32 | JANUARY 28 • 2021 

“Chichester Psalms I.” The orig-
inal composition had Hebrew 
text.
“Because Bernstein’s music is 
already sophisticated and a jazz 
band arrangement is sophisti-
cated by definition, this album 
is sophistication by the sophis-
ticated,” Chamis said.
Bernstein and Chamis met 
in Vienna, where Bernstein 
was conducting and Chamis 
was a university music student. 
Chamis, raised in Brazil and 

later performing as a conductor 
there, had studied on scholar-
ship at the Rubin Academy of 
Music in Tel Aviv. 
Among the countries where 
Bernstein and Chamis worked 
together were the United States, 
Israel and England.
“In principle, music does not 
need words, but this project 
has so much behind-the-scenes 
material,” Chamis said. “If lis-
teners read before about the 
history and culture, they will 

experience the CD in a much 
deeper sense.”

BERNSTEIN’S ‘REACTION’
Chamis feels comfortable com-
menting on the way he believes 
Bernstein might have reacted to 
this recording because the two 
were personal friends as well as 
professional colleagues. 
“I believe he would find 
things he didn’t know exist-
ed in his music, and that is 
why he would like it,” Chamis 
explained. “Jazz musicians 
explore new realms within the 
compositions of others and 
bring their own ideas out of 
that. It is communication, and 
I believe Bernstein would have 
been communicating with the 
jazz musicians today.” 
Chamis, who worked with 
Bernstein during the last years 
of the honoree’s life, was a fel-
low at the Tanglewood Music 
Center during Bernstein’s last 

summer at the Tanglewood 
Music Festival.
Chamis met his wife, Tatjana 
Mead Chamis, at Tanglewood, 
and the two decided to move 
to Pittsburgh when she was 
offered a viola position with 
the Pittsburgh Symphony 
Orchestra. Raising three chil-
dren, the couple became mem-
bers of Temple Sinai, where 
they add their talents to temple 
services and programs. 
“Bernstein was always open 
to new improvisation, and that’s 
probably why his music was 
so alive,” said Chamis, a Latin 
Grammy nominee. “He was 
always looking at the music in a 
new way — trying to find new 
things in the same old pieces. 
“Every time was like a jazz 
improvisation because he found 
something different, something 
new, something fresh. He was 
not a jazz musician, but there 
was jazziness in him.” 

COURTESY OF FLAVIO CHANMIS

Flavio Chamis and Leonard Bernstein in Vienna in the 1980s.

continued from page 31

TWO BRAND NEW FILMS 
& DIAMOND SHINES AT 80
Locked Down, a new com-
edy/drama film, began 
streaming on HBO Max on 
Jan. 14. Here’s the basic plot: 
Linda (Anne Hathaway) and 
Paxton (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are 
a London married couple. 
They are on the brink of 
divorce when the COVID 
pandemic hits. By coin-
cidence, Linda, a fashion 
executive, and Paxton, a 
delivery driver, have access 
to Harrods, the famous 
British department store, 
while it is closed because of 
the pandemic. Linda knows 
that a very valuable diamond 
is in the store vault. The cou-
ple decide to steal it but give 
half what they get to COVID 
charities. Ben Stiller, 55, has 
a smallish supporting role as 
Solomon, Linda’s boss. 

Director Doug Liman, 55, 
scored a coup when he got 
permission from Harrods 
(which was really closed) 
to film in the store (a first) 
and he eventually cajoled 
them into letting him shoot 
in the store’s secret vault. 
Liman has helmed many hit 
films, including The Bourne 
Identity (2002), Mr. and Mrs. 
Smith (2005) and Edge of 
Tomorrow (2014). 
Palmer, another new 
film, begins streaming on 
Apple TV+ on Jan. 29. Justin 
Timberlake stars as Eddie 
Palmer, a football star whose 
pro career is destroyed 
when he is imprisoned. After 
his release, he returns to 
his hometown, and things 
don’t go well until he forms a 
friendship with a boy whose 
mother abandoned him. 
He also begins a romantic 
relationship with an African 
American teacher. The sup-
porting cast includes June 
Squibb, 91, as Eddie’s caring 
grandmother.

Palmer was directed by 
Fisher Stevens, 57. You 
probably know him as a 
still busy character actor 
(including costarring in the 
hit Short Circuit movies and 
recent recurring roles on 
Succession and The Good 
Fight). He is also an accom-
plished director. 
Neil Diamond, who 
turned 80 on Jan. 24, gave 
an extensive interview to 
Parade Magazine (Jan. 10) 
and the news is surprisingly 
good. In July 2018, he was 
diagnosed with Parkinson’s 
disease and immediately 

stopped touring. He now 
lives a comfortable life in 
an expansive cabin in the 
Colorado Rockies with his 
wife and dog. Unlike Linda 
Ronstadt, who also has 
Parkinson’s, his voice has not 
been affected by the disease. 
Last November, he 
released “Classic Diamonds.” 
Diamond reworked 14 of 
his biggest hits for the CD. 
He paired his voice with a 
symphony orchestra. He told 
Parade he is now working 
on an album of completely 
new songs. Also, he told 
Parade that “America,” writ-
ten for the 1981 film remake 
of The Jazz Singer, was 
among his favorite songs. 
The song, he said, “was the 
story of my grandparents 
coming to America for that 
freedom. My grandmother, 
‘Bubbe Molly’ came to 
America in steerage … when 
she was 12, escaping Jewish 
oppression in Russia … It’s a 
musical expression of being 
free.” 

ARTS&LIFE
CELEBRITY JEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

WIKIPEDIA

Neil Diamond

