Randonée

I did some recording sessions in the late 90s at the Academy of Arts and Letters in NYC. The day before our equipment was to arrive, Ardith Holmgrain (who basically runs the place) gave us a tour to show us where we would set up, the hall where the musicians would perform, and the other areas of the facility. All of this was peppered with history, tidbits like the fact that the organ was employed for the premiere of Copland’s Organ Symphony, one of his early performances in New York after returning from studies in Paris with Mme. Boulanger.

The tour ended in the meeting room, and we sat in chairs as our host answered questions and wrapped up the details with us. At the end, she suggested we take a look at the plaques on the back of our chairs. The Academy is invitation only and always maintains the same number of members. Thus, the chairs represent a roll of some of the greatest minds in American history. To my delight, two of the names on my chair: Samuel Clemens and Donald Barthelme. 

i12bent:

Donald Barthelme (April 7, 1931 - 1989) - American writer whose playful short stories and other prose fictions (for lack of a better term) are joyously postmodern in their celebration of absurdity and lack of closure…

In an unexpected tie-in with the previous classic country posts, it appears that Don B. was one half of the inspiration for Thomas Cobb (who had taken writing classes w. Barthelme in the early ’80s) in creating the novel Crazy Heart which was turned into a film of the same name in 2009, detailing the life of a drunken down-and-out country singer (played by Jeff Bridges) looking for redemption (the other half of Cobb’s inspiration was the life of Hank Thompson, an actual country singer…)

Photo: Wendy Watriss