Pasadena Magazine is the bi-monthly magazine of Pasadena and its surrounding areas – the diverse, historically rich and culturally vibrant region that includes Glendale, the Eastside of Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley all the way to Claremont.
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[THE ARTS] Tall Medicine The Tall Men Group makes music to soothe your ailing soul. STORY BY // CUYLER GIBBONS PHOTOS BY // CHRISTOPHER BROUGHTON ∫ FOR MANY OF US, OUR FIRST LIVE CONCERT STANDS OUT AS A RIGHT OF PASSAGE AND SUBSEQUENT SHOWS LIKE SIGNPOSTS OF THE TIMES THROUGHOUT OUR PAST. AT SOME POINT HOWEVER, MOST OF US, AS A RESULT OF COMPETING INTERESTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES, AGE OUT OF ROAD TRIPS AND REGULAR CONCERT ATTENDANCE, AND BEGIN TO SPEND LESS IF ANY TIME AT THE CLUBS WE ONCE frequented to hear music performed live. Especially in times of discord like these however, where the sounds of our present day and our politics in particular, have become so dissonant and out of tune with the reality beyond Washington DC, real music, when cre- ated and performed with true heart and soul can be exactly the balm we need. If you want to make music real enough to touch people and provide some solace in troubled times it helps if you've lived a bit yourself. We are fortunate enough to live in an area rich with musical talent, but in the venues where it can be found, relative youth rules across much of the landscape. Jimmy Yessian, a former music industry professional and lifelong performer now of a certain age, was not immune to that reality. "There seems to be no real market for guys my age to get out there and do it," He says, "I was frustrated by that." That's where the Tall Men Group comes in. Songwriting, as much as any art form, relies on a mysterious alchemy to produce truly inspired examples of the craft. Words that lay fl at and uninspiring on the page, are born aloft on the wings of melody. A merely pleas- ant tune, elevated by the appropriate words, becomes an emotional fi rehose…or scalpel, capable of eliciting laughter or tears and sometimes both. Properly interpreted a song is far more than the sum of its words and tune. Friendship is a lot like that. The chemistry that defi nes real friendship is as rare and mysterious as it is powerful. And the larger the group, the more powerful and mysterious the dynamics. So when six friends, successful songwriters all, get together to make music you can expect some real magic to result. Either that, or the end of some old friendships. Fortunately, in the case of the Tall Men Group, the friendships and the magic endure, and the sense of comradery and connection they project, is front and center, and exactly the point. That and some songwriting you won't soon forget. Recently I met with Jimmy Yessian and Marty Axelrod, two members of the Tall Men Group, at Axelrod's Mount Washington home, over a plate of Yessian's pasta. Jimmy Yessian's food, it turns out, is both excellent and integral to the formation and ongoing success SEPTEMBER 2017 39 T A L K A B O U T T O W N PULSE the