t stay out there too long. You have to be aware when you've done enough. That often happens at the high point of an audience reaction. When I hear that moment, I often say to myself, "I can’t get a stronger reaction from the audience than this." I usually leave on that note soon after.

JazzWax clips: Here's David Rose's arrangement of Never Too Late for Tony's The Movie Song Album...

Here's Tony, with pianist Bill Charlap, singing Just the Way You Look Tonight from their Grammy-winning album, The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern...

And here's Tony with Bill Evans on TV in 1977...

      

Related Stories

• Six Videos: Tony Bennett
• Tony Bennett and Henry Mancini
• Tony Bennett: Mystery Solved!

 

from JazzWax http://ift.tt/2yACuQP

Grateful Dead and Jon Hendricks

Perhaps the most mind-blowing revelation from my interview with Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead last week (go here) was the band's connection to Jon Hendricks. For my "Anatomy of a Song" column in The Wall Street Journal (print and a longer version online), I spoke with Bob about "Truckin'," one of the Dead's most iconic counterculture anthems. We talked about Robert Hunter's lyric and how difficult some of the lines were to sing. [Photo above of Bob Weir courtesty of Bob Weir's Twitter account]

Said Bob: "The choruses were easy for me to sing lead but the verses were hell. Some of them were straight-up tongue twisters, like 'Most of the cats that you meet on the streets speak of true love.' Give it a try. You’re not going to get through it. At first, I complained bitterly about how those dense verses were going to go. Jerry (Garcia's) response was, 'Sing ’em like Chuck Berry in School Days. Jerry meant I should use Chuck’s rapid-fire delivery and enunciation to fit a lot of words into each measure." [Photo of Grateful Dead courtesy of Wikipedia]

But Jon Hendricks also played a role:

"Three years earlier, in 1967, as the Warlocks, we backed Jon on a single called Fire in the City. Jon was producing it for a documentary. Jon was cool. He got what he wanted out of us—vocal harmony—and we learned from him. He’s a vocalese singer and composer and one of the best at coming up with lyrics for instrumental jazz solos. Jon’s mind and mouth are so fast that he’s able to get a lot of words into each measure with perfect enunciation. Just being in his presence made us think. Truckin’ has that same vocalese and vocal-harmony feel in places. I thought of Jon as we worked on Truckin’.”

Here's Jon Hendricks backed by the Warlocks (the Dead) in San Francisco on Fire in the City in 1967...

Also in the WSJ this week, my "House Call" interview with singer-songwriter Michael McDonald on growing up in Ferguson, Mo., and the battered upright grand piano his father brought home that changed Michael's life. Michael has a new album out, Wide Open. Here's Michael with the Doobie Brothers singing lead on his song, What a Fool Believes...

Here's Michael singing harmony behind Donald Fagen on Steely Dan's Peg...

And finally in the WSJ, my "Playlist" interview with Jen Welter, the first woman to play running-back on a men's professional football team (go here). Jen chose 3 Doors Down's Kryptonite. Here's why Jen is special...

Sweet Smell of Taxi Driver. Following my examination of Sweet Smell of Success last week, I thought I'd share this montage from Taxi Driver (1976). At 2:37, director Martin Scorsese pays tribute to the 1957 film by including Nedicks, which is where Tony Curtis first checks Burt Lancaster's gossip column after the opening credits...

West Coast jazz. In Los Angeles at the end of October? You're in for a treat. The Los Angeles Jazz Institute is producing Mulliganesque, a four-day tribute to the music of baritone saxophonist and arranger-composer Gerry Mulligan. The festival will run Oct. 27-30 at the Four Points Sheraton at LAX airport. For more information, go here. 

Early Steve Allen Show. Carl Woideck sent along a link to an early complete Steve Allen Show in 1956. As Carl notes, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge and other jazz greats appear at 24:50...

More Sinatra on DVD. Eagle Vision has released three new DVD sets of Frank Sinatra in concert and on TV: The Royal Festival Hall (1962) & Live at Carnegie Hall (1980); Live From Caesars Palace (1978) & The First 40 Years (1979); and Portrait of an Album (documenting the recording of L.A. Is My Lady in 1984) & Sinatra Sings, a compilation of performances over four decades. You'll find these DVDs here, here and here.

What the heck. Here's Italian pop singer Meri Marabini singing Sign of the Times on Italian television in 1966...

Oddball album cover of the week.

I wonder if Bobbi Baker was aware of the album's title when she was coaxed up onto the bridge of the elephant's schnoz. 

       

from JazzWax http://ift.tt/2xuAoDi