Wednesday, October 10, 2007

2007 Woodstock Film Festival Opening Night: Joni, Kate and Michael Lang











Ok. Here it is. We're in.

The 2007 Woodstock Film Festival, the eighth annual, that explosion on the edge of the cultural horizon where the magic of movies meets the world's most famous little town, is under way.



I attended the WFF's opening night screening and kick off party at the Bearsville Theater in Bearsville, a hamlet of the Town of Woodstock, just a few miles east of the village green on Route 212. And just let me say that this is my fifth opening night and fifth WFF and this year they got started on a VERY strong note by showing "The Fiddle and the Drum," a sneak preview of a feature length film, to be shown on the Bravo network, of a ballet set to Joni Mitchell music.

Joni worked with acclaimed choreographer Jean Grand-MaŸtre of the Alberta Ballet Company, which performed the piece live for this taping.

In attendance were the Woodstock A-listers and film fest regulars - Kate Pierson of the B-52s, Michael Lang, the man who brought us the 1969 Woodstock music festival, Academy-Award winning filmmaker Leon Gast, the man who made "When We Were Kings" and many others. But more about the after-party in a bit.

You should also know that in welcoming the crowd, film fest executive director Meira Blaustein said Lang made this Joni film happen for the film fest.

Now, I have never been a fan of ballet, but this film was much more than just a ballet. This company, in my humble opinion, were more athletes than dancers, and what they were doing seemed more than ballet. I would call it modern dance. I would call it athletics. I would call it aerobics. I would call it the human body in motion. In fact, it reminded me of the choreography that Twlya Tharp came up with for Billy Joel's music in the Broadway smash hit, "Movin' Out."

So, these dancers are performing on stage, with makeup that looks like war paint, and the backdrop is a series of rotating images that Joni took with her camera, along with one image that keeps returning, that looks like an airliner window, with clouds moving slowly by. They are negatives - of Saddam Hussein's statue being toppled in Iraq, Bill Clinton, war planes, the State of Liberty, a girl playing the violin...very dramatic stuff.

A cool angle on this story is Chrissy Glenn, who introduced the film, runs The Pearl gallery in Stone Ridge and is currently exhibiting Joni's latest art work, the stuff in the film, at her New York City gallery, Violet Ray.

Chrissy says we can look for Joni's work to be shown in Stone Ridge soon.

Here's a bit from Chrissy's Web site, about Joni's work:

"Celebrated Artist/Singer Joni Mitchell exhibits powerful Mixed Media Originals curated by Violet Ray Gallery in Nolita’s newest green space, Openhouse.
201 Mulberry St.

Violet Ray Gallery in New York City is proud to curate one facet of Joni Mitchell’s three brilliant new artistic endeavors.

Singer/songwriter and artist Joni Mitchell, a timeless forerunner of social and spiritual commentary, has completed a body of work for exhibition dealing with the consequences of war and the prevailing human condition. Cutting through ever-present media propaganda, Mitchell’s new photographic exposition “Green Flag Song” is a poetic discourse of humanity’s struggle with itself. Referencing popular media, Mitchell filters through conventional imagery, unveiling her personal vision and offering a precious visual tool for communicating the nightmarish realities of the world we live in. In the hopes of fostering a collective human awareness, this body of work narrates the historical and current strife born from aggression and fear and the consequential repetitive demise that ensues. The power of the work expresses the need for a change of consciousness."

Now, the dancers in the Joni movie, who at times looked like deer running through a forest or a school of fish moving through tropical waters, moved to Joni songs, sung by Joni, and oh my goodness, did I go on a major trip down memory lane. I love Joni. I somehow discovered her at a critical time in my life and just hung on for dear life to "Ladies of the Canyon." I must have played the opening song on that album, "Morning Morgantown," ten thousands times. Then, just for good measure, my brother performed it on the guitar at the party my wife and I threw after eloping to an island off of Maine. But I digress!!!!

The Joni movie opened with "Sex Kills," from "Turbulent Indigo," and just did not let up for about an hour, I guess. There was "Passion Play" and "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" from "Night Ridge Home," the title track from "For the Roses," "The Beat of Black Wings," from "Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm," of course, "The Fiddle and the Drum" from "Clouds" and "The Three Great Stimulants" from "Dog Eat Dog."

There were also three new Joni songs from her CD, "Shine."

Here's a bit from www.woodstockfilmfestival.com:

"Legendary Canadian artist Joni Mitchell in collaboration with internationally acclaimed choreographer Jean Grand-MaŸtre of the Alberta Ballet Company created "The Fiddle and The Drum" a special ballet that speaks volumes of Joni Mitchell's life-long concerns about environmental neglect and the warring nature of mankind.

This narrative ballet was performed to 49 minutes of Mitchell's provocative music. This ballet is a celebration of the profoundly humanistic questions and testimonies that are expressed so poetically by Joni Mitchell, a world-renowned poet. Three art forms combine as Alberta Ballet's commanding dancers move their powerful bodies and their ethereal souls within a protective world of sound, color and texture that Ms. Mitchell has created.

The dynamic set was fully designed by Mitchell and includes the first release of Mitchell's latest artwork, which is projected on a large canvass drum style screen during the ballet."

Ok. So that's the deal on the movie. Here is the deal on the scene:

Kate Pierson told me that the new B-52s album will be called "Funplex" and is set for a February/March release. "Funplex" was recorded in Athens, Ga., where the B-52s hail from and at Paul Antonell's Clubhouse recording studio in Rhinebeck.

Kate told me she is a MAJOR Joni fan.
On the movie, "I loved it.'

On Joni.....She loves the album, "Blue" and the song, "Big Yellow Taxi.'

"She combines something of a mystique of music with speaking truth...She makes the truth beautiful, even when it's ugly."

The B-52s will perform on Halloween at Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan.

Also in attendance was Erik Lawrence, a sick, sick, horn player whose own band is called Hipmotism, but who also tears it up with Levon Helm at the former Band drummer's Midnight Rambles.

The always bubbly Lisa Hantes was EVERYWHERE at the Bearsville Theater. Lisa manages the theater and always seems to manage a smile no matter that she is usually being pulled in about nine different directions by 11 different people. She had quite a busy weekend of shows last week and is looking at another packed weekend.

I caught up with Lisa as she was talking to Bret Mosley, a musician who just yesterday was signed to Woodstock Musicworks

, a new record label run by Ralph Schiano, who was also in attendance last night. Mechanical Bull, another Woodstock Musicworks band, will perform Friday night at the Colony Cafe as part of the film fest's live music offerings. You can read all about the Friday and Saturday night concert's in Thursday's Poughkeepsie Journal


For a full schedule, visit www.woodstockfilmfestival.com.

To find me, just look anywhere along Tinker Street, Route 212 or Mill Hill Road, as I am exhausted already and will probably be passed out in the road from exhaustion. Please, just step over my body.

But wait - I WILL be on WDST Thursday morning, as I am every Thursday morning, at 8:45 a.m., discussing what I saw Wednesday night and what I have planned for the weekend. They are at 100.1 FM and www.wdst.com.

And I should mention, that the pictures up top are:

- a crowd shot from the Bearsville Theater after-party
-Chrissy Glenn
- Lisa Hantes and Bret Mosley
- Erik Lawrence (with the beard) and Lisa Burkland, the WFF technical director's assistant
- And the WDST logo, on the outside of their studios, which are just across the compound from the Bearsville Theater.

Good night all.

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