Category Archives: sociology

Joe Rozler.

September 10, 2016arts education, classical music, classical musicians, creative writing, dreams, guest poets, human behavior, musicians, performance, personal testimony, professional musicians, social commentary, sociology, tributesAmerican songbirds, Buffalo arts scene, Buffalo NY, Buffalo NY music scene, creative legends from Buffalo NY, German heavy metal bands, Gigis in Buffalo NY, Joe Rozler, legends in their own time, Man O War, musical legends in their own time, Neitszche's, Pausa Art House Buffalo NY, Snow Belt capital of the Rust Belt Buffalo NY, the American song, the American Songbook, The Party Squad, the rock trio, The Sid Winkler Trioruth ann scanzillo

Buffalo, New York doesn’t get nearly enough press.

Or, I should say, it gets far too much of the dreary kind: Snow Belt Capital of The Rust Belt. The End. Thank you for coming.

But, nestled between the heart and soul of the big Buffalo is a bird. A song bird. His name is Joe and, if I had my way, he’d be the household word where everybody else calls home.

Granted, there are enough televised competitions already presenting the freshest young talent. And, occasionally, hidden gems have found their way to these stages. But, for a legend in his own time, there is no Tv show. That is because a Tv show could never do justice to the likes of Joe Rozler.

I met Joe in the halls of Fredonia State University, in 1980. He was probably loading equipment from a practice room to the trunk, heading off to a gig at the Jumping Frog on Route 5 for the weekend. All I remember was that voice, and a pair of legs that went on forever. And, his rendition of “Imagine” by John Lennon.

To say he seduced me is an understatement. I was completely overtaken, mesmerized by every sound he made and the way he made it. That, and the faint scent of Royal Spyce: he had me, with a warble and a hook, for life.

We were both the odd ones, returning after a two year absence – me, to earn enough to fund myself across the finish line, he to follow his bliss. Mark that last phrase; Joe never did anything but follow his bliss.

And, we’d both converged in the midst of completing that last bastion of fallback options, the Bachelor of Music in Music Education, a certificate that told the world in official terms that we were qualified to do what we were already born to. We were creatives; college was just where we came of age.

Or, I did. Joe was already the oldest soul on the block, caught in a body that bounded around like a nine year old at summer camp.

I’ll never know what precise configuration of DNA, or momentary inspiration, drove Joe to be who he was, but I do know this: Joe always knew. And, that was enough for Joe.

A natural rebel, he never wasted time submitting to any authority, or system, or institution that prevented him from living out his life’s intention. In school, he was already writing arrangements and selling them to a studio in Utah; in the summers, a metal band from Germany enlisted his keyboard wizardy for their tour.

But, the only thing Joe ever intended to do was sing, or play, or sing and play, the song.

Oh sure, we completed the requirements to obtain the degree. He played a piano recital; I played one for cello. Mine took six hours a day, and four months of those, committed to two works of music. Sitting in the audience for his, I remember thinking about hearing him do two straight sets at the Frog, engine revving until I thought he’d just pop right there in front of everybody, and deciding that this lone piano recital was just a parenthesis, merely the half time show of what would become the totality of his life.

As it turns out, thirty five years hence, I was right.

By now, there is no tune ever written that Joe has not sung. He, at the age of something like sixty, is the oracle of the American songbook. He has become the song.

So, while lesser mortals steamroll through their days, clamoring for their piece of the greedy pie, bowing at the feet of expectation and the promise of reward, Joe Rozler will still be singing. And, you’ll swear you never heard anything else quite like him in your life.

All you have to do is find your way to Buffalo. You can shuffle, or you can hustle but, however you make the trip, Joe will be there when you arrive, just a couple blocks shy of Elmwood, at the piano. With his guitars and synth, and even a ukelele, nearby. And, if you’re lucky enough to catch his solo act, he’ll play them all, nearly simultaneously, just for you.

The song will be yours. You’ll recognize it. You’ll remember it. You’ll know it. And, he’ll be bringing it on the most dazzling silver platter your eyes and ears could possibly behold.

Joe Rozler.

The American songbird.

Buffalo Hall of Fame.

Buffalo, New York.

littlebarefeetblog.com

Reflection.

September 1, 2016classical music, classical musicians, drama, musicians, performance, sociology, The Art of Practicing Institute 2015Bach Suites, cellists recording at home, Courante from Suite I, J.S.Bach, Unaccompanied Bach Suites for celloruth ann scanzillo

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A woman learns to be vain.

She learns from the casual commentary of family women. The subtle bias toward “fine” features, say, vs. the “coarse.” Certain preoccupations, even when the gift of beauty may be absent, with what constitutes an [ acceptably ] “pretty” face or figure.

All things being generational, really, mine came of age parented largely by the cast of MAD MEN. But, our parents were a decade older than most, on account of having been married twice to one another. Dad was preferred barber to just about every flat top crew cut and Princeton in town and my mother, being the “seamstress”, dressed her only daughter like a paper doll almost weekly. Both parents served the art of vanity, at the top of their class.

So, it is with this preoccupation that I step gingerly into the blogosphere with, well, my live physical presence. Customarily fixated on hair, make up, and the fit of garment whenever the threat of a candid shot creeps into the mix, I present instead behind the relief of the protective costume of my music.

And, oddly, PhotoBooth, the filming program provided freely by Macbook.

Which is actually, for reasons only the developer can explain, stuck in reverse.

I love that irony. You will see me, for the first time, not as I am but as I see myself.

In the mirror.

Herewith the Courante, from the Unaccompanied Suite No.1 by J.S. Bach.

Played by your host, littlebarefeet.

YouTube channel : Ruth Ann Scanzillo (still in its awkward, fledgling stage…)

littlebarefeetblog.com

Happy Anniversary.

August 14, 2016classical music, family history, gratitude, healing, memorials, mystical experiences, nostalgia, psychology, sociologyanniversaries for divorced people, celebrating days, hiking trails, Montreal, Mt. Washington, travelingruth ann scanzillo

August 14.

It’s always somebody’s birthday.

And, I think I often forget that.

Today was also the wedding anniversary of R.A. and Paul. Paul was a really fun traveling companion, full of energy and optimistic anticipation. Loved birds, and trails, and fishing and hunting. Took this body all the way up Mt Washington, on foot, in spite of itself. Always eager to face a new day.

Poor thing got stuck married to the wrong woman. Yeah. It happens. People do things, especially when they crack 35 years old. He played the oboe like a pro, with no college degree in music; but, that still never meant that he should be with me.

So, this would have been our 25th anniversary. Maybe there would have been a couple kids. Hopefully, not unhappy, neurotic kids, but there might have been one or two. And, maybe we would have finally gone to Montreal, today, like we should have on our honeymoon. But, life has moved along and Montreal, last I checked, was still intact.

People say single women should just travel alone. There’s a whole world still waiting to be experienced from that singular point of view. And, according to a couple I know who have already been around the globe, there’s a cruise line they take that always has at least one of us on board. To the pure, all things are pure; not my place to question why.

Sigh. Maybe it’s time to plan a sea faring wardrobe. Today could be a really sad day. But, given the number of people who think I have it made, might be time to prove that to them. Or, to myself.

Happy Anniversary. Happy Birthday. Happy Day.

littlebarefeetblog.com