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BALSEROS An opera by Robert Ashley with a libretto by Maria Irene Fornes Commissioned by the Florida Grand Opera, Miami Dade Community College – Wolfson Campus, and the South Florida Composers Alliance. Made possible by a grant from Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest "Opera for a New America" Program. Presented by the Florida Grand Opera at the Colony Theater, Miami, May 1997. directed by Michael Montel designed by Jorge Alberto Fernandez Suarez voices: Sam Ashley Thomas Buckner Jacqueline Humbert Joan La Barbara Demetra Adams Emmanuel Cadet Christina Clark David Dillard Amy Van Roekel Nattacha Amador Mario Salas-Lanz percussion: Oscar Salas Oseiku DañEl Diaz Tom Hamilton designed the processing of the instruments in the synthesizer orchestra and the processing of the live voices. The orchestral instruments were, in most cases, chosen by Robert Ashley. So, the sound of the orchestra and voices is an example of a profound collaboration. This collaboration has been working since the recording and performance of the four operas of Now Eleanor’s Idea, beginning in 1990. The Cuban drum parts were composed by Oseiku DañEl Diaz and Oscar Salas. The libretto is based on interviews with: Mr. Jorge del Rio Leon Mr. Rafael Rodas Ms. Yohanka Rodriquez Carvajal Mr. Braulio Quevedo Mr. Agustin Garcia Mr. Francisco Escobar Ms. Nancy Lledes Espinosa Mr. Federico Falcon Gonzalez Mr. David Cartaya Mr. Ernesto Wong Castillo Mr. Damaso Perez Busquet Ms. Evelyn Crusata Mr. José Abreu Mr. Reinaldo Alfonso Saiz Mr. Ariel Ruiz Dr. Angel Cancelo Ms. Suzette Cancelo Mr. Lazaro Diaz Fonsecas Ms. Nadia Diaz Brito Mr. Ernesto Gonzales Rojas Mr. Frank Enrique Polo Mr. Guillermo Delgado Ms. Ibis Amigó Ms. Dulce Trejo Garcia Mr. José Fernandez The subject of the opera is the story of the rafters, or balseros (from the Spanish, balsa meaning raft), who have left Cuba on homemade rafts, seeking sanctuary in the United States. For the balseros, the objective is to get beyond the twelve-mile offshore limit into international waters with the hope of being rescued then by the U.S. Coast Guard. Just over half of those who leave are heard from again. The ninety-mile “channel” between Cuba and South Florida has extraordinary difficulties of currents and weather. It is shark-infested. And even a successful journey to the twelve-mile limit still leaves the rafters simply in open sea. Apparently, in defiance of the laws of maritime rescue, many of the rafters’ stories include incidents of being bypassed by all ships except the Coast Guard rescue vessels. Every so often, the Cuban government “allows” this bizarre form of exodus. Mostly the rafts have to be constructed in secrecy. With the poverty that has followed upon the collapse of the Soviet Union as a patron, there are no materials from which to construct the rafts, except through connections that are illegal and impossibly expensive. So, in every case, the rafts are unbelievable as seagoing vessels; and the decision to make the journey is a decision about life or death and a decision that will involve every member of a person’s family circle. The opera is not about the politics of this moment: the United States versus Cuba. It is a restatement of the oldest idea of America: escape from an oppressive situation to the “promised land.” It is the story of courage against all odds, of intelligence and ingenuity in the face of impossible challenges, of reckless determination. The characters of the opera are the people who survived and have told us their stories. Maria Irene Fornes, the librettist, and I talked at length to twenty-five balseros. We discovered that in many of their stories the elements were the same and could be understood as parts of a common sequence—almost as “acts” of the opera: I. The Raft. Its construction and the need to understand the requirements of the journey including provisions, navigation, seaworthiness — and the unforeseeable. II. The Departure. The moment of the decision to embark from the nearest beach. In many of the stories, this is the moment of highest drama. III. The Sea. Its unimaginable vastness, dangers and psychological challenges. IV. The Rescue.The arrival of a rescue boat, the physical struggle of boarding after days or weeks of thirst and starvation, the remembered obligations to those left behind, the grinding bureaucracy of the rescue as a political act, and the new hope. Each “act” of the opera (whether the acts are separable and consecutive, or whether they recur and interfold as themes) will consist of scenes from the various stories we were told by the balseros themselves. The amazing consistency of these stories make one pause as if in the presence of a living myth. This is the way most of our ancestors came to America. The politics of the current situation dissolves in the presence of these individual stories of bravery and suffering and success. For more information: Performing Artservices, Inc. Mimi Johnson 260 West Broadway New York, NY 10013 tel: 212/941-8911 fax: 212/334-5149 artservicesinc@mindspring.com And beginning tonight a transformation takes place at the MoJazz Cafe (928 71st St., Miami Beach, 865-2636). After a two-week spring vacation, Mo Morgen's hipster hangout reopens as a venue exclusively for Latin jazz. The club's name may or may not change (Morgen seems open to suggestion), but the music definitely will. Among the new regulars: the Luis Miranda Quintet with Stuart King; the Sinigual nonet with Maria Medina Serafin; "Latin Meets Jazz" weekends with Ira Sullivan, Oscar Salas, Silvano Monasterios, and Ranses Colon; Johnny Conga and Mario Marrero's All-Star Latin jam on Sundays; and the Brazilian Voices Quintet on Wednesdays. Why the switch? "Why not?" says Morgen. "It's Miami, right?" 'Nuff said. Arthur Barron and Hilton Ruiz Arthur Barron Hilton Ruiz (Dragon Rose Records) Faster than the speed of thought, Hilton Ruiz's percussive piano improvisation provides a blueprint of the creative process. Still, one wonders: Do his fingers fly that fast to catch up with his mind, or is it the other way around? Ruiz dominates nearly every session he contributes to, and this live set at Rose's on South Beach is no exception. Accompanied by long-time friend and Rose's proprietor Arthur Barron on tenor saxophone and a rotating roster of bassmen and drummers (Dave Wertman and Pepe Aparicio on the bottom and John Yarling and Oscar Salas wielding the sticks), the manic pianoman's attack is solidly anchored, particularly by Osieku Da*ell's steady congo bopping. Barron is obviously inspired in this setting, dancing along the avant edge much like New York pal Dave Liebman, and occasionally recalling the throaty rumblings of mentor Pharaoh Sanders. Barron's compositions, "Mr. Q's Day of Judgment" and "It's Strange," feature some tasty riffs a la Blue Note, ca. 1961, allowing the soloists to weave in and out of the song structure. And speaking of tasty riffs, Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" and Miles Davis's "All Blues" are also here, the latter making use of Pete Minger's cool blue flugelhorn. A relaxed session in spite of Ruiz's psychopianistics, Barron gives his sidemen plenty of room to stretch out; the shortest track clocks in at fourteen and a half minutes. Because of their length and unrelenting straight-ahead jazz approach, you most likely won't hear any of these songs on the radio. But Barron's no fool: He released a "light jazz" disc (Soul Messenger) simultaneously, which you soon may be hearing on the radio. Sometimes you gotta give the devil his due, if only to distract him while you're hangin' with the angels. -- By Bob Weinberg Balzola and his Afro-Latin jazz fusion band ORIENTE pay tribute to the Cuban masters as well as many American and world music innovators from Beny More’, Tom Jobim and Taj Mahal to Robert Johnson, Pat Metheny and Jaco Patrorius. In addition to leader Eddy Balzola, the band includes Yoel Del Sol who came from Paris in the 1990’s and toured with Celia Cruz along with band mate Stuart King and New York’s Fania All-Stars. The band also includes former Willie Nelson bandmate, bassist Jose “Pepe” Aparicio; Oscar Salas, who toured with Eartha Kitt; and Luis Sanchez, a young up and coming musician from Lima, Peru. Sanchez has already performed at the Montreaux and North Sea Jazz Festivals with Cuban rumbero Miguel Cruz. ORIENTE’s latest CD is Searching for a Blue Unseen and it showcases the band’s Cuban roots, jazz , New Orleans funk, Delta blues and Brazilian and Caribbean influences. The CD also features guest performers. ‘Between the Teeth’ By Richard Harrington Washington Post Staff Writer March 04, 1994 Director: David Byrne; David Wild Not rated The new David Byrne concert film, "Between the Teeth," bears some obvious comparisons to the Talking Heads' classic documentary, "Stop Making Sense." Besides solo opening numbers and world-beating big bands, these films share the quirkily charismatic Byrne and strong directorial points of view. Jonathan Demme approached his 1984 documentary much the way he does his features, with visual storyboards designed long before concert time. Ten years down the line, Byrne and co-director David Wild (best known for his very short MTV films) are less ambitious but just as focused. They've imbued each song with its own visual style -- sustained close-ups, silhouette lighting, varied editing pace. Over 71 minutes, some of these elements meld together, but "Between the Teeth" has a sweet, no-nonsense flow and focus rare in a concert film. Shot on Halloween night of 1992 at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, N.J., the film kicks off in typically Byrnesian fashion: just him and rhythm. But where "Sense" opened with the terse and tense "Psycho Killer," in "Teeth" Byrne establishes an entirely different mood with Captain Beefheart's whimsical "Well," his voice straining against the thud of a beat box in an eerie approximation of a Native American chant. Elsewhere, Byrne opts for spare, acoustic arrangements -- the best include the Heads' ironic "Nothing but Flowers," the nerdish ballad "Girls on My Mind" (with Lewis Kahn on violin) and the new but familiarly wry "Buck Naked," in which Byrne notes, "We're all naked if you turn us inside out." But "Between the Teeth" is also a document of Byrne's explorations in Afro-Cuban-Caribbean rhythms. Byrne's enthusiasm for bright rhythms and brassy coloration is evident in the makeup of his nine-piece band, 10 Car Pile-Up, particularly Meters bassist George Porter Jr., drummer Oscar Salas and percussionists Bobby Allende and Hector Rosado. That rhythm section can inspire elegant motion from even the most inelegant dancers -- including Byrne. As a performer, Byrne is more assured and noticeably less hyper here as an unopposed band leader, even as elements of wide-eyed bemusement and simmering angst inform his earnest delivery. Byrne remains expressive despite endearingly approximate pitch, though he sometimes struggles to meet the headlong brass-driven rhythms now propelling his songs. The admonition in "Mr. Jones" to "put a wiggle in your stride, loosen up," is not always adhered to, but a roisterous and dynamically expansive "Blind" proves quite effective. The set includes songs from both the Talking Heads' and Byrne's solo albums: The oldest number is "Life During Wartime," here imbued with punk-wave energy through frenetic hand-held camera work and editing. "Women vs. Men" has a cool ambiance that suggests Julie London vs. Tom Waits. Thankfully devoid of interviews or backstage shenanigans, "Between the Teeth" proves that David Byrne remains on a road to somewhere. Between The Teeth Director: David Byrne, David Wild 1993 71 Minutes USA Production Co: Scorched Earth Productions Producer: Joel D. Hinman Photography: Roger Tonry Camera: Jean de Segonzac, Edward Stevenson, David Waterson Editors: David Wild, Lou Angelo Sound recording and mixing: Randy Ezratty With: David Byrne and ten car Pile-Up: Bobby Allende (Percussion, Timbales, Congas), jonathon Best (Keyboards), David Byrne (Guitars), Angel fernandez (Musical Director, Trumpet, Flugelhorn), Ite Jerez (Trunpet), Lewis Kahn (Trombone, Violin), George Porter, Jr. (Bass), Hector Rosado (Congas, Tambora, Surdu), Steve Sacks (Alto Saxaphone, Flute), Oscar Salas (Drums) Songs: And She Was, Road To Nowhere, Women vs Men, Lie to me, Makr Believe Mambo, Girls on My Mind, She's Mad, Buck naked by David Byrne; Life During Wartime, Nothing But Flowers, Mr Jones, Blind, words by David Byrne, music by David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison; Hanging Upside Down, words by David Byrne, music by David Byrne and Angel Fernandez; Something Ain't Right, word by David Byrne and Terry Allen, music by David Byrne; Well by Don Van Vliet In 1983, Jonathon Demme filmed talking Heads in concert for Stop making Sense, presenting the performance seen from the outside: a stage show, nothing more. Now, with the Heads dissolved, the band’s songwriter and leader, David Byrne, has created what might be its sequel. Its title is Between the Teeth, but it could be called ‘Start making Syncopation’… The concert includes material from the 1980s Talking Heads and from Mr Byrne’s solo albums. Mr Byrne, who says barely a word between songs, is an impassioned enigma on stage. He begins the show alone with an acoustic guitar and drum machine; then the full band appears and the music takes off, groove after groove… At first the camerawork is unobtrusive, avoiding the acute angles and jumpy editing of typical MTV fare. Gradually, it emerges that Mr Byrne and the co-director, David Wild, have a strategy for each song. One is all mouth-level close-ups; another shows musicians from head to toe, moving to the rhythm; a third is one unswerving shot for the length of the song. “Life During Wartime’, the oldest tune in the film, is all hand-held swoops, blurs of faces and flashing lights. Arty and schematic as they might seem, the choices bring added variety to the music. - Jon Pareles, New York Times, 2/2/94 Saturday June 20 How does one go from playing Latin jazz to playing gigs with rock schlockmeister David Lee Roth? "It is hard to make a living out of jazz, especially when you're starting, so you have to balance it out with some other gigs," keyboardist Silvano Monasterios says, explaining his reason for touring with the former Van Halen singer two years ago. These days, however, he's back on track, playing with his quintet, which includes bassist Dan Feiszli, sax player Tom McCormick, drummer Archie Pena, and percussionist Oscar Salas. The band is just back from the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in California, a gig they got by winning the 1998 Hennessey Cognac Jazz Talent Search. Tonight the quintet plays Latin jazz at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, 1650 Harrison St., Hollywood. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show cost $10. Call 954-921-3274. May 29, 1982? O'Hara's Jazz Cafe, Fort Lauderdale, Fl Ken Faulk tp; Melton Mustafa tp; Brett Murphey tp; UNK. tp; Peter Graves btb; Russ Freeland tb; John tu; Dan Bonsanti ts; Neal Bonsanti as, ob; Randy Emerick brs; UNK. frh; Gary Lindsay fl; Gary Mayone vib; Jaco Pastorius b; Othello Molineaux steel dr; Oscar Salas perc; Paul Horn-Muller dr; rest UNK. a. Fannie Mae INC 0:30 b. Twins - INC 4:39 c. Reza - 3:22 d. perc. solo - 3:31 e. Giant Steps - 3:24 f. Reza 2:56 g. JP solo INC 0:36 h. Mercy Mercy Mercy 6:20 i. Happy Birthday (JP out) 1:12 j. Soul Intro/The Chicken INC 5:53 k. Quietude INC 3:35 l. I Shot the Sheriff INC 7:41 m. Three Views of a Secret INC 5:22 n. Liberty City 8:35 o. Continuum - 1:10 p. JP solo - 3:55 q. America INC 0:33 Private Tape/stage recording 60' Correct month could be September or October. [N] b. probably Pastorius kbd. [N] during i., someone onstage says "JFK". Jaco Pastorius Word of Mouth Big Band 82-0627 Music : Uh-Oh Rating: - Forever praise the crude cartoon dog! Pop stars rarely outgrow their first success. Type-cast Medusa fashion into rigid icons, they struggle against loyal worshippers who seek their own immortality by freeze-drying the symbols of their melting youth in an ageless wax museum. Elvis' fans sought this kind of preservation. They didn't really want him to grow up. But his expanding girth and failing health reminded his followers that their time too would arrive. So a mourning generation youthified and resurrected him in a pantheon of impersonators more numerous than Hindu Gods. Mummified in stage lights, the King still lives unchanged. Few pop culture icons avoid this suspended animation of perpetual youth. The remaining Beatles appear far more as the 1960s loveable mop tops than the old men they have become. Images of the young Diana Ross outnumber recent photos of her by an enormous margin. Obituaries of celebrities from bygone eras always sport a historic photo (see Lillian Gish, Janet Leigh, Sandra Dee; the media does allow men to age somewhat, but not most women). All of this suggests that change and age remain anathema in the realm of entertainment. Enter facial surgery, various bodily implants, and the incessant emphasis on a star's single most successful hit song, movie, or persona. Somehow David Byrne evaded most of this mess. His polymorphic career has embraced change, experimentation, and intelligence. Even his previous band, Talking Heads, morphed from release to release. Some have called the transition from the albums "Fear of Music" to "Remain in Light" the most radical transformation ever accomplished by a rock band. Once Byrne went solo in 1989, he continued his incessant exploration. "Rei Momo," expanding on the Talking Heads' final album "Naked," plunged head first into Latin music styles. Some reveled in the blaring horns and hip gyrating rhythms. Others, maybe inspired by cultural freeze-drying, bemoaned that the quirky king of rock's fringe had abdicated. In 1992, those same querulous types welcomed Byrne's second solo album, "Uh-Oh," with wide open limbs. Why? Because "Uh-Oh" sported music more akin to Talking Heads than "Rei Momo." From the pulsating discotheque sounds that launch the album, it becomes clear that "Uh-Oh" is no "Rei Momo II." "Now I'm Your Mom" celebrates sex change as a natural and even a beautiful human act. "I was your dad," Byrne sings, then rockets his voice into squeaky falsetto for the line "Now I'm your mom!" The song's infectious grooves will even have hardcore conservatives caroling about the joys of transsexuality. "Girls On My Mind" delves into the straight man's psyche via a demented honky tonk beat. Byrne sent the ominous "Something Ain't Right" to the brilliant Tom Zé for arranging. Zé's contributions include the whistles, groans, tweets, and flutters that pervade the song. In the song's angry climax, Byrne shouts to the sky "come on down you old fart let's see if you've got a heart!" "She's Mad," the closest Byrne has come to a solo hit, received ample airplay on alternative stations. The song's video featured then shockingly novel digital morphing effects. Byrne becomes a house, a sheep, a bunny, amongst other things. "Hanging Upside Down" explores the ups and downs, but mostly the downs, of mall culture. "Tiny Town" revisits the theme Byrne expounded in "The Big Country." It still doesn't sound like he'd live there if you paid him. The album's not so subtle cover depicts a horde of angels praising a rather crude Snoopy-esque cartoon dog on a throne. Uh-Oh, indeed. "Uh-Oh" remains one of Byrne's most enjoyable solo efforts. It covers new ground while incorporating African and Latin American styles. The album also carried on his tradition of transformation. "Uh-Oh" sounds different than any of his other releases. Nonetheless, his career has had a strange consistency to it and "Uh-Oh" fits right in. Square peg square hole. Byrne somehow seems exempt from the mainstream mantra of sameness. His subsequent releases, four to date, exemplify this. Who could freeze-dry this guy? Impossible. Plus, Byrne has allowed age to catch up. He now sports a head full of spiky gray mad scientist hair. He lives on, changed, and, like everyone, forever changing. Rating: - David's Best Solo Album I am surprised this album doesn't get more praise. It was glanced over. A shame because songs like "Something Ain't Right" and "Twistin In The Wind" are the best he's ever written. Maybe it is because side two only contains two immediate standout winners. The rest does grow on you though and overall this is a masterpiece. If you buy one David Byrne record this is an easy choice. Rating: - This album is amazing This is the greatest piece of music I have ever heard. Out of my 300 cds, I listen to it the most. It is great to work out to, to drive to, to do anything to. I've been listening to it for 12 years and still find sneaky little percussion nuances that I didn't realize were there. Everything else by Talking Heads and byrne solo, while still brilliant, is not on the same plane. Hilarious lyrics, irresistable grooves, totally original songwriting, white hot rhythm, a masterpiece. When was the last time a song made you feel angst ridden and ecstatic at the same time? "Something ain't right" does. Rating: - Heads....We Don't Need No Stinkin' Heads This is by far my favourite David Byrne album. And as mentioned above, there was little traditional promotion for this album. However, the videos are all gems. (Too bad - my VHS copy of a Muchmusic spotlight which ran them all is faded and finally wore out. DVD pretty please.) She's Mad got a lot of airplay and a nomination at the MTV video awards. But Girls on my Mind and Hanging Upside Down are classic vids as well. This is an album that dispite its varied influences and mixing of music styles flows from beginning to end so well that you could have it on repeat and not get tired of it. And I dare not to sing to it when no one is around.(Hey , Look at Us now. hey look at us now. Look at us n-n-n-now . Hey Hey hey!) Rating: - A Grossly Underrated Gem David Byrne's albums always seemed to go by unnoticed, and with Uh-Oh, this is truly a crime. This album is so diverse and colorful and it really deserves some recognition. With the help of a lot of different musicians and instruments, this is a very bright and happy album. The comical opener, "Now I'm Your Mom" starts out a bit off-beat (musically and in subject matter), but includes a wondefully rhythmic chorus. Other highlights include "Girls On My Mind", in which Byrne's vocal delivery is extremely reminiscent of the latter days of Talking Heads, which is cool to hear. "Hanging Upside Down" has features enjoyable and fun lyrics with a driving guitar throughout. "The Cowboy Mambo (Hey Lookit Me Now)" is a very jumpy tune which truly captures the essence of 'Uh-Oh'. The album's closer, "Somebody", is also probably its best track with a very epic and large feeling which ends this album perfectly. Get this album now! Hoppin, December 17, 1999 Reviewer: A music fan For the most part this album offers remarkably cynical (but perceptive) lyrics, coupled, oddly enough, with happy latin-influenced music. "Somebody" at the end does offer some hope, however. Musically the album is brilliant, finding many memorable grooves, mixing twangy guitars, percussion, and horns. Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) (Report this) 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: The Best CD I Own, April 18, 1999 Reviewer: Casey (Spoonerism@aol.com) (Berlin, CT) - See all my reviews This is the best CD I have ever heard in my life. Every single song on this album is a stand-alone smash, yet they all congeal together at the end. Byrne uses latin and funk inspired music to lead you on a cynical, thought-provoking ride through postmodern American ideals and values. The ideas he had in THE FOREST are more accessable here. Byrne is a multimedia supergenius, and I hope he continues pumping out magnificent albums like this one Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) (Report this) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: David's Best album..., November 15, 1998 Reviewer: wojtysj@alleg.edu (Chicago, Pennsylvania, New York..here and there) - See all my reviews A brilliant mix of Latin Rhythms and David's pop sensibilities, in my humble opinion, I think this is one of the best albums of this decade... Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) (Report this) "The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives"... Albert Schweitzer Between The Teeth Director: David Byrne, David Wild 1993 71 Minutes USA Production Co: Scorched Earth Productions Producer: Joel D. Hinman Photography: Roger Tonry Camera: Jean de Segonzac, Edward Stevenson, David Waterson Editors: David Wild, Lou Angelo Sound recording and mixing: Randy Ezratty With: David Byrne and ten car Pile-Up: Bobby Allende (Percussion, Timbales, Congas), jonathon Best (Keyboards), David Byrne (Guitars), Angel fernandez (Musical Director, Trumpet, Flugelhorn), Ite Jerez (Trunpet), Lewis Kahn (Trombone, Violin), George Porter, Jr. (Bass), Hector Rosado (Congas, Tambora, Surdu), Steve Sacks (Alto Saxaphone, Flute), Oscar Salas (Drums) Songs: And She Was, Road To Nowhere, Women vs Men, Lie to me, Makr Believe Mambo, Girls on My Mind, She's Mad, Buck naked by David Byrne; Life During Wartime, Nothing But Flowers, Mr Jones, Blind, words by David Byrne, music by David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison; Hanging Upside Down, words by David Byrne, music by David Byrne and Angel Fernandez; Something Ain't Right, word by David Byrne and Terry Allen, music by David Byrne; Well by Don Van Vliet In 1983, Jonathon Demme filmed talking Heads in concert for Stop making Sense, presenting the performance seen from the outside: a stage show, nothing more. Now, with the Heads dissolved, the band’s songwriter and leader, David Byrne, has created what might be its sequel. Its title is Between the Teeth, but it could be called ‘Start making Syncopation’… The concert includes material from the 1980s Talking Heads and from Mr Byrne’s solo albums. Mr Byrne, who says barely a word between songs, is an impassioned enigma on stage. He begins the show alone with an acoustic guitar and drum machine; then the full band appears and the music takes off, groove after groove… At first the camerawork is unobtrusive, avoiding the acute angles and jumpy editing of typical MTV fare. Gradually, it emerges that Mr Byrne and the co-director, David Wild, have a strategy for each song. One is all mouth-level close-ups; another shows musicians from head to toe, moving to the rhythm; a third is one unswerving shot for the length of the song. “Life During Wartime’, the oldest tune in the film, is all hand-held swoops, blurs of faces and flashing lights. Arty and schematic as they might seem, the choices bring added variety to the music. - Jon Pareles, New York Times, 2/2/94 Between The Teeth Director: David Byrne, David Wild 1993 71 Minutes USA Production Co: Scorched Earth Productions Producer: Joel D. Hinman Photography: Roger Tonry Camera: Jean de Segonzac, Edward Stevenson, David Waterson Editors: David Wild, Lou Angelo Sound recording and mixing: Randy Ezratty With: David Byrne and ten car Pile-Up: Bobby Allende (Percussion, Timbales, Congas), jonathon Best (Keyboards), David Byrne (Guitars), Angel fernandez (Musical Director, Trumpet, Flugelhorn), Ite Jerez (Trunpet), Lewis Kahn (Trombone, Violin), George Porter, Jr. (Bass), Hector Rosado (Congas, Tambora, Surdu), Steve Sacks (Alto Saxaphone, Flute), Oscar Salas (Drums) Songs: And She Was, Road To Nowhere, Women vs Men, Lie to me, Makr Believe Mambo, Girls on My Mind, She's Mad, Buck naked by David Byrne; Life During Wartime, Nothing But Flowers, Mr Jones, Blind, words by David Byrne, music by David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison; Hanging Upside Down, words by David Byrne, music by David Byrne and Angel Fernandez; Something Ain't Right, word by David Byrne and Terry Allen, music by David Byrne; Well by Don Van Vliet In 1983, Jonathon Demme filmed talking Heads in concert for Stop making Sense, presenting the performance seen from the outside: a stage show, nothing more. Now, with the Heads dissolved, the band’s songwriter and leader, David Byrne, has created what might be its sequel. Its title is Between the Teeth, but it could be called ‘Start making Syncopation’… The concert includes material from the 1980s Talking Heads and from Mr Byrne’s solo albums. Mr Byrne, who says barely a word between songs, is an impassioned enigma on stage. He begins the show alone with an acoustic guitar and drum machine; then the full band appears and the music takes off, groove after groove… At first the camerawork is unobtrusive, avoiding the acute angles and jumpy editing of typical MTV fare. Gradually, it emerges that Mr Byrne and the co-director, David Wild, have a strategy for each song. One is all mouth-level close-ups; another shows musicians from head to toe, moving to the rhythm; a third is one unswerving shot for the length of the song. “Life During Wartime’, the oldest tune in the film, is all hand-held swoops, blurs of faces and flashing lights. Arty and schematic as they might seem, the choices bring added variety to the music. - Jon Pareles, New York Times, 2/2/94 BALSEROS An opera by Robert Ashley with a libretto by Maria Irene Fornes Commissioned by the Florida Grand Opera, Miami Dade Community College – Wolfson Campus, and the South Florida Composers Alliance. Made possible by a grant from Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest "Opera for a New America" Program. Presented by the Florida Grand Opera at the Colony Theater, Miami, May 1997. directed by Michael Montel designed by Jorge Alberto Fernandez Suarez voices: Sam Ashley Thomas Buckner Jacqueline Humbert Joan La Barbara Demetra Adams Emmanuel Cadet Christina Clark David Dillard Amy Van Roekel Nattacha Amador Mario Salas-Lanz percussion: Oscar Salas Oseiku DañEl Diaz Tom Hamilton designed the processing of the instruments in the synthesizer orchestra and the processing of the live voices. The orchestral instruments were, in most cases, chosen by Robert Ashley. So, the sound of the orchestra and voices is an example of a profound collaboration. This collaboration has been working since the recording and performance of the four operas of Now Eleanor’s Idea, beginning in 1990. The Cuban drum parts were composed by Oseiku DañEl Diaz and Oscar Salas. The libretto is based on interviews with: Mr. Jorge del Rio Leon Mr. Rafael Rodas Ms. Yohanka Rodriquez Carvajal Mr. Braulio Quevedo Mr. Agustin Garcia Mr. Francisco Escobar Ms. Nancy Lledes Espinosa Mr. Federico Falcon Gonzalez Mr. David Cartaya Mr. Ernesto Wong Castillo Mr. Damaso Perez Busquet Ms. Evelyn Crusata Mr. José Abreu Mr. Reinaldo Alfonso Saiz Mr. Ariel Ruiz Dr. Angel Cancelo Ms. Suzette Cancelo Mr. Lazaro Diaz Fonsecas Ms. Nadia Diaz Brito Mr. Ernesto Gonzales Rojas Mr. Frank Enrique Polo Mr. Guillermo Delgado Ms. Ibis Amigó Ms. Dulce Trejo Garcia Mr. José Fernandez The subject of the opera is the story of the rafters, or balseros (from the Spanish, balsa meaning raft), who have left Cuba on homemade rafts, seeking sanctuary in the United States. For the balseros, the objective is to get beyond the twelve-mile offshore limit into international waters with the hope of being rescued then by the U.S. Coast Guard. Just over half of those who leave are heard from again. The ninety-mile “channel” between Cuba and South Florida has extraordinary difficulties of currents and weather. It is shark-infested. And even a successful journey to the twelve-mile limit still leaves the rafters simply in open sea. Apparently, in defiance of the laws of maritime rescue, many of the rafters’ stories include incidents of being bypassed by all ships except the Coast Guard rescue vessels. Every so often, the Cuban government “allows” this bizarre form of exodus. Mostly the rafts have to be constructed in secrecy. With the poverty that has followed upon the collapse of the Soviet Union as a patron, there are no materials from which to construct the rafts, except through connections that are illegal and impossibly expensive. So, in every case, the rafts are unbelievable as seagoing vessels; and the decision to make the journey is a decision about life or death and a decision that will involve every member of a person’s family circle. The opera is not about the politics of this moment: the United States versus Cuba. It is a restatement of the oldest idea of America: escape from an oppressive situation to the “promised land.” It is the story of courage against all odds, of intelligence and ingenuity in the face of impossible challenges, of reckless determination. The characters of the opera are the people who survived and have told us their stories. Maria Irene Fornes, the librettist, and I talked at length to twenty-five balseros. We discovered that in many of their stories the elements were the same and could be understood as parts of a common sequence—almost as “acts” of the opera: I. The Raft. Its construction and the need to understand the requirements of the journey including provisions, navigation, seaworthiness — and the unforeseeable. II. The Departure. The moment of the decision to embark from the nearest beach. In many of the stories, this is the moment of highest drama. III. The Sea. Its unimaginable vastness, dangers and psychological challenges. IV. The Rescue.The arrival of a rescue boat, the physical struggle of boarding after days or weeks of thirst and starvation, the remembered obligations to those left behind, the grinding bureaucracy of the rescue as a political act, and the new hope. Each “act” of the opera (whether the acts are separable and consecutive, or whether they recur and interfold as themes) will consist of scenes from the various stories we were told by the balseros themselves. The amazing consistency of these stories make one pause as if in the presence of a living myth. This is the way most of our ancestors came to America. The politics of the current situation dissolves in the presence of these individual stories of bravery and suffering and success. For more information: Performing Artservices, Inc. Mimi Johnson 260 West Broadway New York, NY 10013 tel: 212/941-8911 fax: 212/334-5149 artservicesinc@mindspring.com images/content/jesuface.jpg |
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