Sitting At The Kitchen Table

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 11:15 AM

So glad all is well Jerry.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 08:08 AM

Jimmy--

Congratulations on being part of that wedding.   

And especially, thanks, thanks, ever so much for that tip about "Stand By Me" That is just so indescribably wonderful--to hear and see people from all over the world--New Orleans, Russia, South Africa, Italy and more---playing and singing the same great song.

I think that may well deserve its own thread--every Mudcatter should be told of the opportunity to see and hear it.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 07:46 AM

Jerry--that's just fantastic news that you caught the melanoma so early and dealt with it.


And thanks for the tip. As usual, I'm not the one who has to really pay attention to a health warning--but Jan was just mentioning that she's concerned about what looks to me like a large pimple. (And at this point, all she's getting from the humira injections, which are to stop the degenerative spine disease caused by her own immune system attacking her, are bad side effects--like constant fatigue and and a constant sore throat, aggravated by her asthma. The result of which is she can't sing--which is really frustrating to both of us.)

Her doctors say it could be either up to 3 months or up to 6 months before she sees any improvement--if she does at all.

And the kids she takes care of---which is the main thing keeping her going, I'm convinced--ask her to sing or tell stories using her various accents--including characters like a Scottish buffalo or an Irish manatee.   Which she loves to do but is finding it progressively more difficult.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 05:22 AM

That is wonderful news, Jerry.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 24 Jan 09 - 05:10 AM

Jerry! Hallelujah indeed! That is brilliant news. Just keep resting and gently exercising until all is healed. I do love hearing good news. :-)

Marmite and marmots - LOL! Actually, it's a byproduct of beer brewing and I like to do all I can to suport said industry, especially in the current economic downturn. So, drinking beer and eating marmite is A GOOD THING. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!).

Oh well, it's Saturday morning, 10am and I've done absolutely nothing yet - best get on with my chores. I'll stop by later for a restorative cup of coffee ebfore heading northwards for Kirkby Fleetham Folk Club this evening.

Ain't life grand?.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 08:12 PM

Hallelujah!!!!!!!!
I just got a call from the surgeon informing me that the half a dollar sized piece of skin they removed around my mole was 100% clean. Now its only a matter of being careful so that the incision heals completely (which requires my resting with my leg elevated much more than I've been doing.) It's too awkward to do that while on the computer, but I'll be in and out. Just wanted to share the great news.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 02:07 PM

I've heard that Marmite is made by placing a marmot in a blender. Is that really true? It sounds cruel.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 12:52 PM

Busybee - glad the Marmite found a good home.

Aaah, Tootler, the dreaded Tax Return...It's a lovely feeling when it's all been done, isn't it ? My self-employed Tax Year runs from October to October, so technically I have plenty of time to prepare and submit my accounts to the Revenue, but I put it off every year, and it's become an annual ritual now to do them between Christmas and New Year. It's funny, because once I get going on the paperwork, I actually quite enjoy it. Feeling very relieved now because I went to the bank this afternoon to pay my dues -it reminds me of the kind of feeling after sitting the last set of exams at school....temporary freedom, until the inevitable next time that comes round all too soon. In fact, the whole tax form thing reminds me very much of school - that must be why everyone I know dreads doing them so much !

- jeanie

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 12:12 PM

Hi Jeanie, I'll help out with the Marmite drink, if I may.

:-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 11:55 AM

Hello Jerry,

Don't worry about the typo. We all do it.

I didn't watch Obama's inauguration - I was out at the time and anyway, he is your president, not ours. However, his election has generally been received very positively over here. He looks to be getting off to a good start. Long may it continue. I feel his heart is in the right place. He will make mistakes; we all do, but as long as he doesn't lose sight of his principles I feel he will be fine.

Not much doing here just now. Our recorder group have just started rehearsing for a concert we are giving in April. We are also hosting the Society of Recorder Players Annual festival in April this year. That is a national event, so we are going to be busy over the next few months.

I filled in my tax return yesterday - it had to be done by the end of the month. I was somewhat underpaid. Not by too much but money I would rather not have had to lay out.

Well having had an excellent cup of cybercoffee, I think I will sign out and go and have a cup of the real stuff.

Geoff

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jeanie
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 08:35 AM

Hi all ! I'm an occasional visitor to the table these days...but how great to discover some old and new faces in here today.

Long time, no see, Jimmy ! I'm pleased to hear your group is still in business. Very sorry to hear about the health difficulties with one of your band members - hope all will soon be well. That sounds like a wonderful experience in New Orleans ! I wonder, are you still finding time for acting ? I was the formidible Mrs. Violet Venable ( in a Tennessee Williams play) not long ago and had great fun learning the upper class New Orleans accent. Next play was a Neil Simon, so had to switch to Noo Yoorwak. Thank goodness for all the accent CDs and online resources that are around these days.

I'm so glad that your mole has been treated so promptly, Jerry. Wishing you the very best for a speedy recovery. I've just joined Facebook too - last Saturday, in fact, after a friend invite. Look at your facebook messages - I would love to chat to you on there. I'm only very new to it, but I can see that it can be fun - and as well as those one-sentence messages that you mention, you can also send longer messages (like the PMs on here) as well as the chat facility that Georgiansilver mentioned. I think it's a great way to share photos and news.

Must leave the table and get back to work now. I made too much Marmite drink, so help yourselves (those Marmite addicts amongst you - it's an acquired taste, as they say....)

- jeanie

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 08:22 AM

Thanks for the tip, Mike. That sounds more my speed. I'd enjoy chatting with you and will keep my eye open for you.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 07:49 AM

Hi Mike,

You're still in the land of the liveing - long time, no see!

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 05:00 AM

Jerry, when you are on facebook, at the bottom right of your page there is a box which tells you how many friends are online.... click on the box and a list of their names appears..... if you then click on a name a 'chat' box will appear and you can type a message to them direct... if they are ready to have a conversation they will happily reply. Would be happy to have a chat with you whenever. Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 23 Jan 09 - 04:50 AM

I signed on Facebook ages ago as a friend used it and wanted to send me stuff. But I didn't like all the requests to do "games" and found it easier to keep in contact with my friend by phone and email!. I couldn't remember my login and password now if I tried - and I've no inclination to try either.

So, I'll stick to the 'Cat, email and Myspace thank you very much, especially as the snacks here are so good (and non-fattening).

From a very soggy Gainsborough,
Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 22 Jan 09 - 12:44 PM

Earlier this week, I joined Facebook at the request of a friend. There are quite a few Catters on there, and it first it was great fun. Now, the fun is fading fast. I know there are some in here who are Facebookers who frequent this thread. What I find so limiting about it is that what passes for conversations are one sentence (or if someone is feeling verbose, two sentence posts every day or so.
The kitchen table it ain't. I'm quickly finding a distinct resemblance between collecting friends of Facebook with keeping a list of all the birds I've seen, back when I was a semi-serious bird watcher. The only other comparison that comes to mind is collecting baseball cards, except that there's more information on the back of a baseball card than many folks on Facebook post. Besides, if you had a few clothes pins you could clip your baseball cards to the spokes on the wheel of your bike and make it sound like a motorcyle.

Anyone else have any thoughts about Facebook. It's pleasant enough, but I really enjoy getting to know people. That's hard to do reading one sentence every two or three days.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 22 Jan 09 - 05:16 AM

That all sounds wonderful about the wedding, Jimmyt. Positive thoughts with Billy.

And great that your staff are being so pro-active about clearing their debts too. It's about time the media started to talk up the mood, not depress it further.

I'm hoping this current phase will put the humanity back into "human" and make people readdress their lifestyles and attitudes into something less materialistic.

That said, will someone pass the cookies, please?!

Deirdre.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 09:05 PM

How great to hear from you, Jimmy! Yes, someone sent me the link to Stand By Me. It is a truly remarkable video. Try this link. http://playingforchange.com
I still havn't figured out how to do blue clickys.
Sorry to hear about the serious problems you have in your group, jimmy. Verrry sorry.

Very Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: jimmyt
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 08:19 PM

Hello all! I haqve several items to throw around here at the kitchen table! Jayne and I went to New Orleans this past weekend for a weding. It was absolutely lovely, the reception was superb, the food good, the drink excellent, and just about 10 pm when we thought things were winding down, there appeared a "2nd Line "band, a New Orleans dixieland band that normally plays funerals. Now adays they have discovered there is a steady income playing at weddings. We were paraded throught New Orleans, police excort, crossed canal street, 6 lanes plus street car tracks all stopped by police as our parade went to the French Quarter. About 150 started and well over 300 in the parade as it processed up0 Bourbon Street. One of those neat musical experiences to have thew authentic old 2nd line dixieland players. I got right up with the band and if I could have gotten a trumpet, katie bar the door!

We got home Sunday at 5 pm and had a full rehearsal with complete sound equipment in our living room at 7 pm My do-wop group has a Friday and Saturday night gig, and it is so, so fun to be singing that stuff again! We now have a great accompanist, and let the record show Ihave had trouble gettin the right accompanist as Jerry has a tenor! THis one is terrific. I will try to post some photos somewhere if possible.

My lead singer is recovering from COlon Cancer and has recently had recurrences in both lungs and is in the middle of chemo right now. He has a bad week and a good week. Our performance is in the good weekend and we hope all will be well. To add to this, his brother , a local police officer , committed suicide 10 daysago and there is a cloud of suspicion with some allegations of some sexual improprities he might have had prior to the suicide. It has really been tough on Billy.

On a brighter note, there is a Utube site you should check out, Look under " stand By Me," and change for good. As I have had this explained to me, the concept was a producer organized this so that a single guitar street performer in New Orleans started " Stand By me." This went into a computer and was instantly uplinked to other street performers all over the world and in real time they were singing along or playing. It is absolutely phenominal! Go see it!   The grampa character ( secondperformer) is a wonderful street performer in New Orleans and I talked with him about it last weekend. He is a blins man who can sing and really play the harp! GIve it a look!

My office is absolutely having a great month. My staff is so motivated it is hard to see any slowdown at all. I have agreed to "coach' anyone in my staff that wonts it, to get them out of credit card debt and on the right road to financial freedom. I have 6 of the 7 taking mwe up on it, and it is terrific to see the enthusiasm they have toward eliminating their debt. I will keep you abreast of this issue. Anyway, I have rambled enough this post. Hope you all have a nice evening! jimmyt

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 11:58 AM

Hey, Geoff:

Stupid typo: I meant to type that I was glad that you've had no recurrence of the cancer. Reminds me of a story I read about the trouble that was caused when a daughter addressed a letter to her mother titled "Dead Mom." Typos can be injurious to your health.

Today, we're luxuriating in the warmth of Obama's inauguration. What a great day for the world. I realize that he is not God, but we rejoice in the hope that he brings not only to the United States, but to the world.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: billybob
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 07:44 AM

Positive thoughts Jerry x
Thanks for sharing, that information is very important. In my job I often ask clients have they asked their doctor about moles? I tend to be the first person they consult. It is always worth following up and usually everything is ok, but it is so important not to ignore these things.
The new baby is doing well and her "big" sister Scarlett is mummy's little helper!
Ran out of champagne, but a coffee will be great.
Wendy

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: maeve
Date: 21 Jan 09 - 06:04 AM

Tootler- Glad you have had no signs of a return of the cancer.

Jerry- Thank you for taking care of yourself.

maeve

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 08:10 PM

Hey, Geoff:

Glad to hear that you've had recurrence.

I got a call this afternoon from my old friend Art Thieme. He just wanted to share this special inauguration day with me. It's been awhile since we've talked, and I was out when he called. I called him back and we had a wonderful, leisurely talk. He had melanoma many years ago, and it was caught early with no recurrence. I expect that mine will be the same, so I am not worried about it. I'll have an ugly scar for awhile on the back of my calf, but I'm far beyond worrying about something like that. No more runway modelling of swimming trunks for me. At least not for a few months.

I can live with that...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 08:05 PM

Best of luck, Jerry.

I was diagnosed with bowel cancer almost 3 years ago. I went to the doc when it became obvious the symptoms I had were not going to clear up and luckily for me it was detected early enough to be dealt with. I had surgery to remove the section of bowel and fortunately the tumor had not penetrated right through the bowel wall so it looks like I have been lucky. I am still under observation, but no signs of a recurrence so far, so fingers crossed...

It certainly made me think and I don't take my health for granted any longer.

One downside - getting travel insurance now is a real problem. The moment they see either cancer or heart troubles, they immediately double or even treble the premium, even though you are clear and unlikely to take that into account. It's just knee jerk. We had to cancel a planned holiday in the USA as they were asking more for health insurance than the whole trip was going to cost.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 05:39 PM

Fingers crossed for you Jerry.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 09:15 AM

My voice changes from morning to evening. If I practice songs in the morning for an evening concert, I often find I'm stronger on the lowest notes in the morning, and have trouble at the top fo my range.

Just for a quantum shift here, I had surgery on my leg yesterday, and it's worth commenting. Six years ago I went to have a small mole removed on the corner of my mouth. I kept nicking it when I shaved and it would start bleeding without advanced, written notice. I was having a lot of trouble with it and was scheduled to do a concert, so I didn't want it to start bleeding while I was performing. It was a quick, office snip-off. After the snipping, my Doctor showed me a pamphlett about moles and what to look for. If a mole changes appeareance, enlarges, or gets a poorly definied margin, you should have it checked. I remembered that these last six years, and a couple of months ago a mole on the back of my leg started itching like crazy. When I'd scratch it, it would bleed. I left it alone and thought it would heal but the itching never went away. I couldn't really see clearly if it had cchanged in appearance, because it's on the bnck of my leg and hard to see. I went to my Doctor, and he sent me to a specialist, who removed the mole and sent it for a biopsy. It came back positive. I had melanoma, a variety of skin cancer. If you catch melanoma early, there is close to a 100% rate of cure. If it gets too far along, it can mestasize and spread cancer throughout your body and be fatal.
Yesterday, they cut out the skin around the area where my mole was removed, taking out about an inch and a half of skin. They will do a biopsy on it, and if they got all the melanoma cells out, the chance of any future problems will be verging on nill, although they'll monitor me for two years. If there are still cancer cells along the margin, they'll cut another quarter of an inch of skin off and sew it up again. They would keep doing this until they are positive they've removed all cancer cells.
I mention this because it's something everyone should know. This is an extreme case of the importance of early detection that can make the difference between a minor operation or death at the other extreme. Tuck it in the back of your mind and remember it, will you? I wish I had known more about this so that I could have caught mine earlier, although all three doctors think I have an excellent chance of having removed all traces with the operation I had yesterday. I won't be sure until they do the biopsy, but I am very hopeful. If there are still cells to be removed, they'll be removed.
I'm feeling very thankful today.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 09:05 AM

Yes Rapaire, it's getting lower, probably through more use at the low range. I'm certainly now not able to sing higher notes, I struggle above the C above middle C. In fact after "top" D, there is no more!. Still, I suppose 2 full octaves isn't bad.

At least I haven't had to start shaving, so it can't be hormonal! Although, joking apart, at my age that MAY have something to do with it :-)

Deirdre

(You're up early, aren't you?)

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Rapparee
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 08:47 AM

Deidre, you say your voice is changing?

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 07:21 AM

Low E's and D's I can manage. I can bounce off a low C but don't sing it as a sustained note (last page or so of Verdi Requiem). I've even bounced off a low B before now.......

Hope it's just my voice that's dropping........!

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 10:32 PM

And you're right, Jerry, about female tenors. One in Choral Arts is a principal in a school and just got an award for her leadership.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 10:29 PM

Well Deirdre, if it's the Verdi, that should warm anybody up.   Doesn't he talk about "in flammis"? It's a hot piece--lots of writhing, threatening people with "Dies Irae", pits to fall into, etc, as I recall.

Re: tenors: My only problem is that there seem to be very few of them--and they're really busy. Actually, as the saying goes, some of my best friends are tenors--and altos, sopranos, and basses. I did ask a tenor to come to my SATB caroling and he told me he'd been reserved a year in advance for that date.. So I reserved him for this coming December. I did find two who were willing to come. (But one says he is now a baritone).

In fact I got drafted to sing tenor myself in a Telemann piece--one in a never-ending series of "Telemannsters"-- by the leader of my old madrigal group.   He had been asked to re-write the music to raise the tenor part so a former alto could do it. She said it was too high, so he re-wrote it again lower. Then she had to have an operation so she couldn't make it to the service where it was to be performed. So he called me.   I sure don't have a tenor voice--but I have a strong falsetto and can carry the part.   He said it came out fine. But that was a small group.

And my "tenor" who had come for the caroling was a baritone for this year's "Telemannster".   So it was virtual role reversal.

I actually find my voice has sunk. Low E's and D's are much easier than ever.   So it's only the falsetto that gives me any kind of decent range. God bless the Beach Boys.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 05:38 PM

LOL, Jerry! Spot on, mate!   (I wish.....)

;-)

Just back from a choral rehearsal in Lincoln - I'm helping Lincoln Choral Society at their next concert at the end of March - it's Verdi Requiem, to be performed in Lincoln Cathedral. Great piece and a superb venue (if more than a little chilly at any time of year!).

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 05:25 PM

My only experience with tenors is in male choruses and quartets. I've always assumed that female tenors were vivacious, witty, modest, exciting, extremely gifted and stunningly beautiful.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 19 Jan 09 - 03:15 AM

Watch it, Ron. Any more jokes like that and we'll take our ball and go play on our own!

LOL!!!!!!

It's so nice to feel wanted......... :-)

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 07:05 PM

Yup, it is somewhat of a problem. Tenors really can write their own tickets.   Sometimes, unfortunately, they know this--and figure the rest of the world should organize around them--including changing everything it has done up to now.


I thought the joke went:   

Q: How many sopranos does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A :   One. She stands there holding the bulb and the world revolves around her.

But maybe sopranos get a bad rap.   Maybe it should be tenors.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 05:29 PM

Hey Jerry, if only I was closer! LOL!

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 05:06 PM

On a smaller scale, In the first six years of the Gospel Messengers, I went through three tenors. For the last five years, I have not been able to find an acceptable replacement. The two singers I tried immediately insisted on changing all the arrangements to sound more contemporary, assuming that we were too muddle-brained to figure out anything more complicated than plain old four part harmony. That didn't work out at all. One of the oddities with both of the flushed tenors was that they tried to get my friend Joe who is one of the finest bass singers I've ever heard, to sing high tenor, while I sang the bass. I had a third tenor who expressed some interest but made it clear that he didn't like our harmonies and that we'd need a lot of work (by someone as gifted as him, of course,) to ever amount to anything.

Trio singing works fine.

After all, it wasn't the Kingston Quartet, or Peter Paul, Fred, and Mary.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 05:02 PM

When the hairs go up on the back of your neck....you know you're doing it right!

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 04:33 PM

I agree with you, Jerry, about the wonderful experience it is to make music with no orchestra backing you. One of the most stunning experiences I've had in our group was when we had a black group singing with us, and at the end of the rehearsal they just stood up--all over the place, not together in a group--their basses mixed in with ours, their sopranos with ours, etc--and belted out a spiritual from memory.

In one of the songs we did for the Martin Luther King concert this year, they told us to put the music down completely and just get cues from the pianist, who was also the soloist. So we did--and it came out just fine--even with the clapping, swaying, and raising hands--which we also never do. Admittedly some of our group were fish out of water, but I love to sing getting physically into the music--heck I do it with some classical music.

Of course I love to sing doo-wop, Balkan, country, madrigals, black and white gospel, western swing, Gershwin and jazz in general, Sacred Harp, bluegrass, sea chanteys--and the list goes on.   In fact I feel pretty strongly that for non-classical music, people should not read off printed music--or out of a "folk hymnbook", i.e. Rise Up Singing. (a sore point lately, I'm sure you've noted.) Sacred Harp is the only exception--and even that is better without books, if the group can do it. As I mentioned earlier, a bunch of us used to play volleyball--and sing Sacred Harp and madrigals from memory between games.

Actually, in our Christmas concerts and some others, I prefer by far the a cappella pieces. It seems to me that an orchestra messes up the wonderfully clear sound of massed voices. By the same token I often prefer the sound we make while practicing with our pianist--when it's just him and 180 voices. Even better when it's just us with no piano.

I keep trying to get our conductor to do more a cappella pieces. With marginal success. I'm also trying to get him to knock out the orchestra at Christmas for at least one verse of a familiar carol.   I know the audience (with our assistance--and maybe just by themselves) could carry a verse without the organ--and it would sound stunning--the packed Kennedy Center Concert Hall filled with nothing but people singing. And those audiences do sing.

The problem is he's come up with a competing job for the audience--every year to learn a verse of Silent Night in the language of whichever embassy is sponsoring our Christmas concerts that year. ( It really helps for that if the "teacher" has a dry wit--as the Czech cultural attache had this year--telling the audience he was looking for high academic Czech, not the strong Prague accent they were showing.)

And I've also been trying to get our conductor to tell us--way in advance of the occasion--to get us to memorize some pieces--as most of the groups we sing with, it seems, have done..   Some of us already have--like the Randall Thompson Alleluia (for which after all the text is not too challenging--just the one word Alleluia, repeated for 10 pages.)

Among other things, we need something to sing at the drop of a hat at a big meal while one tour--especially if the host group has just sung something from memory--which has happened.


And I certainly do sympathize with you, Deirdre, about the tenor problem. For my SATB yearly carol sing, I'm a prisoner of tenors--have to schedule it on a night tenors can make it.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 02:57 PM

Hey, Deirdre:

I turned on the tv last night and caught Handel's Messiah, with a choir conducted by Jose Iturbi in one of the countless movies he appeared in during the '40s. I was swept away as I always am. It would be breathtaking to sing that as written. The Men's Chorus I sing in does the black version of Handel's Messiah every Christmas.
It is very powerful in its own way. Instead of a symphony orchestra lifting us, we have a single piano which is drowned out for major portions of the piece. It is one of the few that we sing from sheet music, but when we are swept away you might as well throw the music out the window. It's in our hearts.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 01:15 PM

Jerry,

I'm quite envious - all too often we get our heads stuck in the score trying desperately to keep the piece going!. But the end joys are the same as yours, singing in praise and in harmony (of all sorts) with your fellow singers. I was left breathless with awe after one performance of Verdi's Requiem and thought to myself "I can die happy now, it doesn't get any better than this".

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 11:39 AM

Go right ahead, Ron: I'm interested in hearing more about what you're doing. My perspective from the Men's Chorus of the black Baptist church we belong to is understandably different. For starters, we rarely sing from sheet music. That would drive a lot of people nuts who are sued to singing tightly arranged scores. When we occasionally do sing from sheet music, our Director will arbitrarily change harmony lines that he feels would sound better if done differently. On top of that, he may change a section of harmony line from practice to practice, and even sometimes within the practice. The next time you come to practice, he may change a not or two again.
That approach is perhaps why trained singers find it too frustrating, trying to sing black gospel. On top of that, some of the guys in the baritone section I sing in wander back and forth from singing the melody line to the baritone harmony, sometimes within the same song. While our director works long and hard to get each section to learn their harmony, he realizes that most of the men in the chorus are not formally trained and don't have a good ear for harmony. When one of the guys in the baritone section sings the melody for a line of a song, it just means that they're a second tenor for that line... :-)

Another great difference is that we have to be prepared to sing a song we may not have sung for many months, spur of the moment. Our Director will often decide to do a song based on a line of scripture used in the sermon. When he plays the opening introduction on piano (we never know what we're going to sing) if you're singing the lead, you'd better recognize the song after a few notes and head up to the microphone, running through the song in your head as you go. There've been times when our Director just played chords as an introduction without an obvious melody while I've sat there wondering why he was smiling at me until someone nudges me and says, "That's your lead."

All of this must sound completely foreign to being in a choral society and doing formal arrangements. It takes different skills. The emphasis in the Men's Chorus that I sing in is the message. When we learn a new song, we read the lyrics together a few times without a melody, just so that we absorb the message we are going to sing.
Spiritual harmony is probably even more important that musical harmony. That fits me fine, as a folk singer. I've heard folk singers get every word right and do elaborate, impressive accompaniments of instrumentals and never get the song.

Another thing.... plenty of another things.... Many of the songs we do require the lead singer to improvise lines of the top of their head. The Chorus will keep repeat a simple three or four word part of the chorus while the lead singer improvises lines over the backing. Only a few members of the Chorus can do that. I've had to make up words when I've forgotten them singing folk music enough times that I can do it pretty comfortably. The Director may keep the Chorus going a long time, especially if the congregation gets in the Spirit. You have to be able to keep singing another line as long as the Director keeps the Chrous going. Then when we finish the song, if the congregation is still wound up, the lead singer may be called back up to continue improvising. It's a heady experience. not for the faint of heart.

I've never sung in a choir where you have to read from sheet music, out of choice. I've leaned to read music fairly well over the years, but feel limited looking down at sheet music all the time. It's just a personal preference. I've met many wonderful singers far better than I am, who can't sing harmony unless they have sheet music to follow. That seems weird to me. What I do seems even weirder to them.

Different strokes for different folks.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Ron Davies
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 10:24 AM

As I said earlier, don't mean to monopolize the conversation--but I'm sincerely interested in musical groups other people belong to.   I'm always interested in what Jerry has to say about his groups--how rehearsals go, their accomplishments, problems--and anything else he wants to talk about.   And it's also fascinating to hear about your group, Deirdre, and recognize similarities and differences.

So I expect--and hope--that people won't be bored by our talk about that sort of stuff.


As for mine, since you ask:   specifically regarding the question of why everybody doesn't do every gig:   I would say it's basically since our conductor is just a boy who can't say no. And there's no way everybody would have time to do every gig, unless everybody were retired, which the overwhelming majority are not.

This season (2008-2009), for instance, there is a series of 4 concerts, mostly at the Kennedy Center, which all members--there are about 180 of us-- are expected to sing. These are the Verdi Requiem (2 Nov), Christmas music (--3 concerts -- 15, 20, and 24 Dec), a concert of opera choruses and the Haydn Spring from The Seasons (26 April)--and one of either a Bach/ John Tavener concert (27 Feb) or Purcell/ Britten/ Vaughn Williams (29 Mar).

Not all will be singing the Purcell piece ( Come Ye Sons of Art)--just about 30 he picks--and I think the same is true of the Bach (Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn)--though all in those concerts are expected to sing the other piece or pieces.

But all were allowed to pick either the 27 Feb or the 29 Mar concert--with the expectation that it would be a good split between the 2--and every part would be strongly covered.

In addition we are all pretty much expected to sing a concert honoring Martin Luther King--which we've just done--with 2 large black groups.   That's always a real charge from my perspective, though there are some who don't seem to like to do it--maybe since it's a lot of music, on 3 rehearsals, and we have to get used to various gospel styles of conducting--meaning not singing just what's on the page--and constantly watching the various conductors like a hawk for signals.



But on top of this, there are lots of other gigs. We often sing at the Kennedy Center Honors--which kills a weekend in December, of all times. Fortunately this year we didn't sing for that--December is bonkers enough without that.

Then there are the 2 family concerts--also in December. About 30 of us do them--on a volunteer basis. I find them just delightful, and always volunteer.

And possibly singing at the embassy of whatever country is sponsoring the series of Christmas concerts.   That's a little group chosen by our conductor.   I was part of the group that sang for the Austrian ambassador the year Austria was the sponsor.

Then there are other gigs, like singing at Ford's Theatre for some occasion--most recently in June 2007 we taped a Christmas concert in 2007--I talked about that on this thread--that was the one for which Olivia Newton John's Xanadu was evidently declared a Christmas piece.

And singing selections from Porgy and Bess with a Chinese orchestra--which I volunteered for.    I'll sing Porgy and Bess with any group.

And there are yet more gigs during the summer.

Tours, if there is one--which are actually great fun--and I always try to do those--if we leave the US.


Singing at Wolf Trap. Singing for the 4th of July on the Mall.
I'd rather not sing in a tuxedo during the summer outside in the DC area--so I don't usually volunteer for those gigs. But fortunately there are people who seem to enjoy singing with a bunch of celebrities for the 4th-- though it's background music, by and large. I did that once. I didn't think it was worth the time, considering that we just provide accompaniment. But I have to admit I'd love to sing the Russian chorus portion of the 1812 Overture--which the 4th of July group sometimes does.

And I think there are some other gigs I can't recall.

So basically there are some concerts everybody is obligated to sing, some for which a small group is picked, and others for which he asks for volunteers.

With all the groups and subgroups it's pretty easy to stay pretty busy--(and most of us have full-time jobs also).   I've heard talk of "Choral Arts widows" or "widowers".

But it seems to work out pretty well.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 10:14 AM

Hey, Geoff: (and anyone else) Please PM your e-mail address and I'll send you a couple of chapters of the book...

Jerry

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 09:27 AM

Thanks for your kind offer, Jerry. My Dad's birthday is the 29th.

My mum apparently had a long labour when she had me and always used to tell me that I started as I meant to go on - dawdling.

Cheers

Geoff

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 18 Jan 09 - 04:40 AM

Sorry about the weird punctuation in my post above - I wrote it in Word over a couple of hours, in between doing other things and then pasted it in here. It looked OK in the box before I submitted it.

:-(

Tootler - when I was born in '58, I was due on 25th March but finally made my grand entrance on 2nd April, at 7.30am so my Mum missed breakfast. She's never forgiven me...........! So, if your grandchild misses your father's 89th, I'm more than happy to share my birthday.

Nice story Jerry, you must put me on the list for your book please.

Off to visit my god-daughter now, I feel the need for a cuddle!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 11:25 PM

A story.

Many years ago, I met a young couple who came to the folk concert series I was running. The wife was extremely, embarassingly enthusiastic about my music. The husband liked it pretty much, I think. He was a biologist and went to Africa with his wife to study mountain gorillas. While he was off in the mountains all day, his young wife was left in the pygmy village to entertain herself as best she could. She brought along a cassette player and played my Secret Life of Jerry Rasmussen album on Folk Legacy. (This is not a plug, it's a story.) The pygmy children loved listening to the music and the one song of mine that they loved best was a doo wop song I wrote titled Ten Pound Radio. Even though they spoke very few words of English, they learned the song and sang along phonetically.
When she told me the story, I got a big kick out if. It shows how universal music is, and how it can make a complete circle. I was a white kid growing up in a lily-white southern town who fell in love with black rhythm and blues whose roots stretch back to Africa. A lonely young wife sat outside her tent in a pygmy village in Africa playing the song I'd written (and I sing all the harmonies, multi-tracked.) African pygmy kids learning a song written by an ageing white kid from Wisconsin. And the circle is unbroken.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Tootler
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 08:57 PM

Congratulations on the birth of your grandaughter, Wendy/billybob.

We're expecting our first grandchild. It is due late March/Early April. Strangely enough, my father's 89th birthday is at the end of March, so we shall have to see how things work out.

My daughter has given us copies of scans that have been taken to check the baby is progressing OK - it is. They say it is probably a girl, but it is not 100% certain. It is quite fascinating to see a picture of the tiny person inside her.

Thanks for your nice words about my website, Jerry. I keep meaning to update it, but somehow other things get in the way. There are parts that I have updated - mainly the Open University stuff which I need to keep up to date as I am tutoring for them. It keeps the brain active and brings a little extra money in to help make my pension go further. I also host our local recorder society on the same site, though it has its own URL and I have to keep that up to date, but the other, more personal stuff has drifted somewhat.

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 04:30 PM

Hello again everyone,

Wendy ¡V many congrats on the safe arrival of the latest addition to your family ¡V may Prudence give you all much joy!. I¡¦ll raise a G&T in celebration later this evening. ƒº

Rap ¡V I read your post about medical tests in SLC ¡V my older sister has just returned to SLC (well, Provo anyway) and is lecturing at the university there for a couple of months. When she was living there a few years ago, I visited twice, once for a holiday, the second for her husband¡¦s funeral. That must have been 5 years ago as of about now. I remember we had high daily temperatures of minus 10!. It¡¦s the only time I¡¦ve been to a funeral wearing walking boots in a vain attempt to keep my feet warm.

Ron and Jerry asked for more information about my choral singing group. I live in a small market town in Lincolnshire called Gainsborough. It has a population of about 18,000 and is situated in a very rural part of the East Midlands of England. The nearest large towns or cities are Lincoln (24 miles), Doncaster (20 miles), with Sheffield and Nottingham about an hour¡¦s drive away. The Choral Society is a very traditional English style society. It was formed in 1860 and has given performances since then with, I believe, only two short breaks during the world wars. It is therefore one of the oldest surviving societies in the UK. We are a mixed voice (SATB) group, with about one hundred members of ages ranging from mid twenties to eighty plus. We don¡¦t have voice trials, all we ask for is commitment and enthusiasm. Sight-reading isn¡¦t essential but does help as we rehearse weekly and perform a major work in about 11 weeks. The season runs from September to March and we do 3 concerts per season, one in November, a carol concert in December and another concert in March. The November and March concerts are of major choral works such as Handel¡¦s Messiah, The Creation, Mozart¡¦s Requiem (and Faure¡¦s and Rutter¡¦s), Carmina Burrana, Bernstein¡¦s Chichester Psalms etc.

We sometimes get asked to attend and perform at local community events but we don¡¦t do them as the organisers fail to realise that we don¡¦t have a repertoire of short pieces that we can trot out on demand. Plus we generally perform with a full orchestral accompaniment so our turnout would be in the region of 140 people which would totally overwhelm the event!. Ron, I¡¦m interested that your group splits for performances rather than everyone being involved in all events as we do. Our take is that the Society performs in full or not at all. Up until about 15 years ago, we did a fourth concert in May but this was scrapped when attendance fell below 60%. It generally resulted in an imbalance between the 4 voices ¡V or maybe I should say ¡§even more of an imbalance¡¨ !.

I don¡¦t know what your split is, Ron, but out of 100 members we generally field 35 Sopranos, 35 Altos, 21 Basses and 9 Tenors. Most English Societies struggle to find Tenors and I have been known to go on the local radio asking for men!. In fact the situation got so bad 3 seasons ago that a couple of us women joined the Tenors and I¡¦ve stayed!. I much prefer singing Tenor, at the correct pitch, to singing Alto although my sight-reading in Bass clef is a bit slow / suspect!. Even worse is the tendency of publishers to print the Tenor part jumping from Bass to Treble clef and back again in a work, AND putting the jump on a page turn!. In my case, I don¡¦t do voice warm ups, rather warm downs!.

The Society is a registered educational charity and we committee members are its Trustees. I¡¦ve been Secretary for nearly 20 years now which is a position I generally enjoy. Our last Musical Director (Conductor) was with us for 34 years before he retired in March. He had also been our rehearsal accompanist for about the last 10 years and had the ability to play all 4 parts simultaneously on the piano, conduct and bring in each part AND THEN tell you where you¡¦d gone wrong! He also took little in the way of remuneration and was canny when it came to picking works that we could undertake that would be enjoyable, sufficiently difficult and wouldn¡¦t break the bank!. He was always going to be a hard act to follow.

Our new MD is gradually settling in and, after Thursday evening¡¦s committee meeting, I¡¦m hopeful that he will find a way to make his mark without losing singing members, audience members or bankrupting us in the process. Back in November, I wouldn¡¦t have been so hopeful. Even so, we are going to have our work cut out to keep things going next season as we will likely have to raise our membership subscriptions by about 33% just to cover the increased costs of the MD and his accompanist¡¦s fees. My fear is that that in itself will lose us members, which means that those of us left will have to pay even more to keep it going.

In one of Ron¡¦s posts, he said that he was contemplating the unthinkable ¡V that he would leave his choral group. I can fully understand that, having felt the same way myself last November and I never, ever thought I¡¦d feel that way. Commonsense prevailed though when I remembered that we (the committee) effectively employ this chap do to the job and so, if we¡¦re not happy with his work, then we can employ someone else. Hopefully this won¡¦t now be necessary.

Ron, Jerry, if there is anything else you want to know about my group, just let me know ¡V I think I¡¦ve waffled on far too much here!.

Deirdre

Subject: RE: Sitting At The Kitchen Table
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 01:17 PM

Hey, Rap: My publishing company, Outskirts Press, will create a website for my book, and I can sell it from there. When the book is published, I'll post a thread about it with a serious warning:
"This book contains sincere expressions of faith." The book does include the lyrics for eleven gospel songs I've written, and countless gospel lyrics from other writers and the tradition. There's also a quote by Casey Stengel and lyrics to a Roger Miller song, so it's not frighteningly pious. I just wouldn't want anyone buying the book without realizing that the basic core of the book is in the title: The Gate of Beautiful: Stories, Songs, And Reflections on Christian Life. Some of the stories have been posted on Mudcat, minus the reflections, and there's even a chapter based on a letter I wrote to Art Thieme describing an amazing experience I had doing a concert at a coffee house.

When I post the announcement, I'll offer to e-mail a couple of chapters to people so that they can judge for themselves whether they'd like to read the book. I'm not a tub thumper, but I am very serious about my faith and I speak very openly about my beliefs.

Enough... I'm starting to write a treatise here.

Jerry