No Trouble Whatsoever

Last night, we coordinated a great babysitter for the boys and headed into the city to see Ray Lamontagne's final show of his tour, at McCaw Hall in Seattle. Simply put, it was an amazing show, and even though his set was shorter than I thought it would be, I have no complaints at all. The numbers were tight, not a lot of filler so even though he was only on stage for about an hour and 15, he probably hit about 20 songs in that time. No doubt about it, the guy's got amazing pipes. Interestingly, the stage set up was pretty non pretentious and simple. One can see that there's not a lot of ego happening with him, since he sets up the stage to put himself off to one side, showing himself as the lead singer of the band, rather than the front man. The sound in the hall was incredible and even the warm up singer, Leona Naess, was remarkable. A great night; I don't even care that I'm dead tired here at work this morning.

Novemeber 5, 2008: The Dawning of a New Era

I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom for me and you

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces of people going by

I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do

They're really saying I love you.

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow

They'll learn much more than I'll never know

And I think to myself what a wonderful world

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Goodbye, Yma

Last night, my partner got ahold of the newspaper before me and sadly announced that the Peruvian Songbird, Yma Sumac, had died. For anyone who has heard her sing, it's an unmistakably profound experience. Think Mariah Carey has pipes? Remember that screeching she did with that song "Emotion" way back when? Try listening to a woman whose multi-octave range makes the listener think he or she is listening to a piccolo playing. Incredible. I remember the first time I heard her, I was in a store in the Castro and I thought, "What the *#*& is this??" I was entranced and quickly went to the nearest music store and bought two CDs. Great fun.

Her website http://www.yma-sumac.com/ has a beautiful musical intro, with this announcement:

It is with deep sadness, that we report that Yma Sumac passed away at 11 am on Saturday Nov 1st. It was peaceful. Those closest to her were at her side.

A very, very private funeral will be held at an undisclosed location. Per her and her closest relative's instructions, she will be interred in Hollywood, where she spent 60 years of her life.

Her last year was spent surrounded by people who loved her and looked after her with the very best care possible. It should be a consolation that she was always surrounded by flowers, your beautiful cards, photos of her glory days, and an extraordinary view of Los Angeles' west side. Also, her personal assistant's two
little Chihuahua's, whom she loved dearly.

Although this news is written as "news" we are all devastated here. Indeed, there was plenty of time to prepare, but when that final moment comes, one finds they may not be at all prepared.

"That I made good music and made happy, their hearts" - Yma Sumac, when asked what she wanted to be remembered for.