MEGAN BERTI mezzo-soprano: A Twentieth Century Banquet!

An autumn Sunday afternoon in our Norman Rockwellian hamlet produced an unexpected journey for me. The kind of journey possible only through great art. And that was amply supplied by Megan Berti of Houston, who gave of her talent generously in the glow of the natural light and magnificent architecture of First Presbyterian Church in Navasota.

You can tell when you are experiencing great art, because it always trips multiple triggers... a banquet of personal wonder. Sounds and sights and forgotten thoughts expand and swirl like blackbirds in formation, and you never want it to end.

  

As one pushed through the mammoth Victorian doors you immediately stepped back in time, and the sparkling stained glass and austere, sunlit plaster walls promised that Andrew Wyeth wished he was still alive, if only to capture them. Performing Spanish and German classics, in their native tongues, Berti especially shined while presenting three of Manuel de Falla's Siete Canciones Populares Espanoles. I knew instantly that I had “heard” this music somewhere before. But I had not. Megan Berti was merely singing expertly the genre James Michener had perfectly described in IBERIA, his exhaustive book about Spain.

A great fan of Spanish culture, James Michener spent a great deal of his spare time in Spain, and considered Falla the most important composer from his favorite country. Michener often compared Spain to Texas, another of his favorite places, and he studied Spanish music like American teenagers did rock and roll. He thought Falla was the most original and inventive and inspired of all. And here a century and a world away Megan Berti brought Falla's legacy to life to an appreciative crowd. She sang Falla- saucy and evocative and even abrupt... as if she were raised in a Spanish carmen- (a rustic country cottage).

 

But then, just getting nestled into my cozy transportation, Berti began to sing Strauss and Brahms... with equal authenticity. I am not quite sure of all the reasons why artists choose to sing in foreign languages... But if they are going to, they must be convincing and artistic at the same time... and be able to convey emotions... and Berti prances through her cultural sampler flawlessly. It's true I would not know if she was singing, “I am going to kill you!” But whatever she sang, she has that special gift, not just that of a musician, not that of a performer, but that of a true entertainer.

Thank you to The Music Study Club of Navasota, for finding and showcasing Megan Berti and the art she lured out of the walls and out of my imagination.

Postscript: In my zeal for brevity ( a new goal of mine) I neglected to mention the equally precise and adoring accompaniment provided by her pianist... (please forgive me if I get this wrong!) Kathleen Kaun. 

NEXT DOOR In theTrinity Valley

39th Salmon Lake Park Labor Day Bluegrass Festival

My friend Scott Armstrong has been a lifelong music enthusiast and a significant force in an awesome Bluegrass gathering north of Crockett on the outskirts of Grapeland. Every Labor Day THOUSANDS of folks come from far and wide like geese in migration, to their musical home. Scott has been gently inviting me and his other buds for years, always trying to humbly encourage our attendance to the MOST AMAZING EVENT UNDER THE STARS IN TEXAS; GREAT MUSIC- wonderful people, and a glimpse of what America once was.

 Multi-talented Aggieland businessman-musician Scott Armstrong is the emcee for this Grapeland Bluegrass tradition.

Yes, Scott, you're kind of a big deal! (He will hate that) Thank you for your yeoman's service to the Texas music scene... and for inviting me!

Highlights!-

 As Bluegrass echoes through the pines, children gallavant on a nearby green space with fireflies- some natural and some born of technology.

 Frontier Texas architecture lends character to the surroundings.

 Excellent food goes with classic music- and this classic food truck.

 Favorite Bluegrass acts like the Gary Waldrep Band are brought in from all over the country to play at this thirty-nine year homecoming.

 A covered market place offers souvenirs and recorded music.

Saturday night was topped off with rising bluegrass performer, Dylan Hall, thought by some fans to be representative of the future of bluegrass music...

The centerpiece event Sunday was a worshipful Gospel music concert... just one major distinction which makes this event something to support and emulate. Look forward to a similar event every MEMORIAL DAY.

America has been brought to her knees in many ways... but there is a window of opportunity as events like this prove that there can still be hope for our people and our culture...  Art and music and fellowship can be a powerful testimony for God and country... IF we support them. I'm in!

Legendary Names Sing to Preserve a Legend with the Blues Country Band!

Joe Tex II in Navasota

The Navasota VFW Hall hosted its second fund-raiser for the proposed Joe Tex statue and this time I was lucky enough to attend. I took so many photos... and then my computer crashed... and it took me this long to get around to looking at, cropping and posting them!

Jett McFalls: Play that funky music white boy!

This was a very special night for me... getting to see Joe Tex II perform again... I'm so glad he found me painting on the street on that Saturday afternoon and reminded me about the concert.. I'm getting where I crash every evening at around dinner time and rest is all I care about. But I promised him I would be there... even if it was going to go past my bedtime...

           Archie Bell

 

There were several warm up acts, all very good, and I did not know most of their names so I need help with that... SOME of the entertainers were Joe's kinsmen Neil Tex and Wymon "Bodacious" Armstead, formerly of Navasota, and David Karoska, Mark Powell, Carlos Sanchez, and Eugene Jones.  I did recognize one familiar face however, Richard Lipscomb, grandson of Mance Lipscomb playing bass... But the big news of the night for many of us was to get to see Archie Bell. Archie Bell and the Drells were hot on the radio when I was just as little kid, and getting to see this Texas legend sing in person was a real privilege. And baby, he is still hot!

Bell is a veteran performer and instinctively knows how to give a photographer what he wants, hence my shots of him were primo...

Joe Tex II, not so much, frolicking around in the crowd just like his dad did, IN THE DARK, and I hate using a flash... but he gave a great show. When he belts out Show Me there is no doubt what tree his little acorn fell out of.

Blues Country Band: Jett, George, Dave and Smokey

 

BUT, perhaps the greatest surprise of the evening and one of great pride for me personally was when I learned about the band hired to back these two great performers... no less than the Blues Country Band, formerly the Blues Alley Cats, who jammed and honed their sound in our weekly music jams at Blues Alley for a couple of years. They have ARRIVED!

Blues Country Band (The Faux Drells!?) poses with Joe Tex II and Archie Bell.

 

Blues Country did their own set and backed up two great acts as well, so they really earned their keep. Anyway, all of this was to raise money to help pay for a proposed sculpture monument of Joe's father, Joe Tex, the famous soul singer of the sixties and seventies,  who lived and died right here in Navasota.

 

Thanks to Joe Tex II & Carlos Sanchez for all the names of the musicians.

A Gathering of Angels- in Whitehall, Texas.

My friend Faber McMullen has perhaps the most eclectic and exotic circle of friends of anyone I have ever met. After spending many a Sunday afternoon in worship at his home, I have come to expect almost anything, from the sublime to the ridiculous. So when invited to come and be entertained by his Chinese friends on Saturday evening,  I came with a certain sense of adventure. But I did not expect to fall into a thrill, both human and artistic, never to be forgotten...

It all started with a sumptuous meal made by expert hands, authentic Chinese food from Xinjiang. Then four radiant Chinese ladies came out in native costume and danced as their ancient ancestors must have, as beautiful Chinese music filled the living room. It was a Holy moment. I think everyone felt it. I was sure God was smiling.

Some of our American girls joined them and got a lesson in Himalayan folk dancing, creating a precious sight...

THIS is what Heaven will be like some day.

Soon the men joined in the moment of cultural exchange; doctor, lawyer and Indian chief... well Nick Falco our obligatory cowboy represented both sides of the wild west. It was a hoot. And very significant in a symbolic way. 

This IS what Heaven will be like. People of every race and gender and culture-  praising and frolicking and worshiping God in their own tongues... and in their own way... and for Eternity!

I can't wait! Thank you to the McMullens for sharing this wonderful glimpse of the pure joy of Heaven.

Nutcracker! Majestic. At Rudder!

I'm more Mantracker or weed-whacker than Nutcracker, but this was eye candy for anyone with a trace of good taste... Besides, the Nutcracker ballet is not really about a nutcracker!

For exactly sixty years people have enjoyed various versions of the Nutcracker ballet as an American classic holiday tradition, ever since the Russian George Balanchine adapted Tchaikovsky's 1892 score to the modern stage. ABC40 sent me and the crew to the Rudder Auditorium on the Texas A&M campus to catch the local ballet company's rendition of it. My crew got trapped in a festive traffic quagmire outside... but luckily I got a parking place just in time to catch their performance...

In Texas we pride ourselves with town names like Winchester and Cut and Shoot, and The Nutcracker fits right in. The show really got cranking when they pulled out their swords and started hacking.  Believe it or not, the first performance of this ballet was a failure, and Tchaikovsky was very displeased with his creation, having been given some artistically restraining creative boundaries. That should be an inspiration to every struggling artist.

Look at it now! No matter the story, which is sort of a Christmas toy fantasy, I knew this would be a crowd pleaser for these Aggies. I may not now much about dance but I know athleticism and grace when I see it... Ballet is the epitome of artistic discipline.

The mix of grace and perfection would make anybody watch while forgetting to breathe. Still, the dancers wore genuine smiles of joy as if they were really having fun. That is the mark of natural talent... or just obliviousness to it. Either way it was a joy to watch. 

A packed crowd inside Rudder Auditorium endured the cold, impossible parking and busily milling crowds who were attending multiple campus events to get a glimpse of this ballet mega-hit. But there were many smiles and stares of wonder in the audience. The Christmas season had begun.

THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! This was a prima ballerina worthy of the name.

She was exquisite, and if she was  not actually enjoying herself, then she is a great actress as well.

It went really fast... before you knew it they were done. And I was finally learning how to photograph them!

They always give them flowers at the end... and it never seems like enough for all that work.

BRAVO! I failed to get a program, so if somebody wants to give me some names I would love to recognize these artists... This was a real jump-start for getting into the Holiday spirit. But they are going to need a much bigger auditorium when the word finally gets out about the quality of art you can see right here in the Brazos Valley.

Catherine Kaleel- Basic Values

A portrait by Catherine Kaleel.

Catherine Kaleel is another one of the artists in residence at the Horlock Gallery in Navasota. She works in oil on plywood. At 34 years she is the veteran in the house and has finally zeroed in on several things. She is a painter. She likes basic things, and she paints with a fairly limited palette, using her own version of primary colors, as she seeks to find signature traces of humanity in simple things... Catherine wonders about the artisans who designed the objects she paints. She edifies something like an electric soldering iron as an example of the material culture of a past generation...


Kaleel is passionate as she explains her interest in the design inherent in everyday things.  

 Yes... that is a painting of a cassette tape. 

 

 

Catherine is a relatively young artist with some old school expertise. She draws quite well. On  her canvas you can detect notations that have been used by portrait artists since ancient times to attain proper proportion. With these she can create a stunning likeness of another person. She also has good command of color.

Catherine understands the importance of excellent lighting within the design to achieve a compelling painting. She takes scores of photographs experimenting with the best possible lighting on a subject.

Woolscapes and Other Discoveries in Navasota: Horlock Gallery

There are three new artists occupying the historic Horlock House on Washington Avenue in Navasota, now dubbed the Horlock Gallery and History Museum. In an effort to make the house relevant to the community, the City of Navasota has transformed the house into an artist’s gallery and living quarters for three lucky artists who are selected every six months. 

Right now the house is occupied by Lisa Urban of Salina, Kansas, Catherine Kaleel of California, and Mick Burson from Waco. These artists were juried and selected from a large number of aspiring artists around the country, who applied for the opportunity. They recently hung individual exhibits of their artwork in various parlors of the spacious Victorian house where they now live and work. After their opening Saturday, two of them graciously agreed to talk some about their stay as artists-in-residence in a small town in Texas…

Lisa Urban speaks enthusiastically about her art and her stay in Navasota.

Lisa Urban is just a little excited about it all… Here is some video of our interview... (sorry, you have turn up the volume all the way!)

Lisa has entered into a journey uniquely her own, producing what I like to call "Urban woolscapes" from lighted set-ups which she creates...

The focus of Lisa Urban's studies is wool, weavings, yarn... arranged in dramatic ways, such as the still- life above...

The lighted still-life might inspire a major work of surrealism, such as this one, or the smaller studies surrounding it.

Lisa explains the steps in her artistic process...

Lisa talks about the Horlock Artists-in-Residence project...

Mick Burson was more laid back, and yet his message was very similar. Both artists seemed to be truly appreciative of the opportunity to work in this environment... 

Rather than focus on a family of related subjects, Mick is constantly looking for that element which he has not considered before, that which the rest of us might never consider, a path less taken.

Burson went on to explain that for him a main point or satisfaction of his art is this freedom… to explore and produce whatever he wants… such as the “obnoxious” timeline with paintings stacked one on top of the other, rendered with latex house paint, some of them partially made from concrete, nails and metal scraps... and then inserted into a minimalist twelve foot column reaching all the way to the ceiling. Mick Burson likes to explore boundaries and use the materials and the space, wherever it is, which he finds in front of him. This is a man who appreciates the little things in life...

Mick takes things as they come. He left (for instance) his studies at the University of North Texas in Denton to engage in this unique six-month program in Navasota.  He tries to use things which he finds in his everyday life in his art, and he does not let the business or commercial aspect of art affect his artistic journey.

Portraits by Catherine Kaleel

Catherine Kaleel has a couple of different forms of artistic expression. One is a stunning portrait technique, with a true gift for capturing a human likeness. The other is an almost photo-realistic approach to rendering studies of relatively obsolete modern objects, such as random cassette tapes or power tools. The contrast between the two is arresting; the nobility and power of the human soul juxtaposed against the ultimate refuse of planned obsolescence. She fittingly studies her humans with a fresh, lively, almost impressionistic style, and yet the manufactured items with technical precision.

Her portraits are exceptional. They might be called her "bread and butter" business, while she develops her artistic vision based somewhat on the story inanimate objects can tell, or perhaps the stories we subjectively attach to them. A little older than the other two, Kaleel has worked in the art world for a decade and welcomes the chance to get a change of scenery and the stimulation of hanging out in a new environment.

A stroll through the galleries at the Horlock House seems to produce a recurrent theme by these different artists from different places in the United States, and that is re-purposing, or recycling. The popular causes instilled by our American educators are surfacing in the paintings by their students, in paintings portraying discarded material culture, or paintings done with recycled materials, or paintings showing the intrinsic beauty of everyday craft and construction materials.

This is an old theme with an new look, truly reflecting the resourcefulness of the American spirit, hearkening back to when tramps made lamps from popsicle sticks and grandmas wove gorgeous rugs from discarded cotton rags. Now the latest generation of artists reminds us of that pioneer eye, then governed by necessity, which craved and created beauty and utility, and gave new meaning to everyday things.