Viewing: The Moon - View all posts
DID YOU KNOW?
Dmitri Matheny's THE SNOWCAT is inspired by the ancient Asian parable of The Oxherder,
in which a herdboy's quest to find his missing ox is likened to an individual's journey through life.
With origins in India, the parable became popular in medieval Japan and was
depicted on 13th century handscrolls as the 'Ten Bulls' or 'Ten Oxherding Pictures.'
The scrolls traditionally divide the hero's journey into ten stages,
each accompanied by a circularly framed image and a simple verse.
Rendered in the graphic style of Japanese narrative illustration,
the story is as accessible and visually compelling
as a modern comic book.
As in the ancient parable, the hero of THE SNOWCAT
finds her companion and returns home to appreciate the beauty of nature,
play music and have fun with friends.
She maintains hope, optimism and determination in the face of adversity,
discovers the gentle power of sitting quietly, and embodies the spirit of sharing
and gratitude that makes the holidays such a magical time.
Join us for the Arizona premiere of
Dmitri Matheny's THE SNOWCAT
A cool cat tale for the whole family
December 6 @ ASU Kerr Cultural Center Scottsdale
December 13 @ Chandler Center for the Arts
Holly Pyle vocals
Dmitri Matheny flugelhorn/storyteller
Andrew Gross saxophones
Nick Manson keyboard
T-Bone Sistrunk bass
Dom Moio drums
“In this spellbinding performance, jazz flugelhornist and composer Dmitri Matheny and his band
weave a magical, musical tale of a little girl searching for her missing white cat on a chilly afternoon.
Based on a medieval Japanese parable, The SnowCat reveals the spirit of sharing and gratitude
that makes the holiday season such a wonderful time of year.”
—Town & Country
MASHUP
THE SONG OF WANDERING AENGUS ~William Butler Yeats
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
On This Day
August 10, 1998
Los Angeles Times
Dmitri Matheny Penumbra
CD Review by Don Heckman
The names involved in this collection of lunar-oriented music from a San Francisco-based band...[more]
August 10, 1998
Los Angeles Times
Dmitri Matheny Penumbra
CD Review by Don Heckman
The names involved in this collection of lunar-oriented music from a San Francisco-based band...[more]
SIMPLICITY
"Simplicity is the final achievement.
After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes,
it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art."
—Frédéric Chopin
"I do not have much patience with a thing of beauty
that must be explained to be understood.
If it does need additional interpretation
by someone other than the creator,
then I question whether it has fulfilled its purpose."
—Charles Chaplin
"Oh, what would a girl like Sarah want with a simple
Nebraska boy like me? I don't know nothin' about fancy cars
and fancy restaurants. Still, I would love to show her
a moonlit night out by the hay stacks."
—Joe
FROM THE ARCHIVES
On This Day
August 1, 1997
United Press International
Dmitri Matheny Looks Up for Inspiration
By Ken Franckling
The art of playing ballads seemed lost for a time...[more]
August 1, 1997
Cadence
Dmitri Matheny's Penumbra: The Moon Sessions
By Stuart Kremsky
Dmitri Matheny concentrates on the moody...[more]
August 1, 1999
Albuquerque Journal
Flugelhorn Player Focuses on Melody
By David Steinberg
Flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny insists...[more]
August 1, 1999
Albuquerque Tribune
Matheny's Hard Work Produces Silky Jazz
By Tracy Mobley-Martinez
First, put aside your guilt...[more]
August 1, 2001
Grant & Matheny @ North Beach Jazz Festival
Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, North Beach
San Francisco, California
Photo by Scott Chernis
August 1, 2005
Dmitri Matheny Group @ Invisible Theatre's
Sizzling Summer Sounds at the Arizona Inn
Tucson, Arizona
August 1, 1997
United Press International
Dmitri Matheny Looks Up for Inspiration
By Ken Franckling
The art of playing ballads seemed lost for a time...[more]
August 1, 1997
Cadence
Dmitri Matheny's Penumbra: The Moon Sessions
By Stuart Kremsky
Dmitri Matheny concentrates on the moody...[more]
August 1, 1999
Albuquerque Journal
Flugelhorn Player Focuses on Melody
By David Steinberg
Flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny insists...[more]
August 1, 1999
Albuquerque Tribune
Matheny's Hard Work Produces Silky Jazz
By Tracy Mobley-Martinez
First, put aside your guilt...[more]
August 1, 2001
Grant & Matheny @ North Beach Jazz Festival
Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, North Beach
San Francisco, California
Photo by Scott Chernis
August 1, 2005
Dmitri Matheny Group @ Invisible Theatre's
Sizzling Summer Sounds at the Arizona Inn
Tucson, Arizona
FROM THE ARCHIVES
10 Years Ago Today
July 24, 2002
Full Moon Concert
Dmitri Matheny Group @ Campbell Recital Hall
Stanford Jazz Festival
Stanford, California
July 24, 2002
Full Moon Concert
Dmitri Matheny Group @ Campbell Recital Hall
Stanford Jazz Festival
Stanford, California
15 YEARS AGO TODAY
BLUE MOON ~ Ben Webster
THE LUNATIC
Some say The Lunatic suffers from an affective disorder, since the full moon can cause sleep deprivation in light sensitive individuals. However, given that the moon's gravity exerts power over the tides, and the brain is mostly water, isn't it possible that the moon effects human behavior more than we realize?
BREATHTAKING NEW IMAGES OF THE MOON
LA LUNA
LUNA RING
HAPPY EARTH DAY
In celebration of EARTH DAY I've posted 3 beautiful videos by the talented Norwegian landscape photographer Terje Sørgjerd.
THE MOUNTAIN features Sørgjerd's stunningly beautiful time lapse photos of the Milky Way, captured earlier this month atop El Teide, the highest mountainpeak in Spain.
Set to music by Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi ("Nuvole Bianche" from his album Una Mattina), the video offers a view of our earth and heavens like none I've ever seen.
THE AURORA pairs Sørgjerd's images of a brilliant Aurora Borealis display over a national park in Norway with ethereal film music by Lisa Gerrard and Hans Zimmer ("Now We Are Free" from their collaboration on Gladiator).
Gerrard's otherworldly voice, as she sings to God in her invented language, seems to me the perfect sonic complement to the mysterious aurora.
THE MARKET juxtaposes video of the Maeklong and Damnoen Saduak markets in Thailand with Katie Noonan's cover of the Gnarls Barkley hit "Crazy."
I remember the floating markets from my travels in Thailand and Cambodia. It's intriguing to see one of them again through the eyes of a visual artist, especially when accompanied by music with such a fascinating provenance:
- The piece began as "Nel Cimitero di Tucson," an Italian movie theme created by the Reverberi brothers for a 1968 Spaghetti Western.
- Half a century later, Gnarls Barkley (the American duo of Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green) reinvents the piece, adding lyrics and a new hook.
- Their single "Crazy" becomes a spectacular international hit, spawning over 30,000 downloads in the United Kingdom, placement in popular films, and dozens of other versions by artists all over the world.
- Australian singer Katie Noonan puts her own spin on the song, and this recording is the version selected by the intrepid photographer from Norway to underscore his colorful footage from Thailand.
Follow Terje Sørgjerd on Twitter.
THE MOUNTAIN by Terje Sørgjerd, Music: "Nuvole Bianche" by Ludovico Einaudi
SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO
THE ATTRACTION OF INSOMNIA
"It's at night, when perhaps we should be dreaming, that the mind is most clear, that we are most able to hold all our life in the palm of our skull. I don't know if anyone has ever pointed out that great attraction of insomnia before, but it is so; the night seems to release a little more of our vast backward inheritance of instincts and feelings; as with the dawn, a little honey is allowed to ooze between the lips of the sandwich, a little of the stuff of dreams to drip into the waking mind. I wish I believed, as J. B. Priestley did, that consciousness continues after disembodiment or death, not forever, but for a long while. Three score years and ten is such a stingy ration of time, when there is so much time around. Perhaps that's why some of us are insomniacs; night is so precious that it would be pusillanimous to sleep all through it! A 'bad night' is not always a bad thing."
~Brian W. Aldiss
EVERYONE IS A MOON
"Everyone is a moon, with a dark side which he never shows to anybody."
~Mark Twain
WHEN THEY SLEEP
All people are children when they sleep.
There's no war in them then.
They open their hands and breathe
in that quiet rhythm heaven has given them.
They pucker their lips like small children
and open their hands halfway,
soldiers and statesmen, servants and masters.
The stars stand guard
and a haze veils the sky,
a few hours when no one will do anybody harm.
and open their hands halfway,
soldiers and statesmen, servants and masters.
The stars stand guard
and a haze veils the sky,
a few hours when no one will do anybody harm.
If only we could speak to one another then
when our hearts are half-open flowers.
Words like golden bees
would drift in.
-- God, teach me the language of sleep.
when our hearts are half-open flowers.
Words like golden bees
would drift in.
-- God, teach me the language of sleep.
~Rolf Jacobsen
SPIDER WEBS
"Written laws are like spiders' webs, and will, like them, only entangle and hold the poor and weak, while the rich and powerful will easily break through them." ~Anacharsis
MOON RIVER - Final Scene, Breakfast at Tiffany's
HALF MOON, SMALL CLOUD by John Updike
Caught out in daylight, a rabbit’s
transparent pallor, the moon
is paired with a cloud of equal weight:
the heavenly congruence startles.
For what is the moon, that it haunts us,
this impudent companion immigrated
from the system’s less fortunate margins,
the realm of dust collected in orbs?
We grow up as children with it, a nursemaid
of a bonneted sort, round-faced and kind,
not burning too close like parents, or too far
to spare even a glance, like movie stars.
No star but in the zodiac of stars,
a stranger there, too big, it begs for love
(the man in it) and yet is diaphanous,
its thereness as mysterious as ours.