Stewart – Page 3

WHY MUSIC?

A painting on an ancient Greek vase depicts a music lesson (c. 510 BC)

Why Teach Music?
Music is a science
Music is mathematical
Music is a foreign language
Music is history
Music is a physical education
Music is all these things, but most of all music is art

That is Why We Teach Music:
Not because we expect you to major in music
Not because we expect you to play or sing all your life
Not so you can relax
Not so you can have fun
Not because we expect you to major in music
But so you will be human
So you will recognize beauty
So you will be sensitive
So you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world
So you will have something to cling to
So you will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good–in short, more life.
Of what value will it be to make a prosperous living unless we know how to live?

That is Why We Teach Music!

April/May, 2019 – Vol. 11, No. 4

Bryan Bowers Willi Carlisle and Ken Waldman

The Past Concerts featured Brian Bowers on March 8; and Ken Waldman with guest Willi Carlisle on March 22. This issue features a new article: Tom Lehrer – Mathematician and Musical Satirist, by Stewart Hendrickson. Upcoming Concerts at the Couth Buzzard will feature Hendrickson & Barroga on May 10, and Claudia Schmidt on June 9. Every 2nd Saturday at the Couth Buzzard from noon – 1:30 pm, Stew’s Folk Music Corner will feature tunes, songs, and community singing. The Events page lists some great concerts through the next few months. Keep tuned and revisit the NW HOOT as new articles may appear along with a new video of the week. We are still looking for more writers for the NW HOOT (send us your ideas and articles).

TOM LEHRER – Mathematician and Musical Satirist, by Stewart Hendrickson

Sometime in the late 1970s there was a student/faculty talent show at St. Olaf College where I taught chemistry. My colleague Dewayne Wee, a piano professor in the music department, and I decided to perform a song. We wanted to look very professional and appear musically cultured, so we dressed in formal tuxedos. Dwayne sat down at the grand piano, and I stood beside it and began to sing a beautiful love song: Continue reading “TOM LEHRER – Mathematician and Musical Satirist, by Stewart Hendrickson”

February/March, 2019 – Vol. 11, No. 3

The Past Concerts featured Alex Sturbaum on Dec. 14, and “Pete Seeger: The Man and The Music” with Hank & Claire on Jan. 11. This issue features a new article: Borrowed Tunes and Words, by Stewart Hendrickson; and a Review of the CD, Captain Early – Lindsay Street. Upcoming Concerts at the Couth Buzzard will feature Small Potatoes on Feb. 8; Brian Bowers on March 8; and Ken Waldman on March 22. Every 2nd Saturday at the Couth Buzzard from noon – 1:30 pm, Stew’s Folk Music Corner will feature tunes, songs, and community singing. The Events page lists some great concerts through the next few months. Keep tuned and revisit the NW HOOT as new articles may appear along with a new video of the week. We are still looking for more writers for the NW HOOT (send us your ideas and articles).

BORROWED TUNES AND WORDS, by Stewart Hendrickson

In 1966 I heard Lu Mitchell, a Dallas singer-songwriter, sing She’s Someone’s Grandmother (The Kugelsburg Bank), her song about a white-haired lady who over many years embezzled millions of dollars from a Texas bank (a true story). It had a lovely tune, which I suspected was not original, but I didn’t know its origin. A few years ago I heard a hammered dulcimer player play it as the traditional tune Bendemeer’s Stream. A little research on the Internet revealed that Thomas Moore (1779-1852) wrote lyrics for this tune as Bendemeer’s Stream. But Moore borrowed the tune from an older Irish air. Continue reading “BORROWED TUNES AND WORDS, by Stewart Hendrickson”

CD REVIEW – LINDSAY STREET

CAPTAIN EARLY – Lindsay Street, 2018, CDBaby
Lindsay Street, a band from Bellingham, Washington (Robin Elwood, Elizabeth Elton, Patty Chambers, and Jean Rogers) “draws inspiration from past and emerging music traditions that wash up on the shores of Bellingham Bay by way of Ireland, England, Scandinavia and Quebec, with an occasional original tune thrown in the mix.” Described as “pan-Celtic, quirk and beauty,” the band creates unique arrangements that feature accordion, guitar, violin, mandolin, bodhran, banjo, whistles, and other assorted instruments and vocal harmonies. Their third CD, Captain Early, honors their long-time percussionist Bryan Early, who succumbed to a rare cancer in 2014. Continue reading “CD REVIEW – LINDSAY STREET”

December/January, 2018-19 – Vol. 11, No. 2

Kate Power and Steve Einhorn Brandon Vance and Rachel Nesvig

The Past Concerts featured Kate Power & Steve Einhorn on Oct. 12, and “Crossing the North Sea” with Rachel Nesvig and Brandon Vance on Nov. 16. This issue features a new article: Newman Levy, Barrister Bard by Stewart Hendrickson. Upcoming Concerts at the Couth Buzzard will feature Alex Sturbaum on Dec. 14; “Pete Seeger: The Man and The Music” with Hank & Claire on Jan. 11; Bob Zentz & Jeannie McDougal on Jan. 18; and Small Potatoes on Feb. 8. Every 2nd Saturday at the Couth Buzzard from noon – 1:30 pm, Stew’s Folk Music Corner will feature tunes, songs, and community singing. The Events page lists some great concerts through the next few months. Keep tuned and revisit the NW HOOT as new articles may appear along with a new video of the week. We are still looking for more writers for the NW HOOT (send us your ideas and articles).

NEWMAN LEVY – BARRISTER BARD, by Stewart Hendrickson

When I was a student at Pomona College (Claremont, CA) in the late 1950s, folk music was just appearing on the scene. A classmate of mine was a little unusual since he was one of the few students who had a beard, sang folk songs and played guitar. One of the songs he sang was Thais, a five-minute humorous synopsis of the opera with witty verses and clever rhymes. With thirteen verses, it is an epic poem set to music.

THAIS

One time in Alexandria,
in wicked Alexandria,
Where nights were wild with revelry,
and life was but a game.
There lived, so the report is,
an adventuress and courtesan,
The pride of Alexandria,
and Thais was her name.

Continue reading “NEWMAN LEVY – BARRISTER BARD, by Stewart Hendrickson”

October/November, 2018 – Vol. 11, No. 1

Curtis & Loretta Stew Hendrickson & Ken Barroga

The Past Concert featured Curtis & Loretta on Sept. 13, there was no August concert. Stew Hendrickson & Ken Barroga played a set of Scandivavian tunes for the celebration of Stew and Betty Hendrickson on Sept. 22 at the Couth. This issue features a new article: A Cowboy Poet and A Song Odyssey – Roundup Lullaby, Badger Clark, Clifton Barnes, and the Pomona College Glee Club, by Stewart Hendrickson; and PNWFS in the Numbers. Upcoming Concerts at the Couth Buzzard will feature Kate Power & Steve Einhorn on Friday, Oct. 12; and Crossing the North Sea with Rachel Nesvig and Brandon Vance on Friday, Nov. 16. Every 2nd Saturday at the Couth Buzzard from noon – 1:30 pm, Stew’s Folk Music Corner will feature tunes, songs, and community singing. The Events page lists some great concerts through the next few months. Keep tuned and revisit the NW HOOT as new articles may appear along with a new video of the week. We are still looking for more writers for the NW HOOT (send us your ideas and articles).

PNWFS in the Numbers

SIXTY-FIVE – The Pacific Northwest Folklore Society was founded sixty-five years ago in 1953 by Walt Robertson and friends in the University District of Seattle.

ELEVEN – The Society was revived eleven years ago by Stewart Hendrickson, Bob Nelson and Don Firth with a Reunion Concert featuring Bob Nelson & Don Firth on October 14, 2007, at Central Lutheran Church in Capital Hill.

TEN – The first edition of the NW HOOT was published ten years ago in October, 2008. The first Coffeehouse Concert was April 11, 2008, with Jim Portillo, Isla Ross and Alan Kausal, at the coffeehouse Kaffe Shachor in West Green Lake. We then moved briefly to the Library Cafe on Crown Hill and then to the Wayward Coffeehouse in Greenwood from October, 2008, through April, 2010. You can listen to a CD – Seattle Coffeehouse Live! – of recorded concerts at the Wayward from 2008-2010.

EIGHT – Eight years of Coffeehouse Concerts at Couth Buzzard Books began in May, 2010. With your support we look forward to many more years of wonderful live music.