MARTY NAMARO
Abstractionisms - The Project
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This project, the outcome of which has culminated with the production of this CD, "Abstractionisms", started, if you can believe it, as a one-man play.
I have been surrounded by the arts since I was a young child. My father was in the music business and from an early age, I was exposed to the recordings and live performances of many of the greats of jazz, Latin, and classical music. I was also taken to quite a few plays and introduced to some of the prominent people of stage, film, and TV.
In addition to music and acting, my other love is reading. A voracious reader, my tastes run from comic books to the classics.
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I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to be a professional pianist, drummer, bassist, and actor, all of which I loved.
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When I was an actor, I longed for a piece I could perform as a solo artist. Not finding one, I decided to write one myself. Upon completion, I couldn't find a producer, so my play sat in a box for about 8 years.(top)
Later, looking for some musical inspiration, I immediately thought of my unproduced play. Now you may ask, "How can you translate a play into music?" Well, aren't all of your favorite movies set to music? Of course they are! And how do those composers set a scene to music? They think of a mood, a setting, an emotion, etc...and so a song is born, as was my CD.
Unfortunately, this CD couldn't be produced exactly as I had planned... something to do with trademark laws. You see, to create this piece, I looked back to the science fiction books of my youth, of the many glorious summer days and nights spent at my family's cottage in Canada, reading H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and many other great writers.(top)
The premise of my play was that I would be enacting the role of one of my favorite writers, H.G. Wells. I was going to tell the story of how his books came about and how they were received by the public and reviewers, the loves of his life and the like. Everything changed when I decided to double check to make sure I wasn't infringing upon any copyright laws, by naming the CD after him and using some of his book titles and some of his character names as titles of my compositions.
I had looked into copyright laws when I wrote the original play and I was told that the stories were public domain, since they had been written so long ago. However, I had a nagging feeling that, in this day and age, if someone could possibly sue, they would. So, with that in mind, I did some more research, via the internet, to see if I could find more information.(top)
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Consequently, I found a Web site dedicated to H. G. Wells that had a link to another Web site that could grant copyright permission. I emailed them, asking for permission to use the original title of my CD ("WELLS") and the original titles of my tunes. The following answer came back, and I quote, "Thank you for your inquiry... unfortunately, in this instance, the use of the characters (and the) author's titles would conflict with character/merchandising rights which have already been granted to film producers...sorry to disappoint you."
Sorry to DISAPPOINT YOU!?! If ever there was an understatement, that was it! They didn't even bother to tell me why I couldn't use my titles, other than that line about the producers that had been granted the rights. I was incredulous. So, I decided to contact a lawyer who was experienced in copyright laws. That's when I found out that I was not infringing on copyright laws, instead, trademark laws were involved. From what he could tell, H.G. Wells was the property of certain film companies and not only that, but it was possible that some invasion of privacy laws could be violated, as well, if I used the name of real people from his life.(top)
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When I left the lawyers office I was angry, upset, and depressed. I thought all was lost. How was I going to keep the essence of what my CD represented if I was going to have to change all the titles? I was afraid the CD wouldn't make sense anymore. I had structured it so that one title flowed into the next, so that there was a feeling of continuity.
Fortunately, my executive producer (who also happens to be my wife) helped me put things into proper prospective. She was very supportive and listened intently and sympathetically, when I told her what the lawyer had said. She knew I had a vision of how I wanted my music produced and presented. But then she said, as she always says, "Everything happens for a reason." (I hate it when she says that, but she's usually right.) She also said that I could use it to my advantage. I could change the title of the CD and the tunes to reflect things that are relevant in my life. That I could make it a personal representation of how I feel about the things, people, and issues that surround me. Guess what? She was right!(top)
I changed the titles that very night (all except for a few that weren't affected by the laws.) The ballad about his first wife, Isabel, became a ballad about our beloved cat, Booba. Marty's Bossa and The Classicist's Law had once been named, The Henley Bossa and Huxley's Law, after his friend, W. E. Henley and after a mentor, T. H. Huxley. Strange Beings of Futurity, Hidden Demons, and Skirmish of the Minds, had been named, The Eloi & The Morlocks, The Invisible Man, and War of the Worlds, after characters and titles of some of his books. The blues for his second wife, Amy C. Robbins, became a blues for my wife. The Social Morality of Immorality (The Social Morality of Dr. Moreau) and The Imperical Matron (The Tyrannical Matron) had only a word or two changed in their titles. The Accident, Time Travel Sequence, The 3R's, and Ode to Wells remained the same.
After the changes, whenever I play or listen to these tunes, some do conjure up completely different visions in my head. However, they have, indeed, become more relevant to my life and the world around me. Please go to Abstractionisms, Track Info for more information about each track.(top)
