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by Elizabeth Kaldeck Smith

The desire for musicians to make music and for audiences to hear it has only intensified in spite of all the pandemic –related problems. This has led to the creative solutions musical groups have taken to keep practicing and performing. Singers as well as brass and woodwind players can spread the virus more easily than other musicians. So, to reduce the spread of Covid 19, brass and woodwind players have special masks with an opening for their mouths so they can play their instruments. There are cotton coverings for the bell of their instruments to capture droplets. Amazon and the Broadway Relief Project carry larger masks specially made for singers.

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Image from YouTube, Driveway Choir#3

Bryce and Kathryn Denney with Mixing Board for Their Driveway Choir

The desire for musicians to make music and for audiences to hear it has only intensified in spite of all the pandemic -related problems. This has led to the creative solutions musical groups have taken to keep practicing and performing. Singers as well as brass and woodwind players can spread the virus more easily than other musicians. So, to reduce the spread of Covid 19, brass and woodwind players have special masks with an opening for their mouths so they can play their instruments. There are cotton coverings for the bell of their instruments to capture droplets. Amazon and the Broadway Relief Project carry larger masks specially made for singers.

Kari Paul, technology writer for The Guardian, writes about the challenges choirs face while using Zoom. In her article, "Please don't stop the music: how choirs are singing through the pandemic", she reports that because of the 300-millisecond lag between computers as information is sent over the internet, directing and singing simultaneously are nearly impossible. Through the use of a technology called Jack Trip, a project out of Stanford, the delay can be eliminated.

Choirs at Northteastern University performed throughout the year with the use of singer's masks, social distancing, and airing out the practice room. Groups were limited to 25 people per practice session. Choirs with more than 23 members were recorded separately and mixed electronically for a YouTube performance at the end of the year, writes Claire Wolters, in "How School Choirs Are Practicing In-person With Creative Safety Measures". Northeastern has reinstated a mask requirement for vaccinated and unvaccinated people for this fall.
The Driveway Choir
With the clever and skillful use of technology, the "driveway choir" idea became a reality. Wireless microphones are attached to a sound mixer so that the singers can hear each other through an FM transmitter while singing in their cars. Being able to hear each other in real time in this way is critical to the creation of a good performance as well as for the enjoyed experience of the choir. The director stands outside with the cars arranged in semi-circle. I first heard about this when Harry Smith reported for the Today Show on the Chorus Pro Musica in Newton, MA performing in a parking lot in October 2020. The audience members also sat in their cars and honked their horns instead of clapping. The idea for the driveway choir originated with from David Newman, baritone, from James Madison University in Virginia. He advised Bryce and Kathryn Denney on how to broadcast over FM.

Chorus Pro Musica director, Jamie Kirsch, teamed up with the Denneys of the Driveway Choir Project to make this happen. Bryce, a musician and electrical engineer, and Kathryn, a musical theater director, put the specific directions and technical requirements on YouTube so that other choirs could also perform this way. Last year, there were driveway choirs in other states such as Oregon, Maryland, and Alaska as well as in Alberta, Canada. Their website, Driveway Choir, provides how-to information to help choirs get started. They also have a Facebook page, "Making Music Together During Covid 19."

In spite of the cold winter weather, there were Driveway Choir performances throughout the winter. Yes, the cold winter weather could not stop these determined, wonderful, musicians! On December 19, 2020. wearing parkas and warm hats, the combined choruses of Opera on Tap Boston, the Cantata Singers, the Harvard Radcliffe Chorus and the Chorus Pro Musica sang the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah" from their cars in a parking lot. It was glorious! I cried tears of joy when I first heard it. Bryce Denney used thirty-two mikes to record, Charles Comeau filmed the group , and he and the Denneys produced the YouTube video, "Hallelujah Chorus by Opera On Tap Boston and Driveway Choir".
https://youtu.be/N3fG_XLEf48 My YouTube Musical Finds
I am thrilled that live concerts are back and I look forward to attending. When this was not a possibility, listening to CDs, and watching YouTube performances became essential activities for my well-being. I decided to make a list of some of the performances I find up uplifting, inspiring, soothing and more. Some of the names will be very familiar such as Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston, while others may not be. There are too many wonderful performances to list, so I chose a few of my old favorites and then focused on performers I recently discovered.

With my YouTube searching I found dozens of recordings of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band out of Barcelona, Spain. This is an incredibly talented group of kids ages 6-21 under the direction of Joan Chamorro. The group was formed in 2006 and released their first CD/DVD in 2009 featuring the kids playing alongside established jazz musicians. There are now many recordings available featuring the band and individual members in the "Joan Chamorro Presenta" series of CDs.

These kids play multiple instruments and are thoroughly imbued with the jazz of the 20's, 30's and 40's. This is due to the expert teaching of Joan Chamorro. They learn English as a second language in school and sing and play the songs from the Great American Songbook with confidence, skill, and artistry. They also sing in their native Spanish and in Portuguese (for Bossa Nova tunes). Four out of five of the kids I list have graduated from the big band. Andrea Motis is on tour in Europe with her quintet, and Carla Motis, Elia Bastida, and Alba Armengou are in a quartet with Chamorro, called "The New Quartet+ Scott Hamilton"

Another group I discovered searching YouTube is the a cappella group, Accent. They are six men from five different countries who met online. The story is that they admired each other's multi-tracked videos on YouTube and decided to collaborate in 2011. They have five albums and do concerts internationally. Accent also has educational YouTubes called "Vocal Group History and Styles" parts 1 and 2. I found Accent when I was looking for the great a cappella gospel group, Take 6. Accent has done covers of some of their songs. Accent also writes original music.

I don't remember how the traditional New Orleans jazz band Tuba Skinny came up in my searching, but I am awfully glad that they did. This group started as a street band, and although they now have an international following, do concert tours, and they have produced ten CDs, they still play on the street in New Orleans. Tuba Skinny mainly does music of the 1920's and early 1930's along with some of their own original music. They stick with the traditional instrumentation of that period, using a sousaphone or tuba, which were replaced with the double bass in the mid-1920's, as well as the washboard which was replaced by the regular drum set. The sousaphone is in the same family as the tuba. Their singer, Erika Lewis, often sits on a bass drum playing a downbeat while singing. Certainly, this is most unusual! Shaye Cohn, cornet player and multi-instrumentalist (piano, fiddle, accordion, banjo), is the "unofficial" leader of the group. She is an NYU graduate in music and a native of Brookline, MA.
Here is my YouTube list:
1. Dianne Reeves , David Peaston and David Sanborn, " Stormy Monday". This is the most exuberant, playful version of this song I have ever heard. An antidote to the blues. Song written by T-bone Walker. From David Sanborn Show, 1988. YouTube, Aug. 25, 2020. https://youtu.be/g5S-J7ol0gU

2. Esperanza Spalding, "On the Sunny Side of the Street". Jan. 10, 2016 at the White House. Song by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. Esperanza sings and accompanies herself on bass. https://youtu.be/TQtXo4tiZxs?t=5

3. Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross. "That's What Friends Are For". Soul Train Awards, 1987. Song by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. March 25, 2013 https://youtu.be/xdY33dYWND0

4. Take 6, "There is a Quiet Place" Aug. 8, 2020. https://youtu.be/Iw64vKVx5D4 Their original version of this song was done in 1986. They've added some new harmony.

5. Elsa Armengou, trumpet soloist, age 7, (also sings) from the Sant Andreu Jazz Band Baracelona, Spain "Mood Indigo".2012. Band Director, Joan Chamorro. Composer, Duke Ellington Nov. 8, 2014 https://youtu.be/c_pAjZK-vo8. Very mature, lovely performance

Elsa Armengou, from YouTube, "Mood Indigo", Sant Andreu Jazz Band, 2012

6. Alba Armengou, trumpet and voice, Sant Andreu Jazz Band, Barcelona, Spain." It Don't Mean A Thing if It Ain't Got that Swing" with Pericho Sambeat, alto sax, and Josep Maria Farras, trumpet. Band Director, Joan Chamorro. Composer, Duke Ellington. Wonderful trumpet and vocal solo by Alba. Sept. 21 2015 https://youtu.be/FFtoZX7k2Ko

7. Andrea Motis, alto sax (also plays trumpet, her main instrument, soprano sax, sings and writes music) "All Too Soon" by Duke Ellington with Jesse Davis, alto sax, and Sant Andreu Jazz Band, Director, Joan Chamorro, 2011. https://youtu.be/2LYINPAqZn0. Andrea excels at all the instruments she plays. She has a rich sound on the alto sax and plays with superb phrasing and musicality.

8. Andrea Motis Quintet, trumpet. Swing Tribute,"Up a Lazy River". Hoagy Carmichael/Sidney Arodin, April 16 2020. https://youtu.be/xIDjs7ADjro. with Chamorro, Josep Traver, Ignasi Terraza, Esteve Pi plus Allan Vache clarinet and trombone player whose name was not listed.

9. Elia Bastida, violin, (also plays tenor sax and sings), Carla Motis, guitar( also plays banjo and sings), Joseph Traver, guitar, Joan Chamorro, bass, 2018. "It Had to Be You", song by Ishham Jones. April 4, 2019 https://youtu.be/p-GPIdZgiaU A Gorgeous, lyrical, rhythmic performance with several tempo changes

10. Accent, a capella group, "All at Once". Whitney Houston cover, YouTube, Nov. 16, 2014 Jean-Baptiste Craipeau, from France, Simon Akesson, Sweden, Danny Fong and Adrew Kesler both from Canada, all tenors; James Rose, baritone from England, Evan Sanders, bass from the USA.
https://youtu.be/2FurE0VK7_k
11. Tuba Skinny. 1920's to early 1930's traditional jazz. "Won't You Be Kind To Me" Memphis Jug Band/Hattie Hart song, YouTube, June 22, 2019. https://youtu.be/XWPyUmm0bCA . Shaye Cohn, cornet and leader, Erika Lewis, voice and bass drum, Craig Flory, clarinet, Barnabus Jones, tombone, Todd burdick, sousaphone, Robin Rapuzzi, washboard, Jason Lawrence, banjo.

12. Harrison Sheckler, "You'll Never Walk Alone", virtual choir with orchestra. 15 countries, 300 people. Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music online collaboration. music by Rogers and Hammerstein. May 16, 2020 https://youtu.be/6gpoJNv5dlQ

copyright 2021, Elizabeth Kaldeck Smith

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Bryce and Kathryn Denney with Mixing Board for Their Driveway Choir The desire for musicians to make music and for audiences to hear it has only intensified in spite of all the pandemic -related problems. This has led to the creative solutions musical groups have taken to keep practicing and performing.

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by Elizabeth Kaldeck Smith

Shayla to the Rescue

Shayla (Standard Poodle Extraordinaire), who I introduced to Medium readers back in July, wasn’t socialized with other dogs while growing up. She was always the only dog in the house. The times she encountered other dogs were at the groomer or when our next door neighbor’s dog wandered into our yard and pooped in our garage or went into her yard. This dog, a tiny Pomeranian named Rusty, was unleashed in a town which requires leashes for dogs.

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By Elizabeth Kaldeck Smith

Photo by Matt Nelson on Unsplash
Shayla to the Rescue
Shayla (Standard Poodle Extraordinaire), who I introduced to Medium readers back in July, wasn't socialized with other dogs while growing up. She was always the only dog in the house. The times she encountered other dogs were at the groomer or when our next door neighbor's dog wandered into our yard and pooped in our garage or went into her yard. This dog, a tiny Pomeranian named Rusty, was unleashed in a town which requires leashes for dogs.

Rusty was delusional. He thought that we were trespassing on "his" property and would chase us while nipping at our feet when we were entering the house, car, or garage. My husband and I shouted at him to frighten him away, and we spoke to the owner who assured us he would leash Rusty. He never did. The only thing that worked was our normally lovely dog growling, sounding ferocious, and showing her big teeth, scaring the living daylights out of Rusty. She did this several times. The "almost bitten" incidents stopped, thanks to Shayla. Rusty just continued his normal car chasing and visiting everyone's lawn in the neighborhood, leaving his golden signature and other evidence of his presence.
At the Unitarian Universalist Church
When our daughter suggested I take Shayla to the blessing of the animals ceremony at the local Unitarian church, I was hesitant at first. I had never attended such an event and wasn't sure how Shayla would react. My daughter, a high school senior, had friends in the church and volunteered for some committees. She also volunteered her parents to participate with her in a jazz service during the summer while the minister was on vacation. It was a surprising invitation, and we were happy to participate. At the service, she did a reading, and I sang "Come Sunday" by Duke Ellington, accompanied by my husband on the keyboard. It was at the reception after this service that we met the owners of another standard poodle, Zephyr.
Blessing of the Animals Ceremony
The yearly ceremony around October 4 honors St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the animals and ecology. It was held in the side chapel and it was packed: lots of dogs, cats, caged rabbits, gerbils, but nothing a little unusual like a pig, a goat, or an emu. I brought Shayla in and we sat four rows in from the door on the "dog" side. There was lots of activity going underneath the pews with some barking, whining and the expected butt sniffing. The ceremony started to seem long, with each group being called up to the front of the chapel for the minister's blessing. Shayla was quite restless and began pulling on the leash in the direction of the door. When the minister spent what seemed like an inordinately long time blessing her own cat, I started to lose patience. I remember thinking that she could do that at home. I couldn't hear a word she was saying anyway because of the ruckus.

I had to ask myself why we were there and if this was for Shayla's benefit. While I was having this conversation with myself, and feeling guilty about it, the dogs were finally called up to be blessed. What a relief! There must have been at least twenty-five dogs, all lined up. At the end of the row, was a gorgeous black poodle. Shayla surveyed the group and immediately sat next to the poodle, who we later found out was named Zephyr. The blessing for all the assembled dogs was thankfully short, but Shayla was now all in. She knew she belonged next to Zephyr and sat there looking content. Her body language was saying, "I'm with this guy".
Shayla and Zephyr, a May-September Romance?
Shayla. photo by author; Zephyr, photo by D. C.

Afterwards, I spoke with Zephyr's owners. Remarking on how Zephyr was the only dog Shayla seemed to notice, they invited us to their house so our poodles could get together for a play date. I had play dates for my daughter but not for Shayla. This would be a first. Shayla was nine at the time, and Zephyr was two and had boundless energy. He already had lots of experience playing with other dogs but she had none. What could go wrong? Zephyr had a completely fenced in yard in the shape of a square, a perfect place for the dogs to run freely.
The Play date
When we arrived at Zephyr's house, we went straight to the backyard. The two dogs stood in front of each other, briefly acknowledged each other and then Zephyr took off like a rocket. He ran precisely along the perimeter of the yard, from corner to corner. Shayla observed Zephyr racing for a few minutes then followed suit, but not running the square. She had a more efficient strategy. Instead of tracing the square, she used a diamond shape, cutting off all the corners. That way, she was able to finish at the same time as Zephyr. When she stopped, he stopped.

When back in the house, Shayla trotted down the hall where she found Zephyr's crate, came right back, then laid down. Zephyr was looking for more activity, pacing back and forth next to Shayla who just needed her rest. He came over to me, pointed his nose at Shayla, then to me, as if to say, "do something about her. I want her to play." He seemed frustrated, but I couldn't help him. I couldn't say to him, "look Zephyr, you're a young dude, and Shayla's an old lady. Let her recover from the race." She was just at a very different phase of her life, as a nine year old female dog, a senior in dog years.

When Shayla got up from her nap, she took one of Zephyr's toys and needed strong encouragement to let it go. This happened when we were getting ready to go home and I shouldn't have been surprised. We had never taught her the "drop It" command. No more play dates with agreeable Zephyr. They were such a mismatch. But my husband and I did enjoy talking to his owners, and have remained in contact off and on for twenty years.
Shayla, the Later Years
Shayla continued to be a very active, engaged, integral member of our household. Every evening, my husband played the piano after supper and she wanted to be part of the music-making. She did this with her green, knobby squeak toy. One time, she sqeaked it so much no one could hear the piano. She was told to stop, which she did immediately. She just sat next to my husband with her paws on the toy, without making noise. When he was done practicing, so was she. Shayla wasn't interested in using that toy except when the piano was being played. It was her piano.

Shayla readjusted the way she would play some of the games she enjoyed as a younger dog. An example of this is the "fetch" game she played with her favorite toy, a squeak football. When asked, "Where's your toy?"she used to get the ball and bring it back. When this became routine, she changed her response. She just went over to the toy football, squeaked it with her paw and then came back without it. A further variation when asked about the whereabouts of her toy was to just point with her nose in the direction of the ball and then continue whatever she was doing. We took the cue from her and stopped asking her about the location of her ball.

When our daughter went away to college, Shayla always knew when we were on the phone with her. She would put a paw on our feet until she was offered a turn. We'd put the receiver up to her ear so she could hear what was being said, then she'd lick the receiver if she liked what she heard.

Shayla playing her "piano" with my hubby. Photo by author

Shayla ,Zephyr and Di, Zephyr's "parent". Photo by D.C.

I never felt the need to arrange more play dates for Shayla. If she had been several years younger, maybe. I think she saw herself as a dog version of an adult human. Her life was already full and wonderful.

Elizabeth Kaldeck Smith, 2021, All Rights Reserved

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By Elizabeth Kaldeck Smith Shayla to the Rescue Shayla (Standard Poodle Extraordinaire), who I introduced to Medium readers back in July, wasn't socialized with other dogs while growing up. She was always the only dog in the house.