July 5

Enjoy the rest of the holiday

weekend, gentlemen.

 

 

 

Your blogger's home town

has just added Arena Polo

to the summer sports scene

(as opposed to full-field play).

First time I've ever seen it.

Don't forget to reserve your rail box.

 

 

 

 

 

Fresh pair:

 

July 4

 

Inexplicable:

 

But back to the tan lines:

Just because:

Explicable

Bookish:

Summer wedding:

Hey coach!

There's a situation in the locker room:

America the Beautiful

In 1894 lesbian poet Katherine Bates (1859-1929) wrote the beloved words to America the Beautiful, inspired by the view from Pike's Peak. When her words were paired with the melody written by church organist Samuel Ward in 1903, it became a classic patriotic anthem. Curiously, Bates and Ward never met, and, while hard to imagine, Ward wrote his music for a different text. This morning I performed a solo jazz version written by Clare Fischer (1928-2012), famous as an arranger of songs for Michael Jackson, Celine Dion. Chaka Kahn, Prince, and Paul McCartney. Fischer's wife Donna sent me his manuscript to make the performance possible. This YouTube video of Fischer's piano arrangement performed on a pipe organ -- by organist Douglas Major (many years ago) on a July 4 concert at Washington National Cathedral -- is astonishing. Enjoy.