REVIEW POTPOURRI: From Beethoven to Big Band

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Fritz Kreisler

Beethoven Violin Concerto – soloist Fritz Kreisler with Leo Blech conducting the Berlin State Opera Orchestra. Victrola Red Seal M-13, six 12-inch 78s, recorded 1926.

Fritz Kreisler

The Violin Concerto of Ludwig van Beethoven has a sweet serenity that belies his living in Vienna the turbulent weeks of Napoleon’s occupation .

The performance is a beauty in its poetry which at times overrides its captivating rhythms but not to the detriment of its otherwise exceptional quality. It was one of the first American releases on 78s of a complete Violin Concerto by anyone and sold many copies.

The electrically recorded sound for 100 years ago, just two years after Victor began using microphones instead of the horns from the acoustic era, was quite exceptional.

It is also one of five different 78 sets I own of the piece – the others being a remake Kreisler did during the 1930s with John Barbirolli, two different albums of Joseph Szigeti with Bruno Walter – 1932 and 1946 – and Jascha Heifetz with Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony from 1940.

Each of these sets has differences in style that make all five worth owning for crazy record collectors such as myself (not to mention the several dozen LPs and CDs I have of this music.).

Side 12 has a bonus piece, a Bach Partita.

Artie Shaw

Artie Shaw – Cole Porter: Begin the Beguine; Rudolf Friml: Indian Love Call. RCA Victor 42-0019, special collector’s issue, ten-inch 78, recorded July 24, 1938.

Artie Shaw

Both sides of this record received vividly blazing music making from clarinettist Shaw (1910-2004), his perfectly drilled musicians and, on the Nelson Eddy/ Jeannette MacDonald classic Indian Love Call, swinging vocalism from Tony Pastor, who later formed his own big band and recorded numerous 78s for Victor.

Shaw was also restless with his many other interests, including advanced mathematics, and ended his music career in 1954 at its peak.

Finally, he was married eight times, his wives including actresses Lana Turner and Ava Gardner.

Many copies of this 78 still exist yet dealers on Ebay are charging inflated prices of $25, the listings remaining for months with no bites, and this kind of inflation symptomatic of the all too common belief that any record is worth lots of money.

Beverly Nichols

A (perhaps appropriately) long-forgotten 1936 non-fiction book, No Place Like Home, by Beverly Nichols is filled with observations by a middle-aged unmarried woman who keeps house for her brother who’s an Anglican bishop in the rural English countryside but who could have been living in a similar situation in the East Vassalboro or North Anson of those pre-World War II years. She is under the mistaken belief that the world is full of readers who would buy her book to read her observations on the following situations of which I offer just a few.

When she sees a dead field mouse – “Perhaps Mrs. Field Mouse was going to have babies, which will now be fatherless.”

On an airplane –

“It is with the greatest difficulty that I refrain from asking the pilot if he is sure about the tail. Is it on? Is it on ‘straight’ ? What will happen if it falls off?”

On climbing one of the Egyptian pyramids, she describes a scary “swooning sickness.”

It is such books as these, found among the boxes of old trash, that still give a glimpse into the lives of people who lived, hopefully loved, maybe made a difference to others in need and yet were dismissed as bores by the mean-spirited. These glimpses can still give hope and joy to those living 100 or more years in the future.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: How much protein do you really need?

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by Jeff Volek, PhD

Here’s what Americans need to know.

For the better part of half a century, health officials treated protein as secondary to carbohydrate intake.

The updated guidelines flip that hierarchy. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and full-fat dairy – alongside vegetables and fruits – now form the foundation of a healthy diet.

The latest guidelines advise a daily protein intake of 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight – a meaningful increase from the longstanding 0.8-gram benchmark.

This shift matters because protein is the body’s primary building block, supplying the essential amino acids required for tissue repair, immune function, and organ function. And it’s the most satiating, or filling, macronutrient. In practical terms, 300 calories of candy or chips won’t satisfy in the same way as 300 calories of full-fat yogurt or turkey.

Still, there’s an important nuance missing in how these protein recommendations are applied. The guidelines suggest calculating protein needs based on current body weight rather than what’s referred to as “ideal” or “reference” weight for your height. Given that three-quarters of American adults are overweight or obese, this distinction is critical.

For many individuals with excess body fat, basing intake on current weight will overestimate protein targets, potentially leading to overconsumption of protein. Anchoring protein targets to ideal weight is a more precise way to achieve the benefits of protein.

Dietary fat presents a similar need for nuance. The new guidelines retain the recommendation that saturated fat make up, at most, 10 percent of daily calories. This cap – rooted in outdated assumptions about fat and heart disease – creates a practical contradiction with the guidelines’ emphasis on whole foods like red meat and full-fat dairy. A breakfast of two eggs cooked in butter can bring someone near the daily limit before lunchtime. Thus, in practice, the 10 percent saturated fat cap is not realistic and not based on rigorous scientific evidence.

The updated guidelines now recognize that low-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets can be appropriate for certain chronic conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. When people eat fewer carbohydrates – such as sugar and refined grains – the body shifts to fat as its main source of energy. In that setting, higher fat intake – including saturated fat – becomes the body’s preferred fuel.

Research shows that saturated fat behaves differently when carbohydrates are reduced. In fact, despite eating two to three times more saturated fat on a ketogenic diet, blood levels of saturated fat actually decrease significantly alongside decreased insulin levels, while levels of HDL cholesterol – the “good” cholesterol – rise.

Put plainly: For individuals living with prediabetes, type 2 diabetes or insulin resistance, reducing refined carbohydrates while eating more dietary fat is not only safe but beneficial.

The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines represent the most promising opportunity in decades to turn the tide on our metabolic health crisis.

By calibrating protein targets to our target, or ideal, weights — and modernizing how we think about saturated fat — we can translate these new guidelines into real, lasting metabolic gains.

Jeff Volek, PhD, is a professor and researcher at The Ohio State University and an advisory committee member for the Coalition for Metabolic Health. This piece originally ran in the Ohio Capital Journal.

MAINE-LY GARDENING – Dirt talk: More little creatures in your soil

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by Jude Hsiang

It’s a jungle down there! The top two or three inches the soil are full of creatures living complex lives. Compared to what’s going on below our feet, films of the Africa’s Serengeti seem lonely and quiet. There are herds of plant eaters and voracious predators.

Among the billions upon billions of living things in our soil are protozoa – commonly labeled one-celled animals – that feed on the bacteria and fungi. Moving to on to larger creatures we find nematodes, tiny worms that are sometimes large enough to be seen without a microscope. Mostly beneficial, though sometimes feeding on plant roots, they eat anything smaller than themselves.

Now consider the creatures we can see and may consider to be real animals. Many are arthropods, the relatives of crabs and lobsters. They all share characteristics like exoskeletons with jointed extremities. Scientists estimate there are about 85% of all the estimated 1,800,000 species of animals on the planet are arthropods. Most are insects, but arthropods also include spiders and mites, centipedes and millipedes, and springtails

When you’re working in the garden soil you’ll see some of these critters and probably ignore them unless they are larger. You may some kinds just plain creepy. As they try to avoid your fingers and tools, they are busy about their important jobs of helping the garden grow. Of course, from their point of view, they just making a living and eating anything smaller they may find.

As these creatures go about their business of hunting and gathering, they burrow through the soil creating tiny pathways for water and air. Their droppings contain bits of organic matter from plants and small organisms. Some of these little creatures, like pill bugs millipedes specialize in shredding what they encounter, which speeds decomposition, making nutrients more available to plants.

There are predators, like spiders and mites. And there are larger insects like beetles and ants living in the soil. The young stages of many species of beetles—fat, white grubs—are some of the things that alarm us most, not just because of their appearance, but the damage a few of them can cause. The non-native ones that are the most worrisome came to the US from Asia in the last 100 or so years and, like other invasive animals and plants, have no natural enemies here, so they spread easily. They will get the attention they deserve another day.

The soil is warming and the creatures living there are awakening. We need to allow the garden soil dry enough so that we don’t compacting it by walking or tilling. The little pockets of water and air in soil are vital to the roots of our favorite plants and the beneficial organisms that help them thrive..

© Judith Chute Hsiang
Jude Hsiang is a retired University Extension Master Gardener Program instructor and member of the China Community Garden.

QUINN MINUTE: Aunts, uncles, and cousins

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by Rix Quinn

My friend Mel just got back from an aunt’s funeral, where he met family members he did not know he had.

Personally, I’ve met more relatives at funerals than I have at weddings…but maybe it’s because weddings require an invitation.

Last month, my uncle told me that my third cousin had died. No, two cousins didn’t die before her. She was my third cousin because our great-grandmothers were sisters. Confusing, huh?

The word “removed” just means a different generation. So, my first cousin’s children would be my first cousins once removed.

I had not met the deceased, but her obituary photo looked just like my uncle…but without the beard.

I went to her memorial service so I could mingle with familiar relatives, plus meet new ones. As one of my buddies says, “You need to know cousins in several states, so you can travel cross-country for free.”

The deceased cousin was 97, and she had lived a busy life. She’d been married four times, each one an upgrade from her prior spouse.

At one time she’d also been a softball umpire. Maybe that’s why she married so much. When a husband disputed her decision, she just called him “out.”

Since the funeral was at the grave site, attendees then walked to a nearby large tent for a reception. I’ve never seen so many familiar-looking folks whose names I didn’t know.

I talked to several second cousins, third cousins, and even one old guy who looked like he’d wandered over because he smelled coffee.

After the event, I remembered what an old friend told me: “Any time an event serves food outdoors, you’ll see lots of aunts.”

REVIEW POTPOURRI: From Verdi to Schubert

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Giuseppe Verdi

Karajan Verdi. Intense Media 600011, 8 CDs, recordings from 1956-1959.

Giuseppe Verdi

Giuseppe Verdi

This set includes studio recordings of three Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) operas, Aida, with soprano Renata Tebaldi and tenor Carlo Bergonzi in the lead roles; Il Trovatore with Maria Callas and Giuseppe di Stefano ; and Falstaff with baritone Tito Gobbi; and a live recording of the Requiem Mass with soprano Leonie Rysanek, contralto Christa Ludwig, tenor Giuseppe Zampieri and baritone Cesare Siepi. All these soloists and other ensemble members did top notch singing while Maestro Herbert von Karajan (1908-1989) conducted here as if his life depended on it .

Intense Media is more likely than not a bootleg label, the set is incredibly cheap and the transfers are for me quite listenable. And copies are available via Amazon, etc. A good introduction to these tried and true masterpieces from a composer who enriched the depths of 19th century Italian opera with both quantity and quality of production.

The Aida recording included a baritone Cornell MacNeil whose daughter attended North Vassalboro’s former Oak Grove/Coburn School during the early 1970s. That campus now the location of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.

Takuo Yuasa

Schubert Symphony #9 – Takuo Yuasa conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony. BBC Music, Volume 2, #5, recorded August 15, 1991, at a live Promenade concert, at London’s Royal Albert Hall, CD.

BBC Music Magazine has been published monthly for upwards of 35 years and always includes a free CD of classical concerts.

Takuo Yuasa

This London Proms concert of Franz Schubert’s long-winded yet still incredibly beautiful masterpiece of extraordinarily powerful lyricism was given an understated performance that holds its own against the more eloquent recordings of Charles Munch/Boston Symphony, Arturo Toscanini/NBC Symphony, Wilhelm Furtwangler/Berlin Philharmonic and at least 20 other distinguished contenders. Still living at 77, and more active with Japanese orchestras, Maestro Yuasa has recorded a sizable number of pieces by contemporary Japanese composers.

Robert E. Sherwood

Robert Sherwood

Playwright Robert E. Sherwood (1896-1955) attained much worthy fame for his 979-page, 1948 book Roosevelt and Hopkins: An Intimate History.

Harry Hopkins (1890-1946) may have been the closest friend, confidant and advisor of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945). With the most compelling storytelling gifts, Sherwood devotes the first 219 pages to Hopkins before 1941 and the remaining 760 pages to the years between the 1941 November election day and the deaths of both men, chronicling much of their daily lives as a most unusual working team. Hopkins also lived in the White House from 1939 to 1943 , his bedroom and working space just down the hall from the president.

Some items of interest:

Hopkins was born in Iowa and grew up in Illinois but his father was born in Bangor just before the Civil War.

He endured immense hostility from most everyone else in Roosevelt’s inner circle.

He regarded “money as something to be spent as quickly as possible.”

FDR admired Hopkins for his ability to work “speedily, imaginatively and giving the least amount of trouble to Roosevelt himself.”

Hopkins in his earlier days wore the same shirt several days in a row, and looked as though he slept every night “in a hayloft.”

FDR sent Hopkins on his own behalf on initial visits to Churchill, in London, and Stalin, in Moscow.

Hopkins was very fond of the poetry of John Keats.

Stalin told Hopkins that all nations needed “a minimum moral standard in order to co-exist” and that Hitler could never be trusted.

Due to Hopkins political skills, he was described by a journalist as “the most versatile character actor of these times.”

Humorist George S. Kaufman (1889-1961) once defined mixed reception as “good and rotten.”

M Squad

Lee Marvin

YouTube has many episodes from the late ‘50s TV series M Squad starring Lee Marvin (1924-1987) as a Chicago detective. The series is a very engaging array of film noir television but I am struck by how low key, tame and congenial Marvin’s character is when on the right side of the law – especially in comparison to his vividly scary portrayal of the J13 sadistic Liberty Valance in Portland native John Ford’s classic 1962 film with John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart.

Other Marvin classics – The Killers with Ronald Reagan, The Big Heat with Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame via which Marvin’s gangster throws a scalding pot of coffee in Grahame’s face when her housekeeping displeases him, the 1955 Violent Saturday, etc.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Banish dry eyes forever

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by Stephanie Rubino, ND

Taking proactive steps to protect your eye health has never been more critical

Are dry, irritated eyes slowing you down? Dry eye disease (DED) is a widespread eye condition affecting millions worldwide. An aging population and increased screen time are driving global DED rates. Taking proactive steps to protect your eye health has never been more critical.

What is DED?

Also known as dry eye syndrome or keratoconjunctivitis sicca, DED is caused by the disruption or loss of the tear film, a three-layer covering that protects the eye’s surface. This tear film contains water, proteins, lipids, and electrolytes, and is vital in preventing infection, reducing inflammation, and supporting clear vision.
Several associated factors have been identified in DED:Aging, especially after 40, Allergies, Autoimmune conditions, Medications (e.g., antidepressants, antihistamines, and contraceptives), Contact lens use, Environmental exposures (pollution, smoke, low humidity, and UV), Extended screen time without regular breaks, Female sex, Gut dysbiosis, Meibomian gland dysfunction, Sedentary lifestyle, Sleep deprivation.

Tear film instability can lead to various symptoms, including dryness, redness, itching, burning, and a gritty sensation, as well as more severe concerns like eye pain, photophobia, and vision disruptions. In advanced cases, ulceration, scarring, and vision loss can occur. Up to 34% of individuals with DED experience disruptions in daily activities, negatively impacting mental health and quality of life.

Dry eye relief today

Don’t let dry eyes hold you back. Consider these approaches to stabilize the tear film and support the ocular surface, which can help relieve symptoms and improve comfort.

First steps

A common first step is using preservative-free artificial tears multiple times daily. Warm compresses can provide relief by stimulating the meibomian glands, which produce the oil layer of the tear film, helping to prevent excessive tear evaporation. Eyelid hygiene is essential and involves using cotton swabs and cleaning wipes correctly to remove dirt and debris.

Antioxidant focus

Oxidative stress contributes to DED, making it an important focus during treatment. Antioxidants protect the tear film against oxidative damage from free radicals. One study found that a supplement containing anthocyanosides, astaxanthin, vitamins A, C, and E, and several herbal extracts increased tear production and improved tear film stability by reducing reactive oxygen species. In addition, vitamin A may be more effective than eye drops in some cases, while lutein may provide benefits, thanks to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and blue-light-filtering actions.

Keep your eye on good fats

The link between low dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids and increased DED risk was first identified in a study with over 30,000 women. Subsequent research has shown that omega-3s effectively improve the signs and symptoms of DED. The anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective actions of omega-3s help promote tear production and a healthy corneal surface. A diet supplemented with EPA, DHA, and GLA has shown significant symptom relief in individuals with severe dry eyes.

A look at vitamin D

Vitamin D may improve tear quality and the ocular surface. Its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory actions are relevant in DED management. Research has shown a close link between serum vitamin D levels and tear production, tear film stability, and symptoms. Supplementation may improve symptoms and reduce corneal staining, an indicator of surface damage. Additionally, vitamin D supplementation may enhance the efficacy of artificial tears.

Clearly curcumin

Curcumin, an active compound in turmeric, may be helpful for DED because of its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-allergic properties. Studies indicate that curcumin supplementation can reduce DED symptoms, improve tear film stability, and decrease the use of artificial tears. As curcumin naturally has low bioavailability, it’s best to choose curcumin supplements that offer enhanced absorption.

The gut-eye connection

Changes in the gut microbiota may contribute to ocular diseases, including DED. The connection between the gut and the eye (the gut-eye axis) suggests that imbalances in our gut microbes can increase inflammatory responses, potentially worsening DED. Although research is still in its early stages, probiotics and prebiotics show promise in DED management. In one study, supplementation with two Bifidobacterium strains for 30 days significantly increased tear secretion and tear film breakup time.

Insightful lifestyle strategies

While avoiding digital screens may be challenging, following the 20-20-20 rule is recommended. Focusing on an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes can help reduce eye irritation. Active blinking can help increase tear production and improve the ocular surface. Other considerations include minimizing contact lens wear, reducing exposure to environmental pollutants, and using a humidifier to improve indoor humidity. Don’t forget to wear sunglasses to protect the eyes from wind and UV exposure.

Dry eye syndrome is a complex condition that requires a holistic approach to protect long-term vision. With proper care, lasting relief and healthier eyes are within sight.

Dr. Stephanie Rubino operates a general naturopathic practice with a focus on women’s health, and digestive health. She has a special interest in educating the public and other health professionals about a range of health topics and natural health product issues.

QUINN MINUTE: Have people improved?

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by Rix Quinn

Have people evolved much?

We humans possess remarkable powers. We can walk, run, swim, and even fly (if we hold a boarding pass). Other creatures aren’t so adaptable.

Fish can swim, but walk poorly. Birds can fly, but often misjudge altitude, and end up as hood ornaments.

Some snakes can squeeze you to death…but who wants an affectionate reptile? Bears possess power, but hibernate all winter, and miss some great parties.

Rabbits multiply quickly, but can’t understand other math. Amoebas divide, but separate from their better halves.

Beavers build constantly, but live a dam hard life. Wild pigs are unpredictable, and can boar you senseless. Turtles appear gentle, but rarely come out of their shells.

However, animals can learn by trial-and-error.

Scientists discovered that many beasts can master complicated tricks if rewarded with food. I also love to be rewarded with food, and have personally mastered many complicated recipes.

Over the centuries, folks have survived with intellect, ingenuity, and improvisation.

And when cornered – unlike animals – some folks can talk their way out of trouble. That’s a skill I have not yet mastered.

MAINE-LY GARDENING: More dirt: What’s living in our soil?

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by Jude Hsiang

Soil scientists tell us that the soils are probably the most biodiversity ecosystems on the planet, even though only about only 1% of the living things estimated to live the soil have been identified. Organic matter—living and dead—makes up about 5% of typical soils. Are the living things tiny? So tiny that a cup of soil can contain more than 200 billion living organisms.

These organisms create the potential for healthy plant growth, what soil scientist, gardeners, and gardeners call tilth. Tilth is a catch-all term for the relative ability to till the soil, ease of seeds to germinate and grow. The ability of plants to access nutrients, including minerals, is increased by these organisms, as they live and die. Making and adding compost to our gardens completes the soil-to-soil circle.The billions of living things in that cup of soil are mostly microscopic, but some can be seen with the naked eye. Some are beneficial to plants, some have no apparent effect, and some are harmful.

There are two main types of organisms that are especially associated with plants. One of these are the kinds of bacteria that live on plant roots forming nodules that attach nitrogen. If you grow legumes–peas or beans for example, your soil test may have advised adding these bacteria in the form of inoculants to increase the nitrogen these plants require. Once added the inoculant becomes established in the soil and continue to supply nitrogen for future crops while the plants give them sugars and minerals.

The nitrogen-fixing bacteria have been known for a long time, but knowledge of helpful fungi is newer to many people. These are called mycorrhizae and, like the beneficial bacteria, also attach themselves to the roots. They grow and spread widely bringing nutrients from a much wider area than the roots themselves can reach on their own. The fungi bring water, phosphorous, zinc and more to the plants and in return the fungi needed nutrients.

You will often see that mycorrhizae is included on containers of plant foods and fertilizers these days. The various species of fungi often have specific relationships with specific plants, so what we buy, whether in an all-purpose plant food, or packed separately are mixtures. The company selling these mixtures is really guessing what might work. The types of fungi vary with the native soils where they are found in association with the types of plants there, so if you decide to dig up a clump of wildflowers from the woods and transplant them in your flower bed, There might not be enough of the favored fungi clinging to the roots, so even if the amount of sunlight and water is sufficient, and the soils; contents about the same, the plant may bot thrive. Special native plant growers, and scientists continue to learn about these relationships.

There are lots of other things living in our soils, whether they directly benefit our gardens or not, whether we can see them or not, they all have their place in nature.

© Judith Chute Hsiang
Jude Hsiang is a retired University Extension Master Gardener Program educator and member of the China Community Garden.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Exploring Classical and Jazz Gems on Record

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Valery Gergiev

Prokofiev: The Gambler – Soloists, Kirov Opera and Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev. Philips 2894545592, two compact discs, recorded 1999.

Valery Gergiev

Among his numerous other recordings, Maestro Valery Gergiev has taped shelves of Russian operas by Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Moussorgsky and Sergei Prokofiev, of which the Gambler is filled with the abrasive beauties of wild savage rhythms, spelled by utterly exquisite lyrical passages. Gergiev conducted superbly.

As far as listening to opera, I recommend putting on the music, whether records, CDs, YouTubes, and letting the music happen as you go about your home activities and do not worry about now having to follow the booklet story line.

Gergiev supposedly sleeps two hours a night and subsists on coffee and cigarettes. Unfortunately, since Russia invaded Ukraine and the Maestro is standing beside his buddy Putin, his conducting engagements elsewhere have been canceled by managements.

Dresden Staatskapelle

The Dresden Staatskapelle is one of the finest, most responsive orchestras in Central Europe; a CD (Berlin Classics 0093942BC, recorded 1970 and 1978) featured pieces of Franz Schubert – Overture to the Magical Harp; Max Reger – Variations and Fugue on a Mozart Theme; and Haydn – The 95th Symphony, which is my favorite of all 104.

Willi Boskovsky, better known as an interpreter of Johann Strauss Waltzes, conducts the Schubert, Heinz Bongartz the long-winded Reger, and Eugen Jochum the Haydn.

I have been a huge fan of Jochum (1902-1987) for over 50 years, saw him guest conducting the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center in 1978, met him afterwards in the Green Room and got his autograph which is still somewhere around here.

The reason for my admiration of his conducting is a unique combination of heart and soul with intelligence in phrasing, tempos and instrumental detail. I own both sets of the Brahms and Bruckner Symphonies and three of the four sets of Beethoven’s 9 Symphonies which have the above qualities of his musicianship and interesting differences in approach with the same pieces.

And I own his three different recordings of the Haydn 95th Symphony, being a genuine lunatic for duplicate recordings of my favorite pieces.

Jochum made his conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic when he was 76. During the Hitler years, he despised the Nazis, refused to join the Party and miraculously survived, unlike a younger brother, also a conductor, Maestro Georg Ludwig Jochum (1909-1970) who supported Hitler wholeheartedly.

Strangely enough, the two brothers remained close.

Around 20 years ago, Jochum’s gifted daughter Veronica gave a piano recital in nearby Newcastle and is still living at 99.

Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady; Impulse IMPD-174, recorded 1963, compact disc reissue of LP.

Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus (1922-1979) was an accomplished double bassist, leader of jazz musicians, and a truly original 20th century American composer whose music, rhythms and colorful ex­­pressive sonorities frequently transcended the jazz genre and this 1963 album has a half dozen highly captivating compositions.

Mingus also had a moody, unpredictable, highly explosive temper which erupted often in throwing punches at fellow musicians, some of whom carried revolvers and knives to protect themselves.

The year before he died, Mingus was awarded a special medal at the White House from President Jimmy Carter for his contributions to American music.

* * * * * * *

Benson Orchestra of Chicago – I’m Drifting Back to Dreamland; Just for To-Night. Victor 19101, ten-inch acoustic shellac, recorded June 14-15, 1923.

These two selections are perhaps best described as bittersweet dance music of the early prohibition jazz age and recorded by a group of highly gifted musicians in the very city where Al Capone ruled with a bloody fist.

The musical director Don Bestor (1889-1970) would go on to direct the orchestra featured on the Jack Benny Show when it began broadcasting on NBC in 1934. Both Bestor and Benny spent their early years in Illinois.

* * * * * *

American composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990) in commenting on the floods of good and bad music available since the invention of the phonograph stated not only that “almost anybody has the chance to listen to music…[but also]…everybody has the chance NOT to understand music.”

His book What to Listen for in Music which first appeared in 1939 and underwent several revisions until 1985; for those who wish to expand their understanding, few other music appreciation books have been written with such clarity.

An additional advantage, Copland was no mere critic or college professor but a composer who contributed such listenable masterpieces as Rodeo, Lincoln Portrait, Billy the Kid and, my personal favorite, Appalachian Spring. And he emphatically believed in the joy of listening to music, as with reading a great book or viewing a classic painting, with all the senses fully alive.

All four pieces are accessible on YouTube.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: How to breathe better air

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(NAPSI) – ­You can’t see them but they can harm you and the people you care about with every breath you take.

No, it’s not some new horror movie. It’s the particles and pollutants hidden inside your home.

The Problem

Many homeowners know about cleaning surfaces or vacuuming when they want a healthier home, but some of the biggest factors affecting indoor air quality are in places most people probably never think about at all: inside your heating and cooling system.

The Reason

Because such systems circulate air throughout the house, particles of dust, pollen, pet dander, and mold spores can move through the home’s airflow.

Why It’s Important

Experts at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Experts (ASHRAE) estimate Americans spend nearly 90 percent of their time indoors, making the quality of indoor environments a major factor in overall exposure to air pollutants.
In fact, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), eight out of ten people in the United States are exposed to dust mites and six out of ten are exposed to cat or dog dander, two of the most common indoor allergy triggers. What’s more, the AAFA reports, over 28 million Americans – about 1 in 12 people – have asthma and these indoor triggers can worsen their symptoms.

An Answer

ASHRAE members and other experts across public health, building science, and environmental health increasingly emphasize that ventilation, airflow, moisture control, and HVAC system performance all influence the air people breathe indoors. Having regular maintenance—such as changing filters, controlling moisture, and having HVAC systems inspected—as part of your healthy home checklist, they note, can help manage these pollutants and support cleaner indoor air.

What You Can Do

Change the air filters. Dirty filters can restrict airflow and allow particles to recirculate throughout the house.
Manage moisture and humidity in the house. Excess humidity can contribute to mold growth and other indoor air concerns.
Maintain proper bathroom and kitchen ventilation. Exhaust fans help remove moisture, cooking particles, and pollutants from indoor air.

Keep vents and air pathways clear. Blocked vents can interfere with airflow and reduce ventilation effectiveness.

Watch for excess dust and debris. Visible buildup near vents or registers may signal the need for system maintenance.

Have regular professional inspections of your HVAC system to help ensure components are functioning properly and airflow remains unobstructed.

Who Can Help

Qualified HVAC professionals, such as the members of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA), can evaluate and improve your home’s system performance.

Learn More

For additional facts and to find a qualified HVAC company near you, visit www.BreathingClean.com.