Diverse. Eclectic. Artsy. Green. Activist. Locally-owned businesses. Food. Music venues. Farmers Market. Organic. Fun. Community.

All good words to describe Northside. The Cincinnati neighborhood’s undergone several near-renaissances over the years, but one eyesore remained, the American Can Factory, right in the center of the business district and across the street from Hoffner Park, Northside’s town square. The building is a hulk of an industrial space, built in 1920, empty since 1973, and, as the tallest building in the neighborhood, it’s visible from many angles throughout the area.

The old Can Factory needed someone to show it some love. It took several years, but Bloomfield/Schon + Partners have managed to create an outstanding example of good design using sustainable building practices and community engagement. These are all things we like in Northside. The American Can Lofts‘ 110 apartments range in size from a studio to a big 3BR, beautifully finished. Tenants have been moving in since September, with more moving in each month. The building is about 80% leased. There’s life where there was no life before.

Life needs art. That’s where ParProjects comes in. The American Can Factory sits on several acres in Northside, and the parcel in front on the Hamilton Avenue side of it is owned by the city. So ParProjects proposed an art center for that front parcel. An art center made from shipping containers. Again, the words “good design using sustainable building practices and community engagement” immediately spring to mind. ParProjects’ immediate goal is to build a community-centered art center, made from shipping containers all stacked and arranged as one. These are good goals in Northside.

Life needs parties. So, this weekend, there’s going to be a party in Northside. The Factory Square Fine Arts Festival happens Saturday, October 22nd from noon until midnight, & Sunday, October 23rd, from noon until 8pm. There will be shipping containers with art installations, and most amazing sculpture garden pieces installed in the lot. There will be art installations inside of the American Can Factory factory bays. There will be a Prairie Gallery installation in the American Can Factory Lofts’ lobby.  There will be music. There will be beer.

And there will be City Flea! The Flea is holding a one-time satellite market at the American Can Lofts in the big high bay, on Saturday, as part of the Factory Square Fine Arts Festival. This is one of the most fun flea markets ever. And did I mention there’s beer?

Would you like to help? Volunteers are truly needed, can you help? As much or as little time you can give is appreciated. Click here to volunteer, or contact the volunteer coordinator Jeni Jenkins at 513-885-0504. Or just show up and you’ll be put you to work. The Festival can use volunteers at any time, but they especially need volunteers for the start up or knockdown periods of the day.

That’s what we do in Northside. 

Of those movies filmed in Cincinnati, Ides of March features the city most prominently. It’s neat how they used the actual names of the locations they shot at. Head First Sports Café, Millenium Hotel, Miami University and Xavier University are just some of the locations shot at and referred to by name. Throughout the film you see all of the local news stations. When you first meet Evan Rachel Wood’s character she is asked “Are you a Bearcat?…a Cincinnati Bearcat?”. There are times you might find yourself distracted taking in the city sights on the big screen. Most of the film takes place in Cincinnati, so I’m not exactly sure how they forgot to include listing Cincinnati in the end credits.

Of course there is more than just our hometown to enjoy, the movie itself is really well done. Ides of March is the fictional story of Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris’ (played by Clooney) bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Even though it’s fictional, at times it feels very real. Across the board the acting is superb which should be of no surprise with this all-star cast. While Clooney got a lot of the attention locally, it is really Ryan Gosling’s (who plays one of Morris’ top aides) movie. He capped off an excellent 2011 with is performance in Ides. The script, score and cinematography are all top-notch as well.

While I don’t think Ides will win multiple Academy Awards like Rain Man and Traffic, it is a really enjoyable movie and should get some Oscar nominations. I’d recommend this film to all movie goers and especially to Cincinnatians.

You would not guess from his small frame that this is one of the living legends of the graphic medium. While his hair has gone almost white, it only takes a moment for you to notice the twinkle in his eye. Best of all he was really engaging and honestly interested in the works of other artists trying to get a start.

It was close to five when I approached his table, and they were obviously packing up to leave. One of the guys with him told me they were done for the day, but another one must have seen my disappointment.

“Hey Jim, do you mind dong one more?” I heard him ask. Mr. Steranko looked over and said okay. Then I stood there for fifteen minutes seeing something wonderful. The man who introduced pop art and op art into comics was talking to a pair of budding artists. Not feigned, obligated and stiff but rather really offering comment on just what he like about each piece. Mentoring.

This is a role model for all creators out there, no matter their medium of choice. An open hand extended to the next generation to give them a hand up on their dreams. I must confess it made my afternoon.

I spent a sizable part of the day connecting with some of the amazing talent that was there from the local area and have an extensive array of profiles and interviews set up for future posts. Additionally I’ll be interviewing Andrew Satterfield and Matt Bredestege, the super heroes behind the Expo once they’ve had a chance to recover.

In the meantime here is a slideshow of pics I shot while I was there. The kid in the Nightcrawler costume is my favorite, what’s yours?

However, the day before the concert, I found out via Facebook that the CSO was issuing student tickets—for $25 each, two per student ID—between 6–8 p.m. the day of the concert.

What?! This could work; I could make this. Yes, I would have to stand outside the box office and wait two to three hours prior to obtain my tickets, but I would do this for Mr. Perlman.

But it turns out I had to wait for an incoming CCM student coming in from Azerbaijan that evening (yes, really), so I went to the Newport on the Levee Live Screening instead.

At first I wasn’t exactly sure where this venue was located: I knew the live simulcast was probably somewhere in the mall area, but I wasn’t sure where exactly it would be. I assumed the opening concert would be screened in one of the AMC theaters, but this wasn’t the case—it was in the main lobby.

Have you ever seen a live simulcast of a concert in the main lobby? I certainly haven’t. I have seen live concerts streamed inside the movie theater (like when I saw the LA Phil perform Tchaikovsky for LA Phil LIVE); this makes sense because you are given a nice, quiet, darkened place to hear the music on Dolby Surround Sound and see the musicians on the big screen.

For this venue, you had a decent-sized screen, a couple of speakers for stereo sound, and cheap plastic chairs available.

I arrived with some friends about ten minutes before the concert, and realized that maybe I should have arrived a little earlier. You will see what I mean when you see my view from the back.

I mean, it’s not terrible, right? This…could work, I suppose. Yet it could have been better—I would get a better view of Itzhak AND I would actually have a program of the concert had I arrived earlier (they ran out). However, this was a free screening.

The concert began a few minutes late, but I was excited to hear it. The problem was, I couldn’t hear the concert very well (again, only two speakers were at the very front of the screen) and the noisy talkative mall ambience did not lower its volume. What was I thinking? Did I really expect movie goers and shoppers to tone down their voices when the music started? Yes, I naively did.

How were people supposed to know that others were listening to a concert (besides seeing the big screen and a whole lot of people congregated around said screen)? They could dim the lights, but would not be ideal. This ample lighting caused the images on screen to not be seen very well, although it gave some people permission to text or read a book during the concert. Hey, if someone was dragged to this free concert screening, I suppose reading and texting are kind of okay, since those activities are quiet compared to the other noise in the building.

At intermission, I walked around for a little bit, only to see my plastic seats sharked by others. Well, considering I had a hard time seeing and hearing the concert, I decided to leave.

Yes, I did not stay for the whole concert.

I know the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra had good intentions: they wanted those who couldn’t attend the the opening concert see and hear it, but the conditions were less than ideal. Maybe next time they can take a clue from LA Phil LIVE or the Met’s Live in HD series and screen it inside a movie theater? I’d pay for that. I’d be more willing to spend money screening this concert in a movie theater since the venue would protect us from background mall noise, dim the lights so we can see the screen better, and provide comfy seats and popcorn.

Northside Tavern might be the best place to listen to classical music. The people there are chill, the ambience is laid back, and the acoustics aren’t that bad, really. You can also go up to the bar and order whatever’s on tap, and you don’t have to dress up to hear chamber music. In fact, you can come and go as you please.

Classical Revolution Cincinnati, our local spinoff of the movement Charith Premawardhana started five years ago, is still going strong two years later. Initially run by Vince Scacchetti, it was run by Kathleen Moniaci, Laura Sabo and Eric Damashek. However, Kathleen and Eric will be leaving town, and the previous Classical Revolution hang on August 14th was Kathleen’s last night.

Because Kathleen was leaving town the next day, the concert was a tribute of sorts to Kathleen—there were many last opportunities for Kathleen to perform her bassoon since she would not be back in Cincinnati for some time. There were bassoon duets (with Kathleen and Lauren Piccirillo, performances from two bassoon quartets, arrangements of baroque dances for bassoon and guitar (played by Kathleen and Alexander Morgan), and a few last bassoon and clarinet duets (with Kathleen and Laura Sabo).

The evening wasn’t completely filled with bassoon music: the Ohio River Brass Quartet made an appearance (minus one person), and a violinist played some solo pieces.

What I like about the come-and-jam-with-us atmosphere is that the selection of music can be quite serious but also whimsical. You can juxtapose baroque Gabrielli trios with tunes by Henry Mancini and The Beatles, and it all works.

Classical Revolutions Cincinnati will be held again the second Sunday of September at Northside Tavern.

So here I was, first-time at the Cincy Blues Fest, on a Friday night. First thing I did was go exploring.

The festival had three stages. The main stage was reserved for National acts, and first-place winners of the 2011 Cincy Blues Challenge. The stage is the main stage at Sawyer Point. It has a nice grass seating area, and I listened to a little Tad Robinson while exploring the venue.

East of the main stage, they set up a stage or local acts. This was a more intimate setting and they had a number of acts performing 1-hour sets.

The stage I was interested in was the Arches stage. This was setup on the West side of the festival under the Purple People Bridge. On Friday it was the Rockabilly stage, and on Saturday it became the Boogie Woogie “Hall of Fame” Stage. The backdrop of the arches was nice, but this was probably the least comfortable stage for attendees. The audience was spread out over concrete, with too few chairs. But, we weren’t there for the amenities, we were there for some Rockabilly.

I got to listen to a little George Bedard, most of the Stardevils set, and then I got to see Crazy Joe. I have long bugged “Hep-Cat” Matt to come play Cincy. After all, what is the inconvenience of an entire band travelling down to Cincinnati compared to my inconvenience in traveling to Dayton or Yellow Springs to see them. Unfortunately it was Just Crazy Joe, and some friends. I also discovered I need to work on my concert photography. Here is Crazy Joe on stage:

The set was great, I highly recommend that you see Crazy Joe if you get the chance. The event was a lot of fun, even if I only attended the one night. Be sure to check out the guest post on Cincy Blues Fest, D.S. Meyers provides some great behind-the-scenes insight from his Saturday trip.

5chw4r7z

According to WCPO and the Enquirer, the Skyline Chili in Oakley is trying to build an expansion onto their existing building. Their plans don’t conform to zoning regulations regarding the square footage of transparency (read: windows) on the front of the building. There are currently two windows on the front of the building, but the regs require a third. The issue is that the only space there is for a third window is currently occupied by a 1940′s mural of the city’s skyline that is very dear to both the owner and customers. This regulation is not a ironclad rule, but any variance from it requires a public hearing with 14 days notice to surrounding property owners.

You’ll notice that the WCPO article/video basically accuse the city of purposefully throwing up roadblocks to the expansion for over two months, and that owner Stan Misleh accuses the department of “impeding him”. Several members of City Council also jumped into the fray, expressing their disgust with the situation in general. Leslie Ghiz went so far as to blame the department in particular.

I was curious about what the planning department itself thought of those accusations. I was able to speak with Charles Graves, who is the Director of the Department of City Planning and Buildings. He told me that the department was working with all possible speed to get the issue resolved, but that they are themselves restricted by the zoning laws and regulations that they oversee. He also made it a point to mention that the regulations in question were approved by Cincinnati City Council when they came into being (make note of that; there’s a quiz at the end of blog). When I asked him if he felt that the Skyline situation was being dealt with at the same speed as other projects, he said that it was actually progressing more quickly than normal for a project with similar issues.

Additionally, Meg Olberding, Assistant to the City Manager, sent me the city administration’s report to city council (which you will find here). According to the City Manager’s office, the original expansion plans were indeed submitted for review on 21 June, roughly two months ago, but the Plans Examiner found that the application was incomplete on 8 July. There doesn’t appear to be any further correspondence from the applicant until 19 July. The department stamps those in on 25 July, and then the required public hearing process begins a few days later. It’s also important to note that, at least according to the City Manager, “these requirements cannot be administratively modified or waived”, so I think there’s some confusion between council and the department on what the request for “emergency status”, as described in the WCPO report, would yield. Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that the report points directly to a reduction in staff, from 7.5 employees to 1.5 employees, as an additional reason for the length of time it took to complete the review.

I think you can draw a few conclusions from all this. Having grown up as a pretty frequent customer of this restaurant, I can tell you for sure that the people that work there place a great deal of pride in that mural; it was displayed in a similar spot inside the old location, and it really is quite striking. I would personally be sorry to see it go. I also think that it would be pretty unfortunate if Mr. Misleh decided to just scrap his expansion plans out of frustration (though I think it’s unlikely that he will; you don’t invest in the planning just to give it up due to a delay). I certainly understand his frustration at those delays, however I think his anger is somewhat misplaced. It seems pretty clear that the delay is at least partially the fault of his architect for submitting plans which were going to require a variance. I don’t deal with architects very often (ok, ever) but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that they should be familiar with the zoning process and thus should have anticipated the delays that the variance would have caused.

This is not to say that I’m a fan of the system as it currently exists. Clearly, something isn’t functioning at full efficiency if this is how the process looks when things, as Mr. Graves asserts, are moving along faster than they normally would. I think that sends a bad message to business owners and investors. It doesn’t matter if it’s because the department isn’t properly staffed (as the city manager has asserted, and the numbers would seem to support it) or because it doesn’t work efficiently (as the City council members are arguing). Shoddy projections of project length by the architect aside, would you be encouraged by this fiasco if you were looking to build or invest in something anywhere inside the city limits (say, for example, along a streetcar route)?  The city already has a somewhat shoddy reputation for this sort of thing among small business owners that I have worked with and for over the years, and I think that reputation could provide a stumbling block to future prosperity in the city if the government doesn’t address it in short order.

So, how should you fix it? Well, whatever the solution is, it seems that it will have to come from City Council. That’s the body that approved the zoning regulations to begin with. Here’s the quiz that I promised you earlier:

The most effective way to correct the problem would be to:

A) Do nothing,

B) Grandstand and rail on television and in the paper about what you would consider failures of the bureaucracy, and to call for the dissolution of the planning department for the offense of operating within the rules and laws that it is required to operate within. (It should be noted here that even if the city’s planning department were dissolved tomorrow, Mr. Misleh’s expansion would still be subject to a public hearing as a matter of law; it would just be that much more difficult to administrate )

C) Begin work immediately on changing the zoning rules and processes to make them more business and investor friendly so that this never happens again and the city has a better chance of attracting future investment.

It seems apparent which two answers most, if not all, members of City Council have chosen, at least in the short term. I wonder if some of them seized an opportunity to rail against what they would portray as the Cincinnati version of “Big Government”. Now, to be fair, Choice C could potentially include reorganizing the department, but I think the evidence is clear that the rules themselves are mostly to blame. Personally, I can’t see the wisdom in further reducing the staff at the department which is responsible for issuing such permits, but I’m not intimately involved in such affairs, either. Perhaps we’ll see them begin work on some kind of revisions down the line, but right now, I think they’ve failed the quiz.

I don’t know why I haven’t checked it out before, but when I did, I was surprised to see an entire box of vintage libretti in the music section.

Who knew they would have something like this?! They had (yes, past tense) a collection that included libretti from The Metropolitan Opera, the Metropolitan Opera House, Chicago Grand Opera, and the Cincinnati Opera. Two days later I returned with my imaginary cash card and purchased most of them. If you’re interested in buying the rest, you should probably do so before I get paid again.

These two libretti are from the Cincinnati Zoo Opera Company, when the opera was at the Zoo Opera Pavilion.

Isn’t this fun? Of course, I’ve never heard of the opera Andrea Chénier, nor have I heard of the composer Umberto Giordano and the librettist Luigi Illica (yes, I should know the latter). The next libretto cover should be a little more familiar.

Nice, huh? Here’s the inside.

And here’s something I discovered with some of these older libretti. They include the melody line from the arias in the back of the libretto.

This is something supertitles can’t give you. It’s too bad these melody lines aren’t printed in current opera programs.

Images by JennJolley from her Flickr Stream

Click To Enlarge

Today’s guest post comes to you from local artist and author D.S. Meyers (Twitter and facebook) . I was in Indianapolis covering GenCon an could not make the Blues Fest and he came to the rescue with this lovely bit of coverage. -Loki

There is something about talking to musicians. They are my cousins. As an artist and a writer, I’ve found that what flows in their veins, flows in mine. So my line of questioning would fall on their talent. As creative people, do they view their music as a craft? Or is it just intuitive? Do they read music and analyze it? Or do they pick up a tune and absorb it?

Full press credentials would allow me into any of any of the back stages. Access to any of the musicians was there. I could take pictures. I had a cart blanche in this adventure. One of the event coordinators is a friend of mine. And he promised to introduce me to the right people.

You have to meet Chuck Brisbin, I was told.

Chuck was working as manager of the Local Stage. It’s not hard to figure out which person he is. His presence dominates the Local Stage area. He is its gravity. Musicians, aficionados and friends are drawn to him like he is the soul center of the solar system. He greets them all with the gusto of someone who is living the moment.

“Bluesfest is the premier place, as far as I’m concerned,” he says when he gets a free moment for an introduction.

Cincy Bluesfest coordinates with the Blues Challenge- a competition held at Germania Park. Tons of acts perform there. Judges rate the musical acts on talent, instrumentation, content, and local originality.

“The top ten get tapped to play on the local stage here this weekend.”

Listening to Chuck, not even the Main Stage is more important.

“This is the premier stage to me. ‘Cause this is the music you can go out on the weekends and hear.”

I look out onto the grass area. The audience is enthralled by the Tempted Souls Band. More people are arriving. I see people unfolding their lawn chairs. Chuck tells me that the lawn area here will be packed by nightfall.

“You see all your friends here. You get to play. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

The camaraderie among blues musicians is of steel cable strength. Chuck stops me before I can follow up.

“Hold on a moment. I gotta’ go play. I’ll be right back.”

The band introduces him. He climbs the stage and brings a new layer to the Tempted Souls. I knew he was the stage manager. But I had no idea that he managed the stage from on stage… with a harmonica in his hands.

When he leaves the stage to thunderous applause, I have the chance to ask him one question:

“Do you view music as something you do by craft? Or would you say you do it by feel?”

“I definitely feel it. It doesn’t get any better… If it ain’t in your heart, it ain’t comin’ out of your throat. You gotta feel it.”

Under the arches is yet another stage, the Boogie Woogie Piano stage. On it, a musician is a frenzy of stride and ragtime. Fingers are deftly pounding back and forth on the keyboard, banging out the boogie sound. She is long auburn hair swaying before blurry fingers. Her bright green eyes peer into the falling dominos of piano keys. Deborrah Wyndham can hold an audience with her playing.

She eventually stepped down from the stage and I was introduced. Towards the back of the arch, she puts her things on a table as she explains her timeless sound. She does stride and ragtime by design. In other words, she has a habit of taking things she likes and putting them into her original arrangements. And example is her mesmerizing rendition of “Tea for Two” from the musical No No Nanette. And her rendition of Dizzy Fingers definitely lived up to the title.

I asked her what she likes about Bluesfest.

“As an artist, you’re solo. Bluesfest is one of the few chances to rub shoulders with other musicians.” She went on to say how interesting it was to get their perspectives. Blues musicians come from all over.

Of the musicians I talk to this evening, I really want to know how they view their music. Among artists, writers and musicians, many view their abilities in one of two ways. Either they view what they do as a craft- carefully putting their creativity into a process. These are often the artists who found their form through education.

Or, they view their talent as more intuitive. They learn things by feeling it. These are the artists who come to their performances through awareness. These are the people who can hear a tune and recreate it.

I asked Deborrah her view on music. She is a classically trained pianist. She’s played over 2,700 performances. She’s played everything from folk, Celtic, pop, alternative, jazz… Music is what she knows.

“Some musicians are trained to read and write music,” she says. “Some just pick up instruments and play.”

So, in Deborrah’s case, is it more craftsmanship than intuition?

“I feel like I’m more of an artist. My music is not written down.” The breeze flows under the arch. Among her items on the table, a small piece of paper begins to flutter. She catches it. It looks like her set list. “I’m a fly by night person. I don’t even have a piano. I have a keyboard so that I can try stuff out. I don’t want to play all the time on a keyboard. It just doesn’t sound the same as a piano.”

She goes on to tell me that classical music has helped her master the piano. And though she’s gotten to a level where she can be intuitive, it’s really a credit to her education.

“I think it helps to learn classical music first. It helps with the transition into other music.”

Behind the main stage, I find Eden Brent having a smoke with some of her bandmates. She has long brown hair and brown eyes that show a hint of mischievousness.

I begin to ask my craft versus intuition question. “So what is it that drives you-”

“Captain Cornbread drives me. Otherwise I’d never have gotten here,” she says with a sultry southern drawl. I meet Captain Cornbread, who’s in Eden’s band.

This is her second year playing up north here at the Cincy Bluesfest. She’s made the trip all the way up from Mississippi again. What is it about Bluesfest?

“It felt good last time I was here. There’s no better compliment than repeat business. I’m darn glad to see you all again… Even more glad you all wanted to see me again.”

She tells me about her roots in Mississippi. Where she’s from, there’s not even 40,000 people. In her county, Washington County, there’s not even 100,000. She talks about growing up on the river. She talks about how her grand dad was named “River Boat Captain of the Century.” I take that all to be part of her southern charm- not really realizing it is an important part of her creativity.

I ask her what she loves about Cincy Bluesfest. “Being here on the river.”

She takes another draw off her cigarette. “I’d always choose a place on the river. Right here, by the river… it just rolls by.” She says dreamily. “Just like blues music. It’s gorgeous to hear. I think blues was inspired by the river.”

But there are other things she loves about being back up here.

“Normally, we don’t hear anybody play but ourselves. But festivals are wonderful opportunities to hear others play. Especially Cincy Bluesfest. It’s almost if you could make your living room this big and you just have friends come over and play.”

By craft or by feel?  “I’d have to say feel. I know great song writers in Memphis. These people who have studied it, perfected it- Tommy Polk, Colin Linden… It’s like building a chain. They do the building.

For Eden Brent, “it’s feeling how to do it much more than by rote. I’m so glad to let music be what it’s suppose to be- from my heart. The blues is so much like crying, you know?”

“When we’re born, we have our voices and our heartbeat. In blues, we have vocals and a drum beat.”