Buster Keaton feat. Matan Porat: The General

MUSIC / PERFORMANCE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020
7:30 PM

92nd Street Y Live Stream
Free
https://www.92y.org/archives/buster-keaton-the-general

To me, Buster Keaton is one of the signal American artists, up there with Fitzgerald and Whitman and Warhol.  The General is his capital-M Masterpiece, which brings with it the disadvantages as well as advantages of that portentious designation (I'd rather watch something less self-importantly preposessing, like say The High Sign — surely the funniest movie I've ever seen — or Seven Chances) (not to mention that the Confederate nostalgia that was endemic in early-20th American popular culture, of which this film is a product, sits very badly today).  But The General is a very great film:  that can't be denied.  Tonight it's shown with accompanying music improvised at a live show in 2016 by pianist/composer Matan Porat, who specializes in this kind of thing.

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT:  In for a penny, in for a pound:  a Mint Julep.  Muddle 6-7 mint leaves, 2 oz. Bourbon, and 1 teaspoon of Simple Syrup in a Julep cup (or a Highball glass if you must), using a spoon rather than a muddler.  Fill the cup with shaved ice.  Press the spoon into the ice and shake it gently, so that the ice incorporates the liquid.  Garnish with a mint sprig.