The Oppenheimer Report 2/1/16

Photo by Britta Gerwin

More than once in the past few months, I’ve mentioned our friend James Carroll; he is very ill and in the throes of stage 4 cancer. A week ago last Saturday, there was a fundraising event held at Huntsville’s Algonquin Theatre to defray James’ medical expenses. A group of actors known as The Woodshed Improv Collective performed improvisational skit comedy to a receptive audience of close to 300 people. Although James is one of the founding members of this improvisational group, he sat in the audience for this performance. As a tribute to James, Kathryn Greenwood and Neil Crone, two fellow cast members from the long-running Canadian television series Wind At My Back, along with Carolyn J. Scott joined in the performance. As well, local singer / songwriters Gina Horswood and Dani Strong (Dani Taylor), along with singer Tamica Herod participated as musical guests. It was a fitting tribute, everyone put on a great show, and James was deeply moved.  

The show ended with a video slide presentation comprised of many photos from James’ colorful past. In collaboration with producer Andre Wahl, Gina, and Paul Lagendyk wrote a song entitled The Radio Man, and that song was played during the presentation. Gina asked me to participate in the recording of the song, and buried somewhere deep in the chorus, I can be heard singing a very distant background harmony, along with Dani Strong (Dani Taylor), Tamica Herod, James Jones, Juan Barbosa, Michael Phillips, Pam Millar, Grant Nickalls, Tom Juhas, and Robbie Grunwald who all sang and/or performed on behalf of the many singer/songwriters/musicians/performers in the community who are full of gratitude and love for James Carroll. I’d heard a lot about Andre Wahl, but this was my first meeting with the man. A well-known and successful music producer, Andre has worked with many of the greats in the music industry. In fact, I was a little intimidated to be singing for him, but he was very warm and accommodating. Admittedly my role was minor, but it was a wonderful experience nonetheless. I think the song is strong, and it is now being offered for sale on Bandcamp.com, with all proceeds going to James’ medical fund. Please follow this link: https://muskokamusiciansforjamescarroll.bandcamp.com/releases.
 

While I was in Andre’s studio, along with Gina, and my producer Juan Barbosa, I played a song for them that I had recently written for James Carroll. Over the years, I have written many songs to commemorate friends and family who have passed away, but never before had I written a song about and for someone who is gravely ill. The song is entitled You’re Still Here and I wrote the first draft on Christmas Day. I wanted some feedback before I presented the song to James, because I was nervous that the song might not be well received. Andre was very enthusiastic about the song and everyone agreed that James would approve. The other day, I presented James with the lyrics and a rough demo of the song, and he was in fact very moved by it. As a veteran of musical theatre, James is a good singer, and he asked to be included in the recording of the song. I was honored by that, and hope he will be healthy enough to join me in a proper studio recording.

Final thoughts… Fish is dead! Best known for his depiction of the character Det. Sgt. Phil Fish on the long running television series Barney Miller, actor Abe Vigoda passed on last week at the ripe old age of 95. This was about 35 years after he was mistakenly declared dead by People Magazine. Speaking of actors, just as Black Awareness Month kicks off in the U.S. there is a growing controversy over the fact that none of the nominees in this year’s Oscars are black. Many notable black actors are boycotting the Academy Awards and I’ll be very interested to hear what edgy comedian Chris Rock has to say when he hosts the upcoming ceremonies. Our lilly white stone mason, Mark Huggins, who did all the rock work on our log home, was an extra in Oscar-nominated The Revenant. While Mark appears in the movie only for approximately ten seconds, he did get to hang out with the star, Leo DiCaprio for a while, and has taken to wearing an ascot and sunglasses. Attaboy Mark! I anxiously await the results of the Iowa caucuses to see if my worst nightmare comes true. Who knew Donald Trump had a shot at the Republican nomination?! This tells me how completely fragmented the American voters are. The good news, if there is any, is that this may be a shot across the bow for all those nut ball, ultra-right-wing lunatics who have so completely hijacked what was once a legitimate political party. Nobody said democracy was pretty.

  

-Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2016 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED-