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Life & Times Transcript
12/23/05 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- We’re taking our cameras outside the studio and onto the KCET Plaza here in Hollywood for some sounds of the holiday season. [Musical Performance] Val Zavala>> Local performers and classic songs you’re sure to remember. It’s all part of our get-in-the-mood musical special next on tonight’s Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible by the following foundations: the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. This Life and Times program is brought to you by the California Endowment, the state's largest health foundation supporting organizations that directly improve the health and well-being of California's diverse communities. The California Endowment, a partner for healthier communities. Val Zavala>> Good evening and happy holidays. I’m Val Zavala. Tonight a musical look at how Southern California is getting into the holiday spirit. The people you’re about to meet are more than just great local performers. They’ve all got some interesting stories to tell, like the Mariachi group that needed a place to perform, so they bought a Mexican restaurant. Here to bring us the music and the stories is our friend, Kitty Felde, from KPCC Public Radio. Kitty is outside on the KCET Plaza with two talented young ladies from USC. Kitty Felde>> Hello, I'm Kitty Felde and I am joined by a pair of wonderful musicians, Jennifer Olson, our flutist, and Megan Sesma, our harpist. They are both pursuing advanced music degrees at USC's Thornton School. They have a lot of professional experience already. They have played with everybody from Quincy Jones to Diana Krall to John Williams, and now they are playing for us. To get us sort of in the mood, they're going to play something a little old, a very traditional English song, "Green Sleeves". Megan and Jennifer, are you ready? Here we go. [Musical Performance] Kitty Felde>> Oh, how pretty that is. You guys make me so jealous. I have no musical talent whatsoever. But now, Megan, you sort of were drafted recently, I understand, by our armed forces? Megan Sesma>> Yes, I recently won a position with the United States Coast Guard Band. Kitty Felde>> Does that mean you also have to go out there and rescue sailors and things? (laughter) Megan Sesma>> (Laughter) not quite. Kitty Felde>> Just the idea of you out there with the Coast Guard is just sort of a wonderful thought. Now the two of you met at the Mancini Institute and, Jennifer, explain what that is exactly. Jennifer Olson>> Well, the Mancini Institute is an orchestra put together for musicians to explore all the different varieties of music that there are in today's society. So they do jazz, movie scores, classical musical, and put it all together in one big month-long session. Kitty Felde>> What did you like the best? Jennifer Olson>> The people. The people are great. All the people you met, the faculty and the students, just collaborating together to make music. Kitty Felde>> And you two decided to make a little music together. As a matter of fact, the next song you're going to play, the one that is officially called "The Christmas Song", but the one we always call "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire". This is one that you guys actually did the arrangement for, Megan? Megan Sesma>> Yes, we worked on it together. Kitty Felde>> You know, it's not a song you usually hear with a flute and the harp. Megan Sesma>> No, it usually is not. It's a compilation of jazz and classical together. Kitty Felde>> Well, let's hear it. This is "The Christmas Song". Jennifer Olson and Megan Sesma. [Musical Performance] Kitty Felde>> Oh, my goodness. Now I know it's cold out here, but it was the music that was making jack frost nip at my nose. Beautiful arrangement. Congratulations. Again, Jennifer Olson and Megan Sesma, thank you both so much. We can all think of a hundred and one different ways to say Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you both and Merry Christmas to you too. Val Zavala>> Many of our next performers aren’t even old enough to drive, but they’re old pros at the music business and they’ve even won a part in a movie. They’re the Orange High School Chamber Singers, a select group chosen from the school’s larger concert choir. Once again, here’s Kitty Felde. Kitty Felde>> Hi, I’m Kitty Felde. If you look around and you’re getting, you know, sort of flashbacks, you too were a survivor of either a church choir or a high school choir, but wait until you hear this. This is a wonderful group of singers. It’s the Orange High School Chamber Singers and they have sung in Canterbury Cathedral and in Notre Dame. But you might know them best as the group that got beat by Whoopi Goldberg’s singers in “Sister Act 2”. Michael Short is the musical director and they’re going to start us off with “Carol of the Bells”. All right, take it away, Michael, and ladies and gentlemen. [Musical Performance] Kitty Felde>> Michael Short, of course, is the musical director. Well, tell me about the Whoopi Goldberg connection, how this happened and how you had to lose every single take in that movie. Michael Short>> Well, William Hall from Chapman College was put in charge of putting together a choir and his group was half of the choir and my group was the other half. So we got a call one summer day that said come on down and bring your best singers and that’s what we did. [Film Clip] Kitty Felde>> Why don’t you maybe send us out with one more song? Michael Short>> Okay. How about “Jingle Bells”? Kitty Felde>> All right. The wonderful Orange High School Chamber Singers, Michael Short conducting. Thank you very much, have a wonderful sing. [Musical Performance] Val Zavala>> Here in Southern California, many traditional holiday celebrations often have a Latin flavor and that’s exactly what we get from a Mariachi group from El Monte. They started out in the music business and now Kitty says they’ve wound up with a Mexican restaurant. Kitty Felde>> Hello, I'm Kitty Felde. Southern California has been blessed with a wonderful Mariachi group, Mariachi sol de Mexico. It was formed by Jose Hernandez in 1981 and the group has played everywhere from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to Santiago, Chile to the Academy Awards, and also Cielito Lindo, the "Little Restaurant" in south El Monte. They are here to add a little holiday cheer and they're going to play for us "Avalito de Navidad". Jose, take it away. [Musical Performance] Kitty Felde>> That's wonderful. Thank you. Jose Hernandez>> Thank you. Kitty Felde>> Quickly, Jose, tell me. Which came first, the Mariachi group or the restaurant? Jose Hernandez>> Well, first the Mariachi group. I formed them in 1981 and it was a just a studio Mariachi group. We were just doing recordings for a lot of singers that would come to record here in Los Angeles. Kitty Felde>> I always wonder, you know, you played the Greek and other big venues like that. Now is it a little different playing in Cielito Lindo? Jose Hernandez>> Actually, we love the Cielito Lindo because our friends, you know, they've been supporting us for over sixteen years there now and just to be able to be so close to them and to be able to get them to feel the music and the lyrics that we're singing about the traditional Mexican songs, it's a great feeling. Kitty Felde>> Just imagine, for the people listening as well. Now when you have a Mariachi group, you have to have a certain kind of grouping of instruments. You have to have your violins, you've got to have your trumpets. Be lovely to have a harp like that. Not everybody does. Then a whole collection of very interesting guitars. So tell me about the Guitarron and the other companion guitars. Jose Hernandez>> Well, the Guitarron and the Vihuela are the only two hundred percent Mexican instruments that the Mariachi ensemble does have. First is the Guitarron which is a six-string bass guitar and it's played in octaves. Actually, it's the body of the whole Mariachi sound, that bass sound. Then we have the Vihuela which is a five-string rhythm guitar. It sounds a little higher. The tuning is a little higher than the guitar. The Vihuela also has a very cutting edge type of sound. Kitty Felde>> Well, we'll see if we can hear that this time around. And we're going to add another element here. We're going to introduce a little dancing coming up and bring on Folklorico de las Americas. Jose Hernandez>> Yes, the Folklorico de las Americas, a group of dancers that travel with us around the United States, and we feel very honored to have them as part of our show. Kitty Felde>> Well, we feel very honored as well. What are you guys going to be playing together? Jose Hernandez>> Well, we're going to be playing together “El Son de la Negra”, which is, I think, the most traditional Mexican Mariachi song there is. Kitty Felde>> From Jalisco. Jose Hernandez>> From the state of Jalisco. Kitty Felde>> All right. Well, let's get a little Jalisco movement going on. Folklorico de las Americas and Mariachi sol de Mexico. Take it away, guys. [Musical/Dancing performance] Kitty Felde>> Oh, wonderful! Folklorico de las Americas and Mariachi sol de Mexico. Thank you so much, Jose. Jose Hernandez>> Thank you so much and have a merry, merry Christmas. Kitty Felde>> Feliz Navidad. Jose Hernandez>> Feliz Navidad. Kitty Felde>> All right, and if that doesn't get you in the mood for Feliz Navidad, nothing will. Val Zavala>> Our thanks again to Kitty Felde, host of “Talk of the City” on KPCC Public Radio. We hope you’ll join us over the coming days for a series of specials featuring some of our best stories and documentaries. And as we leave you, please take a look at some of the folks who work hard all year long to make this show possible. I’m Val Zavala. Happy holidays from all of us here at Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible by the following foundations: the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. This Life and Times program was brought to you by the California Endowment, the state's largest health foundation supporting organizations that directly improve the health and well-being of California's diverse communities. The California Endowment, a partner for healthier communities. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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