Last Sunday, the hit Canadian TV series Our City Tonight interviewed Traveling Boy editor, Ed  Boitano. The main focus of the interview was how Traveling Boy was able to survive during the C-19 pandemic when few people have been traveling.

Hosts Jim Gordon and Leeta Liepins offered praise and asked pertinent questions on how Traveling Boy was able to pivot during the pandemic by bringing in new categories and episodes to the site. This includes travel cartoons, international recipes, celebrity suites, travel trivia, foreign film reviews, and travel-themed polls, with the most recent, Places in the Heart; a deeply personal series by staff writers about destinations that dramatically impacted their lives.

Our City Tonight is a remarkable series, almost groundbreaking, in bringing unique viewer content that is not readily anywhere else.

For further information about Our City Tonight:

Our City Tonight – YouTube OR https://www.youtube.com/c/OurCityTonight/videos

FB: Our City Tonight

Instagram: @ourcitytonight @jimgordontv @lifewithleeta

The post June 2021 Eclectic News Articles appeared first on Traveling Archive.

James Cotton was born into a Mississippi farming family in the middle of the summer, 1935. As the youngest of eight children, his prospects in the Tunica cotton fields held few opportunities beyond hauling water buckets for laborers or endless hours on a plantation tractor seat in the sweltering Delta sun. Fortunately for all of us, fate and a fifteen cent harmonica placed James in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

It was an uncle who would coerce the young Cotton to walk up to, and play his harp for, radio personality Rice Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II) Then there was the small radio spot that turned into a recording session in Memphis for Sam Phillips in the pre-Elvis era of Sun Studios. Oh, it gets better… Junior Wells would quit Muddy Waters’ band in the middle of a southern tour, forcing an immediate search for a replacement harp player. That search ended in Memphis, when Muddy met James. A meeting that began a musical collaboration and friendship that would last decades.

Soft spoken unless it concerned his music and extremely humble, Cotton rarely talked of his awards, Grammy nominations, or his status on the worlds blues stage. He was just a bluesman and his focus remained solely on his music. Our conversation took place backstage at a club in Southern California in the late 80s and began with his early influences in music.

“I used to listen to people.” James said. “Like Memphis Minnie and Charlie Patton. And it was Sonny Boy who kinda’ taught me how to play the harp. Sonny Boy #2, Rice Miller.”

Didn’t you live in Sonny Boy’s house? “Six years!”

How did that happen? “Well, Sonny Boy was on station KFFA in Helena, Arkansas. He had a fifteen minute program everyday from 12:00 to 12:15. I used to listen to it every day. We get out in the field with the radio and listen at that.

My uncle, me and him drove tractors together. He taught me how to drive a tractor when I was a kid. We was getting three dollars a day for driving a tractor. Get paid $36 every two weeks.

So he’d taken me to Helena to meet Sonny Boy. I told him I was orphaned, my uncle told me to say that. I walked up to him and he talked to me, you know? Me and him (Sonny Boy) got to talking, so he took me in. My uncle talked to him also when he seen it was working, you know?”

After your move to Memphis, other than Sonny Boy, who else were you playing with? “Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Love… I played with quite a few people down there.”

Any special memories of those Beale Street years? “Somebody stole my harps one day, that’s what!” (laughing) Somebody stole your harps? Who stole your harps? “I don’t know man. They were hard to come by, too! You couldn’t make no money… I had about ten of them. They ripped me off!”

Did you play a lot on the streets? “Yeah I played on the street a little bit. Not much because I was lucky enough to be in a band with Sonny Boy and we were working pretty good.”

Some folks refer to the blues as a comforter, you ever feel that way? “Well, blues do a lot of things for you, you know? Sometimes they make you sad, sometimes they make you comfortable.” What do they do for James Cotton? “They do a lot of things for me. They make me… they make me cry.” They make you cry? He nods, “Sometimes they make me cry.”

You moved to Chicago in 1954? “Had a job with the late, great Muddy Waters. Muddy brought me to Chicago. He’d been on tour, down through the South and Junior Wells left the band. Muddy was looking for a harp player and he heard about me in Memphis. So when he was coming up from Florida, he came through Memphis and asked me if I wanted a job.”

What was it like playing in Muddy’s band? “Well, I had a beautiful time playing with Muddy. I had the pleasure of working with Muddy twelve years. I had a really good time; he was like a father to me. I learned a lot of things in that band.” Like what? “He was doing a lot more recording than Sonny Boy was. A lot about the studios, things like that.”

One of my favorite albums is Muddy at Newport in 1960. You and Muddy with Tat Harris, Otis Spann, Andrew Stevenson and Francis Clay. What do you remember about that recording? “Well, I got fired the same day!” You got fired? “We did a song called, ‘I Put a Tiger in Your Tank.’ Muddy forgot the words to it and I played the lines and he said I played it wrong!” Did that happen a lot? “About a dozen times, but I always got hired back. I was lucky. I was always trying to do more, you know? Trying to make it better. A lot of things I was doing, by me being younger, Muddy didn’t understand.”

What were regular recording sessions like? “It was beautiful in the studio. But I guess he’d been doing it so long, when I got with him, you know?”

Chess provided a good environment? “Chess had got hip to the blues, man. I have to say this about the Chess brothers. I’ve never been in the studio where they recorded harmonica like the Chess brothers did. They were good at that!”

What do you suppose made them so different? “I don’t know some magic they had with those buttons back there.”

You had recorded at the famed Sun Recording Service in Memphis too, didn’t you? “I did four sides for Sun. This was before Elvis Presley or anybody like that. I did the recording in 1950, but I think it come out in ’51. Uh, I did four sides for them… ‘Straighten Up Baby,’ ‘Oh, Baby,’ ‘Hold Me in Your Arms’ and ‘Cotton Crop Blues.’”

You think you can still find copies of them? He just smiles, “Cost you a lot of money!”

You knew Little Walter? “Little Walter was a beautiful cat, man. I had the pleasure of working in Chicago with him four or five years before he died. I don’t thinks nobody will ever be better than Little Walter. I think he’s so far ahead of his time, you know?”

During the 60s, you played a lot of Fillmore dates. “Well, we probably worked at the Fillmore’s more than any band I know. Fillmore East, Fillmore West, Fillmore East… man, we did that so much till I thought I was going to die between San Francisco and New York!” (laughing) You know that those venues and events introduced blues to a whole new generation of fans, that’s quite the legacy. “I don’t even worry about things like that.” He shrugs. “I just want to be a good musician, do the best I can with it.”

Any one particular Fillmore event that stands out for you? “Yeah, I worked a date with Janis Joplin at the Fillmore West and we were managed by Albert Grossman. And then Monday she was in the office and said, ‘Look, I want to work with this guy again, he makes me work like hell.’ She said, ‘I can’t play around whenever he’s working, so I have to work!’ So, I did quite a few dates with Janis Joplin.”

Are you still having fun playing? “The music does as much for me as it does to the people out there. It makes me get up and go, too.”

How long have you been on the road? “40 years!” Ever get you down? “Well, when it ain’t fun no more, that’s when I quit. I’m certainly not getting rich, so when it ain’t fun, I’ll have to go home then.”

James went home March 16, 2017, he was 81 years old.

The post James Cotton: Super Harp appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Covid Survivor

It was the second sleepless night for my sister. What started as a mild fever had escalated to a classic case of Covid 19. Her doctor was no help. He was textbook-trained but he had no first-hand experience with the disease. Sis couldn’t sleep in a normal postion because of the constriction in her lungs. She was told to lay on her stomach but that didn’t work. Standing up was not a solution either. How can you sleep while standing up? Heading for a third night of difficulty she got a phone call from my daughter (a nurse who works in the red zone). My daughter told her about flowler’s position — sleeping at an angle. (SEE DIAGRAM). That’s what saved the day…. (I mean) the night. Later on, my daughter gave her more tips that led to her full recovery. I’m so glad for my sister’s health and so proud of my daughter. You can read my sister’s full testimony as well as her husband’s at TravelingBoy.com. Pass this on. This may save someone’s life.

I’d like to salute our frontliners in this pandemic. I can only speak about my daughter but I’m sure this is the routine of every frontliner. She’s on her feet all day wearing her full plastic armor of face mask, plastic shield, cap and gloves. She trained herself not to scratch her nose or wipe her eyes. There are 60 doctors and nurses where she works. Despite their precaution, only my daughter and 2 other nurses have not yet had Covid. (I guess masks are good but it is the vaccines that are the game changers). She goes home after a full shift but she does not enter the house yet. She has to change in the garage, wrap her scrubs in a bag, go inside to take a bath. Only then, can she hug her kids and her husband.

You are blessed if you live here in America. The vaccines have reached millions already. Infection rates have dipped. My heart goes out to many more countries that still wait for the vaccines to arrive on their shores. Americans get the dosage free. In other countries people have to purchase it (if they are available at all). At least there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel. Let’s continue to pray for this generation.

TGIF people!

Raoul

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
 his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;
 great is your faithfulness.  — Lamentation 3:22-23

BTW, if you need an oximeter, please let me know. A subscriber of my TGIF emails bought one and was given a spare. He is selling the other one cheap.

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Tom of Pasadena, CA for sharing this pun.

Video: Aging Wife

Thanks to Lee of Alhambra, CA and Craig of Texas

Video: Dolly Parton’s Assault

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C.

Erratum: According to Snopes, last week’s video of a VW Korea Flying car was fake. Sorry about that. Thanks to Rey of Simi Valley, CA for pointing it out to me.

Parting Shots

Thanks to Tony of Los Angeles, CA

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C.

Thanks to Naomi of North Hollywood, CA

The post Amazing Puns appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Never-the-less you are determined and focused, and find yourself in a band full of grownups “playing lead” guitar and you get gigs opening for the very players you so admire. Suddenly, you’re hanging backstage with Johnny Winter, Joe Perry, and Elliot Easton. Your band releases a regional hit and local radio WBCN invites you in to talk about your music… sounds like a fairy tale, something that only happens in the movies, right? Yet, that is exactly what happened to San Diego guitarist, Jimmy Zollo.

Although he is rarely thrown out of clubs anymore, Zollo’s resolve and ‘never say die’ attitude is still apparent. He continues to play with different musicians in multiple bands and actively generates new music and original material. So, when we finally had a chance to sit down and talk, we started with those early years.

Was your family musical? “My dad played saxophone a little bit.” Jimmy says. “And my mom was an artist and she’s responsible for all my musical influences. She was actually a graduate of UC Berkeley and was double promoted from high school. She went to college really early and was up there during the Monterey Pop festival. Her main thing was abstract art but she did all of it and then became an art teacher in the school system. Once we were old enough to go to school, she went back to work and became an art teacher in the high school that I attended. She used charcoal and paint and she sold a lot of her pieces in La Jolla.

She took me to my first concert; Boz Scaggs, the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac back in Foxboro. Thanks to her I got to see Queen six times, Thin Lizzy and there were many concerts I missed because by that age I had already been playing and had a band. She tried to get me to go see the last tour that Bon Scott did through Boston and I said, ‘Mom, I’m playin’ a party.’ Even though I wanted to go… I missed that, and then he was gone. She took me to go see Prince on his first tour, and then she told me about this guitar player from Texas that you need to see… Stevie Ray Vaughan! She was a major influence on my direction and my biggest supporter.”

How about siblings? “My younger brother Drew is a great bass player. We’ve played together in the past. When growing up he would snatch my guitar away from me.” (laughing) “I would beat him.” (laughing) “I finally got hip one day and said, ‘if you’re going to keep doing this, then you’re going to play bass.’ I gave him my guitar and showed him some bass lines and got him going on that. And I have a sister, too. She never played professionally, but she can play the drums.”

************************

“That’s the thing about blues music, it’s all based on the love of the music
and the people we revere the most.”

– Jimmy Zollo

 ************************

Originally from the East Coast, you must have known early it would be music? “I grew up in Boston and left when I was twenty. When I left that area, I was already a veteran of that scene. I played professionally from the age of fourteen and I opened up for Johnny Winter, Gregg Allman, Frank Marino, Metallica… Hanoi Rocks and a lot of others I can’t remember. I was in a little band and playing with some guys from high school; ‘Scorcher’ and we had our own little regional hit song, ‘Dreamers’ and ‘Let the Nation’s Burn.’ It was kind of hard rock stuff and we got airplay on WBCN-Boston and did interviews on that station.”

WBCN is nation-wide exposure… who else were you running into around Boston at that time? “When I was young, around 1978, I got to meet the Aerosmith crew, the Cars… I met Elliot Easton, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler. Where I grew up, there was a super high bar for guitar players. Even as a kid, you knew there were kids that were already pro players.”

The Northeast is known for its outstanding guitarists. Did you ever run into Duke Robillard? “Yeah…Roomful of Blues! They used to play within walking distance of my home so I would go over and stand outside and listen and then sometimes sneak in and get thrown out… Ronnie Earl, too!”

So you leave the East Coast in 1985… “I went right to Hollywood! It was a great time to be in your twenties and be in Los Angeles. I had just turned 21 and was just kicking around in a couple of bands with some of the guys that I moved out there with, and then eventually my brother and I stumbled into some other guys that came from the Pittsburgh area and we formed the group called ‘the Betrayed’ and we got picked up by EMI. It was a rock band and we were really into the Stones and blues stuff. Basically what happened, we got signed to a big record deal with all these plans and ‘Nirvana’ came out and everything changed!” (laughing) “That was the story for a lot of bands during that time, everything shifted towards that. The people that signed us… they were gone! The next thing you know, we just have a deal on a label with people that don’t know us or have any background with us… and that’s how that went.”

You started playing professionally so early, it sounds like you really didn’t play in that many garage bands. “Well, at 14 I started playing and about six months in, I was in a band with grown-ups… playing lead. It was pretty wild because I didn’t know keys or chords, I just played by ear and nobody could understand how I could learn and play. When I tried to go back and figure out what I was doing, it just ruined it!” (laughing) “You know what I mean? It stopped me from growing, because I started thinking about it instead of just playing intuitively. I could watch friends play… I had some neighbors and their dad was a Bluegrass and Dixieland Jazz musician, so they had instruments. And his son was my age and the drummer. We would play and I’d get tips on how to tune it up, how to make bar chords and cowboy chords and stuff. So that was kind of how I started.”

Your music is so diverse, all the bands you play in… styles and genres, you literally play a little of everything? How did that come about? “Well, I’m glad you noticed that!”(laughing) “It basically goes back to my mom, because she had her record collection and I learned all the stuff in it. From Van Morrison, Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin… I mean everything that everybody had out in the late 60s and early 70s, Creedence Clearwater. And then my things; I was listening to Sabbath and Zeppelin, and Queen, you know? The Beatles, Rolling Stones.”

Who were some of your blues influences? “Oddly enough, it would have been the second generation of players, Jimi Hendrix, the rock stuff. Some people might not associate that with a blues thing, but then I worked backwards.”

Bet mom had something to do with it? Jimmy smiles. “She was the one who told me to go back and listen to Howlin’ Wolf, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and all that stuff, Chuck Berry. I’m like, ‘who are these people you’re talking about?’ And she would get me the records and that’s how I got into it.”

I think most musicians have been influenced in some way by Wolf and Robert Johnson… Muddy. “Clapton is a good example, he plays everything. He plays hard rock, pop and deep blues and all that stuff and she (mom) literally told me ‘if you can emulate Clapton’s career as far as the range of music…’ I was 14 but it didn’t take long until I realized what she meant and just how much Clapton and the Stones did for the blues and for all those people.”

Sounds like you followed her advice? “You realize everything came from that (blues). All the roots of everything rock & roll was laid in that era. Take Johnny Shines who traveled with Robert Johnson and Johnny could emulate Robert’s playing and singing and the next thing you know it’s virtually like Robert Johnson had a band because there’s a drummer and a piano player and now there’s a back beat… and it’s rock and roll!”

The first band I remember seeing you play in was the Red Lotus Review with Karl Cabbage, Pete Fazzini and Kurt Kalker. How did that band come together? “I had been out of the music scene for a little bit because I had recently been married and had a child coming, so I kind of dropped out to concentrate on that for a minute. And then my wife at the time told me, ‘you know you can go back and start playing music again if you want.’ After my daughter was a year or two old, I started playing with Chillboy (Raffesberger) and he had a little cast of revolving musicians who were available and always great. A woman Charmaine Tam, a bass player was playing with Karl in another band and she mentioned that I should meet him because he would love my playing. In Chill’s band we were playing blues and I was playing a little more traditional style. He was great at what he did but I had a different style, maybe more primitive compared to what he was doing. Charmaine thought that would fit in with what Karl was doing. The first thing I played for him was a Robert Johnson song and he was hooked.”

After Red Lotus Review you started another band with Karl, ‘Holla Pointe.’ “When Red Lotus was like six or seven years in, we actually had a record deal with the Rip Cat label. I was putting together material and we were getting ready to record and a couple of the guys didn’t want to continue in that direction, unfortunately. It was a great lineup and very unique: two guitars, no bass, drums, harmonica and vocals. We wanted to inject original material into that format. I decided to still do these songs and I asked Karl, ‘I’m going to do this band, ‘Holla Pointe’ if you want to be a part of it and he was like ‘Yeah, I’m in!’

Musically, how was it different from the RLR? “It was similar but what happened, we added a bass player and a few different rhythms and I tried to incorporate a hill country and more of a Delta feel, amped up a little bit. Trying to save that traditional vocabulary but adding a twist to it.”

You’re playing with so many people and in so many bands currently… Joe Wood and the Lonely Ones…”It’s basically the same lineup as ‘Change Today.’ It’s Joe’s nightclub act, his working band. I wasn’t really interested in doing more night club acts. I’ve been in maybe 20 bands over the past 10 years and worked hundreds of days a year. But I said I was really interested in getting in to his (Joe Wood’s) back catalogue and maybe writing some new stuff, so we agreed on that and that’s where we are…with ‘Change Today.’

You also played with vocal dynamo, Casey Hensley. “At that time I was playing in the Six-String Outlaws and that’s where I met Evan Yearsley. He and I clicked musically and we had the same interests… so let’s do something together, you know? He said, ‘Well, I’ve got this girl singer, Casey.’ At the time I didn’t realize, but I had met Casey four or five years before when she was like… 14! She sang on a concert that I was playing with Chill (Raffesberger) for ‘the Best of San Diego’ or something. She came in and sang an Aretha Franklin song and I was all, ‘this girl’s good!’ So, I ended up being in the first rendition of her band.”

Are you spending any time in the studio? “Yeah, I’m making this ‘Change Today’ record right now which is really great. It’s a pretty wide-ranging sound, Joe’s a great songwriter and I got to contribute. It was a chance for me to collaborate with someone who’s a proven, great songwriter.”

How did you meet Joe? “Well, it’s funny I met him in ’89 and he says he remembers… but I know he doesn’t.” (laughing) “But I’d been working for different record producers as an assistant in the studios. When they make recordings, I would go in and basically take care of all the guitars; insure they’re strung up and intonated, tuned up and working properly. I would go to the studio at nine in the morning and stay till midnight. I worked on a lot of sessions while I was pursuing my own career. I worked in every studio in L.A… Capitol, MCA. Everything from Rod Stewart, Robert Palmer, hard rock records, I was very busy and made a lot of money. Most musicians don’t make a lot of money when they’re struggling. What was nice is that it didn’t interfere with what I was doing. After doing that for a couple of years, I ended up being in those same studios recording my own stuff. Most of the people working there said, ‘Wow! It’s great to see you here and now you’re working on your own thing.’ And that’s how I met Joe. One of the producers working on one of Joe’s last records with his band TSOL, caught wind of me and was interested in hearing me play. So, when he did and I introduced myself to Joe and he said, ‘You can join my band, anytime!’ We did a couple of gigs together and I pushed the ‘Change Today’ thing and that’s really taken off.”

I remember seeing you play with Rod Piazza at one of his birthday bashes in Riverside. “Rod Piazza” Jimmy says. “I look at him with the same amount of reverence that I do with all the blues originators because of his dedication and the purity of what he does. He recognized something and took me aside and gave me this heart-to-heart about what I was doing. I just gained so much respect for him because he encouraged me… who am I, to him? But he heard something in me and gave me some wind in my sails to believe in myself. It’s hard to explain to people who don’t know who he is or the genre and express the feeling and the depth of what that meant to me. That’s the thing about blues music, it’s all based on the love of the music and the people we revere the most.”

It seems blues is more personal; the music and stories handed down generation-to-generation. “I was just watching a Muddy Waters interview and the man interviewing him was Pete Welding. He was a record producer and blues/jazz historian and was very close with Muddy.” Jimmy says, and as to prove a point. “I was taught Robert Johnson songs by Pete Welding, who learned from Muddy, who learned directly from Robert.”  

Details! This was in your studio years in L.A.? “Yes, I was very young when I met Pete, he heard I was into the blues and took me into his office at Capitol and gave me a music and history lesson that day. That was huge in my life at that time. I also had a chance to meet Les Paul there and had my picture taken with him. He was a very nice man and made me feel like I was his friend, even though we only talked for a few minutes.”

Let’s talk about ‘Change Today’ and collaborating with Joe Wood. “Joe isn’t a kid anymore and he’s fully aware of that. And the songwriting that he’s doing now is very deep and he’s really gifted at it. When you hear this record… there’s a couple of edgier tunes on it that will make his fan’s of earlier material feel good and there’s some darker stuff that they’re gonna’ love too. But there’s also some stuff that can stand next to Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, its real songwriting. Roots-y, pure soul music, and it’s all originals. I just add my texture and color to it. I get credit for arranging some songs but for the most part all the stuff was there. I did contribute two tracks and Joe put it in his blender. Anytime you write something, it’s always a better result when there’s other minds involved that are creative and add to it.”

Sounds like a fun environment. “These bands with Joe Wood and Mark Campbell and Chris Ogard… we all get along so well, it’s almost comical. I’ve never been travelling with a band ever, where it was so light and easy. It’s so much fun because we just laugh all the time and we can’t wait to play. Everywhere we play people are just like, ‘Wow!’ they feel the energy because we’re so excited. We’re finishing up this record, we’ve got all the basic tracks but I have to put my stuff on it and the vocals and we’re trying to put May 30^th as the release.”

Any reflections about life or the road you travel, to this point? “I just go where the music tells me to go.” Zollo says. “I’ve never pursued or pushed myself; I just do my part and make sure I’m ready when that intersection comes. I’ve had the opportunity to play with so many people; I got to play with Jimmy Bain before he died. A bass player and songwriter, he wrote ‘Man on the Silver Mountain’ he was in Ritchie Blackmore’s band with Ronnie James Dio and he wrote all the Dio stuff for ‘Holy Diver.’ I got a call to do a session and I’m standing in the control room with him… didn’t know that was gonna’ happen!” He smiles and shakes his head. “What am I doing there?”

So your message is be prepared and try not to freak out? “I met Cash McCall last time I went to Memphis and he actually performed two songs with me and shook my hand and goes, ‘I really like your playing.’ I was like, ‘That’s enough for me!'”

The post Jimmy Zollo: How Bad Do You Want It? appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Italian director Giuseppe Capotondi’s directing career kicked off at age 23. He cut his teeth on music videos and over 250 TV commercials, subsequently winning international awards. The Burnt Orange Heresy, his second feature, is a fascinating Hitchcockian mystery which has more twists and turns than a salted pretzel. Capotondi’s casting is superb with Danish Claes Bang as James Figueras, an art critic whose successful days are behind him.  He fills his time giving lectures to uninformed art audiences, which changes quickly when he meets Berenice Hollis played by Australian actor Elizabeth Debicki.

Their romantic adventures takes them to the magnificent Lake Como home of Joseph Cassidy, a wealthy art dealer played by Mick Jagger.  He commissions James to steal a painting from the reclusive, famous artist Jerome Debney, played by the iconic Donald Sutherland.  Once James and Berenice meet this eccentric artist, the story does a 360 and takes off into the most unexpected, dark places with James’ desperation catapulting him into a complicated web of deceit out of which there is no escape.  Just when you think you’ve figured it out, along comes another totally unexpected, shocking turn of events that will leave you on the edge of your seat to the final frame and beyond.

Director Capotondi and Claes Bang sat down for an interview with a small group of select journalists and the following has been edited for content and continuity.

How did you learn about the book and did the script stick close to the original story?

Guiseppe: Charles Willeford’s novel is set in Palm Beach, Florida but it was hard to shoot there, so we moved the action to Lake Como.  Also, the character of Berenice is developed a lot more than in the book in which she was a marginal character.  But, the story is more or less the same.

How did you find that beautiful manor at Lake Como?

Guiseppe:  Actually, nobody lives there so we had to totally redecorate it. You can rent it.  It’s a huge house and very cold in the winter.

When you read a script, what three things jump out that makes you want to play that character?

Claes:  It’s never about three things. Every script is different and it wouldn’t be good to tick off three boxes.  It has to say something to me – sort of like wow, I just want to start doing these scenes.  With this one, it was very much about that twisted, weird relationship between James and Berenice.  Like, whoa, what’s going on here?  What’s the dynamic they have with each other?

You just came off The Square, which also dealt with art.  How is your knowledge of art?

Claes:  I’ve always been super interested in art.  I’ve been going to museums and involved in art forever.  Obviously, for The Square, I talked to a lot of museum art directors to find out about that job.  That research really came in handy for this film.

Guiseppe:  I don’t think we were trying to make a satire on the world of art. (Laughs)

Claes:  We are not trying to say something about the art world per se; it was just about my character’s job and obviously it gives us a chance to talk about the perception of art and its seduction.

How was it working with Mick Jagger and Donald Sutherland – two icons.

Guiseppe:  It was different because Donald is a legend and I was nervous about the idea of working with him.  But, he is a very sweet man and very generous.  Before I met Mick in London, I was really sweaty and didn’t know what I was going to say to him.  The moment you get to know him, you find that he very approachable and is quite normal, funny, and very sweet.

After the ordeal she just went through, what was Berenice’s motivation for returning to the apartment? (Laughter)

Guiseppe:  If you think about it, many women who are abused by their husbands always go back.  First of all, we tend to hope that people we like walk a straight line, but they don’t always do that.  Maybe she was in shock.

Claes:  It’s always about finding something irrational in your character.  Like why would you ever go and do that?  As an audience, it actually engages you and you want to shout no, no, no.  Don’t do that!  (Laughter)

Guiseppe:  We did have a lot of conversations about that scene.

Claes:  My character of James is pushed over the edge, which is why he takes those actions.   The Jagger character basically has him by the balls so either he does what he says or there will be no way back to his career in the art world.  He’s fallen from grace and is a persona no gratis and is fed up with lecturing.  Berenice catches him red handed and reacts negatively. We worked hard to get that bathroom scene. He had no idea that in three days, his life would do a 360.  He’s just trying to survive and that ambition drives him too far.

When you are in an emotionally intense scene, how do you decompress?

Claes: I’m not a “Method” actor. I like to think of myself as an instrument – like a piano you can play. That’s in an ideal world but sometimes I’m a bit too opinionated so I’m not a totally neutral instrument, but I try to be.  I have the feeling that if I lose myself too much, I won’t be able to take direction.  For a very long time I heard all these teachers from drama school in my head – remember to stand like that, to talk like this, do this and that and I would l think can you get the f…ck out of my head and just let me just be.   You have to keep a distance in a way and I don’t go home devastated.

Did you give a lot of character direction?

Guiseppe:  No. I think they all drew from personal experiences, except maybe the killing experience. We talked before and then I would just smoke my cigarettes (Laughter)

Claes:  You have to get use to that.  I was always wanting to do more takes, but

Guiseppe would say, no, no. We’ve got what we need.  (Laughter)

The end of the film is a cliffhanger. 

Guiseppe:  We talked a lot about that ending and that was the biggest change.  It wasn’t written like that.  I didn’t want to give this character absolution and wanted to just leave the ending with a question mark.

Claes:  Our ending is mysterious.  Now you leave the cinema wondering what’s going to happen.

Best of luck with the film.

“The Burnt Orange Heresy”

Presented by: Sony Pictures Classics; Ingenious Media Presents an MJZ Production; A Wonderful Films Production; A Rumble Films Production; In association with HanWay Films; In collaboration with Indiana Production; S.PA., In association with Carte Blanche Cinema

Directed by: Giuseppe Capotondi
Screenplay by:  Scott B. Smith, Based on the book by Charles Willeford
Director of Photography:  David Ungaro, AFC
Production Designer:  Totoi Santoro
Edited By: Guido Notari
Music by: Craig Armstrong
Costume Designer:  Gabriella Pesucci

Genre: Mystery
Language: English
Rating: R
Running Time: 98 Minutes

Cast List:  Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger, Donald Sutherland, Alessandro Fabrizi, & Rosalind Halstead.

Playing at the Landmark Theatres

The post “The Burnt Orange Heresy” – A Super Mystery Thriller appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Gems: Volume 2 is composed of what Sue refers to as “personal favorites” recorded by several of her bands dating back to the 1980’s. The most recent track recorded just this past summer with old friends and special guests at the Thunderbird Analog Recording Studio. It’s a wealth of material that truly reflects her lifetime in music. So I asked if putting together this project made her a little nostalgic. “Yes.” Sue says. “Most of the time, over the last 70 years really, I was always looking forward to the next project. I’m still like that now, but I guess I’m old enough to want to write my memoirs, musically speaking. I find it interesting to figure out why I came to be playing a certain way. They say everything you do is just preparation for the rest of your life, forever preparing. I have found that everything I have done musically, I have eventually used.”  

Time and space prevent a complete description of the total project, but to whet the appetite let’s examine a few nuggets. Songs that jump out at you… “Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere” is a beautiful and loving homage to Hadda Brooks. Vocalist Deejha Marie spells it out and the lushness of the Motel Swing Orchestra adds so much texture, its music you can feel.

“Freak Lover” is a little different, reminiscent of the Prohibition/Speakeasy era, with Candye Kane at her bawdy best. ‘Come and see about me, Daddy!’ The violin of Eric Hokkanen gives you some Papa John Creach attitude in this uptempo romp.

No big band can call itself a ‘big band’ without some Ellington and this fresh take on “East St. Louis Toodle-oo” from 2015 is ageless. The muted brass of Phil Shopoff and April West make Sue’s piano shine all that much brighter. It’s like stepping back in time. Speaking of which “Fish for Supper” is my absolute favorite track. The legendary Preston Coleman has that Louis Armstrong growl as he laments over his gastronomical woes. Watch out for bones!

“Ladies Shoes” is a slow blues where once again, vocalist Deejha Marie takes it to the street. The track also features the unrelenting and masterful blues guitar of Steve Wilcox. Add the rest of the orchestra and you grasp the true meaning of ‘smoke-filled room!’

That’s just five of the 20 tracks available on this star-studded album. Sue says, “I have played with some wonderfully talented and charismatic people over the years… Preston Coleman and Candye Kane definitely among them! AND I still do!!” An incredible rotating cast of musicians but a long-time core rhythm section of side players like sax man, Jonny Viau and rock solid time keeper and drummer, Sharon Shufelt. Vocalists Deejha Marie and daughter, Sharifah add even more depth and emotion to the big band songbook. Bass player Pete Harrison, guitarist Steve Wilcox and the trombone of April West round out the current lineup and all have been instrumental in Sue Palmer’s musical journey. And Sue is the first to recognize it. “I always remember that Duke Ellington considered his orchestra his instrument… and I feel like that too. If one has a wonderful band, you want to highlight them!!!”

Sue will highlight her entire Motel Swing Orchestra with guest vocalists, Sharifah Muhammad and Laura Jane Willcock at her upcoming ‘Gems: Volume 2’ release party January 7, 2020 at Tio Leos, 5302 Napa St. San Diego. More info is as close as www.suepalmer.com

The post Sue Palmer Doubles Down — Gems: Volume 2 appeared first on Traveling Archive.

How did you prepare to shoot Truth and Justice?

Tanel:  Before shooting the film, I came to America for three months to take workshops as a teacher trainee at Ivana Chubbuck Studio. Her method is called the Chubbuck Technique and is loosely based on the Stanislavsky method. I learned a lot from her, ranging from casting in film, to auditioning, and how to prep for that. Her book, “The Power of the Actor,” goes deeply into acting.  Some directors say that taking acting classes helps you understand how to play a character objective and makes you a better director with actors.

The sub-text, especially in the characterization of Andres, is subtly apparent which gives us a glimpse into his motivations. Did you study psychology?

Tanel:  I’ve always said that I think the work of a psychologist is very close to the work of a director because the director has to understand the psychology of the character.  Then, you have to help the actor get to certain points of the character’s emotional state.  I haven’t studied psychology, but I’ve studied acting and have directed a lot of actors.  The first time I came here was in 2007 for a workshop with Judith Weston who wrote the book “Directing Actors.” The workshop concentrated on directing actors and acting for directors.  To experience acting for myself, I also took workshops in London so that I could really understand what I’m asking from an actor.

Why is it so important to understand how to work with actors?

Tanel:  Being a director, you have to be interested in human beings. For me, I want to fall in love with my actors.  I need to trust them and they need to trust me as well.  So, it’s very important to spend as much time with them before the shoot so that we bond with each other.  My job is to make them shine and if they are not good on the screen, then it is my fault.  Being an actor is a very fragile occupation and I really appreciate what they are doing.

The actors in “Truth and Justice” each have a strong sub-text, which you don’t always see in other characterizations.  What are your thoughts?

Tanel:  The text is the least important – it’s what’s behind it that tells you what is actually going on in a scene.  What’s underneath or what the character is doing while delivering the text – that’s where the real meaning comes out.  If the actors are not good or the acting doesn’t work, then nothing works.

Did making short films early in your career inform the narrative feature film?

Tanel:  I used short films to prepare me for full-length films. The reason it’s taken a while for me to make my first narrative film, is because I was very careful in choosing my first project.

What are some of the films and/or directors you admired growing up?

Tanel: Because I was so young, I don’t remember the names of the directors. I do remember the “Tarzan” television series and “King Kong.” The reception was really bad, so my sister and I had to take turns holding the antenna.  When it was her turn to hold the antenna, I would describe what was happening on the screen. I also loved everything where there were sharks, like “Jaws.” Just give me a movie where there’s a shark, and I will love it.  (Laughter) I also liked watching horror films like “Friday The 13^th.” I loved watching movies because in my childhood there wasn’t the Internet. It was like some magic elves from America were doing those things that we saw on the screen, but I couldn’t imagine that some day I would be doing the same thing.

Was anyone in your family in the creative arts?

Tanel: The answer is no. My dad is a captain on a cargo ship and my mom is a cook – nothing to do with film or culture. When I was younger, I liked to draw and I drew comic strips.  I loved telling stories, so I was already telling stories with images. In class, we had to perform a play and I was always the one who wrote the play because I knew how it had to be done. I didn’t know that it was something like directing.

Would you say you had a happy childhood – enough money?

Tanel:  In the Soviet Union there’s never enough money for everything, but I’m very blessed to have such great parents. Although my parents were not in the creative arts, but thanks to them, I was brave enough to study something that I really felt that I could love. My mom is a very good cook and she really loves cooking. My dad really loves the sea and he’s a very good captain. Eighteen or nineteen are a very fragile ages when, after graduating high school, you are choosing what you are going to do next. Very often you are not listening to your heart, but thinking too much with your head, like what would be useful, what will bring money, or satisfaction. Researchers say that 80% of people work at something they don’t love or enjoy. I’m really happy and thankful that I found something that I genuinely love. Some people are even paying money for me to do this job. (Laughs)

Are you working on a project now?

Tanel: It’s a sci-fi thriller, which is now in pre-production. It’s completely different from Truth and Justice. It has four characters and takes place in a post apocalyptic world in the middle of an ocean in a rusty tower.

I look forward to what I know will be another excellent piece of work.

Tanel: Thank you so much. I really enjoyed this.

TRUTH AND JUSTICE
An ALLFILM Production
Director/Writer:  Tanel Toom
Producer:  Ivo Felt
Cinematographer: Rein Kotov
Editor: Tambet Tsuja
Production Designer:  Jaagup Roomet
Sound Designer:  Matis Rei
Composer: Mihkel Zilmer
Genre:  Drama
Language:  Estonian with sub-titles
Running Time:  149 minutes

The post Up Close and Personal With Estonian Director Tanel Toom appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Tanel Toom is a talented young Estonian filmmaker who cut his directing teeth on short films. His first full-length feature is “Truth And Justice,” an epic that spans decades. The story is about blind ambition and the cost to those caught in that orbit.  It is the most watched film in Estonia.

The highly professional ensemble consists of Priit Loog, in the lead role of Andres, Maiken Schmidt as his wife Krõõt, and Priit Võigemast as his hostile neighbor, Pearu. The supporting cast is excellent with especially notable performances by Simeoni Sundja as Juss and Maiken Schmidt as Krõõt. Tanel sat down with me for an exclusive interview and the following has been edited for content and continuity.

Your film is brilliant — from your script and directing, to the acting and Rein Kotov’s bucolic cinematography. How did you come across Anton Hansen Tammsaare’s 1926 book, “Truth and Justice” (Tõde ja õigus,) which is considered an important piece of Estonian literature, and on which you based your script?

Tanel: It’s a novel that everyone knows in Estonia and it’s a compulsive read in high school. But, not that many young people read it as it’s 550 pages and not written for a 16-year-old, so it’s a very hard read. Although most Estonians know the book, they don’t actually know the story.

When did you finally read the book?

Tanel. After I graduated, the book was with me for nine years. During that time, I went into the army and attended my first film school in Estonia. I worked for a few years and then got my Masters Degree at the National Film and Television School in the UK. It was after I graduated that I started reading it. When I finished, I was surprised that it was nothing like I thought it was. It is a strong emotional story with an enormous character arc. I was glad I didn’t read it in school because I would not have understood it.

When did you decide it should be a film?

Tanel: About mid-way through the book, I knew that this will be one of my projects. Whatever happens in your life, you’re trying to find reasons why these things happen. I understood why I waited so long to read the book. I understood why people didn’t understand all the elements as it’s episodic with changing themes in the main story, and is not focused on just one element.

How would you explain the story?

Tanel: The main story is about this stubborn man with great ideas whose soul gets corrupted while relentlessly pursuing his dream. It illustrates the tragedy of becoming so obsessed with achieving your goal, that you start forgetting the things that are actually most important in your life, like your loved ones.

How long did it take you to write the script?

Tanel: It took four years to write the script. The book is episodic so it was difficult to adapt the story. You must have cause and affect links, as well turning points in creating the structure of the film, which I worked on in the first year.

How long was the shoot and did you make changes in the script?

Tanel: We shot for almost two years. We had to wait for the seasons to change. That gave me time to continue working on the characters, sometimes changing the emphasis within a scene.

What did actors do between shoots?

Tanel: In Estonia, all actors are theatre actors. The problem is you have to coordinate your schedule around theirs and communicate with the theatres to give them your shooting schedule. This was a nightmare. (Laughs)

There is no evidence of a time lag between scenes as the acting is seamless.

Tanel: Thank you. That’s the job of the director — to control the psychological continuity. There is a jump in time, but psychologically it must make sense.

What was the most challenging part of the shoot?

Tanel: We had 75 packed shooting days and to be able to shoot within that time frame was a challenge. Another challenge was working with  kids and animals. You never know where the problems will lie. For example, the main cow was a real diva. (Laughs) She wanted to run away. So, I’m dealing with a cow who wants to run away and the inherent challenge of working with kids. (Laughs)

Did global warming affect your shooting schedule?

Tanel: We actually had to postpone the winter shoot twice because there was no snow. It wasn’t like in the past when you could count on snow every winter but now, with climate change, there has not been as much snow. Although there are guys who say there is no climate change, we can see it for ourselves.

We have a very ignorant man in the White House and for most Americans it’s humiliating.

Tanel: I suggest he come to Estonia and see our climate change for himself.  We weren’t 100% sure there would be any snow during our shoot. We were postponing and postponing and then it finally snowed.  It was a nice cold winter, with minus 23 degrees on the coldest day of our shoot.

Is there State funding and is there any interference?

Tanel: My film was mostly State funded along with a few sponsors and there was no interference.

What was the budget?

Tanel: The budget wasn’t huge. 2.5 Million Euros or $2.8 million US.

The film looks like it cost tens of millions of dollars. Bravo!

Tanel: Thank you so much.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where director Tanel Toom talks about working with his actors, his family, and his personal odyssey.

TRUTH AND JUSTICE
An ALLFILM Production

Director/Writer:  Tanel Toom
Producer:  Ivo Felt
Cinematographer: Rein Kotov
Editor: Tambet Tsuja
Production Designer:  Jaagup Roomet
Sound Designer:  Matis Rei
Composer: Mihkel Zilmer

Genre:  Drama

Language:  Estonian with sub-titles

Running Time:  149 minutes

The post Tanel Toom’s “Truth And Justice” appeared first on Traveling Archive.

For almost forty years Jonny Viau, when not fronting his own band, has been the ‘go-to’ sax man for most of Southern California. He’s recorded with the very best and the list is long; Duke Robillard, Solomon Burke, Kim Wilson, and Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown are just a snapshot. Viau has put in the time and the miles, playing his way around the globe in support of Mitch Woods, Earl King, Candye Kane, the Blues Beatles and who could possibly forget, The Pleasure Barons.

Jonny is the first to admit as a young musician, having the opportunity to open for legendary bluesmen like Muddy Waters and B.B. King “I was definitely star-struck…meeting ALL those guys!” And to this day he continues to credit the influences of Jazz, Rock and R&B icons as diverse as Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, King Curtis and “a lot of Stax stuff, Sam and Dave and Otis Redding.”

Our conversation began like most, where’s home? “San Diego, baby!” Jonny says proudly, “I’m a third generation Californian and a native San Diegan.”

Was your family musical? “Well, as a matter-of-fact, yeah!” Jonny smiles. “My grandfather played the violin, the clarinet… and the saw! The musical saw! And my mom would back him up on piano and he’d do shows at the Lion’s Club. He’d have a guy with a giant apple on his head and he’d take a gun and shoot it over his shoulder, with a mirror in one hand and a big spring-loaded worm would come out of the apple, cornball stuff, you know?” (laughing) “I have all of his instruments, though. I have his saw, his violin and his clarinet. He was a pharmacist and his name was John Nemes. He was a big wig up in Artesia, near Long Beach. He had a pharmacy. I remember they sold leeches for black eyes and bruises.” (laughing) “I have a jar they kept the leeches in. We got a couple of those.”

Was saxophone your first instrument? “No, not by far! When the Beatles came out, that’s what started this whole, damn thing. That Ed Sullivan appearance really started a whole wave of people wanting to be musicians. A friend of mine, Mike lived on the same street and we started taking guitar lessons in Escondido at the same time. I was probably seven years old then and that lasted almost a year. Then, I started getting into baseball so they didn’t know what direction I was going to go in… sports or music? There was a piano at my Grandmother’s house and a box of toys with a harmonica in there. And I’d be running around with one of those. So in the 7^th or 8^th grade I had a paper route in Poway and I bought a set of drums from Apex Music down on Broadway in downtown San Diego with my paper route money. I played drums for maybe two years until freshman football.”

Battered and bruised, Viau had enough of football and naturally “got a flute.” (laughing) “I had listened to a Jethro Tull record and I really liked it. So I went from football to flute… and then from flute to sax. My flute teacher kept telling me, ‘Man you need to play sax. Sax would mean a lot more work and enjoyment and it fits in with more types of music.’”

But music was always on your radar. “Pretty much. With my good friend, Mike, the first time I heard Sgt. Pepper’s was at his house. And he says, ‘when he was listening to Herman’s Hermit’s, I was listening to Cream and Black Sabbath.’” (laughing) “But anyway, I started playing sax around the 9^th grade, and by the 10^th grade I sorta’ joined a band. My friend, Reuben says ‘I got band practice.’ And I said, ‘I want to be in your band.’ He goes, ‘well come to practice.’ I go, ‘okay.’ I went to practice and I didn’t know what I was doing. I just stood in a corner while they played… and tried to find notes that sounded good to play along with them. The bass player gave me a ride home and I thought that was fun to just go and rehearse once. And he said, ‘You going to show up tomorrow?” I said, ‘Yeah!’ So from that point on I just showed up for rehearsals.” (laughing)

Seems to have worked out well for you? “Yeah! I’ve never actually been asked to join a band…I just sort of show up.” (laughing)

So that was your first band experience? “That was a great band!” Jonny says. “And at first we were doing a lot of Allman Brothers stuff and had two drummers. We were called ‘SkyDog’ Duane Allman’s nickname. And then we became more and more eclectic doing all kinds of other material and whittled it down to one drummer and we called ourselves, ‘Orbis Max.’ We were the shit in North County and Poway. We played all the big, big parties. We played some of the finest keggers that were ever thrown. It was a full-size band; we had three guitars, keyboards, singers ‘cause we didn’t care. We didn’t care about making money. We never did make money.

 We played school dances and we borrowed some money off my mom to buy a real PA system and she gave us three years to pay it back. We paid it back in a year. We played at Camp Pendleton. We’d drive out there not knowing where they were going to send us, and it’s a huge place… and you’d be playing at a Quonset hut with about 80 men and one bar maid.”

Nice you were supporting the troops and cool that your mom encouraged you… “She got involved whether she wanted to, or not.” (laughing) “But she always supported my musical endeavors.”

Can you talk about your ability to adapt your style of play? “Being in ‘Orbis Max’ helped me learn how to adapt, we were super eclectic and we played everything from jazz to rock and contemporary Top 40. Some blues, I mean we thought we could play blues. We weren’t really real blues players. Another thing that really helped me out with those guys; from day one they would record. They would record live gigs; we’d turn our band houses into a recording studio and recorded originals. I was thrown into that whole recording scene which is completely different from playing live.”

Most call that honing your chops or higher education. “Later, when recording I was very familiar with the process and for the most part wasn’t nervous at all. There were a couple of times when I was a little nervous. Doing the Solomon Burke sessions was a high profile deal.”

Who were some of your earliest influences in blues? “I would have to say the Rolling Stones, only I didn’t know it was the blues at the time. I didn’t really know much about the blues until I joined the King Biscuit Blues band. In February 1980, I was 22 years old and they had a steady gig down at the Mandolin Wind on University and 3^rd. They played every Thursday, Friday and Saturday which is unheard of in today’s world.” (Just as Jonny says the late blues harp player Ken Schoppmeyer’s name, his phone begins to ring. Remember his ringtone is a wailing solo harmonica.)

Jonny’s eyes are now wider as he says, “I say the name Ken Schoppmeyer and the harmonica goes off on my phone. That’s weird… talk about spooky shit. (laughing) But Ken had a huge, huge, huge blues record collection and he told me to come over to his house and I brought a bunch of blank cassette tapes and just recorded King Curtis, and all these sax players I’d never heard of before and he turned me on to whole bunch of good music. Then I had to learn, I don’t know, like 40 songs in two weeks to start playing with those guys. And that ran through almost all of 1987. Right when I get in the band, we’re gonna’ record a record and I’m going, ‘Oh my God! I’m not really ready for this.’ But the next thing you know, we’re opening up for Albert King and B.B. King and Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. So, I got to meet all these guys and take a picture. For a green, 22-year old meeting B.B. King was like meeting Babe Ruth or something. I was definitely star- struck… meeting ALL those guys! Especially the first time and they were all, nothing but nice. B.B. was just the nicest guy. I was so tongue-tied and the only thing I could say to him, he had this giant, glob of gold on his finger, and I said, ‘Nice ring, B.B.!’” (laughing) “But the King Biscuit Blues band is where I definitely cut my teeth and learned a lot about life in general!”

How about Jazz influences? “Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Stanley Turrentine, Charlie Parker, I mean there’s so many.” And what was your take away from them? “With Jump Blues and King Curtis what I noticed was and especially with the sax players, they blurred the line between jazz and blues. Is this jazz, is this blues, is it jazzy-blues or bluesy-jazz? I don’t know, but it was good. I think with the saxophone, it’s so associated with jazz so people come up and go ‘you guys play some great Jazz.’ Well, we’re a blues band.”

You must have a pretty large R&B catalog, did you mine that genre? “A lot of Stax stuff, Sam and Dave and Otis Redding. When I left King Biscuit, the band sort of imploded one night. You know with bands; that happens. And everybody quit the group on the 3^rd break just before the last set. (laughing) “I formed a little group with Eric Lieberman eventually, but before that I was in all-black Soul band from the Bay Area called C.P. Love and the Southbound Transit Band. Right after King Biscuit, in late 1987 and into 1988. They would fly me up to the Bay Area and I’d do gigs up there. And we went to Telluride, Colorado. These guys were from New Orleans and they’d never driven in the snow before. We’re driving on that road from Silverton to Telluride in a van pulling a trailer. Which was fine going up, but on the way down it was snowing like no tomorrow and we were just sliding down that mountain. Nobody said a word, we were just scared shitless. But they treated me like family, they were nothing but nice to me.”

“After that I was just bouncing around, freelancing and playing with anybody I could. I moved into an apartment in Oceanside, so I was taking any gigs I could to pay the rent. I would play with the Mudsharks and Scottie Blinn. And with Eric and the Rhumboogies and we played every Tuesday night at Winston’s in Ocean Beach. I would get my horn player friends to come down and sit in. Sometimes we would have 3, 4, 5 or 6 horns and it was just organized chaos, with an emphasis on chaos. You’ve got to be somewhat organized and play together unless you’re Sun Ra, you know?”

Did you listen to Sun Ra? “Yeah! And I listen to a lot of Zappa, too. When I was locked in the blues closet, I didn’t make that a selling point. And I would go see him when I could. I’m still a huge Zappa fan.”

What was your first tour experience? “In 1990, I went out with Mitch Woods and his Rocket 88s from the Bay Area. That was my first real experience with touring, six weeks all across the country. I was touring with Mitch and backing up Earl King. I backed up Earl King several times and he was another guy who was just phenomenal. He wrote ‘Let the Good Times Roll.’ ‘People see me, but they just don’t know.’ Not the one by the Cars.” (laughing) “Just watching him tune his guitar was a musical experience. He would have his guitar tuned to these really weird tunings and that’s how he got some of those cools leads he would do.”

Gary Primich? “Oh My God! Oh My God! You know that session just happened to coincide with the Rodney King/L.A. Riots! And these guys (laughing) had never been to California, they came out from Texas and it was a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday session. Wednesday is when they were beating up people, they took Reginald Denny out of the truck and just about killed him. Thursday was loot, scoot and shoot day and we saw so much shit, so many fires and people with shopping carts full of stuff. A refrigerator in the back seat of a Cadillac with the convertible top down, people pushing big screen TV’s in those little red wagons… I’m telling you, we got the most done in the shortest amount of time you can imagine. We almost did that record in about six hours. They’d get on the talkback and go, ‘Fellas that sounded good, we don’t need to listen to it, trust me. Let’s move on to the next song!’ You really didn’t know there was a riot going on until you went to the bathroom, this tiny little window, you could hear sirens and helicopters and stuff. They had a curfew that day and we had to get out before it got dark and we were all fine with that.”

The title of the album was ‘My Pleasure.’

Tell us about the Pleasure Barons? “From ‘89 to ’93, I did two spectacular tours with the ‘Pleasure Barons.’ Oh My God it was Country Dick, Mojo Nixon, Dave Alvin, Joey Harris, Juke Logan… and we all wore tuxedoes. Country Dick was doing Tom Jones songs two octaves below Tom Jones. It was so much fun. And so funny, during rehearsals we were laughing so hard learning this stuff and then we did it again in ’93. The album was recorded in ’89, I believe. It says ‘Live in Las Vegas’ but it was actually recorded in the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.” (laughing) “In ’93 we had a tour bus that used to belong to John Denver and it was a really nice bus. And we had John Doe and Rosie Flores and Katie Moffett and it was a much more polished show. We had a bar on stage; it was when the swing revival and the martini revival was going, so if you weren’t playing on a particular song, you’d be making martini’s for the guys. We only did two tours and then Dick died in ’95.”

Country Dick Montana was larger than life… “I don’t know if you knew about Dick and the Beat Farmers, but he was always getting doused with beer from the audience or from himself, you know? He went after someone one time who was throwing excessive amounts of beer on him and he jumped off the stage and grabbed a guy…and started spanking him! Little did he know it was wrong guy?” (laughing) “He started spanking him.” (laughing) “He put him over his knee.” What did the band do? “We were laughing, ‘oh, there goes Dick! Just keep playing you guys.’”

Kid Ramos ‘Two Hands, One Heart.’ “Oh that was a fun session. He (Ramos) decided to make an album with a cavalcade of guitar players. So, it was two days of a revolving door of all these great guitar players. Duke Robillard, Junior Watson and ‘Gatemouth’ Brown.  We had three saxophones and a trumpet, Jeff Turmes being one of them, who’s Mavis’ bass player but he’s also a great sax player. He wrote out some arrangements but when Gatemouth came in, he wanted to change up everything. We had everything worked out with the solo’s but okay…we’re going to have to make some adjustments here. He’d say let’s do it this way and when the tape would run, he’d do it a different way. It kept going on and on… till Kid goes, ‘why don’t we do it like the record?’ Gatemouth goes, ‘why do you want to do that for?’ And Kid goes, ‘I don’t know, it’s a T-Bone song.’ Jonny laughs as he says, ‘Gatemouth goes, ‘I don’t care if it’s a Jesus Christ song; we’re gonna’ do it my way!’” (laughing) “Larry Taylor and I were looking at each other and laughing.”

Can we talk about how your solo projects came together, let’s start with your first CD called Jonny Viau and Friends… Sideman? “I just got all my friends to come in and play a song or two and it was so much fun. I had it in the can in ’96, but then I ran out of money so it sat and didn’t get released until about 2000. Then, I put together my own band, Jonny Viau and the Blues All Stars at the insistence of Larry Matranga the owner of Patrick’s. Because I was playing down at Patrick’s with so many different bands I coulda’ put a cot in the back room and slept there. The band I put together was called the All Stars so it could have anybody I wanted in it. It didn’t have to be a set lineup. At any given time it would be Marcus Bashore, Mike Cherry, Dave Pruitt, Billy Seward, Adrian Demain, Troy Jennings, a piano player named Neil Walkup and then we did the Live at Dizzy’s CD in 2002.

Rod Piazza pops up regularly in your discography? “Yeah, I did about four or five albums with Rod. He was cool to work with and in the studio he really brings out the best in his players without being an asshole, you know? With Rod, you wanted to be as good as you could. I traveled a lot with Rod around the United States; we did the Santa Cruz Blues Festival and another festival in West Virginia.”

How did you guys meet? “Well, I met Rod Piazza and James Harman at the Mandolin Wind where I used to play with King Biscuit. I’d see them at the Belly Up and sit in with them. I guess Allen Ortiz introduced me to Rod; he also introduced me to the King Biscuit guys. He was pretty instrumental in me getting my foot in the door with those guys.”

You mentioned James Harman. “I love James. He was just the coolest from day one when he had Hollywood Fats and Kid Ramos in the same band!? With Willie J. Campbell on bass and Steven Hodges on drums… C’mon! They were definitely ‘Those Dangerous Gentlemen’s.’ We opened up for them at the Belly Up and go see them at the Mandolin Wind. And I got to record with them.”

Talk a little about Candye Kane. “Well, I recorded with her for several years before I was actually asked to join the band. I joined her band when that big swing revival in the mid-90s was resurging. She had me and Robbie Smith on trumpet and we did that for a couple of years. Candye was the first one to take me to Europe. She and I had a falling out, we kissed and made up and I went over to Europe again with her and recorded on ‘Super Hero.’ But I am so glad we made up and didn’t leave that tension and bullshit we went through, we put it behind us.”

How did you become a Blues Beatle? “Scottie Blinn gave my information to the guitar player who contacted me and said their sax player wasn’t able to come to Denmark, so last year I went to Denmark for a month and played with those guys. They play Beatles songs in a blues vein and they’re all from Brazil and speak Portuguese. So, I’m with these guys who just speak Portuguese and Danish and very little English. I did another tour with them on the East Coast and it was Fun. Nice guys and good players. Funny. You’ve got to have a sense of humor, you gotta’ laugh. They liked steak and cake and Coca Cola.” (laughing) “Every time we’d go someplace, they had to eat steak.”

Sue Palmer. “She and her band are the greatest people. I’ve been with them almost twenty years now; I think, where we’ve had the same line-up. We do these jazz festivals, blues festivals, concerts in the park…she does so many styles; she can cater to the event. We do the San Diego Blues Festival; we do more R&B and Blues. If we do the San Diego Traditional Jazz Festival, well you know.”

Sue’s band can also range in size. “She can do a solo, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 pieces. That’s a big band, and when you add both singers, Sharifah and Dheeja…”

Speaking of Sharifah… “Sharifah is Dheeja’s daughter and Sharifah’s been coming and singing with Sue for a long time, probably fifteen years, since she was very young. She would just nail me; kill me when she would do the Margie Hendrix part of Ray Charles’ ‘Night Time is the Right Time.’ ‘Baby!’ Oh My God! Something would just come over me. So I said, I want to put a band behind you one of these days. And kept saying it and saying it until finally, let’s do it. We did some rehearsals up at my house, found the best players I could find… Marty Dodson, Troy Sandow, Steve Wilcox, Sharifah and me. Small band, big sound. We learned all these obscure Soul and R&B tunes, everybody contributed songs and we had more than enough material to do a CD. We went to Nathan James’ Sacred Cat studio and we cut 16 songs in two days. You have the basic studio room where everybody’s playing and you have the other room where singers and horn players can play and be isolated and do stuff over. I asked Sharifah, ‘Why don’t you go in to the other room in case you’re not happy with your vocal? She says, ‘No, I want to be in here with you guys!’ A lot of the tracks she cut ‘live’ with us all at the same time. We never did more than three takes on any song.”

The result was the CD ‘Sharifah and the Good Thing.’ “We have a different rhythm section now, but she’s still playing and kicking ass… and taking names!”

For you personally, any wow moments along the way? “I was able to go and record at Capitol Records. It was probably one of the highlights of my recording career even though they just brought me in to play about 16 bars of solo. They had a whole, full on horn section of these session players and I said, ‘Am I going to have to play with those guys?’ They said, “No man, you just have to play the solo, that’s all.” You mean I’m getting 300 bucks to play 16 bars? Okay! Capitol Records here we are!” Jonny shakes his head. “That was an amazing place, all the way to the ceiling… gold records. Abbey Road, real serious records, you know?”

Last call, any wisdom to share from your journey, so far? “What I’ve learned through the music, by experimenting with different notes and rhythm’s is that people don’t understand it, when you’re playing over their heads. It’s why people don’t gravitate toward jazz. Charles McPherson summed it up perfectly when he said, ‘Jazz is like Shakespeare, everybody appreciates it, but nobody wants to read it.’” (laughing) “I’ve learned playing the simpler horn parts, friendly voicing’s that aren’t super jazzy and my solos too, I don’t try to play a million notes or try to sound like Charlie Parker. I just want to play what people like and can relate to. Keep it relatively simple, but fun… fun for me! It’s fun to pick the perfect note for the perfect moment.”

The post Jonny Viau – Sideman appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Julianne Moore launched her career on episodic television programs such as  The Edge of Night, Another World, B.L. Stryker, and  30 Rock. She eventually moved onto the big screen where she gave memorable performances in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Body of Evidence, Benny & Joon, The Fugitive, Roommates, Nine Months, Surviving Picasso, The Lost World:  Jurassic Park, Boogie Nights, Welcome to Hollywood, Psycho, Hannibal, Far from Heaven, The Hours, Children of Men, I’m Not There, A Single Man, The Hunger Games:  Mockingjay – Part 1 (and Part 2), The Kids Are All Right, and The Big Lebowski. She is also the first American woman to receive acting awards from some of the most famous international film festivals including Cannes, Berlin, and Venice.

Julianne’s latest film is After the Wedding, which she not only produced, but also plays one of the lead roles of Theresa Young, a high-powered media mogul who has amassed millions.  Directed by her husband Bart Freundlich, Michelle Williams co-stars as the Isabel, who runs an orphanage in a poor section of Calcutta.  Billy Crudup plays Oscar, Theresa’s husband, and Abby Quinn* plays their daughter Grace, who has two younger twin siblings.

Bart, Julianne, and Abby Quinn* recently sat down with a select group of journalists to talk about their film and other topics and the following is Part 2* of that interview, which has been edited for content and continuity for print purposes.

Part 2

You have created so many memorable characters.  What is your approach to developing them?

Julie:  You know, the older I’ve gotten, the more research I do.  When I was younger, I would just read the script and that was it.  Now, I think I don’t know anything about this.  I have to talk to my friends or start reading about a particular subject or asking questions because I don’t know.  I want evidence to base my character on.  I want it to be something I’ve seen or something someone has told me about.  I want information.  So, with each character, no matter who they are, whether it’s a fictional character or based on a real person, I just try to learn as much as I can beforehand.

Do you do a back-story?

Julie:  No. Surprisingly no.  I like to collect evidence from the real world.  But the story is what happens on the page.  Sometimes I don’t even know my character’s last name.  (Laughter)

Bart:  The story deals with very real-life things like being parents, being sick, connecting, art, and money.

Producing is not one of the hats you’ve worn very often. Did you seek advice?

Julie:  We have a friend who has an independent company called Horizon Media.  I spent a lot of time with him talking about what media placement means and this idea that you have this ephemeral thing that you’ve created and have to place it somewhere.  There’s no physical there, there.  He was very helpful in giving us guidance on how to approach this, including how to delegate.

What influenced you into wanting to produce?

Julie:  I think what’s happened is that our industry has changed significantly and if you are looking for stuff to do, you have to find it yourself.  Producing is not something I was compelled to do, but because there has been so much change, actors are taking responsibility for their own projects.  So, it’s mainly a result of that.   It’s not as though I had some burning desire to produce – I just wanted to keep doing the work I like doing.  I really admire what Reese Witherspoon has done because she said at a certain point that she was tired of not enough roles for women and seeing her contemporaries going after the same small parts.  I thought she’s right.  It really feels good to be able to say to somebody hey, I’m going to develop this.  So, it’s exciting to make opportunities for yourself and others.

Were you and Julie always in agreement in how a scene should be played out?

Bart:  Not always.  Because Julie is a producer on the movie, we got to talk and because we live together, we talked about it a lot.  (Laughter)  I would say, “What about this?” Sometimes she would respond, “I don’t think that would happen.”  The way we handled that was generally I would trust Julie’s instincts as her reasons were usually valid and never ego driven, especially when it came to her character.  So, unless I was absolutely 100% clear that the reason I wanted to shoot it a certain way was because I had a more macro view as the director of the film, I would listen to her.

Julie:  There were times when there were choices I made didn’t work out when we were shooting a scene or they disappeared in the editing.  Film is a collaborative effort so you’re always going to try to adjust to each other’s needs of the day.

Bart:  It is a big narrative with so many secrets.  Movies are pretend ultimately so sometimes when you are trying to catch such a rich world, if you open too many doors, you start to see the falsehood.  So, occasionally we would entertain an idea but would decide that it wasn’t working and it was a bridge too far.

The film has a look of being shot with an unlimited budget.  How did cinematographer Julio Macat pull it off?

Bart: I know Julio and he’s like this Argentinean poet.  I worked with him on a kid’s movie called Catch That Kid, which strangely enough was another original Danish film.  He’s known for shooting those big Hollywood comedies like Wedding Crashers, Home Alone II, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and The Nutty Professor, the total antithesis of After the Wedding.  I reached out to him and he happened to be available.  He called every rental house and every lab and because of all the good will he’s established over the years, he got them to give us what they would give to a huge movie.  Using the same camera he shot with for Roma, our idea was to treat the actors’ faces like landscapes so you could see every detail.  The camera has this great selective focus so the shots really looked like an abstract painting.  Without having to do a big camera move, you could just hang back and have everything in the background out of focus and just be on Julie. It would feel like you were witnessing a private moment.  Julio bought and clawed to get us everything that a fifty million dollar movie would have and as a result, he was almost like another actor in the movie.  He worked so hard that we are actually on the cover of the September issue of “American Cinematographer.” That is a huge deal for such a small movie.

In the film, most of the characters make life-changing mistakes.  How do you feel about mistakes in general and what is the audience take-away?

Julie:  There has to be room for people to make mistakes. Some things might be irreversible, but rarely are.  It’s important to take responsibility for what you’ve done.  That’s what we all have to do in life.  You want your children to know that it’s okay to make a mistake.

Bart:  In the film, there are actions and consequences.  There are no judgments.  But teaching kids that you have a choice, and if you make that choice, there might be consequences, which aren’t necessarily bad consequences, but what you do affects your life, as well as other people. That’s really taking ownership of your choices and celebrating those moments knowing that’s the stuff that life’s really made of.   Life is kind of what we make it and I think that’s a great message to give to kids.

PR Rep:  Sorry.  Time’s up.

Best of luck with the film.

Julie & Bart:  Thank you for the interview.  It was fun.

*Due to space limitations, Abby’s portion of the interview is not included.

Conversation With Julianne Moore and Bart Freundlich, Part 1

The post Conversation With Julianne Moore and Bart Freundlich on “After the Wedding,” Acting & Parenting appeared first on Traveling Archive.