Recently when Nell Robinson contacted me about some upcoming performances of her show Rose of No Man’s Land she mentioned that one of the venues would be Villa Montalvo. I was pretty sure she did not know the nature of this amazing place on the edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Saratoga. But I’ve been to many shows there over the years and I knew I must attend, especially since I had not had the opportunity to see this long-running show previously. My daughter Veronica came along.
Villa Montalvo is not a “mansion” or an “estate”. It’s an early 20th century palace, built for a California senator. The grounds are spectacular, from the vast front lawn, to the arboretum and trails leading up into the mountains; 175 acres in all. The Italian Mediterranean Revival mansion is beautiful. Overall just the experience of being in this now-public park and non-profit arts center is inspiring. Nell mentioned how amazed they were when they showed up for rehearsal. The Carriage House venue seats 300 and is very comfortable, with excellent sound. It was a perfect place to see Rose of No Man’s Land.Nell’s all-star band for the night was Jim Nunally on guitar and vocals; Peter Grant on pedal steel; Jim Kerwin on bass; and Jon Arkin on drums. This is a group that knows their way around some solid country songs and that’s what the first part of the show consisted of: Nell and her real-deal country voice; the sublime magic of Peter’s pedal steel, and Jim Nunally’s fine flatpicking and singing. Jim and Nell’s voices have buzzing harmonies that made the Louvin-esque numbers sound wonderful. Pretty much a set designed to send us honky tonkers to their happy place.
During the honky tonk half of the program we were introduced, one by one, to the guest stars of the evening: Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, John Doe and Maxine Hong Kingston. The award winning Ramblin’ Jack is getting up there in age and it was fun to see him perform. He came out and pleased everyone with ‘Waiting for a Train’ by Jimmie Rodgers. Next came John Doe, of the famous punk band X to sing ‘Now and Then There’s a Fool Such As I’. Finally we were introduced to author and educator Maxine Hong Kingston who read for us. All mixed in with some Johnny Cash and other songs that got the audience making noise.
During the brief intermission we got a chance to see how well the venue was supported by a large and friendly group of volunteers. I ran into my friend and Bluegrass Breakdown columnist Alan French during the intermission. To announce the time for us to start returning to our seats, Villa Montalvo has a gentleman with a triangle, which he dings loudly. Very classy! I guess that’s how the other half lives.
The bulk of the evening was dedicated to the performance of Nell Robinson’s Rose of No Man’s Land. The three guest stars had a much larger role in this section, doing readings from various letters from Nell’s family over the centuries. Maxine Hong Kinston also read from her own incredible poem, ‘The Woman Warrior’. But mostly this part of the show was a ride in a time machine that jumped from one anecdote to another, all coming from the point of view of Nell’s various family members throughout American history, all the way back to the revolutionary war and up to today’s conflicts in the Middle East. It was quite compelling. This is an often rowdy Scotch-Irish family with a long memory, and a family that holds onto a perspective of their past through documents and stories. There was no political point of view, only the perspectives of a pretty varied set of characters. There were spies and heroes and conscientious objectors and soldiers feeling the sadness of separation and pacifists; all laying out their tales with complete candor.
In between the numerous readings, the musicians did appropriate musical numbers: John Doe did the old song ‘Stateside’; Jack did the Vietnam song by Johnny Cash, ‘Drive On’; Nell sang a sublime version of ‘Blue Eyed Boston Boy’; Peter Grant played the Monroe instrumental, ‘My Last Days on Earth’; and the audience joined in singing a rousing version of ‘The Battle of New Orleans’. The band was joined by Jason Gillenwater on clarinet and sax.
There was a moving poem called ‘You Are Not My Enemy’ read by Drew Cameron, a founding member of Warrior Writers and Director of The Combat Paper Project. The Combat Paper Project is a fascinating program that allows US military veterans to turn their old uniforms into pulp and then into paper.
There is art attached to the show that is generated off stage as well. In the lobby area there was a story booth installation created by Nell and photographer/Gulf War veteran Mark Pinto. This allowed us to pick up a telephone and listen to the stories of attendees of previous ‘Rose’ performances and also allowed us to leave our own stories for others to listen to later.
This show, having run seven years now, was more of a revue than a concert. This made it very entertaining. Self-proclaimed military brat, Nell Robison has created a living documentary, spiced with great music. She and the other performers have been honored by playing the Kennedy Center and other major venues nationally. The show has been recorded for PBS. If you have the opportunity to see a future performance of Rose of No Man’s Land it’s highly recommended.
Nell quotes Maxine Hong Kingston in her show, “In a time of destruction, create something.”
The Rose of No-Man’s Land album is out on Compass Records, and for sale on Amazon and in music stores. Nell’s website is nellrobinsonmusic.com
