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Entertainment B1 LIFE & LEISURE B1 Entertainment B2 Arts & Culture B3 Arts & Culture B4 Health B5 Travel B6 Science & Tech B7 Style B8 At Home September 18 – 24, 2008 The Epoch Times By JOE BENDEL Special to The Epoch Times Some top arrangers in jazz have had enough prestige to lead their own sessions, without ever picking up an instrument, aside from their pens. Gil Evans would be the classic example, but Claus Ogerman can also lay claim to that distinction. Recording an entire session of such an arranger’s charts is often a career highlight, which is why jazz pianist Danilo Perez’s “Across the Crystal Sea,” ar- ranged by Ogerman, is sure to receive quite a bit of attention in the jazz press. The fitting cover, John Marin’s “Maine,” from 1914, comes cour- tesy of producer Tommy LiPu- ma’s art collection. While cer- tainly representational, but with a dreamy abstract quality, depict- ing the wooden coast and tran- quil sea beyond, it makes quite an appropriate image for the music stored within. Likewise, Ogerman’s charts, consisting of six of his originals (five of which are based on clas- sical themes) and two standards, also have an ethereal, leisurely quality that can be either a bless- ing or a too-much-of-a-good- thing curse. Probably the disk’s strongest selection is the opening title track, based on a theme from German choral composer Hugo Distler. The prominence of Luis Quinte- ro’s percussion really helps propel the track, keeping it from being overwhelmed by the strings. Perez also takes an extended solo that shows true improvisational fire. Likewise, Lewis Nash on drums sets a solid groove for “Rays and Shadows” (after Jean Sibelius) that preserves a sense of momentum. Again, Perez takes a legit solo, as the rhythm section locks in beneath him. The two standards are feature spots for guest vocalist Cassandra Wilson. Both are moodily gor- geous, but from a programming perspective, they might be a bit similar in terms of tone and vibe. Of the two, “Lazy Afternoon” is probably superior to “My Heart Sings,” with Wilson’s hauntingly expressive vocals perfectly suiting the lyrics on the former, whereas the strings and chimes are more prominent on the latter. “Purple Condor” (after Manuel de Falla) also gets the balance about right between piano, percussion, and strings. However, sometimes “Crystal” can sound a bit over-arranged, with the strings soaring too high or conversely sounding just a little too sedate, as with “If I Forget You” (a la Rachmaninoff) or “Another Autumn,” the original Ogerman original. There are some quite lovely moments on “Crystal,” even for hardened jazz ears, but it is cer- tainly a quiet, late-night kind of spin. It’s actually the kind of thin- edge-of-the-wedge release that might conceivably bring in new listeners for Perez, and jazz in general by extension, because it is truly accessible for all audiences. Joe Bendel blogs on jazz and cultural issues at www.jbspins. blogspot.com, and coordinated the Jazz Foundation of America's instrument donation campaign for musicians displaced by Hur- ricane Katrina. By MASHA SAVITZ Epoch Times Staff “David & Fatima,” a present- day “Romeo and Juliet” set in Jerusalem, is the story of naïve love against hatred as old as the Bible and deeper than the Dead Sea, where star-crossed lovers are thwarted by family and friends from warring cultures. Much like the characters they portray, Cameron Van Hoy (Israeli David) and Danielle Pollack (Pales- tinian Fatima) are passionate—pas- sionate about changing the world, about love, and about each other— as both on- and off-screen lovers. I met the very talented Van Hoy and Pollack at a local Starbucks, in Venice Beach, Calif., where we dis- cussed their experience making this bold and emotional film. The quietly assured Pollack, a beautiful young woman with a dark complexion and an earned ballet dancer’s physique, explained her understanding of Israel’s current situation as captured in “David & Fatima.” “It’s simple,” she said. “I got that there are two sides of a story—I got to see both sides clearly. No one is right or wrong, but a lot of injustice is going on …Growing up with the opposite point of view (as a Jew raised in New York), I take away the passion of Fatima. I got to really love and understand my neighbor.” “David & Fatima” is the brain child of executive producer/writer Kari Bian and writer/ director Alain Zaloum. Zaloum brings his own personal and heartfelt perspec- tive to the controversial project. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the movie’s Beverly Hills premiere on Sept. 12, where he explained that he modeled the character of David after himself. Zaloum, like the open-minded character David, is also in an interfaith relationship. “People want you to take sides,” explained Zaloum, “I felt it was honest, from my heart; I took the middle road.” To create an authentic voice, Za- loum worked on the script closely with actors Pollack and Van Hoy. With an absorbing gaze and warm manner, Van Hoy talked about his preparation for the film, admitting that he, like most young Americans, had a marginal knowl- edge of the situation in the Middle East prior to “David & Fatima.” “I wanted to understand it as an actor. At the same time, I needed to understand it myself.” So he spent a great deal of time researching on Youtube and by immersing himself in Israeli culture at “an Israeli place in the Valley, talking to Israelis and eating their food.” Van Hoy, who attended New York’s Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Per- forming Arts—where he met Pollack—drew on the experience of being in New York during 9/11 to reference what it might be like to grow up in Israel under the con- stant threat of terrorism. “Young Israeli kids live with a different set of experiences— with suicide bombing, and war, and they know they have to join the army when they grow up— and that af- fects them,” he said. Both Van Hoy and Pollack agreed that so much of the film was “meant to be,” including the people who participated in its creation, and that this enigmatic quality of enthusiasm and conviction car- ried through. “No one could have stopped this movie from being made,” said Van Hoy. Perhaps its message of renewal and cultural transcendence will have the same tenacity and resolve. “I met an Israeli who came to the movie with a friend of his, who is Palestinian, and the two of them enjoyed the movie, and they thought it was an important movie,” explained Van Hoy. “It’s so powerful—for me it was more than acting. It was living it and being it, and to have that experience and to have it captured on film is so amaz- ing to me. I just hope the rest of the world can see what I’ve learned, which is that the power of love and being totally committed to love— being so passionate about someone or something.” Album Review: ‘Across the Crystal Sea’—Danilo Perez Chatting with the stars of ‘David & Fatima’ Jazz Pianist Teams With Accomplished Composer Jolie, Pitt Donate $2 Million for Kids in Ethiopia STAR-CROSSED LOVERS: Cameron Van Hoy plays the Israeli David, and Danielle Pollack is the Palestinian Fatima. KARIM MOVIES Shakespearean-Style Drama Set in Modern Jerusalem POWER COUPLE: Actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have donated $2 million to create a center for children with AIDS and tuberculosis in Ethiopia. ALBERTO E. RODRIGUEZ/GETTY IMAGES LOS ANGELES (Reuters)— Angelina Jolie and partner Brad Pitt have donated $2 million to create a center, named after their adopted daughter, Zahara, for Ethiopian children affected by AIDS and tuberculosis. The Global Health Committee said the donation from the Jolie- Pitt Foundation would establish a center in the Ethiopian capital Ad- dis Ababa to treat AIDS orphans and develop a program to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis. The Oscar-winning Jolie adopted a baby girl she called Za- hara, now 3 years old, from Ethio- pia in July 2005 and the new clinic will be named after her. "It is our hope that when Zahara is older, she will take responsibility for the clinic and continue its mis- sion," Pitt said in a statement. Pitt and Jolie now have six children—twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline born in July, Shiloh, 2, and adopted children Zahara, Pax from Vietnam, and Maddox from Cambodia. The Jolie-Pitt Foundation helped set up a similar clinic in 2006 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, that is named after Maddox. "Our goal is to transfer the success we have had in Cambo- dia to Ethiopia where people are needlessly dying of tuberculosis, a curable disease, and HIV/AIDS, a treatable disease," Jolie said. Ethiopia has the seventh-highest rate of tuberculosis disease in the world and an estimated 1.7 million people in the country are infected with HIV, according to the World Health Organization. UNICEF estimates that more than 900,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS in Ethiopia. EMARCY RECORDS/ JOHN MARIN Tenors Do Pop ROBERT VOS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES B2 Arts & Culture Cyber Criminals Use Celebrity Names to Lure Victims NEW YORK (Reuters)— Looking for information about Brad Pitt or Beyonce on the Web? It could be risky. An Internet security firm has dubbed the actor and singer the most dangerous celebrities to search for on the Internet be- cause cybercriminals use their names to lure victims. California-based McAfee Inc. said fans searching for infor- mation and pictures of Pitt, or downloads, wallpaper and screen savers, have an 18 percent chance of having their PCs infected with a virus, spyware, spam, phish- ing, and adware. “Cybercriminals employ numerous methods, yet one of the simplest but most effective ways is to trick consumers into infecting themselves by capital- izing on Americans’ interest in celebrity gossip,” explained Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee’s Product Development & Avert Labs. “Tapping into current events, pop culture, or commonly browsed sites is an easy way to achieve this,” he added in a statement. Web surfers looking for ce- lebrity gossip, screen savers, and ringtones are often directed to fake Internet sites that look legitimate but pose a risk to the security of their computers, ac- cording to the company. Pitt and singer Justin Timber- lake are the most dangerous men to search for on the Internet, while Beyonce and Heidi Montag, the star of the reality television show “The Hills,” top the list for women. Other celebrities on McAfee’s most dangerous list include sing- ers Mariah Carey, Rihanna, and Fergie and film stars Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba, Cameron Diaz, and George Clooney. Green said Americans’ obses- sion with following celebrities’ lifestyles make them obvious targets. “We have to take precautions in casually navigating the Web since many subtle sites may be rife with malware for consumers’ computers,” he said, referring to software designed to infiltrate computer software without the consent of the owner. Malware includes viruses, worms, and spyware, which are computer programs that report back to a third party a user’s ac- tivity and Web-surfing habits. The reasons for planting spy- ware range from simple market- ing purposes to more serious things like stealing files or pass- words used to access sensitive financial information. Celebrity searchers can also be used for phishing, an attempt to get sensitive information by masquerading as an entity that is known to be reputable. Searches for soccer star David Beckham and actresses Katie Holmes, Lindsay Lohan, and Katherine Heigl are also risky and have a good chance of in- fecting computers, the company said. DANGEROUS DOWNLOAD: Singers Justin Timberlake and Beyonce perform on stage during the Rocks at Radio City Music Hall on Sept. 5, in New York City. STEPHEN LOVEKIN/GETTY IMAGES
