Author Archive: Jamie Manser

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Powerhouse Women Reflect on Tucson’s Evolving Music Scene

January 27, 2020 |

It is great, and there’s still more work to do. 

“We can miss the ladies. Why do we miss the ladies? Because it has taken a really long time for women to get to the forefront of the music scene.” 

Cathy Rivers, general manager of KXCI and a singer/songwriter/guitarist, reflects on a comment I just made about sending out interview questions to over 40 professionally established and talented women for this article, and I was still coming up with names of musicians I missed while we were chatting. 

Rivers and I are sitting in her backyard, reviewing the Tucson music scene through the lens of local women artists over the last 30 years. The number of women performing has increased significantly from the 1990s to now.

As Maggie Golston, a singer/songwriter/guitarist and writing and humanities faculty at Pima Community College, shares: “Women songwriters and performers have positively dominated the scene of late, whereas in the ’80s and ’90s, having women and LGBTQ members made a band an exception, or worse, a novelty.”

Keyboardist/guitarist Uma deSilva, who plays with bands Max Parallax, Smallvox, and The Sapiens, notes that “there has been a strong wave of women coming into their own as musical powerhouses in the last decade. When I first joined the music scene in 2006, there weren’t many females making the kind of music I was trying to make. Any opportunity where female-led bands were playing, my band would get a call to join, but not necessarily because we fit the genre of the night’s show. I’ve performed in a few shows as a ‘token lady,’ but that doesn’t undermine the musicianship.” 

Keyboardist/guitarist Uma deSilva shares that “there are some amazing younger ladies (in their teens) joining the stage and I can’t wait to see and hear more from them in the years to come. With all the seasoned professional female musicians here in Tucson, I can only imagine that more and more young ladies will gain the confidence to share their musical talent. I can’t wait to see what happens!” photo: SpryTime

“In the ’90s and 2000s, there were very few local female-fronted bands,” singer/songwriter LeeAnne Savage explains, “and in turn many of us felt we were constantly fighting an uphill battle to be recognized and taken seriously. Women today are still fighting to be heard, however there is power in numbers and there are a lot of talented, energetic, fearless female artists that are making their mark in Tucson’s musical landscape! I am thrilled to see so many more women fronting and/or leading bands nowadays.” 

Traction has been made insofar as balancing the gender scales on stage, though there’s still a lot of ground to cover to make things more equitable – gender wise and for women of color. Overwhelmingly, the musicians I contacted to contribute to this article – more than space allows – shared how supportive and talent-rich Tucson is, with a lot of opportunities for cross-pollination and craft development. However, there are still many issues that specifically vex women artists; there are glaring blind spots in a culture struggling with unconscious biases.

One bias in particular: “It is still a noteworthy aspect to be a female artist, and I do not think that should be the case,” shares vocalist Katherine Byrnes – a native Tucsonan who has been performing for the last 20 years. “We never say ‘the all male band’ or the ‘male artist,’ and it should be the same no matter what gender identity the artist has.”

Diane Van Deurzen and Lisa Otey, of The Desert Divas, agree. “Women artists don’t see themselves as ‘women artists’ until they look at a festival lineup or music calendar at local clubs and see only one woman on the bill. Fortunately, in Tucson, women artists don’t seem to feel held back by the oversight of these venues. As women, we have to make it happen for ourselves. You still see the token female act on many festival stages, not just in Tucson. We have to create our own opportunities. Our Desert Divas and Sabra Faulk’s Angel Band are examples of groups organized by local women who want to showcase other female musicians.”

“If you’re a musician and you’re building a bill, take a second look at the artists at the top,” advises Jillian Bessett of Jillian and the Giants. “Do you have women/femme people on the bill? Do you have people of color on the bill? If you don’t, think about whether it’s an anomaly or not. When was the last time you shared a bill with a woman or a person of color? If it’s been a while, ask yourself the difficult questions about your unconscious biases.”

Jillian Bessett, photo: Julius Schlosburg

Another bias that several musicians talk about surrounds sound.

“Stop with the assumptions about us,” asks vocalist Olivia Reardon. “Because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I don’t know how to turn on, set up and tear down the PA, or how to adjust the sound… because I can. As well as sing the hell out of a Zeppelin song.”

“The mansplaining. Oy,” groans Abby Corcoran of Moontrax and PIPELiGHTS. “This is rarely an issue for us in Tucson, however we encounter this often when we travel. We use a lot of electronic gear and it is wildly frustrating to have someone ‘teach’ us about a process with which they are unfamiliar. I know this sort of thing happens to female artists quite often. I wish our fellow male musicians would realize we are capable of plugging things in and pushing buttons as well.” 

Violinist Samantha Bounkeua adds, “In live performance, it is far too often we are put in a position of being afraid to voice our concerns for fear that we would not be taken seriously or that the engineer we’re working with might passive aggressively sabotage the mix. This is why so many of have come to rely on and request very specific individuals who we know and trust, but those numbers are so few.”

“It’s always difficult to advocate for yourself, and especially when you’ve got that artistic vulnerable side, it’s even harder,” reflects Cathy Rivers. “I think that we need practice using our voices, and there are spaces for women to start having these conversations and together we should create more spaces to make this happen.” 

It is also imperative that venues consider safety. Drummer Maggie Rickard of The Surfbroads and Sugar Stains explains that “women artists are frequently left vulnerable to fans that do not respect their personal or physical boundaries, especially after a performance. I appreciate any venue that offers some form of support to buffer these situations and step in to protect the artists when it is necessary.” Jillian Bessett offers that “a real practical solution would be security at clubs. If a club had a policy of having a staff member walking artists to their car if they’re alone, that would be such a comforting, proactive gesture.”

The beauty of the scene continues to be the cooperation and guidance musicians provide one another, through networks and groups – such as the Music Biz and Shoptalk Facebook group started by Jillian Bassett. 

“I think this is a good time to be an independent female artist in Tucson,” shares vocalist and songwriter Najima Rainey of Just Najima, pictured above. “There is a community of supportive and experienced women who often support and boost other women in the scene. I literally would not have been able to record my CD if it hadn’t been for the kindness and encouragement of folx like Jillian Bessett, Miranda Schubert, Olivia Reardon, and other musicians who gave me advice and guidance the whole way through!” 

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Gabi Montoya, who performs with Juju Fontaine, Taco Sauce and Gat Moony, says, “There’s a real sense of community, everyone makes an effort to reach out to up-and-comers and give others opportunities to get great gigs. There are growing communities of woman/non-binary, queer and Black musicians creating spaces and opportunities for each other, so the local scene is gradually becoming less of a boys’ club. Black Renaissance is an amazing new organization featuring Black musicians and creators around Tucson. Everyone should definitely follow them, because it feels like Black artists haven’t been given the same platforms in the Tucson scene, but this collective has made it impossible for us to ignore these incredibly talented artists anymore.”   

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Gabi Montoya

It is vital to mention that so many men in the music scene do considerately and robustly embrace and uplift women musicians, and it is crucial that men remember that they need to continuously be allies. 

KXCI’s Hannah Levin, host of The Home Stretch and director of content, states that “we need more male allies actively involved, visibly supporting female-identified artists. Share their work on social media, create space for them on bills and within live programming in general, and perhaps most importantly, recognize the privilege you have and the space you take up, literally and figuratively. This isn’t ‘women’s work,’ this is Tucson’s collective obligation if we want to be a truly inclusive creative community.” 

Resources 

To get involved with the Music Biz and Shoptalk Facebook group, email Jillian Bessett at jillianbessettmusic@gmail.com. LeeAnne Savage plans to start a consistent women-led showcase in 2020. Contact her at SavageMusicGirl@gmail.com or 520-471-5450.

A Conversation with Mayor Regina Romero

December 2, 2019 |

On December 2, 2019, Regina Romero made history when being sworn in as Tucson’s first female and first Latina mayor. At the end of November, I spoke with her about her background and what led her to the mayor’s seat, along with conversing about political, gender and racial power structures; environmental issues; Tucson’s arts, culture, and history; and the city’s transportation concerns. Some quotes have been edited for length and clarity. 

Born in Yuma and raised in Somerton, Arizona, Regina Romero has been a Tucsonan since 1992—drawn here both by siblings who moved to Tucson for education and economic opportunities, and by her being accepted to study at the University of Arizona. While taking classes at UA and Pima Community College, Mayor Romero became inspired to get involved with politics after taking a Chicano studies class at Pima with Professor Lupe Castillo.

“We talked about Chicanismo, about the history of the land and Mexican-Americans living for many generations in the Southwest (pre-Gadsden Purchase), and activism. We also talked about policy and needs, and the lack of participation of women and people of color in our democratic process. That really sparked a nerve with me,” Mayor Romero recalls.

Through her studies, Mayor Romero became a student activist. In 1995, she was invited to get involved with the Ward One City Council race, help with voter registrations, and go door-to-door to talk to constituents about issues and ask for their votes. 

“I started getting involved with community, and that’s what started my passion for the political process, in electing women and people of color that would represent the needs that I felt were important to me,” Mayor Romero says. 

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 42.9 percent of Tucson’s populace identifies as Hispanic or Latina/o/x. Considering that Romero was Tucson’s first Latina elected to the Tucson City Council in 2007 and is now the first Latina mayor, we discussed the power structures that keep women and people of color, and especially women of color, from running for and being elected to public office. 

“It took a lot of years for me to even realize, ‘Oh, I could do this,’” Mayor Romero shares.

It took 12 years from becoming politically activated to her running for and winning her Ward One City Council seat in 2007. Through her deep involvement with community, when the position vacated, she was called upon to fill it. 

“People started calling me saying, ‘Hey, you are the cofounder and the chair of Las Adelitas,’ a group that encourages political participation with Latinas and our families. So, they were saying, ‘Isn’t that the mission of your organization?’”

Romero heeded the call with some concerns, especially since she had an 18-month-old son at the time. The support of her husband and family was, and is, key considering that city councilors are paid $24,000 and the mayor’s salary is $42,000—a wage that hasn’t changed since 1999. Again in this year’s election cycle, voters said no to raises, thereby directly affecting the ability of mayor and city councilors to concentrate full-time on Tucson, since they have to work outside of their elected positions to make ends meet. The current gross annual salary of a councilperson is equivalent to a full-time, minimum wage job in Tucson as of January 1, 2020— at $12 an hour.

“That lack of living wages for elected officials—that’s both for the state and for city mayor and council—has been an impediment for other women and other workers of the community to step up and run,” Romero explained. “What we’ve seen is that either independently wealthy males or retired males have been ready and willing to not care about that pay to be able to serve. For me and my family, it’s been a struggle.

“In terms of why we see such lack of participation of women, especially women of color in our political processes, it’s because we continue perpetuating a cycle of racist systems that were not created for us. If you’re a working person, if I were a single mom with my two kids, there’s no way I would have ever been able to run. My husband is the breadwinner. I’ve also had to work, and for the last three years, I’ve had an amazing job with Center for Biological Diversity as the director of Latino engagement, which has been very flexible with me.”

At the top of Mayor Romero’s platform is addressing environmental concerns such as recycling, sustainability, and resiliency in the face of climate change. She explained that it is important for the city to partner with entities such as the UA, local and national environmental nonprofits, and ASU on these issues. 

“It is about finding solutions together for the biggest problems that we have as a society and a city. We have to change our mentality from ‘I can consume whatever I want and I can recycle it’ to ‘How do we reduce waste?’ Reduce, reuse, recycle. We have to reeducate our community and find a better way, because Trump is fighting with China, and China says, ‘No, we’re not going to take your trash.’”

When campaigning, Mayor Romero said that Tucsonans shared their climate change concerns, such as the rising temperature, the heat island effect, and water resources.

When it comes to water stewardship, Tucson Water has led the way in Arizona with its water-saving incentives such as offering rebates for residential rainwater and greywater harvesting systems, along with installing high-efficiency toilets and clothes washers. This fall, mayor and council passed a green infrastructure plan that will help direct stormwater that collects along Tucson’s streets into streetside basins. These efforts will provide water sources for planting and establishing trees in neighborhoods, which will help mitigate flooding and the heat island effect.

Tying into the above climate issues includes tackling carbon emissions. According to a 2017 study by the Environmental Protection Agency, transportation (cars, trucks, ships, trains and planes) accounted for 28.9 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Mayor Romero’s platform calls for transitioning the city’s vehicle and bus fleet to 90 percent electric by 2032, reducing single-occupant vehicle commuters from 76.5 percent to 50 percent by 2035, and implementing a transit system that is affordable and reliable.

“The City of Tucson hasn’t seen a bus rapid transit system. Once one is implemented, it is much less expensive than rail and as effective, and sometimes even more effective, because the most effective rapid transit, in any city, has the fewest stops. You want to get people moved fast to where they need to go. And so the City of Tucson is thinking about a tapping into federal transit-oriented development funds.”

In November, Romero was in Washington, D.C. for a conference and took the opportunity to set up meetings with federal agencies and met with the Federal Transportation Administration Administrator K. Jane Williams to discuss rapid transit, what makes those systems work well, and what to include in Tucson’s application for FTA funding.

“It was awesome to be able to have that conversation with her. It’s about diversifying our transit and mobility choices in Tucson. And as we look at the possibility of a potential expansion of a streetcar, we can’t forget that there is bus rapid transit that is successful in other cities. We’re studying the highest-used transit lines in the city, and of course we’re going to get input from the community.

“It’s important to start thinking as a jurisdiction about what makes sense and how to do it equitably, to make sure that we do not displace families, that we create affordability and maintain affordability to those lines that we want to see happen. We have to plan ahead and look holistically at how it’s going to affect the city of Tucson.

“We have to look beyond what we’ve traditionally done to move to the next level of progress.”

What do you love about Tucson, and its arts, culture, and history?

I love that Tucson is surrounded by mountains. I love the desert. I love the culture in Tucson. It feels like a small town, like everyone knows each other. Even if you don’t, people treat each other like they know each other. The food is amazing, and that’s why we’re a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. The history is amazing and so rich. It has been Tohono O’odham territory and Yaqui land. We were Spain once, then Mexico, then a U.S. territory. Tucson has always been very multicultural, with deep roots of Chinese, Mexican, Irish, and Jewish people. It’s a basin of different cultures here.

The arts scene is so awesome. It has its own unique funk and vibe. Tucson has a history of muralists and painters. We need to make sure that we follow and continue the tradition. What I’ve loved recently was seeing those murals throughout the community, especially concentrated in downtown, become again an attraction to people. People love them. We should expand on that and expand on making sure that we’re inclusive in celebration in arts of both color and the representative communities. We could make art available and easy to access for students and for working families throughout the city of Tucson. We need to continue investing not only in that but also arts programming in our parks; continue investing in the local talent that we have here and make art available and accessible, maybe by partnering with the school districts with their arts programs.

And, street art. Why not use art on the street? There’s this movement happening right now, called tactical urbanism, that promotes art on the street and that actually provides safe spaces for bicycles and pedestrians to use. It’s really cool. So, there’s many, many ideas and concepts that we can push on to expand that investment that we do as a community in the arts.

Rise Up!

September 2, 2019 |

Pride in the Desert Pays Tribute to the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall

On September 28, Tucson Pride is bringing together the LGBTQIA+ community and allies for a family-friendly day of fun, music, dance, and celebration during the Tucson Pride in the Desert festivities. Replete with the annual parade starting at 11 a.m. and a festival from noon to 9 p.m., Pride in the Desert involves balancing light-hearted jubilation with commemoration, reflection, and mobilization. 

“Ultimately, ‘Rise Up!’ is a call to action in our community,” explains Tucson Pride President Sam Cloud over email. “We have made vast progress over 50 years, but there is still so much work to do and we look towards the next generation to rise up and continue the efforts of those who paved the way before us.”

The 50-year landmark Cloud refers to is the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City’s Greenwich Village, which began in the early morning of Saturday, June 28 when police attempted – yet another – raid on the Stonewall Inn’s clientele. The patrons fought back, organized, and the queer community has been fighting for equal civil rights ever since. 

Locally, the LGBTQIA+ community had its own Stonewall seven years later. According to TucsonPride.org, the “Tucson Pride history began with a different tragedy; the brutal murder of Richard Heakin, a young gay man leaving the Stonewall Tavern here in Tucson one evening in 1976. When his attackers were given a slap on the wrist, our community rose UNITED to rally for change, officially forming the organization now known as Tucson Pride. Their efforts led to some of the first LGBT anti-discrimination legislation in the country.”

Participants at Tucson Pride in 2016.For the last 42 years, pride events have been held annually – starting at Himmel Park in 1977 with a handful of community members in attendance. Now, it is a large-scale fete that hosts over 4,000 event-goers flocking to Reid Park to enjoy the parade, activities for all-ages – including a Kid Zone, two stages of entertainment, along with loads of vendors and community resources set up throughout the event area. 

“It takes a village to put on both the parade and festival,” Cloud shares, laying out the impressive details of producing an event that costs $70,000. The nonprofit’s board of directors navigates numerous local and state governmental agencies such as Parks and Recreation and the Tucson Police and Fire departments, coordinates 150 volunteers, collaborates with over 100 sponsors and vendors, works with other Pride organizations, books entertainment with local and national talent, diligently fundraises, and manages all the logistics that ensure event goers are happy and comfortable. 

“We’ve addressed feedback from the community last year related to the festival and how we can improve the experience for all,” Cloud details. “We’ve added cooling tents, free water, more diversity, LGBTQ history, and we’ve implemented new processes to reduce admission line wait times.”

Those hospitality aspects will enhance the enjoyment of the entertainment at Reid Park’s DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center. The main stage headliners include Esera Tuaolo, Brody Ray, and Debby Holiday. Headlining the community and dance tent are DJ Tega, DJ Remix, and DJ Shorty. 


Debby Holiday headlines the main stage at Tucson Pride in the Desert festival on Sat, Sept 28. Photo courtesy Tucson Pride

In addition to live music, Tucson Pride’s Tucson Queerstory R*Evolution committee will have a historic walk through the festival grounds highlighting notable moments in local LGBTQIA+ history, as well as displaying memorabilia and video, and collecting personal stories from attendees for a video archive.

Along with supporting, celebrating, and fostering understanding of a diverse queer community, the focus of Pride in the Desert is firmly rooted in promoting the visibility of the LGBTQIA+ people and the ongoing work for equal rights. 

“Visibility is crucial, now more than ever.” Cloud elucidates: “There is a large portion of the population that believes since our community now has the ability to marry same sex partners that we have achieved equal rights. This is far from the truth! Rights of people identifying as transgender have been ripped away from them. We still do not have full protection under the law to be free from employment discrimination, housing discrimination, businesses can still refuse service to us (remember the wedding cake bakery controversy?).

“Locally, one of the key issues happening right now is the ongoing debate over TUSD’s proposed new inclusive, age-appropriate and scientifically based sex education curriculum.”

According to an Arizona Public Media story published in late August, TUSD’s “curriculum is controversial because it moves beyond sexual abstinence as the only effective way of preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. The updated proposal also takes a more gender-neutral position toward LGBT students, removing language they might find offensive.” The Tucson Unified School District board will vote on updating the sex education curriculum on September 10.

In an August 22, 2019 KVOA Channel 4 interview on the TUSD sex education updates, Cloud eloquently states, “Education and knowledge is power. That’s how we change things, and to limit children from education that could very well save their lives someday is abhorrent. We cannot do that. Children deserve better. The next generation deserves better.”

The next generation does deserve better. For the progress made over the last five decades (see below for landmark events), the fact that violent hate crimes perpetuated against the queer community still happen and that Safe Spaces are set up at local businesses to assist victims of hate crimes is telling. 

“We’re people too,” Cloud said in an August 21 KVOA Channel 4 interview. “We’re just like everyone else, we have families, we have jobs, we deserve the same rights and we deserve to not live in fear.”

The Pride parade is free to spectators, starts at 11 a.m., and wends from Country Club Road and Broadway Boulevard to Reid Park at South Concert Place Way. To participate in the parade, there are nominal fees based on the entry type. The deadline to enter is Sept. 14. Email parade@tucsonpride.org for entry details and costs. General admission tickets for the festival are $20, with various discounts offered. Visit TucsonPride.org/pride2019 for all of the information.

Landmark Events in the LGBTQIA+ Human Rights Movement since Stonewall*

June 28, 1969: The Stonewall Riots put the LGBT movement on the mainstream map due to the size and media publicity. 

December 1973: The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality as a “diagnosis” from the second edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM).

May 20, 1996: Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rules a Colorado state constitutional amendment preventing protected status based upon homosexuality or bisexuality goes against the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause in Romer v. Evans.

June 26, 2003: In Lawrence v. Texas, SCOTUS rules that laws prohibiting private homosexual activity between consenting adults are unconstitutional and violate the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment Due Process Clause.

October 2009: The Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act becomes U.S. law, expanding the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

September 20, 2011: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 is implemented, “allowing” gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to serve openly in the U.S. Armed Forces. (It did not establish a non-discrimination policy.)

December 2012: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) adopts a Strategic Enforcement Plan that includes “coverage of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals under the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s Title VII sex discrimination provisions, as they may apply” as a top Commission enforcement priority.

June 26, 2013: SCOTUS strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in United States v. Windsor, ruling that DOMA’s denial of federal recognition of same-sex marriages violates the U.S. Constitution’s 5th Amendment Due Process Clause.

January 2015: President Obama acknowledges the LGBTQ community in the State of the Union address. For the first time in U.S. history, the words lesbian, bisexual, and transgender were used in the president’s State of the Union address, when President Obama mentioned that, as Americans, we “respect human dignity” and condemn the persecution of minority groups.

April 2015: President Obama calls for end to conversion therapy. (Note that the link to the WhiteHouse.gov website referenced in the article, along with the petition, lead to a dead link on WhiteHouse.gov.)

June 2015: Sexual orientation is added to the U.S. Armed Forces’ anti-discrimination policy.

June 26, 2015: Love wins! SCOTUS rules in Obergefell v. Hodges that marriage is a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses. This decision also enables married, same-sex couples to adopt children. 

July 15, 2015: The U.S. EEOC rules that discrimination based on sexual orientation is covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s Title VII prohibition on sex discrimination in the workplace.

July 23, 2015: The Equality Act is introduced in the U.S. Congress to amend Title VII to extend protection against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.

June 24, 2016: The Stonewall National Monument is officially designated by President Obama, becoming the first U.S. National Monument designated as a historic LGBT site. 

June 30, 2016: U.S. Military bans on transgender people serving in the armed forces are repealed. (However, on January 22, 2019, SCOTUS allowed Trump’s March 2018 ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. Armed Forces to take effect.) 

November 2018: LGBTQ candidates sweep the U.S. midterm elections. More than 150 LGBTQ candidates are elected into local, state, and national offices, putting a historic number of queer or transgender politicians in positions of power.

May 2019: Just ahead of Pride 2019, New York City announced it will erect a monument in Greenwich Village dedicated to Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, activists who played critical roles in both the Stonewall Riots and the NYC queer scene. The two started Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.) in 1970, an organization dedicated to helping LGBTQ people experiencing homelessness. 

*The United States has no federal law prohibiting discrimination nationwide other than from federal executive orders which have a more limited scope than from protections through federal legislation. This list of dates is certainly not exhaustive.

These dates were outlined by – with a huge thanks to – Tucson Pride President Sam Cloud, along with some additions by this author.

An Early 21st Century Zeitgeist

March 29, 2018 |

Singer, songwriter, guitarist Carlos Arzate brings it again with his newest album Camaleón, set to drop on Friday, April 6 with a CD release party at Hotel Congress. And by “it,” I’m talking about another fantastic, multi-genre disc featuring a stellar line-up of tracks and musicians. Arzate collaborated with some of Tucson’s best performers, producers and studios for this collection, his third solo release since 2013.

CD Release poster

CD Release poster

The idea behind naming the record Camaleón (Español for chameleon) is a nod to the special lizard species that have the impressive ability to change their skin coloration. “There are so many colors that are tattooed into me right now,” Carlos explains. “I feel confident to be able to produce an album where the songs come from all kinds of different styles.

“I’ve been exposed to so much different music and then spent large amounts of time with said different types of music – if it were the hard gangsta rap of the ’90s or the neo-soul of the ’90s or the grunge rock of the ’90s; the progressive rock of Tool, the soul of Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. Growing up listening to Motown with my mom. Loving Prince. The Latin music we listened to as a kid – we grew up with a lot of norteño music,” he details.

Throughout the album, Arzate culls from many of those genres – incorporating soul, Latin rhythms, pop, rock, and the vibe of our Sonoran Desert. The styles may seem disparate, but the tracks flow seamlessly and transition masterfully from one cut to the next.

A few nights after interviewing Arzate, I set up on my back porch, put on the album and settle in for a deep listen. As I hit play, the wind is kicking up and the trees are dancing. The atmosphere – both meteorological and societal – is thick with anticipation. We’re in this early 21st century Zeitgeist, in an intense (snapping point? holding pattern?) at the precipice of – what all? Cultural, racial, environmental, humanistic, religious, evolution/revolution? Entropy in action? Will we stand together or fall apart? Maybe, or not. Both? Nothing? Fragments? Todo? Are we, as Homo sapiens, even that special? These are my thoughts as I reflect on the lyrics. Words that capture a state of humanistic affairs that are both contemporary and timeless.

The album’s first track is “False Alarm,” which seemingly inspires a cricket in my backyard to chime in with song’s opening shimmer. A shimmer that resonates like the fluid movements of a rain stick, or the tinkling of a wind chime. I stop the track. The cricket chirps for another few seconds. Then stops. I start the song again, the cricket chimes in again. Stop. Start. Stop and start. The cricket plays along, then quiets. The rain drops begin to fall.

I start the first cut once again, and the rain comes down steadily now. I am immersed in percussive rhythm that breaks out into a sonically Sonoran-nuanced rock song that speaks to our insecurities of not working hard enough, not being good enough, rich enough, accomplished enough.

It’s an ancient struggle, as Arzate elucidates in our interview. But in these times, we have the added entangled litany of numerous false narratives pushed upon us from myriad media outlets: Choices from the voices/Screaming at your head/They only mean you harm/It’s a false alarm/Screaming at your head. The mix is perfectly balanced with the vox, electric guitar (Conner Gallaher), drums (Winston Watson), bass (Thøger Lund), and Gabriel Sullivan’s percussion and synths.

The song is about the falsehoods of capitalism as culture and economy. We’re pushed to keep climbing this ladder to…where? For what, and to what end? And as intensely as the song builds, plateaus, and crescendos forcefully, it seamlessly transitions into the lulling, gorgeously melodic “Aye Princesa.”

This track is absolutely resplendent with Arzate’s impassioned vox, strings arranged by Ben Nesbit, Efrén Cruz Chávez’s congas, Gabriel Sullivan on guitar, and Ryan Alfred on bass. “It’s probably the most complete story-song I’ve written, it’s like a folk tale,” Carlos imparts. “I wanted it sound like it came out of the ’40s, like my Nana would have listened to as a teenager.”

The chorus, in Español, conveys both the romanticism and tension of the protagonist’s relationship with her padre: Aye Princesa/Con ojos de pearla/Aye Princesa/La hija prodiga.

The delicate ending of “Aye Princesa” melds into the super-chill soul track, “Closer to You,” with drummer Aaron Emery’s tight tapping opening. It spreads out gently with congas (Efrén Cruz Chávez), bass and electric guitar (Ryan Alfred), and Rich Katz on organ – all adeptly moving just under Arzate’s voice. Carlos sings with a genuine sweetness that is imbued with deep love. Horns, by Gary Love and Rick Perino, punctuate the song’s sultry lyrics.

“It’s a little inappropriate,” Arzate says, smiling, acknowledging that his beloved wife Beth inspired the words and sentiment. If you want to melt your lover, play this for them.

Photo: Puspa Lohmeyer

Photo: Puspa Lohmeyer

While the auditory transition to “Broken Glass” – the album’s next affecting soul song – is masterful, it carries an important, yet heavy and emotionally-jarring experience. It forces us to face this country’s embarrassing hypocrisy and deep social inequalities.

But something feels wrong/There’s a lot going on/In the name of progress/In the name of those of us/Living on the outside looking in.

“This speaks to today’s activists, as we transitioned to online activism versus physical activism – where the ‘active’ part of ‘activism’ requires you to go to a rally or go to a march or go clean somebody’s yard,” Carlos shares about the track’s lyrics. “I identified that in myself; it was a bad time for me, I was tired, I was working really hard and I was trying provide for my family,” he explains, specifically about his opening lyrics: None of this is convenient/It’s unfortunately a bad time for me/When you’re miles away from the incident/And uninterested in getting involved.

The tune incorporates a spoken word piece by two lauded local poets, Teré Fowler Chapman and Logan Phillips, who collaborated to bring poignant poetry that punctuate the social injustices thematically covered in “Broken Glass.”

Following is the 40-second instrumental breather, “Redemption,” which slides right into what ought to become an Old Pueblo hymn – “Canopy of Clouds.”

For many Sonoran Desert dwellers, the rain is a rapturous experience; from the sweet, tender caress of the gentle late-winter drizzles to the life-giving (ecological) orgasms released by the driving thrust of summer monsoons. Precluding that dizzying deluge is the tension of inhospitable temperatures, rising moisture and stacking clouds that tease and elude our passionate pleas during the height of summer’s baking drought and inhumane humidity.

To that, Carlos and company created an orchestral ballad with soaring strings, vocals and notes that pay respectful love and attention to the ecstatic marriage of water and earth.

Next is “No Other Place,” an uplifting pop song that is lovable and sweet. It’ll be a fun song to dance to live, and is a bright musical and lyrical respite mixed into the tracks. On “Hold Me Down,” Carlos gets autobiographical with this apologetic love song to his wife. If Carlos is one thing, he is authentic and open. He explains – “I screwed up, I hurt her feelings, and I didn’t realize it.” This tune includes gorgeous backing vox by Steph Koeppen, along with Randy Lopez on organ, Aaron Emery on drums, Gabriel Sullivan on synths, Ryan Green on acoustic guitar and Ryan Alfred on bass.

The next cut, “Try,” opens with beautiful haunting pedal steel played by Conner Gallaher, setting the vibe for this soulful country song – which was inspired by an experience Carlos had at a bar on Tucson’s east side. He observed a lesbian couple at the lively establishment, and no one was talking to the ladies, so he asked if he could sit with them. The three had good conversations, Arzate says.

Arzate Album Cover art web

Camaleón album Cover

“They were great, they were recently married, one of the women was from the mid-west, and she was facing a bit of consternation from her family because of her lifestyle. They shared their history, how they met, and I just enjoyed their company. When I was leaving, one of the women looked at me and said, ‘Thanks for leaning in.’ And I said, ‘Anytime.’ And that stuck me so hard. Back to that ‘active’ in ‘activism.’ Social media has marginalized true activism. But that episode – when she said ‘lean in,’ – I thought, ‘that’s exactly right.’”

Following is “Pure,” an exploration of hypocrisy and narratives that dictate absolute ideas of the pursuit of happiness – which features Brian Lopez on guitar. “There’s nuance in the world,” Arzate reflects in our interview. “The idea of purity doesn’t exist, there’s no religious or racial purity.” He sings: How does anybody know what is real and what is pure/I know we are pure together/And the world is bigger than you think.

Wrapping up Camaleón is a loving ode to his three children in “Ramble On,” sharing his adoration and blessings to the kiddos to go out and take on the world. Ramble on, ramble on/Go out and be brave go out and be strong.

We can all take on the world, in its complex nuances, and add our truth and efforts to lean in, resist hypocrisy, embrace love and engage in an authentic life by being brave and strong.

Camaleón was recorded at St Cecilia Studios, Landmark Studios, Dust & Stone Studios between 2016 and 2017. The efforts culminate into the CD release party at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., on Friday, April 6. The show starts at 7 p.m. and includes performances by Buyepongo and Salvador Duran. Tickets ($8-$10) are available at HotelCongres.com. More information is at CarlosArzate.com or at Facebook.com.

Perri Jewelers: 72 Years in the Heart of the Old Pueblo

December 4, 2017 |

Stephen Perri at Perri Jewelers. Photo by Jamie Manser

Stephen Perri at Perri Jewelers.
Photo by Jamie Manser

Congress Street is buzzing on a recent Saturday afternoon. Buses and cars move slowly along Downtown’s main artery, as do the people sauntering along the sidewalks and crosswalks. It’s mid-November and restaurant patios are packed with diners enjoying their lunches and temperatures in the mid-70s.

My husband and I chat about the current and recent construction projects, the empty storefronts, and the new and long-time businesses along Congress. As we pull into a parallel parking spot just west of 6th Avenue, in front of Empire Pizza, we wonder what will eventually take up residence in the large, empty Chicago Store space across the street and in the space that will soon by vacated by Hydra.

On this day, I’m headed over to Perri Jewelers at 1 E. Congress St. to interview Stephen Perri about his recent move to this new location from 13 N. Stone Ave. Perri Jewelers was located on Stone Avenue for the last 13 years, but 13 years is just a fraction of the time the downtown stalwart has done business in the heart of the city.

I bid my hubby and our pooch adieu before entering the jewelry shop, and pause to take in the signage around and on the door. I’ve always loved the Perri Jewelers’ logo with its mid-20th century design and font, designed by Simon Perri. I admire the neon sign that I’ll later learn is the original sign made in 1945 that Stephen had restored. Chimes lightly jingle as I push open the door and step up to go in. Taking in the scene, I see a charming and intimate space with beautiful lighting that makes the jewelry displayed on the wall and in the glass cases shimmer and sparkle.

Stephen is consulting with two long-time customers when I come in, but he smiles and offers a quick hello before getting back to his clients about ring sizes. As the three converse, I admire the exposed brick walls, high ceilings and the unique jewelry offerings tucked into 250 square feet of space. I overhear the couple tell Stephen that they knew his grandfather and share that this is their 36th wedding anniversary. It’s a sweet exchange that illustrates the power of customer service that goes above and beyond the typical interactions that occur in chain stores. It also showcases the generational depth and breadth of Perri Jewelers’ clientele that is not only attributable to longevity – Perri Jewelers has been around for 72 years – but also to masterful artisanship, a robust work ethic, honesty, and a deep sense of community.

“My father taught me to be honest, do things right, work hard and build relationships with customers. We would go to our clients’ funerals, weddings and other events. I thought that was just the way it was,” Stephen says. He adds, “I later learned that not all businesses operate that way.”

Perri Jewelers originally opened in the spring of 1945 at 129 ½ W. Congress St. – where the Pima County court and governmental complex currently stands. Stephen shows me a digital scan of the business’ advertisement that ran in a March 1945 issue of El Tucsonense newspaper. He surmises that is an accurate timeframe of when his uncle Peter Perri opened shop. Stephen has his laptop up on the counter, and is showing me the pictorial history of the jewelry store. It is filled with family photos and images from the Arizona Daily Star archives.

“This is my uncle Peter, who started the business,” Stephen shares, pointing out a photo that is over 50 years old. “When he (Peter) went to work for Hughes Aircraft – which is now Raytheon – my dad took over and bought him out in 1957.

Simon Perri was a master hand engraver. Photo courtesy Stephen Perri

Simon Perri was a master hand engraver.
Photo courtesy Stephen Perri

“My uncle Peter was a watchmaker, my dad did hand engraving. My dad, Simon, learned his craft from being an apprentice for two and a half years in Los Angeles.” Stephen scrolls through more photos on his laptop, and pauses on a picture that shows the West Congress Street block in the 1950s. “See that sign for La Selva Latin Club,” he asks, pointing it out. “We were upstairs from that.”

When the city decided to tear down the businesses that lined West Congress Street – west of Church Avenue –  to build the current governmental complex, Perri Jewelers moved to 37 W. Congress St. in 1963. For the next 40 years, Simon Perri served the Tucson community by selling jewelry, offering hand engraving, along with selling musical instruments and luggage. The store was open six days a week, and catered to its customers by offering layaway and never charging interest on purchases.

Stephen pulls out a file that is stuffed with receipts his father saved, with names such as Ruben Romero and Evo DeConcini on the typed receipts. “He kept everything,” Stephen remarks as he shuffles through the papers. As he puts the file away, he reflects on how he almost closed Perri Jewelers in 2003.

“My dad had a stroke in the fall of 2003, and initially I was going to close the store. I’m a teacher, I work full-time. But, the school (Salpointe Catholic High School) gave me time off to make a decision.” Between September 2003 and March 2004, Stephen ran the shop and was inspired by the customers who came through and shared their stories of purchasing jewelry or getting repairs and hand engraving done by his father.

“I decided that I couldn’t close it after hearing all of those stories. We had an 80th birthday party for my dad, and so many people showed up. I’m proud to be able to keep Perri Jewelers going for my dad and my uncle, and remain downtown. We’ve endured and survived entirely based on the people downtown.”

When Stephen had to make another decision about the survival of Perri Jewelers, by moving it from the Stone Avenue location to 1 E. Congress St., he shares the synchronicity that came along with finding the new location.

“It was cool that (commercial real estate agent) Buzz Isaacson showed us this space, because he knew my dad. I got to look at a lot of places downtown, but it was important for us to keep the overhead low. We found this space, and it was retrofitted for our needs. We were able to move within a week of closing the Stone Avenue space and opened here on October 30.

“It’s been an odyssey – being downtown – and to watch it (downtown) come back; finally, private investors are putting money in, I think downtown will keep growing. I’m glad we aren’t a place with chains, we’ve got local and independent stores. When you finally get investors, it’s key.”

Perri Jewelers is located at 1 E. Congress St., online at PerriJewelers.com and by phone, (520) 624-4311. The store is regularly open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and will also be open Saturday, Dec. 16 and 23 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Gabriel Naïm Amor’s “Moments Before”

December 4, 2017 |

This nine-track album of instrumentals is gorgeous, sparse, reflective, quiet, understated, and deftly executed – with jazz, orchestral/classical, blues, and cinematic vibes. It gives room for the listener to fill in the stories from one’s own imaginative perspective, or simply the chance to just zone out and let the notes wash over you.

It’s easy to understand the fascinating mix of styles – which is sonically, uniquely Amor – on Moments Before when knowing about Amor’s musical background. He studied classical violin at a Paris conservatory for eight years, and as a teenager, he picked up guitar and played in rock and punk bands. Later, he went to a music school in Paris “run by the great American jazz musician Alan Silva,” the musician writes via email.

Naim_MomentsBefore web“That school was primarily focused on jazz, but it was really edgy, no purists there; that definitely had a strong influence on me. Then I worked with theater director and author Marc’O with the ensemble Generation Chaos where I developed extensive work on music improvisation and stage acting.”

Gabriel Naïm Amor says this album has its roots in a project he did with French avant-garde jazz guitarist Nöel Akchoté a few years ago. “He asked me to record guitar pieces very quickly and spontaneously. He completely covered them with noise, some kind of concept. I realized that I really liked these guitar tunes and they deserved an album. So, came the idea of making a guitar album and use all the beautiful instruments I own. I would have all the guitars in the studio and try them on different tunes and say, ‘Yes! This is the one for that song.’”

Amor – originally from Paris, France and a Tucsonan since 1997 – also explains that several of the compositions were written around the same time as the tunes on his 2016 album Western Suite and Siesta Songs. “I was working with (Calexico drummer) John Convertino, and some of the tracks just didn’t make sense on Western Suite, however John really liked them and wanted to drum on them. I realized that I needed more material and I had the direction laying in front of me, just needed to create the missing part, just like a puzzle. It is like curating a mess and finding out what was hiding through it.”

He shares collaboration credit with Thøger Lund, who played on all of tracks, “mostly on electric bass. He also helped a lot with ideas, suggestions with arrangements. John Convertino played the drums, it is so easy to record with him and he brings a lot, he totally felt and understood the breathing and space of that album. Tommy Larkins played on one track one day he was at the studio we shared for a while. Nick Coventry played a violin part on one track, I did all of the strings on the album and of course all the guitars. Jim Waters mixed the album to tape.”

Additionally, Amor offers text he wrote about the album:

“Moments Before, as it indicates, suggests the occurrence of an imminent change or event…small or big, dramatic or light, welcome or disorienting. In opposition to the flat line of death, the pulse of life is celebrated here by the dynamics, contrasts, accidents inherent to any living environment. Unlike a saturation of information often resulting in that monotonous ‘flat line,’ the use of silence and space is attempting to reveal and emphasize each event which hopefully will keep us engaged and interested as a listener.”

Gabriel Naïm Amor performs “Moments Before” at Exo Roast Co., 403 N. 6th Ave., on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. Amy Rude and Heartbeast is also on the bill. See Facebook.com/ExoCoffee for show details or call (520) 777-4709. Visit NaimAmor.bandcamp.com to check out his discography.

Over email, he and I reflect on each of the album’s nine tracks.

Study for ES 125

ZM: It’s a brief, contemplative piece. What was your mind-space when composing this song and what kind of guitar are you playing?

GNA: The guitar is precisely an ES 125, which was made by Gibson, this one is from 1959. That tune was first an improvisation that replicated, rationalized, learned into a written form. I wanted to open the album with a solo guitar, give it the whole space because that’s what the album is about.

She Danced then She Flew Away

ZM: Feels reflective, and understated – especially with the interplay between the guitar and drums. The intersections of the instruments are deftly balanced.

GNA: I wanted to have a beautiful punctuated by a very strong sonic, dissonant part.

Waltz Escape

ZM: I love the pacing of the notes. Sparse, open, yet expressive – beautifully balanced. Interesting change/bridge around the two-minute mark. Tell me about that transition.

GNA: Here it’s the idea of have a two-songs-in-one type of composition, it’s kind of a classical approach yet not classical at all.

Somewhere Else

ZM: Darker, feels trepidatious at the beginning, definite tension – which mellows out around 1:50 mark. There’s a lighter touch, quieter, more like a lullaby. Ends sweetly.

GNA: Here I wanted to enjoy that contact of tension and release, I like laying down closing my eyes and listen to that track, kind of meditative.

Reverse Dawn Back Into The Night

ZM: I love the sense it gives of going backward. It’s like a reflection of life, looking back/traveling back. It conveys a wonderment of the natural world with shimmering sounds – dreamy and reflective. I love the interplay/call and response between the strings. The time from 3:06 to end feels like a culmination of experiences.

GNA: You are exactly right; this piece is kind of surreal to me. I originally composed it for a film by Ira Chute about some guys cutting trees in the woods. I re-worked it for the album and I was initially inspired by the score and the scene of the two little children in a boat on a river in the middle of the night from the great movie “The Night of The Hunter” with Robert Mitchum.

Back Porch Moment

ZM: I dig that you have a song with this title. I feel like Tucson is almost defined by its locals as a town that celebrates its back porches/outdoor chill spaces. Kicking back, and enjoying a libation with friends and talking about life, the world, being backyard philosophers. This song seems to encapsulate that sentiment.

GNA: That’s a perfect example of curation, the song handed me the title afterwards…that’s what is great with instrumentals!!

Just Before Revelation

ZM: Conveys feelings that vacillate between certainty and confusion.

GNA: Here again, the dynamic is emphasized by having two songs in one, like movements in classical music. It also has a strong reference to the blues but it’s not Blues, a bit like Gershwin used some blues and jazz harmonies in his Rhapsody maybe.

Ouled Kacem To Paris

ZM: Did you travel between Tunisia and Paris at one point? Opens with measured, dark, quiet. Please tell me about the background of this song and its title. It feels very cinematic. Is there a story behind it?

GNA: My father is from Tunisia, he moved to Paris alone in 1954, he was seventeen and wanted to be an artist. Ouled Kacem is the tiny village where he was born and that he left. That song has a slight Arabic feel but it also has a rockabilly electric guitar tone, that what I like the most about it, that collusion. Like my father I left my country, I thought there was an emotional feel to drive that tune.

Study for Telecaster

ZM: An ode to a guitar? 

GNA: It’s the closing track and mirrors the opening one, the titles are similar, I used my beautiful 1954 Fender Telecaster.

Beautiful Souls Born Under Different Circumstances

November 1, 2017 |

UA brings a documentary film, a one-women play and a series of workshops to Tucson for the Women’s Empowerment and Human Rights events this November. 

“Most of society doesn’t even notice that the people who live in tents even exist. They too are beautiful souls born under different circumstances.” These are the quotes closing The Tent Village trailer, a film featuring footage shot by four young women in India who document the circumstances in which they were raised.

The film crew of “The Tent Village” documentary taking a break. The film is being screened at The Loft Cinema on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. as part of the UA’s “Women’s Empowerment and Human Rights” series of events. Photo courtesy Nilima Abrams

The film crew of “The Tent Village” documentary taking a break. The film is being screened at The Loft Cinema on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. as part of the UA’s “Women’s Empowerment and Human Rights” series of events.
Photo courtesy Nilima Abrams

There’s beautiful footage of smiling children and families, juxtaposed by the staggering weight of issues faced in India’s marginalized communities. “Their lives are really hard,” shares one of the filmmakers in the trailer. “My mother got married when she was 13 or 14. My uncles just wanted us to work collecting recycled things.” Children drop out of school because the teachers beat them, families build tents supported by wire or wood frames in shanty towns.

“They accept that they are untouchable, low caste, and forget who they truly are.” It is an astute statement by one of the documentarians that raises so many issues regarding the subjugation of women, child abuse, alcohol abuse, socioeconomic oppression, searing societal judgement, and the how those damaging prejudices can stunt our ability to recognize and embrace our infinite capacity to seek and fulfill our dreams.

“That quote about accepting being low-caste epitomizes the cycle whereby they have been oppressed externally for so long, that they have sometimes internalized the negative attitudes and the cycle continues,” reflects Nilima Abrams – a documentary filmmaker who is also a social entrepreneur and lecturer at University of Vermont. Abrams worked with the film’s documentarians to create The Tent Village, a 30-minute film that is screening at The Loft Cinema on Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. as part of The Loft’s film festival and the UA’s Women’s Empowerment and Human Rights events.

Abrams met the four women – Aliveli, Saritha, Maheswari, Ganga – when they were teenagers in 2009 and taught them basic filmmaking. It took seven years, from initial shooting to film editing, to complete The Tent Village – which also includes the stories of the young filmmakers.

“While they wanted to help viewers overcome the stigmas that people from certain areas face, I think they also (understandably) feared those stigmas on themselves; or just didn’t really see the point to sharing their own stories and were initially shy to do so,” Abrams explains via email. “So, we worked together to integrate their stories in such a way as to (hopefully) break down stigma/stereotype by proudly including themselves as guides and proof of human potential regardless of gender/class/caste background. Once they saw themselves as the leaders that they are, I think they became more confident to share their stories. So, I filmed them reflecting on their footage, but all of the shots at the ‘tent village’ they did on their own, when I wasn’t even in India.”

Two of the filmmakers, Aliveli and Saritha, will be at the Nov. 14 screening.

***

A play with similar themes, Honour: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan, by UA alum Dipti Mehta, shows at the Temple of Music and Art on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. as part of the Women’s Empowerment and Human Rights week of events. Mehta, a cancer researcher who holds a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology, is the playwright and performer in the one-woman production she created “to raise awareness and break down the social stigma that exists around sex workers.”

Dipti Mehta in her one-woman play “Honour: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan,” being performed at the Temple of Music and Art on Friday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. as part of the UA’s “Women’s Empowerment and Human Rights” series of events. Photo by Kyle Rosenberg

Dipti Mehta in her one-woman play “Honour: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan,” being performed at the Temple of Music and Art on Friday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. as part of the UA’s “Women’s Empowerment and Human Rights” series of events.
Photo by Kyle Rosenberg

On her website, Mehta explains the questions she had as a child from catching glimpses of the red-light district in South Mumbai, India, as the bus she rode on passed by brothels. As she grew up, Mehta became aware of what was happening in those neighborhoods and started delving deeper into questions of social stratification, stigma, child abuse, sexual abuse, and oppression.

“I am still asking questions to the society,” she writes via email. “I still don’t understand why a woman’s honour has to do with her virginity or her sexuality. And why men are not being brought to the same standards as women even though they are equally to be blamed. I am still asking why respect has to do with what you do for a living and what you wear and where you live? I am still asking, when a 6-year-old is raped, how is it that it was her fault? How can a man say, ‘It was her fault that I raped her’? I still don’t understand how our society breeds a father who rapes his 6-year-old daughter and then sells her to other men.”

In India’s South Mumbai red-light districts, women and children are forced into this corner of society either by trafficking, being sold by their own families, or through destitution. Once in, it is hard for the women to get out of that life because of social attitudes. “Once they have been broken into (which means they have been raped),” Mehta shares, “they don’t have an alternative. Their families won’t take them back because of the social stigma or they would not go back because of the shame.”

Through Honour, Mehta hopes to humanize people living and working in the red-light districts. “The play touches upon a lot of themes, but most important of it all is that we are trying to connect hearts. Through the show, I want people to fall in love with people – not with what they do and where they live. I want them to experience hopes and dreams of a young girl and find that they are no different than a girl born elsewhere, and that the only difference is the playing field is not equal. While a girl born in a normal family has the opportunities and support to make her dreams come true, a girl in the red-light district does not.”

***

It took a dedicated committee to bring together the Women’s Empowerment and Human Rights events, but a lot of the heavy lifting can be attributed to UA Professor William Simmons and Tucson philanthropist Neelam Sethi.

UA Human Right Professor and activist William Simmons Photo from UA

UA Human Right Professor and activist William Simmons
Photo from UA

Throughout his academic career, UA Professor William Simmons has worked on human rights issues – from sex workers’ rights to projects in such places as The Gambia, Niger, Nigeria, China, Mexico, and the U.S.  Simmons was the founding director of the Masters’ program in Social Justice and Human Rights at ASU, spearheaded the launch of GlobalHumanRightsDirect.com, and – as he shared via email – Simmons and his colleagues “have recently created a fully online graduate programs in human rights practice at the UA that we hope will attract students and instructors from around the globe.”

The week of events is connected to the launch of the human rights practice graduate programs, and they plan to continue to host events, such as online webinars, film showings, and public talks. More information on the program is at HumanRightsPractice.arizona.edu.

Tucson philanthropist Neelam Sethi. Photo courtesy Neelam Sethi

Tucson philanthropist Neelam Sethi.
Photo courtesy Neelam Sethi

On Neelam Sethi, UA Professor of Medicine Dr. Esther Sternberg – who is also part of the event committee (along with The Loft Cinema’s Executive Director Peggy Johnston and Tucson philanthropist Betty Anne Sarver) – wrote via email: “Neelam has worked tirelessly behind the scenes from the inception of the idea for linking the Honour play and The Tent Village documentary under the Women’s Empowerment Week umbrella. With her deep experience staging many wildly successful events for philanthropic causes, including the Heart and Stroke Ball, Bollywood at the Fox, Tu Nudito fundraisers and others, Neelam is as skilled as any major media producer in pulling it off.”

Sternberg, who is also UA’s Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine Research Director and the Director of UA Institute on Place and Wellbeing, additionally shared that what drives Sethi “more than anything is her passion for the causes she supports, and for spreading the word about Indian culture even in the face of sometimes difficult issues that might be part of it. The opportunity to help correct such issues through awareness is part of her driving force, which inspires all others involved in the staging of the events. Through all this Neelam is the essence of an empowering woman!”

The Women’s Empowerment and Human Rights events happen from Nov. 14-17. More information on the events, the film and the play are online at https://sbs.arizona.edu/news/events-supporting-womens-empowerment-and-human-rights.

Ritual, Scent & Healing

October 5, 2017 |

Perfume is the smell of creation, a sign dramatically delivered to our senses of the Earth’s regenerative powers – a message of hope and a message of pleasure. – Claude LeFever in Tom Robbins’s “Jitterbug Perfume”

Kate Becker, therapeutic perfumer, at her downtown boutique Ritual by Kate’s Magik. Photo by Julius Schlosburg

Kate Becker, therapeutic perfumer, at her downtown boutique Ritual by Kate’s Magik.
Photo by Julius Schlosburg

The aromatic bodywork offered at Ritual by Kate’s Magik, 215 N. Court Ave., is a luxuriant, transportive, deeply relaxing and meditative experience. It starts with a consultation, a conversation over cool water or warm tea to discuss what ails you physically, emotionally and spiritually. The client is an active participant in this process; it is important to mentally set your intention for receiving and gaining healing work from the therapist.

“How do you want to feel when you leave today?” asks Nicole Mendoza, a Reiki practitioner at Ritual. I tell her about the migraine that split my head open 48 hours earlier and left my body and mind feeling railroaded. I hope this treatment puts me back together enough so I can get some writing projects done, including this article. As with the full-body massages offered, the Reiki bodywork sessions are rooted in the healing powers of laying-on-hands energy, essential oils, and aromatherapy. The therapist selects several oils, which are blended on-site by Kate’s Magik proprietor, therapeutic perfumer, and Reiki Master Teacher Kate Becker. The oil selections are carefully presented to the client’s nostrils, one by one, inhale deeply and let your brain’s olfactory cortex decide.

On this day, my olfactory cortex choses scent number two – which turns out to be Kate’s Magik Creativity & Performance anointing oil. I laugh, as an image of Toucan Sam flashes in my Gen X head – “Follow your nose! It always knows!” It seems to be true. At a previous therapeutic massage treatment, when I was searching for support in creating a healthier lifestyle, I was drawn to the scent of the Isis & Rebirth oil that is meant to, as the Kate’s Magik literature states, “release the old and support new beginnings.” I was sold – hook, line and sinker – on the oils, the treatments, on the power of aromatherapy, and sought to learn scientifically why.

In the 2009 National Geographic book “Brain: The Complete Mind,” the sense of smell is described as a “direct sense” that circumvents the route our other senses take to the brain. “Smell, the most ancient of senses, takes a more direct path. Taste, touch, hearing, and a portion of vision send their electrochemical signals to the brain via the brain stem, which then relays them to the thalamus and on up to the cerebral cortex. Sensation of smell goes straight into the amygdala and olfactory cortex, both parts of the limbic system, without stopping at the thalamus along the way.”1

Most humans are deeply touched by scent, and this is because smell is hardwired “to the brain’s emotional centers,” according to the aforementioned Nat Geo book. It goes on to explain that, when you smell something, “the sensation rushes, practically unfiltered, into the frontal lobes. As the amygdala directly influences the sympathetic branch of the nervous system as well as the nurturing bonds of family, smells can trigger a rise in heartbeat and blood pressure or bring on a feeling of calm and well-being. The latter forms the basis of aromatherapy.”

***

In 2002, Becker alighted in Tucson. She had traveled the world, was born in San Francisco, grew up both in Bern (her mother is Swiss) and New York City (her father a New Yorker), lived in Central America for a time, then settled back in New York City for 10 years. It was in New York where Becker studied with renowned jazz vocalist Nanette Natal, facilitated music connections, worked in various modalities of the healing arts, and was employed at an herb store.

When asked what led her to aromatherapy, Becker shares how the NYC herb store started her on the path of connecting to intention-based work, but it was her mother that informed her background and relationship to essential oils.

“My mother used a lot of essential oils on me when I was little to calm me, but also for earaches – like lavender, chamomile and eucalyptus – some of the regular, medicinal ones were just common in households in Switzerland. I’ve always really resonated with scent. From a young age on, scent was very powerful for me.

“Later on, when I got into aromatherapy and when I started creating my own blends and body oils, I would think about re-creating that feeling that I have with my mom; the way my mom smelled after she came out of the shower. She would put on this oil and it was citrus-y and floral and so warming and joy-inducing.”

When Becker moved to Tucson, she spent the first six months studying essential oils, their therapeutic and medicinal qualities, the folklore behind them and, “how powerful they are when you apply them on your body – they go into your bloodstream, they travel up to four hours within you and help calm you down or wake you up, balance a mood or enhance your sensuality and how it makes you feel when you apply it and smell it, it’s so powerful. And I didn’t at all have the intention of creating a company. I just thought I would create those to sell to my clients when I opened shop as a life coach and maybe locally. But they got feet, the doors just started opening.”

From talking to Kate, it was clear that it was more than doors magically opening, she was prying them asunder with true grit and self-admitted naïve persistence. Becker received an audience with Whole Foods in 2005, and locked in distribution to the chain’s Southern California, Northern California, and New York regions, and eventually six more regions across the country. These days, Whole Foods’ stores comprise about twenty percent of her distribution locales while most her products are in over 200 independent stores nationwide, “which is what I wanted, they are more customer oriented.”

***

For each of the Kate’s Magik anointing oils, aura mists, lotions, teas, diffuser oils, and sacred perfumes, there is a detailed description that explains their intended applications. If you seek more confidence, there is an anointing oil for that, there are anointing oils to help a person with clarity and focus, learning to let go, releasing negativity, among many other qualities we may hope to incorporate into our lives or find freedom from. The point and purpose is to mindfully use these products while working on your stuff.

Becker’s background includes working as a counselor and life coach, which informs her product line. “Everything always starts with my experiences,” she explains. “What has been most challenging for me? Where have I needed the most support or help or guidance? And then work with myself – what are the different tools that work for me? And then I go out from there.”

Kate’s Magik products include oils, teas, lotions, aura mists, and perfumes. Photo by Julius Schlosburg

Kate’s Magik products include oils, teas, lotions, aura mists, and perfumes.
Photo by Julius Schlosburg

***

I am face down on the massage table, breathing deeply, slowly, releasing tension, looking forward to today’s Letting Go Ritual Massage. Vanessa Guss lightly knocks on the door, entering after my muffled grunt of consent. She smudges the room with sage, clears the air with the Heart & Spirit Aura Mist, gently places a heating pad on my shoulders, and sits down at my feet with hot towels. Oh, how we forget how much we beat up our feet! Hot towels, oil, and kneading is so simple, yet so completely transcendent. I’m melting into the massage table, feeling its thick comfy pad underneath high count cotton sheets. Details get hazy when one is semi-conscious, but throughout the massage, Guss is using the Isis & Rebirth and Letting Go oils, working every inch of my body with trained hands and Reiki mindfulness.

Her touch loosens and sooths my muscles, the music lulls me into a different world and the space feels as safe and nurturing as the womb. It’s a spiritual experience rooted in Earthy sensations and scents, which I later learned was likely due to the fact that all of the oil blends are 100 percent natural, no synthetics. My thirsty skin drinks up the moisture. It truly feels like a rebirth.

Reiki may be considered a pseudoscience by a number of scholars and academics, but what they can’t discount is the power of touch – which is the first sense that develops before all others.1 There may not be a reproducible qualitative energy in the lab, but when you are laying on the massage table and feel the heat from the therapist’s hands, your body tells you something else. What mine told me was that I was blessed to receive work by a goddess masseuse.

***

Before Big Pharma, humans relied on plants to cure what ailed them. It’s an ancient science, and some might titter about “new age,” but really, it’s old school. Going back, quite literally, to our roots of utilizing the healing power of plants.

Kate describes the uses of different ingredients, how flower oils can aid in forgiveness and compassion while cedarwood is grounding. “And it does that physically and emotionally for you, so that’s the magic,” she imparts. “It’s magical, what these plants can do for us because everything is here. We came with everything on this planet. And they’re our family, the flowers, the trees, the bark, the root, the seeds, they’re all part of us. We all have a purpose to serve each other and they want to help us.”

***

Becker’s background in the healing arts motivated her to reach people through her oils as a way for her clients to take something home with them, as a reminder of what they are working on. “It becomes your helper, your assistant, your reminder, your supporter. Let’s say you apply Break Patterns & Addictions and you’re asking for assistance, for support around this challenge and every time you smell it, it will remind you of that support.”

What Becker didn’t realize 15 years ago when she started studying essential oils was her knack for blending. Working with oils isn’t easy. They have their own personalities, and some – as Kate said – are hard to wrangle. Tom Robbins wrote a whole book on the challenge of finding a proper base note to a jasmine, citrus combination.

“I learned about all the different oils, and how they blend with each other and what their purposes are – medicinally, therapeutically – but once I sat down to blend them, and the anointing oils were the first line I created – they just kind of happened through me. To this day, now that I do the Bastet Perfume Society, which is a monthly perfume club and I’m having the ability to work with the really exotic high priced and rare oils, it still happens. I’ll make a blend and I can’t believe that I had that much to do with it. I think it’s just something that’s inside me, like musicians who already have the music in them, that’s what it is for me.”

On Saturday, Oct. 28, Becker and crew celebrate the boutique’s two-year anniversary at their Downtown location, 215 N. Court Ave., from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. The free event is dedicated to the Autumn Season, Samhain, and Dia de los Muertos. It will include an alter honoring those past, mini ritual treatments by Vanessa and Nicole, healthy treats and refreshments as well as a sale. Visit KatesMagik.com for product information and RitualTucson.com for information on the boutique. Call 520-422-2642 with inquiries.

  1. Sweeney, Michael S. Brain: The Complete Mind. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2009. Print.

Mindful in a World of Distractions: Leila Lopez’s “Our Animal Skin”

September 4, 2017 |

Artwork by Daniel Martin Diaz

Artwork by Daniel Martin Diaz

Leila Lopez writes songs that explore the depths of human relationships, with ourselves and others, and our emotional struggles as we move through this thing called life. She is vulnerable, resilient and authentic, sapient, contemplative, kind and loving, and her richly layered folk songs are imbued with those attributes.

The album is also imbued with a gentle acceptance of life’s pain, joy, challenges, and ephemeral nature. It conjures the Japanese concept “mono no aware,” the poignant, wistful reflection on the transience of existence; calling on us to be mindful and have faith that we’ll receive what we need, as being distinct from what we want.

Over email, Leila shares the dichotomies she writes about: struggling with depression while pretending like everything is okay, “the climb and fall, shadow and light, the high and low.

“My grandmother passed a couple years ago, and she was always the voice of reason for me. Light needs the dark, sorrow paves the path for joy.”

Through discussing the songs, it’s clear this is a deeply personal project that took some time. “The album was written over a period on and off of about three years, starting around spring of 2013,” Lopez explains. “The songs ended up coming together organically, but as somewhat of a timeline, or chain of events that felt cohesive to one another. They came slowly and I let them, not wanting to put pressure on the process, and to genuinely respect the space in between so I could keep it fun and natural.”

Her intuition was spot-on; the flow of the songs is seamless. And pretty much by herself in her home studio, Lopez created a gorgeous, heart-rendering album that features her playing almost every instrument: vocals, backup harmonies, guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, mandolin, and cello. The sole exception is Christabelle Merrill’s violin on one track.

The songs on the album are beautiful, poignant, interesting, and they collectively provide an examination on how life moves and morphs us. So, what is “our animal skin” and why is it important to shed it?

“The album name came from (aside from the actual lyric) the feeling that I keep having about time, and where we have been, and who we become along the way. The layers we shed both internally and externally change us whether we want them to or not. We go through this process on our own, or maybe in different relationships throughout our lives. Can we adapt to our new layers? Can we fully support the ones we love through the tides even though they may be uncertain? Sometimes we don’t even know why it’s important to shed some of our layers, or for others to do the same, and we just have to trust the process and know that whatever comes is an opportunity for so many things. We are leading ourselves along, but in so many ways, we are also just tiny particles in a really big current.”

Enjoy Leila’s songs – with bandmates Brian Green (bass), Christabelle Merrill (violin) and Julius Schlosburg (drums) – live on Friday, Sept. 22 at Flycatcher, 340 E. 6th St., starting at 8 p.m. Dutch Holly opens. Free! Details at Facebook.com/leilalopezsongs.

Leila Lopez

Leila Lopez

Sonic Storytelling

September 2, 2017 |

Photo by Shelly Black

Photo by Shelly Black

Under an August noon, Chris Black handed me his recently pressed CDs, Lullabies & Nightmares: Chamber Music Vol. 1 and Downtown Suite & Cooper Must Die. I told him, “I only know how to write about this based on the vibes I get from the music. I’m not a classically trained musician.” He smiled and said, “That’s okay, neither am I.”

Be that as it may, Black’s recent releases are songs he wrote for ChamberLab – an alt-classical concert series he created over seven years ago to bring “new music to different audiences in strange rooms and from unlikely sources.”

It’s easy to confuse ChamberLab and these Chris Black releases. “ChamberLab, the concert series,” he explains, “is its own thing, and this release is a collection of music which I hope will have a life beyond that. So, it’s not a ChamberLab show – it’s all about good old Chris Black, who wrote a bunch of chamber music, and here it is.”

The “bunch of chamber music” Black refers to is a collection of fascinating tunes, comprised of a captivating conglomeration of notes that weave together mesmerizing tales. It’s sonic storytelling. Through music, Black creates interesting scenes and evokes a wide-range of emotions. To sit with these albums, and close out the world, is endlessly interesting with its compositions performed on instruments that most people aren’t exposed to on a regular basis. When was the last time you could say you really dug how the double bass and bassoon reminded you of a stern buffalo who was trying to impart ancient wisdom that shouldn’t be ignored?

Lullabies & Nightmares is a 15-song soundtrack to the script in your brain. Some tunes  are filled with suspense and tension, conveying treachery and darkness; other are upbeat, playful and heartening. Different songs bring forth unique and distinct characters and situations, some are pragmatic and logical, others are insistent, haughty and inquisitive, while a couple of pieces have sections that are tenderly romantic and convey loving sweetness. One of the tracks, which imparted a sense of sneaking along in the dark, brought to mind the book “Where the Wild Things Are.” It’s cerebral entertainment.

The Downtown Suite, as noted on the album sleeve, is “a set of double reed duets inspired by the ever-changing landscape of downtown Tucson,” while Cooper Must Die is a “dense, claustrophobic story for string trio and narrator.”

For the upcoming CD release, “Lullabies and Nightmares will be performed nearly in its entirety,” said Black, “and excerpts from Downtown Suite and Cooper Must Die will be performed as well.

“I’m delighted to say that Gabriel Sullivan (who recorded the albums) will be available that night to perform the narration from Cooper Must Die. This is wonderful news, as he’s awesome, and I can’t play the bass and talk at the same time. Sing, yes, but talk, no. I certainly can’t mutter.”

The CD release is Friday, Sept. 8 at 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole Ave. The $10 concert features the original recording ensembles with members of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the Grammy Award-winning True Concord Voices and Orchestra. The musicians are: Mindi Acosta, flute; Cassandra Bendickson, bassoon; Chris Black, double bass; Samantha Bounkeua, violin; Jessica Campbell, bassoon and contrabassoon; Cat Cantrell, oboe and English horn; Anne Gratz, cello; Daniel Hursey, bassoon.

Learn more about all of this at ChrisBlackMusic.com.

Q&A with Chris Black

What drew you to chamber music as a creative outlet? What keeps you interested?

Chris Black Photo by Shelly Black

Chris Black
Photo by Shelly Black

Chamber music, as distinct from playing in bands, appeals to me because of the variety of acoustic sounds, from strings to brass to reeds and double reeds, right down to the monstrous contrabassoon. There’s a lot you can do with this that you can’t find in your guitar/bass/drums power trio, no matter how many effects pedals you pile up. Another thing is the incredible skill and musicianship of classical musicians, who can take a piece of music and bring a deep, living performance out of it, often at first sight. They display strengths in areas you don’t find in the non-classical world, just as non-classical performers have strengths in areas that are practically unknown on the other side of the fence. I love to find the places where these strengths overlap, or where they may thrive out of context. This classical/non-classical situation could actually be the subject of a long article in itself, and an interesting one, and one I don’t think I’ve seen in print before. I could go on and on. It’s just a lot of fun.

When did you compose the songs on these albums? How long was the process from writing to recording to the CD release?

These songs have been composed here and there over the last five years. At some point I realized I had accumulated a nice collection of music, and that I had better get it all into the studio before it is lost. The actual sessions in the studio totaled only about ten hours, which is really unbelievably fast for the amount of music involved. These performers are incredibly talented.

I noticed the nightmares are longer than the lullabies.

Yes, that’s true. Nightmares are more my strong suite, historically. The three lullabies surprised most people who know me when I wrote them. They were unaware that I could write pretty music! Also, there is a certain amount of improvisation in the nightmares, which opens up the form a bit. Most of the lullabies and nightmares began their lives as solo bass pieces, which I expanded for the ensemble at hand.

I like how the songs have different stories and vibes. It runs from film noir and suspense to romantic and horror. Are these genres you enjoy in film?

This probably comes from reading more than film, but I do love noir in all its media. I’m on a Raymond Chandler binge right now, for example, and not for the first time. One of my first chamber pieces was a suite of music inspired by characters in James Ellroy novels. In general, and I’m not sure why, I have always written music that seems to set some sort of scene, and those scenes have most often been darker, dirtier, and maybe a little bent.

Cooper Must Die has this Kafka, David Lynch vibe. What inspired that piece?

As grim as it seems, this piece was a straightforward effort to portray what it felt like to be me. I wanted to write a soundtrack for my inner life, and I wanted others to be able to hear it and understand. I think I succeeded. It was a bad breakup that lingered for a long time. I’m happy to say that I’m better, and my inner life is much, much brighter these days. Cooper’s okay. Everyone’s okay.

What inspired these songs? 

Bassoon Trios

The first three musicians who joined us after the first ChamberLab concert were all bassoonists, and a friend of mine suggested that bassoon trios would be very popular, so I wrote them, and they were!

Lullabies & Nightmares

My wife and I were listening to the radio, and they just played a lullaby by maybe Brahms or someone, and I said, “No one writes lullabies anymore, ” and my wife said, “You should!” So I did, and I added the nightmares because that’s how I roll.

Back to Bed and You Are Alone

These are both pieces from an in-progress Choose-You-Own-Adventure suite called Everything Happens for a Reason, where the listener makes decisions that lead to the next song. We had a dwtntrial run of it a few years back, which you can see here.

Downtown Suite

This was a piece commissioned by the Kontra-Cor Duo in 2012. It’s a set of scenes from Tucson’s downtown, along Congress St. between Wig-O-Rama and the Hotel Congress, from sunrise to sunset. The real-life inspiration for the music is given in each title. The online album cover is a photo I took of the curb outside the Red Room/Grill after the fire.

Trio

This is my favorite thing I’ve ever written.

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