A number of local businesses have become “polling places” for a contest. Just stop in and vote for who you think will win awards this Sunday in a variety of categories: Best Leading Actor and Actress; Best Supporting Actor and Actress; Best Director; Best Picture; Best Animated Feature; Best Documentary and Best Foreign Film.
Winners receive prizes donated by those merchants.
The contest ends this Sunday (February 26) at 4 p.m. You can vote at these locations:
Le Rouge by Aarti
iFloat
Francois du Pont Jewelers
Organachs Farm to Skin
Vincent Palumbo Salon
The Brownstone
Green & Tonic
The UPS Store
Downunder
Westport Hardware
Saugatuck Sweets
Joe’s Pizza
Simon Pearce
Body Quest
Soleil Toile
PS: As you enjoy the Oscars Sunday night, raise a glass in memory of Oscar’s.
Last year’s pre-Oscars party at Oscar’s was also deli owner Lee Papageorge’s 65th birthday. His daughter Missy presented him with his very own statue. (Photo/Diane Lowman)
The music world is mourning Larry Coryell. The jazz guitarist with a rock sensibility, died Sunday in New York. He was 73.
He’s also a former Westporter. Coryell lived for several years on Watch Hill, off North Compo across from the Town Farm tennis courts.
His career was intertwined with another Westport musician, Brian Keane. The Staples High School Class of 1971 grad has composed the music for hundreds of films and television shows, produced over 100 albums, and won Grammys, Emmys and Peabodys.
Brian recalls his friend, fellow collaborator, and enormous influence:
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell was a legendary guitarist who pioneered the fusion of jazz and rock. There will be lots of tributes to his career. He played with everybody in jazz.
Besides his own 11th House band, he recorded with John McLoughlin, Gary Burton, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock.
He also made some recordings with me.
Larry was an amazing musician. Many people don’t realize it, but he was among the best rhythm guitar players (certainly that I ever played with). He was incredibly supportive as a rhythm player. I didn’t even realize that until years later, when I listened to old tapes of some concerts that someone recorded of us together in Europe. He could play very fast as well of course, and he could play a wide variety of styles.
I was 24 years old when I met Larry in 1977. I had managed to get some gigs with Eddie Gomez, Jeremy Steig, and a few other notable musicians. I heard Larry lived in the area, and arranged to take a guitar lesson from him (in order to meet him).
It worked. We became friend, and partners in crime, partying and sharing music. We were both wild men back then, living the life, in the height of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. I could tell you so many crazy stories it would take pages. But I will save those mostly depraved and highly entertaining tales for those who lived through that era with us.
Larry Coryell (left) and Brian Keane in Europe, 1982.
I gave Larry’s kids guitar lessons when they were young. I was good friends with his departed wife Julie, and Larry and I had many good friends in common.
After a while, Larry and I did some festivals together, and started doing duo gigs (lots more stories I could tell). Larry provided a young idiot savant stoner guitarist (me) a chance to do concerts around the world. We went everywhere together for a while: all 50 states, more than 50 countries, in about a 5-year span. We made 4 records together. I thought it was the biggest thing for my career at the time (and it probably was then).
However, Larry and I did something even bigger for each other than just about anything else that happened, and it had a tremendous impact on both of our lives.
We got sober together. And we did it largely on the road.
I have to give Larry’s wife Julie some of the credit for making him go to get help, and forcing me to be clean in order to tour and record with him. But Larry took it seriously, and kept me in line (at the age of 28 when I definitely didn’t want to be). That said, I got better at it eventually, and helped him more than a time or two as well.
This was an era when nobody in the music business was going straight. As much as Larry showed me some great guitar riffs or chord changes, as much as I got to see the world as a young man playing with him, I owe Larry my greatest debt of gratitude for being that person I leaned on to stay sober while out on the road — and I was that for him as well. Later, we influenced many other prominent musicians in that same regard.
Larry and I stayed in touch over the years, though our career paths went in different directions. I have stayed in touch with his incredibly talented kids Murali and Julian as well. Larry was very sick last year, but I thought he was on the mend.
His death leaves a huge hole in my life, in the lives of so many of our mutual friends who were there during those years, and in the music world. But my heart especially goes out to his wife Tracey and the Coryell family at this difficult time.
R.I.P., my fellow road warrior. We certainly did up some great times together.
The video below is a very rare recording of “Bolero” by Larry Coryell and Brian Keane. It was recorded live in concert in Italy, in 1983.
This Sunday, Westport’s eyes will be on Justin Paul. The 2003 Staples High School graduate and his songwriting partner Benj Pasek are up for 2 Academy Awards. Two of their “La La Land” lyrics — “City of Stars” and “Audition” — have been nominated for “Best Song.”
A 2nd Westporter is also up for an Oscar. Nicholas Britell’s “Moonlight” is among 5 nominees for “Best Original Score.”
Paul — who with Pasek also wrote the music for the current Broadway smash “Dear Evan Hansen” — has gotten plenty of local publicity.
Yet despite winning a Westport Arts Horizon Award in 2012, Britell has gotten less press here.
Nicholas Britell.
A 1998 graduate of Hopkins School in New Haven (as well as Juilliard and Harvard), he’s a New York-based composer, pianist, and film producer.
He composed and arranged spiritual and work songs, violin performances and dance numbers for “12 Years a Slave,” among many other credits.
Yesterday’s New York Times described how Britell “chopped and screwed” classical music, giving the “Moonlight” score its “otherworldly sound.” Click here for the full story.
Here’s wishing good luck to both Justin Paul and Nicholas Britell on Sunday. Besides growing up in Westport a few years apart, they’ve got another connection: Damien Chazelle. He’s known today for directing “La La Land.” Four years ago, he directed “Whiplash.” The producer was Britell.
(Hat tips: Anne Rutherford and Jeff Wieser. Click here for a full list of nominees for Sunday’s Academy Awards. If you spot any other Westport connections, click “Comments” below!)
“06880” could post stories every day about Justin Paul, and never run out of things to say.
We could, but we won’t.
Nevertheless, the latest news about the 2003 Staples High School graduate — who with his songwriting partner Benj Pasek is a Golden Globe winner, Oscar nominee, movie and stage and TV sensation, and basically the hottest thing on the musical theater horizon since Rodgers and Hammerstein — is pretty impressive.
The original cast recording of “Dear Evan Hansen” — a Broadway smash — debuted at #8 on the Billboard chart. That’s higher than any cast recording since 1961, when “Camelot” appeared for the 1st time at #4.
To answer your question: “Hamilton” first showed up at #12.
That’s today’s Justin Paul news. We’ll be back soon with more, for sure.
(Want your own “Dear Evan Hansen” cast recording? Click here!)
It’s a story so outlandish, folks who were there don’t believe it: In a 2-year period in the mid-1960s, the Doors played a concert at Staples High School.
So did Cream. The Yardbirds. Sly and the Family Stone. The Rascals. The Animals. The Beau Brummels.
Plus over the next few years, the Byrds, Rhinoceros, Buddy Miles, J. Geils, Peter Frampton and Taj Mahal. And Steve Tallerico, before he became Steve Tyler.
I saw most of those bands. I’ve written about it, on “06880.” So has Mark Smollin, a 1970 Staples grad, in his great book The Real Rock & Roll High School: True Tales of Legendary Bands That Performed in Westport CT.
Still skeptical? Now there’s even more proof: a video documentary, called “The High School That Rocked!”
It’s a labor of love from Fred Cantor, a 1971 Staples alum who missed most of those performances, but is now making up for lost time.
Rock has never died — witness all the young rock lovers born decades after Jim Morrison died — and Cantor enlisted the help of a very recent Staples grad to bring his vision to reality.
Casey Denton (Class of 2014) led a high-level Emerson College camera and sound crew, then edited the final prodcut.
The video includes research Cantor had done for Smollin’s book, and over a dozen interviews with people who were there at the concerts. (Spoiler alert: I’m one of them. Our recollections seem pretty accurate, despite the admonition that if you remember the ’60s, you weren’t there.)
Cantor focused on a 2-year period, when 6 bands now in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame all took the Staples stage. He is convinced no other high school that could make such a claim.
The video also includes Staples grads from that era who made their mark in the music world. One is Paul Gambaccini, perhaps Britain’s most famous music presenter. Another is Charlie Karp, who at 16 years old was influenced by the concerts to leave Staples and join the Buddy Miles Express. A third is Emmy winner Brian Keane.
Cantor is working with the Westport Cinema Initiative, Westport Historical Society and Levitt Pavilion, to bring “The High School That Rocked!” to a wide audience here.
He’s also entering it in festivals (film, not rock). The first is Film Fest 52 at the Bethel Cinema (Wednesday, March 8, 6 pm VIP party meet and greet, 7 pm film, followed by a Q&A and reception). It will also open the SENE Film, Music & Arts Festival in Providence on April 25.
You don’t have to have seen any of the Staples concerts — or even to have been alive then — to love this film.
But if you were there, you’ll appreciate the final credits.
They say the film was produced by “Sally’s Record Dept. Productions.”
Ginger Baker, Cream’s drummer, at Staples. (Photo copyright Jeremy Ross)
If you watched the “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” last night, you saw Kid Cudi perform a fantastic version of “Kitchen,” backed by a full string section.
If you watched really closely, you could see Danny Pravder on piano.
Danny Pravder (right), backing Kid Cudi on national TV.
The 2012 Staples High School graduate earned a B.A. in math and computer science from Skidmore College. But music is his passion.
A few weeks after graduation, he drove cross country to try to make it in L.A.
Days later, Kid Cudi needed a pianist for “Does It,” a track on his new album “Passion, Pain and Demon Slayin’.” Music director Steve Velez — who Pravder had met 2 years earlier, on a classical music tour of Vienna, Salzburg and Prague — suggested the recent arrival.
Danny Pravder
Pravder nailed it — then improvised a coda for “Releaser,” another track. A few takes later, they had the version used on the album.
That January, Pravder joined a chamber collective called the Da Capo Players. Velez is the music director and cellist for that group too.
When Kid Cudi was booked for the Jimmy Fallon gig — with those strings — Pravder was invited too. He flew to New York on Tuesday. They rehearsed that night.
There is no piano on the original “Kitchen” track. Pravder improvised, on live TV.
Though the camera focuses almost entirely on Kid Cudi, there was a brief piano solo — with a spotlight.
Danny Pravder (left) with Kid Cudi and members of the Da Capo Players, backstage at “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”
Today’s snowstorm delayed Pravder’s return to California. But it won’t slow down his career.
Ahead are more studio projects. A future in dance accompaniment. World travels, performing piano.
And — no doubt — many more TV appearances, with the greatest performers in the land.
(Click here to see last night’s performance of “Kitchen” with Kid Cudi and Danny Pravder.)
It wasn’t quite curling up with the New York Times crossword.
More like racing through it, trying to beat dozens of other crossword aficionados. The grand prize: A book (about words) donated in your name to the Westport Library.
Your name on a new plaque.
And — 24 hours before the Super Bowl — the knowledge that you’re a champion in a competition using (instead of destroying) brain cells.
It happened this afternoon: the Library’s 18th annual Crossword Puzzle Contest.
Jeff Wieser was ready for the Crossword Puzzle Contest. The countdown clock is in the background. There were 3 preliminary rounds, of 20 minutes each.
I was there for the 1st time. The McManus Room was filled with fellow puzzlers. Many had come to previous contests. A few had been to every one.
Eric Maddy came all the way from Huntington Beach, California (and wore shorts). He seemed to know a lot of folks. Crossword solvers have created quite a community.
But there were plenty of familiar faces. Sitting across from me was Jeff Wieser, CEO of Homes With Hope. On my right was Alan Southworth, the 2010 Staples High grad/musician/marathon runner/crossword creator (he hopes Will Shortz will select one of his puzzles for the Times).
Will Shortz: New York Times puzzle editor, Westport Library contest host, all-around cool guy.
Shortz himself — the Times puzzle editor/NPR host/Indiana University enigmatology major — was at today’s contest too. He served as the genial, wisecracking, challenging host.
The diverse, high-energy crowd was perfect for Shortz. And he had 3 strong puzzles — a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (in ascending order of difficulty) for us.
I did not win. I did not make the cut as one of 3 finalists. I am, however, extremely proud to say that I did receive a perfect score on all 3 puzzles.
I earned a certificate for that, signed by Will Shortz himself.
A couple dozen others got certificates too. It was that kind of group.
And that kind of only-in-Westport afternoon.
PS: The 3 puzzles will be published in upcoming Times editions. Will gave us the back stories about them. One is by the youngest creator in Times history. When we heard that, no one in the room felt smart at all.
You might even call us clueless.
The 3 finalists. Andy Kravis (right) of New York City won, finishing a Friday puzzle in a blazing 4:50. Eric Maddy (center) was 2nd. He came all the way from California — and received a Westport Library tote bag in appreciation.
From now on, the winner’s name will be etched on a plaque honoring longtime puzzle fan Howard Brody. As the award notes, he “never had a cross word for anyone.”
Two years ago, Ted Thompson’s 1st novel was published.
“The Land of Steady Habits” follows Anders Hill. In his early 60s and seemingly comfortable in Fairfield County, he suddenly abandons his career and family for a new condo and a new life.
It doesn’t happen the way he expects, of course. But neither did Thompson’s own life.
Ted Thompson
He entered Staples High School in 1997 as a lacrosse player and skier, and left it as a writer. Writing and directing his own play there was “a hugely transformative experience,” he says.
He studied playwriting at NYU, then earned a graduate degree in creative writing from the University of Iowa.
Thompson says that growing up in Westport — with “tremendous opportunity, plenty of encouragement, terrific schools” — helped form who he is today.
And much of Westport — the house he grew up in, cookouts at Compo Beach, the way the Post Road looks in winter — found its way into “The Land of Steady Habits.”
The novel earned him comparisons to Updike and Cheever. Now it’s being made into a Netflix movie.
Ben Mendelsohn (“Rogue One”) plays the lead. Edie Falco (“Sopranos”) and Thomas Mann also star, while Nicole Holofcener (“Enough Said”) directs.
No word yet on when filming begins. Eventually though, it will stream right here where it all began.
Daniela Taplin Lundberg thought “Patti Cake$” would be a hit.
Still, the Westporter was surprised by the reception her film got last week at Sundance.
The comedy — about a white female rap star in New Jersey — generated great buzz at the famed film festival; created breakout star status for lead actress Danielle McDonald, and incited a bidding war for distribution rights. Fox Searchlight snagged the prize with a $10.5 million offer, huge by Sundance standards.
Daniela Taplin Lundberg
Taplin Lundberg — who co-produced the film — is a Sundance veteran. She was involved in the Oscar-nominated “The Kids are Alright,” and also produced “Beasts of No Nation” and “Hello, My Name is Doris.”
But this is her first time backing a film through Stay Gold Features, which she founded.
The development of her own production company — named after a classic line from “The Outsiders” — coincided with her move to Westport a year and a half ago.
She and her husband Ted had talked for a while about leaving New York, and finding space for their 3 young kids to grow.
“It all coalesced in a nice way,” she says. “Westport felt like a relaxed, beautiful and slightly unconventional place, which is exactly what we wanted.”
Even if it’s not exactly New Jersey, with those female rap stars and all.
Click here to help support “06880” via credit card or PayPal. Any amount is welcome, appreciated — and tax-deductible! Reader contributions keep this blog going. (Alternate methods: Please send a check to “06880”: PO Box 744, Westport, CT 06881. Or use Venmo: @blog06880. Or Zelle: dwoog@optonline.net. Thanks!)
GET THE “06880” APP
The “06880” app (search for it on the Apple or Android store) is the easiest way to get “06880.” Choose notifications: whenever a new post is published, or once or twice a day. Click here for details.
