I hope Justin Rutledge forgives me for borrowing a fragment of his lyrics to open. However, last night at Central United if felt as if every song played by Melissa McClelland and Justin Rutledge simply was “our” song.
There is no doubt that the setting in Central United Church contributed to the evening. It is a Methodist Meeting Hall built to heroic proportions. The pews are arranged Greek amphitheatre style, curving around the central wall and stage. As the floor is slopped, we all have a sense of intimacy with the performers. Wood floors and wall panels create a sense of warmth and keep the sound lively. And the sound technician travelling with the show had the room precisely and finely tuned, enhancing the magnificent artistry of the musicians.
On offer on Friday the 13th – 21st Century Madrigals by two troubadours who seem to have figured out that we North Americans are shaped by movement, geographic and emotional. We research our family stories by tracing the places our ancestors moved from and to. We build our own stories moving from place to place, and leave companions to search for the hope of a new relationship. We build new families as we go. Both Melissa McClelland and Justin Rutledge can observe and spot the precise image that holds the definition of a journey and set the lyric to music that makes it live. Even those songs which were first hearings seemed to be resonating with a core experience, as if I must have heard it before. Yep, all the songs played last night were our songs.
Escorted by richly described images in the lyrics set to music that illuminated the meaning, we, the audience, accompanied the musicians on a richly textured journey. From ballads, through blues, into folk rock, there was a treasure of musical stories to be absorbed.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Were You There?
SAIT, The Gateway Lounge, October 16th. . .
A triple bill show that built through the evening to a fully energized experience of shared music.
Jon Amor opened facing a daunting task - solo, and armed only with his guitar he let his songs of personal experience capture the room. It always surprises me how far the blues have traveled from the U.S. south, and this guy just proved again that reflecting on life and love is hard, but with music in it there is no dragging us down for good.
Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few then dazzled again. I was surprised, but should not have been, by how many of the precise images in his lyrics were still fresh in my mind from last summer's hearing. Is this artist his own muse? He explores how the big world stories reflect on the front porch, storefront, street and highway. The cabaret style pulls you in so you can hear the poetry better. Totally engaging and satisfying.
Lee Harvey Osmond - Tom Wilson and friends - then proceeded to pump up the energy in the room to yet another level. Rediscovered that acid folk is one of those exciting genre mutations that opens the mind, heart and soul to fresh perspectives on what it means to be human. Truly this was our collective brains on music and we jumped with excitement for a bravura performance.
Once again, the SAIT Gateway sound technician had the room perfectly tuned. Thank you!
And thank you, Calgary Folk Festival for sponsoring this show. I was still talking to people about it at the train station when I ran into the lady who had been at the SAIT President's Ball just across the campus. It seems they got Kalan Porter - and I thought, wow, my ticket only cost $25 (plus the CDs - but hey - support live music) for a much better evening!
A triple bill show that built through the evening to a fully energized experience of shared music.
Jon Amor opened facing a daunting task - solo, and armed only with his guitar he let his songs of personal experience capture the room. It always surprises me how far the blues have traveled from the U.S. south, and this guy just proved again that reflecting on life and love is hard, but with music in it there is no dragging us down for good.
Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few then dazzled again. I was surprised, but should not have been, by how many of the precise images in his lyrics were still fresh in my mind from last summer's hearing. Is this artist his own muse? He explores how the big world stories reflect on the front porch, storefront, street and highway. The cabaret style pulls you in so you can hear the poetry better. Totally engaging and satisfying.
Lee Harvey Osmond - Tom Wilson and friends - then proceeded to pump up the energy in the room to yet another level. Rediscovered that acid folk is one of those exciting genre mutations that opens the mind, heart and soul to fresh perspectives on what it means to be human. Truly this was our collective brains on music and we jumped with excitement for a bravura performance.
Once again, the SAIT Gateway sound technician had the room perfectly tuned. Thank you!
And thank you, Calgary Folk Festival for sponsoring this show. I was still talking to people about it at the train station when I ran into the lady who had been at the SAIT President's Ball just across the campus. It seems they got Kalan Porter - and I thought, wow, my ticket only cost $25 (plus the CDs - but hey - support live music) for a much better evening!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Les Violons Du Roy
After raving about the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, I decided it was time to revisit the Quebec City group - Les Violons Du Roy. This is certainly Canada's most famous youth orchestra. Their gig is to play early music using modern instruments but with baroque bows. The conductor, Bernard Labadie, is immensely imaginative in the ways he brings these works to life through these young musicians.
I have been fortunate enough to hear them live twice.
The first occasion was the Christmas season that they brought their version of the Messiah to Toronto - competing with the TSO Victorian warhorse version and the canonized rendition by the most famous baroque group in Canada - Tafelmusic (think music rendered in a bell jar - dead and sterile). What we heard was an energetic, impassioned performance of the work. It was almost like hearing it for the first time it was so fresh. Even the music critic for the Toronto Star was on his feet cheering at the end and wrote the next day that it was certainly the most authentic sounding and entertaining rendition that he had heard that season.
The second live hearing was a performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion. A work rarely heard anymore. Partly because of its musical challenges. Partly because of some unfortunate bigoted theology embedded in the lyrics. However it is a powerful piece when performed well. Les Violons Du Roy performed it exceedingly well. For once I heard it as a religious ceremony, not a concert piece. The experience was transporting. The soloists who were performing with the orchestra and choir were extraordinary that night. Pure gates of heaven beauty in their solo arias.
Tonight I am listening to the group's CD - a recording of Handel's Water Music. The setting was a royal barge party on the Thames River and you can feel that in this recording. A stately party to be sure, but the subtle energies are all there.
Delightful again.
I have been fortunate enough to hear them live twice.
The first occasion was the Christmas season that they brought their version of the Messiah to Toronto - competing with the TSO Victorian warhorse version and the canonized rendition by the most famous baroque group in Canada - Tafelmusic (think music rendered in a bell jar - dead and sterile). What we heard was an energetic, impassioned performance of the work. It was almost like hearing it for the first time it was so fresh. Even the music critic for the Toronto Star was on his feet cheering at the end and wrote the next day that it was certainly the most authentic sounding and entertaining rendition that he had heard that season.
The second live hearing was a performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion. A work rarely heard anymore. Partly because of its musical challenges. Partly because of some unfortunate bigoted theology embedded in the lyrics. However it is a powerful piece when performed well. Les Violons Du Roy performed it exceedingly well. For once I heard it as a religious ceremony, not a concert piece. The experience was transporting. The soloists who were performing with the orchestra and choir were extraordinary that night. Pure gates of heaven beauty in their solo arias.
Tonight I am listening to the group's CD - a recording of Handel's Water Music. The setting was a royal barge party on the Thames River and you can feel that in this recording. A stately party to be sure, but the subtle energies are all there.
Delightful again.
Friday, September 25, 2009
FIESTA
That is the title of a marvelous CD that I was given this summer. The recording is from the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela under the leadership of their enormously talented young conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
Presented is the music of Latin American composers - spanning the last century. By and large the selections reference the local dance rhythms in a symphonic setting. Some pieces are simply exquisite; others bring the full sense of a town festival being celebrated with energy. All of the pieces deserve repeated hearings. This orchestra is ideally suited to present this material. The musicians play with a high degree of precision and clarity melded with an obvious genuine love of music.
The most famous piece on this CD (among North American listeners) is "Danzon No.2" composed by Arturo Marquez. The energy in this piece is on full display. Listening I was transfixed but yearning to stand and dance. You can find the orchestra performing this piece on the web - a video from the BBC Proms several years ago. Search it out and enjoy!
Next up was to pick up the Orchestra's recording of Beethoven's Symphonies No 5 & 7 just because I like the pieces and thought a spirited rendition would freshen them up. The performance is better than that - precise and passionate. Even though such a large orchestra never existed in the composers day, this performance sounds very authentic.
So where did this come from, that very young musicians perform with magnificent technique and elan? The liner notes tell me. Thirty years ago one man started in an underground garage to teach street kids how to play. At the height of Venezuela's oil boom, he convinced the government to support the program. Today there are 15,000 music teachers participating in a country wide music development program that can start as early as age two. One focus is to give children at risk an alternative to gangs and drugs. For example, a story from the liner notes:
"Lennar Acosta, now a tutor at the Simón
Bolívar Conservatory, had been arrested nine
times for armed robbery and drug offences
before the Sistema offered him a clarinet. “At
first, I thought they were joking,” he recalls. “I
thought nobody would trust a kid like me not to
steal an instrument like that. But then I realized
that they were not lending it to me. They
were giving it to me. And it felt much better in
my hand than a gun."
To think that at the height of the Alberta Oil Boom, our government chose the opposite direction and abandoned music in the public education system. Shame. And of course the streets of downtown Calgary, with the gang initiations and drug wars, reflect just how shortsighted that decision was.
Presented is the music of Latin American composers - spanning the last century. By and large the selections reference the local dance rhythms in a symphonic setting. Some pieces are simply exquisite; others bring the full sense of a town festival being celebrated with energy. All of the pieces deserve repeated hearings. This orchestra is ideally suited to present this material. The musicians play with a high degree of precision and clarity melded with an obvious genuine love of music.
The most famous piece on this CD (among North American listeners) is "Danzon No.2" composed by Arturo Marquez. The energy in this piece is on full display. Listening I was transfixed but yearning to stand and dance. You can find the orchestra performing this piece on the web - a video from the BBC Proms several years ago. Search it out and enjoy!
Next up was to pick up the Orchestra's recording of Beethoven's Symphonies No 5 & 7 just because I like the pieces and thought a spirited rendition would freshen them up. The performance is better than that - precise and passionate. Even though such a large orchestra never existed in the composers day, this performance sounds very authentic.
So where did this come from, that very young musicians perform with magnificent technique and elan? The liner notes tell me. Thirty years ago one man started in an underground garage to teach street kids how to play. At the height of Venezuela's oil boom, he convinced the government to support the program. Today there are 15,000 music teachers participating in a country wide music development program that can start as early as age two. One focus is to give children at risk an alternative to gangs and drugs. For example, a story from the liner notes:
"Lennar Acosta, now a tutor at the Simón
Bolívar Conservatory, had been arrested nine
times for armed robbery and drug offences
before the Sistema offered him a clarinet. “At
first, I thought they were joking,” he recalls. “I
thought nobody would trust a kid like me not to
steal an instrument like that. But then I realized
that they were not lending it to me. They
were giving it to me. And it felt much better in
my hand than a gun."
To think that at the height of the Alberta Oil Boom, our government chose the opposite direction and abandoned music in the public education system. Shame. And of course the streets of downtown Calgary, with the gang initiations and drug wars, reflect just how shortsighted that decision was.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Planning an Early Fall BBQ?
Here is a playlist for you:
~Black Eyed Daisy from Colored Aristocracy by Carolina Chocolate Drops
~Everybody Does It Now from The Sparrow Quartet EP by Abigail Washburnzzzzzzz
~Everybody Move It from Separate Ways by Teddy Thompson
~Fire on the Mountain from ASA by Asa
~Shelter from Sounding a Mosaic by Bedouin Soundclash
~Say Hey (I Love You) from All Rebel Rockers by Michael Franti & Spearhead
~Your Love from Songs for Reggae Lovers by Bushman
~Shake Me Like a Monkey from Big Whiskey the GrooGrux King by Dave Matthews Band
~Love at the End of the World from Love at the End of the World by Sam Roberts Band
~Right Moves from The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter by Josh Ritter
~The Only Way from Hope & Other Casualties by Mark Erelli
~Stay with Me Tomorrow from Everyone's in Everyone by Patrick Park
~Sausalito from Conor Oberst by Conor Oberst
~Down in a Cold Dirty Well from Holly by Justin Nozuka
~If I Live or If I Die from Sidelines of the City by Cuff the Duke
~All About You from The Road We're On by Sonny Landreth
~Blues Overtook Me from One Night in America by Charlie Musselwhite
~Love Grown Cold from Standing Room Only by Roomful of Blues
~Black Eyed Daisy from Colored Aristocracy by Carolina Chocolate Drops
~Everybody Does It Now from The Sparrow Quartet EP by Abigail Washburnzzzzzzz
~Everybody Move It from Separate Ways by Teddy Thompson
~Fire on the Mountain from ASA by Asa
~Shelter from Sounding a Mosaic by Bedouin Soundclash
~Say Hey (I Love You) from All Rebel Rockers by Michael Franti & Spearhead
~Your Love from Songs for Reggae Lovers by Bushman
~Shake Me Like a Monkey from Big Whiskey the GrooGrux King by Dave Matthews Band
~Love at the End of the World from Love at the End of the World by Sam Roberts Band
~Right Moves from The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter by Josh Ritter
~The Only Way from Hope & Other Casualties by Mark Erelli
~Stay with Me Tomorrow from Everyone's in Everyone by Patrick Park
~Sausalito from Conor Oberst by Conor Oberst
~Down in a Cold Dirty Well from Holly by Justin Nozuka
~If I Live or If I Die from Sidelines of the City by Cuff the Duke
~All About You from The Road We're On by Sonny Landreth
~Blues Overtook Me from One Night in America by Charlie Musselwhite
~Love Grown Cold from Standing Room Only by Roomful of Blues
Monday, September 7, 2009
Let's Help Save BeatNiq
I must admit that I have not been at BeatNiq as often as I could have. However I will be there on Sept 10 with my $100.
Some wonderful memories of magical performances - just one to mention, Colin Storey last year playing "Sumertime" - almost forgot to breath it was so mesmerizing.
And as with others, have shared moments with a significant other, when the music performance, the place, and the crowd all built an elemental evening for us.
We need this club!
Some wonderful memories of magical performances - just one to mention, Colin Storey last year playing "Sumertime" - almost forgot to breath it was so mesmerizing.
And as with others, have shared moments with a significant other, when the music performance, the place, and the crowd all built an elemental evening for us.
We need this club!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Summer Joy
Last night sat on my balcony snacking on nectarines, riopelle cheese and caribou-cranberry pate while I listened to some John Coltrane. What a wonderful way to relax into a warm summer evening.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Find Some Comic Energy at the Calgary Fringe Festival
Want to know where the hidden gem might be at this year’s Calgary Fringe Festival? Meet Paul Hutcheson who is presenting On Second Thought.
Paul is in his sixth year as a solo performer with 20 festivals under his belt. He is a veteran of the Canadian Fringe Festival circuit as well as festivals in New York, Orlando, Colorado and San Francisco. He has a few awards to celebrate the experience.
“Performing is a passion, and I love appearing at the Canadian Fringe Festivals,” says Paul. He relates how a Wednesday, 2 pm show with only 4 people, who have never met each other, can essentially give a master class in stage presentation to a solo performer. “It becomes a real stretch to reach those four people, who have chosen to sit as far apart as they can, and draw them into the show,” Paul relates. “However, I have noticed this year that people are seeking comedy at inexpensive venues as an escape from the woes of the recession. So my life as a solo comic performer is a touch enhanced – mentally and financially!”
Paul reports that On Second Thought is a reflection on the choices we make on life’s journey. He hopes to demonstrate that a linear approach can lead to ridiculously unfortunate psychic traps (bored is a good clue you are in the wrong place). While, on the other hand, poking a life choice with a quirky second thought can spark a wondrous trajectory leading to unexpected places that fit the soul. As he speaks I can hear the inventive humor (some risqué, some digestive track focused, and some just plain fun) that will be driving this show. In other words, if you are feeling alienated, drop kick a kinky thought at your social or work scene, and let the world turn until you recognize a place and time as your normal.
I am looking forward to having some great laughs when sharing this journey with Paul at a show this week.
UPDATE: Caught the show - Precisely observed vignettes rich in comedy. You will celebrate how we as humans persevere in our journeys of discovery.
Find Paul and On Second Thought at the ArtPoint Gallery – 1139 11 St SE.
August 2 – 1:45 pm
August 3 – 3:45 pm
August 6 – 9:45 pm
August 8 – 5:45 pm
Paul is in his sixth year as a solo performer with 20 festivals under his belt. He is a veteran of the Canadian Fringe Festival circuit as well as festivals in New York, Orlando, Colorado and San Francisco. He has a few awards to celebrate the experience.
“Performing is a passion, and I love appearing at the Canadian Fringe Festivals,” says Paul. He relates how a Wednesday, 2 pm show with only 4 people, who have never met each other, can essentially give a master class in stage presentation to a solo performer. “It becomes a real stretch to reach those four people, who have chosen to sit as far apart as they can, and draw them into the show,” Paul relates. “However, I have noticed this year that people are seeking comedy at inexpensive venues as an escape from the woes of the recession. So my life as a solo comic performer is a touch enhanced – mentally and financially!”
Paul reports that On Second Thought is a reflection on the choices we make on life’s journey. He hopes to demonstrate that a linear approach can lead to ridiculously unfortunate psychic traps (bored is a good clue you are in the wrong place). While, on the other hand, poking a life choice with a quirky second thought can spark a wondrous trajectory leading to unexpected places that fit the soul. As he speaks I can hear the inventive humor (some risqué, some digestive track focused, and some just plain fun) that will be driving this show. In other words, if you are feeling alienated, drop kick a kinky thought at your social or work scene, and let the world turn until you recognize a place and time as your normal.
I am looking forward to having some great laughs when sharing this journey with Paul at a show this week.
UPDATE: Caught the show - Precisely observed vignettes rich in comedy. You will celebrate how we as humans persevere in our journeys of discovery.
Find Paul and On Second Thought at the ArtPoint Gallery – 1139 11 St SE.
August 2 – 1:45 pm
August 3 – 3:45 pm
August 6 – 9:45 pm
August 8 – 5:45 pm
Dreaming in the Park
The MRC Shakespeare in the Park production of Midsummer Night's Dream is well worth sitting on the grass on Prince's Island this year. Across all the roles the cast is very strong. It is a real treat to see this play presented so effectively. Particularly enjoyable is having the actors double the roles of Thesus/Oberon and Hippolyta/Titania - the first time I have seen this (Peter Brooks did it first in the last century).
As usual with this company, this is a very fresh and totally engaging reading of the play. If you go, it will be like seeing it for the first time again - how often do you get to be a virgin twice? Of course, that thought is part of the whole mix resulting from the collisions between power and ambition impacting politically correct sexuality and the sex drive hard wired into us that drives this play. The music of Queen, with its androgynous scope, fits naturally into the play as incidental music - a wonderful choice.
Go - you will chuckle, you will roar with laughter, and you will stand and cheer at the end.
As usual with this company, this is a very fresh and totally engaging reading of the play. If you go, it will be like seeing it for the first time again - how often do you get to be a virgin twice? Of course, that thought is part of the whole mix resulting from the collisions between power and ambition impacting politically correct sexuality and the sex drive hard wired into us that drives this play. The music of Queen, with its androgynous scope, fits naturally into the play as incidental music - a wonderful choice.
Go - you will chuckle, you will roar with laughter, and you will stand and cheer at the end.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Views On Midsummer Loves
Did you fall in love, or fall deeper into love with your current significant other, at the Calgary Folk Music Festival?
Here is a playlist for you.
You Go To My Head - Chet Baker Quartet, Chet Baker: Jazz in Paris
La Vie en Rose - Sophie Milman, Sophie Milman
Tristes Souvenirs - Molly Johnson, Messin' Around
Biban Ke - Asa, Asa
A Taste of Honey - Lizz Wright, Dreaming Wide Awake
Beautiful - Adi Braun, The Rules of the Game
But for Now - Jamie Cullum, Twentysomething
Stay - Sophie Milman, Make Someone Happy
After Tonight - Justin Nozuka, Holly
If You Were a Sailboat - Katie Melua, Pictures
Lover, You Should've Come Over - Jamie Cullum, Twentysomething
Loving You - Paolo Nutini, These Streets
Tonight - Molly Johnson, Messin' Around
Love - Kelley Hunter, Mercy
Show Me Yours - Adi Braun, The Rules of the Game
Reste(Stay) - Sophie Milman, Make Someone Happy
Lover Man - Chet Baker Quartet, Chet Baker: Jazz in Paris
Here is a playlist for you.
You Go To My Head - Chet Baker Quartet, Chet Baker: Jazz in Paris
La Vie en Rose - Sophie Milman, Sophie Milman
Tristes Souvenirs - Molly Johnson, Messin' Around
Biban Ke - Asa, Asa
A Taste of Honey - Lizz Wright, Dreaming Wide Awake
Beautiful - Adi Braun, The Rules of the Game
But for Now - Jamie Cullum, Twentysomething
Stay - Sophie Milman, Make Someone Happy
After Tonight - Justin Nozuka, Holly
If You Were a Sailboat - Katie Melua, Pictures
Lover, You Should've Come Over - Jamie Cullum, Twentysomething
Loving You - Paolo Nutini, These Streets
Tonight - Molly Johnson, Messin' Around
Love - Kelley Hunter, Mercy
Show Me Yours - Adi Braun, The Rules of the Game
Reste(Stay) - Sophie Milman, Make Someone Happy
Lover Man - Chet Baker Quartet, Chet Baker: Jazz in Paris
Just One Together at the Calgary Folk Festival
Glendower: I can call the spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?
-- William Shakespeare, Henry the Fourth, Part One
The aural sensual overload is taking a different turn this year. I can hear the spirits answering the calling by the musicians. Very much inhabiting a different dimension as I approach Day 4.
Arrive later than I could have. However I am in time to pick up lunch and settle into the Acorn concert. Again a band with superior arrangements for instruments that challenge the genre. The tune they play from the next CD tells me this band is dedicated to complex music that is very accessible. It will be a pleasure to buy their CD's as they develop.
In the next time slot there is an abundance of great choices. What a marvelous gift from Kerry Clarke and compatriots. What other festival has so much great talent assembled that all you really need to do is pick anything, and simply enjoy the hour?
I decide to cheat and start at Streaming Consciousness and then switch to Pacifica for the opening of that concert. Glad I do. Ramped up by the great musicians at Streaming Consciousness, after I move I discover Pacifica. She is calling to the spirits that reigned prior to the European invasion. I am suddenly convinced that the patriarchal god simply has gotten it wrong. We should be listening to the earth, not laying waste to it.
As I must hear Umalali one last time this weekend, I opt for the Guided by Voices workshop. The Good Lovelies, Akron/Family, Dry Branch Fire Squad and Umalali draw us into a world where the spirits of human community really do answer our calls. I shall not soon forget the rousing closing number, led by Umalali but joined by their colleagues and all of us, of "Just One Together." No matter what else happens this evening, I am going home with a new treasure in my memory bank.
At the mainstage Darrol Anger, Mike Marshall & Vasen have the daunting task of inviting people back to their tarps with some entrance music. These guys go much further. Their playing would have qualified them as court musicians for Prince Esterházy at what might have passed for an 18th century garden party. A sweet and enchanting introduction to the evening.
The newspapers are rightly full of the experience emerging from the pairing of the Sojourners and Mavis Staples. The Sojourners demonstrate that the term "spiritual" emerged from the human need to call out for solace and justice. Mavis Staples demonstrates how that call was amplified in the 60's so that the simple, yet strong calls were mutated into anthems that still resonate today - mostly because the work is not yet complete. Yet the power of hope is strong in both sets. And I begin to understand how a young politician with the theme: "Yes, We Can" gets elected to the American presidency.
Ok, I admit I was fully enchanted by Loreena Mckennitt. No one can anticipate moments like that. However, when they happen, it is best simply to absorb the experience. Did the oracle at Delphi invite pilgrims to her temple at dusk with a solo harp? I think not. However, my bet is that some druid priestesses did in their eon. The enchantment spreads as her songs of the Celtic journey through space and time invade the site. A group of young people behind me spontaneously form a circle and dance the rhythms of Beltane. We are "Just One Together" yet again this evening. It is too powerful to describe. It had to be felt.
Thank goodness for the finale. We all needed some direction to find our way home. For sure we know what to do for the next year: Let our light shine!
Yes, the evening ends with me joyfully singing along, in the key of off, with 15,000 other like minded companion spirits.
Like the musicians, I must thank the staff and the volunteers of the CFMF. Your enthusiasm and dedication makes pulling off the logistics of an event of this scale look easy. I know it is not. Thank you. See you next year!
Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?
-- William Shakespeare, Henry the Fourth, Part One
The aural sensual overload is taking a different turn this year. I can hear the spirits answering the calling by the musicians. Very much inhabiting a different dimension as I approach Day 4.
Arrive later than I could have. However I am in time to pick up lunch and settle into the Acorn concert. Again a band with superior arrangements for instruments that challenge the genre. The tune they play from the next CD tells me this band is dedicated to complex music that is very accessible. It will be a pleasure to buy their CD's as they develop.
In the next time slot there is an abundance of great choices. What a marvelous gift from Kerry Clarke and compatriots. What other festival has so much great talent assembled that all you really need to do is pick anything, and simply enjoy the hour?
I decide to cheat and start at Streaming Consciousness and then switch to Pacifica for the opening of that concert. Glad I do. Ramped up by the great musicians at Streaming Consciousness, after I move I discover Pacifica. She is calling to the spirits that reigned prior to the European invasion. I am suddenly convinced that the patriarchal god simply has gotten it wrong. We should be listening to the earth, not laying waste to it.
As I must hear Umalali one last time this weekend, I opt for the Guided by Voices workshop. The Good Lovelies, Akron/Family, Dry Branch Fire Squad and Umalali draw us into a world where the spirits of human community really do answer our calls. I shall not soon forget the rousing closing number, led by Umalali but joined by their colleagues and all of us, of "Just One Together." No matter what else happens this evening, I am going home with a new treasure in my memory bank.
At the mainstage Darrol Anger, Mike Marshall & Vasen have the daunting task of inviting people back to their tarps with some entrance music. These guys go much further. Their playing would have qualified them as court musicians for Prince Esterházy at what might have passed for an 18th century garden party. A sweet and enchanting introduction to the evening.
The newspapers are rightly full of the experience emerging from the pairing of the Sojourners and Mavis Staples. The Sojourners demonstrate that the term "spiritual" emerged from the human need to call out for solace and justice. Mavis Staples demonstrates how that call was amplified in the 60's so that the simple, yet strong calls were mutated into anthems that still resonate today - mostly because the work is not yet complete. Yet the power of hope is strong in both sets. And I begin to understand how a young politician with the theme: "Yes, We Can" gets elected to the American presidency.
Ok, I admit I was fully enchanted by Loreena Mckennitt. No one can anticipate moments like that. However, when they happen, it is best simply to absorb the experience. Did the oracle at Delphi invite pilgrims to her temple at dusk with a solo harp? I think not. However, my bet is that some druid priestesses did in their eon. The enchantment spreads as her songs of the Celtic journey through space and time invade the site. A group of young people behind me spontaneously form a circle and dance the rhythms of Beltane. We are "Just One Together" yet again this evening. It is too powerful to describe. It had to be felt.
Thank goodness for the finale. We all needed some direction to find our way home. For sure we know what to do for the next year: Let our light shine!
Yes, the evening ends with me joyfully singing along, in the key of off, with 15,000 other like minded companion spirits.
Like the musicians, I must thank the staff and the volunteers of the CFMF. Your enthusiasm and dedication makes pulling off the logistics of an event of this scale look easy. I know it is not. Thank you. See you next year!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The Earth Opened at the Calgary Folk Festival
Loreena Mckennet gave a staggeringly powerful performance tonight. One can never anticipate such a magical moment. However one can be very glad to be there to see Gaia restored to her rightful place - as prime goddess in the pantheon.
Wandering Soul at the Calgary Folk Music Festival
Day 3 and the perfect weather continues. I am very happy that shade is plentiful at most of the workshop stages. We are going to need it.
Start the day with some tacos and head for the Trophy Scribes workshop. What wonderful sedition is on offer from masterful musicians. Love everybody, but become entranced by the Tom Fun Orchestra. Decide to catch up with them at the Twilight Stage tonight.
Next, go check out the Steve Dawson concert. Can't decide if I like his own tunes or the covers better. Both are presented with a rich voice and wonderfully accomplished playing.
Caught a bit of Dick Gaughan - and remember how much I like politics mixed with art. As he says, what an agitator can say in one sentence, it takes a song nine verses!
Grab a cider with cranberry at the Beer Garden. Totally refreshing, but feel it going straight to my head so stop at one and head out. Am going to try Dry Branch Squad. I feel I must give Bluegrass a chance. These guys are superior, and I could see myself sitting a while. However there are still cringes around the edges of the hearing. So I opt for Deep Dark Woods. Totally rewarded by encountering this band. Perhaps volunteering briefly at the Drop In Center last winter has given me a new respect and sense of urgency for songs about human encounters that produce roadkill. There is a sense of yearning in the songs and music - is it hope, or just plain determination? They are great, so the listening required to answer that question will be wonderful.
Now I am totally hooped. The Yonge and Restless workshop has the power line up. I decided yesterday evening that I really wanted to see the Mark Berube & the Patriotic Few concert. Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few win and I am glad. I love the Mr. Berube's voice. It is an agile and sweet instrument. I love the cabaret style songs and arrangements. I totally love the imagery in the songs that suggest rather than preach. I totally get it. I am so looking forward to the concert here in the Fall.
Back to the beer tent where I get two rewards. Test out the new lime beer from the sponsoring brewery and it is wonderful on this hot summer afternoon. And the Yonge and Restless workshop is still going. Justin Rutledge is singing a powerful tune about desiring to be in the heart of the river, and he asks us to join in and sing it to the towers looming out of downtown. Sarah Harmer gives us a tune that says "stay tuned" for tonight's mainstage set. Steven Page shows a sense of humour. The Good Lovlies display their syncopating harmonies. What a workshop this must have been.
Next will be Phil Wiggins and Corey Harris. However on my way to the workshop site Ferron's magnificent voice calls out to me as a pass by and I am tempted. Then seconds later as I pass the . . .'til I Cried workshop, another magnificent voice is calling out to me. However, I am on a mission and find a place at the Phil Wiggins & Corey Harris concert. Am I ever glad I did. These guys give a master class in Piedmont Blues. Somewhere in my brain is the phrase "calling out the blues." That concept has always kind of made sense given the lyrical and chord structure of a standard blues song. Until today I had never had the full experience of just what that might entail. This is a magic moment to be treasured.
Really enjoy Justin Adams and Juldeh Camera who open the mainstage. A wonderful set up for the night. However I have to get to the Twilight Stage to hear the Tom Fun Orchestra. This band is pure imagination and accomplishment. They are going to be very important or implode. Only the muses know how this is going to work out. However I am sold on punk-grunge Celtic when the talent is at this level. I have never heard anything like it, but want to hear much more of it - mostly because we are on the edge of becoming a post industrial economy and these guys know just what that is all about, hailing from Cape Breton.
Back at the mainstage, Steven Page is struggling. What initially seems quite effective fades to inconsequential very quickly. I am surprised at the limited guitar skills on display, which I think is contributing to the ineffectiveness.
The mini-set by Hayes Carll validates just what I said above. Here is talent opening light onto the soul.
Alejandro Escovedo comes on and lays down the smoking set that I have been waiting all weekend for. This man's talent is epic in proportions and he is as keen an observer as Homer (the 4000 years dead poet, children, not the TV character - although there may be something to ponder there). The totally powerful opening numbers establish who is master now. Then the 3 quieter tunes in homage to colleagues and his father's journey from Mexico to Texas (which must have been totally terrifying for a 12 year old guided by a 16 year old in 1919). Then the anthems that somehow reference the goals we must set for our society now that most of us have survived the Bush the Younger presidency. He subtly gives us the guideposts from his generation and instills the energy we will need to take up the cause. Amazing.
Glen Campbell is going to be Glen Campbell of old, with rusty pipes. There are some technical difficulties making him uncomfortable on stage. I seize the moment to take a power nap so I can hear this set in my mind's eye, back when I first watched it on TV.
I am in awe of how many tickets his brand has sold. It seems thousands leave as soon as his set is concluded. This in turn makes me completely in awe of the programmers for the Calgary Folk Festival. What a balancing act, bringing in the 'names' to sell tickets so they can bring in all the other acts and give them a chance to perform in front of thousands of people. My hat is off to the CFMF - you do it extremely well.
Bellowhead blows my mind. What a full rich sound they bring to a 700 year old genre by arranging the traditional English folk songs for both traditional and modern orchestral instruments. The arrangements are magical. And then they they start to play with the genre, and it becomes even more fun. I have only once before seen the crowd react so spontaneously (get well, Michael Franti). I have to take a bathroom break so walk the path back to the only potty that I believe might not be knee deep in urine soaked toilet paper and shit; all along the way through the food tent path couples are spontaneously jigging in front of each other and then embracing in a whirling dance celebrating sheer life. This is the CFMF at its best, yet again.
Sarah Harmer keeps the promise of the earlier afternoon with her closing set. It is as if Clio, the muse of history, has stepped into time to inspire us with songs of memory to keep each other going. At any rate, 12 hours into the day, and I would be prepared to stay up all night listening to this troubadour. Not to be, as the lanterns appear signaling that we must depart gently into the night.
However we will reassemble Sunday!
Start the day with some tacos and head for the Trophy Scribes workshop. What wonderful sedition is on offer from masterful musicians. Love everybody, but become entranced by the Tom Fun Orchestra. Decide to catch up with them at the Twilight Stage tonight.
Next, go check out the Steve Dawson concert. Can't decide if I like his own tunes or the covers better. Both are presented with a rich voice and wonderfully accomplished playing.
Caught a bit of Dick Gaughan - and remember how much I like politics mixed with art. As he says, what an agitator can say in one sentence, it takes a song nine verses!
Grab a cider with cranberry at the Beer Garden. Totally refreshing, but feel it going straight to my head so stop at one and head out. Am going to try Dry Branch Squad. I feel I must give Bluegrass a chance. These guys are superior, and I could see myself sitting a while. However there are still cringes around the edges of the hearing. So I opt for Deep Dark Woods. Totally rewarded by encountering this band. Perhaps volunteering briefly at the Drop In Center last winter has given me a new respect and sense of urgency for songs about human encounters that produce roadkill. There is a sense of yearning in the songs and music - is it hope, or just plain determination? They are great, so the listening required to answer that question will be wonderful.
Now I am totally hooped. The Yonge and Restless workshop has the power line up. I decided yesterday evening that I really wanted to see the Mark Berube & the Patriotic Few concert. Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few win and I am glad. I love the Mr. Berube's voice. It is an agile and sweet instrument. I love the cabaret style songs and arrangements. I totally love the imagery in the songs that suggest rather than preach. I totally get it. I am so looking forward to the concert here in the Fall.
Back to the beer tent where I get two rewards. Test out the new lime beer from the sponsoring brewery and it is wonderful on this hot summer afternoon. And the Yonge and Restless workshop is still going. Justin Rutledge is singing a powerful tune about desiring to be in the heart of the river, and he asks us to join in and sing it to the towers looming out of downtown. Sarah Harmer gives us a tune that says "stay tuned" for tonight's mainstage set. Steven Page shows a sense of humour. The Good Lovlies display their syncopating harmonies. What a workshop this must have been.
Next will be Phil Wiggins and Corey Harris. However on my way to the workshop site Ferron's magnificent voice calls out to me as a pass by and I am tempted. Then seconds later as I pass the . . .'til I Cried workshop, another magnificent voice is calling out to me. However, I am on a mission and find a place at the Phil Wiggins & Corey Harris concert. Am I ever glad I did. These guys give a master class in Piedmont Blues. Somewhere in my brain is the phrase "calling out the blues." That concept has always kind of made sense given the lyrical and chord structure of a standard blues song. Until today I had never had the full experience of just what that might entail. This is a magic moment to be treasured.
Really enjoy Justin Adams and Juldeh Camera who open the mainstage. A wonderful set up for the night. However I have to get to the Twilight Stage to hear the Tom Fun Orchestra. This band is pure imagination and accomplishment. They are going to be very important or implode. Only the muses know how this is going to work out. However I am sold on punk-grunge Celtic when the talent is at this level. I have never heard anything like it, but want to hear much more of it - mostly because we are on the edge of becoming a post industrial economy and these guys know just what that is all about, hailing from Cape Breton.
Back at the mainstage, Steven Page is struggling. What initially seems quite effective fades to inconsequential very quickly. I am surprised at the limited guitar skills on display, which I think is contributing to the ineffectiveness.
The mini-set by Hayes Carll validates just what I said above. Here is talent opening light onto the soul.
Alejandro Escovedo comes on and lays down the smoking set that I have been waiting all weekend for. This man's talent is epic in proportions and he is as keen an observer as Homer (the 4000 years dead poet, children, not the TV character - although there may be something to ponder there). The totally powerful opening numbers establish who is master now. Then the 3 quieter tunes in homage to colleagues and his father's journey from Mexico to Texas (which must have been totally terrifying for a 12 year old guided by a 16 year old in 1919). Then the anthems that somehow reference the goals we must set for our society now that most of us have survived the Bush the Younger presidency. He subtly gives us the guideposts from his generation and instills the energy we will need to take up the cause. Amazing.
Glen Campbell is going to be Glen Campbell of old, with rusty pipes. There are some technical difficulties making him uncomfortable on stage. I seize the moment to take a power nap so I can hear this set in my mind's eye, back when I first watched it on TV.
I am in awe of how many tickets his brand has sold. It seems thousands leave as soon as his set is concluded. This in turn makes me completely in awe of the programmers for the Calgary Folk Festival. What a balancing act, bringing in the 'names' to sell tickets so they can bring in all the other acts and give them a chance to perform in front of thousands of people. My hat is off to the CFMF - you do it extremely well.
Bellowhead blows my mind. What a full rich sound they bring to a 700 year old genre by arranging the traditional English folk songs for both traditional and modern orchestral instruments. The arrangements are magical. And then they they start to play with the genre, and it becomes even more fun. I have only once before seen the crowd react so spontaneously (get well, Michael Franti). I have to take a bathroom break so walk the path back to the only potty that I believe might not be knee deep in urine soaked toilet paper and shit; all along the way through the food tent path couples are spontaneously jigging in front of each other and then embracing in a whirling dance celebrating sheer life. This is the CFMF at its best, yet again.
Sarah Harmer keeps the promise of the earlier afternoon with her closing set. It is as if Clio, the muse of history, has stepped into time to inspire us with songs of memory to keep each other going. At any rate, 12 hours into the day, and I would be prepared to stay up all night listening to this troubadour. Not to be, as the lanterns appear signaling that we must depart gently into the night.
However we will reassemble Sunday!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Celebrating Social Insurgencies at the Calgary Folk Music Festival
Day 2 and the weather is holding. It would be too hot if we were not on an island being cooled by the breezes that blow through the river valley. And there is lots of shade to be had.
First order of business is to hit the Merch Tent - absolutely must have this year's t-shirt for my granddaughter (I need one as well, but the mission is to get her one before they are sold out). I manage to stay focused and do not hit the CD bins - just yet.
Settle into my usual spot (a state secret, but a lot of people are discovering it this year and it is getting crowded - may have to do a scouting mission for a new refuge).
Then LeE HARVey OsMOND open. A brilliant set that presents songs from the underbelly of society. I am drawn to the dancing area so I can absorb it fully. A member of the group is a veteran of the 60's coffee house circuit and his solo is a time trip. This collective melds so many traditions together - the music is complex, but sounds simple - a specific joy to experience.
Then a mini-set from Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few. Mr. Berube has an astonishing voice. Strong, clear and an amazing range that he negotiates effortlessly (which is a lot of hard work to pull off - it needs those 10,000 hours of practice to master). The songs appear to be lighter than those from LeE HARVey OsMOND, but are just as well observed and subversive. A major talent discovery for me and some workshops move from "very likely" to "definite" category.
ASIDE: If this pairing was an ad for the double bill at SAIT Gateway Lounge this fall, it worked. I will be there.
One more ASIDE: Carolyn Mark continues to be an exceptionally good MC - thanks!
Drift back to my refuge and Bell Orchestre appears and entrances. Again the music is complex but sounds simple. Orchestral instruments being used to explore the sounds you might hear in another dimension. The final number is one of the most beautiful pieces that I have ever heard inside or outside a concert hall. I do not think that I can describe it adequately. Let's just say the sounds emerging from these classical instruments were on the far edges of the instruments' technical range, but the result of the meld presented feelings of the tranquility found when we celebrate our common bonds. Amazingly satisfying.
The Good Lovelies present the next mini set. Sparkling triple harmonies from these ladies. They are working in the very old love song tradition. A great modern example of the origins of this tradition can be found in Karina Gauvin's CD: Les Chants d'Auvergne. But no need to search for that, just find these ladies on stage this weekend and enjoy. The lyrics evoke the best of the values found when two people love simply. The harmonies make you think such a thing is possible. I will be certain to follow them this weekend.
Gomez, the self-identified British Rock Insurgency, arrive. Blast off! I am immediately in the dance area which is functioning as a mosh pit. We are a mix of people who know the band well and those of us who are discovering them. Wonderful abbreviated conversations about the band while we dance our hips out of place. These are great rock musicians, and they mean to create change. I am ready to march with them. It is an astonishing set.
I miss Jolie Holland as I am in dire need of hydration and the line up is long at the lemonade stand. I am intrigued by what I can hear, so will track her at the workshops.
Mekon is fun. Another collective of musicians who are exploring a pure traditional folk sound, but you know the punk genre where they started is still there - inspiring energy where you might have expected mournful wailing. A fresh hearing for the genre - which is all I desire this weekend and am experiencing in spades.
OK, Arrested Development is this year's "formula band." Here to give the crowd an occasion to stand and dance. They present virtually the same set as they did the last time they were hear. It was intriguing then. It is boring tonight. It is fun to watch the crowd dynamic though.
Cory Harris reminds me how much I love the pure, clean picking sound of Piedmont Blues. I really have to seriously explore this genre as it does not seem to have antecedents in Bluegrass (which I can not abide for more than 15 seconds) but seems to have emerged in the same geographic region. A winter project involving a lot of listening. A perfect antidote for the stale, sanitized pseudo hip-hop that went before.
Uh Oh, someone is wearing Miss Havisham's faded wedding dress on stage. A sure signal that we are in for an over the top performance or really disappointing self indulgence. Great Expectations are not met - it is relentless, boring, self indulgence on offer. Halfway through The Decemberists set I join the exit parade.
Am really excited about Saturday's workshops and will get to the site far earlier than usual. I have found all the supplies that I might need, except the sun screen.
First order of business is to hit the Merch Tent - absolutely must have this year's t-shirt for my granddaughter (I need one as well, but the mission is to get her one before they are sold out). I manage to stay focused and do not hit the CD bins - just yet.
Settle into my usual spot (a state secret, but a lot of people are discovering it this year and it is getting crowded - may have to do a scouting mission for a new refuge).
Then LeE HARVey OsMOND open. A brilliant set that presents songs from the underbelly of society. I am drawn to the dancing area so I can absorb it fully. A member of the group is a veteran of the 60's coffee house circuit and his solo is a time trip. This collective melds so many traditions together - the music is complex, but sounds simple - a specific joy to experience.
Then a mini-set from Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few. Mr. Berube has an astonishing voice. Strong, clear and an amazing range that he negotiates effortlessly (which is a lot of hard work to pull off - it needs those 10,000 hours of practice to master). The songs appear to be lighter than those from LeE HARVey OsMOND, but are just as well observed and subversive. A major talent discovery for me and some workshops move from "very likely" to "definite" category.
ASIDE: If this pairing was an ad for the double bill at SAIT Gateway Lounge this fall, it worked. I will be there.
One more ASIDE: Carolyn Mark continues to be an exceptionally good MC - thanks!
Drift back to my refuge and Bell Orchestre appears and entrances. Again the music is complex but sounds simple. Orchestral instruments being used to explore the sounds you might hear in another dimension. The final number is one of the most beautiful pieces that I have ever heard inside or outside a concert hall. I do not think that I can describe it adequately. Let's just say the sounds emerging from these classical instruments were on the far edges of the instruments' technical range, but the result of the meld presented feelings of the tranquility found when we celebrate our common bonds. Amazingly satisfying.
The Good Lovelies present the next mini set. Sparkling triple harmonies from these ladies. They are working in the very old love song tradition. A great modern example of the origins of this tradition can be found in Karina Gauvin's CD: Les Chants d'Auvergne. But no need to search for that, just find these ladies on stage this weekend and enjoy. The lyrics evoke the best of the values found when two people love simply. The harmonies make you think such a thing is possible. I will be certain to follow them this weekend.
Gomez, the self-identified British Rock Insurgency, arrive. Blast off! I am immediately in the dance area which is functioning as a mosh pit. We are a mix of people who know the band well and those of us who are discovering them. Wonderful abbreviated conversations about the band while we dance our hips out of place. These are great rock musicians, and they mean to create change. I am ready to march with them. It is an astonishing set.
I miss Jolie Holland as I am in dire need of hydration and the line up is long at the lemonade stand. I am intrigued by what I can hear, so will track her at the workshops.
Mekon is fun. Another collective of musicians who are exploring a pure traditional folk sound, but you know the punk genre where they started is still there - inspiring energy where you might have expected mournful wailing. A fresh hearing for the genre - which is all I desire this weekend and am experiencing in spades.
OK, Arrested Development is this year's "formula band." Here to give the crowd an occasion to stand and dance. They present virtually the same set as they did the last time they were hear. It was intriguing then. It is boring tonight. It is fun to watch the crowd dynamic though.
Cory Harris reminds me how much I love the pure, clean picking sound of Piedmont Blues. I really have to seriously explore this genre as it does not seem to have antecedents in Bluegrass (which I can not abide for more than 15 seconds) but seems to have emerged in the same geographic region. A winter project involving a lot of listening. A perfect antidote for the stale, sanitized pseudo hip-hop that went before.
Uh Oh, someone is wearing Miss Havisham's faded wedding dress on stage. A sure signal that we are in for an over the top performance or really disappointing self indulgence. Great Expectations are not met - it is relentless, boring, self indulgence on offer. Halfway through The Decemberists set I join the exit parade.
Am really excited about Saturday's workshops and will get to the site far earlier than usual. I have found all the supplies that I might need, except the sun screen.
Friday, July 24, 2009
An Acoustic Celebration at the Calgary Folk Festival
Arrive just in time for Justin Rutledge (damn work, but is supports my music habit). He is an artist whose CD's I just can not get into, but people who have seen him live have told me that he is first rate. I immediately know by the second song that they are right. The guy radiates a connection right across the massive field and I settle in and just listen entranced.
What can I say about Jay Crocker? I saw him open for Michael Franti in a rock mode. I have seen him in his jazz mode. Tonight he is proving that a man with a guitar can transform the place into an intimate venue. I just kept mentally leaning in to hear 'closer.'
Umalali is the first great gift of the weekend. The instant thought is that I would love to attend a workshop that paired this group with some throat singers. With our studio sound based music culture we can lose sight of the pure honesty of the oral tradition in tracking and remembering the human experience. You can feel the last 400 years of their culture in this show. And I am up and moving the feet for the first time this weekend - great joy.
Chad VanGaalen - for one so young he sure takes me back to the original folk revival days. I think it's because beneath his songs is a very wry sense of humour which I share.
The Woodchoppers Association with Jah Youssouf - the saviors of the weekend by filling in a set. And what a gift. For the very first time at the Folk Festival I find that I have wandered up near the dancing area - just being drawn in. Love it when the Calgary crowd's French comprehension is challenged! But the passion to communicate (both ways) means we figure it out. I love the band. However there is something about the instruments from Mali that really resonates tonight. Perhaps it is the setting; perhaps it is that I know people have been listening for thousands of years to the sounds these instruments calling out. I am bewitched.
I give up on Mutabaruka. I like the idea of presenting a poet, but I can not hear him well. Will catch him in a workshop. So I wander the food tents looking for something to eat. Surprising how long the lines are this late in the evening.
Back, with food, in time for Iron and Wine. For some reason his performance is the perfect ending to the evening. He has a unique voice - lyrics that present strobe flashes of how generations interact or how we grow old, but hold memories of "the summer we were 17." Song after song is just beautiful. He definitely has his own voice, but reminds me of someone. I find the memory at last - Jim Croce sounded a bit like this (check out "These Dreams" on the net). And the barrier falls: This will be the first CD purchased this weekend.
Administrative Trivia
Originally Iwas opposed to the idea of a "4 day band" because I know it will drive me nuts as it gets more and more grotty with built up sweat and grime. However, I opt for one. I realize that by getting one, I will only have to stand in line once at the ticket gate.
I am very hopeful that the Festival has finally found the solution to the MC problem. Carolyn Mark is doing an excellent job. Please the earth gods that Nancy White will as well. I am relying on Nancy's radio hosting experience (and talent) to carry Saturday and Sunday.
All in all a gentle invitation to the weekend on offer tonight. I could feel the layers of stress peeling off. It was a damn long and cold winter, and the recession has not been kind to so many people that I know. However I have 3 more days of communing with musicians and other 'expert listeners' and am looking forward to it!
What can I say about Jay Crocker? I saw him open for Michael Franti in a rock mode. I have seen him in his jazz mode. Tonight he is proving that a man with a guitar can transform the place into an intimate venue. I just kept mentally leaning in to hear 'closer.'
Umalali is the first great gift of the weekend. The instant thought is that I would love to attend a workshop that paired this group with some throat singers. With our studio sound based music culture we can lose sight of the pure honesty of the oral tradition in tracking and remembering the human experience. You can feel the last 400 years of their culture in this show. And I am up and moving the feet for the first time this weekend - great joy.
Chad VanGaalen - for one so young he sure takes me back to the original folk revival days. I think it's because beneath his songs is a very wry sense of humour which I share.
The Woodchoppers Association with Jah Youssouf - the saviors of the weekend by filling in a set. And what a gift. For the very first time at the Folk Festival I find that I have wandered up near the dancing area - just being drawn in. Love it when the Calgary crowd's French comprehension is challenged! But the passion to communicate (both ways) means we figure it out. I love the band. However there is something about the instruments from Mali that really resonates tonight. Perhaps it is the setting; perhaps it is that I know people have been listening for thousands of years to the sounds these instruments calling out. I am bewitched.
I give up on Mutabaruka. I like the idea of presenting a poet, but I can not hear him well. Will catch him in a workshop. So I wander the food tents looking for something to eat. Surprising how long the lines are this late in the evening.
Back, with food, in time for Iron and Wine. For some reason his performance is the perfect ending to the evening. He has a unique voice - lyrics that present strobe flashes of how generations interact or how we grow old, but hold memories of "the summer we were 17." Song after song is just beautiful. He definitely has his own voice, but reminds me of someone. I find the memory at last - Jim Croce sounded a bit like this (check out "These Dreams" on the net). And the barrier falls: This will be the first CD purchased this weekend.
Administrative Trivia
Originally Iwas opposed to the idea of a "4 day band" because I know it will drive me nuts as it gets more and more grotty with built up sweat and grime. However, I opt for one. I realize that by getting one, I will only have to stand in line once at the ticket gate.
I am very hopeful that the Festival has finally found the solution to the MC problem. Carolyn Mark is doing an excellent job. Please the earth gods that Nancy White will as well. I am relying on Nancy's radio hosting experience (and talent) to carry Saturday and Sunday.
All in all a gentle invitation to the weekend on offer tonight. I could feel the layers of stress peeling off. It was a damn long and cold winter, and the recession has not been kind to so many people that I know. However I have 3 more days of communing with musicians and other 'expert listeners' and am looking forward to it!
Drifting Down Memory Lane at the Calgary Folk Festival
Last year after the Festival, a colleague said to me: "The Calgary Folk Festival changes people." He was commenting on his parents who had been given a free day pass by Charlie Musselwhite and then had not appeared again until midnight Sunday.
I don't think the Festival experience actually changes people. It invites people to be open to something innate in the human spirit and we accept the invitation.
Daniel J. Letivin in "This Is Your Brian On Music: The Science Of A Human Obsession" postulates that each of us is an expert listener. Eventually he presents the actual science that what makes a Mozart, Joni Mitchell, Verdi or J. S. Bach is 10,000 hours devoted to the craft. Almost every human has those 10,000 hours of listening to music (my children excluded, but I am correcting that with my granddaughter).
My theory is that the Calgary Folk Music Festival is a commune built by expert listeners for expert listeners. We each recognize we are "home" as soon as we hear the first chords drift across the field, and each year the connection gets stronger. We know we are there to simply revel in listening to some great music and to discover new paths on the music journey because the artists each have the fruits of their own 10,000 hours to share with us. An example - the year that all the musically literate 20 somethings were out to hear Feist, Broken Social Scene, etc., Jeff Healy appeared with his Jazz Wizards band. They were playing the jazz from the 1920's. All the young crowd were rapidly enticed into dancing and shaking booty. And I chuckled, because their great grandparents would have been jiving to this music, much to the horror of their great-great grandparents!
And while I regret that I will not get to hear Michael Franti and Spearhead perform this year, it is only a regret. I am more than happy to get on with listening to everybody else and discovering some new magic from an unexpected artist.
Let the ceremonies begin!
I don't think the Festival experience actually changes people. It invites people to be open to something innate in the human spirit and we accept the invitation.
Daniel J. Letivin in "This Is Your Brian On Music: The Science Of A Human Obsession" postulates that each of us is an expert listener. Eventually he presents the actual science that what makes a Mozart, Joni Mitchell, Verdi or J. S. Bach is 10,000 hours devoted to the craft. Almost every human has those 10,000 hours of listening to music (my children excluded, but I am correcting that with my granddaughter).
My theory is that the Calgary Folk Music Festival is a commune built by expert listeners for expert listeners. We each recognize we are "home" as soon as we hear the first chords drift across the field, and each year the connection gets stronger. We know we are there to simply revel in listening to some great music and to discover new paths on the music journey because the artists each have the fruits of their own 10,000 hours to share with us. An example - the year that all the musically literate 20 somethings were out to hear Feist, Broken Social Scene, etc., Jeff Healy appeared with his Jazz Wizards band. They were playing the jazz from the 1920's. All the young crowd were rapidly enticed into dancing and shaking booty. And I chuckled, because their great grandparents would have been jiving to this music, much to the horror of their great-great grandparents!
And while I regret that I will not get to hear Michael Franti and Spearhead perform this year, it is only a regret. I am more than happy to get on with listening to everybody else and discovering some new magic from an unexpected artist.
Let the ceremonies begin!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Celebration
This weekend is the huge Sasquatch Music Festival in Seattle. Alas I was there last weekend! However the Cheese Festival and Wine Tasting Tent in Pike Place Market were great. Tons of people, superior wines to taste and wonderful buskers filling the air with music. Loved the counter culture on display in Seattle - including my own.
Jim Byrnes new CD - "My Walking Stick" is a marvel. Think Robert Johnston meets early Ray Charles. Completely different from his last two CDs but just as enchanting. The final track on the CD: "Creole Poetry" is a wonder, and worth the price of the whole CD. You will know what it means to be human and in touch with the spirit world after close listening.
Also bought Ruthie Foster's new CD - "The Truth According to Ruthie Foster." One track "Love in the Middle" by Eric Bibb is one of those great songs you are sure was pulled from the collective memory of the human race. It is immediately familiar on first hearing. Ruthie and the superior studio musicians she gathered for this CD just nail it.
Then there is Dion's "Heroes, Giants of Early Guitar Rock." A salute to the likes of Chuck Berry, Elvis, Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, et al. Seriously wonderful time warping happens when you listen to this CD.
Finally, need to track down a way to buy Angus Wilson's CD "In the Gray." A friend brought it back from Rosebud and it is simply mesmerizing. Indie bent stripped down to a beautifully intense acoustic sound. I will find a way to own it.
Jim Byrnes new CD - "My Walking Stick" is a marvel. Think Robert Johnston meets early Ray Charles. Completely different from his last two CDs but just as enchanting. The final track on the CD: "Creole Poetry" is a wonder, and worth the price of the whole CD. You will know what it means to be human and in touch with the spirit world after close listening.
Also bought Ruthie Foster's new CD - "The Truth According to Ruthie Foster." One track "Love in the Middle" by Eric Bibb is one of those great songs you are sure was pulled from the collective memory of the human race. It is immediately familiar on first hearing. Ruthie and the superior studio musicians she gathered for this CD just nail it.
Then there is Dion's "Heroes, Giants of Early Guitar Rock." A salute to the likes of Chuck Berry, Elvis, Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, et al. Seriously wonderful time warping happens when you listen to this CD.
Finally, need to track down a way to buy Angus Wilson's CD "In the Gray." A friend brought it back from Rosebud and it is simply mesmerizing. Indie bent stripped down to a beautifully intense acoustic sound. I will find a way to own it.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Winter Was Long!
But full of good music.
The major treats?
Joan Baez. Gotta love it when an icon's current work is as interesting as her classic work.
Alberta Ballet's production of Joni Mitchel's the Fiddle and the Drum. An extraordinary collaboration of installation art, dance and the music. Spell binding.
Met Opera's Live HD transmissions. Got to three this year. The Salome was rewardingly intense. La Sonnambula had the cast born to sing the major roles. Alas a stage director's conceit damaged the production. La Cenerentola - just about perfect in every sense. I doubt that I have heard the ensembles sung with better matched voices.
Hearing the Duhks at SAIT - what a treat to feel their energy in an intimate venue!
Two jazz concerts - a group of young musicians at BeatNiq that were spellbinding and a classic jazz master at Epcor Engineered Air Theatre. Transporting music both nights.
Now to get ready for the summer. Am already pumped about the Calgary Folk Festival - the scope of the artists leaked promises four magical summer days, and Michael Franti says he is coming to it as well - oh yes that will be a show stopper performance again!
The major treats?
Joan Baez. Gotta love it when an icon's current work is as interesting as her classic work.
Alberta Ballet's production of Joni Mitchel's the Fiddle and the Drum. An extraordinary collaboration of installation art, dance and the music. Spell binding.
Met Opera's Live HD transmissions. Got to three this year. The Salome was rewardingly intense. La Sonnambula had the cast born to sing the major roles. Alas a stage director's conceit damaged the production. La Cenerentola - just about perfect in every sense. I doubt that I have heard the ensembles sung with better matched voices.
Hearing the Duhks at SAIT - what a treat to feel their energy in an intimate venue!
Two jazz concerts - a group of young musicians at BeatNiq that were spellbinding and a classic jazz master at Epcor Engineered Air Theatre. Transporting music both nights.
Now to get ready for the summer. Am already pumped about the Calgary Folk Festival - the scope of the artists leaked promises four magical summer days, and Michael Franti says he is coming to it as well - oh yes that will be a show stopper performance again!
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