NEW YORK DURING YULETIDE CELEBRATED IN NEW VIDEOTAPE PREMIERING AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
Merry Christmas Baby! A Holiday Ditty from New York
City
December 17, 1996
A musical collage
celebrating Yuletide in New York premieres at The Museum of Modern Art on
December 17, 1996. Merry Christmas Baby! A Holiday Ditty from New York
City, by Gary Keys, crisscrosses the city to capture joyous and
eccentric seasonal observances‹from the tree at Rockefeller Center to
Well's Chicken and Waffles Restaurant in Harlem, from El Museo del Barrio
in Spanish Harlem to the churches of Little Italy, from Lincoln Center to
the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Evocative location footage is
animated by several traditional carols and by new musical numbers,
including the title song by Bo Diddley, Jr., backed by Ditto and The
Lovers. Other musical appearances feature jazz drummer Barry Altschul,
legendary tap dancer Jimmy Slyde, Gospel diva Sister Vivian Neal, vocalist
Herb Rawlings (Dreamgirls), and saxophonists Jay Collins and Jay
Rodriguez. Several of these musicians will sing carols following the 6:00
p.m. show.
Keys's films, which include Memories of Duke and
Not Just Good Time Sunday, are part of the Museum's permanent
collection. Merry Christmas Baby! is presented courtesy of Kazmark
Entertainment, Los Angeles.
