Entertainment

Bob Stabach, a “local treasure,” to release his first jazz recording as a leader

On Sunday April 27, at 7:00 PM, Bob Stabach will be celebrating the release of his first jazz CD as a leader. The project, entitled “Light Forms” has been a labor of love for Stabach and his working quartet who include Stabach on saxophone, Eugene Uman on piano, George Kaye on bass and Jon Fisher on drums; the group has been playing together for about 5 years. They have been a kind of “house band” at arts presenter, Wendy Redlinger’s home where she has graciously offered the quartet and other high-level artists an opportunity to present their music in a great sounding, comfortable, welcoming space with a fine acoustic piano. For jazz musicians, Wendy’s Soirees attract a dream audience: listeners who thrive on hearing new compositions and observing the creative process in action. Bob has chosen to release his CD at Wendy’s because her home has been the workshop space where much of the music, now etched on his brand-new recording, was performed for the first time. The concert begins at 7:00; all are welcome to a 6:00 community potluck to meet and greet the artists.

De La Soul has been on my mind lately. They were a refreshing entry into the rap scene, adding some silliness and psychedelia to a sound dominated, at the time, by bragging. De La Soul switched the rules around and broke rap open with others such as the Jungle Brothers, Tribe Called Quest , Shortie, Monie Love and others.

Suddenly there was room for some smarter poetry. Jungle Brothers gave us songs about eating well and respecting women, for example. Tribe lost their wallet in El Segundo. De la Soul rapped about potholes in their lawn, and daisies.

On Saturday, April 26th, Sandglass Theater’s Co-Founder, Ines Zeller Bass, will pass the torch as she and her daughters, Jana Zeller and Shoshana Bass, take to the Sandglass stage with “Kasper, Fritzi, and Me”.  

Not just an afternoon of delightful puppetry, this momentous occasion celebrates the work of Ines Zeller Bass’ and the rise of a new generation in Sandglass Theater’s history.  “Kasper, Fritzi, and Me” features three of Zeller Bass’ most cherished puppet pieces: “Punschi”, “Tschokolino”, and “Fritzi’s Flea Circus”. More  

This special presentation is the final event in this year’s Winter Sunshine Series at Sandglass Theater.  Admission is $8 and reservations are highly recommended. To reserve your space, contact Sandglass Theater by phone (802) 387-4051 or email info@sandglasstheater.org. With poetry and song, daughters and mother take to the stage together as Zeller Bass ceremonially hands over her iconic puppets and objects: 

It’s the very end of 1978, verging on 1979. We’re in Santa Monica, CA at a club. The doors open, and we all rush in to get good spots near the stage. It’s New Year’s Eve and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are touring on their second album. They take the stage and start in on their fresh sounding twist on southern rock.

Tom Petty is one of the few things Florida can be proud of beyond beaches and theme parks. He’s from Gainesville, as any good Floridian will tell you. Bad Floridians will tell you he’s the only good thing about Gainesville, but that’s another tale.

Grab your suntan lotion – we’re going to Santa Barbara, California.

The year is 1982 and yacht rock has peaked. Yacht rock is a sort of relaxed beach music, seemingly created for being on a yacht in warm waters, surrounded by tropical drinks, bathing suits, and cocaine. Think Toto, Kenny Loggins, Gerry Rafferty, and those smooth-sounding rock bands from that time and place.

The Doobie Brothers, once a country rock sort of band, had completely transformed itself into a yacht rock leader with Michael McDonald at the helm, to the point of super-popularity and extinction.

To contrast with our outer space visionary of last week, Sun Ra, I thought we might tilt ourselves in the other direction, toward our future robot overlords. (Did I say overlords? I meant protectors.)

Here is Kraftwerk in San Paolo, from March 2009. The German electronic music group formed in 1970, but I first heard them in the 1980’s, on dance floors and urban radio stations with crossover hits like ‘Tour de France,’ ‘Trans World Express,’ and ‘Numbers.’ They brought a futuristic, computery vocoded sound to music, and the rap and R&B world ate it up for a while, with much imitation as a form of compliment. Afrika Bambaataa’s ‘Planet Rock” is an homage, as are songs by Warp 9, and the Jonzun Crew.

Strolling of the Heifers is seeking heifers, strollers, marchers, and floats for its upcoming Parade, as well as entertainers, volunteers and vendors for various Stroll Weekend events.

Strolling of Heifers Weekend takes place June 6-8, with the agriculturally-themed parade scheduled for Sat., June 7 at 10 a.m. in downtown Brattleboro.

Registration or application forms for all events and functions, as well as guidelines for each, may be found at via , or via the pull-down registration menu at the top of any page on the website. For parade units, parade director Richard Chapin announced that the deadline for applications is May 1. He is seeking parade units of all kinds, including musical units, marching units, animals, clowns, acrobats and dancers.

Crabgrass Puppet Theatre
The Pirate, the Princess, and the Pea
March 29, 1pm and 3pm
$8

Reserve tickets at info@sandglasstheater.org
or (802) 387-4051

Spring is here but the 2014 Winter Sunshine Series of Family Performances at Sandglass Theater in Putney continues! On Saturday, March 29th, Winter Sunshine curators Bonny Hall and Jamie Keithline of Vermont’s own Crabgrass Puppet Theatre present The Pirate, the Princess, and the Pea.

Escape the dreary weather and join us for a FREE MOVIE! Today, Wednesday, Mar 26, at 2 PM, the Classic Matinee Film Noir Series at Brooks Memorial Library continues with a story of a tangled web of blackmail and love with surprise twists.

For title information please contact the Brooks Library. What is film noir? Literally it means “black film” and it is a Hollywood genre of crime movie of the 1940’s and 50’s that developed mostly out of the Great Depression crime fiction.

Things seem hard, in Brattleboro. It’s been a long winter, and spring is very sought for and very over due.

When things get hard, one of the best remedies I know of, is to launch a UFAUX. So we went and bought the supplies needed for a really BIG one. We hope to do so on Gallery Walk, in May. Yes, I know that is a long way away. But hopefully it gives us enough time to plan it well. Also, we can celebrate more spring like weather then !

So, look to the skies, in May, and smile.

This week a mix of poetry, cosmic vibrations, and space philosophy. A discussion of magic and myth to help cleanse and transcend. Sun Ra can help guide us to a deeper reality with a trip with his Arkestra.

Not part of history, but part of mystery.

This is a documentary about jazz musician Sun Ra, who comes from Saturn.

The Snack Theatre’s production of Cabin Fever, a benefit for Strolling of the Heifers, continues on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. at the River Garden. The one-act play, dubbed a “comedy of menace” features (from left to right) Bill Hickok, Beth Kiendl and William Stearns discussing what cabin fever is really all about.

Admission is $15, more if you are so inclined, and includes yummy home-baked goodies. For reservations, phone the Stroll office at 802-246-0982.

A handful of concerts are “legendary” shows, and the Beatles playing their last live performance on the roof of Apple in London is certainly near the top of the list.

I’ve always liked this footage from Let It Be. The rooftop is an interesting and unusual space to play, and the shots of people in the streets realizing what’s going on are classic. The band seems to be having a lot of fun. A little bit of rule-breaking reminds Londoners they are alive, at least for a short while, until the police shut things down. Imagine if they had let it go for even a few more minutes.

Crack this word puzzler, and get $20 Gift Certificate for Mocha Joe’s. Below is a word puzzler for your fun.Crack it, and you will see a brief and grammatical correct message. Whoever solves it first, should email me for the prize at rolf . ParkerHoughton at gmail .com

If you can’t crack this word puzzle, but still would like to get $20 worth of coffee for only $15, you can
donate to the campaign to help farmers in Cameroon obtain organic certification.

It’s 1982 and Joe Jackson was just releasing ‘Night and Day,’ with the soon-to-be-hits ‘Steppin’ Out’ and ‘Breaking Us In Two.’ He also had a minor hit with ‘Real Men.’

This is “the new Joe Jackson band” according to the host. The old band, responsible for ‘Look Sharp!,’ ‘I’m The Man,’ and ‘Beat Crazy’ had broken up, and Jackson had taken a break by putting out his ‘Jumpin’ Jive’ album before returning to pop hits.

The 2014 Winter Sunshine Series of Family Performances at Sandglass Theater in Putney continues on March 8th with the award-winning piece, An Arabian Adventure,  by the Tanglewood Marionettes of Massachusetts.

Told with beautifully crafted marionettes in a storybook setting, An Arabian Adventure is a swashbuckling tale set in exotic lands. A Persian prince is thrown into a dungeon because of his love for a beautiful princess. Facing danger at every turn, the courageous prince uses his wits to escape his prison, defeat the diabolical vizier and save the princess from a tragic fate. Tanglewood Marionettes received an  for this piece (one of puppetry’s highest honors!)

Brattleborians of a certain age have long waited for the return of the Snack Theatre, an irreverent troupe that illuminated the aughts with a series of theatrical evenings augmented with libations and delectable sweets, before entering a period of hibernation.

The wait is over. In a production that will benefit the new home of Strolling of the Heifers, Snack veterans Beth Kiendl, William Stearns and Bill Hickok will reprise “Cabin Fever” — a “comedy of menace” penned by Joan Schenkar.

The entirety of the play takes place on a rural New England front porch, represented by a set designed by Clay Coyle, whose design credits range from off-Broadway to regional theatres in the East Coast and New England.

Judy Garland had a CBS Sunday night TV show in the early 1960’s – The Judy Garland Show.

It comes at a somewhat depressing point in her life. After years of being fed uppers and downers by movie studios, getting divorced, and getting into some serious debt and contractual problems, she was in a difficult spot. TV success, those around her reasoned, might be the only thing to pull her life back into order.

She was 40 years old when this was filmed. It got four Emmy nominations.

Come in from the icy cold! The Classic Matinee Film Noir Series at Brooks Memorial Library runs on Wednesday afternoons at 2 pm.

Today, Wednesday, Feb 26, at 2 PM, warm up with some intrigue and suspense in a mythical South American community involved in a war-surplus contraband racket. For title information please contact the Brooks Library. 

What is film noir? Literally it means “black film” and it is a Hollywood genre of crime movie of the 1940’s and 50’s that developed mostly out of the Great Depression crime fiction.

Joni Mitchell released a double live album in 1980, “Shadows and Light”. This is video from live performances, with a rather stellar line-up of accompanying musicians. They were recorded at the Santa Barbara County Bowl in September 1979.

The music speaks for itself this week.