ENJOYED A LATE AFTERNOON performance by the Modernistics at the Fire House arts center in Newburyport, Mass. I went with Rosemary and a neighbor couple, Carol and Bob, from the high hill here in Amesbury. The quintet played tunes from the American Songbook, leaning toward early to mid-20th c. numbers including some swing and bebop as well as Ray Charles's "Georgia on My Mind" and mid-century pop tunes by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters.
The Modernistics
It was a music-museum experience for about 100 "seniors" in a 190-seat theater. Ken Burns would have appreciated the live history tour by the artists who matched the age of the audience, all highly skilled players (double bass, flute, two acoustic guitars with alternating ukulele, harmonica, stand-up bongos, and assorted percussion). The two front persons, a married couple named Powers, also tap-danced on a third of the numbers, with Mrs Powers and Mr Powers singing solo or together—it was like a cabaret show. One impression I had was that the music was just so musical and not assaultive at all in loudness or lyrics. They whipped up the energy on the swing pieces. Something pure about it. Also something lost and found about it.
When we got home, I put on The Killers Live at Royal Albert Hall followed by The Very Best of the Rolling Stones, 1964-1971. Just sayin’.
—February 15, 2020