MAROON 5 “I Shall Be Released.” Written by Bob Dylan.
Posted in Photographic Gallery, Black and White, Photography by Paul Goldfinger, Photography nocturnal NYC, Photos: New York City street series, tagged NYC Street Series at Blogfinger on January 14, 2024| 2 Comments »
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Posted in Blogfinger News, Photographic Gallery, Black and White, tagged Blizzard of 1969, Fly me to the moon by Utada Hikaru, Hanukkah in OG on December 23, 2023| 5 Comments »
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger. Posted originally in 2013. (10 years ago but still rings true)
It was February 1969, and this blizzard buried the Big Apple in 15 inches of snow. The city was paralyzed for 3 days, but in the park, the kids were having a great time. The politicians were being attacked for their poor performance in getting the city back to normal, especially Mayor John Lindsay who was so traumatized that he switched from the elephants to the donkeys.
So, while we are on the subject of wintry events, today is the start of Hanukkah in Ocean Grove and elsewhere as well. It is a tradition to eat latkes (potato pancakes fried in oil) and then to drink some ritual Maalox as it is written in the Old Testament.
So the next holiday before Kwanzaa is Christmas. And it is Christmas all around us (as a recent commenter pointed out), so what’s wrong with saying “Merry Christmas” to everyone?
You don’t have to be a Christian to enjoy this holiday and its messages of peace and good will (as well as great cookies, music and parties.)
MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR. With the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble and Percussion . The album is called Rock of Ages.
Posted in Blogfinger News, Photographic Gallery, Black and White, tagged Ocean Grove Christmas, The live nativity in Ocean Grove on December 22, 2023| 2 Comments »
By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor @Blogfinger.net
When we first moved here part-time in 1998, we became acquainted with the Live Nativity event. I never saw anything like it before.
I recall standing out in the cold waiting for the children and animals to appear. There was a procession, and this star bearer came by. She seemed as if she had appeared out of the mists of time as in Brigadoon. For a moment I felt I had travelled back to 1869.
Preserving the past is usually expressed in this town by the architecture. But other things occur which add life to the history, as you see in the photograph.
It’s important to continue those traditions whenever possible. The live nativity is now indoors, but it seemed more authentic when we were breathing vapor out our nostrils while waiting in the cold for the two-humped camel, the wise men, the sheep and some shepherds to arrive.
SOUNDTRACK: As a teenage musician I often took part in Christmas celebrations and concerts. We went caroling in the snow, and people tossed dollar bills out the windows of the garden apartments where we lived.
In school, Christmas music was a big deal, and I always have associated this holiday with beautiful music, both classical and popular.
But this photograph seems to require something especially heart-felt and different from the usual carols, so here, although it is not actually a Christmas selection, it does seem to go with the photo. It’s Puccini.
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JOE BROWN: It starts with a ukulele and then picks up an orchestral component later. At times it sounds like a balalaika component.
Posted in Music, Photo gallery: Europe, Photograph by Paul Goldfinger, Photographic Gallery, Black and White, Photographic Gallery, Color, tagged Photograph from Bordeaux france on November 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »
SIDNEY BECHET (soprano sax) with “Si Tu Vois Ma Mere” from the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris.
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Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Photograph by Paul Goldfinger, Photographic Gallery, Black and White, tagged Birth of a baby on Blogfinger on November 13, 2023| 7 Comments »
EVA CASSIDY: Album: “Live at Blues Alley.” (Washington, DC)
“I hear babies cry 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.”
George David Weiss wrote the lyrics to this 1967 song. He also wrote the words to “Lullaby of Birdland” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Photographic Gallery, Black and White, Photography by Paul Goldfinger, Photos: New York City street series, tagged Halloween parade NYC on October 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »
ENNIO MORRICONE (Solisti e Orchestra del Cinema Italiano) from the film “Once Upon a Time in America”
Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Music from the stage, Photographic Gallery, Black and White, Photography by Paul Goldfinger, Photography: New York City Street Series, tagged Love and life in New York City, Rebecca Luker on Blogfinger on October 24, 2023| Leave a Comment »
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
If you heard this song for the first time, as I did yesterday on the Jonathan Schwartz show on WNYC radio, performed by cabaret star Rebecca Luker, you would never have thought that it was not written to be sung by a woman. It certainly worked for Rebecca who was singing frankly about sex, love and betrayal.
I thought, “This is a gutsy song for her to do, but women are so outspoken these days about sex.” Women used to be very coy on that subject, because it was part of the female allure to say little that is overt, but to be able to cover that waterfront with traditional female flirtatiousness and body language, while revealing their true interests only later in the course of human events.
My old friends from high school often remember the fifties and how, if we only knew that our female classmates were as interested as we were,….oh well, getting back to Rebecca Luker, a beautiful chanteuse who was once Sarah Brightman’s understudy—-that speaks volumes on her qualifications.
So I liked this daring modern take on old themes. I had posted Rebecca Luker once before on Blogfinger with a song from “Wonderful Town.” When I looked up today’s music I discovered that it was written for a review in 2005 called “Songs From an Unmade Bed.” The show contained 18 songs written by different composers, and our featured song today, “He Never Did That Before,” was written by a woman, Debra Barsha.
But low and behold, I also found out that it was a one man show and was about gay male relationships in New York City.
So here is Rebecca Luker, from her 2009 album Greenwich Time, singing “He Never Did That Before.”
And while we are sort of on the same subject, here is a song about a woman whose wiles helped save the world:
From the Broadway classic (1968) ZORBA: Maria Karnilova with “No Boom Boom.”