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Last Updated: 12/2/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Married
Age: 51
Sign: Leo

State: Connecticut
Country: US
Signup Date: 8/12/2007

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Saturday, June 06, 2009

Volume 2, Issue 6 "Au Revoir" - The Last Issue
Current mood:

accomplished
Category: Art and Photography

Before We Go

As you know, Garage Noir will suspend publication as a monthly newsletter and blog after this issue. Before we go, we’ll share a final taste of the energy, diversity and creativity we find churning all around us, featuring in this issue:

A few parting shots at “the establishment,” two very different and very fine artists of New Haven, a heartfelt and lyrical tribute from Young Tim, an soul injection for the suburbs and a little dragon so dangerous you should have a fire extinguisher standing by.

Judging by your responses, Garage Noir has been a success. I am proud of all we’ve done. Garage Noir was the collaborative e-zine of art, music and the creative process and, perhaps, will be again someday.

Thank you for participating.

Karl Stephan, Editor

And Your Point Was What, Exactly?

Excerpted from recent review in a glossy art periodical, newsstand price $5.95 US:

“Thematic pairs - vegetal, anthropoid, experiental - heighten drama and underscore conceptual unity. Geometric, spatial compositions suggest the stability of the built environment; freeform and planar compositions inscribe the sensual flux of the natural one.”

I’ve seen this excerpt in context and I know the artist’s work well. I think the second sentence might mean: “Some parts of the picture looked like buildings; other parts looked like plants, or animals.” Sorry, I can’t make any sense of the first sentence at all.

Readers of glossy art table magazines know this style of art writing. It’s the dense excelsior of typeface you find applied to every style of art between the costly gallery advertisements. To the reader, it is unhelpful. To the artist, it’s a positive disservice.

The point of Garage Noir was to bring you closer to art, music and the creative process by sharing original work accompanied by plain English text with first-hand commentary wherever possible. Integrating art with real life was our priority. I hope it was helpful.

Willard Lustenader: A Patient Man

(Email karl.stephan@cox.net to receive a copy of the illustrated Garage Noir)

I spent an afternoon recently with artist Bill Lustenader. We enjoyed lunch near his studio in downtown New Haven, after which he graciously invited me up to his loft-style studio and living space overlooking State Street.

Years of open-air landscape painting, hard-edged abstraction and classical figuration practiced in varying proportions have lead Bill Lustenader to his current happy mode of expression, inspired by his young son’s paper cut-outs.

A graduate of Vassar College and the London’s Courtauld Institute of Art, Bill is deeply versed in art history, but finds in his current work something so intensely subjective and immediate as to be almost outside of that history.

In his studio I observed what thought was a glass palette. (Durable and easy to clean, many painters prefer glass as a mixing surface. I use it myself.) Showing me the grain, Bill demonstrated it was cherry veneer from his grandfather’s workshop.

Making wood as hard and smooth as glass takes a patient man. So does the best art. Bill Lustenader’s work may be seen around the country, and online at www.wlustenader.com

For Belma Geneva Engebretson Hetzel – by Tim Mund (her grandson)

Grandma asked me four years ago to sing and play guitar at her funeral. After my wife Anne’s grandmother Ruth passed away in 2005, I sang and played at her funeral. Grandma Hetzel was there. A few weeks later when I spoke with Grandma over the phone, she said, “Tim, I liked your song. I want you to sing at my funeral.” I said, “Grandma, I’d love to sing for you, but you’ll be with us for a long time, so we don’t have to pick out any songs yet.” To that she replied, “Nope, I only have money for two more years, that’s it.” Grandma had the frugal Norwegian gene.

Here is my song, based on “Girl From The North Country” by Bob Dylan, 1963.

Well, if you're travelin' in the north country fair,

Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,

Remember me to one who lives there.

She once was a true love of mine.

Well, if you go when the snowflakes storm,

When the rivers freeze and summer ends,

Please see she has a coat so warm,

To keep her from the howlin' winds.

Please see for me if her hair hangs long,

If it rolls and flows all down her breast.

Please see for me if her hair’s hanging long,

That's the way I remember her best.

I'm a-wonderin' if she remembers me at all.

Many times I've often prayed

In the darkness of my night,

In the brightness of my day.

So if you're travelin' in the north country fair,

Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,

Remember me to one who lives there.

She once was a true love of mine.

Tim’s 4-year-old nephew, Nathan, said Grandma went straight to heaven on a rocket ship: Grandma wouldn't want to waste any time getting to where she was ready to go.

Tim Mund is a musician, software executive and father in Chicago, Illinois.

Kevin Daly: Hot Rods, Hendrix, Hearts & Minds

(Email karl.stephan@cox.net to receive a copy of the illustrated Garage Noir)

I have never met Kevin Daly. Our work has appeared together at group shows, and we’ve corresponded briefly but I know he’s a generous and hard-working artist, totally committed to his mode of expression. To paraphrase Kevin:

He applies the vernacular of pop culture to modern formalist painting to explore the relationship between desire and necessity.

To me Kevin’s work is about hot rods and rock and roll (Hendrix aficionados will note the reference above), the prototypical American mix for winning hearts and minds.

Large and (visually) loud, sometimes ironic but never cynical, Kevin’s work celebrates life. Kevin shows his work frequently. It can also be seen online at: www.kevindaly.us

Live Music Review: Sharon Jones in Baltimore – by Martha Marani

Six moms from suburban Baltimore, we were surrounded by urban hipsters, porkpie hats, six-inch mohawks and lip piercings – but all the contrasts fell away as we joined the collective shimmy and shake of a Sharon Jones show at Baltimore’s Ram’s Head club.Sharon and her Dap-Kings issued challenge after challenge, pulling a gentle-looking guy we dubbed “Pat” onto the stage first, then two frat boy types with surprisingly good moves before dismissing a girl in a strapless black dress with an eye roll (we agreed.) For a girl in cowboy boots - the only one to give Ms. Jones and her Dap Kings a run for their money - she stepped back to make room. Respect. But nothing any of us did - no hip swaying, foot stomping, hand clapping or finger snapping - came close to keeping up with the boundless energy that’s packed into this musical dynamo. We were better for trying though. It’d been raining in Baltimore for days and days. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings chased those clouds away. The sun is shining today. I have a song in my heart - “100 Days, 100 Nights” - and a shimmy in my step. Take it, shake it, throw it on the floor. The sun is out and Ms. Sharon Jones has been to Baltimore!

Martha Marani is a writer, editor, neighborhood activist and mom in Baltimore.

Caution: Hot!

(Email karl.stephan@cox.net to receive a copy of the illustrated Garage Noir)

Our Final Playlist* – (Garage Noir MySpace Songs of the Week for May):

"Não Interessa Não" – by Brazil’s fabulous Orquestra Contemporânea de Olinda.“Wonderlust King” – from Eastern European gypsy-punks Gogol Bordello.“Buhalla” – hypnotic music of Morocco by Hassan Ben Jaafar."Rock & Roll Is Never Gonna Die" – super-punk from London’s Atomic Suplex.“El Reloj de la Pastora” – by Mumbai Taxi, from, naturally: Indianapolis, Indiana. *Note: Garage Noir will continue to recognize deserving artists on MySpace weekly.

Editorial Statement

Garage Noir was the collaborative e-zine of art, music and the creative process. We were an inclusive free publication, delivering varied non-mainstream information and creative content to an unlimited readership. We invited content submissions which were selected according to the publication’s monthly theme. Perhaps someday we will again.

“If it was real, we were interested.” Karl Stephan, Editor karl.stephan@cox.net

Art Music Life

THANK YOU.

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Saturday, May 02, 2009

Volume 2, Issue 5 "Detour"
Current mood:

accomplished
Category: Art and Photography

From the Editor

This month’s theme “Detour” reflects the steps we’re sometimes bold enough to take beyond what poet T.S. Eliot might have called the appetency of our metalled ways. Indeed my recent detour to New Orleans provides the content for most of this issue. But “Detour” also signifies changes to come.

Regretfully, in this case it means that Garage Noir will suspend publication as a monthly newsletter and blog after the June issue, “Au Revoir.” While I have had help, I simply can’t afford the time it takes to assemble quality cultural content every month, for the most part by myself.

Garage Noir has been a success. I am proud we have brought you talented new voices with new points of view. I am delighted we have promoted cultural events and practitioners you otherwise might never have heard of. I am grateful to have shared my own work with such a supportive readership.

In our proudest achievement, Garage Noir T-Shirts for Charity helped raised hundreds of dollars for several human services providers including Habitat for Humanity, Paul’s Place, Heifer International, Action against Hunger and South Park Inn homeless shelter of Hartford. Thank you for your generosity towards those in need.

Please note that Garage Noir is suspending publication, not going away. First, there is one more issue to get out: Volume 2 # 6 “Au Revoir.” Please send your submissions (especially relating to farewells and new directions) for inclusion in this last issue – for now - of GN.

After June, I will post content on MySpace and Facebook as the spirit moves and time permits. I welcome your friendship and any submissions there. I can’t say what the future of GN will be, but I look forward to practicing and supporting handmade art and music for as long as there is such a thing.

Thank you for participating in Garage Noir, the collaborative e-zine of art, music and the creative process.

I wish you well.

Karl Stephan

Editor

Playlist – April 2009 - GN Songs of the Week in order of appearance:

"The Power" – new from Tel Aviv funksters The Apples.
“Good Suits and Fighting Boots” – by The Bonnevilles, a blues duo from Ireland.
"I Know You Don’t Know" – by New Orleans funk drummer Zigaboo Modeliste.

Bands and songs featured on Garage Noir are all on MySpace.

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Friday, April 03, 2009

Volume 2, Issue 4 "Folly"
Current mood:

catalyzed
Category: Art and Photography

The Last Days of“Sir” Mick Leafy

Astute readers will recall that late last year, Garage Noir received a puzzling manuscript by mysterious means which resulted in a plea to you – the astute reader – for help. Since our public request we have received further items to flesh out the picture of the man we now know as “Sir” Mick Leafy.

A tentative obituary, a youthful photograph, a scrawled drawing, several police reports, and other items admitted as evidence show that “Sir” Mick, while a lifelong criminal, also managed to rise to the top of the tree in his inadvertently chosen field of art history as Director of the Sub-National Gallery of Art in Louth, Lincolnshire, England.

True, “Sir” Mick was an inveterate liar and (alleged) thief, but he was also well-connected and held himself in the highest regard, despite all evidence to the contrary. This unjustified hauteur, combined with utter illiteracy with respect to art, made him the ideal man to lead England’s second - or third - most important regional art museum into the 20^th century.

Unfortunately for “Sir” Mick, the 20^th century had, for the most part, ended. With it went the unjustifiably high social regard to which his “title” and criminal tendencies had “earned” him, as well as most of his money and, in an ironic late-life café brawl, his other shoe and most of his remaining teeth.

In a desperate attempt to remain personally viable in the social structure of the century just past, “Sir” Mick “reorganized” the Sub-National Gallery collection constantly, almost obsessively. He is alleged to have replacing many of its priceless works with overpriced home furnishings (which he stored in his home long with a few select museum holdings) and cash, which has disappeared.

These “paradigm changes” in the museum’s “business model” were
not noticed for many years, as few people (least of all museum Trustees) ever visited the Sub-National, Louth or Lincolnshire at all. During this “quiet time” as he called it “Sir” Mick busied himself by writing books, starting fires and making jam sandwiches.

When authorities finally took notice of the (alleged) depredations, “Sir” Mick did what (alleged) miscreants of his social set have done since time immemorial: he (allegedly) legged it for the south of France/ There in Marseilles he apparently went to ground, but there our story ends in mystery.

The entire (alleged) “Sir” Mick Leafy story (such as it is) is now available in a Special Issue of Garage Noir. Here is the strange and poorly researched text that started it all:

The True Story of Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” – by “Sir” Mick Leafy

One of the greatest, if not the greatest painting of all time is “American Gothic” by the esteemed Grant Wood. This painting has much to tell us about the very nature of the universe and life itself, but first it is necessary to explore the life of the craftsman to whom we owe this divine masterwork.

Mr. Wood was born in 1900 on a small corn farm in Iowa. Like most young Iowans, Wood’s favorite pastime was husking corn and many a summer day was wasted away husking from dawn until dusk. Unfortunately, when
Wood was ten, he lost both of his thumbs in a bizarre and tragic husking
accident. This earned Wood the nickname of “No Thumbs”, a nickname which stuck to him until he was given prosthetic thumbs as a Father’s Day present in 1941. The rest of Wood’s life was somewhat inconsequential, save his staggering work of genius, “American Gothic” painted in 1928. One cannot even begin to comprehend the impact this work could have had if Wood had been working with more than 80% finger capacity.

Now: on to the painting itself. It may appear to be a simple portrait of an
older Iowa farm couple, but upon further review, it goes as deep as the very core of human existence.

The first important detail is that the woman’s glance goes out to her left and not straight out towards the viewer. Clearly, this woman is either struggling to pay attention to the artist (a clear sign of dementia or another serious mental disorder), or she is distracted by something else behind the artist. Perhaps there was a rabid cow rampaging through her garden or nine men who looked remarkably like the 1919 Chicago White Sox playing baseball in her cornfield. What it truly was that distracted this woman will probably never be known.

The other detail that is important is that the man in the painting is holding a pitchfork. This is baffling to say the least. Apparently the man could not put the pitchfork down long enough to pose for a highly detailed and painstakingly crafted portrait. Or perhaps he felt such an emotional attachment to the pitchfork that he could not imagine a family portrait without it included. Either way, this development belies a troubling mental instability in the farmer. One can only wonder whether the pitchfork had a seat at the dinner table and its own bedroom. The pitchfork could
very well be an outlet for this older couple to deal with the pain of their
children growing up and moving away.

This brings me to the final crucial detail in this painting; the house in the background. The shades of the house are drawn, and any good art critic can tell you that this signifies that the couple has something to hide. What are they hiding in that house? Is it an indoor “farm” growing a different
kind of “crop,” to supplement their plundered retirement savings? The point is: there could be anything in that house. It seems like a security risk.

In conclusion, American Gothic is one of the most important works of art in the past 100 years. Every time I look at the painting, I learn a little bit more about me and the world around me. From a background of personal struggle, Grant Wood has created something truly great. Big deal.

“Sir” Mick Leafy is by now if anything too well-known to regular readers. This will be his last contribution to these pages (we promise) as he is a fugitive from justice and also probably dead. Investors are cautioned that Leafy Hedge Capital continues in operation, in the United States at least, where regulatory conditions remain favorable for theft.

“New” Music Alert

Death was a Detroit proto-punk band that released one 7' 45 (RPM!) in 1975. Capital had signed them, but dropped the band when they refused to change their name. If you like “rock, and/or roll”, check out Death on MySpace and/or Facebook. The album “For the Whole World to See” brings Death back to life. Listen and challenge your assumptions.

Congratulations Collaborators – GN is so proud of you!

Joshua Gannon-Salomon – Summer Theater Internship, Off-Broadway NYC
Heather Groenstein – Hartford Magnet Schools “Teacher of the Year”
Andrew Stephan – American University Honor Society
Jacque Zoerner – Remaining “the adult” in the face of overwhelming odds

Next Month

More reader submissions and other quality content from Garage Noir. Until then Garage Noir can be found at: www.myspace.com/garagenoir
and at the intersection of art and reality. Garage Noir is also on Facebook.

Editorial Statement

Garage Noir is the collaborative e-zine of art, music and the creative process. We are an inclusive free publication, delivering varied non-mainstream information and creative content to an unlimited readership. Content submissions are invited, and will generally be selected according to the publication’s monthly theme. This
statement is boring.

“If it's real, we're interested.” Karl Stephan, Editor karl.stephan@cox.net....

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Friday, March 06, 2009

Volume 2 Issue 3 "March Madness"
Current mood:

catalyzed
Category: Art and Photography

Irish Music – From the Inside - by Joshua Gannon-Salomon....

The bus was late. It was a cold January afternoon, I was on
my way to an Irish music session at the Harp, a pub in ..North
Amherst.. and the bus was late. The sky was rapidly darkening, and
when the belated bus finally dropped me off in ..North
Amherst.. center with nothing more than my fiddle, the clothes on my
back, and a crude mental map of the area. I began the walk up the road; night had fallen while I was en route, and I was soon chilled to the skin. I found the bar within five minutes, and stepped inside, where the hostess, a small thin woman, gave me a warm hello, glanced at the fiddle, and told me to follow the bar. I shut the door behind me and walked around past the handsome, L shaped wooden bar to the corner where the bar met the dining room. There, kitty-cornered into the space was a small gaggle of musicians, roughly in a circle, all sitting around a pair of crates that served as tables. I saw two fiddlers and three guitarists, two whistle and flute players, one mandolinist, a whistle player doubled on bodhran, and I pulled up an unused chair, and took out my fiddle. They were playing at a pace that challenged my skill as I had just learned the song, but I played along as best I could. Soon, one of the two younger fiddlers led the group into a new tune without so much as a word. I didn’t know the new tune, so I lowered my bow and tried my best to figure it out. I noodled a bit, and then decided to take a moment to look about myself and get grounded.

The Harp’s décor was virulently Irish. Portraits of Irish heroes adorned the wall behind the bar; Irish soccer & Gaelic football jerseys were hung on the ceiling. The crate-tables had copies of “The Immigrant,” a Boston publication aimed at Irish immigrants, lining them, the bathrooms were labeled in Irish Gaelic, and next to the extensive liquor collection (featuring many an Irish whiskey) on display behind the bar stood an impressive Irish harp, a little more than two feet high at my best estimation. What is more, the area the musicians occupied seemed to be meant for them; there
were framed photos of fiddlers, a uilleann piper, and a man with a bodhran
surrounding the benches, and further on down the same wall, a painting of the musicians’ area of the pub, where an accordionist, a harper, a flutist, and a fiddler’s instruments are spinning grey ribbons of something into the air above the crate-tables, twisting and folding like free-form Celtic knots, and where it intersects, the grey turns gold, depicting a stylized harp player in profile. Obviously, this was a place where Irish music was played and very much respected.

Joshua Gannon-Salomon is a college sophomore and is himself semi-virulently Irish.

Public Notice – Part Three (Continued from GN V.2 #1 and #2)

In January we asked for your help to identify the provenance
of a manuscript purporting to tell the “real” story behind Grant Wood’s classic painting “American Gothic.” Last month we received a mysterious obituary in response. This month we received this:

(Email karl.stephan@cox.net to subscribe to the illustrated Garage Noir)

“Annotated American Gothic” Burnt stick, jam, tea and smudges on paper, Attributed to “Sir” Mick Leafy

New Music: I Set My Friends on Fire - by Pete Stephan

It seems that musical artists today pigeonhole themselves into a genre, and are unwilling to move on once they have found success. One band that is impossible to pigeonhole is I Set My Friends on Fire, a duo from Miami, Florida, that can best be described as “experimental”.

This genre-defying group, formed in August 2007 by Matt Mihana and Nabil Moo, combines elements of electronica, dance, metal, hardcore,
along with some comical lyrics and titles. Matt handles the vocals and Nabil
the instruments, programming, and just about everything else.

The two became a Myspace sensation almost overnight with
their screamo version of the popular dance song “Crank Dat”, originally by
Soulja Boy. The track on MySpace has to this date been played over 1 million times. The overnight success of the duo did not go unnoticed. They were signed by Epitaph, one of the largest independent record companies in the world, in spring 2008.

Their first album, entitled “You Can’t Spell Slaughter
Without Laughter”, was released in October 2008. It merges the pair’s unique sense of humor with a barrage of beats, riffs, screams, and sing-along choruses. The album is not for the faint of heart. The duo pours an overwhelming strength of emotion and musical ability into the 12 tracks, making it an aural workout. “I Set My Friends on Fire” appears to be going strong, and the best part is you never know what they’ll do next.

Recommended downloads: “ASL”, “Things That Rhyme With
Orange”, “Crank That”

Pete Stephan is a junior in high school.

This Month’s Cover

This photograph was supplied to us by the art-crimes unit of
Scotland Yard, who in turn found it in a waste bin outside the Sub-National
Gallery in Louth, Lincolnshire, England. Tellingly, Garage Noir’s customer service senior team lead Tuesday Alvarez remarked: “He looks so trustworthy.”

Show News – courtesy H. L. Groen:

The Libertine Collective (TLC) ReArt Show

Opening Friday, March 6th 7-10pm

650MAC Gallery at Middletown ArtSpace
650 Main Street,Middletown CT

Free, with donations welcomed to support the arts.

LIVE hand-made music by The Kelvins with Michael Clancy
& Chris Phillips

In a world in which things are just thrown away & tossed aside, a group of
artists from the Libertine Collective reinvent art and celebrate the unwanted, discarded and misunderstood, and take the idea that "one man's garbage is another man's treasure" to another level. In essence, the concept honors the misunderstood in each and every artist. Instead of discarding the
individual, we choose to honor what is different and unique.

Artists:

Christian Ayala
Noel Coonce Ewing
Joseph Dinunzio
Silas Finch
H.L. Groen
Amy Mielke
Michael Shapcott
Karl Stephan (of Garage Noir, featuring“The many moods of junk”)
Carrie Swider
Michael Warble
Sid Werthan

The Libertine Collective is a Connecticut-based creative group of like-minded artists of every medium who express themselves and motivate others. The Collective explores and shares ideas through actions, connections, intellect, communication and intent; allowing for enriched life experiences. In doing so, we inspire one another with endless possibilities and gain insight by learning from one another.

Gallery hours: Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For information
visit: http://mac650.blogspot.com.

Libertine” H.L. Groen of Hartford is an artist, art educator and mom.

Sneak Preview – Possibly the finest Wiffle Ball in Western art premieres at TLC ReArt

(Email karl.stephan@cox.net to subscribe to the illustrated Garage Noir)

Our First Playlist – GN Songs of the Week, January 2009

Garage Noir’s “Song of the Week” was inaugurated on MySpace to coincide with the New Year. Here are January’s cuts in order of their appearance:

"Bounce Baby" - New Orleans funk masters Galactic team up with L.A. DJ Z Trip to put a little bounce in your step.

"Prepare to Burn Live" - Cincinnati punk veterans The Long Gones back up their name with this number, which is real gone.

"Marquis de la Noix de Coco" - French swamp rocker Coco Nut delivers a sultry, loony bit of self-promotion. Vive le Marquis!

"Well You Needn't" - Thelonious Monk broke the mold of be-bop while it was still new. In honor of American pioneers Martin Luther King and Barack Obama.

“Good Times, Bad Times” - Dread Zeppelin delivers Plant/Page “inna reggae style” behind Elvis impersonator Tortelvis. Laughing in the face of Dread!

All GN artists and songs of the week can be found on MySpace.

Next Month

Editorial Statement

“If it's real, we're interested.” Karl Stephan, Editor karl.stephan@cox.net....

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Sunday, February 01, 2009

Volume 2, Issue 2 "The Terrible Twos"
Current mood:

catalyzed
Category: Art and Photography

Mise-en-scène (Act Three - the final act - continued from GN V.2 #1)

Scene 1.
A little girl leads her dog across the stage, which is
brilliantly lit.

Scene 2.
Two young men stroll across the stage arm in arm.

Scene 3.
Small appliances are tossed from the wings and onto the
stage; some of them break.
Firemen enter, blasting away this flotsam and jetsam with
Powerful streams of water.
Mermaids, holding conch shells to their ears, rise at the
rear of the stage, singing and waving at the audience.

Scene 4.

Piles of dirty laundry!
(None of them move.)

Scene 5.....
Tomato, tomato.
Potato, potato.
Egg salad, egg salad.
Pie.

Scene 6.....
Total darkness with sound of whirring eggbeaters.
Three sharp slaps.
Man’s voice: Hello?
Hello?
Dial tone.

Scene 7.

All the characters come on stage, in costume, and embrace.
A little boy gives a fish to the pope.

Tableau.
The curtain slowly falls to the audience’s warm applause.

Dr. William Meikrantz
lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and practices medicine in Cambridge.
Email karl.stephan@cox.net to receive the complete “Mise-en-scène”
in a special illustrated edition of Garage Noir.

Just Completed– “Tableau"

(Email karl.stephan@cox.net to subscribe to the illustrated Garage Noir)

The Team - by Jacque Zoerner

Reassured by the presence of their
coaches
"Button that top button,
son" (still coaching)
Proudly wearing ribbons in team
colors
Nervously fingering car keys
Awkwardly one-arm hugging
teammates.
They hold my hug a little longer
than usual.
They search the adult faces for
social cues
They make the next small step
toward adulthood.
The loss? Ten feet tall- and even more bullet-proof
than themselves.
(So they imagined)
Killed in a construction accident.
No chance to make the miracle
play- the heroic run- the stuff of his legend.
Just gone- in a flash of blue
light.
Leaving the young men blinking in
pain and shock.
They go through the motions- pay
their respects.
Some hide their grief-some expose
their pain.
All of them humbled by the lesson
he's left them with.
Tomorrow is not a guarantee.

Writer Jacque Zoerner lives in Western Maryland.

Public Notice - Part Two (Continued from GN V.2 #1)

Last month we asked for your help to identify the provenance
of a manuscript purporting to tell the “real” story behind Grant Wood’s classic painting “American Gothic.” In response, we received this mysterious obituary:

“Sir” Mick Leafy, Art Historian,Fugitive

“Sir” Mick Leafy presided over the expansion of the Sub-national Gallery in Louth, Lincolnshire, England as its director from 1969 through 1984, in the process acquiring for himself important paintings by Caravaggio, Rubens, Monet and David, as well as a truly god-awful Fragonard. (Investigations into all these acquisitions are ongoing, except for the Fragonard.) According to an autopsy, the cause of death was “unsustainable social superiority.” “Sir” Mick was 91.

“Sir” Mick’s favorite painting was the 1972 masterpiece “Still Life with Lemon Pledge”. “If I were choosing paintings that I would like in my own home, this would be it,” he told witnesses who may later be called to testify. “I would not wish a large masterpiece, because I live very modestly, so as not to draw the attention of the police or HM Taxes and Customs.” These authorities have declined comment.

“Sir” Mick Leafy was born in Wimbledon and destined from birth to be a ball boy to the royal family. Named “Sir” by his father, a fervent social climber, he grew to believe devoutly in his superiority despite enjoying freedom only intermittently while on work-release from Wormwood Scrubs. In a memoir of his youth “The Warden is My Shepherd” (2000), “Sir” Mick admits to some early confusion about his social standing. This confusion he suppressed in later life, to the bemusement of his contemporaries.

Somehow arriving at Exeter College, Oxford, he studied Chaucerian English and earned a first-class degree after only two years. He mastered plain English a mere two years after that, and also later learned to tie his own shoes. “Sir” Mick abandoned plans for an advanced degree after losing his thesis, a shoe, and two teeth in an Oxford café brawl.

The next day, after “helping” a friend fill out a job application for the Sub-national Gallery, he was inadvertently himself hired as an assistant curator. In the grand tradition of British art historians who know bugger-all about art, “Sir” Mick rose steadily through the ranks. In fairness it must be noted that similar grand traditions exist elsewhere.

As director, “Sir” Mick oversaw the dusting, straightening, and occasional removal of pictures from the permanent collection. He reorganized the museum’s educational programs to serve a broader public - “nitwits with money” as he called them.

He created an “artist-in-reticence” program in which noted contemporary artists were invited by the public to “just shut up!” He also oversaw the Artist’s Eye series, in which artists were invited to be poked in the eye by those who found their work dull, pointless or just bad.

Naturally, artists resented this direct public feedback as an intrusion upon their creative prerogative, but in the fifteen years “Sir” Mick was director, visitors to the Sub-national Gallery increased 100 per cent, from “none at all” to “a small handful.” “Sir Mick” asserted: “The nitwits with money have
spoken!” Museum directors frequently sent “Sir” Mick on tour (or “work-release” as he called it) around Britain, and other places even further away.

“Sir” Mick was a one-man industry, until recently churning out works on such important art trends as zombie waifs, killer clowns and porn. He also wrote three novels (each one worse than the last), a biography of rat catcher Colin Mozart, and two books which were not published at all, or even read.
These last earned “Sir” Mick very high praise indeed.

A man of broad and not always serious interests, “Sir” Mick had a renegade streak, reflected in his thumb-in-the-eye literary survey, “Fifty Americans We Could Do Without” (1978). Written with U.S. radio personality Charles Osgood, it consigned Walt Whitman, Chuck Berry, Buck Martinez and (oddly) Ozzie Osbourne to the dustbin of literary history. After a
long if not useful life “Sir” Mick Leafy has now joined them.

Garage Noir is grateful for (if no less confused by) this new
anonymous submission. In the coming weeks we will seek to reconcile it with the prior soiled manuscript. Watch this space for further developments.

This Month’s Cover

The creation of “Red Tricycle” is documented in a series of photographs at: http://www.myspace.com/garagenoir (see “Pics.”) (Begun as a large demonstration piece at City Wide Open Studios in New Haven in
2007, it generated such turpentine fumes as to prompt a stern lecture from one doyenne of the New Haven art scene.) “Red Tricycle” has been consigned for sale to John Mottern of Gallery 55 in Natick, Massachusetts, (http://www.gallery55.com/) and hangs in rotation in the Friends of Greyhounds space.

Letter to the
Editor:

Jon Travis is an artist in Deerfield New Hampshire. In response to “Truth in Life, Truth in Art” (GN V.2 #1) Jon wrote:

Parrish and Rossetti never delivered a "genuine" experience? Take a look at a sunset in Cornish New Hampshire some spring night and tell me Parrish never delivers that in his palette. Read some of Rossetti's poetry for Elizabeth Siddell, look at his portraits of her and tell me that's not genuine.

There is no false art. There is art I can't stand, but that doesn't make it false to the person producing it. I would love to drown Thomas Kinkade in a vat of his own sickening pastel shades, but that doesn't mean Tommy ain’t producing work straight from his twisted little heart.

My experience in this life DOES involve zombie urchins, mutant puppies and porn. That's truth to me. You can choose not to like it but don't try to negate my life experience by calling it false. I draw and paint what I love and what makes me happy and what makes me laugh and what makes me
cry and what makes me horny.

Karl responds:

I agree that any work can be true, and that art does not lie. I’m suggesting that sometimes, just like real people, artists do. People often get sold on trends and names. “Truth in Life, Truth in Art” is a call to viewers to recognize the artist's intent and support honest work - and to artists to produce honest work. I definitely picked on some trends I’m sick
of, but I also agree with you on this: each one to their own taste.

Next Month
More reader submissions and other quality content from Garage Noir. Until then Garage Noir can be found at: www.myspace.com/garagenoir and at the intersection of art and reality. Karl Stephan is also on Facebook.

Editorial Statement

“If it's real, we're interested.”

Karl Stephan, Editor karl.stephan@cox.net....

Postscript: Travel Safety Tip

If you are traveling westbound on the Massachusetts Turnpike
and the enraged driver of a small blue Honda attempts (for reasons best known to themselves) to run you off the road or otherwise endanger you, Garage Noir suggests you do not engage the hostile driver but seek to exit the highway - at the Westborough rest area for example. Dial 911 and report the license number and description of the car and driver to Massachusetts State Police. They are in a position to be very helpful. (This happened.) Thank you Lieutenant Anderson. - K.S.

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Sunday, January 04, 2009

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 "HAPPY NEW YEAR"
Current mood:

catalyzed
Category: Art and Photography

Mise-en-scène (Act Two - continued from GN V.1 12)

Act Two begins with sounds of spring:

The bodies of a thousand birds or more are dropped from above like rain, accompanied by an overwhelming

Scent of gardenias, like a woman's cheap perfume.

Men appear with brooms and sweep the birds away.

The odor dissipates.

One thousand electric fans are switched on, blowing out from the stage, onto the audience.

A Woman enters, hair and clothes tossed by the wind.

She shrieks several times and says:

When a when a when a when

Tee! Tee! Tee! Tee!

Baba tata fee,

Whoo whoops who.

She stands swaying slowly in the fans' breeze, while (from off-stage) a male chorus a thousand voices strong

Sings:

Shall we gather at the river,

The beautiful, the beautiful river?

Repeating about a thousand times, growing progressively

Softer, while the stage darkens to an inky black.

Finale.

Dr. William Meikrantz lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and practices medicine in Cambridge. Act One appeared in GN last month. Act Three will appear next month.

Work in Progress - "Circular Saw

(Subscribe to receive the free full-color illustrated Garage Noir monthly.)

Animal Stackers - by Will Marani

Can't wait to try

And escape the

Terrible water balloon fight.

Digging up a bone and playing

Outside, then jumping on the sofa after the people have

Gone away.

Flying through the Ocean

In ways that are not like a bird,

Swimming through the water like a

Hornet in the air.

Will Marani of Baltimore is nine years old. Nine!

Getting to Garage Noir

Garage Noir started one year ago as a newsletter about the art of Karl Stephan. Instantly this became so tedious for me I added musings on art, music and the creative process. This was so much work that I added our first collaborators, including (with thanks to all):

Lindsey Olander – Editor, GN V.1 7 – July 2008

Jacque Zoerner – Featured, GN V.1 9 – September 2008

Bernice Hyatt - Featured, GN V.1 10 – October 2008

Pete Stephan – Music, GN V.1 11 – November 2008

Dr. Bill Meikrantz – Fiction, GN V.1 12 – December 2008

Linda Chapman – Travel, GN V-1 12 – December 2008

Garage Noir is now the collaborative e-zine of art, music and the creative process, located at the intersection of art and reality. It's supported by the Garage Noir MySpace page, including the GN blog, art photos and the GN song of the week. Enjoy Garage Noir!

[un+art]3 Benefit Show Opens January 10^th in Hartford

Look for new works by Karl Stephan at [un+art]3 a benefit art show for the South Park Inn Homeless Shelter. Opening Reception: Saturday, January 10, 7 pm to 10 pm, Hartford ArtSpace Gallery, 555 Asylum Street, Hartford, CT. [un+art]3 is open, un-juried and uncensored. Come have your nerve-ends stimulated for a good cause!

South Park Inn serves about 1,500 people per year, many of them children. It must also unfortunately turn many away. Learn more and help if you can: http://southparkinn.org

Visit [un+art]3 (and Amy and Tao) at: http://www.unartshow.com./home.html

This Month's Cover

"The Bad Birthday" was executed mostly for the amusement of my teenage sons and their friends. It commemorates several "bad birthdays" I've celebrated in real life. (Although none of them quite reached the dagger-and-broken-bottle stage.) Oddly popular with young children too, this piece hangs in my home. It seemed fitting for the first issue of a new year in which every day may feel a like a "morning after."

Public Notice

We have received a manuscript purporting to tell the "real" story behind Grant Wood's classic painting "American Gothic." The condition of the manuscript and its supporting documentation leads us to question both the sanity and the personal hygiene of the author, yet it seems in many ways authoritative. Anyone who can shed light on the provenance of this document is asked to contact Garage Noir immediately. Thank you.

Next Month

More reader submissions and other quality content from Garage Noir. Until then Garage Noir can be found at: www.myspace.com/garagenoir and at the intersection of art and reality. Karl Stephan is also on Facebook.

Product Placement*

Garage Noir enjoys Nihilist brand mints. Nihilist, they're flavorless! Look for the black tin. For nutritional information call: (425) 349-3838

*Unpaid and, like so much of this publication: uncalled-for.

Editorial Statement

"If it's real, we're interested." Karl Stephan, Editor karl.stephan@cox.net

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Sunday, December 07, 2008

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 12 "PRESENTS"
Current mood:

catalyzed
Category: Art and Photography

Our Present to You

This is the twelfth monthly issue of Garage Noir, the collaborative e-zine of art, music and the creative process. Thanks to all who have enjoyed, shared and contributed to our first year of high-quality collaborative cultural content for an unlimited audience.

Our year-end present to you is our first non-non-fiction, by Dr. William Meikrantz:

Mise-en-scène

Uh-oh, decisiveness.

Character One enters with lampshade and extension cord.

Sings: Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear Antidote

Happy Birthday to you.

N. our pope and N. our bishop descend from the rafters,

Arms flapping wildly like incandescent birds.

A sudden darkness engulfs the stage.

There is a rumbling sound from the wings, as if

Vast and ancient machinery is being towed onto the stage.

A lull.

Unseen, all the gods and goddesses descend from Valhalla,

Each bearing an emblem of particular power.

When the footsteps have died away, when the only sound is that of spectators fidgeting quietly in their seats,

A single light bulb glows in the distance and is extinguished by a phantom hand.

End Act One.

Dr. William Meikrantz lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and practices medicine in Cambridge. Acts Two and Three of Mise-en-scène will be serialized Garage Noir, Volume 2, Issues 1 and 2.

Work in Progress - "Joe the Plumber" takes a break:

(Email karl.stephan@cox.net to subscribe to the illustrated edition of Garage Noir.)

Souvenir of Vietnam – by Linda Chapman

In America in the 1960s, the Vietnam War was never far from one's consciousness. For a child war is an abstract concept. We watched TV at dinner, so my sisters and I were treated to scenes of soldiers running through jungle that seemed unreal. Later I attended college with many soldiers who were on the GI bill. Generally older, sometimes wearing army jackets, they were also identifiable by their dry wit. They told the most incredibly funny stories! I often wondered about the country where they had such vivid experiences.

When my sister took a job in Hanoi with a non-government organization (NGO) I finally had my chance to visit. The people are joyous and the food is phenomenal; both display a mix of Asian, French and yes, American influences. Remarkably no one took exception to us as tourists. This amazed me: we were at war in Vietnam for fifteen years! They still call the conflict the American War. Perhaps they are too busy to hold a grudge: in Vietnam most people work hard just to scratch out a living.

Vietnam has a thriving art industry, including a booming business in knock offs. Many studios occupy the numerous side streets of Hanoi. In the absence of air-conditioning, studio doors are wide open to the tropical heat. Each studio houses 5 – 10 artists hard at work, many with a photograph in one hand and a paint brush in the other. Whether an original of your dog or a "View of Toledo" after El Greco, they can do it. In Vietnam as elsewhere, artists are real people, doing with joy what they need to do to live.

Linda Chapmanlives in Stamford CT with her husband Alex, son Jack and cat Jefferson. An unabashed liberal, Linda takes great joy in the recent results of the recent U.S. election.

Pearls of Great Punk

Baltimore punkers Paperback Tragedy took polite exception to our tepid but unspecific review of them last month, and they were very right to do so. Thank you Will for calling attention to our unconstructive criticism. We greatly respect that you seek audience input. Whether our additional private comments were useful or not, we wish you and Paperback Tragedy well. Criticism for artists can be like sand for oysters, an irritating germ at the heart of shiny new work. We enjoyed "Mr. Brown" on MySpace and we look forward to new musical mayhem from Paperback Tragedy.

Garage Noir: WTF? - What's This For?

At a good metropolitan newsstand one can find thirty or more periodicals with the visual arts content alone. They range from "Juxtapose" and "High Fructose" (covering the cartoon-zombie-waif esthetic) to vine-covered institutions like ARTnews and Art Forum.

Sealed in plastic, Art Forum is best measured in pounds not pages, but its proportion of advertising-to-content is presumably similar to that of ARTnews: nearly two-to-one, much worse if you count text content only. Garage Noir is an unencumbered alternative.

The November cover story in ARTnews "Street Art Gets Hot" was covered in our pages by guest editor Lindsey Olander in July. Daptone Records were featured by GN on MySpace last March. They're featured in tomorrow's New York Times Magazine.

Garage Noir seeks to report on the intersection of art and real life. We have no commercial agenda. Against all convention, we publish non-professional work and works in progress (including my own) as they illuminate the theme of an issue.

Garage Noir is unpolished, sometimes unprofessional, but we're not crass or meaningless. We'll keep doing what we're doing. We hope you will enjoy, share with others and chime in as you are able. We look forward to year two of Garage Noir.

Garage-floor Opportunities

This month we received the first of (at least) three much-anticipated "Dr. Bills" and Linda brought us a souvenir of Vietnam. Pete and I also took our lumps in the mosh-pit of punk criticism. Thanks to all for your contributions. Who else has something to say?

Garage Noir delivers high-quality cultural content wrapped in the many colors of the season. It's better to give than to receive: what brings you joy? Join the collaboration with Garage Noir and submit your content today.

Upcoming

[un+art]3 to benefit the South Park Inn Homeless Shelter, Opening Reception: Saturday, January 10, 7 pm to 10 pm, Hartford ArtSpace Gallery, 555 Asylum Street, Hartford, CT. This is an open art show, un-juried and un-censored. Come and be stimulated for a good cause! For more information see: http://www.unartshow.com./home.html

Next Month

More reader submissions and other quality content from Garage Noir. Until then Garage Noir can be found at: www.myspace.com/garagenoir. Karl Stephan is also on Facebook.

Editorial Statement

"If it's real, we're interested." Karl Stephan, Editor karl.stephan@cox.net

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Saturday, November 08, 2008

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 11: “PLENTY”
Current mood:

catalyzed
Category: Art and Photography

From Cambridge to Keokuk: The Strange Tale of Oliver Wendell Holmes

I was arrested recently by this spoken-word opening of the little-known 1966 garage-rock classic "Blackout of Gretely" by the band Gonn from Keokuk, Iowa:

"The universe is permeated with the odor of kerosene."

The song which follows is remarkable in part for resembling the Standells' "Dirty Water" beloved of Red Sox fans everywhere. But the phrase caught my attention because it so closely resembles my state of mind when painting. (Of course the smell that permeates my universe is turpentine.) But there was another layer of familiarity – I felt I had heard this phrase somewhere else.

Wikipedia alleges this quote is from an episode of the 1960's pop-rock-sitcom The Monkees. But on further internet trolling I found a similar quote (without attribution) in a 1948 Time magazine article entitled "The Consolations of Philosophy":

"The entire universe is permeated with a strong odor of turpentine."

I was shocked: this exactly describes my creative state of mind. In fact, I've become so conditioned that the smell of turpentine now creates in me an urge to paint. (Thank you Dr. Pavlov!) Now I had to know the source. A little more trolling yielded a big surprise.

Physician, essayist, poet and father of a Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. was a privileged member of Boston society. He nevertheless pursued his very practical vocations with passion. In medicine this extended to self-experimentation with ether, an early anesthetic. Ether gave Holmes the sensation of having seen the "one great truth which underlies all human experience…the key to all the mysteries that philosophy has sought in vain to solve." From an 1870 Phi Beta Kappa address at Harvard:

"As my natural condition returned…staggering to my desk, I wrote, in ill-shaped, straggling characters, the all-embracing truth still glimmering in my consciousness. The words were these (children may smile; the wise ponder):

"A strong smell of turpentine prevails throughout."

From Cambridge to Keokuk in a century: art, music and literature are a horn of plenty that sustains with humor and unexpected meaning. From Boston Brahmins to garage bands, nothing is wasted. Watch this space in December for our first non-non-fiction; the work of physician and writer Dr. William Meikrantz of Boston and Cambridge.

NOTE: Garage Noir urges readers NOT to use drugs. Life is complex, difficult and in fact thrilling enough without them. KS

Work in Progress

(See photo at www.myspace.com/garagenoir or email me to subscribe to the full-color GN PDF: karl.stephan@cox.net)

Plenty of Punks in Charm City: NOFX in Baltimore – by Pete Stephan

At Ram's Head Live (www.ramsheadlive.com) the night started fairly calm. I was one of the first few people into the sold-out club, and staked out a spot about 10 feet from the stage. The opener, Baltimore band Paperback Tragedy, brought some local appeal. A solid, but unoriginal sound did not live up to their great name. Ironically crowd energy jumped for Canada's Flatliners. The Ram's Head was filling up. A few Flatliners fans shouted along with their lyrics. There was some pushing and shoving for position, but most seemed content to watch from a distance.

The highlight of the undercard, Teenage Bottlerocket followed. Mixing styles from the '50s with driving guitars and insistent choruses of modern punk, their entrance was a shot of intensity and excitement to the club. I was pushed back by the initial surge of the crowd. Teenage Bottlerocket could have carried this show by themselves were it not for NOFX. Expect to hear more from this band.

Dillinger Four played next and brought the largest fan base aside from NOFX. This made for an exciting first few songs, but the crowd soon became restless, chanting for NOFX. Dillinger Four took it in stride and finished their set. There followed a hot and crowded 45-minute wait for the headliner.

The packed house swayed to blasting reggae until NOFX took the stage. When the first riff of "Dinosaurs Will Die" sang out over the roar of the crowd, the club became absolute chaos - a giant mosh pit and raucous sing-along. Lead singer Fat Mike wisecracked and even thumb-wrestled with fans. The last song, "Theme from an NOFX Album" ended with a 10-minute solo - on accordion! As the last notes rang out over the crowd, there was a satisfied feeling, yet a yearning for more. Despite the wait and the heat, NOFX did not disappoint. Plenty of punks didn't want to leave Charm City.

Garage-floor Opportunity:

Pete Stephan checks in again this month with a strong concert review. Look for the work of Dr. William Meikrantz in the December issue. Who else has something to say?

Garage Noir delivers cultural content we can believe in. What's your secret agenda? Caucus, collaborate and conspire with Garage Noir: submit your content today.

Writing, images, links or just ideas – if it's real, Garage Noir is interested. Read the editor's statement below and let us see what art is real for you.

Every effort will be made to incorporate your submission as it fits with the theme of a future issue of Garage Noir. I look forward to working with you.

Art in Uncertain Times

Shortly before our last issue, several major US banks failed, triggering what has become a global economic crisis. In conjunction with the American presidential election campaign, this event created a vortex of concern among many readers. I share this concern. Having experienced financial reverses myself (both personal and macroeconomic) I urge you not to underestimate the need for art in uncertain times.

If you are an art practioner (musician, painter, dancer, writer, etc) know that your efforts are critical to our coming to terms with our "new" circumstances. Hedge fund millions may be gone but people still need art. Woody Guthrie's music sustained millions during the Great Depression. The "ashcan school" painters helped make real the lives of the less-fortunate to those in a position to help. Please don't ignore reality - keep making art.

Art-lovers, please never doubt the value of art in uncertain times. Visit the gallery, don't skip the concert. As much as you can, please support the creative souls who sustain us.

Now Showing:

"Suspense" and "Red Tricycle" currently appear at Gallery 55 West, Natick, MA

Next Month:

More reader submissions and other quality content from Garage Noir. Until then Garage Noir can be found at: www.myspace.com/garagenoir. Karl Stephan is also on Facebook.

Editor's Statement:

Garage Noir is a collaborative email newsletter about "Art That Is Real". We publish plain-language content about art, music and the creative process. We are an inclusive free publication, delivering varied non-mainstream art and music information to a widely diverse readership. Content submissions are invited, including non-fiction, images, links and ideas. Content is selected by monthly theme.

"If it's real, we're interested." Karl Stephan, Editor karl.stephan@cox.net

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Sunday, October 05, 2008

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 10 "ALL HALLOWS"
Category: Art and Photography

Art and Soul - by B. Hyatt

Church and other similar religious establishments have fallen short of supplying many of us with an answer to the human condition. That does not mean that we have completely discarded the ecstasy, solidarity, profundity and peace religion provides. Some of us fulfill these at football matches, raves or walking up mountains, places we rediscover those sensations we crave.

I must find meaning in the world and this is why I must see art. I entered a gallery a few days ago after a lengthy hiatus and, like a guilty prodigal returning to the parish, I cursed myself for allowing so much time to pass. Dutifully and piously I dragged my bones to another gallery today – Sunday. People argue all the time about art, what it is, what it isn't. One thing I do believe, it is a very human endeavour.

Viewing art I am able to restore my equilibrium and regain peace, quiet and the feeling of connectedness and communication. I feel I am burying so much to make myself acceptable to the world. I revere the rawness of emotion, protest, message and concept in art. It is a relief. The sense of new dimensions is so exciting when I feel weary of the world, convinced it has nothing more to show me.

I visited MOMA in New York last Christmas and the crowds were overwhelming. I hated being there as people crowded around Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' to be photographed. My respite was to look out through a sliver glass onto a New York street, silent and proud in the dusk. Galleries are windows onto hidden corners of the world, and sometimes their windows can turn the world into a beautiful picture.

This joy of discovery often begins before I enter a gallery. The search for a little art space somewhere leads me to streets I may not have trodden before. My mum and I wandered Whitechapel in east London before finding The Whitechapel gallery http://www.whitechapel.org/. In so doing I also found a little anarchist bookshop. Hunting down galleries in Santiago De Compostela in Spain led me down dream like alleys and into womb like cafes selling cheap wine in the February chill.

I may not believe in God but seeing Michelangelo's David in Florence, a visceral Pollack painting in New York, or floating through Barbara Hepworth's garden in St. Ives, Cornwall populated with stark, unapologetic sculpture – these were deeply spiritual moments in my life. Something human but transcendent was communicated in a language of its own, instantly understood in a part of me I had forgotten existed.

B. Hyatt claims to have been "raised by wolves in a forest near you" but rumor has it she is actually from the West Midlands of England. Her artistic inspirations range from rock paintings to Pop art, and well beyond. You can find her "wandering MySpace." This is her first published non-fiction.

Vintage Noir - Circa 1979

(Email: karl.stephan@cox.net to subscribe free and receive the full-color illustrated Garage Noir)

Blue Souls - Book Review

In "Clawing at the Limits of Cool" (St. Martin's Press) authors Farah Jasmine Griffin and Salim Washington present the jazz collaboration of Miles Davis and John Coltrane in the context of American history through the mid-20^th century.

"One step forward, two steps back" might describe of the history of Africans in America. For example, African-Americans have served bravely in U.S. wars since the Revolution, yet ever returned to the same limited opportunities as before they served.

It is remarkable that this confining social matrix has produced so many great artists, among them Miles Davis and John Coltrane. "Clawing at the Limits of Cool" will be informative to those not acquainted with African-American history, but it is just as compelling as a study of artistic collaboration.

Davis and Coltrane could not have been more different. Miles was urban and urbane, a sharp dresser, profane and at times abusive. Trane was "country" in manner and appearance, by all accounts a gentle and quiet man. Yet at the time of their collaboration Miles was musically "cool" often literally muted on trumpet, while Coltrane's tenor sax improvisations were copious and explosive. The combination of these seeming opposites resulted in brilliant hard-bop records like 1957's "'Round About Midnight."

Arguably, the collaboration continued to bear fruit long after they played together, influencing masterpieces like Coltrane's worshipful "A Love Supreme" and Davis' pre-fusion gem "Filles de Kilimanjaro." Read "Clawing at the Limits of Cool" if you have the time. Make the time to listen to this music and understand its American history.

Latin Soul – Restaurant Review

Forget the phony Mexican restaurant up the street: the musically named Iguanas Ranas at 574 Main Street in Middletown, Connecticut is a real Mexican taqueria. Owner Hipolito "Polo" Martinez serves authentic fare at reasonable prices. Try the carne adobado (pork) sandwich, practice your Spanish with the regulars, and enjoy.

Undead Rock n' Roll: The Misfits – by Pete Stephan

From a small town in New Jersey, the Misfits brought their unique persona and style to the punk rock scene over 30 years ago. Today the band consists of Jerry Only on bass and vocals, Dez Cadena on guitar, and original Misfit Robo on drums. While their aggressive, confrontational style is a common feature of punk rock, what makes them such an immortal fixture in punk is their 50's rock n' roll sound and use of black and white monster movies as subject matter. With the Halloween-ish appearance of the members, this makes a frighteningly good combination. The Misfits are incredibly dedicated to their fans. In return, the group's logo "Fiend Skull" is still worn by punkers everywhere. With their terrifying and original brand of music, the group continues to sell out shows. For the undead Misfits and their legions of fans, every day is Halloween.

Garage-floor Opportunity:

Art, music, food: Garage Noir delivers nutritious cultural content for hungry eyes, ears and souls. What's cooking in your kitchen? Join the feast: submit your content today.

This month Chef B. Hyatt puts the lie to what you've heard about English cuisine. "What I Believe" is a rich and flavorful taste of the things that make art worthwhile.

Non-fiction, images, links or just ideas – if it's real, Garage Noir is interested. Read the editor's statement below and let us see what art is real for you.

Every effort will be made to incorporate your submission as it fits with the theme of a future issue of Garage Noir. I look forward to working with you.

Now Showing:

"In the Orchard," "Angry Kitten" and "Tina" will appear in October at MAC 650 Space, 650 North Main Street, Middletown, CT. Visit Iguanas Ranas while you're there!

Sincere Regrets:

Garage Noir was unable to participate in City-Wide Open Studios, New Haven. Apologies to: New Haven Artspace and Ray Pagliaro at Grand Paint.

Next Month:

More reader submissions and other quality content from Garage Noir. Until then please visit Garage Noir at: www.myspace.com/garagenoir. Karl Stephan is also on Facebook.

Editor's Statement:

"If it's real, we're interested." Karl Stephan, editor - karl.stephan@cox.net

Election 2008 Supplement

Garage Noir is not a political publication, and will not endorse a candidate in this year's U.S. presidential election. We urge those of you who are eligible to register and vote. When you do, please take into account the candidate's positions on education, and in particular education in music and the arts. An understanding of culture is the path to understanding between cultures. Arts education is a necessity, not a luxury.

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Saturday, September 06, 2008

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 9 "BACK TO WORK!"
Category: Art and Photography

Working the Musical Headwaters at Patuxent Records – by Jacque L. Zoerner

Recognizing and nurturing talent is an art equal to the ability to apply chisel to stone, paint to canvas, or musical notes to paper. Tom Mindte, the heart and soul of Patuxent Records, embodies that ability.

In his independent studio in Rockville, Maryland, Tom is hard at work guiding young talent and enabling them to grow their own gifts. With an almost free rein, Mindte nurtures musical artistry with an unerring ear. Whether guitarist John Escobar's earthy, moody jazz or Casey Driscoll's lilting Texas fiddle, Patuxent recordings leave you feeling like you have witnessed the music of the Universe coming straight through the tops of the heads and out through the fingertips of these young musicians.

Corbett, Chrisman and Tice use guitar, banjo, and dulcimer (yes dulcimer) to create ethereal instrumentals. Sample their work and see if you can define whether this is folk, jazz or something new: http://www.amazon.com/Corbett-Chrisman-Tice/dp/B0019M788U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1220120156&sr=8-1

The laughing lively fiddle on Blackberry Blossom from Patrick McAvinue's first CD shows this kid's extra energy has been beautifully channeled into the space under his chin: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_dmusic?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=patrick+mcavinue

Or check out Casey Driscoll's At Break of Day Waltz: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_dmusic?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=casey+driscoll

All the musicians above are under age 25. In contrast, young (at heart) bluesman Warner Williams has been playing since he picked up his daddy's guitar as a child - slightly more than 25 years ago: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_dmusic?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=warner+williams

Tom Mindte is a talented musician and band leader in his own right. The common denominator in his work and that of his stable of musicians is authenticity. Tom's talent for finding talent and giving it the opportunity to grow has created "Art that is Real." Check out Patuxent Records at http://www.pxrec.com/Patuxent_homepage.htm.

Jacque L. Zoerner describes herself as a "sometime singer blessed with seriously talented friends and the ability to appreciate them." Jacque has two sons and lives in western Maryland, USA, where she is business manager of a farm equipment company.

SNEAK PREVIEW – Work in Progress:

(For images email karl.stephan@cox.net to subscribe to the full color illustrated Garage Noir)

Off Broadway:

Nigerian musician and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti is acknowledged as a pioneer of "Afrobeat" music, a blend of traditional Nigerian music with American jazz and funk. "Fela!" a musical adaptation of his life opens this week at 37 Arts, 450 West 37th Street, New York, NY, with music by GN friend, Brooklyn Afrobeat masters Antibalas.

All Too Real:

Drummer Jimmy Carl Black (one of the founding members of The Mothers of Invention) has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Like many artists he lacks insurance or funds to pay for needed care. A CD to benefit Jimmy Carl Black will be available soon from Leaping Cat Records and Inkanish Records. All proceeds will go to medical care for Jimmy Carl Black. Jimmy, Leaping Cat and Inkanish are on MySpace.

Garage-floor Opportunity (Seriously!):

From San Francisco to the West Midlands of England, Garage Noir is delivering high quality cultural content to citizens of the world!

This month we welcomed our inaugural collaborator, Jacque L. Zoerner, whose enthusiasm for the artistry of Patuxent Records sparkles like the sun on the river.

Be part of the new collaborative Garage Noir: submit your content today. We are interested in your perspectives on art, music and the creative process.

Non-fiction, images, links or ideas – if it's real, Garage Noir is interested. Please read the editor's statement below and let us see what art is real for you.

Every effort will be made to incorporate your submission as it fits with the theme of a future issue of Garage Noir. I look forward to working with you!

Now Showing:

"Bride and Groom" and "Evidence" appear in September at "Art without Judges," MAC 650 Space, 650 North Main Street, Middletown, CT.

Coming Soon:

On October 2-5 Garage Noir will participate in City-Wide Open Studios, New Haven - scheduled to appear in the front space at Grand Paint, 451 Grand Ave, New Haven, CT.

Next Month:

More reader submissions and other quality content from Garage Noir! Until then please visit Garage Noir at: www.myspace.com/garagenoir. Karl Stephan is also on Facebook.

Editor's Statement:

"If it's real, we're interested." Karl Stephan, editor - karl.stephan@cox.net

9:54 PM

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