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INTRODUCTION
This is the Rest in Playlist for Friday, May 19th, 2023, featuring artists who passed in the week prior, from May 6th through May 12th. This week the Grim Reaper took a liking to opera, taking three singers from America, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Our Main Stage this week is an all-British lineup, while our Festival Stage focuses on Brazil. You’ll also hear from our headliner, Chieftain’s fiddler Sean Keane. But first, the Great Gig in the Sky begins with our Opening Act.
Opening Act:
[03 May 2023] John Albert, 58, American musician (Christian Death, Bad Religion) and music journalist (LA Weekly).
Our opening act this week is John Albert, who actually should’ve been on last week’s show, as he passed on May 3rd, but we were late getting the word. Better known perhaps for his work as a music journalist for LA Weekly, Albert was also a punk rock guitar player with a disdain for organized religion, at least judging from the bands he played in. One of those groups was called Bad Religion, and this is their track, “American Jesus.”
Bad Religion – American Jesus
Headliner:
[07 May 2023] Seán Keane, 76, Irish fiddler (The Chieftains).
Our Headliner this week is Sean Keane, fiddler for the Irish band The Chieftains, who died on May 7th. Born in 1946 in a suburb of Dublin, Keane was born into a musical family, and kept that tradition, with most of his children and grandchildren playing fiddle or other instruments. Keane is considered one of Ireland’s greatest traditional musicians. Here are The Chieftains with Sinead O’Connor singing “The Foggy Dew.”
The Chieftains – The Foggy Dew (With Sinead O’connor)
Main Stage:
[09 May 2023] Jon Povey, 80, British musician (Pretty Things, Bern Elliott and the Fenmen).
This week the Main Stage features three British acts. On May 9th the Reaper collected Jon Povey, who had been a keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist with the band Pretty Things, which formed in the 60s and became the first act signed to Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song Records. In 2013 they embarked on a 50th anniversary tour. Here’s a track from 1970 called “She’s a Lover.”
The Pretty Things – She’s A Lover
[10 May 2023] Stu James, 77, British singer (The Mojos) and music executive.
Next up we have Stu James, lead singer and pianist for The Mojos, who expired on May 10th. They were part of the early 60s British Invasion, particularly the Merseybeat sound. With some direction from Beatle George Harrison, they changed their name from the Nomads, and in 1964 made it to the British Top Ten with this single that peaked at #9 called “Everything’s Alright.”
The Mojos – Everything’s Alright
[11 May 2023] Francis Monkman, 73, English musician (Curved Air, Sky, Matching Mole), songwriter and composer, cancer.
Closing the Main Stage we have Francis Monkman, who passed away on May 11th. Monkman played keyboards and guitar in the progressive rock band Curved Air and the classical fusion band Sky. He was also a composer of numerous film scores. This is a 2018 remaster Curved Air’s 2005 track, “Back Street Luv.”
Curved Air – Back Street Luv (2018 Remaster)
Festival Stage:
[08 May 2023] Rita Lee, 75, Brazilian singer (Os Mutantes), lung cancer.
Opening the Festival Stage this week we have Brazilian singer Rita Lee, one of the country’s most influential entertainers, who left us on May 8th. She was a vegan animal rights activist, a descendant of American Confederate soldiers who fled to South America during Reconstruction, and founder of the dissident Brazilian rock band Os Mutantes. This is that band’s song, “A Minha Menina.”
Os Mutantes – A Minha Menina
[12 May 2023] Dum-Dum, 54, Brazilian rapper (Facção Central), complications from a stroke.
Next up we have our youngest artist joining the Great Gig in the Sky, Brazilian rapper Dum-Dum, who was a member of the gangsta rap group Facção Central. The group’s anti-police lyrics have led to arrests of their members and banning of their videos. You could say they’re the N.W.A of Brazil… which means I could only find one track not labeled “Explicit” that I could actually play on the radio. This is “Dia Comum.”
Facção Central – Dia Comum
[12 May 2023] Abdul Karim Abdul Qader [ar], 82, Kuwaiti singer.
Closing the festival stage we have Abdul Karim Abdul Qader, a singer from Kuwait who met his maker on May 12th. Born in 1947, he had a very prolific six-decade career. Unfortunately, most everything I can find about Abdul is in Arabic, including the title of this song, which I cannot read. Please enjoy this music from Abdul Karim Abdul Qader.
Abdul Karim Abdul Qader
In the News:
It’s always news to us here at Rest in Playlist when someone outruns the Grim Reaper for over a century. This week, we give a tip of the scythe to Pietro Barucci, 100, an Italian architect and urban planner who died on May 7th, and to Moon Fun Chin, born in 1913 and died at age 110, a Taiwanese-American who was the last surviving pilot of the Chinese National Aviation Corporation, the last private Chinese airline.
The Amphitheatre:
[07 May 2023] Soňa Červená, 97, Czech operatic mezzo-soprano (Oper Frankfurt, San Francisco Opera).
The Grim Reaper’s sporting opera glasses for these next artists. We begin with Soňa Červená, the oldest woman on this week’s Rest in Playlist, who joined on May 7th. Born in Prague in 1925, her parents were imprisoned by the Nazis in WWII. By the 1950s, she had begun a promising career as an operatic mezzo-soprano. Here she is performing in the Wagner opera, Parsifal.
Soňa Červená – Seht dort, die wilde Reiterin
[07 May 2023] Grace Bumbry, 86, American operatic mezzo-soprano (Bayreuth Festival), complications from a stroke.
Another mezzo-soprano joining the Great Gig in the Sky on May 7th was Grace Bumbry. A Grammy winner and Kennedy Center Honoree for her work in opera, she also founded the Grace Bumbry Black Musical Heritage Ensemble, a group devoted to preserving and performing traditional Negro spirituals. She sung twice at the White House, for Presidents Kennedy and Reagan. Here she is performing in the Saint-Saens opera, Samson et Delila.
Grace Bumbry – Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix
[09 May 2023] Günter Wewel, 88, German operatic bass (Dortmund Opera) and television presenter.
At the bottom of the musical staff we find German operatic bass Günter Wewel, whose finale was on May 9th. Wewel was also known to Germans as the host of the television show “Kein schöner Land.” Born in 1934, Wewel performed over 80 roles in his opera career. But this week we bring you a recording more traditionally German than opera, a song called “Im Wald und auf der Heide.”
Günter Wewel – Im Wald und auf der Heide
[06 May 2023] Menahem Pressler, 99, German-born Israeli-American pianist (Beaux Arts Trio).
Our oldest performer on the Rest in Playlist this week is Menahem Pressler, age 99, who closed the set on May 6th. His Jewish parents fled Germany after the Nazis destroyed their business on Kristallnacht. After winning first prize at a San Francisco piano competition in 1946, he then played Carnegie Hall in 1947, and went on to found the Beaux Arts Trio in 1955. Here they are with Haydn’s Piano Trio in E Flat.
Beaux Arts Trio – Piano Trio in E Flat (Haydn)
[09 May 2023] Joaquin Romaguera, 90, American tenor (The Most Important Man) and actor.
Closing out the Amphitheater we find Joaquin Romaguera, who kicked the bucket on May 9th. He was an American tenor who performed with the New York Opera from the 60s through the 80s. He may be best known for his performance as of Adolfo Pirelli in the original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd in 1979. Here he is singing “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir” from that play.
Joaquin Romaguera – Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir
Encore:
[03 May 2023] John Albert, 58, American musician (Christian Death, Bad Religion) and music journalist (LA Weekly).
For an encore, we really would be remiss not to bring back John Albert, because the Reaper just loves his band, Christian Death. What’s that, Reaper? Oh, you just love Christian death, period? Yes, I suppose that would make you happy. Anyway, here’s Christian Death with “Romeo’s Distress.”
Christian Death – Romeo’s Distress
[07 May 2023] Seán Keane, 76, Irish fiddler (The Chieftains).
Finally, one more track from Irish fiddler Sean Keane. Here are The Chieftains, joined by bluegrass artist Ricky Skaggs, for a more traditional American fiddle tune, “Cotton-Eyed Joe.”
The Chieftains – Cotton-Eyed Joe (With Ricky Skaggs)
Closing
And that’s the Rest in Playlist for Friday, May 19th, 2023, featuring artists who passed the week before. Join us here next week for a tribute to the artists who have passed this week. For Rest in Playlist, I’m “Radical” Russ Belville reminding you to seize the day, it may be your last.
