Groves and Kicks – The Art of Music with Debra Mann

debra mann – home – click for sound bites and to download Debras Album called home.

The Art and soul of Music – part 1

Tilly & Debra each at their Pianos

Tilly Loves Music, especially Jazz! On this past Tuesday Tilly had pleasure of interviewing Debra Mann who is a lovely Jazz Musician. She is a singer and pianist who began classical piano studies at age six. She went on to study at Miami Dade Jr. College, and graduated cum laude from Boston’s Berklee College of Music. Ms. Mann has also had training in voice (both classical and jazz studies), advanced jazz improvisation, and composition (both with the renowned Charlie Banacos). She has been described as: “‘A voice that wraps itself around a microphone like a soft feather boa'”  – Rebecca Parris, Eight-time Boston Globe winner, ‘Outstanding Jazz Vocalist’  … “A wonderful gift for communicating emotionally when she sings. Her songwriting – an obvious melodic gift, and such a gift is rare.”  – Michael Scott, professional composer, Warner Bros. Music

We are honored to share a bit of the interview with you here today.  We did take some liberties in paraphrasing for we spoke for about an hour!

Tilly: We have been thinking, and chatting, about Public Art for the past few weeks here in the Land of Botaniumus. Do you think of Music as Public Art?

Debra: Yes- it can be. Music is available in so many different mediums/venues, i.e. on the street, on a public P.A., so many places are possible. In a city you often can’t walk down a block without hearing a musician playing. Warm weather brings out the public and the musicians with organized Concerts in Parks. In today’s world there are no more Boom Boxes, they have been surpassed with personal headphones, it seems like we have enclosed the music. (We both are a bit sadden by this.)

Tilly: Do you “transform” into your music when you are performing?

Debra: Yes-it’s a process. It begins even before I even leave the house. As I am getting ready to go, putting on my make-up, loading the car, driving to the site, while I drive I am doing vocal warm ups, and finger exercises on my knees. It is all part of it! (Tilly and I  feel a sense of excitement and joy in her voice, that I am guessing she feels as she prepares.) When I get to the place, I am mentally prepped. Then the music starts! I am given over to a greater power, tapping in to be a vessel for inspiration – ego must get out of the way – it’s a place that is  just about the feeling of the music. I am transformed (and hopefully) the listener is as well.

Tilly: You said to me that Jazz means to you that one lets go, you see/feel what happens, and all that affects the music.  Your music is fluid and free-flowing – rigid rehearsals are not part of your Jazz.  It is more improv. We love that and wonder how does that work in a performance setting?

Debra: As we play everything effects where we go with the music. It’s alive and we go where we feel the music and audience takes us. The immediate response, the moving and shifting based on EVERYONE, the musicians and the audience. That is the beauty of a live performance!

Tilly: Do you write your own music?

Debra: I am writing more and more –lyrics and instrumentals.

I have made it a part of my day. I write everyday. I am so prolific I almost have to put the brakes on! I typically write a set of chords first. Lyrics can take over and drive. I am writing more and more instrumentals, and I may or may not embed lyrics into them later. When I perform, I sing and play jazz standards, primarily, as well as some originals.  I hope to perform more originals as I continue with this outpouring of writing…I am loving all this writing and hoping to perform and record more.

Tilly: Where can we hear you play? (The Interview was performed over Skype but Debra lives in RI, Tilly is hanging out in RI for a bit, these listing are for the local New Englanders!)

~ Friday, May 27, 2011
  Debra Mann Piano and Vocal with Bass player Frankie Rizzuto at 
The Lobster Pot
119 Hope Street / 
Bristol, RI  / 02809-2047  
8-11 PM
   401-253-9100

~ Sat, May 27, 2011  
Debra Mann Trio at
 Greenvale Vineyards
Live Jazz at the Vineyard  Bring your friends and a picnic, it’s the perfect way to spend an afternoon in the summer!
582 Wapping Road, Portsmouth, RI 02871 /  1-4 pm
401) 847-3777   http://www.greenvale.com

~ Sun, May 29, 2011  
Debra Mann Trio at
 Ocean Cliff Hotel & Resort
In the Safari Restaurant
65 Ridge Rd, Newport, RI, 02840, (401) 841-8868

Tilly: Debra – it has been a pleasure- thanks so much! 

Stay tuned for part 2 ! Watch in the near future for more, for we had a fascinating conversation about Art that you hear, verses Art that you see.  


Debra Mann Website : http://www.debramann.com

The Art of Food

I googled “the Art of Food” and I found Alisa Barry’s wonderful blog on – surprise surprise, THE ART OF FOOD.

Clearly I was meant to find this for her most recent post is “Cooking for the love of it.”  She  says cooking is “an altar of artistic expression.” I have always felt that was true as long as I had a least a bit of time and some nice ingredients. Since Alisa Barry has said it so well – I have quoted her words from her blog. If you are a foodie, and love the Art of Food then I would recommend her blog, it is elegant and full of yummy words, tips, and recipes.

Here are Alisas words:

Even if you love to cook, there are times when cooking is simply about getting food on the table and sustenance in our stomachs.
And then there are the times when cooking is all about the LOVE. 
Cooking for those we love, with love.

This past week a dear friend needed some serious TLC. …
It also reminded me why I love to cook. It’s an offering and an altar of artistic expression. It’s a way to soothe the soul; a delicious salve that can heal all kinds of wounds. It’s how we connect with those we love and recollect those we miss.  It is, above all, a way to nourish and nurture us wholly, whether we’re the ones who are putting the meal together or savoring at the table. 

For a few days after my visit to stock her fridge, my friend sweetly texted me about how she loved the flavors of the dishes I had prepared. In those few words, I felt her strength regain and her spirit revive.  I’m convinced that intention is everything. Food tastes good when good goes into it. Good ingredients, good loving. 

I’m hoping we won’t have to wait for another event like this to get us sitting down to share a meal together.  Life is short and time does indeed fly by.  No time like now to enjoy with those you love. “

For me she has beautifully tied up and wrapped in a lovely gift box – The Art of Food. ♥ Yum!

__________________________________________________________

I could not help myself.  Another side of the coin for “The Art of Food.”  This is too fun to be left out.

Food Art
Joost Elffers and Saxton Freymann: Food Play

http://weburbanist.com/2009/01/08/food-art-and-food-artists/

“If there were ever two people who didn’t listen to their mothers they would be Elffers and Freymann. The collaborators have written over a dozen books together, all of them tackling the subject of playing with your food and turning everyday fruits and vegetables into incredibly cute animals and anthropomorphic characters. All their creations are appropriate for all ages and may help you feed your kids broccoli and other pesky greens!

food Bikers
Akiko Ida and Pierre Javelle – Microsculptures

Sculpture The Roses, and Park Ave. N.Y.C.

Roses and Bugs Park Ave. NYC
The Roses (and Bugs) Park Ave. NYC Thanks to: Will Ryman (artist) , Paul Kasmin Gallery, NYC.gov/parks and The Fund for Park Ave.

RUSH to NYC if you can to see these 38 larger than life Roses!  These GREAT BIG WONDERFUL Roses, and all the LITTLE CREATURES, on them will only be around a bit longer on Park Ave. If you missed them you truly miss a delightful art display and fabulous installation of public art! The art made me smile every time I went by them. They will be wilting away on May 31.

The art is from Will Ryman, who is a Bowery-based playwright turned sculptor. The octet of blossoms and each petal are made of plaster, wire mesh, PVC tubes, stainless steel, yacht-grade fiberglass resin, automotive paint, and brass designed to withstand the elements and be enjoyed by passersby. They are between 57th and 67th Streets.  The Height of each bunch is approx. 25 feet high (i.e. 4 or 5 NY stories high.) I got to see the flowers in the winter, in the snow, and they were delightful and surreal. An oddity that my brain knew was seasonally wrong, but my heart loved seeing! When I went back in the spring it was glorious again. My soul was so happy to see the real tulips and other flowers blooming, the reality of it being a bit early for roses didn’t bother me one iota. It was a splash of color and life – a sight to be seen, and a scene to be experienced.  ART that makes me smile, lifts up my spirits and soul, is available to all – that is good stuff!

Many of the roses are already sold, if you want one then be quick to come up with $200-400,000. Or, just buy a petal; you can use it as a chair- really! It will only set you back $25-$30,000. According to Ryman (in Jan. when The Roses went up)

“About half of the works on view have already been sold. The proceeds from these sales made the installation a reality because the $800,000 in expenses were covered by the artist. Whatever isn’t sold by the time they come down in late May will probably be put on loan by the Paul Kasmin Gallery, said Ryman. “

I was talking to my Dad not long ago, and were chatting about The Botanical Beauties and Beasties. One of the things he said was ” they make me smile.” A friend also recently told me the same, she said ” Your creations make me smile every day.”  I thought how great is that!  I was thrilled.  As I reflected on these very kind and wonderful words to my ears, I remembered a mission I had set out for myself when I started creating the Beauties and Beasties. This mission had sort of been forgotten by me lately. Thanks to Dad and to Chris for reminding me. I wanted, and still want,  The Beauties and Beasties (who BTY were called The Critters at that time) to make people smile, and feel good! The world seems like a pretty hostile place often and it seems important to sooth those rough edges a bit if I can. I am honored, thrilled, delighted, and proud that one of the missions of  The Botanical Beauties and Beasties has come to fruition.  Now that is REALLY GREAT STUFF!

In the near future I am planning on telling you all some of the other goals that the Gang at Botaniumus and I have. We have big plans! In the meantime, Enjoy NYC, Park Ave on a near perfect spring 2011 day!

To read an interesting article from, of all places, The New York Social Diary, the first month the Roses bloomed on Park (Jan.)

Naturally the NYTimes had a review in Jan as well.

To see them in the snow The Huffington Post. or a slideshow from Paul Kasmin Gallery 

The Sign for “The Roses” 

Prints, Art and Joseph Borg

ART WEEK – Part 2. So much fun last week we continue..

Joseph Borg: New York moments metropolitan (no33)

I met Joe outside the MET, on the sidewalk to be exact.  It was a beautiful spring afternoon, and Joe had a table full of beautiful art work.  “Joseph Borg, an artist and master printer, specializes in the traditional intaglio method, utilizing the monoprint technique as a means of endless experimentation. Joseph’s work has been exhibited and well received in the U.S. and abroad. His work has been chosen to be the first and only visual art found in the living quarters of Biosphere II, a life-sustaining experimental habitat in Oracle, Arizona.” ( Very Cool, and Very Green!)

I just had to stop and look, the work has a quality and finesse  that I could not walk by. The colors in his prints are often vivid, like the city of NYC that he lives in, and I like it!

We chatted a bit and he told me that these prints are a mix of painting, drawing and embossing. He then told me these are also often Mixed Media prints, meaning if there is one he doesn’t like it get ripped up and fragments are added to other and a new image is formed. Recycling IN the art. How great is that!

I couldn’t resist and bought a print then and there. I hope you will be moved to do so as well when you see his images on his website.  http://www.joeborg.com