 Michael Mazzarella with The Fellows Of Mortimer Only Hope For Winter - DVD REVIEWS Mike Bennett
Peeking at the musical process with Michael Mazzarella and the Fellows of Mortimer. By Jamie Beckett Not long ago I trudged out to my mailbox, as I and my neighbors are wont to do six days a week. Anticipating nothing more than a continuation of the usual onslaught of unsolicited sales letters, credit card offers, supposedly pre-approved loan application forms and bills, I expected to find nothing there that was likely to cheer me up or lighten my daily workload. But I was wrong. For what was waiting for me inside that overstuffed mailbox was something very different, a decidedly welcome change from the ordinary. Somehow, Michael Mazzarella and the Fellows of Mortimer had gotten in there. It was my good luck to get them out and set them free. Currently they live quite comfortably in my DVD player. Their increasingly familiar images glowing back at me from a television screen late into the evenings. Only Hope for Winter is Mazzarella's most recent collection of musical ideas and interpretations on life. Containing a whopping 21 cuts that are performed live, in a stripped down, bare bones environment, this may be his most compelling work. Aided by a collection of remarkably creative musicians, namely Huw Gower, Dave Rave and Greg Field, Mazzarella and his crew have managed to capture something that few music lovers outside the industry ever have the chance to experience firsthand, if at all. They share a glimpse into the creative process of song writing while taking the public performance aspect of the musicians craft down to it's most basic level. In short, they allow the viewer, the dedicated listener, to be a fly on the wall as four men with musical visions dancing around their heads do their level best to articulate their ideas through their voices and fingertips. All too often the image we're presented with that's intended to pass for pure musical expression looks suspiciously similar to a bad reality TV show. But in real life, in a real songwriters life anyway, big glitzy stages, teams of make up artists and a fully stocked wardrobe departments don't really enter into the picture. The tools of the songwriters trade often involves a single instrument; a piano, or a guitar. As the process moves along he may involve a friend or two in the work. Players who have an ear for what the writer is trying to express, who can plug the melody into their own brain and add a note, or a sound, or silence, whatever the song may require of them. The creation of a musical piece is a process of collaboration, competition, conformity and chaos, that somehow almost beyond reason, ultimately forms into the cohesive expression of an idea. To see that process, even just a glimpse of it, is to understand the artist and the moment of creation that much better. Michael Mazzarella and the Fellows of Mortimer have given those of us on the outsider just that chance. It's a treasure stored through the magic of digital media on a small plastic disc. And because of that thousands of fans can now share in an experience that was formerly the domain of only a handful of talented, close knit friends. What a world we live in. Jamie Beckett is a freelance writer who lives and works in central Florida. More of his work can viewed at, http://jamiebeckett.com
Swiss Records by Robert Pally Mistakes come with live performances is jokingly written in the disclaimer of the DVD Only Hope For Winter. That is something that also Michael Mazzarella knows. The Rooks mastermind was filmed supported by Huw Gower (The Records, David Johansen, Graham Parker), Dave Rave (Teenage Head) and Greg Field (Ronnie Spector) at various Studio recording sessions. Nothing can always run smoothly, some things provide even unconscious humor. As Michael Mazzarella opens the melancholy "Nightfall", a clock in the shape of Elvis Presely swings its hips in the background. A cat on the piano accompanies "Better Start Right Now". To the decoration of "If I Knew" belongs a kitschy lava lamp. Such details loosen the 21 songs up. Not too many special effects were used. The outfits of Mazzarella are the things that change most. Beside that, one sees him once shaved and other times unshaved with various sun glasses. However, Only Hope For Winter is a worthy view behind the scenes in a recording studio and also is a must for fans of fine Indiepop. Beside well-known material the DVD also contains unreleased tracks and unpublished songs of a forthcoming Rooks album.
Amplifier Better still is Only Hope For Winter, a live in the studio effort from Rooks front man Michael Mazzarella and the Fellows Of Mortimer (Dave Rave, Greg Field and former Records guitarist Huw Gower). The 21-song DVD includes semi-acoustic versions of some fabulous Rooks tunes, both faithfully executed ("Music Sound Sensation") and completely remade and remodeled ("Love Said To Me," "Reasons"). There are also six new Mazzarella compositions, some of which will find a home on the next Rooks record. The vibe is intimate and the performances are particularly heartfelt, as befits songs such as "Vows," "Steeplechase" and the powerful new ballad "If I Knew." Quibble: some of the video direction is cliched and lackluster and the camera work could stand some polish (this is particularly a problem on "Vows"). That minor caveat aside, Only Hope For Winter is an important work by one of the finest pop songwriters of the past couple of decades.
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