Mocean Worker to perform new live score for Tarzan the Ape Man

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NORTH ADAMS-Music and movies are back this summer at MASS MoCA. The 1932 film, Tarzan the Ape Man, will show on the large outdoor screen at MASS MoCA on Saturday, July 2, at 9 P.M. with live music by the genre-defying electronic musician and producer Mocean Worker. MASS MoCA has commissioned Mocean Worker (aka Adam Dorn) to compose a brand new original score to the classic movie, which stars Maureen O’Sullivan and Olympic gold medal swimmer Johnny Weissmuller, and his live performance is sure to thrill and amaze. Mocean Worker is no stranger to adding musical accompaniment to film screenings. In 2003, Dorn performed at MASS MoCA spinning to filmmaker Harry Smith’s Animated Dreams. Described as blending “jolts of jazz, chunks of funk and electronic music into a lively, refreshing, sophisticated sound” (Smoothjazz.com), Mocean Worker’s contribution is guaranteed to give an inventive, contemporary spin to the quintessential adventure film. Tarzan the Ape Man was MGM's inaugural "Tarzan" film out of an astonishing series of twelve. For this film, MGM utilized scads of stock footage of the African jungle from a previous feature film, Trader Horn (1931). Aside from this resource, production costs for Tarzan the Ape Man still managed to reach over $1 million for the studio. This film, directed by W. S. Van Dyke based on a character created by novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs, was also the first feature-length film in the Tarzan series to include talking. W. S. Van Dyke’s film tells the story of a great English hunter, James Parker (C. Aubrey Smith), trudging through an African jungle in search of the legendary Elephant Graveyard. Accompanying Parker is his daughter, Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), and her former beau, Harry Holt (Neil Hamilton). The expedition is continually interrupted by the apprehensive Tarzan, a white man who'd been lost in the jungle years earlier and raised by apes. Tarzan kidnaps Jane and whisks her away to the treetops, where she eventually overcomes her fear of him and teaches him to speak English. ("Tarzan...Jane", not "Me Tarzan...You Jane," as has often been misreported.) The son of legendary producer Joel Dorn (Charles Mingus, Roberta Flack, John Coltrane, Leon Redbone), Mocean Worker/Adam Dorn began his career as an assistant to bassist/producer Marcus Miller (Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, David Sanborn). His credits also include remixing work for Tenacious D (Jack Black), Marcus Miller, Chaka Khan, Miles Davis, and the Neville Brothers, contributions to Bird Up:The Charlie Parker Remix Project, composing for Sundance favorite, The Doe Boy, as well as two documentaries for HBO. Today he’s a DJ/composer/producer who runs the venerable Label M, a label for reissues and rare live recordings of jazz music with his father. Recently Mocean Worker released his newest and fourth album, Enter the MoWo! Seating will start at 8 P.M. Food and drink from Lickety Split and the MASS MoCA bar will be available before and during the event. Tickets for Tarzan the Ape Man and Mocean Worker are $14 in advance or $17 the day of the show. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M. (closed Tuesdays). Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org. In the case of inclement weather the event will be moved inside to the Hunter Center.
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Lanesborough Fifth-Graders Win Snowplow Name Contest

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — One of the snowplows for Highway District 1 has a new name: "The Blizzard Boss."
 
The name comes from teacher Gina Wagner's fifth-grade class at Lanesborough Elementary School. 
 
The state Department of Transportation announced the winners of the fourth annual "Name A Snowplow" contest on Monday. 
 
The department received entries from public elementary and middle school classrooms across the commonwealth to name the 12 MassDOT snowplows that will be in service during the 2025/2026 winter season. 
 
The purpose of the contest is to celebrate the snow and ice season and to recognize the hard work and dedication shown by public works employees and contractors during winter operations. 
 
"Thank you to all of the students who participated. Your creativity allows us to highlight to all, the importance of the work performed by our workforce," said  interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng.  
 
"Our workforce takes pride as they clear snow and ice, keeping our roads safe during adverse weather events for all that need to travel. ?To our contest winners and participants, know that you have added some fun to the serious take of operating plows. ?I'm proud of the skill and dedication from our crews and thank the public of the shared responsibility to slow down, give plows space and put safety first every time there is a winter weather event."
 
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