The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Springsteen saxophonist Clemons dies Posted: 18 Jun 2011 06:41 PM PDT  Musician Clarence Clemons poses for a portrait while promoting his new book 'Big Man' in New York in this October 21, 2009 file photo. — Reuters pic The New York Times said Clemons' death was confirmed by a spokeswoman for Springsteen. Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports. Clemons, dubbed the "Big Man," started working with Springsteen in 1971 and was a charter member of the backing group that came to be known as the E Street Band. His gritty, evocative saxophone solos powered such notable Springsteen songs as "Born to Run," "Jungleland," "Prove It All Night," "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out," and "Badlands." On stage, Clemons proved a worthy foil for Springsteen and his bandmates. In a 1975 concert review, Rolling Stone said Clemons betrayed an "ominous cool" in contrast to guitarist Steven Van Zandt's "strange hipster frenzy." "Clarence was the big black saxophone player who completely represented the tradition of rock 'n' roll and R&B," Van Zandt told Britain's Mojo magazine in 2006. Alongside Van Zandt, Clemons personified the E Street Band, and he took it hard when Springsteen broke up the group for a decade in 1989. But by then, Clemons was being used less in the studio. On stage, he was often reduced to playing tambourine or engaging in crowd-pleasing theatrics, like kissing Springsteen during the live staple "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)." He also dabbled in acting, enjoyed a solo hit single with Jackson Browne, 1985's ""You're a Friend of Mine," toured with Ringo Starr and even played on two tracks on pop singer Lady Gaga's new album. Clemons' death came three years after organist Danny Federici, Springsteen's longest-serving musical partner, lost a three-year battle with cancer. Clemons had been in ill health in recent years, suffering back and hip problems. He had double knee-replacement surgery in 2008, and walked for the first time in three months when Springsteen and the E Street Band played the Super Bowl early in 2009. The band's eight-month world tour that year was "pure hell," he told Rolling Stone earlier this year. Clemons was born Jan. 11, 1942 in Norfolk, Virginia, and played saxophone in high school where he was also a promising football player. A car crash ended his professional sporting dreams, and he went on to become a social worker, family man and barroom rocker. His first meeting with Springsteen was auspicious. Clemons had heard about a hot young rocker on the Asbury Park, New Jersey, scene, and walked into one of his club shows on a bitterly windy night. A gust of wind ripped the door from his hand, and it flew down the street. All eyes turned to Clemons, and Springsteen readily agreed when he asked to sit in with him. "When I first walked on that stage and hit the first note, I saw things that are happening today, then," he told Reuters in 2009. "I knew that he (Springsteen) was what I was looking for and I was what he was looking for to take that next step to the big time. It was just love, man, at first sight." During sessions for Springsteen's 1975 breakthrough "Born to Run," Clemons spent 16 hours recording his solo on "Jungleland," the nine-minute track that closes the album. "Creating is like religion," Clemons said later of the marathon session. "I was willing to relinquish myself to him (Springsteen). I've had people say to me, 'That sax solo saved my life.' So I did my job." Clemons was used more sparingly in later years as Springsteen opted to emphasize the guitars (1978's "Darkness on the Edge of Town") or recorded largely solo (1982's "Nebraska" and 1987's "Tunnel of Love." He still brought fervor to later-era songs like the hit single "Dancing in the Dark" and "Land of Hope and Dreams, but "over time his role in the band has become more symbolic than musical," author Jimmy Guterman wrote in his 2005 Springsteen biography "Runaway American Dream." In 2009 he published his memoir, "Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales," co-written with his friend Don Reo. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| US festival promises hip documentaries Posted: 18 Jun 2011 05:49 PM PDT  The Silverdocs film festival runs June 20-26 at the Silver Theatre complex in Silver Spring, Maryland. — AFP pic The Silverdocs film festival, which runs June 20-26 in the Washington bedroom community of Silver Spring, Maryland, is dedicated to the idea that documentary films can be fun. "Watching documentaries is not old-fashioned anymore," said Festival director Sky Sitney. "It used to be sort of like eating spinach, it's good for you, but it's not fun. I think Silverdocs turns that on its head." The festival, now in its ninth year, includes 108 films selected "from more high quality submissions than ever before," said Sitney. Among the filmmakers of note are Marshall Curry, whose 2005 film "Street Fight" was an Academy Award nominee for best documentary. Curry's new film, "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front," is about the unraveling of the radical ecological group the FBI at one point called "America's number one domestic terrorist threat." Among the festival's other "green" screenings are "Revenge of the Electric Car," whose director, Chris Paine, tells the tale of electric vehicles produced at Nissan and General Motors factories, as well as a Silicon Valley start up. The Canadian film "Wiebo's War" is a portrait of an environmental militant from Alberta at war against the western prairie province's oil producers. Several films deal with the theme of urban violence, including one by director Steve James, of "Hoop Dreams" fame, whose "The Interrupters" follows three fomer gang members trying to protect their Chicago neighborhoods from the violence they once employed themselves. Director Alex Gibney, who took apart the Enron financial debacle in a 2006 film, returns with a look at baseball spectator Steve Bartman, who endured the scorn of thousands of Chicago Cubs fans after he disrupted a possible catch in the sixth game of the National League Championship Series. The move was later seen as the turning point in the Cubs' ultimate defeat. Whitney Dow, who documented the 1998 racially-motivated murder and mutilation of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas, turns to Haiti with "When the Drum Is Beating," the story of the ultra-popular band "Septentrional." Britain's James Marsh, who won an Oscar in 2008 for "Man on Wire" detailing the exploits of French tightrope walker Philippe Petit, returns with "Project Nim," a film about a landmark experiment in the 1970s that sought to prove that a chimpanzee raised like a human could eventually communicate like one. The festival also includes a sneak preview of "Age of Champions" by Christopher Rufo, which takes a look at the extraordinary activities of many older people, including a group of grandmothers who play basketball, a 100-year-old tennis player and 80-something swimmers and other athletes. Then there's "Bakhmaro," a film about a restaurant in a provincial Georgian town that remains open — although no one ever comes. The festival will also screen the entire six hours of the 2010 Chinese film "Karamay." Director Xu Xin tells the story of a 1984 fire that killed 300 people during a performance in which officials asked the children in the audience to remain seated so the adults could save themselves. — AFP-Relaxnews Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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