Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

DANIEL BUCKLEY

dbuckley@tucsoncitizen.com

In a year when many arts groups are sweating out the current financial shakeup, the Tucson International Mariachi Conference is breathing a little bit easier, thanks to a new partnership with Cox Communications.

For several years now, the conference has been letting the public know that it was on a slippery financial slope. According to Daniel Ranieri, CEO of La Frontera Inc., the social services organization that the conference benefits, “(2009) was the year we would have run out of money.”

Instead, Cox will be supplying $50,000 cash per year for the next three years, plus a huge advertising partnership totaling some $500,000 in cash and in-kind donations.

The conference will be able to purchase marketing from Cox “in a deeply discounted way,” according to Ranieri. Cox will promote the event through all of its media around the state. It will produce shows about the conference and La Frontera to air on its cable channel and Web site, as well as produce sizable promotional spots for the event and its other sponsors.

Although it easily could have, Cox did not insist on being a named sponsor for the event (as in the Bank One Tucson International Mariachi Conference of some years back). Instead it’s looking at the arrangement as a chance for the conference to provide added market value to other sponsors, and thus attract a title sponsor as well as smaller partnerships.

It’s great for the conference in other ways, too. Through Cox’s interactive media, conference management can now get additional feedback from the public about the types of acts they’d like to see on the bill for the Espectacular concerts.

“It really turned the light on for me,” Ranieri says. “Why not have more strategic relationships?”

It’s a win-win situation. The conference gets cash, a broader advertising footprint around the state and a leveraging tool to attract other sponsors. Cox gets the goodwill such an arrangement produces, a clear sense of its role as a leader in the community and access to a steadily increasing market, in terms of the largely Hispanic audience that attends the events.

“I feel like the stars have lined up for us on this,” Ranieri says.

For Lisa Lovallo, Cox’s vice president and systems manager for southern Arizona, this arrangement with the mariachi conference is part of a broader approach to community relations for the communications giant.

In the TREO strategic planning meetings over the spring and summer, Lovallo saw an opportunity for Cox to get more involved in the community “to see if we can help.”

The mariachi conference’s international reputation, its educational component that serves 1,000-1,500 students a year and La Frontera’s work around the state added up to what she terms “a perfect storm of elements” to make Cox want to pitch in.

What the conference needed, she says, was not just a check but a business plan and a true media partner to help increase ticket sales, attract sponsorships, package and sell its assets and broker new partnerships in the community. With a representative on the conference board, Cox plans to be involved all the way through – not just at events, but at the meetings afterward to assess what went well and what could go better.

It’s an infusion of the type of energy and direction that TIMC has long needed, and one with potential to help the mariachi world’s long-standing model achieve the prominence and success it deserves.

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

Nostalgia never sounded better than it does in the ongoing Jazz Icons series of DVDs spiffed up from concerts televised in Europe mostly in the 1960s. As true jazz fans remember, the first two boxed sets of these genuine jazz events included historic performances from such heralded artists as Chet Baker, Duke Ellington, Dexter Gordon, Count Basie, Charles Mingus, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald, the list just gets longer and more impressive.

Now the third boxed set of aural gold is coming our way, looking crisp and sounding just as good as its two archival predecessors. This time out, the artists are: Sonny Rollins, Nina Simone, Lionel Hampton, Bill Evans, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Oscar Peterson and Cannonball Adderly.

These days, Rollins is enjoying the high profile of a working jazzer still going out on tour and doing it every night. Now in the seventh decade of an extremely creative life, his career has enjoyed an incredible resurgence.

Rollins’ concerts presented here took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1965 and 1968. Typical of the iconic tenorman’s restless lifestyle, his head is shaved and so is his face in 1965 but he is bearded and wearing a beret in 1968.

At both sessions he is playing with the strength you would expect of a saxophone colossus, several years after his self-imposed exile and those famous alfresco blowouts on the Williamsburg Bridge across New York’s East River.

Considering how noisy that time period was in American history, perhaps we didn’t appreciate Rollins enough back then. Europe’s jazz fans weren’t so caught up in the celebrity of who is better, Rollins or John Coltrane. The fans at these videotaped concerts loved Rollins and he loved them right back.

The DVD that feels most like a discovery of some wacky genius is the one featuring Rahsaan Roland Kirk, performing with several reed instruments hung around his neck, and a flute stuck in the bell of his tenor sax.

It is always easy to dismiss Kirk as a brilliant eccentric who tried to cover up his lack of musical ideas with the gimmick of playing so many different horns on the same song. Sometimes at the same time. And why did he hang everything around his neck? Why not have a specially designed instrument rack to stand beside, so he could simply pick and choose as his inspiration commanded.

Listening to his recordings, without any visual impact, the music does sound good . . . but not great. Yet, seeing him perform with at least 70 pounds of brass horns, padded keys and stiff little springs dangling from his shoulders, the man is a flashing neon aura of creativity.

These notes aren’t coming from a single musician but from a pile of music gear. The man in the center seemed more like a ship captain in a storm, grabbing whatever he needs to meet head-on the next wave of creativity about to wash over him.

Pure anger and intensity is in the performances of Nina Simone, playing in Holland in 1965 and in England in 1968. This was Simone at the height of her civil rights activist period. Her delivery on “Four Women” (with its signature scream of frustration, “They call me Peaches!”) is riveting. So are “Mississippi Goddam” and the equally direct “Go To Hell.”

To see Simone in her 30s, so fierce and proud siting behind that piano, is unforgettable for me.

Everyone will have a favorite moment of some kind. This boxed set is full of them. As the holiday season approaches, check the record departments of those chain bookstores and www.amazon.com. Each DVD is also sold separately.

CHUCK GRAHAM

cgraham@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

Put a little science into your Halloween this year. Forget all that nasty talk about razor blades concealed in apples, contaminated needles hidden in candy bars. Those are just urban legends, anyway . . . aren’t they?

The unassailable reputation of the Smithsonian Institution is on the line in a pair of DVD documentaries just released:

• “The Vampire Princess (Was ‘Dracula’ Based on the Ghoulish Obsessions of a Real-Life Woman?)”

• “The Legend of the Crystal Skulls (Mythical Powers or Ingenious Hoax?)”

Now, while it doesn’t seem likely that female empowerment includes equal opportunity to become a high-profile vampire, what do we know? Experts at the Smithsonian have gone to great expense, time and trouble to carefully disinter a quartet of bodies buried in curious ways in Romania in the early 1700s.

It was a time, we are told, when “vampire mania” swept the land. While we aren’t told what sparked this 50-year hysteria and the official medical designation of “vampire illness,” we do get to see the skeletons.

Well, we get to see three skeletons. The bones of one has been weighted down with heavy stones. Another was decapitated, the head placed between his legs, and hands bound with a rosary. Another did, indeed, have a wooden stake driven into his heart.

As with any folklore able to survive for hundreds of years in the dark corners of culture’s imagination, answering some questions only raises new questions. When it comes time to unbury the woman who could have been Bram Stoker’s inspiration for Count Dracula, the necro-archaeologists discovered her body had been sealed up in a massive crypt and then covered in consecrated soil. What unholy threat did she represent to the townspeople?

She was 18th-century bohemian princess Eleonore von Schwarzenberg. Further examination of the family castle’s extensive handwritten archives revealed an obsession with the occult. Her death was caused by a gradual weakening and wasting away.

As for those crystal skulls, Indiana Jones in this summer’s “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” movie had only part of the story correct. For one thing, there aren’t 13 of these gemstone sculptures scattered around the world, vibrating in resonance, trying to find one another so they can unite their powers and rule the world.

There are four known crystal skulls, one of them at the Smithsonian Institution. Sure, there could be nine others out there somewhere. But this DVD is bent on using the keenest scientific analysis available to diagnose the origins of the ones we know about.

It would have been fun to put all four on a table at once, surrounded by every sort of scientific sense detector, and just see what happens. Maybe four skulls would generate enough energy to rule one-fourth of the world. That would still be pretty good.

Instead, the murky history of each crystal skull is explored. Special attention is given to discovering microscopic scratch marks in the detailed shaping of each skull. While this conclusion will disappoint those who believe the skulls were carved by aliens from outer space, or from the lost continent of Atlantis, it still doesn’t explain the sophisticated equipment needed to make those marks.

Or the motive for wanting to create highly polished skulls with such precisely balanced design features. And why use crystal? Could it be because crystal, when properly treated, creates electrical current that could be used to record the thoughts of others in a quantum physics universe?

After a busy night of trick-or-treating, when the mind is locked into candy overload mode, it would be a real trip to ponder these matters.

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

Has democracy run its course as an effective form of fair and classless government? Will the inherent inefficiencies of democracy be incompatible with the demands of a worldwide digitally wired economy?

The time to consider such questions is right now, before the answers become essential to our survival. Although . . . an evaporating stock market along with evaporating ice caps imply it may already be too late.

Who knows, really? But a couple of recent movies open the door to some popcorn-fueled conjecture worthy of serious chin stroking.

The films are “Blindness” and “City of Ember,” with “Blindness” by far the most distressing. This international co-production reportedly involving Canadians, Brazilians, Urugurayans and some Japanese was given an unceremonious smackdown last summer when it opened the Cannes Film Festival.

After that, the film distributor could never get any traction for the controversial picture. A more insightful director’s cut may be on the DVD.

Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles (“City of God”) was relentless in his film adaptation of the book by Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese author Jose Saramago. Both works begin with a mysterious mass blindness sweeping through society.

Victims complain of being blinded by a white light. Could this white blindness, as they call it, be a symbol for racism destroying civilization?

But there’s also a positive metaphor. As people became blind, their skin color becomes meaningless. So does the need for clothing. When you can’t tell the people in fine clothes apart from the people with no clothes, there’s no class distinction.

Many possibilities stretch from this cluster of conflicts. Meirelles also fills the screen with despicable scenes of gross and disgusting behavior that don’t inspire any lofty thoughts.

“City of Ember” is more of a sci-fi family film, but firmly in the camp of such dystopian novels as “Brave New World” and “1984.” Cast as the kids who save civilization are Harry Treadaway and Saoirse Ronan, a couple of free-thinking teens who refuse to believe the government line that everything is just fine.

Nearly 250 years earlier, Ember was built underground when the surface of Earth became uninhabitable. Now the subterranean society lives in fear as its antiquated infrastructure of electric generators and steam-driven machinery begins breaking down.

People grown accustomed to making the government responsible for everything have forgotten how to do anything for themselves.

Sound familiar? Any resemblance to current public opinion is definitely intentional. Instead of the ominous threat of global warming we see corroded pipes and faulty wiring.

Bill Murray as the city’s corrupt mayor gets fatter as the citizens of Ember grow thinner and more afraid. Mary Kay Place is a smiling spiritualist totally out of touch with reality.

Instead of being concerned about the sputtering spin of hydroelectric turbines, the glowing Place radiates a positive assurance that the brilliant builders who created Ember long ago will return to fix everything.

To her, it’s completely logical. The illusion of logic can be a powerful distraction, such as all the high-speed economics experts who step in front of cameras these days to explain away our financial distress so logically.

It is interesting, and perhaps alarming, that society’s collapse in both “Blindness” and “City of Ember” occurs without anyone believing religion could provide a life boat. No ministers of the faith step up to offer solutions or solace.

Practical action is what the people want. Who can cure the blindness? Who can make the electrons flow?

Yet, if we take a step back from both films, the real problem is not the crisis situation itself, but the way people respond to the situation. People in survival mode will not respond well.

So who will have the vision? Who can project the statesmanship of confidence? Even in a movie theater, the silent answer is deafening.

CHUCK GRAHAM

cgraham@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

Practically from the day he arrived in the desert, Tucson Symphony Orchestra music director George Hanson has never been shy about expressing a desire to record with this orchestra. Though it took 13 years for that dream to come true, the TSO’s just-released first recording, featuring the music of French Canadian composer André Mathieu (1929-1968) is a knockout on all counts.

Time was on Hanson’s side in this enterprise. Throughout his tenure since 1996 with the orchestra, the TSO has taken both quantum leaps and evolutionary strides in the quality of its sound. When he arrived, the group was promising but fairly uneven and somewhat rough-hewn, with little appreciation of the finer points of dynamic shading. Every hire was a good one, every retention earned by the players. If the TSO of his arrival was a 1960s-era Oldsmobile, the orchestra of today is a Lamborghini. TSO earned its shot at a CD project, and it is everywhere shown by both the orchestra and the TSO chorus on this collection of ballet scenes, short choral numbers and a worthy concerto.

But none of this would have happened without the right partner – French Canadian pianist Alain Lefèvre. A virtuoso with the chops to match the highest strata of players alive today, Lefèvre is an impassioned champion of the relatively-unknown, greatly underappreciated music of his countryman, Mathieu. Lefèvre’s love of Mathieu’s music is well-founded. Here is a composer with a gift for melody all his own, the jaunty skill of George Gershwin, and the long-form sense of architectural structure of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

The centerpiece of the CD is Mathieu’s three-movement Piano Concerto No. 4 – a work Lefèvre was introduced to through a couple of the composer’s own private discs, handed to the pianist by one of Mathieu’s former girlfriends. Lefèvre invited composer/conductor Gilles Bellemare to orchestrate the work, fleshing out a score of romantic opulence and impressionistic atmosphere.

The result, as evidenced on this disc, is a spectacular vehicle for soloist and orchestra. Tuneful, full of sleek contours and thrilling details, it is also an organically conceived showcase for extreme virtuosity on the part of all, especially Lefèvre. The pianist is on fire in this work, delivering with passion, dexterity and tenderness all aspects of this complex, emotional landscape. But his performance would be nowhere near as powerful without the equally sculpted, meticulously shaped and flawlessly executed orchestral partnership Hanson and TSO provided in the live performances of the work, recorded in May 2008.

Mathieu’s four Scènes De Ballet give the orchestra a place to show off its own chops and the group rises to the occasion. From lovely and bittersweet to zesty and fun, these four episodes are a beautiful showcase for TSO’s individual and overall prowess, especially by the woodwinds and harp. But in the third dance – arguably the loveliest of the bunch, Dans Les Champs – former TSO concertmaster Steven Moeckel turns short solo passages into lyrical showcases of incomparable beauty.

The disc is rounded out with four songs for choir and orchestra – luminous but somewhat different works from another era of Mathieu’s writing. Yet while sonically not as spectacular as the other works on the disc, their more introspective grace and beauty warrants the space they are given. The TSO choir, under director Bruce Chamberlain, comes through with a performance as finely crafted and delicately balanced as any on the CD.

In the end, the TSO’s recording debut has yielded a disc no lover of great music can be without, and one that aptly showcases for the world the talent we have seen flower so brightly.

DANIEL BUCKLEY

dbuckley@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

Discs highlight fresh Latin sounds

It’s that time again, when we’ve gone through our pile of promo CDs and found some keepers. Here are four Latin music record ings worth checking out.
Lila Downs
“Shake Away” (Manhattan Records)
World music chanteuse Lila Downs follows up 2006′s “La Cantina” with “Shake Away,” a melange of folk, blues, rock and Latin tracks that is a stark departure in mood and sound from her previous collection of Mexican drinking songs.
Nine of the 16 composi tions are in English (the most for any Downs CD) and are more political and romantic than “Cantina’s” introspective, depressing songs.
The disc features six all star collaborations: with La Mari of Spanish flamenco chill group Chambao, Cafe Tacvba lead singer Ruben Albarran, American R&B star Raul Midon, rocker Enrique Bunbury of Spain, Mexican folk musician Gilberto Gutierrez and leg endary Argentine folk singer Mercedes Sosa. The best of these pairings are “Ojo de Culebra” (with La Mari), which draws listen ers in with its Latin-Middle Eastern beat and dramatic tale of catharsis; the politi cally charged “Justicia” in which Downs and Bunbury take aim at injustice; and the gorgeous, heartfelt bal lad “Tierra de Luz” with Sosa, who shares an Indian heritage with Downs (the daughter of a Mexican Mixtec mother and Scottish American father).
“Shake Away” also sports three covers that – with her creative rework ing – seem like Downs’ originals. She adds the female perspective in her bilingual take of “Black Magic Woman” with Midon. She also offers a version of Scottish band Blue Nile’s ballad “I Would Never” that differs from (but is just as beauti ful as) the earlier live ver sion on iTunes, with more guitar and less of a Celtic sound. Her third cover, of alt-country singer-song writer Lucinda Williams’ love song “I Envy the Wind,” flows with passion and longing. It’s offered in both English and Spanish versions.
Available only in English is the politically timely “Minimum Wage,” in which Downs addresses illegal immigration in a worker’s story set to a blues-rock beat.
“Shake Away” is Downs’ most ambitious and person al CD, with a mix of mate rial that is as satisfying as it is eclectic.
Various Artists
“The Rough Guide to Latin Lounge” (World Music Network)
For those unfamiliar with The Rough Guides, they’re a group of discs that try to introduce CD buyers (and MP3 down loaders) to new music.
This time around the genre is Latin lounge, and the compilation, just like most of its predecessors, is a stellar collection of fun and fresh tracks.
The global sounds, according to the CD sleeve, include “nu-bossa from Madrid, barrio funk from Venezuela, Cuban ska from Havana, samba-jazz from New York, boogaloo blues from Cali, and soulful Latin house from London.”
Kicking things off is one of the best tracks, “Kind of Latin Rhythm” by The Juju Orchestra, which is based in Germany. “This is a kind of Latin rhythm known as bossa nova, but it’s not really bossa nova,” repeats the singer in his deep, ultra-cool voice as the band plays its funkti fied version of Brazilian jazz.
Other standouts include “Bandolero” by music collective Novalima, which offers listeners a sample of their “afro-Peruvian-electronica”; “No Me Digas Nada” by Malena and “Calma” by Bah Samba, which blend bossa nova and electroni ca; and soulful cumbia “Tu Fiesta Personal” by Mo’ Horizons.
Bostich + Fussible
“Tijuana Sound Machine” (Nacional Records)
Nortec Collective mem bers Bostich + Fussible continue the Mexican band’s exploration of tech no- electronica-norteño banda fusion in “Tijuana Sound Machine.”
If you’d never thought you’d hear an accordion at a rave, think again.
Surprisingly, the disparate sounds go well together – like flour tortillas and peanut butter and jelly.
If deliciously loca can ciones like “The Clap,” “Norteña Del Sur,” “Tijuana Sound Machine” and “Akai 47″ don’t get your feet moving, you might want to have your circulation checked.
Trust us, there’s nothing worse than having falter ing circulation.
Monareta
“Picotero” (Nacional Records)
Electronic duo Monareta have broken into the Latin dance scene with their impressive U.S.
debut “Picotero.”
The group, which splits its time between Bogotá and Brooklyn, blends cumbia and champeta (the Afro-Colombian genre native to the streets of the country’s Caribbean coast) with breakbeat and dub.
The result is a fresh sound that mixes the best of the old and the new.
Nowhere is that more evident than in standout track “Llama,” whose influences of cumbia, reg gae and electronica com bine to form an irresistible modern dance beat with a Latin twist.
Add Monareta to the long list of talented and creative musical exports from Colombia.

Freelance
Byline

LARRY COX

calendar@tucsoncitizen.com

During the 1980s, I was living in the mountain community of Idaho Springs, Colo. As president of the local historical society, I was distressed to see that one of our most scenic landmarks – a large water wheel – was in serious need of repair.

The wheel, which had been used in gold mining operations during the 1890s, was rotting away to such an extent that unless immediate action was taken, this fragile piece of Western history would soon be lost forever.

Dozens of volunteers stepped forward to restore the wheel. But the problem wasn’t people; it was money for materials.

Because bake sales and raffles could raise only a fraction of the $75,000 we needed, I began contacting celebrities. Letters asking for help were mailed to important people throughout the country, explaining our dire need and asking for help.

One of the first persons who responded was actor Paul Newman. To our surprise, he not only sent a generous check, he called us personally to ask if there was anything else he could do.

Throughout that summer, Newman called to check on our progress and encourage everyone involved in the project.

When the wheel was finally restored, Newman sent a second check in case we needed extra cash for maintenance.

A historic water wheel and a grateful group of people in a small town in Colorado are only a small part of his rich generosity and legacy.

When his death was announced last week, I was truly saddened. He will be missed because, in so many ways, he was one of us.

God bless you, Paul Newman.

Larry Cox reviews books and writes a weekly collectibles column for the Tucson Citizen.

Citizen Staff Writer

Like many a student at the University of Arizona in the early 1970s, I had to take certain humanities classes, among them a survey of Western classical music, taught in cattle-call style in Crowder Hall by the legendary John Bloom. There were roughly 500 of us students from every imaginable background packed into that hall with chunks of masonite on our laps for desks. Most everyone would rather have been anywhere else. But there were moments along the way that were unforgettable.

Part of the workload was to attend concerts and write critiques of the music we heard. It could be most anything but the music we all typically listened to – rock ‘n’ roll. During the week, Bloom would announce what was coming up that we might take in for those assignments.

Now John Bloom was a great guy, but his musical loves were not generally from later than about 1910. So when one day he announced a concert that might be a bit weird, my ears perked up. It was a doctoral recital featuring the music of a living American composer from West Virginia named George Crumb. The soprano soloist on the bill was a tall, beautiful blonde I’d seen around the Music building named Nancy Davis Booth.

The music indeed was strange, but in ways hauntingly beautiful and almost extraterrestrial in nature. Crumb understood the physics of sound as much as he did the length and breadth of classical music, and his sonic landscapes were further fortified with sounds from non-Western traditions, particularly Asian influences. I remember the hair on my neck rising as the soprano sang directly into the strings of the piano through the open lid as the pianist held down the sustain pedal. Her voice vibrated the strings and seemed to hang in the air like a cloud of sound after she stopped singing. The pianist reached inside and strummed rumbling thunder from within the instrument. A percussionist hammered on a gong while another slowly lowered it into a vat of water, the pitch of the gong bending like an eerie, thunderous slide guitar. It was as much theater as it was music.

These were sounds I’d never heard – some of them scary as hell, others moving in a way no language could convey. It was a life-changing experience for me, one that has made me both a lifelong Crumb fan, and a composer.

Later I would discover other composers of the 20th century whose sonic alchemy would arouse my sense of wonder and awe. Among them was the Frenchman Olivier Messiaen, whose ethereal and highly spiritual music found inspiration at times in everything from the songs of birds to mankind’s infinite capacity for redemption in the face of cruelty. A survivor of Hitler’s concentration camps, he continued to find musical inspiration even in that darkest of places.

Messiaen lived into his early 80s. Crumb turns 80 next year. Each has given the world singular yet complementary bodies of mystical work that inspire the imagination and lift the soul. Fitting then that the music of these two composers of similarly peculiar artistry are paired up for of a series of free concerts at the University of Arizona’s Music building. For most of you, it will be music the likes of which you never have heard. But I guarantee that you will leave the concert hall with a keener sense of the sonic world around you.

In particular, take in the concert featuring Crumb’s aptly titled “Dream Sequence.” Delicate, ethereal and sublime, it will take you on a sonic journey of mystery and contemplation. If you dig it, Bridge Records has released a new recording of the work – part 12 of its sonically, historically and musically splendid traversal of Crumb’s complete works.

DANIEL BUCKLEY

dbuckley@tucsoncitizen.com

IF YOU GO

What: Music of George Crumb and Olivier Messiaen

When, Where: Saturday, 2 p.m. (introductory symposium, Holsclaw Hall, southeast corner of Park Avenue and Speedway Boulevard); 4 p.m., organ recital (Holsclaw Hall, Pamela Decker, Mathew Whitehouse, organ); 7:30 p.m. ensembles concert, Crowder Hall, Messiaen: “Oiseaux Exotiques,” “Et Exspecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum,” Crumb: “Quest”

Sunday, 4 p.m.: Chamber Music Recital, Holsclaw Hall, Crumb: “Four Nocturnes,” Messiaen: “Quartet for the End of Time;” 7 p.m. Chamber Music Recital, Crowder Hall, Messiaen: “Merle Noir,” “Fantasy;” Crumb: “Christmas Suite,” “Dream Sequence”

Price: free

Info: 621-1655

Citizen Staff Writer

Some wall calendars can be so boring. Baby animals? Yawn. Nature scenes? Dull. Sports teams? No good unless they have a winning season. Corporate calendars? Zzzzzzzzzz.

Realizing that the market is ripe for exploitation, some companies are shaking things up by offering calendars featuring nontraditional pinups. The latest batch of models? Sexy priests, frolicking nuns, hot Mormons and hunky morticians.

Holy hunks

Intended to promote tourism in Vatican City, “Calendario Romano” features 12 handsome priests or seminarians striking poses in and around the ornate area that houses Pope Benedict XVI. Ladies (and a few gentlemen, too) will appreciate the beauty of the European men, who I’m sure have elicited some impure thoughts from usually well-behaved, good Catholics.

As my mom used to say when she got flustered and crossed herself, “Ave Maria Purisima!”

If churches had priests who looked like these, Sunday attendance would reach record levels. Heck, some parishioners might even sin on purpose just to get a few quality moments with the cute clergyman in the confessional.

Just ask LizzyG1978, who posted this comment about the calendar’s YouTube clip (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=atxcsfqMkIQ):

“I’d confess 10 times a day with these little priests, and I would gladly do my penance!! . . . Don’t tempt me, Satan, because these are forbidden men!!! hahahaha.”

Another woman adds, “What makes them even more beautiful is they have devoted their lives to God.”

Amen, sister, amen.

A used 2008 Calendario Romano is available for $6.99 on Amazon.com.

Nuns gone wild?

If you thought the boisterous behavior of the nuns in “Sister Act” was refreshing, then “A Year of Bad Habits” is the calendar for you.

The product description promises innocent enjoyment: “Nuns behaving badly? Well, not necessarily? . . . but they’re definitely having fun! “A Year of Bad Habits” presents a glimpse of what happens when holy sisters raise a little hell. Vintage photos are paired with hilarious captions that will have you laughing so hard you’ll get a ruler rap across the knuckles. . .”

Most nuns aren’t the mean, cold fish they’re made out to be in movies. They usually have a good sense of humor and don’t take themselves too seriously.

The photos show the silly sisters flying high in a Dumbo amusement ride and knocking one another around in bumper cars – among other activities.

A 2009 edition retails for $12.99 on calendars.com.

Men on a mission

Shirtless Mormons? Oh my god! What is this world coming to?

Entrepreneur Chad Hardy created a controversial calendar, “Men on a Mission,” showcasing 12 young Mormon hotties who had completed their religious service trips for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of the men pose without shirts, others are in traditional missionary garb.

Hardy, who in July was ex-communicated from the church over the calendar, says his intent was never to disrespect the church.

“The project is about stepping outside the stereotypes and stepping outside of the image,” Hardy told The Associated Press. “Not everybody fits the image and I let them (church elders) know we’re not trying to portray an image for the entire church.”

Church members appear divided on the issue.

On Amazon.com, customer Jason “JDawg” of Provo, Utah, writes: “This calander (sic) is representing returned LDS missionaries. It’s not of them currently serving. It’s their own choice to pose and I think it’s great! Mormons are sexy! We can be conservative and modest as usual, but sometimes we just need to flaunt it! Great job! Love the calander (sic)!

But another Amazon customer, Trevor Cook of Los Angeles, disagrees. “This product is completely inappropriate. It lacks modesty. It’s too bad I had to give this item even one star in the rating scale. There should be an option for a black hole rating scale because this item is detracting from all that is good in this world.”

You can order the calendar for $14.99 from mormons.exposed.com and form your own opinion.

Manly morticians

Morticians are a naughty bunch – if the menofmortuaries.com Web site is any indication. “These are just some of the few things that we do with our suits off …” teases a promo for the “Men of Mortuaries” 2008 calendar.

With a theme of “celebrating life,” the calendar spotlights drop-dead gorgeous funeral directors and morticians from across the country in various shirtless poses. These are no working stiffs (Sorry, I couldn’t resist).

It’s all in good fun. Proceeds benefit KAMM Cares, a nonprofit organization that helps breast cancer patients.

For only $3.95, you can have your own copy. Go to www.menofmortuaries.com.

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

Last week The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a home in Lake City, Ga., was in foreclosure. That four-bedroom, three-car garage house was built in January 2005 by the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” team, that teary-eyed crew led by man-child Ty Pennington.

And while foreclosures are happening across the U.S., this $450,000 mini mansion in Georgia highlights the gross commercialism and materialism of the ABC show.

Milton and Patricia Harper of Lake City just needed a house with a working septic system – the one in their old home, according to the Journal-Constitution story, backed up post-rainstorms. What the Harpers got, however, was more than a flushable toilet: a turreted house with four fireplaces, a solarium and a porte-cochere leading into an office. The heating and cooling bills would be enough to put the structure into foreclosure.

The hook of “EM:HE” is that the families are deserving, Sears banners chasing after them like crooked lawyers behind ambulances. There’s a weekly parade of community members pounding the pavement to the original home holding signs for the multinational corporation, led by Sears hawker Pennington.

Head to abc.com and you can see short videos – “Sears moments” – of crew members wandering the store. “Sears Gives to the Turner Family!” follows “EM:HE” carpenter Ed Sanders frolicking about the entertainment section, passing by TV after TV until he finds the largest one. He bows before it, an actor so grateful for reality TV.

Of course, Sears is savvy, super-sizing a long-standing tradition of product placement in an attempt to make some noise in the Tivo-lution. You could fast forward by the lovely Electrolux appliances, but then you’d miss Ty’s gelled hair and wrinkles of concern.

But besides being a giant advertisement for Ty’s sugar daddy and an assortment of construction companies, “Extreme Makeover” pushes an extreme notion of consumerism. A recently re-aired January episode featuring the Woodhouse family – so in debt because of their daughter’s medical bills they didn’t even have their own home – resulted in a two-story house with a bowling lane and ice cream parlor in the basement and a free truck. Courtesy of Ford.

Home improvement shows hammer their way throughout the cable box, from creaky grandpa “This Old House” to perky Gen Y-ers like TLC’s “Date My House.” The hosts offer decorating advice, low-budget fixes, a survey of a city’s real estate market, etc. They hold our hands as we go to The Home Depot and Crate & Barrel, smart consumers who make bad choices and just need to speed date for the right credenza.

The centerfold of “EM:HE” certainly includes that ginormous house, but every room is draped in the recipients’ sad story. No one would argue that the families aren’t deserving but Ty, ABC and the underwriters are the real heroes, armed with superpowers of charm and deep pockets.

The obscene materialism thrown at the families repositions their suffering as a lottery ticket, a means to getting a home that dwarfs every other in the neighborhood, as that house in Lake City reportedly does. Clearly it’s a Band-Aid that will get ripped off when the maintenance fund provided dries up or, in the case of the Harpers, when the business that used the house as collateral fails.

I miss the original, plastic surgery-focused “Extreme Makeover,” when the construction was done to bodies that later bore scars and bruises. The impact was immediate and raw and clearly self-destructive. Ty and company are more insidious, pushing a version of the American Dream that creates real-life stresses not seen on camera. Just ask the Harpers.

As of Aug. 5, according to the Journal-Constitution, they were in negotiations with their bank to be able to remain in the home. It had been listed for sale at $950,000 until recently.

POLLY HIGGINS

phiggins@tucsoncitizen.com

Higgins

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

Inside the purple building on East Sixth Street that has housed Toxic Ranch Records since the summer of 1991, three teenagers are flipping through CDs and vinyl.

“Customers – a rarity,” owner Bill Sassenberger says while The Jesus and Mary Chain play over the speakers. He laughs – he’s a good-natured guy – but business has been far from easy for this independent record purveyor.

Which is why his celebration of 20 years in Tucson deserves two nights of music, with Sassenberger’s longtime friends in Italy’s Raw Power playing Sunday at Vaudeville Cabaret and Monday at Dry River Collective. (It also shows Sassenberger’s commitment to the kids – Dry River is all ages.)

Ebbs and flows seem built into the life of a place like Toxic Ranch, even though its owners (it’s co-owned by Julianna Towns, Sassenberger’s wife) have infused it with personality. Rock and political T-shirts fight for space on the walls – everything from Johnny Rotten’s mug to a “Bush hates me” tee – as do Misfits and Rancid posters. The selection of books and magazines/ zines is dense and focused, and CDs for locals are right on the counter. The indie rock stock ranges from a Captain Beefheart vinyl reissue to the newest Wolf Parade, which later plays in the store.

The life of independent record stores is dependent largely upon the genres in vogue, and recent years have seen the closings of CD City and Hear’s Music. It was partly a shift in tastes that brought Sassenberger and Towns to Tucson in 1988. They’d had a store in Pomona, Calif., since 1980, a time when Sassenberger’s favorite punk bands, such as the Dead Kennedys, were at their peak.

But later in the ’80s, he recalls, the Dead Kennedys broke up. Black Flag broke up. “Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane’s Addiction were the big things. And I didn’t like that,” he says, adding that the fatigue brought on by L.A.’s freeways didn’t help keep him in the area, either. So they moved their mail-order business and label Toxic Shock and it wasn’t long before the indie rock lover in Sassenberger embraced Tucson’s music scene, putting out records by Feast Upon Cactus Thorns, The Fells, Mondo Guano, Doo Rag, Al Perry. The label spanned about 1983 to 1998, Sassenberger says.

The current recession and the closing of the Fourth Avenue underpass certainly haven’t helped the business, but, “We’re managing,” says Sassenberger, who balances his store with a part-time job as an airline reservationist.

One bright spot, he notes, is a resurgence in vinyl over the past two years. “It’s not just old people getting their records back. It’s younger folks, too.” Sassenberger estimates that he sells two vinyl LPs for every one CD, and that includes everything from reissues to such currents as The Shins. (He sells used records, too.) Toxic Ranch will be at the second Hotel Congress Record Show, Aug. 30.

“This is just kind of a labor of love,” he says.

It’s the same for customers, who will hopefully continue to head to 424 E. Sixth St. for years to come.

POLLY HIGGINS

phiggins@tucsoncitizen.com

IF YOU GO

What: Raw Power, Feast Upon Cactus Thorns, Swing Ding Amigos, Limbless Torso

When: 9 p.m. Sunday

Where: Vaudeville Cabaret

Price: $10

What: Raw Power, Terezodu, Skull Stomp, Prosthetics, Walrus, Dahmer Effect, Bloodied Up Knuckles

When: 7 p.m. Monday

Where: Dry River Collective, 740 N. Main Ave.

Price: $7

Info: Contact Toxic Ranch at 623-2008 or visit its Web site, ToxicRanchRecords.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

With contributions from so many countries, the Latin music catalog is vast and varied. Jazz, world, flamenco, bossa nova, norteño, salsa, rock in Spanish – they all fall under the same Latin umbrella. Listeners with an appreciation for non mainstream artists and sounds also have plenty to choose from in this category. The following five titles came across my desk recently and are definitely worth checking out.

Spam Allstars

“Introducing Spam Allstars” (Introducing/ World Music Network)

Grounded in Latin funk, the Miami ensemble blends horns, improvisational electronic elements and turntables with hip-hop and dub. The band says its mission is to create an electronic descarga, (electrical charge) or “electro-charanga” (a reference to a genre of Cuban music featuring flutes and strings). Described as a “crazy melting pot that is Miami,” Spam Allstars is made up of DJ Le Spam (turntables, samplers, guitar, bass), Adam Zimmon (guitar), Tomas Diaz (timbales, vocals), AJ Hill (sax, vocals) Steve Welsh (sax), Mercedes Abal (flute), Chad Bernstein (trombone, vocals), Lazaro Alfonso (congas).

Standout tracks: “Ochimini,” “Descarga Gusano,” “Una Buena Limpieza”

Chambao

“Con Otro Aire” (Norte)

Nouveau flamenco is either cheesy New Age noise or creative, tranquil genius. Those familiar with the music of Chambao know the Spanish band’s fusion of electronica and flamenco is the ladder. Just ask fan Ricky Martin, who sings a duet – “Te Recuerdo” – with lead singer La Mari. “Chambao’s music is true magic,” Martin says. He’s exaggerating – but not by much. The band’s “flamenco-chill” sound is original and relaxing, with soothing vocals by La Mari and gorgeous instrumentation that incorporates Latin, Middle Eastern and Indian rhythms.

Standout tracks: “Papeles Mojados,” “Voces,” “El Viejo San Juan”

Various Artists

“Think Global presents Fiesta Latina” (World Music Network)

If you’re seeking Latin party music for a cosmopolitan crowd, this is the CD for you. The dance steps of salsa, merengue, cumbia and bachata flow from such greats as Ray Barreto, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra and La Sonora Dinamita, among others. Other contributors include Spain’s Los Fulanos – with a bugalú that sounds like a blend of James Brown and the Fania All-Stars – and the rap-flamenco mix of “Amor de Locos” by Eddy Herrera and Vladimir Dotel.

Standout tracks: “El Cacú” by Pocy & La Cocoband, “C’Mon Get Dancing” by Los Fulanos and “Ay Chave” by La Sonora Dinamita

Andrés Subercaseaux

“Aqui” (Triple Down Records)

Andrés Subercaseaux of Santiago, Chile, has a master’s in music technology and scoring for films from New York University, and the compositions on his debut CD reflect his studies. His primarily instrumental collection takes us on a sonic journey through ambient, electronica, Latin, avant-garde, and alternative and experimental rock. It’s a journey that never gets boring and one that is intended solely for the truly musically adventurous.

Standout tracks: “The Illiest,” “Ella me Dijo,” “Pensando Que”

Various Artists

“The Rough Guide to Cuban Street Party” (World Music Network)

La Lupe, Yumuri y Sus Hermanos, and Celia Cruz with Johnny Pacheco are among the artists featured in this compilation showcasing the talents of U.S.-based Cuban exiles and their fellow musicians on the island. This sizzlin’ Cuban street party includes the sounds of son, timba, guajira and Nuyorican salsa and will have you moving your colita – whether you want to or not.

Standout tracks: “Llego Tete” by Teresa Garcia Caturla, “Tres Dias de Carnaval” by Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco and “Castigala” by Maraca

ROGELIO YUBETA OLIVAS

rolivas@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

If variety is the spice of life, then Latin music fans in the Old Pueblo need to make a trip to the grocery store and buy a 12-pack of McCormick specialties.

Judging from reader responses, followers of the genre in predominately Mexican-American Tucson overwhelmingly prefer a steady diet of the familiar sounds of norteño, cumbia, tejano and mariachi. Without hesitation, they’ll pass up a side dish of music from other Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries: salsa, Latin jazz, merengue, bossa nova, etc.

That’s the consensus from readers, who reinforced the assertions I made in a column a couple of months ago about the low turnout at Latin concerts sponsored by UApresents. The University of Arizona arts organization and I wanted to know why the Sabor Latino series bombed with Hispanics, so we asked readers to give us their take on the situation.

• From concert promoter Marco Amaro: “These folks want to listen to norteño music. The folks in Miami want to listen to salsa-influenced artists. At the end of the day, people want to listen to the simple pop music that is relevant to their lifestyles. Latin jazz is like trying to get a bunch of working-class Germans to go see a symphony. They won’t go . . . but they will go see (German industrial metal band) Rammstein!

• From Guera Cachora: “Mexicans like cumbias and corridos and aren’t really aficionados of salsa, merengue types of music here. Go check out the turnout July 18 at the TCC for Los Altenos de la Sierra with Latigo and you’ll see what strikes a responsive chord.”

• From ERi5426301: “The problem is trying to group or class all Hispanic as one. (Just) goes to prove it’s not so. I for one do not like folklorico or salsa . . .”

• From Earl Wettstein: “My theory is that Latinos, like many of the rest of us, have discovered after many visits to Centennial Hall, that it is the town’s crappiest venue to hear anything. It is a waste of money to go there to hear anything. That’s my theory.”

I must admit the responses were a bit deflating. I was hoping readers would prove me wrong and tell me that music fans in Tucson are open-minded, adventurous types who like all kinds of Latin-flavored rhythms. Sadly, that was not the case.

I should have known better based on the experiences of concert halls and radio stations in town that have seen dismal results when they’ve strayed from non-Mexican-friendly fare.

Yes, the casinos are cashing in with their Latin concerts – but they’re targeting the blue-collar crowds. UApresents and others are pursuing audiences with more sophisticated music tastes. Does that audience exist? Maybe in bigger cities such as New York and Los Angeles but apparently not in Tucson.

Before the days of radio monoliths, musical diversity was valued and encouraged. In the ’70s one of the best local radio stations that was hugely popular with Latinos was KXEW. It used to play a melange of sounds – from the tejano songs of Little Joe Y La Familia to the soulful grooves of Earth, Wind & Fire to the sweet oldies of The Intruders. Such a mix would be unheard of in radio today and considered commercial poison.

I guess most Latin music fans in the Old Pueblo are like my siblings: safe, predictable, clinging to the familiar and reluctant to venture outside the box when it comes to food, music and movies. They prefer tacos over tapas, Luis Miguel over Miguel Bose, “Hancock” over “Y Tu Mama Tambien.”

To each his own, I guess. But I just don’t get it. Why settle for a banana when you can have a pico de gallo fruit salad instead?

ROGELIO YUBETA OLIVAS

rolivas@tucsoncitizen.com

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

Guayaberas aren’t just for old men anymore.

When I was in college 20 years ago my buddies used to make fun of me for wearing the Mexican wedding shirts. “Those are for viejitos (old men) or fat dudes,” they would tell me.

With the tops more stylish and varied than ever, I bet some of my pals now have developed an appreciation for them. Today’s guayaberas are appropriate for formal or casual gatherings. They also come in an array of colors, fabrics and looks, from traditional to contemporary, with elaborate colorful embroidery or kitschy retro patterns.

It’s no surprise the shirts have become popular outside Latin America and the United States, with everyone from young hipsters to older intellectuals wearing them. The clothing is especially prevalent in Cuba, Mexico and the Philippines, all of which claim to have invented the pleated, pocketed camisas.

Some nice guayaberas can be found online but the really cool and original ones are those hidden away at thrift stores. In Tucson, Savers has proved to be a treasure trove for the shirts.

Eight in my collection were on display last week when the Citizen had an unofficial “guayabera showdown” in honor of departing editor-publisher Michael Chihak. Mr. Big Cheese, who thinks he’s part Cuban (see his taste in music), was bragging about how nice his new shirt is. He said we’d probably never seen one like it and would be blown away.

Ever the skeptics, my co-workers and I decided to challenge him. I brought in the shirts and handed them out. The black-and-white photo (in print) doesn’t do them justice. But it shows the variety available on the market.

Arts writer Polly Higgins is wearing a Savers find: a retro classic from Yucatan, Mexico. It’s white with little blue Aztec or Mayan figures and a super-long ’70s collar.

Features designer Jen Lum is decked out in a peach top, with beautiful matching embroidery. Like Polly, she belted her oversized shirt over jeans, and completed the ensemble with high heels. They converted guayaberas into high fashion. Who knew? Tyra and Miss Jay from “America’s Next Top Model” would be proud.

The aqua one modeled by features editor Dina L. Doolen is unusual because it has a zipper instead of buttons. Pretty cool for a guayabera made in Korea. It’s an eBay special.

I’m wearing my personal fave: a “disco” guayabera I discovered at Savers on Fort Lowell. It’s made of shiny light-blue polyester-cotton, with subtle, little paisley designs throughout.

Chihak’s shirt is black with gold and reddish embroidery. It’s classy, elegant and perfect for the sophisticated, mature man.

Illustrator Arnie Bermudez’s model is the opposite of Chihak’s. With its tribal-like pattern and fewer pockets and pleats, it’s targeted more at the hip, younger set. Another eBay find.

Online editor Mike Truelsen, events coordinator Elsa Nidia Barrett and Calendar designer Kristina Dunham opted for traditional variations in green (eBay), blue (Savers) and wine (Meryvn’s).

After modeling our shirts for most of the day, Chihak, with little discussion, fanfare or voting, proclaimed 27-year-old Arnie the winner of the contest. Which just goes to show that guayaberas really aren’t only for old, fat men anymore.

Citizen Staff Writer
Byline

We knew it was inevitable, but it still hurts. Jose “Pepo” Saavedra, one of Tucson’s most gifted musicians, is leaving the Old Pueblo after seven years to pursue bigger and better things on the East Coast.

It’s a wise move for the 35-year-old folk singer-guitarist from Puerto Rico, whom many in the local music scene considered a hidden gem. He and his wife, Elise DuBord, next month are moving to Madison, N.J., just 45 minutes from the Big Apple, where Saavedra plans to perform as often as possible. At least now he will have the opportunity to share his impressive talents with a wider audience and receive the recognition and accolades he deserves.

Don’t be surprised if you soon hear his music on a soundtrack or see him as a featured artist on iTunes. He’s that good – plus, he’s a genuinely nice guy.

My friends and I had the pleasure of seeing the singer-songwriter perform at the Tucson Folk Festival last month. His 20-minute set was intense, passionate, political and flowing with imagery that only a true poet could conjure.

The performance included samples of his speciality: nueva canción, or trova, Latin American folk music derived from traditional storytelling that often carries a sociopolitical message.

It also included the title track of his latest CD, “Ver Cada Ver,” named by yours truly as the best Latin music recording of 2007 in all the universe. Again, he’s that good.

What will Saavedra miss most about Tucson? “Friends that became family and will always be. A wonderful and supportive music scene,” he writes in an e-mail. “The feeling of belonging to a community that is so close to a border that unfortunately keeps getting less and less humane (but is a community that) stands up and is not afraid of showing solidarity with others. The monsoon season and our beautiful desert.”

No love for Cheeta

Cheeta the chimp has been dissed – again! The new inductees into the Hollywood Walk of Fame were announced last week and Cheeta’s name was nowhere to be found.

Despite an online petition urging the selection committee to grant a star to the 76-year-old “Tarzan” regular, the panel ignored the primate in favor of other (and some lesser) celebrities for the honor. Hip-shaking mama Shakira? OK. Hottie Hugh Jackman? Fine. The retro-cool Village People? It’s about time. But Tinkerbell and John Stamos? Come on!

Tinkerbell’s not even real. Why the heck does she need a star anyway? Little Miss Greedy already can fly and has magic fairy dust. Go back to Neverland, sister.

And John Stamos? Blackie from “General Hospital”? He seems like a nice guy but can he swing from a vine or eat a dozen bananas at one sitting? Have his expressionistic paintings been exhibited in the National Gallery in London? Does he even know what expressionism is? We think not.

We would claim monkey business in this year’s selection process, but instead believe the committee is made up of a bunch of sourpusses. Don’t be hatin’ on poor Cheeta. He’s a true star who deserves better.

According to The Associated Press, Cheeta is retired and lives in Palm Springs. This was the seventh time the “Doctor Doolittle” scene-stealer was trying for a sidewalk star.

Maybe the eighth time will be the charm – with the public’s help. Sign Cheeta’s petition at www.ipetitions.com/ petition/GoCheeta

ROGELIO YUBETA OLIVAS

rolivas@tucsoncitizen.com