Music & Concerts
Ramirez balances taste, restraint with solid technique at First Baptist recital
Eclectic program gave Barcelona native ample opportunity to pursue wide sonic range on church’s five-manual Austin
Raul Prieto Ramirez greets fans at a reception following his organ recital on June 18 at First Baptist Church. (Washington Blade photo by Joey DiGuglielmo)
First Baptist Church of Washington, a large, LGBT-affirming house of worship just off Scott Circle, continued its Virtuoso Organist Series last weekend with another performer who truly lived up to the series’ name — Raul Prieto Ramirez, probably the best-known Spanish organist on the international scene today.
The afternoon was yet another perfect pairing of masterful musician with truly great instrument at his disposal — in this case, First Baptist’s mighty 118-rank double Austin organ, installed in 2013. Ramirez easily joined the ranks of other great performers who’ve played there in recent years such as Diane Bish, Ken Cowan and Hector Olivera. It’s a true treat to hear these world-famous virtuosos play what is arguably the finest organ in Washington and Ramirez was yet another home run for the series, masterfully managed by D.C. musical legend Lon Schreiber, organist and choirmaster at First Baptist. Sadly, attendance was not great (about 70), no doubt because it was Father’s Day.
Opening with Bach, Ramirez, making his D.C. concert debut, played the “Prelude and Fugue in D Major (BWV 532)” cleanly and efficiently. He registered the pieces much more conservatively than I’ve heard him register Bach previously, but that was fine.
A lengthy musical journey followed with “Triptico del Buen Pastor (Triptych of the Good Shepherd),” by Jesus Guridi that gave Ramirez lots of opportunity for tone painting as he played through the three selections, whose titles translate to “the flock,” “the lost sheep” and “the good shepherd.” Based on a biblical notion, Ramirez’s registration variations were the most interesting facet of the triptych moving from flute-heavy pastorale passages, principal-heavy transitionary passages with lots of dynamic contrast and character evocation, a stately chorale-like climax and a somewhat jarring finale.
Sometimes organ recitals are too wacky, as if the concert organist wants too badly to eschew anything (Bach notwithstanding) that suggests church repertoire. That’s all fine — there are no rules — but it was nice to hear a stately piece like this with long passages that sounded like something regal you might hear during a religious service. I didn’t love the piece, but it was nice to hear the organ in this mode.
A Bach chorale (“Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier”) served as a palate cleanser, then Ramirez closed the first half with a showy, bombastic rendition of “Allegro,” the first movement from Widor’s “Symphony VI (Op. 42, No. 2).” Ramirez, in perfectly fluent, albeit heavily (but endearingly!) accented English, provided charming and insightful commentary throughout the afternoon. His personality is almost as much a part of the show as the actual playing. You left feeling you’d gotten to know him a little and it was good company.
The second half followed suit in big-mellow-big fashion with a satisfying triple whammy of Liszt’s “Mephisto Waltz, No. 1,” two short pieces by Italian composer Joan Bautista Cabanilles and Ramirez’s own transcription of Wagner’s “Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.” Ramirez clearly had fun creatively registering all the selections. The second half, especially, made judicious and effective use of the organ’s two Trompette-en-Chamade ranks, blending these stately fanfare trumpet stops convincingly with the rest of the organ thunder. That’s harder to do than you’d think. He played entirely from memory.
Three encores followed and oddly provided some of the most musically satisfying moments of the entire recital. The first was a short but flashy pedal piece often erroneously attributed to Bach; the second and third were authentic Bach pieces, the latter of which gave us some of the best moments to hear the organ’s soft flute stops, undergirded with deep, spongy 16-foot flutes in the pedal organ. It was an odd way to end a recital — most people like to go out with more of a bang — but it worked.
Ramirez, who teaches at Indiana’s Ball State University when he’s not traveling, is an organist of profound ability and remarkable insight who has deep understanding of what works, why it works, how to register and pace a wildly eclectic program and how to whittle down vast resources into something cohesive, as playing an organ this large is almost like preparing a meal that makes sense with endless spices at your disposal.
It all coalesced into something a little daring, a little unexpected, at times warmly familiar, never arbitrary and, by the end, quite satisfying. With Ramirez, you never feel he’s opening every can of paint just because he can. Even the most virtuosic passages — and there were many — never felt show-offy. Musicality trumps technique in his ethos. The ear seems to take in his playing with ease because you sense early on that musically you can trust him. You’re in capable hands. He knows where he’s heading with all this and you feel much like you do watching a good Scorsese film. He’s that kind of auteur and it was that kind of afternoon.
Music & Concerts
Underdog glorious: a personal remembrance of Jill Sobule
Talented singer, songwriter died in house fire on May 1
I’ve always prided myself on being the kind of music consumer who purchased music on impulse. When I stumbled across “Things Here Are Different,” Jill Sobule’s 1990 MCA Records debut album on vinyl in a favorite Chicago record store, I bought it without knowing anything about her. This was at a time when we didn’t have our phones in our pockets to search for information about the artist on the internet. The LP stayed in my collection until, as vinyl was falling out of fashion, I replaced it with a CD a few years later.
Early in my career as an entertainment journalist, I received a promo copy of Jill’s eponymous 1995 Atlantic Records album. That year, Atlantic Records was one of the labels at the forefront of signing and heavily promoting queer artists, including Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy, and its roster included the self-titled album by Jill. It was a smart move, as the single “I Kissed A Girl” became a hit on radio and its accompanying video (featuring Fabio!) was in heavy rotation on MTV (when they still played videos).
Unfortunately for Jill, she was a victim of record label missteps. When 1997’s wonderful “Happy Town” failed to repeat the success, Atlantic dumped her. That was Atlantic’s loss, because her next album, the superb “Pink Pearl” contained “Heroes” and “Mexican Wrestler,” two of her most beloved songs. Sadly, Beyond Music, the label that released that album ceased to exist after just a few years. To her credit, the savvy Jill had also started independently releasing music (2004’s “The Folk Years”). That was a smart move because her next major-label release, the brilliant “Underdog Victorious” on Artemis Records, met a similar fate when that label folded.
With her 2009 album “California Years,” Jill launched her own indie label, Pinko Records, on which she would release two more outstanding full-length discs, 2014’s “Dottie’s Charms” (on which she collaborated with some of her favorite writers, including David Hadju, Rick Moody, Mary Jo Salter, and Jonathan Lethem), and 2018’s stunning “Nostalgia Kills.” Jill’s cover of the late Warren Zevon’s “Don’t Let Us Get Sick” on “Nostalgia Kills” was particularly poignant as she had toured with him as an opening act.
Jill was a road warrior, constantly on tour, and her live shows were something to behold. My first interview with Jill took place at the Double Door in Chicago in early August of 1995, when she was the opening act for legendary punk band X. She had thrown her back out the previous day and was diagnosed with a herniated disc. To be comfortable, she was lying down on a fabulous-‘50s sofa. “I feel like I’m at my shrink’s,” she said to me, “Do you want me to talk about my mother?”
That sense of humor, which permeated and enriched her music, was one of many reasons to love Jill. I was privileged to interview her for seven of her albums. Everything you would want to know about her was right there in her honest lyrics, in which she balanced her distinctive brand of humor with serious subject matter. Drawing on her life experiences in songs such as “Bitter,” “Underachiever,” “One of These Days,” “Freshman,” “Jetpack,” “Nothing To Prove,” “Forbidden Thoughts of Youth,” “Island of Lost Things,” “Where Do I Begin,” “Almost Great,” and “Big Shoes,” made her songs as personal as they were universal, elicited genuine affection and concern from her devoted fans.
While she was a consummate songwriter, Jill also felt equally comfortable covering songs made famous by others, including “Just A Little Lovin’” (on the 2000 Dusty Springfield tribute album “Forever Dusty”) and “Stoned Soul Picnic” (from the 1997 Laura Nyro tribute album “Time and Love”). Jill also didn’t shy away from political subject matter in her music with “Resistance Song,” “Soldiers of Christ,” “Attic,” “Heroes,” “Under the Disco Ball,” and the incredible “America Back” as prime examples.
Here’s something else worth mentioning about Jill. She was known for collaboration skills. As a songwriter, she maintained a multi-year creative partnership with Robin Eaton (“I Kissed A Girl” and many others), as well as Richard Barone, the gay frontman of the renowned band The Bongos. Jill’s history with Barone includes performing together at a queer Octoberfest event in Chicago in 1996. Writer and comedian Julie Sweeney, of “SNL” and “Work in Progress” fame was another Chicago collaborator with Sobule (Sweeney lives in a Chicago suburb), where they frequently performed their delightful “The Jill and Julia Show.” John Doe, of the aforementioned band X, also collaborated with Jill in the studio (“Tomorrow Is Breaking” from “Nostalgia Kills”), as well as in live performances.
On a very personal note, in 2019, when I was in the process of arranging a reading at the fabulous NYC gay bookstore Bureau of General Services – Queer Division, I reached out to Jill and asked her if she would like to be on the bill with me. We alternated performing; I would read a couple of poems, and Jill would sing a couple of songs. She even set one of my poems to music, on the spot.
Jill had an abundance of talent, and when she turned her attention to musical theater, it paid off in a big way. Her stage musical “F*ck 7th Grade,” a theatrical piece that seemed like the next logical step in her career, had its premiere at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre in the fall of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. The unique staging (an outdoor drive-in stage at which audience members watched from their cars) was truly inspired. “F*ck 7th Grade” went on to become a New York Times Critic’s pick, as well as earning a Drama Desk nomination.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Jill’s eponymous 1995 album, reissue label Rhino Records is re-releasing it on red vinyl. Jill and I had been emailing each other to arrange a time for an interview. We even had a date on the books for the third week of May.
When she died in a house fire in Minnesota on May 1 at age 66, Jill received mentions on network and cable news shows. She was showered with attention from major news outlets, including obits in the New York Times and Rolling Stone (but not Pitchfork, who couldn’t be bothered to review her music when she was alive). Is it wrong to think that if she’d gotten this much attention when she was alive she could have been as big as Taylor Swift? I don’t think so.
Music & Concerts
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
Out singer/songwriter to perform at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Singer Tom Goss will bring his “Bear Friends Furever Tour” to D.C. on Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co.
Among the songs he will perform will be “Bear Soup,” the fourth installment in his beloved bear song anthology series. Following fan favorites like “Bears,” “Round in All the Right Places,” and “Nerdy Bear,” this high-energy, bass-thumping banger celebrates body positivity, joyful indulgence, and the vibrant spirit of the bear subculture.
For more details, visit Tom Goss’s website.
Aussie pop icon Kylie Minogue brings her acclaimed “Tension” world tour to D.C. next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster.
The show features songs spanning her long career, from 1987 debut single, “The Loco-Motion,” to “Padam, Padam” from her album, “Tension.”
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