Posts made by SSmith1226

SSmith1226

SSmith1226

There is an interesting story about the last video in my initial post. It was originally composed as L'Estaca (Catalan pronunciation: [ləsˈtakə]; meaning "the stake", figurative sense "without liberty") is a song calling for Catalonia to be free from Spain, composed by the Catalanartist Lluís Llach in 1968. It was composed during the reign of the Dictator, Francisco Franco in Spain, and is a call for unity of action to achieve freedom. The song has become a symbol of the fight for freedom everywhere. The song was covered in Yiddish (under the title "Der Yokh") by the American klezmerband, The Klezmatics, in their 2016 album Apikorism. The Klezmatics version is above. The Catalonian Lyrics describe the struggle for Catalonian freedom using a metaphor of being tied to a stake.
The song is a conversation held in a doorway at dawn, where the main character asks Grandfather Siset "Don't you see the stake that we're all tied to? If we can't take it down, we'll never be able to walk." and the old man tells him that the only way to get free is by working together: "If we all pull, it will fall down. If I pull this way and you pull that way, it will surely fall, fall, fall, and we will be able to liberate ourselves."

The struggle for freedom is hard, it is never over, there is no rest. In recent years a Yiddish version of the song has become a regular part of the Klezmatics’ concert performances. The translation, by Yuri Vedenyapin, remains faithful to Llach’s Catalan original but gives the song a Yiddish flavor and resonance.

Llach says that when he original composed the song, he used the word 'column' instead of 'stake'. In the Klezmatic’s version, Der Yokh, the title refers to the wooden collar placed over a work animal’s neck attaching them to the cart they must pull. Also, in past history a yoke was often placed over the neck of a defeated person, often making them a slave.
Here is the Catalonian original.

SSmith1226

Getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving.

SSmith1226

Try this version. With his articulation he would probably be a great trumpet player!

SSmith1226

I don’t recall ever seeing any Klezmer music discussions on this site,TM, or TH. What I am posting is not religious music but but is cultural in nature. In the United states we have been influenced by Klezmer Music since the immigration from Eastern Europe since the 1880’s. In the mainstream, a great example is Ziggy Elman’s solo in his song “And the Angel’s Sing”. Another example is the Andrews Sisters adaptation of “Bei Mir Bistu Shein”. I will post videos of these selections below in order to see how they were influenced by the Klezmer style, as well as a couple of videos of the Klezmatics, one of best known contemporary Klezmer bands who also are influenced by many other kinds of music. These videos don’t represent across the board examples of all types of Klezmer Music, but will serve as an introduction.

SSmith1226

@Dr-GO said in Elmer Churampi:

@SSmith1226 said in Elmer Churampi:

I am a firm believer in the 10,000 hour rule, at least for we mortals. As for Elmer Churampi, that rule need not be followed as some truly amazing individuals such as he has extraordinary synapses that do not require those 10,000 hours to organize.

SSmith1226

@Vulgano-Brother

SSmith1226

@Tobylou8

SSmith1226

@SSmith1226 said in Elmer Churampi:

@Dr-Mark
Elmar Churampi is considered to be among the best in his age group at what he does. For a moment let us assume that he is in the 99.9 percentile of his age group and level of experience as a classical trumpet player. That means for every 1000 trumpet players at his age and experience level there are 999 who are inferior than him as a classical trumpet player. In a group of 10,000 he will be in the top 10, in a group of 100,000 he will be in the top 100, and in a group of 1,000,000 he will be in the top 1,000. Each sub group can also be stratified into its own bell shaped curve where percentiles can be ranked 0 - 99.9 percentiles. The point of all this being, no matter how hard we try, there will always be someone, somewhere, that is better, even if we are the best within our circle of influence. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive to be the best that we can be, but on any given day, even if we are in the 99.9 percentile, there may be many others out there who can do what we strive to do better.
A prime example of this would be olympic sporting competition. An athlete may be the best at a sport in his country which has a population of 300,000,000, but only one competitor in the world wins the gold medal, or for that matter the silver or bronze. The competitor from the country above may come in last in the competition, but still be in the 99.99999 percentile of the world talent pool. So, other then getting depressed over this situation, what can we do to become the next “Elmer Churampi”? Do what it is likely he and many other outliers in the far right of the bell shaped curve have done: As Dr. Mark said, “Take Practice Seriously”.

An interesting video on how much practice makes you an “expert”.

SSmith1226

Tobylou,
With the combination of Prince, Funk, Soul, and Muzak, you must have been one “wild and crazy guy” back in the day. The 1970’s Mall Muzak, however, made me cringe and reach for my emergency supply of Prozac. I suppressed those memories in the deep dark corners of my brain until you brought them back to the surface with your post. There is an interesting history to Muzak in general, including Mall Muzak. Here it is:
https://blog.dropbox.com/topics/work-culture/fitter--happier--more-productive--the-odd-history-of--productivi