DAVE BRUBECK IN ATLANTA

Emory University’s Historic

Dave Brubeck Festival

By Doc Lawrence
"I can't understand Russian, but I can understand body language."

               Dave Brubeck, after seeing Mikhail Gorbachev tapping his foot during

                a 1988 dinner performance in Moscow hosted by President Ronald Reagan.

                                                                                                                   

DAVE BRUBECK IN CONCERT AT EMORY

ATLANTA-The death of Dave Brubeck, the legendary jazz pianist, composer and recording artist inspired media tributes here and in other countries. Dave Brubeck’s impact was particularly significant at Atlanta’s renowned Emory University where in 2002 he was the centerpiece of a five-day festival and symposium exploring his contributions to the arts and humanities.The Emory University Dave Brubeck Festival provided an overview of Brubeck's career, with a special look at his role in the civil rights movement, his musical compositions and style, and his impact on the history of jazz.

The Festival featured a variety of concerts and educational opportunities, including a two-day symposium, concerts by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in Glenn Memorial Auditorium and intimate workshops. Brubeck's breadth of composition spanning jazz, choral and classical genres offered Emory students and the Atlanta community a chance to listen to and learn from one of America’s most prolific composers.



A CHAT WITH STUDENTS

One concert was introduced by H. Johnson, host of the long-running "Jazz Classics," on Atlanta’s WABE-FM. The jazz pianist and American music pioneer led his acclaimed quartet in a sizzling night of jazz, a tour de force of his music that entertained America and the world audiences since 1945 including performances with such legends as Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and concerts for eight U.S. presidents.



BRUBECK AT REHERSAL

At the time of his 2002 visit, Brubeck was still an active composer, writing jazz and classical music and in some cases crossing boundaries between these genres. Generous with his time, Brubeck hosted a jazz improvisation class, an afternoon with Emory students at the Carlos Museum that encouraged dialogue and was highlighted by a duet with one young woman who joined maestro Brubeck in playing “Take Five,” easily the most recognizable jazz composition ever. Atlanta resident Stephen Thomason was there and recalls the moment: “Brubeck was just hanging out,” he said, “enjoying everybody and invited this student to play the piano. He sat down beside her and joined in playing ‘Take Five’ all around her hands on the keyboard. It was so warm and thoughtful and to me was music from another world.”

Emory's historic five-day festival and symposium included The Dave Brubeck Quartet performing with the Emory Symphony Orchestra and Chorus joining in for such favorites as "Boogie One A.M," "All My Hope," "In Your Own Sweet Time,” plus Bach-inspired arrangements.

“If there's a heaven," Brubeck once said, "let it be a good place for all of us to jam together and have a wonderful, wonderful musical experience."

NOTE: Here is a sneak preview of the holiday TV special “An Old Fashioned Christmas” which airs December 22:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5HL6p9bmFtc

    Images courtesy of Emory University

ATLANTA'S THEATRICAL OUTFIT AT THE BALZER

THE GIFTS OF THE MAGI-

SPECIAL HOLIDAY SPARKLE

“Doing something for Jim makes time move faster for Della than it would otherwise. It's her love for her husband animates her and gives her energy.”

                                                                The Gifts of the Magi

By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA-They don’t call this exciting city the cultural capital of the New South for nothing. Along with the Atlanta Symphony, the Atlanta High Museum of Art, Alliance Theatre Company and the Carlos Museum at Emory stands the Balzer, a downtown gem and headquarters of the Tom Key led Theatrical Outfit.

The holiday production of “The Gifts of the Magi” will satisfy that itch to do something worthwhile with family and friends during this wonderful season. The timeless story features a talented cast that includes one of my favorites, the irrepressible Bernadine Mitchell. The holiday musical by Mark St. Germain is based on the classic O. Henry story.

It’s Christmas in New York and Jim and Della are out of work and penniless. To afford presents for each other, both secretly part with their most precious possessions. In the classic holiday story, the two lovers' gesture of giving creates a warm and intimate Christmas in a cold, unfriendly city. Set to the music of Randy Courts, this charming musical kindles the holiday heart of Atlanta.

Atlanta native Bernardine Mitchell has performed nationally and internationally in a wide range of roles that includes Mahalia Jackson in Mahalia, Bessie Smith in Bessie’s Blues, Mrs. Potts in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Velma and Mother Shaw in Crowns, Alice in Big River and the Matron in Chicago. I treasure precious memories of her jazz and blues singing here in Atlanta clubs.

Theatrical Outfit holds true to its mission of providing diverse audiences, actors and artists with a rich theater experience and to produce works that stimulate thoughtful discussion, using local talent to tell its “Stories that stir the soul” – which often come from classic and contemporary literature – featuring themes that are both relevant and revelatory. “Magi” provides all this and more. “Magi” or any musical blessed with the special touch of Atlanta’s S. Renee Clark elevates the spirit with rhythm and harmony.

Since 1995, Tom Key has led the organization at the award-winning downtown Balzer Theater at Herren’s.  The Balzer Theater is also the historical site of Herren’s, the first restaurant in Atlanta to voluntarily desegregate. Key has produced many of the best writers of the American South: Truman Capote, Horton Foote, Harper Lee, Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, Hank Williams, Tennessee Williams, as well as the new dramatists Carlyle Brown, S.M. Shephard-Massat and Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder.

“Gifts of the Magi” runs through December 23.  Performances are Wednesday – Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

www.theatricaloutfit.org

Photographer credit: Josh Lamkin.

RARE WINE AT RITZ-CARLTON BUCKHEAD

REGAL PORT FOR THE HOLIDAYS

By Doc Lawrence

“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that.”

                               C.S. Lewis

ATLANTA-- At formal dinners in England, the British Army, RAF and Royal Navy use Port as the wine to toast the Queen. While the Queen will not be in Atlanta during this holiday season, Port as regal as the monarchy itsef is being served during December at the heralded Ritz-Carlton Buckhead.

Not just any Port, mind you, but one of the rarest of them all, a century-old treasure: J.W. Burmester, Port, "Rio Torte", Late Bottle Vintage, Douro, Portugal, 1900. This special offering presents an experience at a very special time of the year for couples to toast the holidays together. And who’s to say others should not enjoy a glass of Port that has few equals here or anywhere?



Linda Torres-Alarcon



Linda Torres-Alarcon, the highly respected Ritz-Carlton Buckhead Sommelier, sings the praises of this Port: “With this much age on it, the flavor profile is leaning more towards a dry sherry with lots of complex nutty dried fruit characteristics.” How perfect for a season to remember. Port as a prelude to a lasting relationship? Aim high and all good things are possible..

The cost is $90 per glass and it is offered exclusively during the holiday season in the hotel’s Lobby Lounge, a luxuriously cozy and romantic room that will recall that last vacation in London.

MR. FOOD-OH SO GOOD

Art Ginsburg As Mr. Food-

A TV Cooking Pioneer

By Doc Lawrence

WESTON FL- Almost everything that I consider worthwhile about the relationship between food and celebrity I learned from Art Ginsburg, including the gentle art of promotion and marketing. Known to millions of television viewers as Mr. Food, he built an empire consisting of syndicated cooking shows, cookbooks, DVD’s and Internet advice few if any will ever equal.

After a battle with cancer Art Ginsburg, 81,died at his home in Weston near Fort Lauderdale. His signature declaration, "Ohhhh, it's so good," which was a colorful part of each television cooking segment, helped to define him as an American celebrtity chef original. If you looked closely, there was a twinkle in his eyes when he was facing the camera.

Art Ginsburg as Mr. Food began with a local show that was eventually syndicated nationally. At peak, the show was seen on more than 100 television stations and as Ginsburg once told me during a converastion at his studio office, was ideally suited for local television programming because it was not only interesting and entertaining, but “fit seamlessly into a brief format.”

Completing a dish or meal ready to be served in a matter of minutes seems impossible, but Ginsburg could do it masterfully with ease.

The television production company was the core of the overall businessoftheMr. Food operation and the physical facility was as complete and technolgically advanced as a major city television station headquaters. What impresse mewas that Ginsburg’s family was included in his business from top to bottom..

I have a growing kitchen library loaded with cookbooks and food and wine literature. Among the best are the ones from Mr. Food, particularly his cookbooks for diabetics. The recipes are healthy and should be guideposts for everyone seeking a better dining experience.

Mr. Food deserves credit for much of today’s interest in cooking live on the set, and the attention to local grown products, farm-to-table dining and healthy diets.

He was oh, so good.

A GEORGIA THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING IN STONE MOUNTAIN

 By Doc Lawrence



Stone Mountain Village Celebrates

Before we are overwhelmed by the delights of the table, ponder the spiritual meaning of this day. Everyone has something to be thankful for, even if it’s just remembering a church bell ringing or a haunting trumpet solo.

Thanksgiving was officially introduced to Americans by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. The Civil War Sesquicentennial extends through 2015.  A prayer of gratitude was found in the belongings of a dead Confederate soldier after a terrible battle:

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve,
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked God for health, that I might do greater things,
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy,
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men,
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for
- but everything I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among men, most richly blessed.

Thanksgiving is the time to reflect. If we enjoyed a good year, we express thanks. If there have been difficulties, we are happy for what we do have and resolve to continue doing our best. A meaningful existence isn’t predicated on wealth or excess. We honor what we are by simple gratitude for the gift of life and the beauty of the world.

Warmest wishes,

Doc

Doc Lawrence

Stone Mountain, Georgia

TAILGATING IN ATLANTA

  

A New Dixie Football Feast

“As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. I'll never be hungry again.”

                     Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind

By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA-Standing on a grassy area outside Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd stadium was an ethereal experience. Surrounded by towering buildings including the international headquarters of Coca-Cola, a native son can be overwhelmed by these monuments to power and growth. Just a few blocks away is a storied Peachtree Street home where Gone With The Wind author Margaret Mitchell wrote her book, the Fox Theatre where a very young Elvis Presley performed just before fame and fortune and The Varsity, the world’s largest drive-in restaurant where zillions of hot dogs are served.

Atlanta justifiably claims to be the cultural hub of the Southeast. The High Museum of Art, The Atlanta Symphony, and the Alliance Theatre Company are side-by-side components of the Woodruff Arts Center near Tech’s campus. The Jimmy Carter Presidential Center hosts world renowned leaders and Nobel-Laureates and sits just a mile from the grave of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1954, at a studio on this college campus, Georgia native Ray Charles recorded his first hit, “I Got a Woman,” and the earth trembled.

This fall Saturday before Thanksgiving features a football game between Tech and visiting Duke’s Blue Devils, two great academic institutions with alumni and fans that take tailgating to new heights of excellence.

Scarlett’s Atlanta legacy includes a delicious cocktail, the Scarlett O’Hara. Chuck Jackson has been a Georgia Tech fan since childhood days in Atlanta and makes cocktails with the skill of a Ritz-Carlton mixologist. He served his interpretation of this hallowed beverage at his tailgating space and the Southern Comfort-based drink was a near-perfect eye opener.

While Atlanta has an abundance of outstanding Southern restaurants, New Dixie cuisine includes bolder takes on traditional Southern dishes: Apple wood smoked Georgia Mountain trout served on this day soared with a 2010 Becker Estate Pinot Blanc, Pfalz, a great German white wine.

With the Coca-Cola skyscraper hovering, the Atlanta version of the Cuba Libre was ready on call from more than one outdoor bartender. Camp and Marilyn Riddle made them with Mount Gay Dark Rum from Barbados using Coke One to cut down on calories. A nice squeeze of lime added authenticity to the cocktail classic.

They served shrimp cocktail showcasing wild Georgia White Shrimp from Brunswick on the state’s Atlantic coast. The Bloody Mary included a new find, Dimitri's Bloody Mary Seasoning.

Georgia is a rinsing star artisan cheese producer and Sweet Grass Dairy in the southernmost part of the state wins awards as often as Georgia-born Buster Posey, the San Francisco Giants baseball MVP. The Riddle’s presented a pre-game winner, Sweet Grass Thomasville Tomme with Biltmore Estate’s Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine.

Tailgating at Tech was a synthesis of old and new cooking where the beverages were relevant to the event. The cuisine traditions of nearby Mary Mac’s Tea Room, a venerable restaurant legend were juxtaposed with the influences of great chefs like Linton Hopkins, who heads up Atlanta’s acclaimed Restaurant Eugene.

As the fans packed up everything and filed into the ancient stadium, I walked up the hill to Peachtree Street’s Georgian Terrace Hotel where the cast of Gone With The Wind celebrated the movie’s world premiere long ago. The hotel launched the career of Arthur Murray who began teaching the country ballroom dancing while he was a student at Georgia Tech.

The array of diverse food was a prelude to the upcoming holiday feasts. The wines and cocktails coalesced into an existential tribute to Scarlett, forever Atlanta’s favorite personality. For a few hours in her old neighborhood, no tailgater was hungry.

Enjoy a Jack Daniel’s Gourmet evening in Tennessee:

http://mycookingmagazine.com/gourmet-highway-a-jack-daniels-evening/

TAILGATING DOWN SOUTH IN TUSCALOOSA

Champagne, Grilled Shrimp & Tequila-

                 A Football Afternoon in Alabama

"My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit.

                           James Bond; played by Sean Connery in “Goldfinger.”

By Doc Lawrence

TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA-Alabama gave the world Tallulah Bankhead, Hank Williams, Nat King Cole and my dear mother. My great-great grandfather died in this state as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. Returning is spiritual renewal.

This glorious Saturday started with a nice walk along the Black Warrior River where Kentuck, Alabama’s great outdoor folk art extravaganza was held last month. The night before was one of the most memorable dinners in recent years at The Bright Star, perhaps the most popular of all Alabama restaurants. Located in nearby Bessemer, Jimmy Koikos carries on a family tradition of more than a century serving Greek/Deep South food. My choices were Shrimp Remoulade followed by their incredibly delicious Snapper cooked Greek style with a side of pickled beets. Wine selection was St. Francis (Sonoma County) Chardonnay.

Tuscaloosa is Southern heartland: Football, a great university, home to barbecue’s heralded Dreamland and one of the livelier places anywhere on an autumn Saturday. This was a day for a monumental football game with a reunion that caught national attention. “The Junction Boys,” 21 of them from Bear Bryant’s teams of the 1950’s at Texas A & M were here to celebrate their common thread with Alabama (both colleges are part of Bryant’s footfall coaching legacy) and they were treated as heroes.

Strolling the grounds near the stadium with a hangdog thirsty look will, I found, attract sympathy and relief. Alabama tailgaters are famously friendly and before long, here was a flute of chilled Laurent-Perrier Champagne-the real thing-in my right hand courtesy of a nice family from Birmingham. Adding more enjoyment, they tossed in bacon-wrapped just grilled shrimp we consumed as they were transferred still sizzling from the coals to plates. I had seen the latest 007 movie and James Bond always triggers a need for bubbly.

You pay homage to the University of Alabama’s impressive list of accomplished alums: Begin with Harper Lee. Her “To Kill A Mockingbird,” remains a global favorite and in some ways Kathryn Stockett (“The Help”) has followed in Ms. Lee’s footsteps. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black gave meaning to the Bill of Rights and was a champion of fairness and equality under the Constitution. Then, there is “Broadway Joe” Namath, the swashbuckling quarterback who literally made Americans crazy for football.

‘Bama grads Nell and Tim Nations are retired, living in a Central Florida resort town. These are seasoned tailgaters who, according to Tim, “came into this kind of weekend fun later in life when the kids left home.” On this day, we had pre-game laughs and shared stories propelled by some of the most amazing tequila cocktails this side of Guadalajara .The spread was like a picnic catered by the Ritz Paris: Pate, artisan cheeses, fork-tender tournedos of beef, poached salmon. Wine? Inman Family Pinot Noir, a spectacular selection from the heart of California’s Russian River Valley. Recognizing that Champagne has been a Deep South favorite since the Civil War, bottles were opened and poured. On a lovely fall afternoon in Tuscaloosa, their Champagne was served att the proper temperature.

Down South, we honor tradition.

NOTE: The Jack Daniel’s Gourmet tasting dinner was on a magic Tennessee evening beside the historic distillery:

http://mycookingmagazine.com/gourmet-highway-a-jack-daniels-evening/

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