Table of Contents
​​

SECTION 1 – Prologue and Part I
SECTION 2 – Project Notes, Background Information
   Video Production 2020-12-3 and 4

   Video Production 2020-11-29
   PreProduction Video 2020-11-23
   Flamenco build and stop
   ​Cajon References
   Dance Video Production Example
   
Tom Spach Songs
   Flamenco Song Types

Flamenco Performances
   Notes from group Zoom mtg
SECTION 3 – 2022
   Composition “A” – Tom Spach

SECTION 1

Prologue and Part I

Return to Top

PROLOGUE
Song: Down the Road, Lyrics and Music by Tom Spach

PART 1
PANDEMIC BREAKDOWN

Pandemic Break-up Poems
The Absence of Ginger written by Sandra Hughes
Of Blues and Bearden written by Reggie Prim
I’ll Bring My Heart  written by Jerilynn Bedingfield

Songs
Saint Peter Blues lyrics and music by Tom Spach
Invocation of the Angeles / Man of the Boat with cedar flute performed by Reggie Prim,  Mike Hickey and Sandra Hughes
(In Hebrew and Irish)



Hebrew-Irish-Flute Song along with Reggie English translations of the Hebrew lyrics

The text is a Jewish folk incantation, wrapped in the mist of Kabbalic mysticism, sometimes included in קריאת שמע על מיטה, the nightly recitation of the Hear O Israel prayers in bed just before sleep, calling on God and his angels to protect the supplicant.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, full of his honor is the land.
 On my right Michael, on my left Gabriel, before me Uriel, behind me Raphael, and above my head the spirit of God.


      Poems from Part I

      Pandemic Breakup

      PANDEMIC BREAKUP

      The Absence of Ginger
      by Sandra Hughes

      The Absence of Ginger
      (To Speak the Truth)
      by
      Sandra Hughes
      May 30, 2020
      (To Purify)
      Forgive me.
      Forgive me for accepting
      your marriage proposals
      to me.
      I can say this now
      – because I understand
      your forever-proposals
      coupled with my acceptance
      engendered a ruse riddled
      with desires woven into
      your secret agenda.

      (To Ground in Reality)
      Initially,
      i n the actual world
      we discovered
      each other
      unexpectedly
      The afternoon
      the absence of ginger
      Blessed us with
      one another’s presence
      Recently,
      in the virtual world
      We came together
      suddenly.
      Swept away by an
      unknown force
      into a shared
      technological reality.

      To Invoke)
      A power larger, much larger
      than either of us placed us i n the
      same spaces at the same time.
      The Divine Plan you reference
      so readily offered to deliver
      us to The Promise Land
      and failed because this
      life-affirming reality was
      betrayed and aborted
      by lies and neglect.

      (To Surrender)
      Flowers.
      He brought me flowers.
      It was the first time
      in our three years together
      he’d ever brought me
      fresh cut flowers.
      I knew once the flowers died
      our relationship would end.
      For three weeks
      I watched them fade
      until I finally had to admit
      they were gone.
      Soon after
      our relationship unraveled
      in the matter of minutes.

      (To Reveal)
      He told me
      he wanted to
      be with me forever.
      That’s what he told me . . .
      Milk and Honey drip from
      my eyes,
      my lips,
      my thighs –
      remnants of
      Sacred Vows
      severed by deception.

      Pandemic Breakup: The Absence of Ginger  A Poem  by Sandra Hughes, All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2020 ©

      Of The Blues And Bearden
      by Reggie Prim

      Note: this gap is a page limitation and not intentional. “Bearden” continues below…


      I Will Bring My Heart
      by Jerilynn Bedingfield

      I will show up and bring my heart, a basket of garden tomatoes, a listening ear and a playful story to share.
      I will try not to bring anything that I have already unpacked and left behind.
      It seems clear at first and I give words to make the journey feel new exciting, somehow different but after we pass through the first city and begin exploring the next you set the table, invite me to dinner, pour the wine, touch me tenderly and ask me to serve my heart on this platter for dessert.
      You take your time, savor what’s been served, kiss me, pick up your unpacked baggage and slip out the door.
      It seems clear at first and I give words to make the journey feel new exciting, somehow different but after we pass through the first city I realize  there are things that I have not left behind.

      Return to Top


      SECTION 2

      Project Notes, Background, Information:

      Return to Top

      2020-12-3 and 4 Production session

      ​”Desirae” – Raw video and audio production recordings.  See “2020-11-29 Production video session for instructions downloading these files.

      “Pandemic Breakup” – Raw video and audio production recordings.  See “2020-11-29 Production video session for instructions downloading these files.

      Portraits for short film

      Below:  2 of Julie with different lighting:

      Return to Top

      2020-11-29 Production video session


      Taken at the Mask Center.  To download video file: 1) click on video to create focus on it; 2) click download icon in lower right of video.  If you prefer another file format (other than MOV), I think I can convert to MPEG-4, AVI, WMV and AVC/H.264 formats (with various properties of your choice).  Email me: tomspach@gmail.com


      Here is separately recorded audio of Mike’s voice from the video above using digital hand recorder hidden behind box in front of Mike. Audio volume has been normalized. 

      To download audio file: 1) click the “Download File” link to the left. The audio player will appear and start playing audio file;  2) On the right side of the player control, click the 3 dots and then the “download” text-button;  3) After downloading, click your browser’s <back> button to return to this page.

      Return to Top

      2020-11-24 Pre-Production session
      Raw video footage taken at the Mask Center.  Should you want to download a video file in a format other than MOV, I think I can convert with various properties within MPEG-4, AVI, WMV and AVC/H.264 formats.  email me: tomspach@gmail.comNOTE: Corresponding files are UNDER videos (except the first video).

      Return to Top

      Posted 11/20/2020. From JulieFlamenco dance – build and stop > upper body

      At 5:54 you see an example of building footwork that ends with high energy and then drops into upper body ​

      Return to Top

      Cajon References

      Posted 11/13/2020. From JulieI send links to videos where I think you can see examples of great ways to play cajón, in videos where the cajón is pretty well visible. The cajón is usually in the back in a dark theater, and difficult to see well.  I hope the cajón in these videos is easy to see. ​I would ignore the techniques where the cajón is played with separated fingers or anything other than a solid hand (either cupped or relaxed/flat). Those techniques take a long time to build and are advanced. I send these examples that do include some of those super-experienced techniques, because I want to demonstrate what the ultimate product is. If I sent videos of students or amatuers, then you would shoot for that end product. Plus, a lot of those videos have incorrect information in them. I didn´t think that would be helpful as we fuse our ideas. I hope this approach is helpful and not confusing.

      Here’s a didactic video that has variations and the base rhythm that we used: Note: You´ll find the base rhythm that we went over near the end of the video, and the musician plays it backwards (2-3-3 instead of 3-3-2), which is fine and common (both ways are good). Even though this is a different pattern (2-3-3), I like this video b/c it is clear. This video is in Spanish, but I think that the cajón playing is universal, no matter the language.

      Here´s the cajón with guitar and singing, to see how the cajón builds energy and stops with the rest of the group

      And with dance, see lots of variations, lots of techniques






      lots of variations, lots of techniques






      This one deals with a lot of emptiness on cajon and then tight bursts of footwork accompaniment




      Little modern on the dance at the beginning, but the music is solid once it gets going​

      Return to Top

      Posted 11/5/2020. From Reggie
      Dance Video Production Example​
      Below is to a 7min version of the 4min dance video sent by Reggie.  It is a good reference and/or instructive tool.

      View this post on Instagram

      Until we meet you in live performance next year, we offer this film iteration of “Fire,” third of the four journeys of “Dastak,” our evening-length dance work about home, belonging, borders, boundaries, and loss. The Farsi word Dastak means knockings, and the dance traces the knockings of global injustices on our hearts through four sections, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Created by filmmaker Darren Johnson/ @northerndawnmedia , choreographer @ananyachatterjea , composer and vocalist @mcintyrespirit , and composer @maestrostrange , textual magicmaker Sharon Bridgforth, performers @ananyachatterjea @feraira11 @alexandraeady @rendoublee87 @laicheeyang @juliagay72 @_lizzymariee @pari_rajb @nakitakirchner @noelleawa @pheebsfb . Filmed along and near the Lake Street corridor of Minneapolis, and along University Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota.

      A post shared by Ananya Dance Theatre (@ananyadancetheatre) on

      Return to Top

      Posted 11/5/2020.  From TomSong: “Down The Road”  
      The song is now re-imagined in a flamenco-inspired 6-count rather than common 4/4 time. This is a rough version of the full song in SIX along with a metronome in the foreground. 

      Posted 11/5/2020. From TomTom Spach – Desirae”I wrote this in a short time one morning around April or May of 2020. I rarely write a song ‘all at once’. This song was delivered to me just before I woke up early one morning. It felt like I was experiencing the tragedy of people who lost especially dear loved ones during Covid.”
      ~ Tom Spach

      Return to Top

      Posted 11/5/2020. From Julie ​.
      Flamenco Song Types



      In flamenco we have a palo (song type) that deals specifically with loss of love.  It is tientos. Here’s La Paquera singing:Song lyrics of tientos deal with things like:
      I asked God why you lied to me
      I live with torment while you are not in my life
      I want to lock you in a convent if I cannot have you
      The bells of the church are not as beautiful as you
      What pain I feel to see your sad face
      You are dead and they came to take you at 2:00 in the morning
      Etc.

      Posted 11/5/2020. From Julie ​La Argentina sings here, in a more contemporary version, which ends por tangos:
      These are to a four-count beat, very slow. Tangos song lyrics can be celebratory and flirty, leaving behind the heaviness of the tientos. Thus, the transformation.

      Return to Top

      From: Julie Galle Baggenstoss <julie_galle@yahoo.com>
      Sent: Friday, August 14, 2020 4:04 PM
      Here are some references for flamenco to share with the group. I will send more soon.

      The man in the shirt is Juan del Gastor. For sure he was in the audience and was invited on stage at the end of the show, for a little “fin de fiesta.”
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJ9mHbNG8c

      Same man. Fiesta, not end of performance.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWC383W35jU

      Fiesta, superstars and regular people; the man to the left of the singer is also a professional singer. note how he changes his hand clapping:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDy3Hf58SdA

      Those two superstars from the fiesta all polished on stage:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=413sZlUgINM

      Yinka Graves, who Reggie referenced, in the theater, dancing por soleá (part of the deep song)
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXEwu0uHMPI

      Ah! A woman! 
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJrB6pm8dxI

      Tuesday, August 18, 2020
      From Sandra Hughes & Tom Spach
      stop animation: Power of the Moon

      Friday, Aug 14, 2020 zoom meeting
      From Reggie Prim to Everyone:  03:10 PM
      Anandi Bhattacharya
      Migration of colours buleria meets holi
      From Reggie Prim to Everyone:  03:20 PM
      Ilya Prigogine
      TheBlues
      Cyphers

      ​From Reggie Prim to Everyone:  03:25 PM
      Mono no aware
      the blues and flamenco
      rooting word/concept – Loss
      Concept – the deep song
      Flamenco concept – imminence of death
      blues concept – hellhound on my trail

      From Julie Galle Baggenstoss to Everyone:  03:31 PM
      listento.audiomovers.com

      SECTION 3

      2022

      Tom Spach – DWT “Overture” – June 2022
      This is, I suppose an overture, a collection of themes and variations upon them which I have been dreaming up recently. The 12/8 rhythm that is fundamental to much of Flamenco music is employed here as a thread that helps tie the themes together.  The sections are all set to 12/8 but some not so neatly, which can create interesting polyrhythms.  I envision perhaps expanding and incorporating some of these themes into useful scored elements supporting performance.

      Return to Top

          Scroll to Top