Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Steve Ferguson, Rock Guitarist and a Founder of NRBQ, Dies at 60
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/arts/music/18ferguson.html?_r=4
October 18, 2009
By PETER KEEPNEWS
Steve Ferguson, a founder of the rock ’n’ roll band NRBQ, died on Oct. 7 at his home in Louisville, Ky. He was 60.
His death was announced on the band’s Web site. The cause was cancer, according to an announcement on his MySpace page.
Mr. Ferguson, a guitarist, singer and songwriter, was born in Louisville on Nov. 22, 1948, and formed the original version of NRBQ there in 1967 with a high school friend, the keyboardist, singer and songwriter Terry Adams. (The name, short for
The group did not last long, but a year later Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Adams joined forces with three other musicians to form a new group with the same name. That one has stayed together, with only a few personnel changes.
The first change was the departure of Mr. Ferguson, who left in 1970 after the group had recorded two albums for Columbia. But NRBQ’s distinctive mix of styles, which remained its signature — its repertory ranged from the rockabilly of Eddie Cochran to the avant-garde jazz of Sun Ra — was largely a legacy of his tenure. (Describing his eclectic approach, Mr. Ferguson once said he played with the right hand of a country guitarist and the left hand of a blues guitarist.)
While NRBQ had no Top 40 hits and never graduated from midsize nightclubs to theaters or arenas, it garnered enthusiastic reviews and a legion of fans, among them Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Costello.
Mr. Ferguson spent most of his post-NRBQ career in Louisville, where he performed and recorded with his own groups. He briefly reunited with the band in 1974. In 2004, he joined current and former members at a 35th anniversary concert in Northampton, Mass. In 2006, he and Mr. Adams teamed up again to record the album “Louisville Sluggers.”
Survivors include his wife, Sheri; a son, Simon; two stepchildren, Ian and Haley Dewitt; three brothers, Rick, Phillip and Barry; and three sisters, Janice, Susie and Linda.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Gowns and Helmets at First NY Philharmonic Show in Vietnam
Vietnam News Agency (Oct .17)
Evening gowns and motorcycle helmets were the contrasting attire as the New York Philharmonic played its first concert in Vietnam after a historic visit to North Korea last year.
Inside the cosy French colonial-era Hanoi Opera House, a mixed crowd of Vietnamese and Westerners, some in evening dress, filled almost every seat beneath a large chandelier.
Except for the occasional click of a camera shutter, they watched in mesmerized silence as the black-clad orchestra performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 conducted by Alan Gilbert, with Emanuel Ax on the piano.
Outside, dozens of Vietnamese, many of them young, pulled up on their motor scooters to watch the performance free on two giant screens that flanked the concert hall.
Follow this link to read more:
Vacancy Announcement: Country Director, Institute of International Education
An independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1919, the Institute of International Education www.iie.org, one of the world’s largest and most experienced global higher education and professional exchange organization is seeking candidates to fill the following vacancy:
Country Director – Vietnam
The individual who holds this position is responsible for the overall management and supervision of IIE’s Vietnam offices, including: coordination of EducationUSA educational advising services for the country; management of existing scholarship, fellowship and training projects; implementation of IIE US higher education fairs; lead sales, marketing and representation of Educational Testing Service (ETS) products; provide strategic direction to the office and staff; management of the office’s finances and administration; and development of new programs. All of these activities will be undertaken in close collaboration with partners and sponsors, particularly the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Mission to Vietnam and Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). Visit www.iievn.org for more on the IIE offices in Vietnam.
Please visit http://www.iie.org/Content/NavigationMenu/About_IIE1/Employment1/Current_Opportunities/CurrentOpportunities.htm for more details on the position.
Friday, October 16, 2009
NYP in Hanoi
October 15, 2009 Thursday 11:54 AM GMT
Vietnamese musicians learn from an American master
By BEN STOCKING, Associated Press Writer
DATELINE: HANOI Vietnam
The conductor of the New York Philharmonic wielded his baton as an
instrument of diplomacy Thursday. His words, however, weren't all
sweet.
"You've learned the rhythm wrong!" Alan Gilbert told students at the
Hanoi Conservatory of Music as they struggled through a tough section
of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. "It's just wrong!"
America's oldest orchestra performs in Vietnam for the first time this
week as part of an Asian tour that has included stops in Tokyo and
Seoul. The Philharmonic will play Beethoven's Seventh on Friday and
Saturday at Hanoi's ornate 590-seat opera house, which is nearly a
century old.
Gilbert, the 42-year-old conductor who took over the orchestra last
month, held the students to his usual high standards during a master
class, part of the Philharmonic's outreach during the tour.
He stopped them repeatedly to correct their timing.
"Do you understand the word habit?" he asked the students. "You have
the habit of going fast."
If his words were direct, his tone was friendly.
Gilbert worked up a sweat as he led the students, raising his arms,
flicking his wrists, cocking his head and lunging forward so
energetically it sometimes seemed his glasses might fly off.
"It's hard work," he said during a break.
The biggest challenge for the students, he said, is improving their
rhythm.
"They play the notes very well, but they're not always placed in time
just where they should be," Gilbert said.
It was easy to hear the students improve as they absorbed his advice.
"This is a great opportunity for us," said Nguyen Thu Binh, 32, a
violinist. "He pays attention to the smallest details. Everything must
be very precise."
The performance in Vietnam will be another first for the New York
Philharmonic in Asia. Under Gilbert's predecessor, Lorin Maazel, the
orchestra became the first major American cultural group to perform in
North Korea in February 2008 and the largest U.S. delegation to visit
its longtime foe.
The Philharmonic will open Friday's concert with the Vietnamese and
American national anthems. Saturday's show will be broadcast live on
television. The cheapest seats are nearly $100, more than the monthly
income of many Vietnamese.
U.S. Ambassador Michael Michalak described the visit as cultural
diplomacy that would complement the growing political, economic and
military ties between the two nations, which normalized relations 14
years ago.
After putting the students through their paces for nearly two hours,
Gilbert showed that he could be a diplomat too.
When they played a section of the symphony with the requisite rhythmic
flair, he blew them a kiss and gave them two thumbs up.
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Monday, October 05, 2009
Vietnam seizes 48 tons of unhygienic Polish chicken legs
-unhygienic-polish-chicken-legs.html
Posted : Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:23:13 GMT
By : dpa
Hanoi - Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have seized 48 tons of chicken
legs imported from Poland that failed food safety standards, an
official said Friday.
The veterinary department in Ho Chi Minh City's Binh Chanh District
discovered the offending chicken legs on Wednesday, said department
director Dinh Thi Hong Hanh.
Hanh said the chicken legs, imported from the Landamasy Polska Company
of Poland by Viet My Import-Export Company, had passed inspections at
the seaport terminal. But a double-check by the district veterinary
department found chicken legs still bearing feathers, outer skin, and
claws, and contaminated with bacteria.
Hanh confirmed reports in the newspaper Thanh Nien that at least 300
kilograms of the chicken legs had already been sold to customers.
Nguyen Xuan Binh, director of the veterinary zone for Ho Chi Minh
City, was quoted in local newspaper Thanh Nien saying he suspected the
importer had mixed packages that met sanitary standards with some that
did not.
Vietnam imports large quantities of chicken legs. In contrast to
American and European consumers, Vietnamese customers generally prefer
chicken legs to breasts.
