Busy Being Free: A Lifelong Romantic is Seduced by Solitude

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In the words of revered jazz critic Ira Gitler, she “has it all, and then some … artistic, swinging, and superbly entertaining.” Awards In one chapter she reflects on her worst sexual experiences, including several from her time as a precociously talented 16-year-old thrust into the adult world of newspaper journalism that would certainly qualify for #MeToo revision. “When I was a teenager, one man who – and I use my words very carefully here – had sex with me is now dead, and I know him to have been a very bad man, despite what the obituaries said.” But she goes on to say: “The interesting part is that I voluntarily kept seeing him for a few weeks.” One of Forrest’s greatest gifts as a writer – apart from her humour; like its predecessor, Busy Being Free is frequently hilarious – is her instinct for ambiguity. She writes so well about messy lives because she understands the contradictions we are all prone to, though I wonder if there is a generational aspect to this; it’s possible that younger women may not be as relaxed about, say, the blurring of professional and sexual relationships that Forrest regards as largely positive. I loved Emma’s feature on Vogue: Getting Divorced Made Me Reassess My Entire Wardrobe, and why not find out which eight books Emma Forrest would take with her to a desert island? Emma Forrest Author Bio You might find it a bit full of itself but hey if you don’t toot your horn who’s gonna hear ya coming ( Mae West probably ) I've really never read about sex and been so sharply reminded about how much it is tied up with the fundamentals of being a woman. This deep part of ourselves that somehow gets side-lined and subordinated by everything else. This ecstatic voice we so often manage to ignore. I can hear Emma's voice though, and it's woken me up -- Minnie Driver, author of Managing Expectations

Busy Being Free: A Lifelong Romantic is Seduced by Solitude

A beautiful, unputdownable memoir about love and heartbreak, sex and celibacy, growing up and starting again. * SHEERLUXE * Dance-in-the-living-room romantic... She can sigh a song without making it flimsy, declare sentiment without weighing it down. Jaunty numbers like her now-familiar jazz rendition of 'The Surrey With The Fringe On Top' (performed with a smile in the vocal) are also included. 'Hurry On Down' adds Warren Vache's cheeky cornet to superb effect." ~ Alix Cohen, Broadway World I was at the cemetery, admiring the flowers and books at the graves of Karl Marx and Douglas Adams. The thing found most painful about divorce is that there was no Mark spot at which to leave offerings…. Songs are the place to leave offerings by everything you lost and everything that stayed - and they’re the flowers too.” Painfully honest in her writing -I love This author. I wish she would add her own narration to this. I always wondered about how she was doing after her memoir. I find her to be very brave and vulnerable in her writing. It made me laugh when she highly recommended being creative without having to worry about paying the bills. I wish. She moaned about not being able to afford to buy a place in London with a garden. Most people can’t even afford to live there period. But I tried to stay with her frame of reference and could see that coming from a huge Californian house would be a huge adjustment and I accepted her invite into her assimilation and transformation, warts and all.This week we are looking at two words which may be confused by learners of English: produce and product. Improve your English with Collins. Cactus Tree" is the final song on Joni Mitchell's debut album, Song To A Seagull. It's about several men who are in love with a woman, with each story tied together by the common theme of the unnamed woman's need for freedom and resistance to romantic commitment. In every case, the woman "thinks she loves them all" but ultimately is always "too busy being free." For someone whose career has started in journalism, I didn’t ask anybody anywhere any of the most basic questions. I asked some interesting abstract ones. I think this made for good interviews and less successful life choices.”

Busy Being Free by Emma Forrest review — goodbye Hollywood

I love words as much as most avid readers. I did an English degree and especially enjoy poetic writing on topics that resonate with me such as this one, but the context in which these words were used (i.e. talking about her husband’s obsession with a Kanye West song or her toyboy being ridiculously cool) just annoyed me. We get it. You can use uncommon, fancy words. You know famous people. It took away from the real life situations she was describing rather than add anything to them and this grated on me at times. For a memoir that is meant to show the freedom she gained by being alone, I don’t understand why it was essentially just a list of every single interaction she’s ever had with a man, most of which are romanticised. Especially frustrating is that there’s no growth in this respect- she decides to be celibate for five years, and then needs her ex-husband to draw her out of her obsession with her new boy toy once she’s ready to date again. Plus there’s a weird focus on sex (seeing the moon while you shower turns you on? Hearing a new song or writing new material makes you rip off your pants? Seriously?) which feels a bit forced and over the top. Barbara Fasano, whose fourth CD BUSY BEING FREE(MAC Award ~MajorRecording of the Year) was released to critical acclaim ("My favorite new vocal album"— Will Friedwald, WSJ) has been hailed as one of the nation’s most stunning and soulful singers. A Resident Artist at New York's legendary Birdland Jazz Club, where she performs Saturday nights, recent highlights include a 2-week Residency in Italy at Monteverdi Tuscany and headlining at the Saratoga Jazz Festival with her trio. For a fun live video clip, GO HERE.In 2022 she headlined for the third time at Music Mountain's Jazz series. For a rather surprising answer to the FAQ "How does a NYC singer prepare for a concert in the mountains?" GO HERE. Other highlights include multiplesold-out engagements at Birdland Theater, London's Pizza Express, & headlining at both Carnegie Hall & Lincoln Center. Barbara Fasano is not just a singer, she is a persuasive storyteller. In her warm alto, supported by John di Martino's blissful arrangements and a swinging band, she is committed to telling these stories ... an exceptional ballad singer who can also swing. And sing she does. Borrowing from the tapestry of her life, she imbues truth in her delivery at every turn." ~ John Hoglund, Cabaret Scenes Barbara Fasano is the real deal! A natural romantic interpreter... The beauty of the Arlen songs and the breathlessness of Fasano’s beautiful singing comes fully through. Each musical genre has examples of albums that demand repeated listening and appreciation... this is one of them!"

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The art of song interpretation ... My life's work is about digging deep into myself to mine the experiences I've had and then bringing those experiences, those truths to a song. I love the process of discovery. And I love the joy of communicating through music. And I really love sharing what I've learned with other students and singers. In addition to directing, my work as a teacher in New York and around the country includes private coaching, workshops and master classes in the art of performance and song interpretation The narrative weaves between Emma’s life before, during and after her marriage, and it offers readers an intimate look at the life of an enduring romantic as she navigates leaving London behind for New York, and then sunny California, before returning to London – the city that had ‘shamed her’ to solo parent her young daughter during the pandemic. This is the most romantic book you’ll ever read about deciding to be single. This is a memoir about love and heartbreak, about sex and celibacy, about marriage and divorce, and what comes after that. Further reading The Hungover Games by Sophie Heawood is one of the only books I have allowed myself to re-read in recent years. A hilarious memoir based between London and LA, such is my obsession with it that I will read anything and everything that Heawood subsequently recommends. And so it was that when she recently shared a picture of Busy Being Free by Emma Forrest on its publication day, I soon after bought it, and moved it to the top of my ever-growing pile of books I Want To Finish Before The Year Is Out. to make or keep busy often used reflexively SYNONYMY NOTE: busy suggests active employment in some task or activity, either temporarily or habitually

Barbara Fasano - BIO

However, Forrest’s misery about her “small top-floor flat” seems trivial when she flaunts the wealth she continues to enjoy, including a custom-made spiral staircase, with a cut-out design to “cast light around the small space”. She goes on to move into another property, renting out the first. References to Balenciaga shoes, Gucci scarves and the numerous celebrities with whom she has brushed shoulders abound – and are always pretentious. Taste, built-in dramatic chops, the ability to manipulate time, and, above all, respect for lyrics... Ms. Fasano has plenty of the above," ~ Harvey Siders in JazzTimes. Barbara Fasano sings with such deeply felt belief in her material that the art she practices is closer to pure expression than interpretation. Her take on 'Photographs,' in which she brings at least three levels to the song at the same time, is worth the price of the CD."— David Hajdu, music critic for The Nation

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Barbara is a native New Yorker, who grew up in a spirited Italian Catholic household – excellent preparation for a life in show business! From her early childhood, music and stories were a way of life. Her mother made the Sunday lasagna while listening to Italian American singers like Jerry Vale on the radio. Her father listened to Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby and sang along in a joyful baritone, teaching Barbara many of his favorite songs. From the early Streisand albums, she learned the music of her favorite composer, Harold Arlen, and as a teenager learned to play the guitar, memorizing recordings by Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and other singer-songwriters. Combine all this with her grandparents’ stories of Neapolitan singers and vaudeville and you see how her musical identity was forged. Within her eclectic choices, what remains consistent is her ability to invest a lyric with deep emotional truth, creating virtual one-act plays out of each song. This week we are looking at two words which may be confused by learners of English: scarce and scarcely. Improve your English with Collins. Jazz writer Will Friedwald calls Fasano, "a charismatic stylist who effectively channels the spirits of the great uber-divas Lena Horne and Barbra Streisand." I will start by saying that this memoir is witty and raw and for the most part feels honestly and beautifully written. At times I laughed out loud but I also nearly gave up on the book two or three times because the name dropping and superfluous vocabulary became irritating.