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VOA标准英语2010年-New Album a Tribute to the Late Arif M

时间:2010-07-08 03:02:19

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(单词翻译)

Arif Mardin (far right) and his classmates, at VOA in the early 1960s.

Grammy-award winning producer Arif Mardin died in 2006 after being diagnosed with cancer a year earlier. Now, four years after his death -- and through a loving tribute by his son --  Mardin is poised1 to take the spotlight2 at the top of the music world one more time.

As a producer, he was the wind beneath Bette Midler's wings.  He gave "R.E.S.P.E.C.T"  to Aretha Franklin.  He accompanied Norah Jones as the virtually unknown artist sang 'Come Away With Me' on her journey to stardom.  And he did the same for many more.  But when award-winning music producer Arif Mardin learned that he was facing a personal health battle, he knew he still had one more album to make.

"In 2005, when my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, in the months following that he started treatment and also he started to review many of the pieces he had written throughout the years, mainly jazz pieces," Joe Mardin said. Mardin is Arif Mardin's son and a fellow producer.

 

Arif Mardin was determined3; this time he was not going to worry about the commercial demands of the pop record charts or the FM airwaves. This was going to be the artistic4, jazzy" album that his heart and soul had longed for all those years.

Voice of:  Arif Mardin (from movie clip The Greatest Ears in Town):
Together with my pop career I never gave up on classical and jazz, this gave rise to 'why don't I do a project of my own "

"I think many people know about his extraordinary career as a producer and arranger of popular music, with an extraordinary range of artists," Mardin stated. "But I don't think that they knew, or necessarily know about his very prolific5 output during those years on the side as a composer of modern, classical and jazz pieces."

In fact, it was Arif Mardin's love of jazz, as a teenager in Istanbul, that opened up the path from his beloved home town to Boston and from being an ardent6 Turkish jazz fan to being a sought-after pop music producer. Joe Mardin says the Voice of America also played a part in the process.


Tahir Sur, (r) worked for the VOA in Washington in 1950-1960's, Lawrence Berk (c), the founder7 of the Berklee School (now College) of Music, Arif Mardin (l).


"In 1956 when Dizzy Gillespie was on a State Department sponsored tour of the Middle East, Turkey and Greece.  Quincy Jones was the musical director of the orchestra at that time.  That is when my father met Quincy and Dizzy Gillespie.

Eventually when Quincy came back to America they were looking for the first recipient8 of Quincy's scholarship at the Berklee College of Music (in Boston), and at the Voice of America there was a gentleman named Tahir Sur, probably again on the Turkish news desk in Washington, D.C., and Voice of America actually commissioned my father to write three pieces, three arrangements, and eventually Quincy Jones recorded them with an all-star band with people like Art Farmer, Charlie Persip, I mean it was an incredible orchestra who played my father's pieces with Quincy conducting -- recorded for the VOA and that tape went to the Berklee College of Music and resulted in my father receiving the first Quincy Jones scholarship at the Berklee College of Music."

After a long journey of more than 40 years from Berklee to the Grammy awards, Arif was eager to pay homage9 to jazz in his last album -- to be called All My Friends Are Here.

Mardin planned to collaborate10 with all the artists who had become family and friends over the years. Chaka Kahn was the first among them who came on board.

Soon, Bette Midler, Norah Jones, Carly Simon and Doctor John joined the project.  Recording11 started in November of 2005, the same year Arif was diagnosed with cancer.  It soon became clear that his illness was progressing much faster than the recording sessions.

"You know when we were making the album and in his last month or two it became very clear with his doctors that probably he wasn't going to be with us very longer, and it really kind of hit me, in a way, and made me very sad at that time that he would not be able to finish this very personal Project -- his album --  and it seemed so unfair to me," Mardin said.

Fortunately, after working side by side all those years with his father, Joe Mardin was able to finish the Project.  He knew exactly what his father wanted and how he wanted it.

"The album, musically was very close to being finished.  Obviously, there were things to do but I think he made it clear to me what and how he wanted it finished and I hope that he would have been pleased with the end result," he said.

As a gifted musician, Arif Mardin gave his best to artists and their fans.  Now his son Joe is giving back:  The completed All My Friends Are Here album became available to the public on June 15, as a father's day gift from the son to his father. And Joe Mardin's documentary on his father's life The Greatest Ears in Town will soon follow as well.

Note: This report narrated12 by Wayne Bowman.

 


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 poised SlhzBU     
a.摆好姿势不动的
参考例句:
  • The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋,准备俯冲。
  • Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张,手悬在电话机上。
2 spotlight 6hBzmk     
n.公众注意的中心,聚光灯,探照灯,视听,注意,醒目
参考例句:
  • This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
  • The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。
3 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
4 artistic IeWyG     
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的
参考例句:
  • The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
  • These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。
5 prolific fiUyF     
adj.丰富的,大量的;多产的,富有创造力的
参考例句:
  • She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家,写了很多小说和短篇故事。
  • The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。
6 ardent yvjzd     
adj.热情的,热烈的,强烈的,烈性的
参考例句:
  • He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
  • Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。
7 Founder wigxF     
n.创始者,缔造者
参考例句:
  • He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
  • According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说,罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。
8 recipient QA8zF     
a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器
参考例句:
  • Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
  • Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。
9 homage eQZzK     
n.尊敬,敬意,崇敬
参考例句:
  • We pay homage to the genius of Shakespeare.我们对莎士比亚的天才表示敬仰。
  • The soldiers swore to pay their homage to the Queen.士兵们宣誓效忠于女王陛下。
10 collaborate SWgyC     
vi.协作,合作;协调
参考例句:
  • The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作,工作做起来就更快了。
  • I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。
11 recording UktzJj     
n.录音,记录
参考例句:
  • How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间?
  • I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
12 narrated 41d1c5fe7dace3e43c38e40bfeb85fe5     
v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Some of the story was narrated in the film. 该电影叙述了这个故事的部分情节。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Defoe skilfully narrated the adventures of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. 笛福生动地叙述了鲁滨逊·克鲁索在荒岛上的冒险故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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