Musical Memory and How Jazz Memorializes the Old and New
The Antonio Hart Quintet: click the link to hear and see
Flushing Town Hall, October 5, 2019
I was able to get photos of four of the five band members. (Jerome Gillespie II, drums was not within my line of vision:
here is a link to a piece, he is a fabulous young drummer from Houston: youtube )
This was very generous, interactive, accessible concert. After the end I went up to Antonio, whom I had seen in concert many times with the Queens Jazz Masters at Flushing Town Hall. Antonio is the protegé of jimmy Heath, who is well into his 90s and not well but still appears when he can. At the Aaron Copeland School of Music at Queens College, an incredible place, Antonio is a director of a Masters Program, as was Mr. Heath.
Where is this going? Well the last number of the first set was very familiar, and as the jazz riffs morphed, I realized it was one of my favorite songs in one of my favorite movies and after conferring with Antonio I was correct:
Favorite movie: One Touch of Venus with Ava Gardner, 1948.
The song: Speak Low. I misnamed it as the chorus, “Too Soon.” Antonio set me straight and reminded me it was written by Kurt Weill. YES! Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash! It is one of Antonio’s favorite movies, too. I guess we had “a moment!”
Antonio Hart playing Speak Low
Photography: Taken and edited with the iPhone XS Max
©Susan Kalish
Where do you find the time?
You have so much going on, I get exhausted just following your posts! 😀