PS 177: March 6, 1934

from the nypl digital collection

Rachel Isadora: Bring On The Beat

Another youtube video done to accompany Rachel Isadora's book, Bring On The Beat. This one done by the Reader's Theater Project from the Children's Museum of Los Angeles
from amazon

Gr 1-4-In this exuberant celebration of jazz, black endpapers usher readers into a quiet city neighborhood, in Harlem in the '30s, where a trio emerges from a jazz hall to "Wake up the street" with a jam session under the lights. People begin to peek out of shops and gather around the stoop where the musicians "Bring on that beat." Children and adults alike begin to swing and before long, the music moves up to the roof. More people join in, leaning out of windows, congregating on the fire escape, and dancing on the rooftop. Isadora's black-and-white spreads suggest a bygone era when boys wore knickers and cars looked very different. The art is executed in oil and overlaid with computer-generated watercolor splashes of Klee- and Kandinsky-like designs that simulate the sounds. Even the buildings seem to sway to the beat. One interesting spread depicts children in yellow-orange-red silhouette dancing on piano keys that extend from the buildings as the Man in the Moon, with the face of Duke Ellington, looks on. While the rhyming text, which appears in large negative type on a black background, is minimal, its constant urging to "bring on that beat" and its jazz rhythm works powerfully with the illustrations to evoke the excitement and swelling of the music from a quiet corner to a building to the whole city. Pair this offering with Chris Raschka's Charlie Parker Played Be Bop (Orchard, 1992) and Isadora's Ben's Trumpet (Greenwillow, 1979) for a swinging good time.

Who's Who In Knickerbocker Village History: Rachel Isadora (Rosenthal)

above a dedication video from a youtube user named tibbstv

A cinematic rendition of Rachel Isadora's children's book, "Ben's Trumpet". My homage to the illustrated portions of the Reading Rainbow television series, which was always special to me as a young child, and dedicated to my trumpet teacher

I've head back from Rachel Rosenthal from 40 Monroe Street. She was a ballet dancer and later became Rachel Isadora, the noted children's book author and illustrator. Glad to have her part of the ever growing KV community:
fro harpercollins

Many children dream of becoming dancers, musicians, actors, and artists, but few have the opportunity, the skill, and the determination to live out those dreams. Rachel Isadora is the exception. When she was young, she wanted to be a ballerina--and she became one. And now she has firmly established herself in a second career as an artist with an impressive string of picture books, including Ben's Trumpet, a Caldecott Honor Book.
Born and raised in New York City, Rachel studied at the School of American Ballet (associated with the New York City Ballet) as a Ford Foundation scholarship student. She danced with the Boston Ballet until a foot injury forced her to consider another career: book illustration. "I had always drawn for my own entertainment," says Rachel, "but I'd never had any instruction, and I wasn't sure how to proceed. So I just took a collection of sketches-odds and ends on bits of paper-to the first editor who would see me. She suggested I do a book about what I knew best." The result was Max, published in 1976 and named an ALA Notable Book.
Since Max, Rachel has written and illustrated many other books, and has illustrated three books by her editor, Elizabeth Shub. When Rachel begins a new book, she first imagines the story through the pictures. I 'see' each illustration separately," she says. "I write a description of what I envision on each page; then I go over it with my editor and make revisions. Next I do the actual drawing, and finally I write the text."
Rachel Isadora lives in New York City with her two children. When she is not busy with her family, she spends most of her spare time drawing. "Work like this is a dancer's fantasy," she says. "Because ballet is so demanding, dancers' stage careers are short. They can only dream of going on and on forever. With art, I can go on and on, and for me it's the only work that compares in intensity and joy."

KV Chatter Cynthia Miller: This Is Your Life

Some of the guys were "riffing" on their sweet memories of Debbie and Cynthia Miller -it all started with Rachel Rosenthal a few posts ago. Marv said the conversation sounded like This Is Your Life so I attached the classic spoof of the show with Sid Caesar, Howie Morris, Carl Reiner and Louis Nye.

1. My only recollection of Cynthia Miller is we were playing in a boys & girls pitching stick game. Eddie was pitching and hit Cynthia who ran home crying. Her father, who might have been a former boxer, came storming into the park trying to figure out which kid hit his daughter.

2. I was close friends with Cynthia's sister Debbie.Debbie and I were in the same classes all through PS 177, and went to the same summer camp (Educational Alliance - Camp Edalia) When we became teenagers, she and I shared many private thoughts about our respective 'coming of age'.Debbie was also pretty, like Cynthia. She was soft spoken, and she blushed easily...I was very fond of her. I remember when her dad passed away. Debbie was around 15 at the time. It was the first time I remember feeling someone elses sense of loss...and I can still remember looking into Debbie's sad eyes when it happened...The last time I saw her, we were in our upper 20s...she was married, and living on Grand St. Debbie is on my short list of people I would very much like to see again. I remember that Cynthia was very sweet; always nice to me, as her kid sister's friend. As for the moms that Marty mentioned, I remember Debbie and Cynthia's mom as being very nice. Peter Levine's mom, Elaine, was a close friend of my mom. Elaine would sometimes babysit for me. My mom still talks about how I would put Elaine through the mill when she was looking after me...me insisting on having 'a cheese sandwich, with mustard, with the edges cut off, and the sandwich cut at a diagonal, making two triangular pieces.' She said that whenever Elaine would refer to my unique lunch requests, she would break out in laughter about it...she had a great laugh! If she was laughing, that made everyone around her smile. Elaine worked for the NYC Park Dept...she had an unusual job that she was terrific at: She was stationed at the Central Park Zoo, in the children's section. Her job: She was the 'storyteller', reading popular tales to the infatuated children who gathered there. She had this natural ability to engage the kids; to get them to participate in the whole storytelling process...She really loved doing this!...Marty, it seems like you and I are motivated to find out where Cynthia and Debbie Miller are.

3.This has the makings of one of the old TV shows where a "blast' from the past is brought on stage. I can't recall the name of the show.

The Original Kalamazoo

This one features the original Glenn Miller band featuring Tex Beneke and the Modernaires and the great Nicholas Brothers

Julius La Rosa: I Got A Gal In Kalamazoo

Julie singing with a 1983 Glenn Miller Band
images from rootsweb-mikalama

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H
I got a gal in Kalamazoo
Dont want to boast but I know shes the toast of Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)
Years have gone by, my my how she grew
I liked her looks when I carried her books in Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)
I'm gonna send a wire, hopping on a flier
Leaving today
Am I dreaming? I can hear her screaming
Hiya Mr. Jackson, Everything's OK
K
A
L-A-M-A-Z-O
Oh, oh, oh, oh what a gal, a real pipperoo
I'll make my bid for that freckle faced kid I'm hurrying to
I'm going to Michigan to see the sweetest gal in Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)
(Kalamazoo!!)
K
A
L-A-M-A-Z-O
Oh, oh, oh, oh what a gal, a real pipperoo
We're going to Michigan to see the sweetest gal in Kalamazoo
(Zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo, zoo)
Kalamazoo

Julius LaRosa: Crazy Rock N' Roll Party

Julie attempts to get down with the rock n rollers in the 50's
Rachel Rosenthal recently found the KV blog and mentioned her. Hey Rachel I emailed you
Blogger Rachel said...

I knew Reggie when I lived in his building (40 Monroe Street). I spent a great deal of time playing with Reggie and knew his family very well. I lived at FI10 and Reggie lived a floor or two below. We had many friends in the building including.......Steven Pelly, Laurie Puhn and others that I can't remember. Our other friends were Cynthia Miller, Eddie Applebaum (Toby), Lynn Steinberg, Lois Ebert (mother Pearl,father Jerry), Judy Platin, Joel Sosinsky and certainly many others. I came upon this blog and memories flooded back............please contact me if anyone reads this and shares the history.

A remembrance of Son Of Seth about Cynthia Miller

I remember Cynthia Miller very well. Her mother and Peter Levine's mother (Penthouse E-Building) threw what they called a "social." It was the first party with slow dancing that I ever went to. It was kind of bewildering, I remember it as a kind of surreal. The memory and associations of Peter Levine's mother's lamb chops hung deliciously in the air. There were songs like "Put Your Head on my Shoulders," and "When a Girl Changes from Bobby Sox to Stockings" playing. I remember that Cynthia was younger than I was. And I danced with her and she was flirty, or something I interpreted as flirty, and I was smitten with her. I think the event actually took place at Peter Levine's house now that I think about it but Cynthia's mother was the co--parent host. Strange, that party stayed with me and about fifteen years ago i saw this woman on the Upper West Side who I thought might be Cynthia Miller and reacted like I'd seen a ghost--or maybe more like an angel. Someone otherworldly in any case. Turned out it was someone else of course but I did go up and ask her if her name of was Cynthia and she probably thought I was hitting on her. Anyhow, there were ornamental faux chandelier ornaments on the piano in Peter Levine's living room. Strands of costume jewelery beads that hung down in rows, clear "diamond" and strikingly pretty emerald. Memories as fragile as nearly forgotten dreams. Cynthia had warm brown eyes and brown hair and she was cute in a teddy bear kind of way. I thought of her as an ordinary pretty girl--which made her adorable. The genuine article. But young for me, probably two or three years younger than I was. I was a big dude back then you have to remember. Probably in second grade.

Eh Cumpari

In honor of the Italian wing of KV. From wikipedia:

"Eh, Cumpari!" is a novelty song. It was adapted from a traditional Italian song by Julius La Rosa and Archie Bleyer in 1953, and sung by La Rosa with Bleyer's orchestra as backing on a recording that year. The song reached #1 on the Cash Box charts and #2 on the Billboard charts in 1953. As a result, the song was also featured in a performance by Dennis Day on The Jack Benny Program on CBS Radio. The song also appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather III as sung by Talia Shire, who played Connie Corleone, the sister of Michael Corleone.The song is a cumulative song, in which each verse contains all of the previous verse as well.
It is sung in a southern Italian dialect, with words common to Sicilian language and Neapolitan language. This leads to shortened or variant spellings even within the verses. The song is about the sounds of musical instruments. A rough translation:
Hey buddy, [music] is playing.
What is playing? The whistle.
And what does it sound like--the whistle?
[vocalized instrument sound] the whistle, [nonsense rhythm words] etc.
friscalettu = whistle [small flute]
saxofona = saxophone
mandolino = mandolin
viulinu = violin
trumbetta = trumpet
trombona = trombone
Eh Cumpari, ci vo sunari
Chi si sona? U friscalettu
E comu si sona u friscalettu?
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
E cumpari, ci vo sunari
Chi si sona? U saxofona
E comu si sona u saxofona?
Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
E cumpari, ci vo sunari
Chi si sona? U mandolinu
E comu si sona u mandolinu?
A pling a pling, u mandulin
Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
E cumpari, ci vo sunari?
Chi si sona? u viulinu
E comu si sona u viulinu?
A zing a zing, u viulin
A pling a pling, u mandulin
Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
E cumpari, ci vo sunari?
Chi si sona? A la trumbetta
Ma comu si sona a la trumbetta?
Papapapa a la trumbetta
A zing a zing, u viulin
A pling a pling, u mandulin
Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
E compari, ci vo sunari?
Chi si sona? A la trombona
Ma comu si sona a la trombona
A fumma a fumma a la trombona
Pa-pa pa-pa pa la trumbetta
A zing a zing, u viulin
A pling a pling, u mandulin
Tu tu tu tu u saxofona
U friscalette, tipiti tipiti tam
Tipiti tipiti
Tipiti tipiti tam

KVers Survive Ike

Hey let's lift a glass to celebrate the Venturato's surviving Ike's destruction. An email from Larry:

I just got electrical power back. It was a wild ride Friday night. I came out of it O.K. No damage to my home, but Houston is torn up. Trees uprooted, debris, collapsed structures, and broken glass everywhere. I'm sure you saw it all on TV. I can't believe that anyone who stayed on Galveston Island got out in one piece.

The Venturatos are both engineers living in Houston
From Anthony's bio:

Mr. Venturato has a 40-year career in the rail transportation industry and is an accomplished program manager. As a vice president of STV, he has managed major starter line rail projects throughout the country, such as the highly successful Houston METRORail, the Dallas DART system, and Portland's MAX. Prior to joining the firm 12 years ago, he had held high-level project management positions for a number of rail transit agencies, such as Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Tri-County Metropolitan Transit District, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and Bay Area Rapid Transit. Tony has also held key positions on notable projects, such as the English Channel Tunnel Project.

As for Larry, from his lifelong pal Joe Bruno:

LARRY VENTURATO GRADUATED FROM LASALLE ACADEMY AND MANHATTAN UNIVERSITY AND WAS VALEDICTORIAN OF HIS GRADUATING CLASS BOTH TIMES. LARRY IS NOW AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER FOR THE HOUSTON TRANSIT AUTHORITY.

The NARA Releases Secret Grand Jury Transcrpts Of Rosenberg Trial

The above is an abc40 (Western Massachusetts) video of Robert Meeropol which is coupled with a statement of his reaction to that release at The Rosenberg Fund For Children
an excerpt from the National Coalition For History on the release

On September 11, 2008, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) opened formerly secret Grand Jury testimony transcripts from the trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg more than fifty years after they were indicted on espionage charges, convicted, and executed. The release of the transcripts resulted from a successful lawsuit filed by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, the American Historical Association, the American Society for Legal History, the Organization of American Historians, the Society of American Archivists, and New York Times reporter Sam Roberts almost eight months ago.
NARA released 940 pages of transcripts from 41 of 45 witnesses’ appearances before the Rosenberg grand jury between August 1950 and March 1951. Testimony of three witnesses: David Greenglass, Max Elichter, and William Danziger, has been withheld due to objections by the witnesses.
In July, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said that the government must release most of the sealed grand jury records from the Rosenberg trials. The federal government conceded in a June filing that the Rosenberg case is of “significant historical importance” and said it would not contest the release of testimony of witnesses who have passed away or consented to the disclosure.
The documents include the grand jury testimony of Ethel Rosenberg’s sister-in-law, Ruth Greenglass, in which she describes writing in her own longhand the information her husband obtained at the Los Alamos nuclear installation, for passing on to Julius Rosenberg and the Soviet Union. Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation show that ten days before the trial against the Rosenbergs commenced, Ruth and David Greenglass for the first time mentioned that Ethel Rosenberg had typed those notes. At trial, Ruth and David Greenglass testified that Ethel Rosenberg had typed up the information from the Los Alamos nuclear installation. Ruth Greenglass was never herself prosecuted for her role. The lead prosecutor used the Greenglass testimony as the culmination of his closing speech to the jury, saying that Ethel Rosenberg sat at that typewriter and “struck the keys, blow by blow, against her own country in the interests of the Soviets.”
Ronald Radosh, co-author of The Rosenberg File and one of the experts who filed affidavits in the case, commented, “The grand jury documents cast significant doubt on the key prosecution charge used to convict Ethel Rosenberg at the trial and sentence her to death.”

Stan Getz: Seven Steps To Heaven

Stan Getz plays "Seven Steps To Heaven" for Ollie Shannon and for all those other KV related departed. According to the youtube post this was his last video recording and Stan knew he was living on borrowed time since he had liver cancer (which for a while he had put into a miraculous remission through diet and supplements). People forget how good Stan was. A comment from the posting:

Stan possessed the gift of perfect pitch, sometimes called absolute pitch and it occurs in about one in 10,000 people,and he was one of the best sight readers in the business, also he had an unbelievable photographic memory. I also mentioned before in other comment that the sound he gets is from blowing whole tones for 30min before his lesson when he was young. But most of that beautiful tone that he had also came from his cheeks, as if he had 2 large apples stuck in there.

Oliver Shannon: 3/23/66 Erasmus Defeats Franklin