WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:11.880 Hudson River Radio dot com dot com makes it cool, my godness, being 2 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:19.160 Frank. The only way to be is Frank. Hello everyone, and welcome 3 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.679 to being Frank. We're the only way to be is Frank. I'm your 4 00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:26.640 host, Frank Lebuono, and i'd like to thank you for joining us on 5 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:31.960 what we like to call the Intelligent Conversation podcast, where no conversation is out 6 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:37.280 of bounds and all points of view are welcome. We're going live to tape 7 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:41.600 as we normally do the week after Thanksgiving. It's the last day of November 8 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:46.200 the thirtieth, and I certainly hope that everyone had something to be thankful during 9 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:51.079 this past Thanksgiving. Some, if not most, celebrated the holiday with a 10 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:56.039 lavish feast, dining on massive turkeys with all the trimmings. It is as 11 00:00:56.159 --> 00:01:00.719 much a part of the day's tradition as the actual giving of thanks But these 12 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:04.680 are tough times in so many ways, both on a global scale as well 13 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:08.920 as a local one. War rages in Ukraine and Gaza, where thousands of 14 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:14.719 innocent lives have already been lost, and many of our neighbors still struggle to 15 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:18.799 put enough food on the table to feed their families. What we need are 16 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:25.680 dedicated people to offer simple prayers for challenging times and offer their considerable talents to 17 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:29.000 make the world a better place for all of us. And in just a 18 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:34.159 minute, we'll meet two of them on this edition of Being Frank. First, 19 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:37.680 Rita Harvey, the Star, Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the 20 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:42.079 Roof, next to Normal, and many other Broadway productions and folks that don't 21 00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:47.319 remind you, these are very truncated biographies. If I were to read both 22 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:53.159 of our guests biographies in their entirety, we wouldn't have time for the program. 23 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:56.640 They're that accomplished, So hopefully they'll forgive me as I said, these 24 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:01.200 are very well abbreviated, but I will continue, okay. She has teamed 25 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:07.560 up this holiday season with New York Times bestselling author, composer, and classic 26 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:14.000 music critic Peter Danish for an incredibly special new CD named, appropriately enough, 27 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:20.080 Simple Prayers for Challenging Times. It's a collection of short prayers from numerous faiths 28 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:24.319 set to original music by Danish and performed by Harvey. The CD contains original 29 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:30.199 compositions and a few traditionals in fresh arrangements. Arrangements. Excuse me, including 30 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:37.400 Sacred Catholic, Jewish, Baptist, Arabic, Orthodox Christian texts, and others. 31 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:42.199 They are also performing the CD live as a fundraiser for People to Eat, 32 00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:46.240 People to People, the largest food bank in Rockland County, New York. 33 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:50.639 We'll have more on that specifically with dates and tickets, etc. A 34 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:53.639 little bit later on, but now let's meet Rita Harvey and Peter Danish. 35 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:58.759 Thanks guys for joining us here on being Frank really appreciated your busy people. 36 00:02:59.319 --> 00:03:06.520 Thanks for let's talk about the original germination, if you will, the germ 37 00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:10.120 of the project, simple prayers for challenging times and even though as I said, 38 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:15.639 it's certainly very appropriate for now with everything going on in the world, 39 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:21.800 but this was really kind of hatch during another challenging time in our lives COVID, 40 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:24.680 which it's not hyperbole to say change the world for all of us. 41 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:30.879 Both of you either take How did that germ come about as it related to 42 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:35.960 the to the pandemic? Who wants to take it? I'll take it? 43 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:39.639 Okay. Hi, great to be here. Yes, this was kind of 44 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:46.400 our COVID project. We were talking quite a bit during COVID about how artists, 45 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:52.080 you know, especially performing artists. You know, we were not able 46 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:55.000 to do what we love to do. We were just kind of left marooned, 47 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:00.840 especially singers. I mean, it was said and Covid that was the 48 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:03.759 worst thing you could do was be in a room with a live singer and 49 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:08.919 actually sing in a room with people. So it was rough for a while. 50 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:12.960 A lot of my singer friends and myself included, you know, didn't 51 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:15.319 sing at all. We just sort of would cry if we did, you 52 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:19.759 know. But during one conversation with Peter, we were talking about that, 53 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:24.319 and he has lots of brother singer and musician friends. He said, listen, 54 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:29.199 I have some prayers and songs that I've written. Do you want to 55 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:32.079 just record them? Do a little demo, you know, in a safe 56 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:36.879 environment. We went into a studio with masks on and it's basically just he 57 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:41.040 and I and I quick take a mask off, singing from and put it 58 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:45.560 back on. And but it, you know, it turned into something fun. 59 00:04:45.879 --> 00:04:49.160 We started to kind of experiment with different tracks and he brought in different 60 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:55.399 tracks of different instrumentals, and you know, it turns out, well, 61 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:58.560 I knew this about Peter. He's brilliant and everything, but he's you know 62 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:02.720 was great at arranging these songs and coming up with neat you know, things 63 00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:06.040 to do with the tracks, and and we said, you know, let's 64 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:11.240 let's make a CD out of this. This is working. And uh started 65 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:15.120 out with he brought me some mass parts. I believe we're both Catholic. 66 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:20.079 And then we said, you know, let's expand it out to other religions. 67 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:24.240 We don't want this to be just a Christian thing. We wanted to 68 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:30.480 be all people and it, you know, it became something something we wanted 69 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:35.959 to people to be able to meditate to, something continue please please, just 70 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:41.319 something that that would calm people. You know, the times were rough, 71 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:46.000 and you know, we worked hard at finding a vocal quality and a and 72 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:50.560 a kind of a signature sound that's very calm and meditative. And there are 73 00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:57.000 a few uptempo things. But and also that meant looking for texts that were 74 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:02.560 very meditative, but to universal crowd, not just Catholic or Christian, but 75 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:06.319 to everyone. Per perfect segue for my question for Peter. It had to 76 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:12.600 be somewhat of a of a daunting task to take on all of those religions. 77 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:15.360 I mean, it's tough enough. You know, I'm a Catholic boy 78 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:20.800 here certainly was anyway, I'm sure, I'm sure I'm long excommunicated. But 79 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:27.120 that's a that's a podcast for another day. You recover Catholic, like, 80 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:31.759 that's a recovering Catholic. So uh, you know, certainly, having gone 81 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:38.480 to a parochial grammar school, I'm somewhat versed and somewhat so in in some 82 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:42.079 of the other religions, certainly not enough to be able to pull it together 83 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:45.319 to create songs, et cetera. How did you do that, Peter? 84 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:48.360 What was your what was your method for doing that? Well, Rita hit 85 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:54.160 the nail on the head. We were talking quite a bit about how our 86 00:06:54.360 --> 00:07:03.800 artist friends were feeling, feeling the downtime during COVID a lot deeper than a 87 00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:09.519 lot of other folks were, because they just weren't able to ply their trades. 88 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:15.720 And in the case of singers especially, your trade is more than just 89 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:21.399 a trade. Your trade is who you are. And if a singer is 90 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:25.560 not singing, they're only half of who they really are, you know. 91 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:30.839 And I saw Rida. I saw Rita in a lot of pain, basically 92 00:07:30.040 --> 00:07:33.040 because she was just dying. She said, Danish, I have to sing 93 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:40.279 something. What do you got And I said, I was working on something 94 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:45.160 for another singer, a metropolitan opera singer, a Prele Milo. I worked 95 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:48.839 on a song with her about five six years ago. It was an Avi 96 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:56.839 Maria for the children of Haiti. It was a relief single for the Hurricane 97 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:03.079 Matthew recovery and it did very nicely. I still hear it in the mall 98 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:09.759 on the holidays when I'm walking around. But it was a duet, and 99 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:11.720 I said to Rita, do you want to give it a shot? Do 100 00:08:11.720 --> 00:08:13.240 you want to try singing both parts? And She's like, oh yeah. 101 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:20.480 And because something that a lot of folks may not realize is that Rita is 102 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:24.319 a trained opera singer and that's what she went to school for. Initially, 103 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:28.759 that was her you know, her stock in trade was legit opera singing. 104 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:35.559 So this gave her a chance to dive back into classical waters again. Because 105 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:41.679 I've known Rita, you know, twenty five years now, twenty five years. 106 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:48.759 Yeah, and generally speaking, I had only heard her in the beginning 107 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:52.799 for years doing Broadway stuff, and then little by little as we got to 108 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:56.000 know each other, she played me recordings of stuff she had done. We 109 00:08:56.039 --> 00:09:01.480 did the Hudson Valley Opera Fest together a couple times where she got a chance 110 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:05.399 to really show her you know, to strut her stuff in that world, 111 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:13.080 and to my mind, that was where her voice really shined. So it 112 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:20.559 just seemed like a logical kind of destination to make it a bit more on 113 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:26.759 the classical side. And it also brought out a lot of the sounds from 114 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:30.320 her voice that I really loved when I heard her singing the Broadway stuff, 115 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:37.519 and I really, I really leaned towards the more lyrical Broadway stuff that I 116 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:43.080 heard her do rather than the more modern stuff and the more the patter stuff, 117 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:46.600 which is all fine, but I think you hear the beauty of the 118 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:52.759 voice more in the long legato phrasing and stuff, the belconto stuff, which 119 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:58.320 lends itself to the opera tradition. So I had started a couple of songs 120 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:01.480 for a prelay. At the time it was all going to be Christian. 121 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:07.600 But when we sat down, Rita said, wouldn't it be nice if we 122 00:10:07.639 --> 00:10:13.080 could make this kind of non denominational for everybody? And her kind of admonition 123 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:18.799 to me was she uses the word meditative. I thought of contemplative, was 124 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:24.399 kind of the word more or less the same idea, But the bottom line 125 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:31.399 was it was music for people who were hurting. Hence the title Simple Prayers 126 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:37.039 for Challenging Times. We were hoping folks could sit back, have a glass 127 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:41.679 of wine, listen, and just get some solace as everybody was just so 128 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:48.440 incredibly tense and so stressed and so frustrated during COVID. So we had a 129 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:52.639 couple of upbeat tunes, but generally speaking, we tried to keep it more 130 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:58.360 on an even keel, music that people could sit back and not listen to 131 00:10:58.360 --> 00:11:05.679 one track but listen to the entire CD from start to finish. And No, 132 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:07.039 what I was going to say was that Rita was up to the challenge. 133 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:09.120 She's whatever I threw at her. She said, let's give it a 134 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:13.279 shot. And we wound up. She wound up. I didn't have to 135 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:20.159 sing, she wounds up. She wound up singing in six different languages on 136 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:26.799 the first CD, in myriad styles. Uh. And when you speak of 137 00:11:26.840 --> 00:11:31.840 the challenges, the challenges for me were, you know, there were? 138 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:35.840 It was It was fun. I got to be honest with the musicology is 139 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:41.240 fun. Doing the research is fun. I learned more preparing for this CD 140 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:48.360 about the history of music, probably because it's so steeped in religion. There's 141 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:54.519 no getting away from it. That that was music was paid for for centuries 142 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:58.240 by first by the church, then by the rich, and then you know, 143 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.840 by the companies, and now by other companies again. So it was 144 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:05.360 we were able to because we produced it ourselves, to get away from all 145 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:09.840 that and really do exactly what we wanted. And she didn't say, she 146 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:13.759 didn't say no to anything basically that that we discussed, you could say, 147 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:18.000 she could say yes and six different languages. I want to I want to 148 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:22.279 ask you a little bit about that. Reader, Are you fluent at six? 149 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:26.600 Did you or did you have to really truly learn the songs in the 150 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:31.919 native languages? Tell us about that. No, I am not fluent. 151 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:41.440 Peter's wife is right, she's a yes. No. When you study opera, 152 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:46.279 you do have to be familiar with the three big languages, which are 153 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:50.799 Italian, French, and German. So I'm quite familiar with I'm not fluent, 154 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.080 but I'm familiar with Italian, French and German. But then you know, 155 00:12:54.120 --> 00:13:01.000 we kept finding prayers and chants and you know, songs from all kinds 156 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:03.679 of other languages, and at that point what I would do is finds. 157 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:09.919 Happened to be that I found people that were native speakers, such as Peter's 158 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:15.159 wife. We worked on the slavitegos put out, which is Slavic chant. 159 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:20.000 She helped me out with that. I happened to have one of my dearest 160 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:26.639 friends is Ukrainian. She talked me through the Ukrainian prayer. As far as 161 00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:28.399 the Welsh, you know, I just did a lot of research. Listen 162 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:33.120 to Brin Turfel, listen to you know a lot of famous Welsh singers, 163 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:37.919 and of course you do the research as to what these songs, what these 164 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:43.200 words mean. You know. Of course I don't know every single word right 165 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:46.759 now. They sort of feel like syllables to me. But I you know, 166 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:50.200 it did go through and translate, so at least I have a very 167 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:54.120 good idea of what these words mean. So it just takes a little bit 168 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:58.919 more research. And you know, very lucky to have Sanella and my friend 169 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:09.480 to talk me through the Ukrainian and Slavic because that's and Randy Schwitz for that 170 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:15.840 with the Hebrew, right, let's talk about that. It was a collaborative 171 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:20.480 effort. You had people Obviously you guys spearheaded the effort, but there were 172 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:26.600 collaborative efforts from other musicians, linguists, lyricists, et cetera. About some 173 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:31.679 of the people who were involved with the CD. We always with any project, 174 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:37.200 you end up going to experts for various things and just gathering knowledge from 175 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:39.840 every place you can. I know Peter did go ahead. Peter has all 176 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:43.159 kinds of people he talked to. Well, that's that was kind of the 177 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:48.080 fun of it. I'll tell you going back a little bit, when I 178 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:52.799 mentioned that the Ave Maria that we did a couple of years ago, when 179 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:56.559 a prelay said to me, oh, find us for an orchestra. I 180 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:01.720 don't have an orchestra. Do you have an orchestra? But I am the 181 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:07.120 classical critic for Broadway World, So I kind of put out an APB on 182 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:11.120 Broadway World and said, if anyone is a musician who would like to be 183 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:16.840 part of a charitable single with the world famous opera singer, I will send 184 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:20.120 you the part with a click track and you can be a part of this 185 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.720 charity effort. Well it was. It was successful way beyond my imagination and 186 00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:30.840 became a nightmare when I got like a hundred tracks, and of course nobody 187 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:33.879 listened to what I told him to do. Nobody played to the click. 188 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:37.240 I said, don't put any reverb, don't put any Everybody put junk on 189 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:41.720 it. It was such a mess trying to trying to mix and master it. 190 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:46.159 And then we reached reached out to our mutual friend, Frank Fagnano, 191 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:52.120 producer extraordinaire, who's going to be playing the drums with us on January the 192 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.759 thirteenth. Frank worked at the Hit Factory for many years, and he worked 193 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:58.919 at Tony Bennett's studio down in Englewood for many many years, and I gave 194 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.759 him all the tracks and said, make something out of this, and he 195 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:10.960 did. But he also working with him helped me fear the production process a 196 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:18.279 lot less. So when Rita and I started down this road, I was 197 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:23.240 not as afraid of playing all the tracks myself, because in the studio, 198 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:26.879 you make a mistake, you throw it out, you do it again. 199 00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:30.840 That's good and it's bad. Tell you why. Now, as we set 200 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.600 out to play the thing live for the first time, you start to realize 201 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:38.320 you need a heck of a lot of musicians to try and reproduce this stuff. 202 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:42.480 In the studio, you could throw down thirty tracks, but live you 203 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:45.960 can't have thirty players laying around unless you've got an awful lot of money. 204 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:52.600 But what I was getting at was I started to think a little bit more 205 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:56.879 broadstroke, and I wasn't afraid to reach out to a couple of friends. 206 00:16:57.240 --> 00:17:00.279 I said, if I can't make this sound good, I reached out to 207 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:06.240 a friend who's the conductor of the Athens Philharmonic in Greece, my friend Yanis 208 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:11.160 Haaji Laizu, because I was having a heck of a time with the song 209 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:18.240 Mother Teresa, which I had written kind of as an oompapah type of beer 210 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:23.839 drinking a song you know you know d D And I played it for him 211 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:34.240 and I said, the the music doesn't match the message very well. I 212 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:37.640 had a tremendous amount of difficulty because one of the things Read and I talked 213 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:44.680 about was we couldn't believe no one had ever put Mother Teresa's prayer to music. 214 00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:48.799 We couldn't find it anywhere, and it's like the most beautiful prayer of 215 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:52.720 the twentieth century. And then when I sat down to try, I realized 216 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:56.640 why, Because every line is a different length. Nothing rhymes. The meter 217 00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:00.480 is different. It was a nightmare trying to make it work, but it 218 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:07.079 worked kind of in this waltz feeling. I sent it to my buddy, 219 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:11.720 he said, at the piano, and came out with this beautiful piano arrangement 220 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:18.559 for it, absolutely gorgeous piano arrangement that I hadn't even conceived of, And 221 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:23.599 then suddenly the whole thing fell into place. It took on a totally different 222 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:27.839 energy, and it's one of the one of the prettiest things on the record, 223 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:33.440 and everybody loves it because everybody knows the prayer, and we'll be doing 224 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:37.000 that one obviously, and Rita is going to dedicate it to her mom, 225 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:42.440 who's named Teresa. You see, my grandmother's my grandmother's name, so I 226 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:48.559 relate. Well, you know what, let's listen to a cut. We 227 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:53.720 have this little light of mine. Tell us about that. What can we 228 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:59.240 expect to hear? Okay, this little light of mine, obviously is a 229 00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:04.359 couple of hundred year old spiritual from the South, and I think most folks 230 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:11.839 know it, but not this type of arrangement. I rearranged the melody so 231 00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:18.920 it's not quite as jaunty as the one that you're used to hearing. It's 232 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:25.079 much more of a prayer. And the idea came to me last but two 233 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:29.799 years ago. Now when did when did this record? Command? Yeah? 234 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:36.359 Two years ago, and one of I was I was watching CNN and they 235 00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:44.720 said, stay tuned. We have the first ever audio recordings of the Sun. 236 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:55.839 And the NASA had made audio recordings of the sound of the Sun vibrating 237 00:19:55.880 --> 00:20:00.400 in the universe. And it was amazing. Here. Now, mind you, 238 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:07.720 it's about five octaves lower than what you hear because it's it's so darn 239 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:11.160 low. But yet they had to bring it up into the audible spectrum for 240 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:14.640 us to hear. But I heard it and thought it had such a cool 241 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:18.680 energy to it, and suddenly I said to myself, I'm gonna try something 242 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:26.480 here. I took the recording of the Sun, I sampled it, and 243 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:33.400 I put it onto the keyboard and the sound you hear on the recording, 244 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:42.319 the music in the background is actually the sun. And riata very cool. 245 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:47.279 So she did a duet with the Sun. Yes, let's listen to this 246 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:52.200 duet with the Sun. From simple Prayers for Challenging Times. When I readA 247 00:20:52.240 --> 00:21:30.759 Harvey and Peter Danish, this is this little light of mine, this little 248 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:42.200 light of lone. I'm gonna lead it, show this little light on the 249 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:56.359 line all I'm gonna lead shore, this little light of lone. I'm gonna 250 00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:12.119 lead it. Shine headed shine, lady shine leader, shop. Oh three, 251 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:38.200 the I'm gonna leading it chop all three. Then look through the leading 252 00:22:38.759 --> 00:23:22.799 chap leady shop lead chop leader chop three. We I'm gonna learned shop made 253 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:59.079 it shock shock. That was this little light of mine. From Simple Prayers 254 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:03.559 for Challenging Time, Rita Harvey and Peter Danish with a special cameo duet by 255 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:10.039 the Sun itself a great, really interesting story. We'll try to get in 256 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:12.920 a few more songs off the disc. We've got to go for a break 257 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:17.839 in a little while. I'm going to bring in the executive director of People 258 00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:22.920 to People, the Food Bank of which will be the beneficiary of your immense 259 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:26.519 talents in a concert coming up. Well, I must we'll plug it now. 260 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:29.440 We'll plug it a couple of times. People can come and hear the 261 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:33.200 entire CD. You'll be performing it live right where and when? Guys, 262 00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:37.880 why don't we start plugging it now? And then go back into our discussion 263 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:44.000 it'll be at the Living Christ Church one fifty one South Broadway in Nayak, 264 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:49.480 and that's going to be at seven pm on Saturday, January the thirteenth. 265 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:53.920 How can people get tickets? And again we'll remind them again before the end 266 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:56.759 of the program, but let's get it in a few times. How can 267 00:24:56.799 --> 00:25:02.759 people get They get it at the people to people dot org website. Terrific 268 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:07.039 guys so far and as you mentioned, the the disc has been out for 269 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:11.079 a while at this point. Overall, how how's the response? Well, 270 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:15.559 well, let me let me read I'd like to read one one review from 271 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:18.680 Elliott Farrest, who is as a friend, who is a host at w 272 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:23.799 q x R and very involved here in Nayak with the art community and arts 273 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:29.480 rocks, And he said, Simple Prayers is a lush mix of new and 274 00:25:29.640 --> 00:25:34.119 familiar melodies and texts for many of the world's faiths. Read a Harvey's voice 275 00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:37.759 as clear as a bell, whether a person of faith or not. The 276 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:44.160 songs are a soothing respite for our times. That's pretty pretty nice praise there 277 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:49.640 that's been That's got to feel pretty good. So overall, how how has 278 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:57.200 it been received? What has the response been like? It's been quite wonderful. 279 00:25:57.319 --> 00:26:03.640 Actually, I what is it that the prayer we mentioned before, Slavi 280 00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:10.160 te Ghos, but a huge hid in Europe. Apparently it's there's been how 281 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:14.680 like thousands and thousands of downloads apparently, Yeah, we're getting it's kind of 282 00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:19.440 it's kind of interesting because of all the tunes on these On the first cd 283 00:26:21.319 --> 00:26:26.599 uh, Slavi Teo is an Orthodox Christian Yugoslavian song that I knew from my 284 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:34.119 childhood. But when you when you hear Orthodox chant, typically you hear it 285 00:26:34.359 --> 00:26:41.160 done by old men in long black robes, with long black beards and tall 286 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:47.519 black hats. So when I think you know old men with long black beards, 287 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:53.759 I think Rita Harvey. So so I brought it to the Fortunately, 288 00:26:53.839 --> 00:27:00.279 no visuals, I can assure everybody read A Harvey is far. I'm a 289 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:03.720 man with a long dark beard and long dark hair, and I just want 290 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:11.039 to get that straight in case they generated any kind of confusion. Basically what 291 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:15.319 we did was and that's another that's another track where there's virtually no instruments. 292 00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:21.680 There's a sleigh bell and that's about it, and all of the music you 293 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:27.599 hear is Rita. She sings all the parts like deep, different tracks from 294 00:27:27.720 --> 00:27:33.720 the very very low to the very very high, and we sampled her and 295 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:37.720 put her all across the thing. And it sounds at times like an orchestra, 296 00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:41.160 at times like it sounds at times like a choir, and it's all 297 00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:48.160 her. And ironically, I got an email from Spotify saying, you are 298 00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:57.839 you are trending in in Estonia, followed by I would Estonia, that would 299 00:27:57.880 --> 00:28:03.559 be okay, followed by you are trending in Lithuania, followed by your trending 300 00:28:03.640 --> 00:28:07.160 in Latvia. You're trending in Bulgaria. You're trending, And I like, 301 00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:11.599 wow, that's pretty cool. So I went to the website of our you 302 00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:15.799 know, the CD at the publisher, and I saw that it was getting, 303 00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:22.200 you know, like it had tens of thousands of listens uh and and 304 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:27.519 was getting thousands of listens a day in Central Europe. And the funny thing 305 00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:32.720 was, when you look at this, the preponderance of evidences, they like 306 00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:36.799 to say, you see, all the tunes are doing okay, ten listens 307 00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:41.000 a day, twenty listens day, six thousand listens a day, ten listens 308 00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:45.240 a day, twelve listens. It was so ridiculously disproportionate to all the rest 309 00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:55.680 combined that and that led us to a year ago when when Russia invaded the 310 00:28:55.839 --> 00:29:03.200 Ukraine. I knew a beautiful old Russian folksong, Ukrainian folk song, and 311 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:06.240 I brought it to Rita and she loved it, and she said, I 312 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:10.759 have a friend who can help me with this, and that's the prayer for 313 00:29:10.920 --> 00:29:15.160 Ukraine. And we're going to end the program this evening with with hearing that 314 00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:18.400 that song as well too. I'm really wonderful, I really, I'm looking 315 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:22.039 so proud of how that turned out. It just I think it sounds so 316 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:26.160 beautiful. I'm so proud of it, and I love Peter. Tell them 317 00:29:26.200 --> 00:29:32.359 the story about the string quartet that is actually accompanying this. Yeah, I 318 00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:37.559 have I have a couple of friends in Kiev who are a string quartet, 319 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:42.559 the Infinito string quartet, and they've worked with me on some other stuff on 320 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:48.920 a contract basis. And I shot them a note saying, how are you 321 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:52.720 guys doing? Are you okay during all of this? And they said, 322 00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:56.720 we're hanging in there. You know, bombs are going off at night. 323 00:29:57.279 --> 00:30:00.759 During the day, it's pretty quiet, but it's very scary. And I 324 00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:03.119 said, boy, I'd love to give you guys some work, but I 325 00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:06.359 know you're too And they said, oh no, please give us work. 326 00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:11.559 Give us as much work as you could possibly give us. We are dying 327 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:17.279 to work. It keeps our mind off of the madness. It brings some 328 00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:23.319 sense of normalcy. And they did all the strings on the prayer for Ukraine 329 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.559 drink. We'll be hearing that. But it's again, I keep using the 330 00:30:29.640 --> 00:30:37.319 same Hackney phrases, but it's another perfect segue. You do music with a 331 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:41.079 social conscience. It's obvious the whole cv is is a whole CD excuse me, 332 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:45.440 is socially aware. The fact that you're going to do a live performance 333 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:52.160 to raise money for food bank, obviously as a testament to your commitment to 334 00:30:52.519 --> 00:30:56.920 social justice et cetera. How important, And I'd like both of you to 335 00:30:56.039 --> 00:31:02.000 answer, is it to for you to incorporate that that sense of a social 336 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:07.839 methods of social justice in your music and what you do? That's extremely important? 337 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:11.119 I mean, especially in times like we're in right now, challenging times. 338 00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:17.039 It was I guess, kind of cathartic for me to be able to 339 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:22.160 sing about these things, but also to not just put out a CD just 340 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:26.640 because you know, it was I think it was important to both of us 341 00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:32.640 to put one out that actually hopefully helped people that actually, you know, 342 00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:34.720 like we said, we wanted it to be something people could that would bring 343 00:31:34.799 --> 00:31:38.200 them solace, that would bring them, you know, something they could meditate 344 00:31:38.279 --> 00:31:44.880 to. And you know, the one for the Ukraine, I mean that 345 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:51.559 was for our dear friends and for the country of Ukraine. And yeah, 346 00:31:51.640 --> 00:31:55.720 it's more of a let's put this out there to help the world more than 347 00:31:55.920 --> 00:32:00.200 just a fun project for ourselves, which it absolutely was, but you know, 348 00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:04.119 let's have this actually make a difference in some circles. So that was 349 00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:10.160 our goal. Peter, your thoughts. Well, when I first met Rita, 350 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:15.799 as we said, twenty thousand years ago, one of the things I 351 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.680 was struck by was that she and her husband did a tremendous amount of benefit 352 00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:24.279 work. It seemed like every month they were performing for some other charity. 353 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:30.079 And Arita is on the board of directors of Covenant House House, yes New 354 00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:37.200 York. And when I wrote a book a few years ago, a speech 355 00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:42.880 coaching book, and I decided to give the proceeds to a couple of charities. 356 00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:46.759 One of them was Covenant House. One was Homes for Heroes in Rockland 357 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:52.759 County, which is homes for homeless veterans. And the third was People to 358 00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:58.039 People because I knew Diane Saati, the executive director, and she's just, 359 00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:00.400 you know, she's a wonder woman the amount of work that she does, 360 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:07.519 and she's literally doing God's work. And when she came to me and said, 361 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:12.240 hey, would you do a benefit for us this holiday season? We 362 00:33:12.319 --> 00:33:15.160 would? She says, I just think your your stuff on simple prayers is 363 00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:20.720 just so perfect for our message. Would you consider that? And I rang 364 00:33:20.839 --> 00:33:22.799 up Rita, and of course I knew she'd say yes, and two seconds 365 00:33:23.960 --> 00:33:28.759 yeah, And we do anything for Diane and the cause, you know, 366 00:33:28.839 --> 00:33:31.920 couldn't be better. Not to get on a political soapbox, but the fact 367 00:33:31.960 --> 00:33:38.599 that we have starving families in Rockland County is just a disgrace. It's shameful 368 00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:44.599 in this day and age we have we have. As the line goes, 369 00:33:44.920 --> 00:33:49.400 there's more, There's more than enough for everybody. There's no reason for anyone 370 00:33:49.480 --> 00:33:53.480 to go hungry, especially in a county as wealthy as Rockland County is going 371 00:33:53.519 --> 00:33:57.680 to be joining us after the break. I'd like to get one more song 372 00:33:57.799 --> 00:34:01.599 in Before we take that break and bring Diane Saratorius, as an executive director 373 00:34:01.640 --> 00:34:06.359 of People of People, talk a little bit about your event coming up in 374 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:09.239 January, and she has another one getting Saucy, that she would love to 375 00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:14.440 talk about, which I'm involved in. We'll plug a little bit more of 376 00:34:14.519 --> 00:34:17.320 that later, but before we go, another one of your songs I think 377 00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:23.000 very appropriate considering what's going on a in the world in general, in Gaza 378 00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:30.320 in particular, Sholomkam, which is a traditional greeting piece being loosely translated. 379 00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:35.400 Tell us a little bit about that song and why it's important. Now did 380 00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:43.639 you know that figive me for interrupting Rita the In doing the homework for the 381 00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:46.079 second CD, I looked into I looked into it at least a dozen different 382 00:34:46.119 --> 00:34:53.599 faiths, and I found something really telling. Virtually every major faith in the 383 00:34:53.719 --> 00:35:00.159 world has this one phrase in common, and that phrase is peace be with 384 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:08.079 you. Virtually every faith has peace be with you as one of its one 385 00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:14.760 of its, uh you know, cardinal dogma. And I found that especially 386 00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:23.159 especially ironic in these times when uh, far too frequently we're seeing we're singing 387 00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:32.360 so much violence and horror that's related to religious extremism, and I thought it 388 00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:37.519 was one of those things that the juxtaposition of peace be with you against what's 389 00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:40.480 going on was really something and this one. I brought it to reader. 390 00:35:40.599 --> 00:35:45.119 She she loved it immediately, and she went to our dear friend Randy Schebitz 391 00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:52.519 to help her make certain that we weren't being that we weren't being culturally inappropriate. 392 00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:59.000 We got that, we got announcing puny pronunciation correct. Yeah. I 393 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:05.440 think it's one of the most beautiful melodies. So much of the Jewish High 394 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:09.840 Holidays music, all the service music is so beautiful, it's haunting, and 395 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.320 this is I think one of the most beautiful melodies soever. So I was 396 00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:16.440 thrilled to be able to do it justice. I just love how this turned 397 00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:22.159 out. Let's have it take us into a commercial break. When we come 398 00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:28.239 back, we'll continue our discussion. Bring Diane's sarritory of people to people to 399 00:36:28.679 --> 00:36:31.400 join with us and talk a little bit about the events and how people can 400 00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:37.440 help their neighbors here in Rockland County. I'm your host, Frank Lebono. 401 00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:42.320 This is being Frank, and we're listening to some music simple prayers for challenging 402 00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:46.880 Times by Rita Harvey and Peter Danish. My very special guest tonight and this 403 00:36:47.159 --> 00:37:44.599 is Shalom Alekam Shupham Maloka Shot Maloka, Malaca, ny Ma god Fo sh 404 00:37:45.480 --> 00:38:17.480 sh shocky a car go strong, he spa parant ministering a Jews and Jews 405 00:38:23.679 --> 00:38:45.119 by Rains of the Rocks, noting the one less said his Lessbi josup Casengs 406 00:38:50.480 --> 00:39:07.239 from the lock to the Cocky's no all they want lessons shopman on a fat 407 00:39:07.719 --> 00:40:16.079 shot, a sh shirt, my car. Hudson River Radio dot com, 408 00:40:24.800 --> 00:40:42.760 Hudson Riverradio dot com, Hudson River Radio dot com. Welcome back to Being 409 00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:47.199 Frank, the Intelligent Conversation podcast. Thanks for sticking with us. I'm your 410 00:40:47.239 --> 00:40:52.000 host, Frank Lebono. You know we bring our audience a fresh topic every 411 00:40:52.119 --> 00:40:55.559 week, premiering on Thursday nights, and we stream from Hudson River Radio, 412 00:40:57.119 --> 00:41:01.639 located a beautiful and historic Stony Point, New York. And remember our engineer, 413 00:41:01.760 --> 00:41:06.280 Neil Richter, I call him the Mailman because he always delivers. He's 414 00:41:06.360 --> 00:41:09.679 there. But you can catch Being Frank anywhere you get your favorite podcasts like 415 00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:15.119 Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio and all the others. And because every Being Frank 416 00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:20.079 is archived. You can listen to any of our programs anytime you like. 417 00:41:20.840 --> 00:41:23.679 You can find a link to Being Frank on the Hudson River Radio Facebook page 418 00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:30.920 or our website Hudsonriverradio dot com. Just click and you're there. Leave us 419 00:41:30.960 --> 00:41:35.159 a comment and please consider subscribing to the podcast, and if you really like 420 00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:39.000 us, share Being Frank with your family and friends. My very special guests 421 00:41:39.039 --> 00:41:45.079 so far, I've been Rita Harvey and Peter Danish as they discuss their CD 422 00:41:45.320 --> 00:41:51.400 Simple Prayers for Challenging Times and a special performance live performance coming up in January 423 00:41:51.480 --> 00:41:55.119 for the benefit of people to people and without further ado speaking of people to 424 00:41:55.280 --> 00:41:59.800 people is my good friend, our good friend, I should say, he 425 00:42:00.159 --> 00:42:05.679 just working woman, not only in show business but in nonprofit Diane Sarah Torre, 426 00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:08.280 Dianne, thank you once again for joining us here on Big Frank, 427 00:42:08.800 --> 00:42:13.639 Thank you for having me, and thank you all for so much. So 428 00:42:14.840 --> 00:42:20.440 well again, let's we just came through Thanksgiving and you're tired, gal. 429 00:42:20.639 --> 00:42:23.280 I'm sure because it's got to be one of your busiest times. How many 430 00:42:23.360 --> 00:42:28.599 meals did you manage to serve to hungry people this year? Well? So 431 00:42:28.800 --> 00:42:32.800 far, this year, People People's Food Pantry has provided about one point five 432 00:42:32.920 --> 00:42:38.079 million meals. We have at least ninety to one hundred households coming to us 433 00:42:38.159 --> 00:42:44.159 every single day. Just to put this in some kind of context. When 434 00:42:44.199 --> 00:42:50.199 I started decades and a lifetime ago in two thousand and eight, Delores Traeger, 435 00:42:50.280 --> 00:42:52.840 who was the head of the organization at the time, said, never 436 00:42:52.920 --> 00:42:57.400 schedule more than twenty appointments a day. And now we have eighty ninety one 437 00:42:57.519 --> 00:43:01.559 hundred and on Thursdays when we're open until seven, we have like one hundred 438 00:43:01.559 --> 00:43:07.719 and forty two appointments a day. Yeah, and I have spoken to all 439 00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:12.719 of you about this. Read has been very involved in good Stock and we 440 00:43:12.800 --> 00:43:17.039 talk about this a lot. There's an awful lot of people in need in 441 00:43:17.159 --> 00:43:21.559 Rockland County, and at some point the county is going to have to address 442 00:43:21.599 --> 00:43:24.239 the bigger issues around that. Because I can keep giving people food. Actually, 443 00:43:24.280 --> 00:43:27.760 I don't know how much longer, you know, how much when do 444 00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:32.280 we hit capacity? You know? But there are bigger issues out there, 445 00:43:32.320 --> 00:43:37.800 and I try to convey them. But if we don't do something about housing, 446 00:43:37.960 --> 00:43:45.280 something about childcare, something about language skills, and something about you know, 447 00:43:45.360 --> 00:43:47.599 some vilifying the poor, that we are going to continue to have this 448 00:43:47.760 --> 00:43:52.840 issue, so it's way bigger issues. That good news is Folks like all 449 00:43:52.920 --> 00:43:55.960 of you have done so much to help us do what we need to do, 450 00:43:57.599 --> 00:44:00.599 but it isn't getting easier, and it has to get done because there 451 00:44:00.639 --> 00:44:05.920 are people hungry in this county and that's just not okay. What's especially tragic 452 00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:10.440 to me is I've been living in Rockland now thirty going on thirty three years. 453 00:44:12.440 --> 00:44:19.320 It's incomprehensible that the problem is worse than ever. It's just INCOMPREHENSI there's 454 00:44:19.320 --> 00:44:23.599 a lot of reasons for that. When they cut federal safety net programs like 455 00:44:23.719 --> 00:44:29.679 Snap and Universal Breakfast and lunch, people that were doing their very best to 456 00:44:29.760 --> 00:44:34.760 get by suddenly, you know, when you take forty percent of their assistance 457 00:44:34.800 --> 00:44:37.760 away, what are they going to do? They don't have any other choice. 458 00:44:38.400 --> 00:44:43.679 It's getting increasingly expensive to live in Rocklin County. You know, I 459 00:44:43.800 --> 00:44:45.480 hate to use that guy that ran for president. The rents are too damn 460 00:44:45.559 --> 00:44:49.079 high. But you know, he had a point then. I think he 461 00:44:49.159 --> 00:44:52.360 might have been crazy on the other aspects. But that is an issue, 462 00:44:52.639 --> 00:44:57.440 you know, nobody wants to talk about. Affordable housing. That word has 463 00:44:57.559 --> 00:45:00.360 like you know, it gets people all nervous. But yeah, we've got 464 00:45:00.480 --> 00:45:04.079 to do something about making sure that the people who live here and work in 465 00:45:04.199 --> 00:45:09.280 the jobs that nobody else wants to do have some place to live here. 466 00:45:09.840 --> 00:45:15.480 Yes, live here and seniors. You know, we've seen a gigantic increase 467 00:45:15.519 --> 00:45:20.360 in seniors. And technically I am one, but these folks own their homes, 468 00:45:21.599 --> 00:45:25.159 but taxes go up and utilities go up, and their medical expenses go 469 00:45:25.320 --> 00:45:29.400 up, and so what are they supposed to do? They don't want to 470 00:45:29.440 --> 00:45:31.519 move. This is where their family is, this is where they built, 471 00:45:31.599 --> 00:45:36.400 help build the community. So you know, there are way bigger issues here 472 00:45:36.559 --> 00:45:38.679 at some point, and every time I talk to the electeds, and you 473 00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:43.719 all know I get to talk to them a lot, we have to start 474 00:45:43.800 --> 00:45:45.519 to think about the bigger picture. I don't know if that's ever going to 475 00:45:45.559 --> 00:45:49.920 happen. I started talking about affordable housing when I was in leadership Brooklyn in 476 00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:53.480 two thousand and one, and as you can see, great strides have been 477 00:45:53.559 --> 00:46:00.119 made not since then. Well, you know, Diane, you're always working 478 00:46:00.400 --> 00:46:09.039 to try to You mentioned good Stock with Rita's husband Neil Burgh. Rita Rita 479 00:46:09.159 --> 00:46:15.719 herself, is a myriad of other artists, very talented people throughout the Rockland 480 00:46:15.719 --> 00:46:20.719 and North Bergen area. As good as it gets. It's again, it's 481 00:46:20.800 --> 00:46:24.519 a classic fun event that helps to raise money. And you're always trying to 482 00:46:24.559 --> 00:46:30.920 do something that that's appropriate, suitable and enjoyable. And you've got a couple 483 00:46:30.039 --> 00:46:34.400 coming up. This is plug time, so let's let's start with the plug. 484 00:46:34.800 --> 00:46:37.239 Next one coming up in December. What's what's the day? December? 485 00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:43.159 December eleventh, eleventh eleven says what the hell girls are you doing on a 486 00:46:43.199 --> 00:46:50.119 Monday? Get getting saucy? Yes, this started several years ago. I 487 00:46:50.199 --> 00:46:52.079 can't really remember when. It was started by Jen White who was the then 488 00:46:52.159 --> 00:46:57.760 mayor of Nayak and lou Falco. Jen used to have this Halloween thing and 489 00:46:58.079 --> 00:47:01.599 she'd served sauce and everybody you know would go there, a lot of elected 490 00:47:01.639 --> 00:47:06.199 officials and lou Falco, the sheriff, went and was tasting the sauce and 491 00:47:07.159 --> 00:47:10.519 Jen said, so what do you think and he went, mine's better, 492 00:47:12.079 --> 00:47:15.119 which you know, frankly, how to how to make yourself feel good to 493 00:47:15.239 --> 00:47:21.679 the hostess, welcome, come on back. So when they told me this 494 00:47:21.760 --> 00:47:23.840 story, we're like this could be a great thing. We'll make a sauce 495 00:47:23.920 --> 00:47:29.440 competition. Paul Pipperato, who is no longer with us but is still greatly 496 00:47:29.559 --> 00:47:32.480 she loved he was part of it. Tom brasilar from Owen, r Dorothy 497 00:47:32.559 --> 00:47:37.679 Philoramo. You know, they all have names that except for Jen and they 498 00:47:37.679 --> 00:47:43.320 were the original get saucy gang. And we have continued and you know every 499 00:47:43.400 --> 00:47:46.239 year we try to bring in some other folks to compete against it. Lou 500 00:47:46.360 --> 00:47:58.599 Falco is the winningest judge's choice with the sheriff you know have lost. He 501 00:47:58.760 --> 00:48:02.760 lost last year for the first time to his nemesis, Tom Brasila of O 502 00:48:02.920 --> 00:48:07.920 and R. The two of them beat each other up. I mean Tom 503 00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:13.199 Brazilara actually took pictures of lou Falco in a supermarket getting taking RAGU off the 504 00:48:13.280 --> 00:48:21.320 shelf and put it on Facebook. I'm not kidding. This very serious. 505 00:48:21.639 --> 00:48:27.320 So lou is going to defend because Tom won last year. And I have 506 00:48:27.440 --> 00:48:30.039 to tell you, I don't know, like they bring their sauces in. 507 00:48:30.239 --> 00:48:37.119 Then Angelo at the Naya Seaport and his matred d They give each one a 508 00:48:37.239 --> 00:48:40.559 number. I don't know which number goes with which chef, and then the 509 00:48:40.679 --> 00:48:45.719 judges taste it, and then they come to me and tell me the number, 510 00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.079 the one, and then I go to Angela and say, okay, 511 00:48:49.119 --> 00:48:52.199 who was number blah blah. And last year they gave me the number. 512 00:48:52.199 --> 00:48:58.079 It was two relatively new judges, and he gave me the number, and 513 00:48:58.159 --> 00:49:00.119 the mader d came over and she looked at me and I went, oh 514 00:49:00.199 --> 00:49:07.440 my god, this is not gonna be I said. Tom Brasilara won and 515 00:49:07.559 --> 00:49:09.119 he's going to be thrilled. But I said to the judges, you probably 516 00:49:09.159 --> 00:49:17.800 want to leave now, because you know, after you. So he did 517 00:49:17.960 --> 00:49:22.119 take it well, the sheriff, you know, kind of and so now 518 00:49:22.199 --> 00:49:27.000 they're back and I kind of pitched it as the go Lou calls it gravy 519 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:30.519 because he puts me in it a lot of it apparently, so he's the 520 00:49:30.679 --> 00:49:37.519 guru of gravy versus Tom, who is the Prince of produce. When I 521 00:49:37.599 --> 00:49:39.880 was talking to Tom, he sent me a text he goes, wait a 522 00:49:39.960 --> 00:49:44.159 minute, he's not the guru. You're making it sound like he knows what 523 00:49:44.239 --> 00:49:46.639 he's doing. He's like the goombah of sauce. And I'm like, yeah, 524 00:49:47.480 --> 00:49:51.320 I can't put that on the people that people fly. You know, 525 00:49:52.400 --> 00:49:55.760 I can't do that, but you can. And they are already getting already. 526 00:49:57.360 --> 00:50:01.679 We have got some great new folks other competitors that are going up against 527 00:50:01.719 --> 00:50:07.639 the two of them. One is Frank Lebono, who is Sicilian cheap you 528 00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:19.159 know one week camp Morales from social media. Yes he is. And Tiffany 529 00:50:19.199 --> 00:50:22.000 who is on our board. She's a new board member, very excited. 530 00:50:22.639 --> 00:50:28.199 And Lisa Seratory Castelnova, Yes she is my cousin. But I am not 531 00:50:28.480 --> 00:50:31.840 a judge. The other thing Tom said, he goes, wait a minute, 532 00:50:32.119 --> 00:50:36.920 Lisa saratoris you have a sister who glows her own tomatoes, makes your 533 00:50:36.920 --> 00:50:38.559 own sauce. She's got a ringer here. And I said, well, 534 00:50:38.800 --> 00:50:43.960 she's not my sister, because well there's a family resemblance. And I just 535 00:50:44.000 --> 00:50:47.360 said, but I'm not a judge. What's very exciting, I think is 536 00:50:47.480 --> 00:50:52.440 that Jeanie from the food writer for the Journal News is going to be one 537 00:50:52.480 --> 00:50:58.159 of the judges. And she doesn't ordinarily do this, I've been told, 538 00:50:58.320 --> 00:51:00.880 but she's very much looking forward to doing this. So it's either going to 539 00:51:00.920 --> 00:51:07.239 be very exciting very distressing for lou Edward time. How do people come and 540 00:51:07.760 --> 00:51:10.880 become involved and and and things. Give us, give us this the facts, 541 00:51:10.960 --> 00:51:14.400 man give us. They can do is go to our website, people 542 00:51:14.440 --> 00:51:17.239 to people ink dot org and buy tickets. We've got sponsors O and rs. 543 00:51:17.280 --> 00:51:22.960 The sponsor Howard Hannah ran Realty is a sponsor and of course Deputy mayor 544 00:51:23.119 --> 00:51:30.199 mayor soon to become NYA mayor. Joe Rand is the MC. He he 545 00:51:30.400 --> 00:51:34.840 really does. Peter, You and and Frank were at down the shore and 546 00:51:34.960 --> 00:51:39.239 Peter he was terrific. So really job. He's very committed to this organization. 547 00:51:39.280 --> 00:51:44.119 And I'm very grateful. And you get to eat great pasta too, 548 00:51:44.960 --> 00:51:49.719 Yes, great spa. So go onto the website or you can look on 549 00:51:49.800 --> 00:51:52.760 our Facebook page. You can just click on the butt but and get tickets. 550 00:51:53.679 --> 00:52:05.920 You mean, don't you. I mean, well, I'm going to 551 00:52:06.000 --> 00:52:12.159 make the sauce. I mean my Italian grandmother Irish, but she made a 552 00:52:12.199 --> 00:52:15.960 great sauce. My nanny made a great sauce. It was never called gravy. 553 00:52:15.039 --> 00:52:22.440 Gravy is brown, Okay, eternal to be. Let's let's talk a 554 00:52:22.480 --> 00:52:30.239 little bit about also the Rita and Peter's events. Simple prayers for challenging times 555 00:52:30.679 --> 00:52:36.079 coming up in January, tell us a little bit more about that. It's 556 00:52:36.079 --> 00:52:43.400 an incredible event that the music is so moving. You know, just because 557 00:52:43.519 --> 00:52:49.079 COVID is over doesn't mean we have put all those issues behind us. We 558 00:52:49.199 --> 00:52:57.480 are still living in incredibly challenging times and you know, we all get so 559 00:52:58.440 --> 00:53:05.400 polarized, you know, and this is an opportunity really for the community to 560 00:53:05.519 --> 00:53:14.039 come together in a very positive way to say that simple prayers. There are 561 00:53:14.159 --> 00:53:17.199 simple ways to make things better, and that's to listen to each other and 562 00:53:19.159 --> 00:53:22.960 hear what others are saying, be it in song or in word. But 563 00:53:23.559 --> 00:53:28.519 we are all in this together. This is our community, and we have 564 00:53:28.719 --> 00:53:31.880 to find a way for us all to be in the same room to make 565 00:53:32.320 --> 00:53:37.239 make our community better for everyone. You know, we can't be it's either 566 00:53:37.360 --> 00:53:40.840 this side or that side. We have to find a way. And music 567 00:53:42.360 --> 00:53:52.719 really is the great motivator united. It does. It unites people. And 568 00:53:52.840 --> 00:53:55.679 I really can't tell you how much I thank Rita and Peter. I know 569 00:53:55.760 --> 00:54:00.679 you put so much work into this. I'm and part used to do it 570 00:54:00.719 --> 00:54:05.320 on Martin Luther King weekend, which is very appropriate. You know, we 571 00:54:05.519 --> 00:54:08.119 all want to see our community better place. I say this often I say 572 00:54:08.119 --> 00:54:10.639 it, Jess, but I would say I may not get there with you 573 00:54:12.320 --> 00:54:17.360 like Martin, but I believe that we can't and we have to. We 574 00:54:17.519 --> 00:54:22.920 have to try, We have to try. If we all do a little 575 00:54:22.960 --> 00:54:27.920 bit, we can make a big difference for our neighbors in need. And 576 00:54:28.599 --> 00:54:31.440 this is a big bit, but it really is a way to get people 577 00:54:31.599 --> 00:54:37.159 into the same place and have their hearts healed and move forward. Is a 578 00:54:37.199 --> 00:54:40.920 tree coming out of retirement and singing with us. I am actually yes, 579 00:54:42.119 --> 00:54:50.239 I want to practice fantastic. That was hard to convince her. We're just 580 00:54:50.280 --> 00:54:52.360 about out of time. Read. I want you to introduce our final song 581 00:54:52.440 --> 00:54:55.159 to Prayer for uk Ukraine. Tell us a little bit more about that, 582 00:54:55.280 --> 00:55:00.039 But Peter, I want to have you take a few moments to to share 583 00:55:00.119 --> 00:55:06.159 your final thoughts on why people should come and see this concert. On Martin 584 00:55:06.239 --> 00:55:10.320 Luther King Weekend, Diane put it very very you know, very nicely there 585 00:55:10.440 --> 00:55:16.159 that essentially, music's a great uniter. It's something that speaks to us on 586 00:55:16.360 --> 00:55:23.519 a level beyond language. There's something abstract and universal about it and it hits 587 00:55:23.559 --> 00:55:27.920 you in a soft spot and that's sort of what we're trying to do. 588 00:55:28.039 --> 00:55:32.920 With this, we're trying to get people from multiple faiths, kind of like 589 00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:37.480 the interfaith celebration that they have at Grace every year. That's one of the 590 00:55:37.519 --> 00:55:42.239 most beautiful nights of the year. I don't know if our audience has ever 591 00:55:42.280 --> 00:55:47.239 attended it, but Grace Church does beautiful interfaith service every year and something like 592 00:55:47.320 --> 00:55:52.599 that. And by recognizing and seeing and hearing and listening to the multiple faiths 593 00:55:54.159 --> 00:56:01.400 and to basically share the beauty of what what there, there's a cultural beauty 594 00:56:02.039 --> 00:56:07.599 to what these faiths bring as well. And part of it is the music. 595 00:56:07.440 --> 00:56:13.119 And I think that the music is something that's probably the easiest way to 596 00:56:13.239 --> 00:56:19.519 get to know the basic tenets of the faith. Listen to the words, 597 00:56:19.599 --> 00:56:22.880 listen to the music, take it into your heart. And you know, 598 00:56:23.039 --> 00:56:27.000 I was joking. I said, we'd like everybody to sing along, provided 599 00:56:27.039 --> 00:56:35.119 they sing the same song we're singing. Let's now go ahead. I was 600 00:56:35.159 --> 00:56:37.440 going to say, but you know, if you've got to read a Harvey 601 00:56:37.519 --> 00:56:42.960 singing, sometimes it's best to just sit back and listen. Well, let's 602 00:56:42.960 --> 00:56:46.679 sit back and listen to a prayer. A prayer in a song by Rita 603 00:56:47.360 --> 00:56:51.519 and it's a prayer for Ukraine. I think it's very appropriate that we end 604 00:56:51.920 --> 00:56:54.679 with a prayer, and with everything going on in the world, particularly in 605 00:56:54.760 --> 00:56:59.840 the Middle East, not lose focus on the people in Ukraine also who are 606 00:57:00.039 --> 00:57:01.760 writing for freedom. Tell us a little bit about this song and what it 607 00:57:01.840 --> 00:57:05.920 means to you read it. Oh, it means so much. You know. 608 00:57:06.079 --> 00:57:10.280 Peter brought it to me literally right after the war started, and it 609 00:57:10.480 --> 00:57:16.079 was also I think it was also the song that was performed on Saturday Night 610 00:57:16.159 --> 00:57:22.280 Live that night Ukrainian choir and yeah, Peter instantly texted me this is a 611 00:57:22.360 --> 00:57:28.400 song, this is a song, and yeah, I like he mentioned he 612 00:57:28.480 --> 00:57:31.519 has friends there. I have dear friends in the Ukrainian of my closest friends 613 00:57:32.119 --> 00:57:38.559 is Ukrainian and she's from ker Song and you know, her hometown is basically 614 00:57:38.639 --> 00:57:43.039 destroyed. And we just want to send this out as a love letter to 615 00:57:43.119 --> 00:57:49.079 our brothers and sisters everywhere, but especially Ukraine. This song is very it's 616 00:57:49.119 --> 00:57:52.719 almost kind of like their country my country to his. It's very much about 617 00:57:52.760 --> 00:57:58.599 how much they love their country and how beautiful it is. And also knowing 618 00:57:58.679 --> 00:58:06.440 that Peter's friends, the string quartet that played underneath it is heartbreaking to me 619 00:58:06.519 --> 00:58:09.880 they were hiding in abasement, playing these playing this for this recording. So 620 00:58:10.679 --> 00:58:14.760 this goes out to all our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, just knowing that 621 00:58:14.840 --> 00:58:19.599 we have not forgotten you. I would like to thank our guests, me 622 00:58:19.760 --> 00:58:23.119 to Harvey, Peter Danish and Diane SARATORI thank you so much for being Frank 623 00:58:23.199 --> 00:58:29.400 and of course for your intelligent conversation. I'll be seeing you for getting saucy 624 00:58:29.599 --> 00:58:35.679 and for the simple prayers for challenging times. And of course we offer special 625 00:58:35.760 --> 00:58:37.760 thanks to our listeners who take the time to give us a voice in their 626 00:58:37.840 --> 00:58:42.840 lives. Remember we offer a fresh topic every week. You can catch us 627 00:58:42.880 --> 00:58:46.079 wherever and whenever you get your favorite podcasts. Can also check us out on 628 00:58:46.119 --> 00:58:51.239 the Hudson River Radio Facebook page. Like us, leave us a comment too, 629 00:58:51.920 --> 00:58:55.079 and we ask you that you consider sharing Being Frank with others. For 630 00:58:55.199 --> 00:58:59.800 our engineer Neil Richter, I'm your host, Frank Lebono, and we hope 631 00:59:00.280 --> 00:59:01.880 to have you join us on the next Being Frank. We're the only way 632 00:59:01.960 --> 00:59:07.199 to be is Frank. From simple prayers for challenging times. This is Rita 633 00:59:07.280 --> 00:59:12.679 Harvey and Peter Danish with a prayer for Ukraine. Thanks everybody, We'll see 634 00:59:12.679 --> 01:00:22.960 you again next time. Oh y re not O s the gron Cot See 635 01:00:23.800 --> 01:02:21.440 long series, The Lobos Moschool says shaps take the nos s shake. This 636 01:02:21.920 --> 01:02:22.880 is Hudson River Radio dot com.