Benjamin Laird is no stranger to dealing with complex issues vis a vis the composition and collection of NT, as his previous work on the collection of the Pauline letters shows. This 272 page study which is hot off the IVP press (July 11, 2023) certainly deserves close scrutiny and is to be applauded for its careful historical work involving a variety of difficult issues— who counts as an apostle and what does the phrase apostolic authority mean (and why... Read more
Sometimes like ships passing in the night, sometimes like rivers crossing each other occasionally, white music and African music went their own ways, occasionally cross-fertilizing. In this post we will focus on the blues, and on country music, the latter coming first…. There was a major emphasis in this exhibit at the Frist on Leadbelly, but also on other blues guitarists…. Read more
Without question, the guitar caught the imagination of numerous artists in the 19th and 20th centuries, and as America gradually moved West the guitar became associated with Western things, including later movies (think Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, the Lone Ranger and more). Here is a very interesting painting (with numerous stringed instruments in it). Take a close look… Guitars show up just about everywhere, and in all kinds of paintings…. Even artists as famous as Whistler (remember his painting of... Read more
The electric guitar was first invented in 1932, and it is attributed to an electrical engineer named Rickenbacker and a musician named Beauchamp. But real innovation that made it a go too instrument should be credited to Les Paul whose actual name was Lester Polsfuss (born 1915 and died 2009) and who can be credited with the solid body electric. The Gibson Les Paul was based on the man’s prototype called The Log. Today there are too many different types... Read more
The forerunner of the guitar was something called the cittern which was an instrument used in the 18th century in Europe. Here it is…. You will notice the hollow body, and the fretboard, and possibility of having six strings. Though this instrument and its successors were around during the rise of the classical symphony era, it never became an orchestra instrument before it found a place in jazz orchestras in the 20th century. In size it was more like a... Read more
The Frist Art Museum in Nashville is a relatively recent museum by modern standards in April 2001 and has basically been hosting touring exhibits ever since then. In other words, it doesn’t have a standing collection of art large enough to be self-sustaining, so it sponsors traveling one. And this guitar exhibit is fantastic. It only last until August 13th, so by the time you see these posts it will be over. It was well worth the visit and I... Read more
The upstairs contains an art gallery, mainly featuring the recent works of Bruce Munro, plus a few blasts from the past by others…. First Munro… These are representative of the rest…. but perhaps you would rather enjoy seeing Life imitating art….. Here’s a whimsical painting from the past…. Or an old photo of Leslie Cheek Jr. and his handlers riding along in a vintage car…. And here is an homage to the nannies and others who looked after the... Read more
For the record, Cheekwood is a much more eloquent and livable home than the other ones we visited. This family’s taste was much better than various of their forebears and contemporaries. Mind you this mansion is much more modern than the others visited and was the home of Mabel and Leslie Cheek, dating to the 1930s. You still see the influence of classical culture, but also more modern conveniences. These people had taste, and education as well. It is difficult... Read more
When the Cheeks (whose house we will see) married the Woods, the name of the property including considerable Botanical Gardens was Cheekwood. And this is by far the most eloquent and interesting of the mansions we visited. We will start with the gardens, which includes a Japanese garden as we shall see. Let’s start with the Japanese garden and work our way to the other ones. The The little white globes are part of the illuminations of Bruce Munro, a... Read more
We also toured the gardens, and did the horse and buggy tour of some of the grounds, chiefly of the area where the slaves worked and lived. And our carriage driver was a fine guide named Dawn, and the two horses pulling the wagon were beautiful. One was named Aslan. Dawn explained how very difficult picking and cleaning cotton was before Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. She showed a container of cotton which comprised a whole day’s work for... Read more
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