LIFE IN THE SMALL BIG CITY (Cheri)

Outside of not-really musing about moving back to San Francisco, Mark and I never envisioned moving to a bigger city/area when we retired.

Almost every community has more cultural opportunities than we take advantage - or are even aware - of, but we've been so pleased with all of the things that we can do here in the Winston-Salem area, which has a population of over 700,000.

We feel like we still live in a smaller town because we live on the very grassy, almost rural northwestern edge of the area.  We've lucked out because the area's roads are very navigable and traffic is light, compared to other larger cities.

The illustration above was not actually for a concert that we attended on Sunday, but it was for the same group, and caught my eye because Martha Bassett, the lead singer and lead of the ensemble wore a wild and lovely jumpsuit in the same colors while singing and playing.

We had heard some of the bossa nova standards that they played before, on vintage radio, and probably even have some on jazz albums, but didn't know anything about the genre.  The concert was so enjoyable, just a little educational, sexy, and funny!

Bossa nova originated in Brazil, as a blend of samba and American jazz.  Listening to both the music and the Bassett's between-pieces commentary made me see a literate, hot, languid place, and I longed to visit.

All but one of the songs were sung in Portuguese.  Portuguese is of course similar to Spanish, but to me it sounded strongly inflected with Japanese tones.  I looked to see if many people of Japanese origin live in Brazil.

No.

Mark said that the better question would be whether the Portuguese traded heavily with Japan "back in the day."

It was probably just my imagination.

We really enjoyed an impromptu bit by percussionist Chris Reichmeier on the capabilities of the pandeiro, which looks from the audience like a tambourine, but is tunable.  "A pandeiro can also be shaken to make sound, or one can run a finger along the head to produce a drum roll."  (Wikipedia)  Here's a tiny video Reichmeier did, from YouTube, and a longer video by another artist.  (You should definitely catch the bit at about the 2:00 mark.)

It turns out this was the final concert of Music Carolina's SummerFest 2025, if you don't count the Salem Bach Festival, which takes place September 5-7.  Mark's comment:  "Turns out we participated, and didn't even know it!"  We got on the mailing list to hear about next year's events a little earlier.

Another great part about the SummerFest is that each concert is preceded or followed by a free "Latte and Learn" at a local cafe, in which the artist or a related expert discusses the history of the music style, and possibly his/her experience with it.  I would love to have gone to yesterday's talk, but had just too much going on.

We were slightly aware of Martha Bassett because she hosts a live show based in Elkin, NC, which we visited in early 2022.  (See here, here, and here.)  It airs on public radio in North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, can be found on YouTube, and airs a podcast.  I had thought that she focused exclusively on folk music, but not true.  You can hear the latest of her approximately nine albums here.  (I think it will be part of my sister's birthday gift.)

It turns out that Bassett also sang on - and in - the movie that we saw last night at the fine Aperture indie cinema, A Little Prayer.  Between songs, one of her band mates - possibly her husband? - mentioned that she plays as part of a fictional VFW house band in the movie, and sings off screen at the beginning of the movie and after the credits.

She channeled her grandmother for those portion of the vocals.  Her band mate said it is like the church choir mate you may have had who "sings with gusto . . . mostly just gusto."

If you happened to love Junebug in 2005, as I did, this movie is by the same writer and director, Angus MacLachlan, a Winston-Salem native.  This one is both funny and can't-fix-it sad.

A Little Prayer was shot entirely in Winston-Salem, and the summer heat seeps from the screen!  You can also see a few shots in and around the fine Reynolda House Museum.

If you see A Little Prayer and enjoy it, please talk it up.  This is an indie movie, and the current limited national engagements will be a test of the market, to determine whether the distribution company will take it national.

Why do I have a picture of my Mini Cooper here?  Just for fun, to go with a mention of our seeing the 1969, original, version of The Italian Job, also at the Aperture Cinema, last week.  There are a lot of Minis around here, because of the local dealership, which sponsored a showing of the film. 

The first part of the movie:  so-so.  The last half, with the car chase, including a segment across and around the domed roof of the Fiat building?  Awesome!

The theater and Mini dealership had brought in one of the stunt drivers for that 1969 movie, to take questions afterwards!  He was a kick, and spoke with what I guess was a Cockney accent. I asked him whether he had inspected the structure beneath that domed roof before he drove all over it, and he said no, he was in his 20s and didn’t think about that kind of thing then.

This has been a long blog post already, so why this?

The Aperture sells water in boxes, and if you "post an image of this carton with #betterplanet . . . [the Boxed Water company will] plant 2 trees in a National Forest with the NFF."  Worthwhile.