A mask, a song, a book.....

So folks, it's been a long time since I've updated this blog. What have I been up to? The same old-same old really except now both my daughters are in school and doing well there. I have more work as an editor and translator, but am still occasionally teaching and making jewelry. After literally wanting one for years, I finally bought myself a piano, a Roland FP-50 in Liberace-white. I play most nights with the earphones on once the kids are in bed.

Like before, I also have many creative pursuits going on (I asked a student recently if they think there is such a thing as a "hobby person" although I already definitely know the answer to that question!) My latest project is a book on the mask L'Inconnue de la Seine which has inspired me for a long time. Many people find the mask creepy (albeit, it is), but L'Inconnue has also inspired generations of artists, musicians and writers, Nabakov, Rilke and Man Ray among the more famous names. Here's a video I made to promote the project:   

      

That's me singing on the video. I wasn't sure about posting it because my tecnique is definitely not where it should be (years of singing classical make one into quite the perfectionist even if one would rather not be....) But then again, Lieder and art songs were originally composed to also be sung by amateur singers in their homes, so why not? Plus, I was worried I might run into copyright issues if I used Rosa Ponselle's version of Vissi d'Arte like I originally wanted to, something that can be expensive (i.e. hefty fines) in Germany as opposed to a mere slap on the wrist.

To find out more about my book project, click here. Heck, if you feel like, go ahead and pre-order. It's a steal at only $9.99 plus you will only be charged if the book goes into production which, let's face it, is not extremely likely since I'd need to sell a minimum of 750 copies within the next two and a half months. Still, it's worth a try. I've always wanted to write a book. Here's my chance. :)                          

Why wait when you have your own dictaphone?

Ever since the guitarist I was working with for a while moved back to Brazil I've been looking for someone to make music with, but it just is no easy task. Is there anyone in Berlin who doesn't write electronic music? (By the way, do they still call techno "Euro trash" in the U.S.? Sure hope so. I'm sorry, but I hate that crap....) In my frustration I realized why not write my own songs. I found Audacity online, found Looperman for samples and, hell, I've got a dictaphone. Why do I have to loose? ;) As expected, the quality isn't exactly the best, but it's still been fun. Here are a few little videos I made for three of my songs.

This first one I wrote about someone I had a dream about recently (and no, I ain't saying who ;) )

This one I wrote for Laika.

And this one I wrote for my husband, Jasper (some of the images remind me of when we first got together.)

If you want to hear more, click here to visit my page on Soundcloud. 

xoxo, Rebeccah

Waters of March

Below is a little video I made with Marcio and I performing The Waters of March, Tom Jobim's classic tune. The tracks were recorded separately (i.e. him on the guitar first then me singing) which was sort of schizophrenic since it's important we play together. The guitar and voice are sometimes a tiny bit out of sync, but then again, maybe I'm just hearing this because I know what a strange experience it was to record it like that....The photographs in the video are from my trip to Cheyenne, Wyoming and Western Nebraska last year. Really, I just used them because they are on my computer and were easy to upload, but they actually somehow fit perfectly with the song. I posted a video of another song on my vintage blog, so click here if you'd like to take a look. :)

At Least One Pair of Impractical Shoes A Day

I have not exactly been leading a high-heel life these past few years. Then again, I've always had problems with heels in Berlin. A lot of the streets and most of the sidewalks are made of uneven cobblestones and, believe you me, nothing shreds a good pair of heels faster. My feet have also gotten a bit wider over the years and, since heels tend to run narrow, this means a rather painful breaking in process. But I walk a lot (no car in Berlin) and I don't really like pain. These reasons combined with the fact that I've been spending so much time in sandboxes means that I just don't wear heels all that much. But I still love them. Every time I go thrifting I inevitably buy a pair or two even though I know they will probably just end up gathering dust in the back of my closet....


But my life has changed. Baby Li is now at pre-school five hours a day along with Miss Mia and I've been riding my bike all over town. Although high-heels still aren't the most ideal biking shoes, it's still much easier than walking around in them all day. So that's my goal: At least one pair of impractical shoes a day to celebrate my new found freedom. The shoes that I started the post with are actually pretty comfortable (for heels, that is..) I wore them the other day to Flughaften Tempelhof where I found a nice, secluded place off of hidden path with the lovely view above of the amber waves of grain (give me a break. I just remembered it's the 4th of July! ;) ) and the old radio tower.


I laid down my bike on its side, tossed my purse aside and pulled out a writing notebook along with Blancy, my Meisterstück Mont Blanc fountain pen.


The pen was actually a "wedding present" from my first husband (in " " because we didn't really have a wedding, just an elopement for green card purposes.....but that's another story that shall be told at another time...) because I wanted him to prove to me that he could give me something beautiful and expensive yet also luxurious and unnecessary. He did do it, but it totally went against his nature as, by nature he was very cheap. I think he literally broke out in hives afterwards....I couldn't use the pen for a few years after we split up, but now it seems enough time has passed that I feel ok about it. And there's nothing like writing with a fountain pen, let alone a Mont Blanc.


I also went over some of the songs Marcio and I are working on. We have a pretty good line up now of some jazz standards, some samba and bossa nova and some latin pieces. Now we just are on the look-out for other musicians as well as a low-key gig where we can get started. We'll see....For now I'm just so happy I have my bag, my bike, my heels and Tempelhof. ;)

5 Ways To Sing 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

One of the things I love about a truly great song is how open it is to interpretation. At any time some new musician could come and breathe new life into it. Like Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. Whether or not you actually like Paul Simon, I think most people would agree it's a great song. Great lyrics, great groove, great chorus. On a recent jaunt through YouTube land I found five different versions including the original that I liked (there were at least five other ones as well, but these were my favorites.) Let's start with Mr. Simon himself.



Although I wouldn't exactly call myself a big Paul Simon fan, I do definitely have respect for him. Whereas most old school pop singers keep on doing the same thing again and again until it almost seems pathetic, he has always constantly reinvented himself and tried new things. Of course, it also helps that he surrounds himself with the best musicians. Like the drummer Steve Gadd who came up with the drum groove solo at the beginning of the song. I don't know squat about drumming, but apparently this beat is very difficult to play and he always does it so lightly and with such feeling. Truly a master.



The drummer here doesn't have the touch Steve Gadd does, but Rosemary Clooney is a better singer than Paul Simon. This interpretation is my absolute favorite, but then I am a big Rosemary Clooney fan. She had such an unusual voice and such a great sense of rhythm.



Cadence gets out of having to compete with Steve Gadd by turning the drum solo into a beat box. Nice use of playback too.



I had never heard of the Platinum Pied Pipers, but by their picture I figured they would perform hard-edged jazz or maybe R&B. Quite a surprise that they have such a lounge-y, soft groove.



Playgroup even does a Reggae version. And it works. Mr. Simon, thanks for writing such a great song.

My vote still goes out to Rosemary. Do you have a favorite?

German Music History Lesson Two: Amis and Tommys singing auf Deutsch

A few weeks ago I did a lesson on German Schlager, but what a lot of people don't know is that, back in the 50s and 60s, most big American (Amis) and British (Tommys) pop stars also had versions of their hits that they sung in German for their German-speaking fans. Nowadays, of course, it is hip to sing or listen to music in English and most young Germans speak it well enough that they can mostly understand the lyrics (though this is not always a good thing. Try teaching your students again and again that the third person in English needs an "s" at the end of the verb in the present simple only to be contradicted by songs where someone sings "She don't call me anymore" or "He sing sad songs all night"....)

Anyway, some of the biggest of the big sung in German at some point in their career and these include:

1. The Beatles



Sie liebt dich, (yeah, yeah, yeah). P.S. What's up with the marching police men at the beginning of the video??

2. Elvis



Forget bloated, karate-chopping, Vegas Elvis. Look how adorable he was when he was young! He sings this German folk song partly in German, partly in English and was undoubtedly popular here since he was stationed in Germany during his army days.

3. Johnny Cash



Yes, the man in black apparently trägt auch Schwarz...

4. David Bowie



In the 80s, when there was a wall around Mitte and Prenzlauerberg and Kreuzberg was still full of commune-living left-wing radicals throwing rocks at police cars, Schöneberg was the hip place in Berlin to be. The neighborhood was also home to both David Bowie and Iggy Pop for a while. Of course, by then it was standard to just sing your hits in English but Bowie did Helden (Heroes) in German because, well, I guess he thought it was cool.

5. Bob Dylan



Ok, so I'm not sure if Bob himself sung in German, but here is a Schlager-esque German version of Blowin' in the Wind. Mega "groovy".

Fifteen Songs For 2010

Ever since I've been writing this blog I've gotten scores of e-mails from people thanking me for my funny and insightful posts. But they always wanted to know more about who I am as a person, for example, what kind of music I like. Ok, so that is a big fat lie. Unless you count a couple of spammers, I've never gotten an e-mail from anyone. In fact, besides my mother (hi mom!), I'm not sure that anyone actually regularly reads this blog. It's also probably quite likely no one really gives two hoots what my music taste is, but what the hay? Afterall, this is my blog. I recently put together a playlist on YouTube of my top fifteen songs for 2010 which I thought I'd share with you tonight as well as the reason I chose each song. Play them in order if you want to get a feel for what I listen to while I'm doing the dishes.

Song Number One: Little Green Apples, Roger Miller



*Because Roger Miller is most famous for wacky hits like King of the Road, but he also wrote a lot of touching ballads like this one*

Song Number Two: Waltz for Debby, Bill Evans



*Because I love Bill Evans. Love, love, love.*

Song Number Three: Attraction, Paris Combo



*Because Paris Combo is oh-so-much fun and I wish I was at the seaside where they shot the video right now...*

Song Number Four: Im 80. Stockwerk, Hildegard Knef



*Because, although this German actress mainly sang Schlager, she had a bad-ass, killer voice.*

Song Number Five: Jimmy, Moriarty



*Because how can you not like French/American folk?*

Song Number Six: Se tu m'ami, Pergolesi (Cecelia Bartoli)



*Because the Italian Art Songs are the fare of all beginning classical singers meaning you forget how beautiful they really are. Thank you, Cecelia Bartoli for reminding us with this recording you made towards the beginning of your career.*

Song Number Seven: There Stand The Glass, sung by Jake Generalli



*Because I had to move to another continent before I realized how cool classic country can be. This country song is sung by the unsigned singer Jake Generalli who lives in Portland (hence the rain in the background...)*

Song Number Eight: Casta Diva from the opera Norma, Bellini (Maria Callas)



*Because, even though I'm not a soprano, I have to admit this is one of the best arias ever written (and very difficult to sing) performed by one of the greatest divas ever.*

Song Number Nine: La Noyee, Serge Gainsbourg



*Because Serge Gainsbourg had that amazing French way of being totally sexy even though he wasn't actually all that attractive. This song is also apparently un track rare.*

Song Number Ten: Wayfaring Stranger, (Roy Hynes)



*Because although the video is amazingly cheesy and I've never heard of Roy Hynes (though apparently he's quite big in Newfoundland), this spirtual folk song is amazingly moving.*

Song Number Eleven: Bei Mir Bist Du Schön, (Zarah Leander)



*Because Zarah Leander, a German film star sings this yiddish song in her native tongue, Swedish.*

Song Number Twelve: Oo-De-Lally, Roger Miller



*Because I seem to be having a Roger Miller thing these days.*

Song Number Thirteen: Sixteen Tons, Tenessee Ernie Ford



*Because my dad used to sing this song to us when we were kids. Even though he passed away almost two years ago, I still think of him every day.*

Song Number Fourteen: Gnossienne N0. 3, Erik Satie



*Because Satie will always be one of my favorite composers.*

Song Number Fifteen: Ein Hotdog Unter Am Hafen, Element of Crime



*Because, in general, I don't really like any German bands but Element of Crime is an exception.*

If you have your own list, please do send it my way (you could even send me an e-mail. ;) ) It's always great to discover new music.

Miss Mia of The World

Yesterday, at around 2:30, just after the cleaning lady arrived (yes, we have a bi-weekly cleaning lady. Thank god......) Mia and I heard a very loud noise coming from outside. The noise sounded like tabla drums and a slightly off-tune male singer singing exotic songs, all of which was coming through a bad sound system. Mia was immediately excited. She rushed to the window to see what was going on, but we couldn't see anything.

Iris (that would be our cleaning lady) told us that the music was just down the street and looked like it might be an Indian wedding. "Go and see if they have an elephant," she said. We went downstairs and Mia burst out the door, running towards this huge, colorful tent. She stopped at the edge of the street (we have been really training her on this one. Sometimes she just starts to babble: Mia, too little. Cross the street, big, big ouch. Take hand. I really love the Tarzan language of small children!) and soon we crossed, hand in hand of course, and this is what we saw:


Hundreds of women in beautiful saris. Saris truly are the most elegant piece of clothing in the world. They are intensely colorful without being garish, feminine and yet simple and (I'm assuming) comfortable. Though they have a few variations in cut and flow, they are all basically the same in concept yet so individual since the colors and ornamentation on the cloth varies so much. Mia immediately felt at home. She went and stood in the crowd to listen to the music while I started taking photographs.


She felt so at home, in fact, that when they started to march down the street she immediately marched with them, not once looking back. Soon I had lost her in the crowd. I wasn't really that worried- all I would have to do is shout out "Has anyone seen the little white girl who isn't in a sari?"- but still, it was pretty hard to keep up with a baby buggy and Baby Li in tow. We did finally find her again and stood listening to music together (the procession stopped for ten minutes or so).

When they started marching down Skalitzer Strasse I had to grab her out of the crowd (it was a very hot day and I didn't want to wander too far since we had to be back in an hour). Poor little Mia cried and cried. We bought a sticker to support the local Hindu temple (the parade was in its honor) and put it on the buggy under Mia's feet. "Music, music," she kept on saying as she looked at it.

Miss Mia really seems to especially love "World" music. We also heard a Samba drumming band about a week ago and she was in ecstasy, stomping along in rhythm to the beat. Today I pulled out some old c.d.s (funny how no one listens to c.d.s anymore, just whatever is on the ipod...) and played some Samba music for her. She had a dance party for one for at least 45 minutes and didn't even want to go to the playground when I asked her. Later we switched to salsa, which also kept her diaper-wagging for a while. Little Miss Mia, my musical bird!

Let's Blame It On The Heat And On The Wine

So here's the thing: we don't have a television. I could pretend to be all high and mighty and say we don't have one because we are far too cultured for the idiot box, but the truth is, I am a recovering addict. I love to while away the time, zapping through channels, watching trashy MTV shows, reality tv, animal documentaries. If we had a tv I would undoubtedly be doing this every night. The problem is, I always feel yucky afterwards, like I just ate my whole easter basket full of candy in one sitting and now have to face the consequences. No, it's better if I protect myself from what I want because, to be honest, I have very little self-control. No ice cream in the house and no television. I read more books; I write more; I'm happier. And if I want to watch a movie or a series I rent them at the video store around the corner and watch them on my computer.

I also like raising my children without a television, though I think we might have to get one eventually. There will come a time when all of Mia and Lilly's friends will be talking about such and such a cartoon character and, if they don't even really know who this character is, they may be seen as outsiders and I don't want this. But the television can wait.

One thing I have started to do is watch vintage Sesame Street with Mia on YouTube. Here are some of my absolute favorites.









I can remember all of these and being excited when they came on (and this is but a small number of the ones I recognize). I also remembered the names of the people; Bob, John John, Maria. Funny how that information is stored somewhere and, when accessed, is suddenly there again. Mia's absolute favorite is this one of Patti Labelle singing the ABCs gospel style.



Today she begged me to play it ten times in a row, crying if I tried to play something else. The last few times we had an ecstatic, hand-clapping dance party together towards the end. Mia's love of this clip has been one of many clues that she may have inherited my (and my sister's) musical talent.

Music lies deep in my family, coming from the southernmost borders of Russia. My German-Russian grandmother had ten siblings, all of whom were in a family band. Both my sister and I are classical singers, she a lyric soprano, me a dramatic mezzo-soprano. I have a degree in music and studied quite seriously for several years with the opera singer Blanche Thebom. Also a dramatic mezzo, she believed in my voice (a mezzo, especially a dramatic one, is a rare voice to have). She told me once if I didn't have a shot at a career, then she didn't know anything about the business. But I am not an opera singer. It is a hard life; competitive as hell, living over half the time out of a hotel room, that is, if you're lucky enough to be singing at all. But to say that I just didn't want it enough (which is true) only strikes the surface. The truth is music and performing, which have been important to me ever since I can remember, also touch upon some deep wound. They "hurt" in a way I can't describe.

I worked with a pianist here in Berlin for a while and it was wonderful and I will do it again when Lilly is a bit older. But the idea that Mia may have inherited something with music, that she may have a chance to hold and cultivate it without the wound both me and my sister have is truly inspiring.

Wow. This post has gotten rather personal, wouldn't you say. Let's blame it on the heat and on the wine....;)

My daughter loves mei....

Raising a bi-lingual child is truly an interesting experience. When I first came to Berlin I spent a year baby-sitting a half-American boy who was just a little bit older than my eldest daughter is now. He was very verbal. When I picked him up from pre-school he would say something like "Let's go to the cafe and get some cake." and then turn around and say "We're going to the cafe to get some cake," in perfect German to one of the other mothers. Ok, so it may have been the little kid version of that, but still, his command of both languages was really impressive.

My daughter isn't quite that advanced yet. There are some bi-lingual pre-schools in Berlin, but they are mainly in Prenzlauer Berg in the east or Zehlendorf in the west. But I'm a Kreuzberger at heart and am not going to move to a neighborhood I'm not that crazy about just so my daughter can sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider...Still, it was much to my dismay when she first started to talk and it was only in German even though I talk to her more or less exclusively in English. We spent a month in California over Christmas and it really made a difference. Now it is one of favorite games to come over to you and list off nose, mouth, ear, head...after poking each one.


My favorite words are the words she makes up that are in neither English nor German like, for example, mei. Mei is her word for music, something she likes playing in the background at all times. My mom got her a Wee Sing c.d. for Christmas. Although it was fun to hear little kids singing Five little monkeys and This Old Man at first, by the 20th time I was about ready to tear my hair out. A jazz fan, I started playing Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans instead which, luckily, she so far seems to like just as much as Hickory Dickory Dock. This morning when I was getting her dressed for pre-school she was in a really bad mood. I took a break from trying to force her into her snow suit and put on "You Must Believe in Spring." She immediately calmed down and let out a long sigh. "Mei", she said, with adoration.

Signal Patterns

I love and have always loved taking personality quizzes. I must have taken hundreds in magazines while waiting for the doctor or dentist and my mom is a therapist, so through her I had access to the more "serious" ones. I discovered this website, signal patterns where they tell you your personality and music taste signal patterns. Check it out: