from New York Times, "Living in the Past Is a Full-Time Gig", on retro-jazz lifer Michael Arenella:
"... a 34-year-old jazz musician and bandleader from Brooklyn who looks as if he had stepped through some wormhole in the space-time continuum. He is 6-foot-1 and dressed in windowpane-checked pants, a blue paisley ascot, a red-and-white checked shirt, a herringbone vest, a blazer with a blue pocket handkerchief, cap-toe faux-crocodile ankle boots, a pinkie ring and a brown fedora....
"Mr. Arenella inhabits the past as much as anyone thriving in the present can. Each summer he hosts the annual Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island, singing, playing cornet and leading his 11-piece Dreamland Orchestra....
"Making Dreamland a reality takes lots of sweat and shoe leather — from shoes both vintage and custom-made. To recreate the jazz age, he not only studies the music of the ’20s and early ’30s but also wears its hats, cuff links and ties. He drives the cars, rides the trains (when possible), gets the haircut, plays the horns and sings through the microphones and megaphones (he owns seven) of the period...
"As a bandleader who wants to get every nuance of the era right, Mr. Arenella has been transcribing songs from old 78s onto orchestral charts for the last decade. Since most of the original charts are lost, it’s the only way to get an authentic sound for his musicians.
" 'As I was transposing these guys’ breath, recording their breath on
pieces of paper, I was like: ‘"Wow. What were those guys wearing that
made their breath sound that way?’ ” Mr. Arenella wondered. “How tight
was that waist coat? What kind of timepiece did they have on their
hands? What method of transportation did they take to get to the
recording session? What did it look like when they crank-started their
car?”'
"So began his obsession. He not only transcribes the music but also uses bottled ink and a fountain pen...
"When they have the time, [Arenella and girlfriend] take a joy ride on the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad steam engine in Pennsylvania."
paradox alert:
“'Dance music from the jazz era is very industrial in nature and sound,' he explained. 'It’s an onomatopoeia. You can hear the locomotives and the city sounds. When you hear an engine idling or a steam locomotive, it swings. You can dance to it.'”
So he's fixated on the sounds of a bygone modernity?
