I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Laramie, Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled Antonio Canova: Sketching in Clay— featuring more than thirty of his sixty-something surviving sketch models in clay (which helped him plan for his large statues in marble) — is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. through October 9th.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is an essay by The Guardian’s chief US reporter Ed Pilkington, at how baffled many of Kenneth Chesebro’s friends are at how a left-leaning attorney (working in relative obscurity) became a key figure in the Atlanta RICO prosecution — and can only ascribe it to a 2014 Bitcoin windfall of his.
THURSDAY's CHILDREN are named Anne the Dog and Ginger the Cat— brought-in separately to a South Africa shelter quite terrified … yet because the isolation room does not separate by species: Ginger squeezed-through his cage and bonded with Anne in her cage.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this essay in Slate by Myaa Helm at how the recent drastic program cuts at West Virginia University— resulting from gross overestimates in enrollment, high executive compensation, state aid cuts and overbuilding on campus — are a harbinger of things to come elsewhere.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Leo the Cat— adopted by the staff of a suburban Philadelphia Home Depot (to track mice in the garden center) and has now become an attraction for the store’s customers.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
SEPARATED at BIRTH— two veteran English rock musicians: Nick Mason (drummer of Pink Floyd) and Ian Gillan (lead singer of Deep Purple).
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… many of the profiles I list are those of sixty-plus veteran musicians but today: someone under forty. Born in France and who relocated to the US after high school, Cyrille Aimée began her singing career with a blend of her native Gypsy Swing, bossa nova and Dominican rhythms. In time, she has moved into ballads and standards .. and now, Broadway and cabaret. The NY Times’ Stephen Holden described her voice as a blend of Michael Jackson and Sarah Vaughn … I find it more reminiscent of the pianist/singer Blossom Dearie: gentle, girlish tones. Either way, a talent worth noting.
Born as Cyrille Aimée Daudel in Fontainebleu (near Paris), the daughter of Frenchman and a Dominican woman, she was intrigued in her youth while attending a festival devoted to the Belgian gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. She attended the conservatory at the NY State college at Purchase (north of NYC), and began to sing at weekend shows in SoHo. She took first prize in the Montreux, Switzerland festival’s vocal competition of 2007 and formed her own Surreal Band afterwards.
After releasing some live recordings with veteran NYC musicians, she released her first solo album It’s a Good Day in 2014 — with some originals, some Great American Songbook classics and even a version of the Rod Temperton song Off the Wall that was a hit for Michael Jackson. 2016 brought the album Let’s Get Lost— with the Frank Loesser title track and other standards.
Meanwhile, she was cast to sing in the 2013 production A Bed and a Chair: a New York Love Story, which was a collaboration between the Lincoln Center Orchestra and Stephen Sondheim — among better-known Broadway legends such as Bernadette Peters. It was Cyrille’s performance that was the show’s surprise, especially on Live Alone and Like It— that led eventually to her 2019 album Move On: A Sondheim Adventure that established show tunes to her musical canon.
Her most recent album is 2021’s recording of standards I’ll Be Seeing You and in addition to the 2007 Montreux talent award: she also won first prize in the inaugural 2012 Sarah Vaughan international competition and third place in the very prestigious Thelonious Monk competition of 2010.
One of her Sondheim renditions was a 2020 Grammy nominee in the Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals category. It is from a 1970 Sondheim play Company— and Marry Me a Little was later used as the title for a one-act, Off-Broadway revue of his songs (taken from different works).
Marry me a little, Love me just enough Cry, but not too often, Play, but not too rough Keep a tender distance so we'll both be free That's the way it ought to be
Marry me a little, Do it with a will Make a few demands I'm able to fulfill Want me more than others, Not exclusively That's the way it ought to be
You can be my best friend, I can be your right arm We'll go through a fight or two-- No harm, no harm We'll look not too deep, We'll go not too far We won't have to give up a thing, We'll stay who we are
Marry me a little, Love me just enough Warm and sweet and easy, Just the simple stuff Keep a tender distance So we'll both be free That's the way it ought to be
Marry me a little, Body, heart, and soul Passionate as hell But always in control Want me first and foremost, Keep me company That's the way it ought to be
Oh, how gently we'll talk, Oh, how softly we'll tread All the stings, the ugly things We'll keep unsaid We'll build a cocoon Of love and respect You promise whatever you like, I'll never collect