Musings from Evans

Do you like funky music?

chuckazooloo — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 14:10:00 +0000

I am always looking to champion bands that maybe don’t have a huge following or maybe fit in a niche category. Two bands that I absolutely love are Dirty Loops, a Swedish three piece funk/jazz fusion, and Lawrence, a sibling band out of New York that lays down some nice grooves.

I’ll start with Dirty Loops:

Jonah Nilsson on keys and vocals, Henrik Linder on bass, and Aron Mellergard on drums. They met in secondary school in Sweden and then all went to the Royal College of Music. One cool thing about Sweden is they have these amazing music programs that were started as a combative measure to hang on to traditional music and keep “jazzy” tunes out. But these are the schools that produced ABBA, Roxette, Ace of Base, and Max Martin. The after school programs allow students to experiment with many instruments and styles as well as learn production techniques. So Dirty Loops are a product of this amazing system.

As a musician myself. I am blown away by the sheer musicality and technical ability of these guys. They are all amazing. The level of musicianship is just brilliant. Henrik might be one of the best bass players I have ever seen and heard. Aron is such an amazing holder of the groove, he is always right in the pocket. Jonah has a pyrotechnic voice and is equally adept on the keyboard. His mixture of classical, jazz and pop styles just puts the band over the top for me.

Most recently, they collaborated with Cory Wong on an album called Turbo and you only need to listen to the title track to know that these folks can play.

Just a fantastic group of players. Those dudes can play.

Now to Lawrence:

Lawrence is a “sibling band” formed by Clyde and Gracie Lawrence. They front an 8 piece funk/pop/jazz group complete with horns and a rhythm section. I first became aware of them from the Netflix movie Noelle with Anna Kendrick. I did a deep dive and found out that I really liked their vibe and their songs were infectious. They took a page from Pomplamoose and created awesome video content that showcased their music. Creative and fun, I just love listening to them. They especially did some cool things during the pandemic. You can check them out.

Clyde and Gracie both attended the Dalton School and Brown University. Their father Mark Lawrence is a filmmaker, screenwriter and director known for films like Miss Congeniality and Music and Lyrics. Clyde actually wrote the Miss United States Pageant theme song at the age of 5. He also wrote the song that Hugh Grant sings in Music and Lyrics.

So if you like funky R&B with a little jazz groove, check out Dirty Loops and Lawrence.

Love and Joy and Peace

chuckazooloo — Mon, 27 Jun 2022 21:44:51 +0000

I wrote a post about this on FB as I make the attempt to spend less time on FB, but I think I need to elaborate a little here. I’ve been angry for a while now. If you are around me, or know me, you would know that anger is not my default. Joy has been my default for a long time. And the thing is, I don’t really know why I’m angry. It could be losing a career I love after 28 years and having to start over. It could be the shit show that our government continues to be. It could be my disillusioned view of the Evangelical church I grew up in. Or it could be I am just tired. Tired of all of those things. Tired of fighting for people to be recognized and treated as humans. Tired of being subjected to the same abuse just packaged differently. All I know is, I am tired of feeling like that. So how do I break out of this funk and into the joy that I so desperately want and need. Well I guess it starts with love. For God, for others, even for myself. Then joy might have opportunity to break loose and maybe I’ll experience some peace in what has been a tumultuous 2 1/2 years. I hope that you, if you are reading this experience joy today. Just something that might bring you a little happiness in the midst of the cloudy skies that sometimes cover the sun. I wish for you good things. As always Be Well, Do Good.

I used to do lots of Top 5 lists…

chuckazooloo — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 17:01:04 +0000

…then one day, I just quit writing. I got out of the habit. I let work take over my life and my time, and I just stopped. I tried my hand at podcasting during the pandemic, but got 2 episodes in. I read somewhere that starting a podcast is the male equivalent of trying out bangs. But with a podcast, I guess you don’t have to live with it while it grows out, you just stop casting. As I have been contemplating, and writing again, predominantly focusing on playwriting, I decided to give this blog a shot. I was trying to think of ways to market and possibly monetize what I write or have to say. Maybe people will actually read and benefit from my posts.

So here, to start it all off. Is a post of my Top 5 Broadway Favorites. This is a list of shows I have seen, directed of been in. Some of them hold special meaning to my family. Some of them hold a dear place because of situations they were directed, or seen in. But in all aspects, as art is subjective, these have deep feels for me.

5. The Music Man

My first exposure to Meredith Wilson’s swindling con man Dr. Harold Hill, was in high school when our community theatre produced the show. My whole family was in the production. My father was Jacey Squires, my mom was Ethel Toffelmier, I was Tommy Djilas, my brother was a River City Youth, and my sister was Gracie Shinn. It was a great production. I learned lots of choreography as Tommy is a featured dancer, and we did it as a family. When I was in college, my family again did the music man, this time with my parents playing Major Shinn and his wife Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, and my brother and sister as chorus members. I actually have a tattoo on my left leg of Harold Hills iconic suitcase with my dads name on it, a tribute to him on the first birthday after he passed in 2018. I so wanted to see Hugh and Sutton on Broadway, but probably will just have to live vicariously through friends.

4. Sweet Charity

So needless to say I am fascinated with Bob Fosse (we will save that for another post). He was such an interesting person and this particular musical was basically where we see his particular style take over. There were glimpses of it in earlier choreography work, but this was his show. The original work with Gwen Verdon, his wife and muse was a fabulous tour de force on Broadway. With music by Cy Coleman and book by Neil Simon, it is comedy gold both songs and scenes. The movie version really doesn’t do the stage show justice. I’ve had the opportunity to see it once in New York with Sutton Foster playing Charity. The version was great, but no Fosse choreo. I was ok with it, because Sutton was effervescent in the role. I had the privilege to direct it a few years back and it is just an empowering show for young women as you table work through it.

3. Pippin

Again with the Fosse. This used to be my favorite musical. I had the chance to co direct and design for it back in 2016. When I was given the opportunity to make it my own, I jumped at the chance. The show was going to be beautiful, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I was pulled out of rehearsals 1 week before the show opened and due to Covid in the cast, it closed after one performance. The choreography was great and the kids sang the crap out of the show, but it never morphed into my vision because I wasn’t there. It will always be a great sadness for me, but the show will always hold a special place in my heart, and we will meet again.

2. Come From Away

I think this show from a sheer feeling and talent perspective hits all the buttons for me. From Beowulf Boritts design, to the vocal arrangements, to the shifting dialects, this show requires immense actors who can play all ages and nationalities. I love that it’s not a dance heavy show, yet the choreography is intense and utilized effectively. I saw it live here in Austin, and the show just filled up Bass Hall with joy and hope. The humor and sadness play their parts well. I wept several times, and had my spirit lifted just as often. I hope to see it on Broadway at some point.

1. Funhome

Wow, I don’ t know how to actually talk about this show based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. I know a lot of people who would probably be turned off by a musical about a lesbian, but that’s just it, it’s not a musical about sexuality at all. It’s a musical about family. About how parents hold their children’s hopes and dreams in their hands. It’s those beautiful moments of life as a family, that come crashing down on you as tragedy and life happen. I openly wept through most of this show, not because it was sad, but because I saw so much of myself in it. It requires a deep dive into who we really are. The reason it is my favorite show has nothing to do with how well written it is (it is the songs and book are unbelievable), or that the original production in the round was genius (it was, so many wonderful set changes and moments). It is my favorite because it causes me to think. It is my favorite because as art, it shows me the beauty in the ashes of everyday life and for that I am thankful.

What are your favorite musicals? I’ll tackle plays next week. Be well, do good.

Wow, so much has happened

chuckazooloo — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 16:15:28 +0000

since I last wrote here. I’m considering still attempting to turn this into a podcast, but not really sure in which direction I would take it, but I am writing more. Specifically plays. You see in February, I made the tough decision to leave a 23 year teaching career. It was brought on by interior forces in my school district who decided to believe hearsay and conjecture rather than defend their teachers. It really left me no choice but to leave a career I gave my life to. But now that I have been able to step back from it, and look, it is one of the best decisions of my life. My mental health is so much better now. No amount of money can make up for your time and health.

So, now I am, at nearly 51 years old, deciding what I want to be when I grow up. I work at a university in a support role, and I am going to take full advantage of the university option to take classes. I’m applying for an MFA program in December, and hopefully, I’ll start, if accepted, in the fall of 2023. So cheers to new adventures. Be well, do good.

Wow, it’s been awhile.

chuckazooloo — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 19:29:52 +0000

I was just trying to log on and delete a post for a friend, and saw that this was still a live site. I tried starting a podcast and that was a lot. I could take quite a few of the things I used to post here and turn them into podcasts, but I don’t know how long form I can get, so I just may start writing for my own mental health here again. I really don’t care if anyone reads it, but I do need to write the things that are on my mind. So much has changed in the world and my life since the last time I wrote, I guess I should fill everyone in, but that will be for another post. And that post might be a bit off as I am in the middle of directing a show. Stay tuned for the Ramblings of this off kilter theatre teacher and creator.

think i need to write again…

chuckazooloo — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 04:22:19 +0000

it’s been such a long time. i have a lot to say and just don’t know how to say it. i just reset my password for this site though as i had forgotten it, so maybe expect some activity from me. i hope this post finds you well. i’ll write more later.

spoken words of magic…

chuckazooloo — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 20:13:35 +0000

as i’ve taught my students about spoken word the last few weeks, one of the cool things is to find fresh poems for them to have as examples. i’ve shown them my good friend James Wilson and slam poetry sensations Taylor Mali, Sarah Kay, and Buddy Wakefield. this is a wonderful poem by Buddy. by the way, i’ve been careful to edit for the students. enjoy…

Hurling Crowbirds at Mockingbars (Hope is Not a Course of Action)

By Buddy Wakefield

If we were created in God’s image
then when God was a child
he smushed fire ants with his fingertips
and avoided tough questions.
There are ways around being the go-to person
even for ourselves
even when the answer is clear
clear like the holy water Gentiles would drink
before they realized
forgiveness is the release of all hope for a better past.

I thought those were chime shells in your pocket
so I chucked a quarter at it
hoping to hear some part of you respond on a high note.
You acted like I was hurling crowbirds at mockingbars
and abandoned me for not making sense.
Evidently, I don’t experience things as rationally as you do.

For example, I know mercy
when I have enough money for the jukebox.
You know mercy whenever someone shoves a stick of morphine
straight up into your heart.
It felt amazing
the days you were happy to see me

so I smashed a beehive against the ocean
to try and make our splash last longer.
Remember all the honey
had me lookin’ like a jellyfish ape
but you walked off the water in a porcupine of light
strands of gold
drizzled out to the tips of your wasps.
This is an apology letter to the both of us
for how long it took me to let things go.

It was not my intention to make such a
production of the emptiness between us
playing tuba on the tombstone of a soprano
to try and keep some dead singer’s perspective alive.
It’s just that I coulda swore you had sung me a love song back there
and that you meant it
but I guess sometimes people just chew with their mouth open

so I ate ear plugs alive with my throat
hoping they’d get lodged deep enough inside the empty spots
that I wouldn’t have to hear you leaving
so I wouldn’t have to listen to my heart keep saying
all my eggs were in a basket of red flags
all my eyes to a bucket of blindfolds
in the cupboard with the muzzles and the gauze
ya know I didn’t mean to speed so far out and off
trying to drive your nickels to the well
when you were happy to let them wishes drop

but I still show up for gentleman practice
in the company of lead dancers
hoping their grace will get stuck in my shoes.
Is that a handsome shadow on my breath, sweet woman
or is it a cattle call in a school of fish?
Still dance with me
less like a waltz for panic
more for the way we’d hoped to swing
the night we took off everything
and we were swingin for the fences

don’t hold it against
my love
you know I wanna breath deeper than this
I didn’t mean to look so serious
didn’t mean to act like a filthy floor
didn’t mean to turn us both into a cutting board
but there were knives sstuck
in the words where I came from
too much time in the back of my words.
I pulled knives from my back and my words.
I cut trombones from the moment you slipped away

and I know it left me lookin’ like a knife fight, lady
boy I know it left me feelin’ like a shotgun shell
you know I know I mighta gone and lost my breath
but I wanna show ya how I found my breath
to death
it was buried under all the wind instruments
hidden in your castanets
goddamn –
if you ever wanna know how it felt when ya left –
if ya ever wanna come inside –

just knock on the spot
where I finally pressed STOP

playing musical chairs with your exit signs.

I’m gonna cause you a miracle
when you see the way I kept God’s image alive.

Forgiveness
is for anyone who needs safe passage through my mind.

If I really was created in God’s image
then when God was a boy
he wanted to grow up to be a man
a good man
and when God was a man
a good man
He started telling the truth in order to get honest responses.
He’d say,
“I know.
I really shoulda wore my cross
again
but I don’t wanna scare the gentiles off.”

ukulele’s play happy music…

chuckazooloo — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 13:58:40 +0000

i love playing the ukulele. the name of the instrument comes from the Hawaiian word for swatting bugs. this band plays a lot of them. for your enjoyment, The Ooks of Hazzard.

it was an accident…

chuckazooloo — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 19:48:41 +0000

“The truth is that nobody knows what that magic combination is that produces a first-rate piece of work….

All we can do is prepare the groundwork that allows for the ‘lucky accidents’ that make a first-rate movie happen.” Sidney Lumet

“Most of the good things in pictures happen by accident.” John Ford

i typed those quotes wanting to talk about preparation, but then i decided to write about accidents. how many miraculous things come out of things that happen which are outside of our control. accident is often a negative word, because of the nature of accidents. often in an accident people are hurt or things are damaged due to them. but every once in a while, something accidentally happens that is a great thing. if it weren’t for accidents, we wouldn’t have Velcro, microwaves, post-it notes, or potato chips. also there are people who are famous by accident, including Mel Gibson, Evangeline Lilly and Marilyn Monroe. not that they weren’t talented or hardworking, it’s just that their big breaks came by being the right place at the right time.

lots of accidents happen on movie scenes and end up being left in the final edit, from Viggo Mortensen breaking toes, dodging knives and nearly drowning in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, to beer cans being thrown at John Malkovich’s head as he had just come out of John Malkovich’s head. and one of my favorites from Midnight Cowboy, where an actual taxi nearly ran over Dustin Hoffman and he reacted by uttering the famous line “I’m walkin here!” the ultimate Sanford Meisner moment where an actual reaction was caught on film and became one of the most memorable lines in movie history. i’m sure it’s still quoted to new york cab drivers many times a day.

so sometimes accidents can be a good thing. i guess it depends on how you look at it.

excuse me a sec. what are you babbling about?

chuckazooloo — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 20:26:44 +0000

“Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us – in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain …and an athlete…and a basket case…a princess…and a criminal… Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club”

this past tuesday, marked the 30th anniversary of March 24, 1984. the day that The Breakfast Club convened for saturday detention at Shermer High School. i’ve always loved this movie. who can not like the premise of these kids who start from all different walks of high school and by the end of one day forge friendships. we can only hope that they didn’t go back to being in their cliques the following monday. i like to think that Bender and Andrew spoke to Brian the next week. i like to think that Claire and Allison were able to acknowledge each other in the hall or even have a conversation. and i think that’s why John Hughes leaves us with the end the way it is. we have hope that the typical high school garbage can be overcome. we want to believe that, and that is why we love this movie. the scene at the end as Simple Minds anthemic “Don’t You, Forget About Me” plays while Brian’s character reads the essay Mr. Vernon tasked them to write is probably one of the impactful scenes for me from a movie. i mean, i was Brian in high school. so, maybe go watch The Breakfast Club sometime this week. and remember who you are.