Roots

I recently took a drive to Brookside, the little town where I grew up. In 2003 the town was devastated by a major flood; most people sold their houses to FEMA and moved away.

The town has a fascinating history. Around the turn of the century, Brookside rivaled the wildest of Wild West towns. There were SEVEN saloons on Main Street, and disputes were more often than not settled with the pull of a trigger.

After coal was discovered in the surrounding hills, a flood of Eastern European immigrants arrived in Brookside to work the mines. Little by little, Brookside was transformed from a Wild West town to something resembling an East European village.

My grandfather Dulin, who was Ukranian, arrived at Ellis Island with his mother in 1904, when he was 6 years old. After a short time in Pennsylvania, they came to Brookside.

When I was growing up, the old world culture was still strong. I vividly remember All Saints' Day in Brookside, with the priest swinging a censer full of strong incense, followed by church members holding banners aloft, as they all marched up Tiger Hill to the only Russian Orthodox cemetery in all of Alabama. As night fell, the cemetery was magically lit with hundreds of candles, one marking every grave.

Our family celebrated an old-style Christmas Eve on January 6th every year, with carolers going from house to house, coming in to sing a few Russian songs and being rewarded with delicious Russian food and wine.

I have been told that my forbears in the old country were very musical, that they played all sorts of instruments by ear. I am proud to continue that tradition.

The onion dome, St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church

A headstone in the Russian Orthodox Cemetery

The Russian Orthodox cross

Getting Ready

I'm having to relearn all of my own music!

My first concert since Buddy died is coming up in about a month. I am so pleased to be sharing the stage with my good friend and fellow artists Greg Maroney. Greg and I will be performing our original compositions at a concert benefiting the York (PA) College Nurse Managed Care Centers in York County.

The concert will be Friday, April 30th at 7 PM, at DeMeester Recital Hall on the campus of York College, York, PA.

Greg and I will also be performing that weekend on the Harmony Grove Concert Series: Saturday May 1st at 7PM and Sunday May 2nd at 2PM. Email gregmaroney@yahoo.com for tickets. Better hurry, tickets are selling fast.

So I am practicing the piano at least 6 hours a day, not only my own music, but I am also learning (finally) Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit.

This reminds me of a story about pianist Moriz Rosenthal, who was once forced to listen to a prodigy. The conversation went something like this:

"How old are you?"

"Seven, sir."

"What would you like to play for me?"

"Please, sir, the Tchaikovsky concerto, sir."

"Too old!"

To old or not, I'm totally immersed in the Ravel, and Jan has a hard time getting me out of my music studio. In addition, I'm either polishing or keep up a lot of other classical repertoire, plus reviewing the music from Timeless and A Nice Boy From Brooklyn...

Those of you who have seen me in concert know that my wife Jan is one of my favorite subjects. Here's a true story that I especially like to tell:

Several years ago after one of my concerts, a newspaper critic walked up to Jan and asked, " How does it feel to be married to a man who has been touched by the hand of God?"

Jan made the unfortunate mistake of telling me this...

So today, whenever Jan and I have an argument, all I have to say is, "Jan, how DARE you disagree with a man who has been touched by the hand of God?"

Here's a picture of my muse and me.

Blount Springs

Jan, her mom Lou and I took a day trip to Holly Pond recently. I had never been where Lou grew up, and I wanted to learn more about her heritage. We saw the old home place, the family cemetery, and I learned a lot about her younger years.

There's a lot of farm country there, and I drove past a sign that said, "Bulls for Sale...New or Used". Pretty funny... Sorry I didn't get a picture of it.

We drove through the Blue Hole Village of Blount Springs on the way home. Designed by town planners Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, it is a lovely place. Duany Plater-Zyberk, by the way, planned the wonderful resort of Seaside, Florida, which holds many great memories for our family.

Jan and I have visited Seaside many times. I've played a couple of concerts there, and we celebrated Jan's parents' 50th anniversary at Seaside. We were there while the Truman Show was being filmed.

Jan and I at one time considered buying property in the Blount Springs community, but what made us decide against it was the local school system. If the developer had opted to build a private school within the village, I'm convinced that Blount Springs would have been a resounding success. That oversight has kept the Blue Hole Village from becoming the vibrant community it might have been. It has everything else going for it. If only they'd asked me... :)

The houses are architecturally very much like those at Seaside - Victorian in style, painted in pastel colors, with tin roofs. I am attaching a photo of the waterfall and lake from the entrance to Blount Springs.

Et tu, Fluté?

A friend of mine, Ekkehard Bonatz, in addition to being a gifted doctor specializing in the hand, is also a fine flute player. He recently recorded a couple of songs at our studio.

With me as his accompanist, he recorded the Bach Siciliano and the Schubert Serenade.

Ekkehard's wife Jill, a fine pianist herself, and physical therapists Susan Brown and Nicki Harris came along to watch. I had invited them so they could see their boss in action. I got to know Susan and Nicki when they measured me for the silver thumb splints, and Ekkehard was the doctor who diagnosed my thumb hyperextension problem. Bill Monk was the engineer at the session, and lo, my "photographer in residence", Virginia Jones magically appeared!

The talented Dr. Bonatz

Susan, Mike, Ekkehard, Jill and Nicki

You can see more of Virginia's beautiful photography on her blog:

Birmingham Alabama Daily Photo. While you're there, you can click on the gnome and see her great photographs of Paris. She is also featured everyday on the cover page of the B-Metro website.

Art Attack

When I was in St. Louis, I got up early Sunday morning so I could go to church. I found a church on the internet, but when I got to it, not only was it in the ghetto, but it was totally deserted.

So, since I wasn't able to worship, I fed my soul in another way. I visited the St. Louis art museum. It's a beautiful place, located in a beautiful setting in Forest Park.

I had a wonderful couple of hours there.

Why not take the tour with me?

A large panel of water lilies by Monet. It must have been 20 feet across.

Cezanne: The Bathers

Degas is one of Jan's favorites. We have a small model of this tiny dancer at home.

The point man on this expedition is, of course, Mr. Seurat

Farewell to a Friend

Gary Robertson

I will be in St. Louis this weekend to pay tribute to my friend Gary Robertson, who died on February 12th, of Multiple Myeloma. He was 62. I am going to play the piano at his memorial service, which will be Sunday, February 28th. I am going to play my compositions The Way Home and Letter From Home, respectively symbolizing his continuing journey and our song of gratitude for his years on this earth. He also requested that I play the John Williams' Hymn to the Fallen from the film Saving Private Ryan.

Gary was a gifted director and playwright. Writing the musical scores for his productions of Equus, Summer and Smoke, and A Streetcar Named Desire will remain highlights of my creative life. I remember so many details from our collaborations: moving sets around at 1 AM in an empty theater: me yelling, tearing my shirt off and kicking the wall because I accidentally erased a wonderful cue, while Gary laughed at my outburst. To see Gary's production of Sunday in the Park with George was an indescribable pleasure.

In addition to his talents, Gary was a wonderful human being, and I was proud to call him my friend. This weekend I will say goodbye to Gary for the last time.

Please pray for his wife Jeanie, their children Jennifer and Sean, and the host of friends Gary had around the world. He will be missed.

Snow Business

My buddy and me

Ready??

We had three inches of snow in Birmingham over the weekend. Jan, Riley and I took a walk on the golf course. Enjoy the pictures......

Got it!!

It's mine!!

Heading home