Basho’s frog haiku with Traditional Japanese music

Thirty-six seconds of lovely pictures and music. Enjoy!

Animated version of Frog Haiku by Matsuo Basho

Calligraphy and animation by Ehsan Akbari.

Blues for Alice, song by Charlie Parker

“Blues for Alice” is a 1951 jazz standard, composed by Charlie Parker. The song is noted for its rapid bebop blues-style chord voicings and complex harmonic scheme –an example of what is known as “Bird Blues.” Parker first recorded the piece in August 1951 for Verve Records. The lineup consisted of Parker, Red Rodney (trumpet), John Lewis (piano), Ray Brown (bass) and Kenny Clarke (drums). (Source: wikipedia.org.)

April Come She Will, song performed by Simon and Garfunkel

From the Simon and Garfunkel concert in Central Park, New York City, September 1981. Paul Simon composed the song, which appeared on the duo’s Sounds of Silence album (1966).

APRIL COME SHE WILL
by Paul Simon

April come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain.
May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again.

June, she’ll change her tune,
In restless walks she’ll prowl the night.
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold.
September I’ll remember.
A love once new has now grown old.

Flight of the Wild Geese, song by Joan Armatrading

“Flight of the Wild Geese,” written and performed by Joan Armatrading from her album Gold (2003) and featured in the 1978 film The Wild Geese, starring Richard Burton.

FLIGHT OF THE WILD GEESE
lyrics by Joan Armatrading

Sad are the eyes
Yet no tears
The flight of the wild geese
Brings a new hope

Rescued from all this
Old friends
And those newly found
What chance to make it last

When there’s danger all around
And reason just ups and disappears

Time is running out
So much to be done
Tell me what more
What more
What more can we do.

There were promises made
Plans firmly laid
Now madness prevails
And lies fill the air.

What more, Oh
What more
What more can we do.
What chance to make it last

What more
What more can we do.

ABOUT THE COMPOSER/SINGER: Joan Armatrading is a British singer, songwriter, guitarist. She is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She also received an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection in 1996. In a recording career spanning 40 years, she has released a total of 18 studio albums, as well as several live albums and compilations.

Paul Robeson sings “Trees,” poem by Joyce Kilmer

Magnificent bass-baritone Paul Robeson (1898-1976) sings the poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer.

TREES
by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

SOURCE: Poetry (August 1913).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918) was an American writer and poet mainly remembered for his short poem titled “Trees” (1913), published in the collection Trees and Other Poems (1914). A prolific poet whose works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his religious faith, Kilmer was also a journalist, literary critic, lecturer, and editor. While most of his works are largely unknown, a select few of his poems remain popular and are published frequently in anthologies.

Mae West sings “Light My Fire” by the Doors

We’re celebrating all things May during the month of May — and how can we forget Mae West (1893-1980)? Here is the inimitable Ms. West singing the Doors‘ hit “Light My Fire,” from an album called Great Balls of Fire (MGM Records, 1972), available at Amazon.com.

Al Jolson sings “April Showers”

In this clip from the 1946 film The Jolson Story, actor Larry Parks lip-synchs “April Showers” to the voice of Al Jolson (1886-1950). With music by Louis Silvers and lyrics by B. G. De Sylva, the song was introduced by Jolson in the 1921 Broadway musical Bombo, and became known as the showman’s trademark. (Source: wikipedia.org)

May the force be with you, Star Wars quote

May the force be with you in May and all the other months of the year! In this short clip, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) bids bon voyage to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in Star Wars (1977).

Julie Andrews sings “The Lusty Month of May” from Camelot

Julie Andrews, as Queen Guenevere, sings “The Lusty Month of May” from Camelot, the 1960 musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White novel The Once and Future King. Read the lyrics at stlyrics.com.