Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 14, 2011

9

ARTS & ENTERTAIMENT

 Mountain Views News Saturday, May 14, 2011 

SEAN’S SHAMELESS 

REVIEWS: 

Okkervil River

PASADENA’S ANNUAL FREE ARTNIGHT


By LaQuetta Shamblee

Join us for some great jazz and blues during 
Pasadena’s Annual Free ArtNight on Friday, 
May 20th on the beautiful grounds of City 
Hall. From 6pm to 8pm, The Instrumental 
Women Project (IWP) will present an all-female 
Lady Jazz™ Ensemble. ArtNight attendees 
will be treated to a special guest appearance 
as blues guitarist, Ray Bailey joins the 
ladies to play a few tunes from his new CD. 

The Lady Jazz band for ArtNight consists 
of Bandleader/Bassist, Nedra Wheeler, jazz 
and blues pianist Karen Hernandez, flutist 
Dr. Dawn Norfleet, and a rare appearance 
on percussions by IWP’s founder, LaQuetta 
Shamblee. This 6pm – 8pm performance is 
made possible by a mini-grant from the City 
of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division and a 
donation from the LaQuetta Shamblee Productions 
Group.

Pasadena Arts Council is the nonprofit 
fiscal sponsor for The Instrumental Women 
Project.

Bring the entire family, friends or plan 
a date night to enjoy a free evening of art, 
music and entertainment as Pasadena’s most 
prominent arts and cultural institutions 
swing open their doors. Last fall, 14,000 
people experienced the excitement of ArtNight! 
Some of the participants include the 
Art Center College of Design, Lineage Performing 
Arts Center, Armory Center for the 
Arts, Pasadena Museum of California Art 
and more. The City of Pasadena provides 
FREE shuttles that loop throughout the evening 
with stops at each venue. You can park 
at any venue and ride to the others. If you 
want to go green, then strap on your helmet 
ant take the ArtNight Bicycle Tour.

Some of LA County’s favorite food trucks 
are coming to ArtNight. A number of restaurants 
and food vendors will donate 10% 
of ArtNight sales to future ArtNight events 
as part of the GiveBack Program Partners.

For a list of all ArtNight venues, participating 
organizations, hours and details for 
the free shuttles and other event features and 
activities, logon to www.artnightpasadena.
org.


Only until 
recently, I 
wasn’t all that 
familiar with 
the indie 
rock outfit, 
OKKERVIL 
RIVER. 
All I knew about them was that they were 
continually releasing critically acclaimed 
records dating back to 2002. Their sound 
and stories have always embodied pure 
Americana. Okkervil River’s sixth album, 
“I Am Very Far” strays away a bit from 
the band’s antecedent sound and in doing 
so they’ve crafted an entirely new facet to 
their progressively intrepid resonance. The 
recording process for the album differed 
from many other acts in today’s music. They 
initially recorded to tape, hired a room full 
of guitarists, two drummers, and provided a 
copious amount of strings, horns and other 
orchestra sections. When all was said and 
done, “I Am Very Far” proved to be a truly 
haunting, restrained, cold, despairing and 
magnificent work of artistry by a group that’s 
never followed the rules. As we all know, 
only the coolest of cool have the audacity to 
break away from the uninspiring norm. 

The intensely affecting vocals of Will Sheff 
are a musical device all their own. Sheff is 
a veteran storyteller with the capacity of 
constructing a profound aura through his 
deep-rooted vernacular. “The Valley” kicks 
off the album with such vehemence. After 
listening to the opener, you may have an idea 
where the album is heading, but you’re going 
to be greatly mistaken. The follow-up track, 
“Piratess” is provocative and ominous. The 
grand finale track, “The Rise” (which differs 
a lot from the other songs) is a marvelous, 
sensitively elevated, and deeply harrowing 
piece of music that is the perfect fitting cap to 
one of the strongest albums of the year. While 
some tracks have a more vibrant tone, the true 
gems are the ones that are deliberately paced 
that place you on an emotional rollercoaster 
unlike anything you’ve experienced. You’ll 
quickly learn that Okkervil River is not your 
cookie-cutter indie band of the week. There 
is nothing generic or derivative about their 
expanding, poignant, and passionate sound. 

Although violence is at the forefront of their 
lyrical imagery, there is still tenderness in 
the nature of their music. Ambiguity and 
elusiveness hover above the stories being 
told and everything you hear on the album 
is a breath of fresh air in a music society 
rapidly becoming stale and stagnant. “I 
Am Very Far” is a journey you should not 
hesitate embarking on. 

It may seem to appear a tricky one to 
navigate through at first glimpse, but once 
you let yourself take that leap of faith, you’ll 
end up realizing just how incredible it all was 
once you come to your destination. Don’t be 
surprised if you find yourself yearning to 
take another trip immediately afterward. 

Sean Kayden


Dr. Dawn Norfleet

Karen Hernandez


The Book Report

Ray Ajay

SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper 

by Howard E. Wasdin & Stephen Templin 

When the Navy SEALs send their elite, they send SEAL Team 
Six. SEAL Team Six is a secret unit tasked with counterterrorism, 
hostage rescue, and counterinsurgency. In this dramatic, behind 
the scenes chronicle, Wasdin takes us deep inside the world of 
SEALS and Special Forces snipers, beginning with the grueling 
selection process of Basic Underwater Demolition, the toughest 
and longest military training in the world. After graduating, he 
faced new challenges. First there was combat in Desert Storm 
with SEAL Team Two. Then the selection to join SEAL Team Six, 
with a curriculum including land warfare to unarmed combat. 
Finally he graduated from the most challenging sniper program 
in the country: The Marine’s Scout Sniper School. Eventually,he 
became one of the best snipers on the planet. Less than half a 
year after sniper school, he was fighting for his life. The mission: 
capture or kill Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. From 
rooftops, helicopters and alleys, Wasdin hunted Aidid and killed 
his men whenever possible. But everything went quickly to 
hell when his small band of soldiers found themselves fighting 
for their lives, cut off from help, and desperately trying to 
rescue downed comrades during a routine mission. The Battle 
of Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down), left 18 American soldiers dead and 73 wounded. Howard 
Wasdin had both of his legs nearly blown off while engaging the enemy. His dramatic combat 
tales with inside details of one of the world’s deadliest snipers make this one of the most explosive 
military memoirs in years.

The Heart and the Fist: 

The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL 

by Eric Greitens

This book shares one man’s story of extraordinary leadership and 
service as both a humanitarian and a warrior. In a life lived at the 
raw edges of the human experience, Greitens has seen what can 
be accomplished when compassion and courage come together 
in meaningful service. As a Rhodes Scholar and Navy SEAL, 
Greitens worked alongside volunteers who taught art to street 
children in Bolivia and led US Marines who hunted terrorists in 
Iraq. He’s learned from nuns who fed the destitute in one of Mother 
Teresa’s homes for the dying in India, from aid workers who healed 
orphaned children in Rwanda, and from Navy SEALs who fought in 
Afghanistan. Today he works with severely wounded and disabled 
veterans who are rebuilding their lives as community leaders at 
home thru www.missioncontinues.org . 

Greitens offers each of us a new way of thinking about living a meaningful life. 


Acting classes for REAL people, at the...
Join the “FOR THE LOVE OF ACTING” class.
Saturdays 2:00 to 5:00pm on our STAGE. No experience necessary! 
NEW BEGINNERS class starts APRIL 02. 
For reservations and class info, call June Chandler (626) 355-4572