Monday, May 11
I remember seeing “Purple Rain” when it first hit the screens, and feeling very proud Minneapolis was so hip. Also felt quite remote from the mythical uber-sextastic world it portrayed, even though Prince was my size, my age, and I’d served him Pigs in a Blanket when he sat in my section at the Valli. (It sounded so naughty when he ordered it.) Ah, to go back a quarter century, tap my self on the shoulder and say -
Well, no. Back up.
If you’ve been to one of those high-buck memorabilia stores, you’ve seen the framed albums with band-member signatures. A thousand dollars buys you an ersatz Bon Jovi gold-record kit; ten grand gets you the guitar just like the one played by some briefly-famous pop star, and it has a hastily scribbled signature. (You look at the Sharpie squiggle and wonder if that translated into the monthly gardener’s bill, or money still owed on rehab, child support, an hour in Lethe.) So it took me a while to realize that my host didn’t have a framed gold record for The Time because he liked the group; he had it because he was in the group.
But it was my night be very, very slow to realize things. I have no idea why, but the ability to put names, bands, eras, and history together complete eluded me for a while. But let’s back up again.
Friday night I’m sitting in the living room of a nice house on a leafy street on the edge of a southern suburb. Light spring rain; twilight. The first thing I noticed upon entering was the grand piano, miked up, with the cords running into the baseboard. Since most houses aren’t wired thus, I figured the cords went to the recording studio in the basement. That’s why we were here, after all: daughter was going to play her original piano composition for posterity along with some other kids, and our host, who knew Natalie’s piano teacher, had offered his house and studio for the evening. Teacher had said the entire family was musical, including the grand doyenne of the clan.
Can’t mistake her when she arrives. Elegant, gracious, a quick smile. She sits down; my wife struck up conversation, and they got to talking about the kids, as moms are wont to do. All her children were in music:
“One of my sons on tour with Steve Miller now. My daughter is with – who’s she with?” She turns around to find her son, but he’s tuning his bass. “Bonnie, Bonnie Raitt. Yes. And my other son is with Kenny Loggins.”
Our host, Paul, is tuning his bass; he will be joining the Loggins tour soon as well.
If Natalie is nervous, she’s not showing it. This was part of a midwest music festival – you could play someone else’s piece, or enter your own composition. Over a thousand kids played something someone else wrote; seven decided to write their own. As Natalie would later explain with blunt honesty, she chose to write her own “because I didn’t want to do the other thing. Also because I like composition.” We’ve been working on this composition for a few months, and this was the night when the kids would record it for posterity. The original plan was to record the pieces at the host’s other place, formerly Flight Tyme – Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’ joint – but he decided to have it at his house instead. And so we came to be in the home of a kind, friendly fellow without a jot of pretense or Mr. Rock Star Ego. Great kids, cute dogs, lovely funny spouse – you’d call him lucky, but that would discount what he’d done to earn it.
It’s time to begin. They decide to go youngest to oldest, and ask Natalie’s classmate how old she is.
“Eight.”
“Natalie?”
“Eight and a half.”
Get that kid on the Price is Right. The first girl does a lovely job on her own piece; Natalie does well too. We’d been drilling the hard parts, but she plays the baby grand without any nerves or hesitation. (I am temporarily forbidden to post it, since she is still mad I posted part of her story the other day.) The older kids are stunningly good – the host’s daughter and son, both high schoolers, played their own compositions, and they had an effortless, offhandedly perfect quality that made you wonder when they’ll find the exact gene in charge of Music.
When the kids are done and the trophies handed out, our host’s mother says she’d like to play. She doesn’t have anything in mind; let’s just see what happens. She walks over to the bench with her cane, leads it against the piano, and begins.
Well.
Ladies and gentlemen, Jeanne Peterson. There are two women in the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame. The other is Judy Garland.
The first cut is dreamy and a bit bittersweet – soul music for the Greatest Generation. Remember: nighttime, dim room, rain on the porch.
Then she played a piece with her son. Uptempo. I suspect they’ve played together a few times before.
Background: she was staff pianist & vocalist for WCCO for over two decades, organist for the Twins, local nightclub performer. (If I’d known that last fact at the time I would have asked her about nightclubs in Minneapolis, because that is a book that has to be written.) Here’s a lovely song set to some stills:
By the way, here’s Mrs. P playing with that Kenny Loggins fellow at the same house. She’s 87. Naturally, she has a website.
–
Today: Matchbook Museum, and one other tidbit. A weekend post below might pique your attention. Buzz.mn explores the fictional 1939 Mpls Centennial.
43 Responses to “Monday, May 11”
140 or less
- Review of new iPad Twitter app: no. Extended, in-depth review: Ugh no. (Basic complaint: no scrolling on edge of screen with finger.) 2 hours ago
- Photo: Possibly the most convoluted slogan in the history of advertising. The fellow in the picture is either... http://tumblr.com/xzqhfpggg 4 hours ago
- Photo: Fella-girdles! It looks like he’s flaying himself Hellraiser-style. http://tumblr.com/xzqhfkpm4 5 hours ago
- Photo: Put up your hands and speak out, America - where’s YOUR rupture? http://tumblr.com/xzqhfg5lf 6 hours ago
- Photo: Introducing for your approval: the term “Laffiesta.” http://tumblr.com/xzqhfg5aw 6 hours ago
So You Said
Your host, elsewhere
This Month
This Month
Books I Like
Host with the Most
Wow. Very sweet, very wonderful. (Go on, post Natalie’s. Sneak it up somewhere she won’t see. I won’t tell.)
What a sweet experience to have. Music tends to cascade down families. It’s one of those invisible ties that bind. What a pleasure and a privilege to witness talent of this kind passed down through the generations. Beautiful
I wish I could have been at that party. That lady just sounds amazing.
(And I’ve always wished I could play piano, even half as well as she does. What a gift.)
Speaking of Minneapolis night clubs, Larry Munson, who gained fame as the football play-by-plan announcer for The University of Georgia is originally from the Twin Cities and played piano and sang in night clubs there before WWII.
Maybe it’s just technical difficulties on my end (my Firefox curled up and napping?) but I’m assuming there’s video or audio embedded in this post that I’m just not able to see or hear. There’s an inch or so of blank space between each of the last few sentences re: Ms. Peterson, but whatever’s supposed to be in those blank spaces isn’t showing up. *insert downward-sliding, brassy horn sound of disappointment here.*
As enchanting a tale as this is, I can barely contain my disappointment at the lack of a Trek review.
So she didn’t play “I’m Alright”?
That’s awesome to be in the company of people who have toured with such greats like Steve Miller and Kenny Loggins. A friend of mine’s cousin toured (don’t know if he still does, need to call and find out) with Fleetwood Mac, as their sound engineer.
Thank you so much for sharing those recordings. I never had the pleasure of listening to Jeanne Peterson play before. Hearing it was a wonderful way to start the day.
Ron Moses Says: “I can barely contain my disappointment at the lack of a Trek review.”
LOL–Just when my eyes were glazing over (I like Trek to a point) the focus changes. That is why this is such a good read. Why, it’s a box of chocolates!
What an experience – a good one for Natalie, too – to see a life lived with music.
Not just to see a life lived with music… but to see that outstanding musicians can be real people. You don’t have to be weird or have an ego that barely fits through a garage door. I work with a number of musicians, and the most impressive are also the most ordinary.
Hooray for Natalie!
Oh my, how lovely was that! The first piece you embedded had (to me) a flavor of the Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown Christmas music; don’t know why, it just did.
As for the rest, well, what is there to say. Talent can strike deep, and surely did in the Peterson family. Thanks you for sharing those.
And I’m still eager to hear Natalie’s piece, when she’s ready to share it.
Some lovely, lush Jerome Kern today and I am particularly enamored of the renditions of ‘All the Things You Are’.
Here’s hoping that Natalie lifts her ban on her performance appearing here.
Bob
Thanks, James, for transporting me to this dream world, if ever so briefly. How wonderful it would have been to actually BE in the room when this grande dame was entertaining! Took me back to the days of my parents parties…always someone playing the piano, people gathered ’round, singing, dancing, cocktail in hand. (maybe a cigarette, too) In the pictures, they all looked so happy! And perfectly coifed. The tailored suits and ties, the ladies all dressed in impeccably fitted party dresses, wasp waisted too, all Lance and Lori-ish. Back when muffin tops didn’t mean overhanging flesh! Ahhh, those were the days, if only on the surface.
I suppose if my dad had posted a bit of the stories I wrote when I was Natalie’s age I would have been embarrassed and mad at him, too. But please tell her what I saw I thought was very well-written and I enjoyed it.
The day started out terrible — cranky kid with a high fever, and I burned the eggs while trying to coax her into taking her medicine (we’re still working on that one) — and then I read this and listened to that first, perfect piece. Improv you say? I wish for a world filled with such improv!
I think I need to just put that on repeat and have it running all day. Everything would turn out well.
Decided to spin some Django Reinhardt, and repeat it until the CD player has a blunted laser.
Thank you for posting all of this, James. It has made my life infinitely better.
Wow! Nice Piano. I was inspired back in ‘06 and bought my kids a Yamaha Keyboard for Christmas. My 8 year old daughter liked it, and has taken lessons for almost 2 years now. I think she has a knack for it. She played a little song for the 1st – 4th grade talent show. She did get some nerves, and flubbed in a few places. The school’s weird, old, electric piano thing might have thrown her off too. She’s played it perfectly in practice at home. For her next recital, she will play “Blue Danube”. Or at least the first two pages of it. I like that she gets to play some real songs now, instead of just piano lesson book songs. I have noticed that the Yamaha (fake) piano has much lighter keys than a real one. I really need to find us a real piano. On the plus side, the Yamaha never goes out of tune.
Amazing music. Just amazing. I’m in the lounge at a swank club, it’s 1956, there’s a cocktail on the table before me and a Packard in the parking lot and all is right with the world.
One more thing: in comparison to this, the Artist Formerly Known as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” is a hack, unworthy to turn the pages on this woman’s sheet music (if she needed sheet music in the first place, which she obviously does not).
Beauty, what will stay
and what will fade.
Hangers on walls
with scribbling and all
memories of past
reflect the beautiful now
and that which will follow.
That which is real
what time can’t steal
and make dust
separating our trust
from what is hard
and what is fragile,
what will leave
and what will remain.
Thanks to the Peterson’s for years of what will remain.
Wow. Thank you, James, for sharing what must have been an absolutely perfect evening! I recognize her and her work, and have emailed the link to a number of friends. I’m positive that I heard her in some Mpls club years ago and requested some ancient song, though I can’t remember what it might have been.
Those of us who know people like her are truly blessed.
Wish I had asked Morris Day and the band to sign the album cover for “What Time Is It?” Five of the clocks on the cover were mine. Wish I had pictures of Prince and me playing Asteroids at the local strip joint. (He was really good.)
Wish I’d stop dropping names. That was a past life, and I was only lucky to be there.
But the love of really great music is still infective in the lives of our family. I was fortunate enough to shake the hand of Hershey Felder this weekend. (Google him, friends, and if you have the opportunity, find a performance in your city.)
Meanwhile, I’ll be playing that first cut from the Bleat all day long. It was simply lovely.
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! What Baby M said at 9:47.
James, Jeanne is a national treasure and she’s obviously been a monumental influence to people across the entire spectrum in the music world. Jeff Lorber; Joe Sample; George Benson; Phil Ramone; Dave Koz; David Sanborn; Kenny Loggins; Bonnie Raitt; Steve Miller et.al. And of course her kids. Woman casts a mighty long shadow.
If Natalie’s serious about her music, you could do a heck of a lot worse than launching her into Ms. Peterson’s orbit.
‘Berg
Drew Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 8:43 am
The day started out terrible — cranky kid with a high fever, and I burned the eggs while trying to coax her into taking her medicine (we’re still working on that one)
That high fever stuff is teh suq. 4 year old had it Thurs – Sat and missed T-ball, then the 7 year old comes home from 9 hours of Girl Scout Amusement Park fun with the same high fever and sobbing. Up all night (all night) sleeping on her floor as she bellows at the injustice of it all, and now I’m trying to make sense of a new T1 circuit – curse you AT&T! Forces are alligning against me!
Drew hope you daughter feels better!
James, that was on enchanted evening, and certain to remain special in Natalie’s memory in the future.
an excellent adventure! exposure, not to mention immersion, in the arts on an intimate level is a wonderful thing for a young child. while Mr. Glyph operates on a high level borrowed from some other universe, and thence only occasionally fits well into this one, you are finding excellent teachers and role models.
-0-
juanito, all you should have to do is get the router set right. the carrier needs to insure the T1 is correct to the csu/dsu. if they can’t run zeroes, T1daly, and 4F to a CSU loop, they’re not done.
Drat.
It’s bad enough I get the butterflies over my own kid’s performances, now I get it for yours too.
It’s amazing how many incredible talents there are out there that you just stumble into. Your life really is like the Diner.
Speaking of which…
swschrad Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 11:16 am
juanito, all you should have to do is get the router set right. the carrier needs to insure the T1 is correct to the csu/dsu. if they can’t run zeroes, T1daly, and 4F to a CSU loop, they’re not done.
It’s all AT&T – circuit was scheduled for turn up and testing last week, and I’ve got a slew of public facing DNS updates to complete, but AT&T mislabeled the circuit ID (by duplicating it!!) and can’t be bothered to pull their thumbs out and correct it. Say – did you know that there are multiple levels of Case Escalation Managers at AT&T? You would think that there’d be just one, but alas there are about 4.
It’s a managed router (in case I am hit by a bus… or jump in front of one) but I’ve already configured it – its set wide open, as I’ll use my own Linux routers behind it, using public IP assigned to us from the pool for the new circuit. This could have been finished up last week, in a day, but look what bureaucracy gets you! an extra 6 days! Weeeeeeeee!
@juanito & swschrad:
I love it when you talk dirty…. you had me at “new T1 circuit”
Garry Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
@juanito & swschrad:
I love it when you talk dirty…. you had me at “new T1 circuit”
T1 is sooooo old school.
Now, DS3 or SONET, well I might get the vapors.
Bandwidth is pure gluttony.
Must.Have.More.
Actually, I thought The Onion had a brilliant review of the “Star Trek” film (are we allowed to post links to that site?):
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/trekkies_bash_new_star_trek_film?utm_source=a-section
How awesome for all involved! Natalie got to play the piano of a great, classical talent, and to be in her company as well! Ms. Peterson sounds very much like Marian McPartland-terrific stuff-thanks!
I am guessing that there must have been some music and photos. Sadly, because I can’t access this until I get home in the evening, it is now gone. I wish you could keep it available a little longer. Must have been interesting.
James, Stoutcat,
I think that first, beautiful, piece by Jeanne Peterson is “But Beautiful” by Bill Evans or at least, half Evans-half Peterson.
That tune, in a dimly-lit room at twilight, full of friends on a rainy night, that is what I imagine Limbo is like…so, far, I don’t dare imagine any farther.
Tom in Clareville – must be your browser. The music is still there.
The music widgets and embedded youtube players all use Adobe Flash.
At my former place of employment’s “Holiday” party last year they invited Jeanne Peterson and her daughter to provide the entertainment.
It was horrifying. The daughter can sing but probably shouldn’t, at least not for money, and Jeanne…well she was an amazing pianist but the singing…oh god the singing. It reminded me of being surrounded by old ladies at church wailing hymns.
Add this to them both spending more time talking about how many people they know and who they hobnob with and how important they (excuse me their family members) are then they did actually entertaining. I’m sure she has a reason for being in the hall of music, but man…they couldn’t finish fast enough.
How did The Andrews Sisters get left out of the Minnesosta Music Hall of Fame? Nothing against Judy Garland or Mrs. Peterson but thats a pretty big oversight. Just curious.
Just saw Bonnie Raitt last night. Ricky Peterson was fantastic on keyboard and vocals.
I am so honored to be a part of the circle of friends of the PETERSON clan
James, I love that you were able to hear Jeanne Arland and experience her. She is amazing and a true Minnesota treasure. Thank you for taking the time to acknowledge this artist for who she is…. a woman of depth, love for her family and grateful to have used her gift of music all her life to touch people’s hearts. Some may say they don’t get her, or her family, but that is okay. Most do understand and love them. May you keep bringing these kinds of stories to people. I will take this over shock media any day. Thanks!
Considering the source, I’m honored.
Thanks for the visit – and keep up the amazing work you do.