Sunday With Ethel :: His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Song from the 1952 movie "The Member of the Wedding" With Ethel Waters as Bernice Sadie Brown; Julie Harris as Frankie Addams; and Brandon De Wilde as John Henry.

Sunday With Paul :: Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen

Introduction

Paul Robeson, a great American singer and actor, spent much of his life actively agitating for equality and fair treatment for all of America's citizens as well as citizens of the world. Robeson brought to his audiences not only a melodious baritone voice and a grand presence, but magnificent performances on stage and screen. Although his outspokenness often caused him difficulties in his career and personal life, he unswervingly pursued and supported issues that only someone in his position could effect on a grand scale. His career flourished in the 1940s as he performed in America and numerous countries around the world. He was one of the most celebrated persons of his time.

Narrative Essay

Paul Leroy Robeson was born in Princeton, New Jersey, on April 9, 1898, the fifth and last child of Maria Louisa Bustill and William Drew Robeson. During these early years the Robeson's experienced both family and financial losses. At the age of six Paul and his siblings, William, Reeve, Ben and Marian suffered the death of their mother in a household fire. This was followed a few years later with their father's loss of his Princeton pastorate. After moving first to Westfield, the family finally settled in Somerville, New Jersey, in 1909, where William Robeson was appointed pastor of St. Thomas AME Zion Church.

Enrolling in Somerville High School, one of only two blacks, Paul Robeson excelled academically while successfully competing in debate, oratorical contests, and showing great promise as a football player. He also got his first taste of acting in the title role of Shakespeare's Othello. In his senior year he not only graduated with honors, but placed first in a competitive examination for scholarships to enter Rutgers University. Although his other male siblings chose all-black colleges, Robeson took the challenge of attending Rutgers, a majority white institution in 1915.

In college between 1915 to 1919, Robeson experienced both fame and racism. In trying out for the varsity football team, where blacks were not wanted, he encountered physical brutality. In spite of this resistance, Robeson not only earned a place on the team but was named first on the roster for the All-American college team. He graduated with 15 letters in sports. Academically he was equally successful, elected a member of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Society and the Cap and Skull Honor Society of Rutgers. Graduating in 1919 with the highest grade point average in his class, Robeson gave the class oration at the 153d Rutgers Commencement.

With college life behind him, Robeson moved to the Harlem section of New York City to attend law school, first at New York University, later transferring to Columbia University. He sang in the chorus of the musical Shuffle Along (1921) by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, and made his acting debut in 1920 playing the lead role in Simon the Cyrenian by poet Ridgely Torrence. Robeson's performance was so well received that he was congratulated not only by the Harlem YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) audience but also by members of the Provincetown Players who were in the audience. While working odd jobs and taking part in professional football to earn his college fees, Robeson met Eslanda "Essie" Cardozo Goode. The granddaughter of Francis L. Cardozo, the secretary of state of South Carolina during Reconstruction, she was a graduate of Columbia University and employed as a histological chemist. She was the first black staff person at Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. The couple married on August 17, 1921, and their son Paul Jr. was born on November 2, 1927.

To support his family while studying at Columbia Law School, Robeson played professional football for the Akron Pros (1920--1921) and the Milwaukee Badgers (1921--1922), and during the summer of 1922 he went to England to appear in a production of Taboo, which was renamed Voodoo. Once graduating from Columbia in 1923, Robeson sought work in his new profession, all the while singing at the famed Cotton Club in Harlem. Offered an acting role in 1923 in Eugene O'Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings, Robeson quickly took this opportunity; he had recently quit a law firm because the secretary refused to take dictation from a black person.

Although All God's Chillun brought threats by the Ku Klux Klan because of the play's interracial subject matter and the fact that a white woman was to kiss Robeson's hand, it was an immediate success. It was followed in 1924 by his performances in a revival of The Emperor Jones, the play Rosanne, and the silent movie Body and Soul for Oscar Micheaux, an independent black film maker. In 1925 Robeson debuted in a formal concert at the Provincetown Playhouse. His performance which consisted of Negro spirituals and folk songs was so brilliant that he and his accompanist, Lawrence Brown, were offered a contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company. Encouraged by this success, Robeson and Brown embarked on a tour of their own, but were sorely disappointed. Even though they received good reviews, the crowds were small and they made very little money. What Robeson came to know was that his talents in acting and singing would serve as the combined focus of his career.

Acting and Singing Career

Robeson's acting career started to take off in 1928 when he accepted the role of Joe in a London production of Show Boat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein. It was his singing of "Ol' Man River" that received the most acclaim regarding the show and earned him a great degree of attention from British socialites. Robeson gave concerts in London at Albert Hall and Sunday afternoon concerts at Drury Lane. In spite of all this attention, Robeson still had to deal with racism. In 1929 he was refused admission to a London hotel. Because of the protest raised by Robeson, major hotels in London said they would no longer refuse service to blacks.

Much attention was given to Robeson's acting and singing and he was embraced by the media. The New Yorker magazine in an article by Mildred Gilman referred to Robeson as "the promise of his race," "King of Harlem," and "Idol of his people." Robeson returned briefly to America in 1929 to perform at a packed Carnegie Hall. In May of 1930, after establishing a permanent residence in England, Robeson accepted the lead role in Shakespeare's Othello. This London production at the Savoy Theatre was the first time since the performance of the great black actor Ira Aldridge in 1860 that a major production company cast a black man in the part of the Moor. Robeson was a tall, strikingly handsome man with a deep, rich, baritone voice and a shy, almost boyish manner. The audience was so mesmerized by his performance in Othello that the production had 20 curtain calls.

Accolades for outstanding acting and singing performances were prevalent during the 1930s in Robeson's career, but his personal and home life were surrounded by difficulties. His wife Eslanda "Essie," who had published a book on Robeson, Paul Robeson, Negro (1930), sued for divorce in 1932. Her actions were encouraged by the fact that Robeson had fallen in love and planned to marry Yolande Jackson, a white Englishwoman. Jackson, whom Robeson called the love of his life, had originally accepted his proposal but later called the marriage off. It was thought by some who knew the Jackson family well that she was strongly influenced by her father, Tiger Jackson, who was less than tolerant of Robeson and people of color in general. With his marriage plans cancelled, Robeson and his wife came to an understanding regarding their relationship, and the divorce proceedings were cancelled.

Activism

Robeson returned to New York briefly in 1933 to star in the film version of Emperor Jones before turning his attention to the study of singing and languages. His stay in the United States was a short one due to his treatment by the racist American film industries and because of criticism by blacks regarding his role as a corrupt emperor. Upon returning to England, Robeson eagerly immersed himself in his studies and mastered several languages. Robeson along with Essie became an honorary members of the West African Students' Union, becoming acquainted with African students Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta, future presidents of Ghana and Kenya, respectively. It is also during this time that Robeson played at a benefit for Jewish refugees which marked the beginning of his political awareness and activism.

Robeson's inclination to aid the less fortunate and the oppressed in their fight for freedom and equality was firmly rooted in his own family history. His father William Drew Robeson was an escaped slave who eventually graduated from Lincoln College in 1878, and his maternal grandfather, Cyrus Bustill, was a slave who was freed by his second owner in 1769 and went on to become an active member of the African Free Society. Recognizing the heritage that brought him so many opportunities, Robeson, between 1934 and 1937 performed in several films that presented blacks in other than stereotypical ways. He acted in such films as Sanders of the River (1935), King Solomon's Mines (1937) and Song of Freedom (1937).

On a trip to the Soviet Union in 1934 to discuss the making of the film Black Majesty, Robeson not only had discussions with the Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein during his trip but was so impressed regarding the education against racism for schoolchildren that he began to study Marxism and Socialist systems in the Soviet Union. He also decided to send his son, nine-year-old Paul Jr., to school in the Soviet Union so that he would not have to contend with the racism and discrimination Robeson confronted in both Europe and America.

Robeson continued acting in films confronting stereotypes of blacks while receiving rave reviews for his success in singing "Ol' Man River" in the 1936 film production of Show Boat. He also embarked on a more active role in fighting the injustices he found throughout the world. Robeson co-founded the Council on African Affairs to aid in African liberation, sang and spoke at benefit concerts for Basque refugees, supported the Spanish Republican cause, and sang at rallies to support a democratic Spain along with numerous other causes. At a benefit in Albert Hall in London, Robeson is quoted in Philip Foner's Paul Robeson Speaks as saying "The artist must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative." This statement echoed a clear and focused direction of Robeson's personal and professional life.

In 1939 Robeson stated his intentions to retire from commercial entertainment and returned to America. He gave his first recital in the United States at Mother AME Zion Church Harlem where his brother Benjamin was pastor. Later on in the same year Robeson premiered the patriotic song "Ballad for Americans" on CBS radio as a preview of a play by the same name. The song was so well received that studio audiences cheered for 20 minutes after the performance while the listening audience exceeded the response even for Orson Welles's famous Martian scare program. Robeson's popularity in the United states soared and he remained the most celebrated person in the country well into the 1940s. He was awarded the esteemed NAACP Spingarn Medal (1945) as well as numerous other awards and recognitions from civic and professional groups. In the American production of Othello (1943), Robeson's performance placed him among the ranks of great Shakespearean actors. The production ran for 296 performances--over ten months--and toured both the United States and Canada.

Robeson's political commitments became foremost in his life as he championed causes from South African famine relief to support of an anti-lynching law; in September 1946 he was among the delegation that spoke with President Harry S Truman about anti-lynching legislation. The meeting was a stormy one as Robeson adamantly urged Truman to act, all the while defending the Soviet Union and denouncing United States' allies. In October of the same year when called before the California Legislative Committee on Un-American activities, Robeson declared himself not a member of the Communist Party but praised their fight for equality and democracy. This attempt at branding him as un-American was successful in causing many to distrust his political commitments. Regardless of these events, Robeson decided to retire from concert work and devote himself to gatherings that promoted the causes to which he had dedicated himself.

In 1949 Robeson embarked on a European tour and in doing so spoke out against the discrimination and injustices that blacks in American had to confront. His statements were distorted as they were dispatched back to the United States. Although Robeson got mixed responses from the black community, the backlash from whites culminated in riot before a scheduled concert in Peekskill, New York, on August 27, 1949; a demonstration by veteran organizations turned into a full-blown riot. Robeson was advised of this and returned to New York. He did agree to do a second concert on September 4 in Peekskill for the people who truly wanted to hear him. The concert did take place but afterwards a riot broke out which lasted into the night leaving over 140 persons seriously injured. With such violence surrounding Robeson's concerts, many groups and sponsors no longer supported him.

By 1950 Robeson had received by so much negative press that he made plans for a European tour. His plans were abruptly halted because the United States government refused to allow him to travel unless he agreed not to make any speeches. With no passport and denied his freedom of speech abroad, Robeson continued to speak out in public forums and through his own monthly newspaper, Freedom. Barred from all other forms of media, his own newspaper became his primary platform from 1950 to 1955. His remaining supporters encompassed the National Negro Labor Council, Council on African Affairs, and the Civil Rights Congress. The NAACP openly attacked Robeson while other black organization shunned him in fear of reprisals. Undaunted by these negative responses, Robeson traveled the United States encouraging groups to fight for their rights and for equal treatment. Even though he suffered from health as well as financial difficulties, Robeson held firm to his convictions and published in 1958 his autobiography Here I Stand through a London publishing house.

On May 10, 1958, Robeson gave his first New York concert in ten years to a packed Carnegie Hall. When the concert was over, he informed the audience that the passport battle had been won. From 1958 to 1963 Robeson traveled to England, the Soviet Union, Austria, and New Zealand. He was showered with awards and played to packed houses throughout his travels. After being hospitalized several times throughout his trip due to a disease of the circulatory system, Robeson returned to the United States. Much had changed since the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and school integration were in full enactment. Robeson was welcomed on his return by Freedomways, a quarterly review which saw him as a powerful fighter for freedom. A salute to Robeson was given in 1965 which was chaired by actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee along with writer James Baldwin and many other admirers.

Eslanda "Essie" Robeson died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 68 and Robeson went to live with his sister Marian in Philadelphia. He remained in seclusion until he died there on January 23, 1976; on his 75th birthday four days later a "Salute to Paul Robeson" was held in Carnegie Hall. Paul Leroy Robeson's funeral was held at Mother AME Zion Church in Harlem before a crowd of 5,000.

On February 24, 1998, Robeson received a posthumous Grammy lifetime achievement award. His honors are numerous, as Robeson's life is being depicted through exhibits, film festivals, and lectures. Upon the centennial of his birth on April 9, 1998, at least 25 U.S. states and several countries worldwide hosted celebrations of his life and work in every conceivable manner.

Paul Robeson was truly a man who saw a commitment to the oppressed, and particularly black people, as a much more profound calling than the accolades he received for his astonishing talents. His extraordinary voice and engaging acting abilities would have undoubtedly brought him more fame, fortune, and approval than the activist role he pursed instead. It is because of this clear vision of justice that he is remembered as a great American and a great citizen of the world.

Sources

Duberman, Martin B. Paul Robeson. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988.
Foner, Philip S. Paul Robeson Speaks: Writings, Speeches, Interviews 1918--1974. New York: Brunner/Mazel Publishers, 1978.
Jackson, Kenneth T., and others, eds. Dictionary of American Biography. Supplement Ten, 1976--1980. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1995.
"Robeson Receives Posthumous Grammy." New York Times, February 25, 1998.
Southern, Eileen. Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.
Williams, Michael W., ed. The African American Encyclopedia. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1993.

Collections

Paul Robeson's papers are in the Robeson Family Archives, Moorland Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington D.C.

[Source]

Geoffrey Fletcher: The First Black Writer To Win An Academy Award

YEAH, I KNOW. The biggest headlines of the day are that a woman now holds an Academy Award for Best Director. And deservedly so. I was stunned to see her standing there with that gold thing in her hand. Kathyrn Bigelow, acclaimed director of The Hurt Locker broke that glass ceiling, defeating her ex-husband for the same award in the process, and took the statue from the hands of Barbra Streisand who many thought got snubbed for her work behind the camera in both Yentl and The Prince Of Tides. I'd say that was more true of the latter than the former.

But I digress.

Geoffrey Fletcher made history last night, too. And while Bigelow's award was stunning, Fletcher's award was downright shocking.

The 39-year-old New London, Connecticut, native was a surprise winner for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Conventional wisdom put the award in the hands of "Up In The Air" writers Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner who had won a Golden Globe for their work.

Fletcher wasn't even nominated for what has become an accurate precursor to the Oscars.

As Fletcher spoke, I moved to the front of my seat and realized that he looked familiar to me. More familiar than just a passing thought that I'd seen him somewhere before. Turns out he's the younger brother of Todd Fletcher, an a capella singer at Harvard when I attended, who's the younger brother of the renowned investment banker Alphonso "Buddy" Fletcher, Jr. I met the two younger brothers only once, which meant that I had actually shaken the hand of the man who would become the first Black writer to win an Academy Award.

One of those moments.

If only Spike Lee had been able to present him the award.

I didn't want a single frame of a single film nominated for a single award this year, but it was nice to watch so much history nonetheless.

And Mo'Nique was simply glorious. Paying tribute to Hattie McDaniel, the first Black woman to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Gone With The Wind 60 years ago, she delivered another emotional wallop of a speech. Mo'Nique even wore a royal blue dress and a flower in her hair, just as McDaniel did when she won. Mo'Nique who's performance as an abusive mother in Precious Based On The Novel Push by Sapphire was apparently so riveting, every single person who saw it quipped that if she didn't win an Oscar, they should just stop giving them out. She becomes the fifth Black woman to win an acting award. Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Halle Berry (Monsters Ball), the only Black woman to win Best Actress, and Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost) are the others.

Catching Up

SINCE the day the entire tapestry of my coming of age was ripped from the walls, not quite three weeks ago, Academy-Award winner Karl Malden passed on at 97; a 24-year-old professional tennis player died of a heart attack; a cousin died of a heart attack; a sister tried to hideaway a stolen car on our property; Michael Jackson had a televised homegoing celebration; President Obama, the First Lady, and Sasha and Malia visited Ghana and the few images of the visit I've been able to take in have stirred up more than I knew was there; Sarah Palin quit governing Alaska because she thinks she's going to be president; Serena Williams won her third Wimbledon title; Andy Roddick almost won his first; another southern Black woman with impeccable credentials has been chosen Surgeon General; Justice Sotomayor's hearing has begun; and the sun in the paradise we're creating finally came up from beneath a shelf of clouds.

Movie Review: Milk

I just watched Milk last night and will watch it again.

As a film, the weakest part was the script, Academy Award notwithstanding. It needed to be better than it was because I so enjoyed the rest of the craftsmanship. Gus van Sant has a way of creating a world through images and a color palette that makes you want to live in it for a long time, even when the story, as in My Own Private Idaho, doesn't hold up. This story held up because it was history, but I still wished the writing was better. It needed, perhaps, a better balance between Milk's personal relationships and the political battles he waged. If you're going to include, say, as much of the second relationship as was included, Jack Lira needed much more meat on his bones as a character. As it was, he was a distraction from what I wanted to focus on at that point in the movie, which was the politics. Had I written the script, Diego Luna, after his introduction, would have gotten about as much screen time as Beatrice Straight in Network, minus her big scene.

Overall, though, I loved the film. History buff that I am, it takes a lot for a biopic about a person or subject matter I'm into to not work for me.

Sean Penn was Harvey Milk. I kept flashing back in my memory to The Times of Harvey Milk, which I will now see again, and feeling as though the same person was emoting from the screen. James Franco was a revelation. I'd never gave much thought to his appeal, but he kept pulling me in to his character. It didn't hurt that I kept seeing glimpses of Marat Safin, but that's a whole other thing. Josh Brolin was adequate as Dan White, but I'm not sure what his nomination was based on other than his role as Milk's assassin. Franco was much better. And Emile Hirsch was a spritely Cleve Jones. I enjoyed his performance.

I couldn't help but draw parallel's between Milk's successful 1977 campaign for supervisor and against Prop 6 in 1978 and the 2008 presidential election and Prop 8. The grassroots organizing, the bringing people of all backgrounds together, the "outsider" challenging the machine, the movement as candidate itself, and the message of hope resonated. But I kept asking myself, Did the "organizers" of No on 8 actually know anything about the history of Prop 6 or did the self-appointed gay leaders just take for granted that big old liberal California didn't need to be organized to safeguard GLBT civil rights? What was Cleve Jones' role, if any, in the 2008 battle? Did anyone listen?

These questions require a whole other essay.

Official Website: Milk the Movie

UPDATE: I just found this on YouTube and as beautiful as it is, it makes me shake my head. Why did no one organize at the grassroots with comprehensive community outreach to tell the California voters what Prop 8 was really all about? I understand that marriage equality isn't a top issue for many GLBT citizens, but given the vote, the fallout, and the marches around the country that were organized after the fact, the number of voters who changed their minds but couldn't do anything about it, it's clear to me those who led the fight against Prop 8 didn't do what they had to do.

Still, everything happens for a reason.

Women's History Month: Honoring Dorothy Dandridge

DOROTHY Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922–September 8, 1965) was an American actress and popular singer. Dandridge was the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Dandridge was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Cyril Dandridge, a cabinetmaker and minister and Ruby Dandridge (née Butler), an aspiring entertainer. Dandridge’s parents separated shortly before her birth. Ruby Dandridge soon created an act for her two young daughters, Vivian and Dorothy, under the name of “The Wonder Children.” The daughters toured the Southern United States for five years while Ruby worked and performed in Cleveland. During this time, they toured non-stop and rarely attended school.

With the start of the Great Depression, work dried up, as it did for many of the Chitlin’ circuit performers. Ruby Dandridge moved to Hollywood, where she found steady work playing domestics in small parts on radio and film. “The Wonder Kids” were renamed “The Dandridge Sisters” and booked into such venues as the Cotton Club and The Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Dandridge’s first on-screen appearance was a bit part in a 1935 Our Gang short. In 1937 she appeared in the Marx Brothers feature A Day at the Races.

In 1940, Dandridge played a murderer in the race film Four Shall Die. All of her early parts were stereotypical African-American roles, but her singing ability and presence brought her popularity in nightclubs around the country. During this period, she starred in several “soundies”, film clips designed to be displayed on juke boxes, including “Paper Doll” by the Mills Brothers, “Cow Cow Boogie”, “Jig in the Jungle”, “Mr. & Mrs. Carpenter’s Rent Party.”

Carmen Jones
In 1954, director and writer Otto Preminger cast Dandridge, along with Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, and Joe Adams in his production of Carmen Jones. Dandridge’s singing voice was dubbed by Marilyn Horne.

Carmen Jones grossed $60,000 during the first week and $47,000 in the second upon release in 1955.[citation needed] The film received favorable reviews, and Dandridge was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming only the third African American to receive a nomination in any Academy Award category (after Hattie McDaniel and Ethel Waters). Grace Kelly won for her performance in The Country Girl. At the ceremony, Dandridge presented the Academy Award for Film Editing to Gene Milford for On the Waterfront.

See some YouTube clips of her work.

The 81st Annual Academy Awards

(This post is stolen straight from rikyrah at JJP. She did my work for me and I thank her!)

TONIGHT is Oscar Night.

There are two Black Actresses nominated this year:

Viola Davis for Doubt

Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Here is a the list for All Black Nominees in the Academy’s History.

Winner Acceptance Speeches

Hattie McDaniel, Best Supporting Actress - 1939, Gone With The Wind

Sidney Poitier, Best Actor- 1963, Lilies of the Field

Cuba Gooding, Jr., Best Supporting Actor - 1996, Jerry Maguire

Denzel Washington, Best Actor - 2001, Training Day

Halle Berry, Best Actress - 2001, Monster’s Ball

Sidney Poitier Accepting an Honorary Oscar - 2001

Jamie Foxx, Best Actor - 2004, Ray



Morgan Freeman, Best Supporting Actor - 2004, Million Dollar Baby

Forest Whitaker, Best Actor -2006, Last King of Scotland

Jennifer Hudson, Best Supporting Actress- 2006, Dreamgirls

Isaac Hayes, Winning Best Original Song for Shaft -1972

Could not find videos for the Best Supporting Actor Wins of Louis Gossett, Jr - 1982, An Officer and a Gentleman and Denzel Washington - 1989, Glory or Whoopi Goldberg, Best Supporting Actress - 1990, Ghost.

::

This is the first time in my adult life I haven't seen a single film or performance nominated for an Academy Award.

Sunday With Blossom

BLOSSOM DEARIE was a special singer who tickled the ivory oh, so well. Her musicianship and no non-sense interpretations remind me of Shirley Horn. Dearie passed away February 7. Here's the best obituary I could find sent by a friend who knows my love of music and appreciation for this singer's singer:

Blossom Dearie, who died on February 7 aged 82, was one of the great interpreters of American song in the post-war era. She did not like to be described as a jazz singer (although she grew up in a jazz milieu), nor as a supper-club singer (although she often entertained in supper clubs); a mixture of the two, she preferred to call herself "a songwriters' singer".

Last Updated: 7:45PM GMT 09 Feb 2009

The New Yorker critic Whitney Balliett once said that Blossom Dearie's tiny wisp of a voice "would scarcely reach the second storey of a doll's house". Indeed hers was a style which on first hearing sounded detached and impassive. After a while, however, one began to notice the deftness of her phrasing, as well as the wit and intelligence of her interpretation. She accompanied herself at the piano with the lightest of touches, rarely improvising, but employing sophisticated and immaculately voiced harmonies.

Marguerite Blossom Dearie was born on April 29 1926 at East Durham, near Albany, New York, where, it is said, the locals are noted for their clarity of diction. Surprisingly, her name, so unusual and so perfectly suited to her fragile, blowaway voice, was also completely genuine. Dearie is an old Scottish name, and her father, a barman of Scottish-Irish extraction, hit upon Blossom after seeing some peach blossom shortly after her birth. She studied classical piano as a child and became interested in jazz while playing in her high-school dance band.

Moving to New York in the late 1940s, she mixed with some of the rising jazz musicians of the day, including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Gil Evans. She became a member of the Blue Flames, the harmony vocal group attached to Woody Herman's band, and recorded with the cult bebop vocalist King Pleasure.

In 1952 Blossom Dearie moved to Paris, where she formed her own vocal group, the Blue Stars, for which she wrote many arrangements. One of these, a version of George Shearing's Lullaby Of Birdland with a French lyric added, scored a considerable hit in France. In Paris she met and married the Belgian saxophonist and flautist Bobby Jaspar.

It was there, too, that she was heard by the American jazz impresario Norman Granz, who signed her to his Verve record label. She returned to the United States and with her six Verve albums, recorded between 1956 and 1960, the characteristic Blossom Dearie style finally emerged. Her repertoire was chosen fastidiously from the wittiest, tenderest and most sophisticated songs in the canon, with each interpretation carefully refined in advance. The songs of whose wry lyrics she was fond included Cole Porter's Always True To You In My Fashion and The Gentleman Is A Dope, by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

For some Verve recordings she was accompanied by studio orchestras, but her preference was always for small groups of the best jazz musicians available. Her 1957 album, Give Him The Ooh-La-La, with Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Jo Jones is particularly impressive, with her own piano playing by no means outclassed by the stellar performers alongside.

Established as a star of the Manhattan nightspots, Blossom Dearie turned her attention to England, spending lengthy spells in London during the "Swinging Sixties". She recorded four albums in London, appeared regularly at Ronnie Scott's club, and wrote several songs dedicated to British celebrities of the time, notably Hey, John (for John Lennon) and Sweet Georgie Fame.

Despite her little-girl voice and vaguely fey manner, Blossom Dearie possessed formidable resilience. About her working conditions, she was uncompromising. She would not tolerate noisy audiences or allow background music to be played, nor would she permit waitresses to move or anyone to smoke while she performed. Astonishingly, given the nature of nightspots, she got her way. Eventually, these stipulations were collated in a formidably detailed contract to which, if necessary, she would refer erring club-owners.

Her perfectionism was not cantankerous, however, but a reflection of the seriousness with which she approached her work.

It was with equal determination that she set up her own label, Daffodil Records, in 1974, after major record companies lost interest in her kind of music, keeping it in business for more than a quarter of a century. Anyone who attended one of her London appearances at Pizza On The Park during the 1980s or 1990s will recall her determined sales-pitch towards the end of each set. Her tactic was to establish herself in a prominent position with a pile of CDs and a cash box, and more or less dare anyone to pass by without making a purchase.

One advantage of having her own label was the independence it afforded. She could choose whatever material she fancied, and her taste was faultless. Among the writers she championed were Dave Frishberg, Sheldon Harnick and Francesca Blumenthal.

In the final years of her career she held long residences at Danny's Skylight Room in New York. Her performances grew increasing informal. She was known to pause in the middle of a piano interlude, look down at her fingers with a worried frown and mutter, "Goodness! What's that doing there? Have to put that right!" before correcting the mistake and calmly carrying on.

Ill health forced her to give up performing in 2005. Her marriage to Bobby Jaspar ended after a few years. He died in 1963 and she did not remarry. She had no children.

The President's BlackBerry Is Missing

CHRISTOPHER Buckley is hilarious.

Okay, it’s called ‘The President’s BlackBerry Is Missing.’ The daughter takes his by mistake when she’s rushing off to school. And he’s got her BlackBerry, but he doesn’t know it. So when he goes to send the critical message to the Kremlin telling Putin to kiss his black ass, the text message goes to the English teacher at Sidwell Friends School. You with me?

Linda Tripp Said This?

“I AM so very proud that as a nation we might finally be getting it right. I believe Sen. McCain is an American hero and a deeply honorable public servant, something one seldom sees in Washington. I also believe he could have been a strong president. That said, I believe President-elect Obama possesses an instantly recognizable purity of soul that, coupled with his brilliance, and, of course, his eloquence, brought quite unimaginable and long-awaited magic to the country, transforming red and blue states, quite literally, into ‘The Color Purple.’ I believe the entire country will stand behind him.”

Well, I'll be damned. Color me shocked.

“That's Why We're Going to Beat Him in This Election on November 4!”

THIS IS as brutal as Barack Obama has been and as brutal as he's likely to get. I'm reminded of Peter Finch's "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" from Network.

I love it.

Declare Yourself

Declare Yourself

Paul Newman, 1925 - 2008

PAUL NEWMAN DIES at 83 By The Associated Press Published: September 27, 2008 Filed at 10:16 a.m. ET Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times WESTPORT, Conn. (AP) — Paul Newman, the Academy-Award winning superstar who personified cool as an activist, race car driver, popcorn impresario and the anti-hero of such films as “Hud,” “Cool Hand Luke” and “The Color of Money,” has died. He was 83. Newman died Friday after a long battle with cancer at his farmhouse near Westport, publicist Jeff Sanderson said. He was surrounded by his family and close friends. In May, Newman he had dropped plans to direct a fall production of “Of Mice and Men,” citing unspecified health issues. He got his start in theater and on television during the 1950s, and went on to become one of the world’s most enduring and popular film stars, a legend held in awe by his peers. He was nominated for Oscars 10 times, winning one regular award and two honorary ones, and had major roles in more than 50 motion pictures, including “Exodus,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Verdict,” “The Sting” and “Absence of Malice.” Newman worked with some of the greatest directors of the past half century, from Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston to Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers. His co-stars included Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and, most famously, Robert Redford, his sidekick in “Butch Cassidy” and “The Sting.” He sometimes teamed with his wife and fellow Oscar winner, Joanne Woodward, with whom he had one of Hollywood’s rare long-term marriages. “I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?” Newman told Playboy magazine (NYSE:PLA) when asked if he was tempted to stray. They wed in 1958, around the same time they both appeared in “The Long Hot Summer,” and Newman directed her in several films, including “Rachel, Rachel” and “The Glass Menagerie.” With his strong, classically handsome face and piercing blue eyes, Newman was a heartthrob just as likely to play against his looks, becoming a favorite with critics for his convincing portrayals of rebels, tough guys and losers. “I was always a character actor,” he once said. “I just looked like Little Red Riding Hood.” Newman had a soft spot for underdogs in real life, giving tens of millions to charities through his food company and setting up camps for severely ill children. Passionately opposed to the Vietnam War, and in favor of civil rights, he was so famously liberal that he ended up on President Nixon’s “enemies list,” one of the actor’s proudest achievements, he liked to say. A screen legend by his mid-40s, he waited a long time for his first competitive Oscar, winning in 1987 for “The Color of Money,” a reprise of the role of pool shark “Fast” Eddie Felson, whom Newman portrayed in the 1961 film “The Hustler.” Newman delivered a magnetic performance in “The Hustler,” playing a smooth-talking, whiskey-chugging pool shark who takes on Minnesota Fats — played by Jackie Gleason — and becomes entangled with a gambler played by George C. Scott. In the sequel — directed by Scorsese — “Fast Eddie” is no longer the high-stakes hustler he once was, but rather an aging liquor salesman who takes a young pool player (Cruise) under his wing before making a comeback. He won an honorary Oscar in 1986 “in recognition of his many and memorable compelling screen performances and for his personal integrity and dedication to his craft.” In 1994, he won a third Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, for his charitable work. His most recent academy nod was a supporting actor nomination for the 2002 film “Road to Perdition.” One of Newman’s nominations was as a producer; the other nine were in acting categories. (Jack Nicholson holds the record among actors for Oscar nominations, with 12; actress Meryl Streep has had 14.) As he passed his 80th birthday, he remained in demand, winning an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the 2005 HBO drama “Empire Falls” and providing the voice of a crusty 1951 car in the 2006 Disney-Pixar hit, “Cars.”

Paul & Joan, Part 1


Paul & Joan, Part 2


Cat on a Hat Tin Roof


Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid


The Hustler

Soul Great Isaac Hayes Dead at 65

NOT EVEN able to wrap my mind around the sudden death of Bernie Mac, Black artistry suffers another giant loss with the passing of Oscar-winner Isaac Hayes earlier today.

There is no better film theme song than the "Theme from Shaft." I remember listing to it with Daddy in the basement as a kid.

Here's to love, here's to life, here's to Isaac.

Cyd Charisse, 1922 - 2008

REST in peace.

The Two Jennifers: 'And I Am Telling You....'

Spike Lee Says the Right Thing

Spike Lee stands before Danny Aiello, the racist owner in Do the Right Thing

TO NEW YORK Magazine:

What do you think of Obama?

I’m riding my man Obama. I think he’s a visionary. Actually, Barack told me the first date he took Michelle to was Do the Right Thing. I said, “Thank God I made it. Otherwise you would have taken her to Soul Man. Michelle would have been like, ‘What’s wrong with this brother?’ ”

Does this mean you’re down on the Clintons?
The Clintons, man, they would lie on a stack of Bibles. Snipers? That’s not misspeaking; that’s some pure bullshit. I voted for Clinton twice, but that’s over with. These old black politicians say, “Ooh, Massuh Clinton was good to us, massuh hired a lot of us, massuh was good!” Hoo! Charlie Rangel, David Dinkins—they have to understand this is a new day. People ain’t feelin’ that stuff. It’s like a tide, and the people who get in the way are just gonna get swept out into the ocean.

Some folks will say this language is divisive. That it undermines the unity that Obama seeks to inspire. Those folks might have a point.

But there is a mindset among many people that the Clintons are the saviors of Black people in this nation. President Clinton apologized for slavery, after all, didn't he? He was the "first Black president," right? He found refuge in the Black church, even had Reverend Jeremiah Wright come to the White House and pray for him at the impeachment hour, didn't he? He set up shop in Harlem after his second term because he felt so at home, so close to soul food, right? He's always been a friend, his loyalists say, to Black people, despite all the compelling evidence to the contrary, hasn't he?


Reverend Wright stands before Bill Clinton at the White House

But here's the thing: the Clintons have shown in this very campaign that the votes of the Black electorate are expendable. Instead of defending Reverend Wright and the Black Church, the Clintons are pushing the Wright controversy on the nation like Nixon segregationists and Dixiecrats to solidify the racist vote. But what's even more insulting, the Clintons think Black people will come back to the fold en masse should the Clintons succeed with their race baiting and secure the nomination by any means necessary.

Spike Lee has never minced his words. Has never hesitated to air our dirty laundry. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then put School Daze at the top of your Netflix queue. Black people can be complicit in their own oppression. Some call it internalized racism. Others call it the mindset of the House Negro. That's what Lee is talking about here.

And he's right.

This is a huge tidal wave, writes a commenter in the blogosphere. Shaped and hardened by this nation's collective experience. Many people are poised to end up on the wrong side of history, swept aside because of their refusal to embrace this transformational energy. While the number of folks who understand that something special is happening grows, there remains a considerable amount of people who utterly lack this foresight. In the end it will be those who wish to revel in a glory long since passed being washed away by a nation determined to create new foundations for glory yet to be realized.

‘Freeheld’

IT WAS some irony. On Oscar night, military personnel introduced via satellite the nominees and the for best documentary short. One of them also announced the winner, a documentary about a lesbian married couple's battle for the New Jersey cop's pension to go to her wife after the Lieutenant's impending death from cancer.



[via Daily Dish]

Oscar 2008, 60s Redux?

Daniel-Day Lewis, Tilda Swinton, Marion Cotillard, and Javier Bardem.

I MUST ADMIT, I haven't seen many of the films or performances that were nominated for the 80th Annual Academy Awards last night. I saw Juno and Ellen Page (laughed so hard I snorted), La Vie en Rose and Marion Cotillard (bad movie, superb performance), Away From Her and Julie Christie (better than I expected, luminous performance), and Eastern Promises and Vitto Morgensen (violent movie, good performance).

For the first time since the 1965 ceremony, all the acting awards went to foreigners. See their acceptances speeches. France's Marion Cotillard was named best actress for portraying singer Edith Piaf, the first French woman to win the award since Simone Signoret at the 1960 ceremony. Javier Bardem became the first Spaniard to win an acting Oscar for his role as a murderer with bad hair in Best Picture winner No Country For Old Men. British-Irish dual citizen Daniel Day-Lewis took his second statue for Best Actor for his unanimously acclaimed turn in There Will Be Blood. Tilda Swinton, also from England, was the surprise winner of the Best Supporting Actress statue for her portrayal of a cut-throat attorney in Michael Clayton.

One paragraph, two references to the 60s. Where have we been hearing that recently?

In an article in the Suffolk University student newspaper, Andrew Favreau compared Obama's campaign to "the movement that my parents lived through back in the 60s, and that I had wished I had the opportunity to experience. ... What I'm interested in is that millions of people believe again. They believe in America, and they believe in one another, but more importantly they are filling themselves with hope."

Last night, Jon Stewart allowed Marketa Irglova, the second writer of the Oscar winning song "Once", to say something after the music, which was supposed to end the winners' acceptance speech, died down.

This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we're standing here tonight, the fact that we're able to hold this, it's just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don't give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are.

I couldn't have said it better.

Heath Ledger (1979 - 2008)

THE MORNING after River Jude Bottom Phoenix died, I had just watched three of his movies the night before. It was Halloween 1993 and I didn't feel like being wrapped up in any of that. It was at a time in my life when movies kept me company at night. When a friend called to tell me that River had been found dead, I wept. I felt as if I knew him from all the movies I had just seen.

When watching Brokeback Mountain, as brilliant as Heath Ledger was, I kept seeing River in that role. In the performance. It was as though Heatch was channeling River. And it made the movie even more poignant to me. These two men had the potential to be the next Great Actors.

I'm spent. I didn't know Heath, but having watched Brokeback Mountain more times than I can count, I feel like I did.

And to think, his character shot himself in the heart in Monster's Ball.

And to think, his last film was entitled I'm Not There.

So, so sad.