If the current media-hyped wave — the focused nomination of women for political office — is real, it may be a generational as well as a genderal phenomenon. Mackenzie Mertikas, victor in the recent election for Syracuse University Student Association president, maintained on the April 1 cover of The Daily Orange campus newspaper, “SU as a whole lacks female representation and in many areas is controlled by white men.”

Mertikas hopes that her example will be empowering for other women. For the wave to crest, however, role models will need to emerge providing examples beyond the ballot box.

If the wave is real, its current will be guided by a crew of new faces, among them Shadia Tadros, 37, a first-generation Arab-American native of the city’s South Side, whose father worked as a security guard and her grandfather owned a store. Her family emigrated from Jordan looking for a better life.

Tadros’ introduction to electoral politics resulted in a razor-thin 124-vote loss in last year’s Democratic Party primary for City Court judge. “I am not a politician,” she campaigned, “I do not come from money or establishment. I’m a city kid who went to city schools (Danforth, Clary and Corcoran). I know the community. We have to be judged by one of our own, no more insiders, and no more rhetoric.”

Tadros continued her education with a bachelor’s from C.W. Post and a law degree and master’s at Penn State. She has volunteered at the Rescue Mission and the Samaritan Center, and has been awarded the Pro Bono Champion of the Year award by the Onondaga County Volunteer Lawyers Project. She is an attorney for the Tadros Law Office, P.C., 103 E. Water St.

(Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times)

Your campaign flyer said that you’re a city girl. Tell us about this city and what it means to be a girl growing up.

Well, I would say I am a city girl because I was born and raised in the city, and I currently live in the city. I represent city folks, but Syracuse has its own culture and it has its own city landscape and it’s determined by where you grow up, how you grow up, those types of things.

When I say I am a city girl, other city folks understand exactly what that means. It’s just letting people know that I have an appreciation for the city of Syracuse, that I was raised in an urban lifestyle, that I went to city schools, so I was around city folks. I actually think city schools are a microcosm of the city itself, so that makes such a big difference of whether you went to city schools or not because it’s whether or not you were exposed to all of the different city folks.

Is it different for a city boy?

My experience is a little more specific because I am an Arab-American girl, and so that changes the dynamic quite a bit. Being a city girl is one thing and traversing the different avenues of the city as just a city kid vs. then going home to an Arab household where we have our own culture and we have own separate way of doing things — our own language, our own traditions — and navigating that.

So from a certain time period you’re in one world, and then you’re open to another part of the world. But I say I am a city kid because my experience was being from an Arab-American household, but for other folks their household was specific as well. So they grew up in a certain household: maybe one parent, maybe two parents, maybe they themselves are immigrant kids, maybe they had family health issues. There are all types of different issues. And that’s what it is being a city kid: You have your own world and then that Venn diagram opens up a little bit and then you include the Syracuse city part of it.

Your campaign flyer said “I get it.” What did you get? How hard was it? And how did it happen?

Saying “I get it” means I understand exactly where people are coming from, so I understand the struggles and issues that regular people get. Regular city people struggling day to day, working hard to figure out where they fit in, how that translates, that’s what I get. I get that life is hard enough without adding extra obstacles and challenges.

Joe Biden is talking about how “he gets it.” Do you think it’s cultural?

Well, I disagree with Joe Biden a little bit because when I say I get it, I get that people are fed up, that they are over these fake divides, they are over politics, they are over promises. So I get it that not only have things changed but they haven’t changed enough.

What Joe Biden doesn’t get is that things have changed but they have to continue changing and the narrative has to continue changing. It’s not enough now to even say you understand, but if you understand now, you are obliged to carry that mantel forward.

So when I say “I get it,” I am promising to fight for change, I am going to fight for transformation, I am going to fight for everything that needs to be done. It’s not that pandering of “I get it, things have changed, I did wrong 20 years ago” like Joe Biden is saying, “Yeah, now I see. I get it, I understand what you folks are talking about.” Women have to fight their entire lives to not only be equal but to be safe from unwanted touching, unwanted attention, unwanted affection. Not only was he complacent in that, but he was actually the one making people uncomfortable, so I don’t know if he gets that.

Of course, I am weary about forcing new standards on old standards and all of that understanding that things have changed. And that’s the whole thing about moving forward. It’s progress, so the whole progressive movement is progress.

Is it a wave (specifically the female political candidates running for office)?

I think we have to go a little deeper than that because people talk about the old boy’s network and think of old white men. But that’s not necessarily the case; there has been old white women, there has been young black people that are establishment, there has been Arabs that are also the establishment. What we want is urban progressive ideals pushed forward. So if that is carried by a white man, I have no problem with that; if it’s carried by a woman, I have no problem with that.

But I think people have just had enough. I think that women, particularly women of color, have had enough and are deciding to take things into their own hands. I always thought the future is female and the future is minority women.

(Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times)

Your flyer seemed to reflect that you were running for office because of the way people are getting treated in the jails. What brought that on?

I think what excited so many people about my campaign was that it was the first time a judicial candidate or someone within the criminal justice realm was actually talking about issues and actually pushing for change. A lot of judicial candidates hide behind the judicial speech restrictions, but it’s simply not true. So we had our platform approved by judicial ethics before I decided to run. Because if I couldn’t talk about the issues, I wasn’t running.

My campaign was always issue-specific and we talked about Syracuse and the different neighborhoods and the different sections. You have one section of the city that has been affected by the criminal justice system, has been wronged by the criminal justice system, and is continuing to be wronged by the criminal justice system. There are stark statistics of what is going on locally in Syracuse and in local jails. And then you have another section of Syracuse that had no idea what was going on. The beauty of it is that section was outraged about what was going on to other city folks.

People thought that my message would only ring true in certain neighborhoods of certain demographics, and it’s not true. I actually did very well in middle-class households and working-class households, I did very well with non-minorities as well as doing well with minorities and the working class and the folks from where I grew up.

So it’s about bringing the issues forward, it was about educating folks and getting other people to start speaking on these issues. That was a point of the campaign, and I think we did a wonderful job doing it.

One focus of your campaign was that we need to have no more insiders, we need to be judged by one of our own. Can you expand on that?

Just like any institution, the political institution is always a power grab. I have a friend that says Syracuse has had a permanent political class. So there are a whole group of people that have been entitled or think they are entitled to being the governing class of the city.

That’s just the way it is and people allow it. For too long people have allowed it and they bought into this narrative of “Oh, you’re from such and such” or “You know this or you know that.” Local politics is almost like a hazing activity: You have to come in and you have to do what they tell you that you have to do, or not only will they not support you but they will intentionally and purposely obstruct you. And it has nothing to do with issues or values or any of that, it has to do with you are not going to use their power from the structure and we will decide how much power you have.

So it’s a structure I wouldn’t play. There are a whole bunch of new people that just won’t play the game. There is no reason for it.

And it’s not just Irish and Italian, it is a generational thing because there are minorities that are also part of this establishment class that are also doing everything in its power to shut out some of the new folks, too. Let’s be very clear: I don’t want people to think it’s this old white man that’s keeping everyone down. There are minorities locally as well that add to the problem of who gets to do what in the local parties. Power is a hard thing to give up.

It’s just institutional. There are still parts of town that are still Irish, still Italian, a lot of it still has to do with the name or who they appoint to be in what position. They may appoint a minority or they may do whatever, but it’s still the same power structure, it’s still the same political class.

Will you be using this opportunity to announce you are part of the next wave election?

I was already part of the wave. And truthfully, I don’t like the word “wave” because that makes it seem like we’re all working in tandem, and we’re not. What you have is a whole bunch of folks that have individually had enough. But our message resonates with a lot more people than anyone ever thought. I’ve always been a proud progressive candidate; I’ve claimed it since the beginning, I was endorsed by progressive organizations.

A lot of the issues I was bringing up were considered progressive issues, even though we know now that criminal justice reform is happening at different levels. A bunch of the candidates had no idea what was going on. In the beginning, everyone looked at me, mouths open: “What is she saying?” I was actually accosted by a local politician that told me I was making up the statistics to fit my narrative. Not only did I properly educate her, but I used that as a teaching moment to educate everyone else of “we don’t have many numbers, but the numbers we do have are stark,” and it’s very clear what is going on locally.

I think with the progressive movement, a lot of our narrative is positive. Even with the numbers of 64% locally of people being housed in jail are pretrial and have not been convicted yet. I just put up on my Facebook page about the violations of probation for misdemeanor offenses.

Onondaga is the most jailing county for misdemeanor violations; I believe it’s three to five times higher than New York City. A lot of people think Syracuse is this liberal city, when it really isn’t. Some of the town and village judges in Onondaga County are actually more liberal than some of our city court judges, because we have centralized arraignment now; some people have better luck with the village justices than they do with our own city judges.

The progressive movement is all about change is possible, and change is coming, as long as everyone takes part in it. I can tell you right now that a lot of people who worked on my campaign are now themselves running for office and carrying the torch forward.

You know, politics is very clear: Where do we get the vote? Here’s who we focus on, and here is who we ignore; it takes a lot of people for granted. If we are a Democrat in the city, we get the black vote, we don’t even need to work for it, they’ll just come along. So what my campaign did was “I’ll reach out to everyone, I will focus on the people who have been taken for granted, while at the same time bringing in a whole new group of people that have been so turned off by politics.” Maybe they’ve gone through the system, too, and they’re angry at it, and now the only thing they can do is try to vote for change. That’s what the progressive movement is: Bring ALL types of people together.

Will you bring that together in the next election and run for office?

I’m already doing that in this election by supporting other people that are running for office with those same ideals. I ran for office to push an agenda of change and criminal justice reform. So whatever avenue is best to do that, that’s what I’ll do.

The post Q&A: South Side Syracuse attorney wants to be a catalyst for progressive change appeared first on Syracuse New Times.

For 20 years, Mandate of Heaven has been sliding in and out of the local music scene, planting a succession of material that could stand among the musical giants that have influenced bandleader Greg Pier. Now, Mandate is celebrating the release of Least Concern, the band’s latest work since 2012, with a gig at King of Clubs, 406 S. Clinton St., on Saturday, May 18, 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 and available at ticketweb.com.

Pier, the main force behind Mandate, is certainly prolific, having released more than a dozen records. Yet he has suffered from what he calls a “severe writer’s block” for the past 10 years. In that time, he also attended graduate school from 2015 to 2017 to become a physician’s assistant, further slowing the process of this latest album. But the result is a careful and precise work of indie rock that brings to mind bands like Them Crooked Vultures and Guided By Voices.

Pier grew up amid Syracuse’s straightedge hardcore scene in the early 1990s. By age 14 he was experimenting with recording on 4-track tape and in 1995 released his first handmade cassettes under the name Stop Snorting Ritalin. He moved to Chicago at age 18 to intern at Invisible Records and created the first Mandate of Heaven recordings, where he played every instrument.

The name was born of two musical influences. “I was a huge Guided By Voices fan and Mission of Burma,” Pier recalls. “I combined those names, which is kind of problematic. In 2019, people assume we’re a Christian rock band; whereas in 1998, with the scene I was in, no one would have thought that. It’s Chinese and comes from a Confucian sort of philosophy. It deals with organic democracy. It’s the idea that somebody who’s in charge, when they start to screw up — bringing storms, tornadoes — that means they lost the mandate of heaven.”

Mandate of Heaven circa 2003. (Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times)

Pier returned to Syracuse and continued releasing material. He had been playing drums with the local group The Fiascoes, but later switched to guitar in Mandate so they could more easily play material live. Drummer Bob Kane of the Flashing Astonishers also joined, followed later by bassist Chuck Gwynn. Both will perform with Pier at the May 18 show, as well as guitarists Graham Reynolds, Brendan Flynn and John Hanus. Pier also plans to premiere “Double Negative,” a music video of the first track of the record.

Yet Mandate of Heaven has been continuously in and out of dormancy. After their 2006 release Hun in the Sun, Pier relocated to New York City, then returned in 2008 and worked in his own home studio, Neon Witch. In 2013, the group won Best Modern Rock Album at the Syracuse Area Music Awards (Sammys) for Mark Music.

Least Concern is a big moment for fans who have long awaited new music, much of it shaped by Pier’s time working as an ambulance paramedic. “There was a lot of negativity I needed to get out,” he says. “Drug overdoses, homelessness, violence. Those three themes in particular are talked about on this album.”

Pier notes, “A couple summers in a row, synthetic marijuana was getting big. We’d go down to the creek or a dumpster and haul people from there up to the emergency room. Then they’d get out and get more. From the perspective of these people, they were medicating themselves into oblivion. It’s the physical toll of homelessness, to take this drug as an anesthetic.”

“Guitar has always been like a nervous habit for me,” says leader Greg Pier. (Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times)

Songs like “Nummenuff” talk openly about these experiences. “There ain’t no day comin’ that you’re gonna be numb enough,” Pier sings over darkly melodic lines.

“There’s one guy we picked up who had terminal cancer,” he says. “But he was also homeless. He had no access to hospice. His care was synthetic marijuana. He tried to be on that every hour of every day until he died. That kind of steered this thing to a darker, more cynical view.”

Although Pier was driven by these sobering themes and stories, those lyrics did not come to him first. “I’ve never been able to sit down and write lyrics,” he says. “They’d either come to me in dreams or I’d hear a repeated phrase. It used to happen to me a lot more when I was younger. The older I got, I stopped hearing those voices. But these days I’ve come up with a more systematic approached to refine my writings.”

Unlike his struggle with lyrics, Pier says he writes guitar riffs all the time. “Guitar has always been like a nervous habit for me,” he says. “I’m always writing a couple guitar riffs a week. Then I’ll file them away in my riff bucket and then string a bunch of those ideas together. That’s what I’ve been doing since I was 12. I’ve ended relationships because I couldn’t put down the guitar.”

For more information, visit mandateofheaven.bandcamp.com/.

The post Newest CD from Syracuse’s Mandate of Heaven proves darkly complex appeared first on Syracuse New Times.

Joe Bob Briggs, the longtime champion of outlaw cinema, will visit Central New York this weekend as his “How Rednecks Saved Hollywood” tour makes a pit stop at Armory Square’s Museum of Science and Technology (MOST), 500 S. Franklin St. The venue’s Bristol Omnitheater will host Briggs on Saturday, May 11, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20; visit afterdarkpresents.com for information.

For the uninitiated, Briggs is the puckish persona of John Bloom, who invented the cowboy-hatted drive-in movie critic in 1982 for the Dallas Times Herald. Readers immediately embraced the tongue-in-cheek Briggs column, which praised the often sleazy virtues of B-movies that featured high body counts, copious amounts of nakedness and amateurish performances.

But Briggs’ career at the newspaper was derailed when his April 12, 1985, column parodied the “We Are the World” song about world hunger, which included the opening lyrics, “We are the weird/ We are the starving/ We are the scum of the filthy Earth/ So let`s start scarfin.” Briggs’ weekly column, which ran in 57 papers, was canceled by his syndicator, although another distributor quickly snapped up his quirky musings. Meanwhile, Briggs scored long-running TV gigs as the late-night host of demented flicks for The Movie Channel (1986 to 1996) and TNT (1996 to 2000).

Briggs displays an easy-going enthusiasm during his speaking engagements, and he obviously knows — and adores — his subject matter. At the MOST, Briggs will take on the joys of hicksploitation cinema, with emphases on good ole boys, sassy ladies, demolition derbies and all things Burt Reynolds. This is how previous venues have publicized the event:

“Spend a fast-and-furious two hours with America’s drive-in movie critic as he uses over 200 clips and stills to review the history of rednecks in America as told through the classics of both grindhouse and mainstream movies.

“You will learn: The identity of the first redneck in history. The precise date the first redneck arrived in America. The most sacred redneck cinematic moments. How Thunder Road, the Whiskey Rebellion, the tight cutoffs worn by Claudia Jennings in Gator Bait, illegal Coors beer, and the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash combined to inspire the greatest movie in the history of the world. Why the redneck is the scariest monster in all of film history, with visual evidence. The existential difference between Forrest Gump and Sling Blade. The reason God loves rednecks.

“And dozens of other historical facts that you didn’t realize you needed until Joe Bob deposited them in the rear lobe of your brain.”

Before Briggs wings his way to the MOST, he gave the Syracuse New Times some insights about the redneck genre, snacks at the ozoners and one of the most influential directors in drive-in history.

The Black River Drive-In, circa 2012. (Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times)

Your first drive-in movie experience: When, where and what was playing?

I would have been a 4-year-old in the back seat of my parents’ car at the Red Raider Drive-In in Lubbock, Texas. We lived in a little town in the Panhandle called Springlake. Nothing there but an elementary school and a high school where my parents taught the cattle ranch kids who were bused in from all over Lamb County every morning.

On Friday nights they took me to the football games (Go Wolverines!) and on Saturday nights we made the 60-mile drive over farm-to-market roads, ending up at a two-screener that held about a thousand cars. I don’t remember what was playing but, typical of the period, it would have been a cheap western.

The 1970s seemed to be the redneck heyday in cinema. Even glossy, big-budget mainstream movies were not safe: Two successive James Bond adventures, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun, featured character actor Clifton James as Southern-fried Sheriff J.W. Pepper. Was it inevitable that redneck characters would take over Hollywood?

Redneck characters never took over Hollywood. Hollywood is too liberal for that. But since the most avid moviegoers in the country are rednecks — with more movie theaters per capita in the South than any other region —Hollywood always had to deal with it. Movie executives have always been embarrassed by redneck movies, even the ones that make hundreds of millions of dollars, like Disney’s Ernest franchise in the 1990s.

Can you explain the phenomenal successes of Poor White Trash (released as the box-office lemon Bayou in 1957, then recut in 1961 and reissued repeatedly throughout the 1980s) and Thunder Road, two movies that have likely wound through more drive-in projectors than anything else? Even Thunder Road star Robert Mitchum admitted in 1972 that his 1958 movie had never been reissued because it was never out of circulation.

Both movies became popular during the period when a beloved B-movie could sometimes play for decades as a second feature, especially at drive-ins. Thunder Road cashed in on the outlaw reputation of Robert Mitchum and the sad but true story of a moonshiner who crashed his car and died on Kingston Pike in Knoxville after being roadblocked by 200 federal agents. In that part of the country, running whiskey could never be a crime, so it was a powerful folk legend about a whiskey martyr.

Poor White Trash was set in the exotic swamps of southern Louisiana, where oversexed girls grow up fast. So these two movies represent the two major B-movie food groups: sex and violence. Or, for those who are not quite so judgmental, romance and adventure.

Have you ever consumed moonshine?

In a Mason jar, no less.

You had a smallish role in director Martin Scorsese’s Casino (1995). Did you get to discuss Scorsese’s redneck-flavored epic Boxcar Bertha (1972)?

Yes. One of the interesting things about Scorsese is that his crews know him so well that there are long periods where lights and cameras and tracks are being set up and he has nothing to do: He’s the only guy not occupied by the preparations. And he loves to talk.

So, yes, we talked about Boxcar Bertha and what would have been his first movie, The Honeymoon Killers (1970), except that he was fired after one week of shooting. Boxcar Bertha was shot in Arkansas, and Scorsese did extensive storyboards so that whenever the producer showed up (and the producer was Roger Corman), he could prove he knew what he was doing. He was in fear of being fired again since, after The Honeymoon Killers, he didn’t work for three years.

A number of drive-ins nationwide had to close their gates because they lacked the money (roughly $75,000) to convert from 35mm prints to digital projectors. Yet your old newsletter would often declare “Victory Over Communism” as you would celebrate an ozoner that was still in operation. Do you attempt to squeeze in some time to visit local drive-ins whenever you are on speaking tours?

I’ll visit any drive-in any time. I’ve been reading articles about “the death of the drive-in” for 50 years — and it’s still not dead! In fact, there are new ones popping up from time to time, such as the Coyote Drive-In in the river bottoms of Fort Worth, and there are old ones that re-open after being dark for two or three decades.

The biggest threat to a drive-in is land value. If the area around the drive-in starts to be heavily developed, the land becomes too valuable to use as a drive-in and it eventually gets sold off as the site of a new Wal-Mart.

What’s your favorite drive-in concession stand food?

I’m a Dancing Hot Dog fan myself, but there was a drive-in tradition in West Texas I never saw anywhere else: frozen pickle juice. They sold it in little paper cups and you would chew on it like a snow cone.

Movies like the 1974 thriller-drama “‘Gator Bait” ruled redneck cinema.

You hosted a VHS franchise titled “The Sleaziest Movies in the History of the World,” with a sweeping B rating that denoted either breasts, blood or beasts, or combo platters of all three. How much fun did you have curating these lost gems?

I’m actually proud of that series because it was a re-release and rediscovery of all the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis, better known as the Godfather of Gore, who made the classic Blood Feast (1963), and Doris Wishman, the only female exploitation director at that time, who made Bad Girls Go to Hell (1965), Nude on the Moon (1961) and A Night to Dismember (1983). Both filmmakers were living in South Florida when I went searching for them, and both were astonished that anyone would want to watch their old films.

How many cowboy hats do you own?

Four. But I still can’t find one that gives me that perfect Dwight Yoakum crease.

You have stated that the 1979 T’n’A drive-in comedy Gas Pump Girls featured a record number of nekkid Ts. Really? All this and Bowery Boys favorite Huntz Hall, too?

They just don’t make ’em like that anymore, do they?

I’m guessing that director-stuntguy Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit, The Cannonball Run) could be your favorite king of redneck drive-in features. But there are many other drive-in directors who rule the roost. Who are some of your favorites?

I don’t really think anyone compares to Roger Corman: He’s the Orson Welles of the exploitation film. The Fast and the Furious series is based on his original movie from the 1950s. Little Shop of Horrors has been celebrated on stage and screen for almost 60 years. The Edgar Allan Poe movies he made in the early 1960s, most of them starring Vincent Price, are drive-in classics.

He’s directed or produced over 700 films and never lost money on any of them: That’s a man who knows his audience. That’s a man who knows how to keep it redneck.

The post Schlock Therapy: Drive-in movie maven brings redneck cinema tour to Syracuse appeared first on Syracuse New Times.

Millennials. Defined as the generation born between 1981 and 1996, they are often described as lazy, entitled, impatient and lacking loyalty by specialists who simultaneously blame them for a slew of economic issues facing the United States. “Millennials are killing _____” is a funny but tired headline, filled in with everything from divorce to American cheese.

But not all millennials sit around and watch the world burn. Some just want to paint avocados.

Enter Maggie Morse, the 24-year-old artist behind Unremorseful Art, a multifaceted art brand that, like its young owner, is still growing and finding its way. New to the Syracuse art scene, she began her business last fall. With the support of friends, family and even a couple work regulars, she decided to end her 3 ½-year stint as an assistant manager for a Panera Bread shop and try to make it as an artist, a passion she has carried for most of her life.

“There’s something so freeing about art,” she said. “Art is there to put the mind in a different state. Not a lot of people understand that art is everywhere. Everything you see is some form of art. Someone designed it.

Margaret “Maggie” Morse at the Paint Night for Paws event. (Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times)

“My art may be different than the next person’s, but we can both share that passion and love, but still have our own way of doing it and be recognized as individuals.”

The beginning was literally painting avocados. “I’d take pictures of the avocados we would have cut up and paint them at home,” Morse recalled. “For the first two weeks, I really did just stay home and paint avocados.”

Morse soon broadened her horizons. She now runs a budding paint-and-sip style business, with a twist. While most businesses in this boozy industry bring groups to socialize over a glass of wine while following an instructor to recreate an artwork, Morse comes to her clients.

Framed closer to a pop-up, Morse packs up tables, easels, paints, aprons and chairs and meets people where they are: at home, a business, an office. Morse said this approach creates a more comfortable atmosphere for people who may be intimidated by the artistic aspect of the evening, even with some liquid courage in their bellies. Photographer Erin Willey also lends her lens to the program, giving clients the option to have professional photos taken of their moment.

Morse’s most recent event was a Paint Night for Paws fundraiser held May 9 at Quick Moth Studio, inside the Gear Factory on South Geddes Street. Teaming with fellow local artist Jason Vincent and photographers Lucas Adrian and Corina Foster, the event raised money for Cuse Pit Crew. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocates for pit bulls and other misunderstood, and often abused, dog breeds through education, training and services.

Morse upcycles jackets and creates lively, custom works. (Photos by Jessica Montgomery)

If you went to Syracuse Fashion Week, you may also have seen Morse’s art strutting down the runway. Another branch of Unremorseful Art is emerging in the fashion world with hand-painted clothing. Upcycled jackets from various thrift shops get a facelift with colorful, jewel-toned peacocks, subdued landscapes, edgy cow skulls framed in roses and more.

Morse is now selling a selection of those pieces, as well as taking custom work, through her Etsy shop. She also has a line of custom-made, waterproof, Disney-inspired shoes, which kicked off her dip into fashion.

Having grown up in Central New York and graduating from Cicero-North Syracuse High School, Morse said she’s seen a change in how the region approaches the arts — and people of her own age.

“I was going to move to Rochester,” she said. “But I have a lot more appreciation for Syracuse now than I did when I originally wanted to leave because I opened my eyes more to the downtown Syracuse area and what it has to offer. And I’m still finding new things all the time.”

The small-business owner emphasized the importance she puts on supporting those around her, from other local businesses to her fellow artists — especially those that, like herself, are under age 30. For Morse, it’s better to try and reach their dreams together than compete for business, something other downtown business entrepreneurs have echoed.

Morse encourages participants at her latest paint event. (Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times)

“I’m very much of the mindset that everyone is trying to get someplace, and you should always, if you can, help that person,” she said. “There’s no reason to step on people to get higher.

“At one point, these (businesses) were only an idea. But they had support, and funds, and they were able to become something. People love these places, but they don’t think of the nitty-gritty: It all started with one idea.”

That’s why Morse said she’s so thankful to every person who has come to her for artwork or commissions. The fact that someone put their dollars back into the community instead of going to a major chain has immediate, lasting effects, not only on the artist’s life, but the life of the city.

And regarding all the jokes about the “lazy millennial,” Morse is not amused. The generalizations are discouraging, not to mention usually wrong.

“I know a lot of people in my age group who want to do so much, and who have all these dreams, but it’s almost harder because you have so many saying, ‘Well, you have to do this, this and this first,’ or ‘What do you know? You’re only X years old!’”

Morse (center) and several models for her custom fashion work. She debuted the line at Syracuse Fashion Week and now sells a selection online. (Photo by Jessica Montgomery)

Morse said she does miss “those pretty, regular paychecks,” but has never regretted her decision to go into art and follow what she loves, because of how much happier she is. To others thinking of taking a similar leap of faith, her advice is simple and well-known: “Just do it.”

“Branch out. Try new things. Experiment. There’s no harm in trying something new. Just do what makes you happy: Be happy.”

The post Morse Code: Small-business owner Maggie Morse takes different avenues to pursue artistic ambitions appeared first on Syracuse New Times.

At 89, Oren Lyons acknowledges he’s slowing down. A recent back operation “took me off the dance floor and off the lacrosse field,” the Onondaga Nation faithkeeper and internationally renowned advocate for indigenous rights and environmental stewardship said. For decades Lyons has acted as the world’s conscience — or scold, depending on your perspective — advocating an ethic of peace, equality and respect for the world’s resources.

He grew up on the Onondaga Nation, where he, his brothers and friends spent entire days running among the trees. “The whole territory was our playground,” he recalled. “There was a lot of open land. There were big fields of corn and potatoes and beans and squash. Those were fundamental foods.”

Onondaga Creek “was loaded with fish,” he said. “The water was clear. You could see right to the bottom. That same crick, you can’t see 1 inch now. It’s all polluted from the mining in Tully.”

He reminisced about his life in a Syracuse New Times interview Sunday, May 19, in the Presidential Suite at the Syracuse Marriott Downtown before a gala celebrating his life. The crowd of about 400 included members of several Native communities, people from Central New York and visitors from as far away as Sweden. Some guests dressed casually; others wore sequined dresses, tuxes or full Native regalia.

The invitation list included Lyons’ Syracuse University lacrosse teammate Jim Brown, actor Leonardo DiCaprio (Lyons appeared in DiCaprio’s 2007 documentary The 11th Hour) and actor Mark Ruffalo (the three marched together at the 2014 Peoples Climate March in New York City). Those guys didn’t show. Still, the sold-out reception and dinner overflowed with friends, family, colleagues and admirers.

“It’s a pretty diverse group and my father is the glue,” said Rex Lyons, former Nationals player and leader of the band The Fabulous Ripcords.

Lyons cheerfully posed for dozens of photos, including lots of selfies, seemingly speaking with nearly everyone at the event. Lyons greeted former lacrosse team member Roy Simmons Jr. with a fierce hug. Simmons, head coach of the Syracuse Orange men’s lacrosse team from 1971 to 1998, praised his longtime friend for telling him to “put down the whistle, get out of the gymnasium and have some fun with me. I’ve never regretted it.”

Another emotional tribute came from Sid Jamison, a Mohawk who served as the first head coach of the Iroquois Nationals. He also coached Bucknell University’s men’s lacrosse team.

“Thank you for giving me back my history and culture,” Jamison said. “You gave me the purpose of time and place we all seek. My experiences with the Iroquois Nationals have been life-changing.”

Tributes highlighted Lyons’ intertwined passions: the game of lacrosse both as a sport and a metaphor for the sovereignty and survival of the Iroquois Nation. He was an All-American lacrosse goalie, leading SU to a perfect record in 1957. He has addressed the United Nations many times and played central roles in numerous high-profile Native-rights events, including the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties caravan that sought to bring national attention to Native American issues; the 1973 Wounded Knee, South Dakota, occupation; and the 1990 land-use dispute at Oka, Quebec.

Gala speakers addressed seven topics — echoing the Iroquois concept of taking actions that will benefit seven generations — that represent Lyons’ life: environmental, global leadership, lacrosse, faithkeeper role, indigenous rights and the United Nations. None of the speakers stuck to the three-minute limit.

Betty Lyons, director of the American Indian Law Alliance, thanked “Uncle Sonny” for “not losing your humor on our many car rides when I get us lost.” She also praised him for bringing indigenous issues and climate change to the international stage. “If you can find the energy to keep going, so can I,” she said. “I promise you I’ll never give up.”

The program included video messages from longtime climate change activist and former Vice President Al Gore and Mark Parker, CEO of Nike, which has sponsored the Iroquois Nationals since 2006.

Joanne Shenandoah, the Grammy-winning musician and a member of the Wolf Clan of the Oneida Nation, performed a piece she wrote for the occasion. “Life will go on. It’s not too late,” she sang. “I’m keeping the faith, for all who will listen. Our ancestors told us: Keep singing our song.”

Lyons has tried to do just that: promote Native American pride amid a dominant culture of greed and selfishness. “The unfair distribution of wealth is one of the biggest problems,” he told the Syracuse New Times. “What about the rest of the people? It’s not as if there’s not enough to go around.”

He noted that recent United Nations reports say that 1 million species face extinction as a result of climate change and that the world must act within 12 years to reduce carbon emissions before reaching “a point of no return.”

Lyons and other indigenous leaders have been sounding the alarm for years. In a 2000 statement to the U.N. Peace Summit, Lyons warned that “the ice is melting in the north.” He repeated the warning to the United Nations in 2014.

“Now they tell us we have 10 years left before we’re at the point of no return,” he said. “How do you talk to a person who’s working hard, separating garbage and recycling, when we have corporations saying we need bigger pipelines now?”

He sees the 2020 presidential election as a key to survival. “What are the Americans going to do about it? You can’t expect the Indians to do it,” he said. “We’re just trying to hang in there.”

The popularity of lacrosse highlights Iroquois success in “hanging in there.” Lyons co-founded the Iroquois Nationals in 1983. The team ranks third in the world after winning bronze at the 2018 World Lacrosse Championship in Israel.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board voted in late 2018 to add lacrosse to the 2028 Olympics as a trial sport. But an Olympic Charter rule threatens to recognize the Iroquois as a sovereign nation. That issue kept the Nationals from the 2010 world championship in Manchester, England, when the United Kingdom refused to recognize Iroquois passports. In July 2018, the same issue delayed the Nationals from the Netanya, Israel, contest.

Lyons is confident the IOC will resolve the problem. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re going to play again,” he said. “If you’re saying it’s going to be the world games, how can you leave out one of the top teams in the world?”

Lyons, formerly an aggressive lacrosse player and spirited dancer, leaned on his cane while addressing diners at the gala’s close. He apologized to his family, including daughter Lonnie and son Rex, for the times work kept him from home. He noted that the community had recently “raised up” two new chiefs, making way for a new generation of leaders.

He has no regrets about his life, and views aging as part of the cycle of nature, he said earlier. “We’re instructed to be ready to go every day,” he said. “You get up every day and don’t know if you’ll see another sunset.”

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If you haven’t noticed lately that actor-director Jason Alexander is in our neck of the woods, then you haven’t been paying attention.

First came his May 7 press conference at Syracuse Stage, where he is currently in rehearsals at the directorial helm for the Jason Robert Brown musical The Last Five Years, slated to begin its run Wednesday, May 29, through June 16. The next week he hobnobbed with Rebel Radio deejay Dave Frisina, followed by his May 17 opening pitch at the Syracuse Mets game at NBT Bank Stadium, where he got his fastball past home plate.

Alexander’s latest pitch involves the new flourishes he’s bringing to The Last Five Years, which had a 2001 premiere in Chicago prior to its March 2002 off-Broadway opening. Brown’s story of a five-year romance between budding novelist Jamie and aspiring actress Cathy is embellished with two time-spanning threads: Jamie’s side takes place at the beginning of their relationship, while Cathy’s version starts with the couple’s ending and is told in reverse chronology.

Traditionally mounted as a budget-friendly show with two actors and six musicians, Alexander created the idea to introduce a pair of dancers who will represent shadow-like interpretations of Jamie and Cathy, with assistance from choreographer Lee Martino. “With an expanded design concept, the show is no longer a simple undertaking,” Alexander noted. Ken Wulf Clark and Hanley Smith play Jamie and Cathy, with Adrian Lee and Marisa Field as their dancing counterparts. Sam Swinnerton and Carly Caviglia are their understudies.

“This little musical is one of the darlings of musical theater,” Alexander said, “and Jason Robert Brown is considered one of the gods of musical theater these days. He’s given us permission to look at it and do with it in a uniquely different way and I feel like were in the perfect place to do it. There’s a great audience here for theater.”

Jason Alexander (left) with the Syracuse Stage artistic director field questions from the local media. (Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times)

A Jersey boy growing up with dreams of being a performer, “I thought I was going to be a fantastic magician,” Alexander recalled. “I’m a terrible magician. But I love magic, and when I realized as a teenager that the theater is a giant illusion, I thought, ‘That’s an illusion I think I can invest in.’”

Alexander’s extensive resume encompasses movies and TV episodes, cartoon voiceovers (Duckman) and plenty of floorboards works including Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound, Mel Brooks’ The Producers and his 1989 Tony Award-winning turn for Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. He was also a crucial component of the 1990s-era nine-season Seinfeld TV smash, with the antics of his high-strung George Costanza role often stealing the show. “To be on something that becomes a Seinfeld,” Alexander noted, “it opens a lot of doors and it enables you to walk by a lot of doors without thinking about it.”

Still, even a veteran performer can get a little starstruck, especially when it comes to Star Trek. During a get-together after the May 7 press conference with Syracuse Stage’s board of trustees, Alexander delightedly singled out board member Robin Curtis, the former actor-turned-local real estate agent. Curtis played Vulcan Lieutenant Saavik in the movies Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, so Alexander greeted her with the “Live long and prosper” Vulcan hand salute.

“Yeah, I’m a little stupid about Star Trek,” Alexander admitted last week, “mostly just the original series. I’ve watched all of them. But there are too many of my brain cells eaten up by the original Star Trek. I used to be able to do every one of them, line by line.”

When and where did you first fall in love with The Last Five Years? 

I bumped into it late, that’s for sure. I missed its first production. I heard the recording of Sherie Rene Scott and Norbert Butz and fell in love with it musically then. And then there is a bootleg video of the Sherie-Norbert production on YouTube and I stumbled onto that and just went “Oh, they’re really cool.” But I actually first found Jason Robert Brown on Songs for a New World and that’s when I fell in love with him and just gobbled up anything that had his name on it.

This production of the two-character show will feature two additional “shadow reflections” as they offer dance interpretations of those lead characters. Did you have a series of conversations with composer Jason Robert Brown regarding your reimagining of his show, or did he simply trust you and say do whatever you need? 

I had a singular email with him. It’s probably the world’s longest email, where I laid out what I wanted to do and why I wanted to do it, to some degree. And he sent me a very nice email back that basically said, “Don’t change any of my notes or words, don’t add any text, only two voices sing, do whatever you want, and it won’t work.” That was his email. So with that blessing, I dove right in.

I didn’t come up with (this approach) because I just wanted to be fancy. There are some song cycles, and I think Jason Robert Brown would agree with it, that tend to be musically glorious yet a little visually dull when you have one person at a time singing a song. So the idea was just to make it more of a theatrical piece. And then to do that, I went, “Well, I’d need more bodies,” and then what would they do and why would they be there.

So it didn’t come out of any sort of ego thing, that just doing the show as its usually done wasn’t enough. I just thought it could fly a little higher if it was more visual and then by stumbling into this idea, it actually adds layers to what the story is about.

Do you know if Brown will attend a performance? 

I have no idea, actually, if he will travel up for this. There’s got to be 50 productions at any given time of this being done. So I’m sure he gets invited to everything single one of them. He might. If he’s just sitting around New York, he might

How crucial is choreographer Lee Martino in helping you achieve your vision of this production? 

Integral. This is our sixth or seventh show together. It was important that there be a fluidity. She didn’t want there to be a dividing line between what I was doing and what she was doing. So it had to blend, it had to talk to each other seamlessly.

For Adrian (Lee) and Marisa (Field), it’s a little bit of a disservice to relegate them with “they’re the dancers” because there are actually four actors: two are allowed to use mostly their voice and two are allowed to use mostly their body. So not only did the choreography have to be beautiful in and of itself, but it also had to speak to the story and it had to allow them to embody characters that made sense in any given scene that we were suddenly shoving these extra people into.

So Lee and I spent a week in Los Angeles with other dancers before we ever came here, because we didn’t have access to these guys, trying to figure out what this would be, so we wouldn’t be standing around with them and saying, “Well, maybe if you raise your arm and you turn. . . ” So we did a lot of the physical storytelling before we even got here and then it’s just been augmented, and the bar has been raised since getting here.

She’s very patient with me because she’ll do something and I’ll go “meh, nah, hmmm.” I have no idea what I’m talking about and she figures it out.

In June 2016 you directed the dark comedy Windfall as the season finale for Arkansas Repertory Theatre, with its then-artistic director Robert Hupp. Now you’re directing the season finale at Syracuse Stage with Hupp in charge as artistic director. Can you describe your artistic relationship? 

I guess I’m his bitch! (Laughs) I hadn’t done a lot of directing and I still haven’t done a ton of directing outside of Los Angeles or New York. So I’m going to Little Rock and saying, “Wait, there’s theater people in Little Rock, Arkansas?” Bob’s background and his resume and his experience are consummate. And he had put together a team of designers and administrators and technicians to run that theater, and they were just extraordinary. It was so easy and really a rewarding experience.

Then when he moved here, he said, “Think about a musical.” I knew nothing about Syracuse Stage really, I just knew Bob Hupp. If he says come hither, I go.

Can you attempt to describe your feelings after winning the Tony Award for Jerome Robbins’ Broadway? 

I don’t remember what it felt like on that night except for the moments at the last end of the night. When I was a little kid, I never fantasized anything about film or television: It was always the theater, the theater, the theater. Can I get to New York? Can I work in New York? Maybe if I live long enough, they’ll throw me a mercy Tony, the kind of thing for just being alive long enough.

And at 29, in a show that was about dancers and dance, they handed me a Tony and I couldn’t quite figure it out in the moment. It was like it came too soon. It was like, you think you’re going to go on a trip to a country, and suddenly the country is at your doorstep and you go, “Wait a minute: How did that happen?”

This is the thing you’ve dreamed about since you were a 10-year-old kid, When I got home that night, and we had answering machines back then, there were 20 messages on my machine, which is a lot of messages for me. But it was 20; not 200, not 2,000, just 20. And I was still the same person and I still lived in the same place. I got into bed that night with my wife and she said, “How do you feel?” And I quoted her my favorite line from (the Stephen Schwartz musical) Pippin after he comes back from the war when the leading player says, “How did it feel?” and he says, “I thought there’d be more plumes.”

And what it taught me was that the thing I thought it would represent, it did not. It became some sort of an abstract marker of success, happiness, accomplishment, whatever it may be. And I was the same person. The next day I had to go out and keep doing exactly the same thing. Nothing changed. And I realized it’s a lovely thing, but its truest value is not what you would think it is.

The playbill describes you as “a notorious poker player.” Can you maintain a poker face? 

I don’t try. That’s my secret weapon. So if I look at a professional poker player — and know that I am scared to death on the inside — and they go “You got something?” I say, “I might.” They ask me a question, and I try and answer it. I can’t hide behind the glasses. I don’t know how to do that. They look at me and I go, “I don’t know. They’re good cards. Do what you want to do. I’m just going to play.”

During many episodes of Seinfeld, there seems to be moments when Jerry Seinfeld seems to be on the verge of cracking up while trying to maintain a straight face. Did such moments ever happen? 

That was the show. There was no bigger fan of the show than Jerry Seinfeld. He enjoyed watching the show while doing it.

Regarding the long story arc with George working for the New York Yankees baseball team, did you ever meet then-owner George Steinbrenner?

He did an episode. They needed one line from the actual Steinbrenner and he said “Well, I’m not coming all the way to Los Angeles to do one line.” We had shot the episode with Larry David doing the voice and the man who would sit in the chair like a muppet. So we had to do all those scenes with George Steinbrenner and then throw them away because he was not very good. So we wound up just using the one line and I think that was the end of our association with the Yankees. I think he was not pleased with it.

Have you had time for some sightseeing of the Central New York region? 

I’ve been to the Destiny Mall. I’ve been to Phoebe’s restaurant across the street (from Syracuse Stage’s 820 E. Genesee St. location). I’ve been to the Lemongrass restaurant twice; they are really nice the second time. I’ve been to Wegmans and Price Chopper and the Genesee Grande Hotel.

Wegmans is a little overwhelming, I think. I got a little disoriented there. I think I circled around and went, “Have I been here before? Is there more than one bulk candy area?”

The post Stage Struck: Jason Alexander checks into Syracuse Stage to guide musical appeared first on Syracuse New Times.

The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham and evangelical lightning rod, opened his Thursday, May 30, Central New York appearance explaining that he called for a national day of prayer for the president of the United States because “the Bible commands us to pray for those in authority.” Amid applause he said, “This is not an endorsement.”

President Donald Trump faces unprecedented “attacks,” Graham said, repeating what he told the Syracuse New Times in an earlier telephone interview. “The president needs to be focused on solving our problems,” he said. “Congress needs to be focused on solving problems.”

The younger Graham’s comments came at the St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview, the final stop of the Decision American Northeast Tour. About 6,400 people attended, the largest turnout in seven cities since May 19, according to The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). Billy Graham, who died Feb. 21, 2018, at age 99, drew 103,000 people over six nights at the Carrier Dome in 1989. At least 15,000 people attended the June 2018 Dave Matthews Band concert at the amphitheater.

Related: Franklin Graham Q&A: Do you want to have a relationship with God?

Hundreds of people were already seated inside the amphitheater by 5:40 p.m., 20 minutes before the gate’s official opening for the 7:30 p.m. free event. People lined up at tents for free T-shirts; volunteer prayer counselors stood at the ready. The crowd, predominantly white, included dozens of people in wheelchairs and dozens of people pushing babies in strollers. Several people wore T-shirts with sayings including “Not today, Satan” or “Got Prayer?”

“I’m here to receive a blessing,” said Kofoworola Olaosebikan , assistant pastor of Redeemed Christian Church of God in Syracuse. “If God blesses me, I will bless others. Whatever I receive I will pass on.”

She was there with her husband, Aaron Olaosebikan , senior pastor at Redeemed Christian Church of God in Rochester. The two are natives of Nigeria who have lived in the United States four years. Aaron Olaosebikan, long an admirer of Billy Graham, was ready to pray with people moved by Franklin Graham’s words and invitation to accept Jesus Christ.

More than 6,000 flock to see Franklin Graham and groove to Christian rockers Crowder. (Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times)

“I’m expecting that some hearts will be changed,” he said as his wife responded, “Amen.” “I’m expecting that some lives will be changed here. I want to tell people today Jesus is here with us.”

Allison Loomis of Fulton and Allison Parker of Martville, best friends who attend Cayuga Community College, heard about the event at Calvary Church, Syracuse. Neither knew much about Franklin Graham, but both are fans of the three-time Grammy-nominated Christian musician Crowder.

“I love the lyrics,” said Loomis, who wore a necklace with a heart circling a cross. “They really speak to me. I’ve never heard of him. I love the messages in the music.”

The two sang with Crowder: “Lay down your burdens/ Lay down your shame/ All who are broken/ Lift up your face.” Hundreds of people stood and swayed to the music, some raising their hands in praise.

Although the young women were there for the music first, they were open to Graham’s message. “We’re here to confirm our lives to Christ,” Parker said. “We’re here for the encouragement.”

Graham and his staff traveled in three white buses decorated in patriotic red and blue

Crowder put on a show at the St. Joseph’s Lakeview Amphitheater for the Decision America tour. (Michael Davis/Syracuse New Times)

letters, an American flag and a large red lobster. The seven cities on the tour are among the most “post-Christian” cities in the nation, BGEA said, citing a 2017 study by the Barna Group, an evangelical Christian polling firm.

Barna cited declining church attendance, religious affiliation, belief in God, prayer and Bible reading as evidence that “the role of religion in public life has been slowly diminishing, and the church no longer functions with the cultural authority it held in times past.”

White Christians, once the country’s dominant religious group, accounts for fewer than half of all adults in the United States, according to the Public Religion Research Institute’s (PRRI) 2017 report “America’s Changing Religious Identity.” White evangelical Protestants voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016; the group continues to be Trump’s strongest supporters, according to PRRI.

In interviews and at his prayer service, Graham insisted Decision America and the day of prayer are not political. But some say Graham is using prayer for pro-Trump propaganda.

The day of prayer “is a near-perfect embodiment of political evangelicalism in the Age of Trump,” Daniel Burke wrote last week for CNN.com. “It blends Christian nationalism, the idea that the United States has a special place in God’s plans and Trump is God’s agent; social media, where it’s hard to separate the wheat of grassroots support from the chaff of Russian bots; and it has seriously irked Christians who say Graham and others have sold their souls for a mess of political pottage.”

No one at the amphitheater appeared to question Graham’s motives. The crowd applauded and cheered as Graham listed sins for which to repent: lying, adultery, same-gender sexual activity, murder, abortion. “Culture has changed. Our country is changing,” he said. “Politicians come and go. God’s laws don’t change.”

After preaching about 20 minutes, Graham invited people to “Come stand right here in the front and we’ll have a word of prayer together.” Hundreds of people, some crying, crowded the front of the stage and the aisles. “You’re not coming to Franklin Graham. You’re coming tonight to God and you’re putting your faith in his son Jesus Christ.”

As quiet conversations and prayer circles emerged across the amphitheater, Graham left the stage. “I may not be back to Syracuse. If not, I’ll see you in heaven,” he said. “To God be the glory.”

Renée K. Gadoua is a freelance writer and editor. Follow her on Twitter @reneekgadoua.

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Frozen Assets: Serving dozens of creamy custards, The Spotted Duck is Penn Yan’s dessert oasis

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The post Summer Times 2019: The warm-weather CNY goings on appeared first on Syracuse New Times.

So much of music comes from personal experience. The messages artists share are those grown from their own life lessons, victories and failures. But sometimes an album comes along that does more than that and shakes the very foundations for which everything else stands. Jazz trombonist, songwriter and vocalist Melissa Gardiner’s Empowered is that kind of album.

Songs and interludes don’t just scrape the surface of conversations about domestic abuse, sexism and the expectations of being a female: They slap them in the face. Gardiner doesn’t tiptoe around anything. She is anxious to dive further into the meanings behind the songs that already are screaming their intentions. “The album is my story,” she admits.

Although Central New Yorkers know Gardiner as a powerhouse talent who has shared stages with artists like Aretha Franklin and Vulfpeck, far fewer know how she ascended to those stages and how she returned home to Syracuse.

Gardiner has a master’s degree in jazz performance from the Juilliard School and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. She is the trombone instructor at Le Moyne College and Cornell University and has won several awards, including the Lifetime Educator of the Year Hall of Fame Award from the 2019 Syracuse Area Music Awards (Sammys). She leads several award-winning bands and has also initiated several arts programs in her community, including a longstanding weekly jazz jam, neighborhood drum circles, the Unity Street Band, and the SALTspace performing arts center.

But her road from Juilliard grad to Empowered was more of a fight than a stroll. “The intro track ‘911’ is the actual 911 call from an incident in New York City,” she says. “My ex strangled me. I thought I was going to die.”

Next comes “Rain Reprise,” a rerecorded version of a song from her 2011 debut album Transitions. “I wanted to redo the song,” she explains. “It addresses the story of what happened, but in a metaphorical way. The rain doesn’t stop until you go away, until you stop trying to change the person and leave.”

“Slowly” is a smooth song about recovery and moving slowly forward one step at a time. “It’s about feeling invisible, where people are looking at you, but not seeing you. They’re only seeing your physical body.”

Part of the reason Gardiner moved back to Syracuse was to be closer to her family when she gave birth to her son Julien. The song “Bump” pays tribute to the baby bump she had when she was pregnant, marking the significant changes she had to make in her life, including the move and the need to give up drinking when she became pregnant. “That was the beginning of the rest of my story,” she says.

Many songs on the album feature special guests including notable female jazz musicians Ingrid Jensen and Tia Fuller. “It’s a dream come true,” Gardiner says. “I feel honored to have them as part of my story. They’ve been incredibly supportive of me.”

While Jensen and Fuller provide their musical talents on trumpet and saxophone, respectively, they also lend their voices during various interludes. “Smile” and “We’ve Been Conditioned” directly capture honest discussions about being the only person on stage told to smile. Or wondering why women are so willing to put another’s comfort and needs before their own. Is it personality? Or is it conditioning?

“Mask” is about first impressions and the encouragement women get to keep their thoughts and feelings hidden, while “Brass Ceiling” talks about more than the obvious reference to breaking the glass ceiling. Gardiner initially thought the phrase was a clever play on words, yet it took on more significance after her experience auditioning for a military jazz band.

“Brass ceiling also refers to a ceiling in the military and police,” she says. “I got really far in the audition process for a top jazz band in the military. I wanted it because there are very few professional opportunities in jazz big bands. It was full time with benefits and usually you can’t get into those bands without it being about who you know. It limits your opportunities, especially if you’re marginalized. I wanted a stable performing career as a single mom. But I was told I couldn’t do it because I had sole custody of my child. I had to give up custody or get married. I was shocked that it was a barrier.”

Album art by Robyn Stockdale.

And that’s only one story. Gardiner also opened up about her dream of joining the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. But when she asked members why there were no females in the band, they said it would be too distracting. “It messes with our vibe,” they told her.

In another instance, Gardiner was trying to network with a musician she respected and he invited her to talk professionally over coffee. But after no response to the original invitation, Gardiner found out his fiancée had banned him from speaking to her — because she was a female and felt the interaction, although professional, was inappropriate.

“I’m sick of those responses,” she says. “Now I have a point to prove. I’m a fighter. This is not OK. I’m still sharing these stories today and hoping things are shifting. Women are coming forward and they’re empowering me to come forward.”

These themes and issues will come to the forefront during Gardiner’s CD release party on Friday, June 21, at SALTspace, 103 Wyoming St. The event begins with a VIP cocktail reception at 8 p.m. followed by a 9 p.m. show. Tickets are $20 each or $50 for VIP and available through Eventbrite. VIP tables are also available for $300 and seat up to eight people. Those getting a VIP table can write the check directly to the Near Westside Initiative and donate to Gardiner’s SALTspace scholarship fund to support low-income students for performing arts programs being offered at the venue.

Several participants on the album will perform at the party, including Byron Cage (drums), Anthony Saturno (guitar), Brieanna Hunt (vocals), Andrew Carroll (organ) and more. Additional performers will include Nick Fields (trumpet) and Melody Rose (vocals), while Jeremy Johnston, who recorded much of the album with his mobile studio, will engineer the show.

Empowered ends with two important tracks. One is titled “Home,” which is a reference to Syracuse and Julien. “I didn’t find my center, my peace, my support system until I moved back to Syracuse,” Gardiner says. “He enabled me to be who I am today. Empowered by women in music, by men. All the voices and people around me.” T

hat idea also comes through in the powerful album art directed by photographer Robyn Stockdale. The images depict Gardiner climbing a ladder with other women helping her up.

“It feels good to finally set roots,” Gardiner says. “I’ve never lived in one place so long (as eight years in Syracuse). People tell musicians you need to go to New York City or LA to do anything. I’m glad I went, but I’m happy I get to do what I do from Syracuse. Living in New York was just a step.”

The final track is an intimate moment between Gardiner and Julien as they sing to each other and exchange “I love yous,” which feels like a comforting close to an album that stirs up so many questions.

“When I was attacked by my ex, people just threw it under the rug,” Gardiner says. “People told me to drop the charges. That boys’ club culture. It’s something we need to address as a society. I want people to wake up. We need to stop hiding the bad things and face them head on so people can get the help to change. So victims can get help. I want people to connect and not feel alone. These are the main things that have stuck with me and I’m ready to scream them to the world now.”

The post Jazz trombonist Melissa Gardiner’s new album explores songs in the key of her life appeared first on Syracuse New Times.

A half-century ago, at a time when rock’n’roll was treated like a redheaded stepchild by Syracuse’s mainstream media, the Syracuse New Times burst upon the scene and gleefully embraced the music of the Woodstock Nation. It’s more than appropriate that this final print edition ever pays homage to the blues: the three-chord, hyper-rhythmic genre that birthed rock’n’roll.

After a band called Triple Shot got the ball rolling and passed it to The Kingsnakes, when Big Tom Townsley started blowing his harp and hosted the Sunday Night Blues radio show on WAER-FM, as Kelly James and Roosevelt Dean reminded us of the ebony origins of the blues, the Syracuse New Times nurtured the booming scene. Over the years, the music man with the most appearances on a New Times cover just might be Blue Wave Records founder Greg Spencer.

The city’s “alternative paper” sent audiences to Copperfield’s to the south and Nappi’s to the north and hyped the opening of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, where in 1996 photographer Mike Davis staged a remarkable photo of the entire blues community called Blue Day in Syracuse, depicting scores of musicians from the world-famous Kim Simmonds to local heroes like Colin Aberdeen, Pete McMahon, Phil Petroff and Terry Mulhauser.

Along the way, the Syracuse New Times cultivated the blossoming scene by sinking significant ink into the New York State Blues Festival, which has grown into one of the largest free blues events in the Northeast. The 27th annual festival will be staged at Clinton Square from Thursday, June 27, through Saturday, June 29.

Headlining the weekend is a favorite son of the Jersey Shore: Guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt and his band, The Soul Disciples, will play tunes from their new disc, Summer of Sorcery, on Saturday at 9 p.m. Van Zandt’s two-hour set follows Lurrie Bell, the guitar-playing son of harmonica legend Carey Bell. Lurrie takes the main stage at 7:15 p.m.

Van Zandt’s no bluesman, per se, but he gladly celebrates its place in the pop music pantheon. He describes his music as an amalgam of rock and soul. Summer of Sorcery features a tune titled “I Visit the Blues,” a basic progression played over a chugalug rhythm as Little Steven testifies, “I visit the blues, but I don’t hang around too long.”

The guitarist-singer, who made his bones with Southside Johnny & The Asbury Dukes before hitting it big with Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, will dive more deeply into the blues in the near future. He’s mulling over a new recording project that he describes as “me covering me,” one in which he and the Soul Disciples perform classics as well as new recordings of songs Van Zandt wrote for others, including Southside Johnny.

One cover he’s already zeroed in on is “The Blues is My Business,” from Etta James’ 2005 CD, Let’s Roll, her final recording. Little Steven’s version — which he and the Disciples waxed two years ago for their Soulfire Live disc — includes a blistering trombone solo by Clark Gayton, some boogie-fried piano by Clifford Carter and a rockin’ tenor sax part by Stan Harrison.

But for now, Little Steven & The Soul Disciples are basking in the light of Summer of Sorcery, his first new album of solo material in more than 20 years.

“This was really a major breakthrough for me artistically, which is a wonderful thing to happen at this stage of the game,” Van Zandt told a reporter last month. “All my previous solo albums of the 1980s were very autobiographical and political. Then through a rather bizarre circumstance, by a guy asking me to throw a band together and play his blues festival three years ago, I sort of became reacquainted with my own work after 20 years. I threw a list together of some of my old songs, along with some blues songs, and it was quite a revelation to hear my old work and to realize it really had an interesting value; through the years I think it had become its own genre, this rock-meets-soul thing.”

Little Steven is thinking big. “I think this is the best band I’ve ever had,” Van Zandt says of the Disciples. The ensemble includes musical director and guitarist Marc Ribler, Lowell “Banana” Levinger of The Youngbloods on piano and Wurlitzer, bassist Jack Daley, drummer Rich Mercurio, percussionist Anthony Almonte from King Creole and The Coconuts, Andy Burton on B3 organ and piano, horn director Eddie Manion on baritone saxophone, Stan Harrison on tenor sax and flute, Ron Tooley and Ravi Best on trumpet and Clark Gayton on trombone. The band is complemented by the synchronized-dancing backup singers known as the Divas of Soul: Jessie Wagner, Sara Devine and Tania Jones.

Although he’ll always be known as Springsteen’s sidekick, Little Steven is far more than a talented accompanist. With the Soul Disciples, he proved himself a daring and effective bandleader, herding 14 cats across continents and across a wide spectrum of rock’n’roll. On stage, Little Steven holds his own as an electric axeman (check out the scorching guitar work on “Superfly Terraplane”) and as a passionate singer (“Blues is My Business”).

The self-described bar band refugee has been branching out over the past 22 years or so, becoming an actor on The Sopranos, pioneering a U.S-Norway television production and hosting his own two-hour syndicated radio program, Little Steven’s Underground Garage. “The Underground Garage is 17 years and counting,” he proudly proclaims. It’s broadcast over 100 affiliates in more than 100 countries.

While the radio work is a natural outgrowth of Little Steven’s lifelong love affair with rock’n’roll, his turn as an actor is more of a surprise.

After Sopranos creator David Chase saw Van Zandt induct The Rascals into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, Chase called the bandanna-ed bandleader out of the blue to offer him a role as Jersey mafioso Sylvio Dante. After The Sopranos wrapped in 2007, Van Zandt played “Glory Days” at the Super Bowl half-time show with Springsteen in 2009, then appeared as himself on the Norwegian soap opera, Hotel Caesar, the following year.

Talk about surprises, Van Zandt found serendipity in Scandinavia when a couple of screenwriters tracked him down at a Norwegian recording studio and offered him a chance to star in Lilyhammer, an offbeat dark comedy in which he played a Manhattan mob underboss relocated to frigid Norway by the FBI’s witness protection program. Pretty much reprising his Sylvio character, Van Zandt starred in, co-wrote, created a music score and became executive producer of the groundbreaking English- and Norwegian-language TV series which ran on Netflix for three seasons, 2012 to 2014.

Perhaps even more impressive than his flair for acting, Van Zandt has reinvented himself as an educator as well as an entertainer. He has created a rock’n’roll curriculum at TeachRock.org which is available to teachers worldwide.

Van Zandt launched the educational effort in 2007 after he learned that the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 had an unintended consequence, cancelling arts classes in favor of science and math. “So I said to the teachers, ‘Let’s do the history of music instead.’ I outlined 200 lessons for a K-12 national curriculum, and we have over 100 lessons online at teachrock.org, which teachers can use for free,” he said.

For instance, TeachRock outlines the blues in 11 lessons from Muddy Waters to the Great Migration to the impact of electric guitar. Interested educators can contact Christine at RockandRollForever.org.

“This curriculum is going to be a big part of my legacy if we can get it entrenched,” he observed. “We need to have an arts presence in the DNA of the (educational) system.”

Despite his many and varied accomplishments, everywhere he goes Little Steven is bombarded with questions about Springsteen.

“I booked this Summer of Sorcery tour until Nov. 6, at the Beacon Theater. At that point, I’ll see what Bruce wants to do,” he patiently explained to a recent interviewer. “Bruce will always have priority with me, and if he wants to do an E Street Band record we’ll jump in and do that. And if not, maybe I’ll look for another TV show or continue with the Disciples. But at least until November I’ll be doing this and then we’ll see what he wants to do.”

Until Springsteen beckons, however, Little Steven and his soulful horns and rockin’ guitars will continue to preach the gospel of good vibes.

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