Muzyka i Świat Documentary Film Festival & Live Music Tribute Event

The new Raymond Scott documentary film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will be shown during the Muzyka i Świat Documentary Film Festival in Krakow on Saturday, March 26th, at the Manggha Museum concert hall. Details: here. The following night at 8 pm is "Ektoplazma," a live musical tribute to Raymond Scott. More info: here

"Music and World" Documentary Film Festival is an international and multicultural event which takes place in Krakow. The main goal of our festival is to promote global and local soundscapes, support better understanding of various kinds of cultures and their traditional (and non-traditional) music through documentary films, live acts, and workshops.

New (free) organ arrangement of Scott's "In an 18th Century Drawing Room"

Our friend and fellow Scott-ologist Les Deutsch writes:

I have completed a second concert organ arrangement of a Raymond Scott title—"In an 18th Century Drawing Room." (I previously arranged "Powerhouse.") The setting is almost note-for-note accurate to the original Scott recording, including the use of an "organ harp," which is essentially a celesta keyed from the organ console. The organ in my recording is my latest virtual pipe organ design, the "Model 945." The organ is available free to those who already own the Hauptwerk virtual organ software, which is popular in many countries. The arrangement of 18CDR is also available for free to any organist with enough nerve to try it. It is not easy. Both the recording and the sheet music can be found on my web site.

More Accolades for Documentary Film

The LA WEEKLY has published a new review of the Raymond Scott documentary film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD. An excerpt:

"We know about the works of great artists like da Vinci, but rarely do we hear how their artistic triumphs affected their own families. A poignant, compelling attempt by a son to understand the father." Read more: here

The film also won another award this week: "The Critic's Choice Award" from the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival, where the film will be screened this Saturday night. Details: here

"Documental" Film Series in Santa Monica& Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival

The new Raymond Scott documentary, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will be screened on March 14th at 8pm, as part of the "Documental" Film Series at UnUrban in Santa Monica, California. An interview with director Stan Warnow is planned for 6pm.

The doc will be screened again, the same week, on Saturday, March 19th at 7pm, as part of the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival in the San Francisco Bay Area. Director Stan Warnow will attend to conduct a Q&A, and sponsors include Comcast, PBS, Whole Foods, and NPR.

UPDATE #1 — Award Finalists have been announced — DECONSTRUCTING DAD is one of 5 finalists (58 were considered).

UPDATE #2 — DECONSTRUCTING DAD won "The Critic's Award" (one other was given: the "Juried Award" for GOODNIGHT NOBODY).

"This fest is making a big splash in the town that Tom Waits, Les Claypool, and Peter Krause call home. Sebastopol is a progressive, artist friendly community that supports our documentary festival with incredible turn-outs and engaged audiences. Our festival was chosen by MovieMaker Magazine as one of the '25 Coolest Film Festivals,' an honor we intend to uphold this year."

Soothing Sounds at Second City

The Second City, the legendary improvisational comedy enterprise that launched the careers of Joan Rivers, Bill Murry, Mike Myers, Steve Carell, and Stephen Colbert, is staging a new show with a nod to Raymond Scott's groundbreaking 3-volume SOOTHING SOUNDS FOR BABY album series. Creator Robert Carter explains: "We realized that 'Soothing Sounds for Baby' fit as the title of the show and as a subtle tribute to Raymond Scott for those who recognized it. We do use the title ironically, however, since the tone is what could be described as cartoonishly dark. Although the show isn't directly a tribute to him, we do give Mr. Scott a tip of the hat; using a snippet from 'Tempo Block' in one of our scenes." Details & tickets: here

Shetland Jazz Club & Arts presents:Stu Brown's Raymond Scott Project

Leonard Maltin's new DVD review

LEONARD MALTIN, one of the world's most recognized and respected film critics and historians, writes:

"Admirers of the music of Raymond Scott, which infused so many Warner Bros. cartoons and has gathered a loyal following in recent years, should know that his son’s absorbing, highly personal documentary about the multifaceted musician, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, is now available online at ScottDoc.com. It’s well worth checking out."

Previously, Mr. Maltin said the film was:

"A fascinating look at a musical genius and the way he lived his life. Stan Warnow allows us to share his journey of discovery as he pieces together the story of his father. I thoroughly enjoyed it."

Glasgow Film Festival:documentary screening + live music event

The new Raymond Scott documentary, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will be screened during the Glasgow Film Festival on February 23rd at the Glasgow Film Theater, preceded by a live set of Scott's music performed by the Stu Brown Sextet. Details: here

"Glasgow Film Festival, the fastest growing film event in the UK, is dedicated to present the best of international and Scottish cinema to film lovers. GFF offers screenings, lectures, discussions, festivals within the festival, workshops and the chance to meet filmmakers from Scotland and around the world."

Dances of Vice present:"Powerhouse Stomp" in New York City

Dances of Vice pays tribute to classic cartoons of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s like Silly Symphonies, Felix the Cat, Betty Boop, Looney Tunes, including Raymond Scott compositions, and more at the vintage chic Liberty Hall / Ace Hotel, featuring live big-band cartoon music and hot jazz by Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra! With special guests Molly Crabapple, Michael Karas and DJ Miz Margo.

Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra performs unearthed music mined from the dusty vaults of a basement record collection, new arrangements of "voodoo music" and spirited stomps from the most incredible of the late 1920s Chicago and Harlem jazz bands.

Details: here

 • TIME & DATE: February 19th, 2011 | 10PM-4AM
 • LOCATION: Liberty Hall at The Ace Hotel | 16 W29th St. NYC
 • ADMISSION: $10 In Advance (Order Tix), $12 At the Door | 21+ ID

Betty Boop Pin-up Contest at 1am • 2-for-1 vodka drink specials from 3-4am

"Music For A Retro Future"

New various-artists CD, Music For A Retro Future, from the Other Sounds label features important pioneers of electronic music, including Jean-Jacques Perrey, Louis & Bebe Barron, Dissevelt & Baltan, and others: "A companion album to the book Journey To A Plugged In State Of Mind, an introduction to 100 years of Electronic Music. This release traces the early experiments of the synthesizer in movies and into commercial music. Featuring the sounds of room-sized computers, early rhythm generators, and cognitive ideas of many men in white coats. Includes the earliest recordings of Zappa favorite Varèse, the exceptional 'Song Of The Second Moon,' and Raymond Scott's early experiments into synthetic sound." Order from Amazon.com: here

The Quintette 7 juggernaut

The West Point Band's Raymond Scott chamber group Quintette 7 has a busy itinerary. On the heels of their new CD, Quintette 7 Plays the Music of Raymond Scott, the band's clarinetist Kristen Mather writes with a concert update:

We'll be doing a February university tour in New Orleans and Baton Rouge (Feb. 15 — Lousiana State University, 4 pm performance; Feb. 16 — Loyola University, 1:30 pm performance, with possible evening performance; Feb 17 — University of New Orleans, performance time TBD). We will perform on February 20 (at 3 pm) for the Saugerties Pro Musica Festival. We just added the date, so it isn't on their website yet. On March 9 (10:30 am), Quintette 7 will be part of the West Point Band's Young People's concert at West Point's Eisenhower Hall Theater. We're in the process of producing a "silent film" to accompany "Powerhouse" for this concert. The video depicts the group being late for a parade and running all over West Point.

BTW, the West Point Band isn't comprised of military personnel who happen to play instruments. It consists of first-rate musicians who enlisted to serve their country. Here's a fine example, as SSG Jeff Prosperie of the WPB's Hellcats demonstrates the sublime art of drumming fast singles with accents.

12th Annual CTM Festival in Berlin

The new Raymond Scott documentary film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will be screened on February 3rd at 8pm as part of the 12th annual CTM Festival in Berlin. Director Stan Warnow will attend for Q&A.

"The festival, repeatedly designated as 'Germany's prime meeting point for electronic and experimental music' and as 'Berlin's best pop festival,' puts down roots at new venues in Berlin Kreuzberg. Staying true to itself, CTM11 again assembles a unique blend of concerts, parties, laboratories, exhibitions and conferences, which will inspire nightlife hedonists, friends of breakneck experimentation and critical minds alike — not to mention those in who all three qualities are fused."

Cartoon Jazz Orchestra & SeptetConcert in Sunnyvale

Jeff Sanford's Cartoon Jazz Orchestra will be performing on January 26th at 7:30 PM: Raymond Scott repertoire and more! The Cartoon Jazz Septet will be opening the two sets for contrast and dynamics. A $10 cover minimum contribution is requested. From their website:

The Cartoon Jazz project was launched in 2003 at the Stanford Jazz Festival with the revival of charts from the great American composer, Raymond Scott. Jeff Sanford tracked down many charts of the famous composer, written for 13-piece bands in public archives and private collector libraries. Members of his band have since been contributing new arrangements of Scott's music as well as other jazz pieces which have been used in cartoons.

Senzala

250 East Java Drive

Sunnyvale, CA

(408) 734-1656

28th Annual "Reel Music Film Festival"

"The 28th annual Reel Music Festival in Portland celebrates the unexpected stories behind some of the world’s greatest music, with films spotlighting the incongruous, transformative, and sometimes bizarre origins of songs we sing every day."

The new Raymond Scott documentary film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will be screened on January 16th at 5 pm at the Whitsell Auditorium in the Portland Art Museum. Details: here