Brand from Home | January 27, 2022

Wellness Wednesday

Join the Wellness Wednesday movement with Glendale Library, Arts & Culture. Every first and third Wednesday of the month, join Robyn Butcher-Whitla for art and journaling classes via Zoom for adults. Register for March 2 and March 16 starting February 1. Try Creativebug.com for more journaling or creative activities

Performance Series Applications Open

Music Ensembles are invited to apply for two exciting performance series. Music ensembles must be trios or larger. Application submission deadline: January 28, 2022 at 5:00PM (PST).

222 East Concert Series

Performances for the 222 East Concert Series are scheduled for Saturdays in Fall 2022 from 4:00pm-5:00pm.

Performance must be 1 hour in duration each.

Brand Library Plaza Series

Performances for the Brand Library Plaza series are scheduled for Fridays in Summer 2022 from 7:00pm-8:30pm. Performance must be 1 hour and 30 minutes in duration each.

Music Playlists

Listen to a streaming playlist from Freegal Music, Naxos Music Library,Naxos Jazz Music Library, Hoopla or Music Online from Alexander Street free with your library card. Alexander Street will ask for an academic institution, use Glendale Public Library.

Here are some new CDs we have received in the last few weeks.

Here are some new music books we received in the past month

And some new DVDs!

Happy Lunar New Year

Many Asian countries celebrate the Lunar New Year following the lunisolar calendar or cycles of the moon and sun. Some East Asian countries that celebrate the Lunar New Year are China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia, and Vietnam. This year it falls on Tuesday, February 1. Celebrate the Lunar New Year with one, two, three different lantern craft patterns and instructions. The lantern symbolizes the wish for a bright future!

As part of the Be the Change series, GLAC is hosting a number of events to recognize the strength and creativity of our communities. To celebrate the Lunar New Year, we’d like to focus on tea. Drinking tea is a way of life, not just in East Asia, but throughout the world, and its historical influence and global impact on the fabric of communities cannot be understated.

To highlight this, join us for a special showing of the documentary …All in This Tea by distinguished documentarian Les Blank. Start streaming from the library’s website from Friday, January 28. To register to see the documentary (starting January 28) or for more information, please head to the event page.

Lunar New Year Celebrations Online

The Met Museum has a Virtual Lunar New Year Celebration for the Year of the Tiger. Saturday January 29th from 10am to 5pm. May art bring you good fortune! Celebrate the Year of the Tiger, one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, with virtual performances, interactive activities, and artist-led workshops for all ages.

The Kennedy Center presents a collection of some great performances from past Lunar New Year celebrations and other explorations of Asian culture. Check out stunning Winter Lanterns crafted by Chinese artisans made up of 10,000 colored LED lights. They also have some fun activities that you can download.

Ring in the Year of the Tiger! Celebrate Lunar New Year online with the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Enjoy streamed video performances of dances, acrobatics, and yo-yo tricks by the Madison Chinese Dance Academy. Then watch demonstrations of traditional Chinese crafting and Lunar New Year traditions, including the classic lion dance.

Checkout some Lunar New Year inspiration!

Can't find it at the library? Try out Link+ our network of 70 public and academic libraries from across California and Nevada. Just click on the link from the catalog or watch a tutorial to learn more.

Brand Library Staff Reviews

Before I Love Lucy was a hit television show, on the air continuously since 1951, before its stars were the subject of an Aaron Sorkin movie, a TCM podcast, and an Amy Poehler directed documentary that recently premiered at Sundance, before all the laughter, antics, and tears, there was Lucille Ball and Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III. In A Book, first published in 1976 and available in book format on LINK+, Arnaz tell his side of this Hollywood story. This book covers not just the invention of the American sitcom format but also his riches to rags to riches story of growing up in Santiago de Cuba until a revolution made his family refugees. Even though he couldn’t read music when he started out with Xavier Cugat’s band, years of struggle saw him become a renowned musician and bandleader who would popularize the African-originated conga in the United States in the 1930s in clubs and on film. When Arnaz was all of 23 years old, he met and married Ball and left a stalled film career for a lucrative music career which involved constant touring. When, years later, they decided to make a show together, and convinced the networks and sponsors that an interracial married couple could be shown on television, no one would have predicted the couple would define the sitcom, create syndication, and own a studio. As far as autobiographies go, A Book doesn’t hold back in its approachable and hilarious narrative, and I was in awe of how resourceful Desi Arnaz was in every career transition. It's evident by the last part of the book that everything is going to fall apart but what a story until then.

Bela Fleck – Throw Down Your Heart: the Complete Africa Sessions (2020). The movie and recording of Throw Down Your Heart was a product of Bela Fleck’s 2005 trip to Uganda, Tanzania, Gambia and Mali. The movie was released in 2008 and the album in 2009. This 2020 set brings together in one package the movie and album with two additional CDs of music and 14 additional songs on video. Bela Fleck is a famous banjo virtuoso with a long career. Bela explores the banjo’s African roots. The first two discs are a mix of vocal and instrumental music recorded with many different musicians. An interesting variety of instruments including the sokou, thumb piano, djembe, kora, fiddle and many others. Bela’s banjo is still very recognizable in the ensembles but also blends well. Toumani Diabaté is an amazing virtuoso of the kora (a string instrument) from Mali and disc three is just Toumani and Bela playing duets. It’s a beautiful sound with the two instruments and the kora often sounds like a harp. Some compositions were written by Bela and others by the African musicians so there is a fun mix of African and American influences. The set comes with a nice booklet, however, I wish they included translations of the lyrics to the many songs. The movie visually documents his travels and the performances. You will learn a lot about the variety of African music and instruments. I’m glad they included subtitles on the DVD so you will at least know some of the song lyrics. This music will lift your spirits. -BW