Pretty much all of you should probably come to my piano concert this Sunday, 5PM, at the Huntington Beach Central Library (Goldenwest & Talbert – I do a concert there every couple of months.) This is a very special program of Composers With Mothers. To wit:
J. S. Bach: Italian Concerto
Beethoven: “Appassionata” Sonata, mvt. 1
“Everything You Are” (my combination of Hammerstein & Kern’s “All the Things
You Are” with Miles Davis, Rachmaninov, and orginal touches)
Carlos Santana: Black Magic Woman (arr. VN)
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #2 (w/ improvised cadenza)
– intermission –
Stravinsky: “Danse Russe” from Petrushka (arr. for Rubinstein)
Mozart: slow movement from C-Major Concerto
Prokoviev: Sonata #7
Thelonious Monk: ‘Round Midnite
It’s ironic, actually, speaking of Mothers’ Day, because my mother used to always warn me not to become an Orange Juice blogger when I grew up. “Vern Pat,” she would croon as she dandled me on her knee, “you would fit in much better with those nice Liberal OC boys. Look at Art and Sean, look at Art and Jubal, do you want your friendships to end up like that? You’ll be drawn into controversies, you’ll be quoted out of context, you’ll lose commission appointments!” And then she would go on about the decadent lifestyles of the Winships and Larry Gilbert, which I totally think she was exaggerating.
And I would reply, “But mother, all the folks at the Liberal OC already agree with me, and with each other, on most things! There’s not enough friction there. If I’m really going to change the world, I need to be in the unpredictable rough-and-tumble of the #3 BNN rated blog in California!”
But I was a disingenuous little tyke: the real reason I wanted to be an Orange Juice blogger was that I knew I could get away with plugging my own piano concerts here. So I hope all of you can show up – NO POLITICS ALLOWED! – half my fans are Republicans (but if you’re lucky you might get to meet Debbie Cook.) AFTERWARDS we can all go out and argue about whatever you want!
See you Sunday!
Vern gives great concerts. It’s a great value and I have loved it every single time I’ve gone.
I agree with music lover. You will not find better entertainment on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Sibling’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Nemesis’ Day, or frankly any permutation of a relationship you can contemplate. I am confident asserting that most of us in our lifetimes will not meet a musician of Vern’s talent.
Mr. Nelson, I wish I could be there and hope you’ll play a couple of bars of Ives’ Rhondo! I’ll be laughing from afar …