Tucson’s eclectic Antigone Books is the latest location to sell copies of the 2012 documentary “Tucson’s Heart and Soul: El Casino Ballroom.”
The DVDs are also on sale at El Casino Ballroom (437 East 26th St), or online by clicking here.
They are $20 each at all locations.
On August 22, 2013 PBS Tucson affiliate KUAT presented a segment with Mariachis Transform Tucson producer/director Daniel Buckley on its Arizona Illustrated program.
Daniel Buckley on Arizona Illustrated
Click here to watch the show. The segment on the mariachi film starts at the 22′ 38″ mark.
Mariachis Transform Tucson has been renamed The Mariachi Miracle, and is now in production with a projected finish date of fall 2018.
Tax-free donations for the project are now possible. Click here for more.
To see a short preview on the film focusing on Pueblo High School’s Mariachi Aztlan, click here.
Raising money for this film is both a necessary evil and a learning experience in itself.
For the past several weeks I have been spending a great deal of my time focusing on a grant for the National Endowment for the Humanities in hopes of securing a fairly large chunk of change to support this film.
It is a far more complex operation than the Kickstarter campaign in that it involves detailed budgets, and the creation of a complex narrative that has to prove that this film will be a significant contribution to the public’s knowledge.
Part of that has involved generating background information on how the mariachi and folklorico culture evolved in Tucson, and in putting this part together I am starting to see how integral all of the previous documentaries in the Cine Plaza at the Fox series have been.
Without shooting this series I would not have truly understood the atmosphere of racial prejudice and institutionalized cultural submission Mexican American were facing as mariachis were starting to take root. I would not have known about the club at El Casino Ballroom that got a group of young Tucsonans hooked on mariachi music. A number of the members of that club would go on to form Tucson’s first home grown mariachi in the 1950s – Mariachi Tucsonense. And a number of other details have come clear in doing the interviews for other Cine Plaza offerings.
Even the early interviews for this film have filled in a lot of key details. I had not fully appreciated La Fuente Restaurant’s place as an early hub of mariachi music, nor known of La Fuente owner John Huerta’s role in convincing singer Linda Ronstadt to make her recordings.
The making of this film will no doubt show me many more many ways in which I am still ignorant of this history, in spite of covering the topic for over 30 years. But in writing this NEH document I am surprised at what a full picture of what has happened I have been able to draw in fairly small space.
This is just the first of a series of fundraising projects that will occupy the next few months of my time as much as shooting. I will be trying to interest folks at HBO, Showtime, Disney and PBS in the project, as well as attract a variety of foundation dollars to support the work. But despite how long each of these projects take, they successively add to the clarity of why this film was undertaken in the first place and how important it is. Thanks to all of you for your help in making this happen.
Back a few weeks ago many of my friends were excited by TV reports of a “Super Moon” – the moon at perigee (it’s closest orbital point to the earth).
But as they set up cameras to record shots of this slightly-larger-than-normal celestial phenomenon, I found myself reflecting on my childhood, and upon my lifelong relationship with the moon.
Born in 1953, space was the place through my entire childhood, and from the time I was 10, we as a nation were in the business of going to the moon. In many ways, I am a child of the moon as much as one of the ’60s.
I watched every launch of every American manned space mission from Alan Shepard’s sub-orbital Mercury flight to Apollo 17 when we left our final bootprints in the lunar soil.
As a boy I used to lie on my back on the lawn of our upstate New York home on warm summer nights, staring up at the moon and dreaming of one day walking on its surface. As a junior in high school I watched the grainy black and white images as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin climbed down the ladder of their lunar module and loped along the surface, picking up rocks and setting up instruments before planting a flag and heading back inside to return to the earth.
I came to the University of Arizona in 1971 – just a year before that last landing – to study with the men who were assisting the Apollo astronauts in what I assumed was just the beginning of lunar exploration. It was during that last moon landing that the news was broken to me that we would probably never travel to the moon again in my lifetime. That was a stunning realization. I had always seen myself as being part of that second generation who would build telescopes on the moon and make geological studies of its topography, rocks and soil. It was absolutely life changing.
A professor suggested I take anything I was interested in and find another path, since going to the moon had been my sole focus since early boyhood. So I took art and music classes, radio and television and a variety of other unrelated courses to see if something else might stick. And music did. I spent years working in record stores, writing about music and composing works of my own.
So as my friends sat on hills around Tucson, Arizona trying to get the best shot of that jumbo moon over the cactus, I found myself back in my studio remembering footage of those loping figures on the lunar surface, and of the moon peaking through clouds and shimmering in the warm night air. I spent the next few nights writing music to reflect those images and the nostalgic place the moon has had in my life. These simple pieces in many ways are among the loveliest and most complete musical statements of my career as a composer.
Here are a few examples of the music inspired by the moon as seen from earth and by the men who walked its rocky face.
• Super Moon 1 – Movement 1 of the Super Moon series, scored for solo instruments (electric piano in this case)and FabFilter effects. Composed by Daniel Buckley. Copyright 2013, Saguaro Furnace Music, all rights reserved.
• Super Moon 2 – Scored for guitar and FabFilter creative effects (Volcano and Timeless 2). Composed by Daniel Buckley, Copyright 2013, Saguaro Furnace Music, all rights reserved.
• Super Moon 5 – Work for 8Dio Wrenchenspiel and FabFilter effects. Composed by Daniel Buckley. Copyright 2013, Saguaro Furnace Music, all rights reserved.
This from publicist Louise Barder:
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Grammy-Winning Banjoist Béla Fleck Makes Deutsche Grammophon/Mercury Classics Debut as Composer-Performer with The Impostor (Aug 13), Showcasing Works with Orchestra and String Quartet
“For more than 30 years, banjoist Béla Fleck…one of the world’s most accommodating virtuosos…has been pushing the boundaries of his instrument.”
— New York Times
Banjoist Béla Fleck – winner of 15 Grammy Awards and nominated in more categories than any other artist in Grammy history – is as iconic on his instrument as Vladimir Horowitz or Mstislav Rostropovich were on theirs. Now, like those classical greats, Fleck will be joining the storied roster of Deutsche Grammophon. Reaching beyond his exalted status as an “itinerant superpicker” (All Music Guide), he makes his DG/Mercury Classics debut as a composer-performer with The Impostor, to be released August 13. The album showcases Fleck’s title concerto for banjo and symphony orchestra, as well as Night Flight Over Water for banjo and string quartet. For The Impostor concerto, the banjoist teamed with conductor Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony (which commissioned the work); for Night Flight Over Water, a work commissioned by Butler University, Fleckpartnered with genre-bending quartet Brooklyn Rider. Fleck will be performing both of these works in the upcoming season, starting with The Impostor on August 21 with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Saratoga, NY. Further concerto dates follow in the fall with the North Carolina Symphony (Sept 24) and Indiana University Symphony (Oct 30). Fleck will also tour Night Flight Over Water extensively with Brooklyn Rider, beginning with a nine-date trek around North America in November.
Beyond recording and performing for ever-greater audiences with his bluegrass-fusion band, the Flecktones, for 25 years and counting, the ever-intrepid Fleck has collaborated with musicians across multiple genres and from around the globe – from composer-bassist pal Edgar Meyer to jazz pianists Chick Corea and Marcus Roberts, from Indian tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain to such Malian artists as singer Oumou Sangaré and kora player Toumani Diabaté. Reviewing Perpetual Motion, Fleck’s 2001 collection of classical arrangements for his instrument, All Music Guide pointed out:“Banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck has broken more boundaries than any other picker.” The New York Times went further: “Mr. Fleck can lay claim to the title of the most popular living banjoist, having done much to push the instrument beyond bluegrass terra firma into jazz, classical and beyond.”
The Impostor
Eyeing the realm of classical composition over the years, Fleck has watched closely as his bluegrass-steeped virtuoso friends Edgar Meyer, violinist Mark O’Connor and mandolinist Chris Thile each composed successful concertos for their own instruments. Fleck mentioned the idea of a banjo concerto to Nashville Symphony CEO Alan Valentine, and his enthusiasm was enough to spur Fleck on. “The fact that I had no qualifications whatsoever as a classical composer didn’t seem to bother him, and honestly it bothered me only a little,” Fleck says. “I’ve always enjoyed dreaming up challenging scenarios, and then digging deep and working obsessively to attempt to pull them off. The idea of playing jazz or classical pieces on the banjo, or interacting with African, Indian or Chinese musicians fits into that category of scenario, and it appeared that I’d done respectably enough at those to be given a chance to put on the composer’s hat and see how it fit.”
Fleck premiered his concerto The Impostor in September 2011 at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Center, with the dedicatee of the piece – Earl Scruggs – in the audience. “Earl is the man who brought banjo back to national prominence, starting in the 1940s, and he also inspired me to pick up the banjo,”Fleck says. “I’m glad to have had the gift of knowing him in his time. He passed away a few months after the premiere at age 88.”
Explaining the concerto’s title, Fleck says: “The title of the piece refers to what I came to realize it was about all along. Everyone knows the feeling of being the outsider, or the ‘other,’ that you really don’t belong. A musician like myself can feel that way pretty regularly, even though the point of much of what I do is to attempt to find ways to fit naturally into many diverse environments. Working in so many different kinds of music beyond my native genre, I often do feel like an impostor, as though if anyone ever figured out the truth I’d be ejected immediately.”
Night Flight Over Water
In the early 1980s, Fleck collaborated with Edgar Meyer on a work for the Blair String Quartet, and the experience made him eager to try a chamber work on his own. His ambitions really took off after encountering the members of Brooklyn Rider: Colin Jacobsen (violin), Johnny Gandelsman (violin), Nicholas Cords (viola) and Eric Jacobsen (cello).
“These guys are really good at new music, and they have a youthful sensibility that really makes sense for a piece that has many influences from outside of classical music,” Fleck says. “I listened to their music, and really enjoyed and respected their work. They were intrigued by the idea, too. I started out writing Night Flight Over Water by composing a dozen or so sketches. I took these up North, and Brooklyn Rider and I read through them together. The initial idea was that the ones that really worked out for this combination of instruments were the ones that I would use to build the piece from. But these guys were so good that they made everything I had come up with sound amazing – so it was very hard to figure out what not to use. The good part is that I came to realize that I could write virtually anything and they would be able to make it come alive.”
Beyond the November tour of North America, Fleck and Brooklyn Rider will continue to tour Night Flight Over Water in January and February 2014.
Béla Fleck
Born in 1958 in New York City, Fleck seemed destined to be a world-class musician from the start, having been named for three great composers: Béla (for Bartók), Anton (for Webern) and Leos (for Janáček). Already a powerfully creative force in bluegrass, jazz, pop, rock and world beat, Fleckmade the classical connection with Perpetual Motion, his 2001 recording that went on to win a pair of Grammy Awards, including Best Classical Crossover Album. Collaborating with the banjoist on Perpetual Motion was his longtime friend and colleague Edgar Meyer, a bassist whose virtuosity defies labels and who is also an acclaimed composer. Fleck and Meyer co-wrote and performed a double concerto for banjo, bass and orchestra, which they debuted with the Nashville Symphony in November 2003. They also co-wrote a triple concerto for banjo, bass and tabla – titled The Melody of Rhythm – with world-renowned tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain.”
Click title for link where available
• Elliott Carter Edition, Vol. 9, Bridge Records
• Yoonie Han, pianist, The Victor Elmaleh Collection VEC 105 (works by Granados, Haydn, Bach-Busoni, Albéniz-Godowsky
• Fred Lerdahl: Volume 4, Bridge Records
• Gaudete Brass: Chicago Moves, Cedille Records
• Harlem Quartet, Chicago Sinfonietta, Mei-Ann Chen: “Delights and Dances,” Cedille Records
• Stravinsky: Petrouchka, La Sacre du Printemps /Daniele Gatti, Orchestra National de France, Sony Records
• Stravinsky:Le Sacre du Printemps / Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic, Sony Music
• Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps / Igor Stravinsky, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Sony Music
• Igor Stravinsky – Le Sacre du Printemps – 100th Anniversary Collection – 10 Reference Recordings, Sony Music (details below)
DISC 1: Philadelphia Orchestra – Leopold Stokowski, recorded 1929/1930
DISC 2: New York Philharmonic – Igor Stravinsky, recorded 1940
DISC 3: Boston Symphony Orchestra – Pierre Monteux, recorded 1951
DISC 4: Philadelphia Orchestra – Eugene Ormandy, Eugene, recorded 1955
DISC 5: Columbia Symphony Orchestra – Igora Stravinsky, recorded 1960
DISC 6: Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Seiji Ozawa, recorded 1968
DISC 7: Cleveland Orchestra – Pierre Boulez, recorded 1969
DISC 8: London Symphony Orchestra – Leonard Bernstein, recorded 1972
DISC 9: Philharmonia Orchestra – Esa-Pekka Salonen, recorded 1989
DISC 10: San Francisco Symphony Orchestra – Michael Tilson-Thomas, recorded 1996
• David Chesky: Jazz in the New Harmonic
• David Chesky:Explorations in Space and Time
• David Chesky: The New York Rags
BBC Magazine profiles 19-year-old virtuoso pianist/composer Conrad Tao, who’s recent CD, “Voyages” (EMI 50999 9 34476 2 1) features work by Rachmaninov (Five Preludes from Op. 23 and Op.32), Ravel (Gaspard de la Nuit) and Meredith Monk (Railroad [Travel Song]), as well as two of his own works, including “Iridescence” for piano and iPad. Far from a gimmick, this young man is a composer to watch.
Contact Daniel Buckley at dbtucson@gmail.com to have information added to the blog.Find us on Facebook by clicking here.
This in from DG:
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Deutsche Grammophon Releases Pierre Boulez: Complete Works
The first time the composer’s works have been brought together in one collection, including never-before-released recordings
Deutsche Grammophon has enjoyed a long and particularly fruitful relationship with the composer & conductor Pierre Boulez. He continues to compose music, but DG has chosen to take this opportunity and release a collection of his complete works, as they are now. This set will be released on July 23 in the US.
The creation of this set was completely carried out under the composer’s supervision, including the choice of recordings. Many works have multiple recordings, including on other labels, and only Boulez’s personal choices have been included. In addition to DG recordings this set includes selections from Sony, Harmonia Mundi, Erato and others. As a result of pulling from many sources, this set is able to include many world-class performances by such artists and ensembles as Pierre-Laurent Aimard, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Christine Schäfer, Maurizio Pollini and many others.
In order for the set to be complete, some works had to be newly recorded and others are being published for the first time.
New recordings made for the edition (world-premières):
Improvisé – pour le Dr Kalmus pour cinq instruments
Solistes de l’Ensemble Intercontemporain / Recording 2012
Une page d’éphéméride pour piano
Hidéki Nagano, piano / Recording 2012
Previously unpublished recordings:
Dérive 2, pour onze instruments
Ensemble Intercontemporain : Pierre Boulez / Live recording 2010
Notations I-IV et VII, pour grand orchestre
Ensemble Modern Orchestra: Pierre Boulez / Live recording 2007
First CD release:
Livre pour cordes
Orchestre Philharmonique de Vienne: Pierre Boulez / Live recording 1992, previously published on VHS
In addition, the booklet includes a new and extensive interview with Boulez covering his compositional career. The booklet lists the works in alphabetical order for easy browsing and includes extensive notes on each work and recording. Taken together with a new timeline of Boulez’s life and career, this set is the definitive celebration of Pierre Boulez’s compositional career thus far.
Click here for complete information.
Seeing a steep downturn in the readily available information on contemporary classical music and jazz in publications around the globe, composer and contemporary music writer Daniel Buckley is creating New Music Now.
New Music Now is a blog and hub for information on contemporary classical and new jazz recordings and concerts in conjunction with Daniel Buckley Arts.
The blog and Facebook page will share information on pending and recent releases of contemporary classical and jazz, reviews and information on concerts, festivals and the like.
To have information added to the blog contact Daniel Buckley at dbtucson@gmail.com.
Tax deductible donations to Daniel Buckley’s documentary The Mariachi Miracle are now possible.
A special fund is being set up through the La Frontera behavioral health center, which the Tucson International Mariachi Conference helps support. If you’d like to support this film, write a check in any amount to La Frontera Arizona Inc. and write in the subject line “The Mariachi Miracle – Daniel Buckley.” Send the check to:
La Frontera Arizona, Inc.
Attn. Kathy Wells
504 W 29th Street
Tucson, AZ 85713-3353
For more on the film, go to The Mariachi Miracle
On Facebook, look for The Mariachi Miracle
or contact dbtucson@gmail.com