Hollywood Arts Council - Songs & Stories

Here are some pictures from the May 12th production of "Songs & Stories For Our Days" held at the unique and eclectic venue of Harvey's Art Gallery and Showroom, for the Hollywood Arts Council. It proved to be a really fascinating evening performing in the unusual environment. Audience members got to sit in the varied furniture on the sale floor and I did my best to really work the room. It was a sublime experience...and I am looking forward to all the unusual and intimate spaces I will be performing at in the near future!

 

 

 

Hive World Waggle Dance Dispatch April 2012

I’ve heard many people proclaim they long for a proper Waggle Dance* update – wanting to know where to get their creative honey! Well prepare yourself, for Spring 2012 is blooming with all manner of goodies. To find out more information about the subjects below just visit: http://hiveworld.org/currentbuzz.html

1. I’m presenting 6 Encore performances of “Songs & Stories For Our Days” happening these last two weeks of April on Wednesdays & Fridays at 8pm and Sundays at 7pm. It was a joyful January first performing these original a cappella songs alongside my versions of some rare folk tales and myths with modern connection. So please share in the continued uplifting journey of universal themes through chaos toward bliss of what I call “An Unorthodox Spiritual Cabaret” 75 minutes of alchemical musings will keep you in alignment for 2012. Just $15, but if you saw it the first time around and want to see it again, you can for just $10.  You can now watch a 5-minute video trailer here:

http://vimeo.com/40436480

2. As some of you know I’ve been working with the Abraxas Talent Agency and recently edited demo reels for iconic actress Tippi Hedren (Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds) and 4 time Emmy-Award winning Michael Learned (The Waltons). This week I am organizing several performance artist friends for the agency in a production happening at the Elephant Theatre. It’s a gallery fundraiser exhibit called “It’s A Dog Eat Shark World” with renown artists Andre Miripolsky and Josh Rosenthal. It happens Saturday, April 21^st between 2-5pm (show at 3pm) and Wednesday, May 9^th from 7-10pm (show at 8:30pm). The live show features acts by Jose Promis, R. SKY Palkowitz, April Hava Shenkman, Jeff Freeman, Jake Dyson, and myself.

3.  I also have four works of art on display for sale in a group exhibition opening on April 26^th from 6-9pm at Harvey’s Art Gallery and Showroom curated by Chevalier Tony Clark. The show is called REPURPOSED and will include all manner of mixed media art with the theme of new beginnings, rebirth, and metamorphosis.

4.  As if that wasn’t enough this month you can also catch me performing two new performance pieces at both Queer Mondays and Wig Out! I’ve been so fortunate to have seen and helped document some of the finest gems of performance art sparkling at these monthly clubs.  The first will be on Monday, April 23^rd at Akbar at Fountain and Sunset Blvd in Silverlake at 8pm, with special guest artist and iconic playwright Robert Patrick headlining. The best reason to stay up late in Los Angeles on the fourth Thursday of the month is always Wig Out! Hosted/created by Jean Natalia for the past six years, it is THE place to get your freak on! Bands at 10pm and cabaret performances at 11pm unfurl at the Three of Clubs bar at Santa Monica Blvd & Vine.

5.   I can’t recommend enough that you see Ian MacKinnon’s Gay Hist-Orgy part 1 and 2 extended for the next two Friday evenings April 20 & 27 It’s quite the wild romp through gay history, which will not only leave you wiser about some important gay figures, but you’ll give your abs and mouth a good workout from all the laughter! More info at: http://www.gayhistorgy.com/

6.   And finally – a Dirty Face Creek Farm Update. Last summer I spent 5 amazing and sweaty weeks helping out on the organic farm my cousin, Mike Stutsman founded with his wife Jessica in 2005. I’m part of the wonderful team keeping it going and aiming to fulfill Mike’s original vision. Please check out the new online “Dirty Face” of organics at www.DirtyFaceCreekFarm.com and consider joining us as a “Friend with a Dirty Face” to immediately give us a boost our ambitions and help keep the farm going strong.  We need all the friends we can get to achieve an amazing dream of dirty faces with clean, organic food – a cause more important than ever!

* A Waggle Dance is special type of choreography that bees do for each other utilizing the infinity symbol (figure eight) in order to communicate where great sources of nectar and pollen are to be found -- in this case to feed the creative soul!

So many blessings – so many artistic blossoms to gather the creative nectar and pollen and make honey. I hope to see you there sharing in the BLISSINGS!

Jason Jenn

Friday the 13th - "Opening Knight"

It’s the first month of 2012 and already we have a Friday the 13th, and in my opinion a perfect date to open “Songs & Stories For Our Days.” I’ve never worried about the bad luck associated with the day. In fact according to some statistics, because people are more cautious of the 13th, fewer "bad" incidents often occur. As a kid I made it my lucky day, it was the 14th I worried about! Maybe it’s my association with the Friday the 13th horror films, my name is after all Jason. But it’s my hope to bring a new, positive energy into association with the much maligned number.

I include 13 songs in my first bound book collection (and forthcoming album) “Songs & Stories For Our Days.” The number holds significance for me for several reasons. Because 12 is considered a traditional number for a complete cycle, some view 13 as a number that transgresses the cycle — or rebegins a new cycle, depending on how you look at it. 13 is a sacred number that introduces a new dynamic to what is considered complete and stable. Some cultures used it as an opportunity to start anew.  I just read that 13 is sometimes viewed as the central point surrounded by cycles of 12, that it is about the bonding of many into one. There were 12 Apostles, but if you counted Jesus, 13. 12 knight of the round table, and King Arthur 13. 12 Tribes of Israel, with Israel as 13. There are 13 lunar cycles in a year and it's also a sacred Wiccan number.

Friday the 13th as an "unlucky day" actually come about because on in Friday the 13th in October 1307, King Philip IV of France had many of the Knight’s Templar arrested, tortured and eventually executed. The Knight’s Templar had grown in power and wealth over the centuries. They were a sacred society of skilled fighters and intelligent men sworn to do good and among other things, supposedly protected the secrets of the Holy Grail. They innovated financial banking techniques and building strong fortifications.  So on that dreadful day, Friday the 13th, a power play with the Church and State took most of the Knights out, AND their great treasures and property were confiscated, with the excuse that the king was “suspicious” of them.

So hopefully, the spirit of the noble Knights will smile upon this Friday the 13th and help to bless "Songs & Stories", bringing good tidings to the infamous date!

Songs & Stories Teaser

Songs & Stories For Our Days Teaser Trailer from Jason Jenn on Vimeo.

I'm getting excited to present the newly reworked "Songs & Stories For Our Days".  It feels like the best way to start off this infamous turning point and mystically revered year of 2012.  I'm of course biased in thinking that everyone could benefit from experiencing the piece - it's a great way to be connected to the necessary energies for transcending this chaotic world we find ourselves in. The songs and stories were meant to be shared. They are filled with universal themes relevant to our modern life and all the glory and dilemma that comes along with it.

I presented a rough draft of the piece this summer to family and friends in Iowa. Now it is set for this revamped unveiling in Los Angeles. I'm actively seeking to present these Songs & Stories more and more, so if anyone can help me get connected with funding and venues around the globe to make that happen, please give me a buzz! JasonReBegin@gmail.com

While the teaser above is visually quite stimulating, I'm excited to present a very "naked" show - singing a cappella songs without the usual theatrical trimmings, which is forcing me to be as present, grounded, authentic, and fully committed in the delivery as possible. I am by no means the greatest singer, but what matters is, as I say in one of my songs, I'm going "to give it my all with spirit and heart!"