I was in Patsy’s last night. I was in a need-to-be-in-Patsy’s mood so I drove to Patsy’s Italian Restaurant on Denver’s North-side. Years ago South-sider’s referred to the Northwest part of Denver as West Denver, but who’s counting. Huhh?
Entering the restaurant is like stepping into a time-machine back to the gay 20s. Uhh, not that one.
The excellent photo – originally from Patsy’s site and snipped – above, is from a site who’s authors weren’t that crazy about the food. At least they agree with me that the restaurant looks like an authentic movie set, it is…authentic. Better then a movie set, it’s the real thing.
The restaurant has been around since 1921 or something like that, and it looks like it. Patronizing Patsy’s is like eating and drinking in an antique – not an antique-store, an antique. And I like that. The bar is boot-leg cozy with an old varnished wooden surface behind a half-round arm-rest, spinner-stools with red-vinyl (?) tops and mirrored back-bar. Don’t know if it’s true, but I heard that the name came about – changed to Patsy’s – after WWll when Italians weren’t exactly on America’s A-list and, well, Patsy’s sounds Irish, so… I also heard that the original owner, Chubby Aiello, referred to Mussolini as “Hitler’s patsy” so the restaurant was therefore named Patsy’s – as a patriotic gesture… Like the Kennedy Assassination, Roswell, Osama and so on and so forth, we’ll never know, so ask someone if you have a need to know.
Patsy’s pipes in appropriate period/style background music. The music savvy tech-guy went to Hollywood High, so says he. He does have excellent and thoughtful play-lists.
About the food, I think “those chicks” are accustomed to a different set of taste sensations. I am completely satisfied when I dine on the big, fat, home-made noodles with Patsy’s garlicky, red-sauce, a couple of balls, bread, salad and a glass of a solid red. Deal me in baby. What – you were expecting a piece on military-artillery. Not going to happen here.
The word cozy comes up again when mentioning the restaurant booths. Easy-in, hard-out. Easing into the booths, your eyes catch a glimpse of the little shaded light on the wall behind the booth. It sooths. It isn’t an expletive high-school classroom with mind-scratching fluorescent lighting.
“Patsy’s was named one of the 10 “Reasons to Return” to Denver by 10Best Inc.
And here she is…
Patsy’s Italian Restaurant
3651 Navajo Street
Denver, CO 80211
(303) 477-8910
Patsy’s is the anchor for about a half-dozen art galleries within a block or so. There’s even a little theater. The area is called The Navajo Street Art District.
First Fridays of each month feature the First Friday Art Walk: The galleries do an open-house with cheese and wine thing from around 5:00 PM until around 9:00 PM. Actually that would be tonight – June 3, 2011. The art ranges from primitive-barely-art art to sophisticated, luxurious oils. There is some avant-guard, edgy stuff. Be sure to check out D-Gallery on 36th and Navajo. It’s a great way to spend a Friday night in Denver. Do cocktails and dinner at Patsy’s then stroll the galleries for a couple of hours, and buy some art. Support your local artist. Even if he/she’s from Brooklyn, New York.
The Wild West Music Fest will be an annual three-day country and western Fair, with carnival rides, games, food, and exhibitions, all anchored by three days of performances by award winning and legendary country music stars.
DATES/HOURS:
Friday, October 15th … 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Saturday, October 16th … 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Sunday, October 17th … 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM
KENNY ROGERS
GLEN CAMPBELL
JOHN FORD COLEY
LONESTAR
JASON MICHAEL CARROLL
LOVE AND THEFT
SPECIAL GUESTS: TOURIN WITH THE TAYLORS
MONTGOMERY GENTRY
ELI YOUNG BAND
LEE BRICE
ADMISSION: $7 (children 3 and under are free)
TICKET INFO: Fair tickets can be purchased at the Pavilion entry gates only. There are no in-and-out privileges.
This post is a re-e-print of a July 12, 2009 article by *David Yeagley of BAD EAGLE.COM.
Although this elegant material may be a bit esoteric for these pages, the concept might penetrate and remain. [BC]
“In The Laws, Plato’s character, the Athenian, claims that bad quality music corrupted the democracy of Athens. If this work was written ca. 350 BC, then the commentary is curious. Alexander the Great, of course, came on the scene in 336 BC. This would mean that, at least in Plato’s view, the city state democracy of Athens was long foiled. But what of that? Why would Plato theorize that it was the quality of music that destroyed the democracy? And what difference did that actually make? It certainly didn’t deter the empire.”
“In Book III of The Laws, Plato’s Athenian said it started with a breach of public manners. Educated people behaved during concerts. Then bad music started being performed, and audiences responded with a lack of decor. It was the erosion of public manners and social graces–caused or inspired by the vulgar quality of music. One think led to another. It seems that the artists, the composers in particular, were to blame. And it seems the poor or bad (immoral) quality of the music was the result of mixing styles.”
“From the Jowett translation:”
“And then, as time went on, the poets themselves introduced the reign of vulgar and lawless innovation. They were men of genius, but they had no perception of what is just and lawful in music; raging like Bacchanals and possessed with inordinate delights-mingling lamentations with hymns, and paeans with dithyrambs; imitating the sounds of the flute on the lyre, and making one general confusion; ignorantly affirming that music has no truth, and, whether good or bad, can only be judged of rightly by the pleasure of the hearer. And by composing such licentious works, and adding to them words as licentious, they have inspired the multitude with lawlessness and boldness, and made them fancy that they can judge for themselves about melody and song.”
“The Trevor J. Saunders translation says the composers were “gripped by a frenzied and excessive lust for pleasure,” and that was the motivation for the mix.”
“Jowett:”
“For if the democracy which judged had only consisted of educated persons, no fatal harm would have been done; but in music there first arose the universal conceit of omniscience and general lawlessness;-freedom came following afterwards, and men, fancying that they knew what they did not know, had no longer any fear, and the absence of fear begets shamelessness. For what is this shamelessness, which is so evil a thing, but the insolent refusal to regard the opinion of the better by reason of an over-daring sort of liberty?”
“Heavy thought here. Very heavy. And then Plato’s Athenian comments on the social effects of such lawlessness in music, where the common people rule:”
“Consequent upon this freedom comes the other freedom, of disobedience to rulers; and then the attempt to escape the control and exhortation of father, mother, elders, and when near the end, the control of the laws also; and at the very end there is the contempt of oaths and pledges, and no regard at all for the Gods-herein they exhibit and imitate the old so called Titanic nature, and come to the same point as the Titans when they rebelled against God, leading a life of endless evils. ”
“These things are of course all subject to interpretation, both historically, as well as philosophically and sociologically. But, it is difficult not to draw immediate parallels in our modern Western society.”
“In the history of Western music, there has always been a distinction between good and bad music, sacred and secular, and classical and popular, shall we say. Lyrics have always been a key indicator of the quality and effect of the music. Secular lyrics have always tended to be about romance, courtship, and the like. Sexual love, to put it plainly. This music, however exciting or pleasurable, was never known to elevate the soul or to encourage spirituality.”
“I must say, this distinction between the sacred and the secular has been the one pursuit of my entire academic life. The issue was consciously focused in me at the age of sixteen. I pursued this topic through my years at Oberlin Conservatory, at Yale Divinity, at Emory University, and it finally became the topic of my doctoral thesis at the University of Arizona in 1994. My thesis was on a piano composition by Franz Liszt, The Dante Sonata”
“All these many years I attempted to determine what was “religious” about religious music. What was irreligious or secular about non-religious music. Could it be nailed down to a note? Such a pursuit was not programmed in any degree layout. I was on my own in this quest. This is the reason I ended up with such a broad background, including parts of literature, history, biblical studies, psychology, philosophy, and political theory. I looked into the classical Greek social commentary of Plato and Aristotle (et al.) to see how they defined music. It was strictly by its effect they defined it. Its effect on humans. It was a social activity, essentially.”
“At any rate, I came early to the conclusion that music had meaning via association. “Who put the spook into the bass clarinet?” I asked. “Whoever first conceived of the spook,” I answered my own question, in a bit of a Platonic dialogue style.”
“Religious music is chiefly so due to the religious sentiments preexisting in the composer and his listners. I cannot say that irreligious or non-religious music encourages religious sentiment. It is for a different purpose. Yet, I cannot say religious music guarantees a religious experience. At best, it can only suggest it, only encourage it, or provide a venue for it. Religion is religion. Music is music. Music is a mirror, or an expression. Not an alien power that wields its own world. It is first the composer’s or performer’s expression of his emotions or values; then it ignites the same in the listeners.”
“In America, today, we have the market. The free-enterprise approach to everything–even down to the nail polish on the woman’s toes. We have incalculable variety of music. We have an interminable mix in our society. Plato would probably suggest that we have corrupted our democracy, entirely. Absolute freedom is chaos, or anarchy. Not the way society survives.”
*David Yeagley is the great-great-grandson of Comanche leader Bad Eagle. Read more…
P.S.
I was immediately drawn to the above article. Although my limited education in this area is **mostly, self-aquired, I can still reap tangible benifits from it. On a lessor level, I acquired some musical knowledge in garage and garden-party bands in the 50s & 60s, and in Hollywood recording studios in the 70s. On a higher level, the most profound expierience was studying Classical Guitar and becoming fairly proficient playing ***compositions, such as: JS Bach’s “Lute Prelude in D Minor.” As well as pieces by Mozart, Fenando Sor, Matteo Carcassi, Ferdinando Carulli and others. This dual perspective seems to give me enough fodder to understand the gist of: “Plato: Bad Music Destroys Democracy.” [BC]
P.S.S.
I met the great, great grandson of the Apache leader, Geronimo.
**Took master-classes from John Harrison.
***[Music] “known to elevate the soul or to encourage spirituality” (from the above post)