Chelsea NYC

I'm in Adelaide and it's for family not for festival but I collected a string of related promotional publications and I was stunned.  I shouldn't have been.  I'd seen last year's and it was of a similar size, but it still overwhelms.  1,500+ shows from 8,000+ performers at 500+ venues.  And there's the Festival itself too, even if no Writers' fest this year after a stunning and newsworthy misjudgment.  A friend had seen an 8-hour drama performance a hte festival called Gatz (with breaks!!) from NYC about an office where the Great Gatsby story happens around a reader. She spoke well of that.  I just looked for a few odd Fringe shows to give me some exposure and that I could fit with family matters.  The first was See me at the Chelsea Hotel, ~90mins of songs by once residents at the famed artist hotel in NYC and telling some stories around the tunes.  All performed by an a capella vocal trio, two females, one male, and a folkish duo of male and female with guitars and ukelele.  The duo was Tin Pan Alley; the trio was Heaven Knows Acapella.  TPA were more raw, louder, even reaching to Hendrix on dirty strat and then Bob Marley-fied.  Fun.  HKA was sweeter, more precise rather than jovially raucous, wonderfully accurate in harmonies and voices.  I did like that.  Sometimes the five played together; sometimes each group played individually or one sat in with the other: the mix could be informal.  But the story was intriguing and spoke of a prime artistic location and famed names.  Names going back to Mark Twain, Dylan Thomas and through a string of others, some mentioned here, some not.  Dylan, Mapplethorpe, Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Nico, Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, Mapplethorpe and Warhol.  We heard songs and/or stories from many of these as well as The Band, The Ramones, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, Tom Waits, all associated with this hotel. There's much more (Corea, Spungen / Sid Vicious, Carole King) that didn't appear on the day.  Suffice to say this was worthy of a listen and inviting to a further read (Inside thee dream palace / Sherill Tippins was suggested).

Tin Pan Alley and Heaven Knows Acapella performed Meet us at the Chelsea Hotel for the Adelaide Fringe Festival.  TPA comprised Jayne Hewitson, Meredith Mardun and Christopher Koop (vocals,  variously guitar and melodion).

Something else that evening

Our Ornette-enacting duo was in the afternoon and the evening was something completely different, although playful and rhythmic as before, if from another era.  This was four harpsichords playing Bach and more at Wesley with a string quintet accompaniment.  The promise of John Ma the Wednesday before.  The main work of the day was the final piece, Concerto for four harpsichords Amin BWV1065. This was not nearly so well known as BWV1060 and BWV1062, played by two harpichord pairs earlier.  Thees had us just beating and beaming with grins in our seats.  They are hugely popular, played with gusto and many smiles, and a joy to all.  Other pieces were an overture-suite La Bizarre Gmaj by Telemann and a Sonfonia no.4 Amaj by Solnitz.  This second was somewhat obscure and to add to confusion was played attacca into BWV1065 which ended the peformance.  We'd heard so much, with so much joy, so much attention and screeds of notes and love that I was surprised to see my watch showed only a one hour concert at the end. But with Bach one hour can be eternity (in a good way).  All that intricate and playful interaction between parts, those falling sequences and quaver to semiquaver accelerations are such joy.

Harpsichord divas was a performance at Wesley by Arianna Odermatt, Callum Tolhurst-Close, Marie Searles and Marko Sever (harpsichords) with string accompaniment comprising John Ma and Lauren Davis (violins), Brad Tham (viola), Clara Teniswood (cello) and Hayley Manning (bass).

Something else

James and I enjoy our occasional duos at Gundog at Gundaroo.  Piano and bass is such an open sound with such an opportunity to hear and respond and hopefully invent.  I guess because neither steps on the other in frequency and the lack of parts just allows concentration and comparison.  Whatever, I was a little surprised to have Ornette called, I thought pretty daring for such a venue, but this was The Blessing and we'd played it before and it's got a groove if interrupted that works.  So Ornette for comfy venues.  I checked the Allmusic review for Something else, the album The Blessing appears on and an old fave I haven't heard for a while and the argument is that "in its angular, almost totally oppositional way, it swung and still does".  Couldn't agree more!  As for the award-winning riesling, something special.

James Woodman (piano) and Eric Pozza (bass) played at Gundaroo.

Lucky with our locals

John and Marie are our locals but I pinch myself when I say it.  Like many who spend time studying and performing in European music circles, they are wonderful, informed and skilled but they are here and super friendly and helpful and open.  A concert with John is a fireside chat with delicious music.  He joked at one stage of changes of movement between styles of music, from modern through to early or vice-versa, but that they had settled on baroque.  And baroque it was.  Early 1600s to later 1700s with CPE Bach.  All played with skill but also knowledge and joy.  What a pleasure.  So today it was CPE Bach to start, then going back in time to Schmelzer, Telemann, Uccelini and Fischer.  A few movements dropped to fit in the time allotted, which they admitted to sometimes overreaching.  This was just a casual Wednesday lunchtime concert, with a grand performance 4-harpsichord-and-strings feature coming on Saturday.  Expect no less from our much loved John and Marie.  BTW, the program also said that Marie is also studying jazz piano.  Enquiring minds!

John Ma (violin) and Marie Searles (harpsichord) performed at Wesley.

John and Maruki

It's somewhat strange but lovely that a principal from the LSO and violist from a significant string quartet formed the Maruki Community Orchestra with its invitation to all to take play, regardless of expertise, and to take on major works.  But that was John Gould.  My first Maruki concert was my second orchestral concert and it featured Beethoven Symphony no.5.  I will always remember how John would recount stories of famed conductors and performers through practice.  But John died sometime back and now we record his loss with a musical biography from PC (Paul) Hubbard, now conductor.  The book was launched over the weekend with a film, String Quartet, about his Carl Pini String Quartet, a discussion with author Paul led by Andrew Leigh, and a short violin play by Winsa Daniswara on  John's old violin, now Paul's.  I have yet to read the book and I look forward to it but the discussion already was informative.  Interestingly, Paul used AI in writing the work, so that too will be intriguing.  A mark of respect for John.

John Gould and the Maruki Community Orchestra was written by PC (Paul) Hubbard and launched with a film, discussion and short violin recital at Lyneham High School Performing Arts Centre.

Discovery 8 Wrapup

Well, these things come to an end.  Just a few final notes.  The last show was essentially mostly just songs from Chantelle Delaney and Thomas Armstrong-Robley fronting the Resident band in the theatre.  As for performers, I will probably remember the drummer and guitarist from the resident band, both professional, correct and able to let go when it fits, but never when it didn't, and the lead guitarist from Rhythm Jive, Ivan Cabreros.  Rhythm Jive is a covers band and they impressed immensely with a sets of various styles, but I was taken aback when they did Pink Floyd The Wall late on the final night.  Daring, I thought.  A whole side of an album with a guitar solo that was so correct.  Then listening more for the solos, they were all just as on the records.  Stunning.  I enjoyed this mob.  Otherwise, I had my moment of fame with another passenger choir.  More a singalong in unison or octaves, but fun.  I have done a SATB choir on board before but not with so few practices.  Then off at Sydney in a supremely ordered disembarking procedure.  This is big business and very professional.  Then, of course, a war and closed air space that must have numerous passengers stranded in Sydney.  Back to the real world, I guess, and none too hopeful.

Discovery 7

There's more of course.  A cruise ship is an indulgent mass of entertainment, food and drink if perhaps not an intellectual fervour.  But it is interesting to speak to different cultures.    This ship has masses of US, Canadian, UK citizens.  Its a challenge to get all the states and areas.  French Canadian, French now US in Houston, pro-/anti- whoever might be in power, listeners and self-listeners (I try to train myself to the first, but none too successfully).  Aussies who don't continue around the coast.  All manner surprised by the chilly NZ summer but the weather is all over these days.  Three more solo acts to mention: Colby Green, guitar strummer with hat, playing country-ish but also Cold Chisel and more and features shows on Dylan and others;  Douglas Berti, solo piano with standards and vocals; Robert Deans on solo piano with endless medleys of jazz standards played with an individual style and fascinating linkages.  He spoke of once knowing 500/600 but now just improvising 100 easily from memory.  Then another few shows.  Rock edition, a rock'n'roll retrospective by tenor Thomas Armstrong-Robley with the Resident band behind (slightly altered: 2 violins, no horns, as I remember).  Then TA-R with a full stage show, the Rock Opera, with 4 singers (2 male, 2 female), dancers (6 female, 5 male) and the resident band.  This disappointed a little: I could see no story to hold it together; more a capable and exciting but meaningless Voice extravaganza.  Perhaps my fave tune was the Nescafe theme from Carmina Burana (I could look it up but you know it), oddly out of place amongst belter operatic and rock styles, like Sounds of silence, Total eclipse of the heart, JC Superstar, I don't know how to love him.  There's another show tonight.  I was not the only one who found Spotlight Bar the best and most inviting stage show, with its tunes and dances that told a story of one night of love and loss and friendship in a local US bar.  Maybe expect a final to finish this series.

Discovery 6

A Beatles themed evening replaced our second Celtic stage show.  First up a trivia session.  Twenty questions: guess the song from a few introductory bars, easy enough, but give the date of release.  Twenty questions.  We scored 28/40.  We knew all songs other than one particularly obscure recording that Paul had suggested and was only recorded in early workshopping and appears on none of the released albums.  The name was Junk.  It's on Spotify.  As for dates, they were approximate, mostly just a year or so off, but many not correct.  So be it.  We had the period basically right (1963-1970).  Then a set of Beatles tunes that had many seniors singing along, irresistibly.  Rhythm Jive are the ship's main covers band from the Philippines.  Three years on the ship with a recently new bassist.  Capable, varied with huge repertoire of all styles.  Ivan told me of his pedal board and midi on his guitar so he can play a third keys line when required.  They were always entertaining and capable of running one cover into another for 45 mins in various conceivable styles and carrying it off with panache.  Another band intrigued, just a duo with a similar name, Jiva Duo.  Relatively sedate with guitar and vocals, but harmony effects and guitar and midi accompaniment.  Lovely bar fare.  And something strange to end with: silent disco.  Dancers on the floor with their selected playlists through headphones dancing to or with whoever.  I'm told its a thing off the ship, too.  How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't. (Tempest, Act 5, Sc 1).

Rhythm Jive comprised Lizette Canaan (vocals), James Gonzales (guitar, vocals), Ivan Cabreros (guitar), Gomer Robles (bass), Jerica Ladia (keys) and Jon Roland Sandoval (drums).  Jiva Duo comprised Jimmie Yanvar (guitar) and Sarah Natasha Zico (vocals).  They performed on Discovery Princess.

Discovery 5

A vocalist was taken ill, so we had two goes at a magician, Adam Murby, then later juggler, two shows of Aussie-kinked Celtic music and another show.  AM was entertaining and interesting.  I managed to identify just how one trick was achieved, but others left me dumbfounded, but then its all different to me.  I guess it's not given to reveal my solution here!  Then more Celtic music, from Celtic Gra meaning Celtic love.  This was a trio with the Resident band in support.  Irish singer with bare feet and lifted dress and Irish movements with husband pianist and offsider 22-yo fiddle player.  Lively and inviting as is Celtic music and an interesting twist of the central married team being Irish and Sydney-sourced Australian.  Some decent stories there.  As ever, the resident band without its pianist filled out the musical side and the infectious rhythms of Ireland and Scotland pleased immensely.  They were to reappear with a more modern repertoire but we were otherwise engaged.  More on that later.  And the second of the shows.  As always, a blast.  This was Spotlight Bar, a day in the life of various people and relationships in a out-West US (?) bar.  Delirious, exciting, involving and fabulous performances all round.

Celtic Gra compised Rebecca Russell (vocals), Kurt Russell (piano) and Caleb Anderson (fiddle) with support from the Resident band.  Spotlight Bar told the story of a day in the life in a US bar as a musical show comprising dancers (6 female, 5 male), singers (2 female, 2 male) and the resident band.  Adam Murby (magician) presented two shows.  

Discovery 4

I love the shows!  As I said, not Shakespeare but classy, skilled, heaps of work in development.  I can feel the role of the musos, primarily the bassist.  The Resident band comprises a rhythm section and horns, all capable readers.  They back the shows and various visiting artists with their charts, historically stained and edited, but now probably neat and digital.  They also perform occasionally as the local jazz band.  They back the big shows, with dancers, singers, costumes, lights, the whole caboodle.  The first nights were comedian Wayne Deakin and singer county-cum-pop singer Chantelle Delaney.  WD offered a risque gig later in the cruise at another venue, but I missed that.  CD was strongly voiced and chatty with the backing band, introducing her boys left at home, her role as backing for Slim Dusty as a 12-yo (?), her studio contact with Adele and how Olivia Newton-John liked best her take on Jeff Buckley Hallelujah.  All interesting background to a decent belter-strong voice and pleasant presence.  Then day 3 and the first real show.  This was Viva la Musica, mostly latin and Flamenco tunes with filmic arrangements and massive lights and costumes and dance numbers.  Forty-five minutes of outgoing excitement.  Love this stuff.  I can easily conceive of the work of the musos with their charts, but the dancers (6 female, 5 male) and solo singers (2 male, 2 female) and classy PA audio and complex lighting and fast-change costumes, presumably held together with velcro, were not so obvious.  I ran into one of the dancers a day or so later and she confirmed there's no written script for the dancing: they'd learnt it in 10 days.  Brilliant stuff and the best of on-board life in my estimation, at least amongst the entertainment.

Wayne Deakin (comedian) performed solo and Chantelle Delaney (vocals) performed with the Resident band.  The first big show was Viva la Musica featuring the Resident band with 4 singers and 9 dancers.  All in the Princess Theater (sic) on Discovery Princess.

Discovery 3

This can be just a solemn mark of respect.  We were in Tauranga today.  The ship was tied up in port  just a kilometre from the very pretty Mount Maunganui.  We took a minor bus tour from the entrance to the port and the tour was slightly different from usual.  The reason was just ~4 weeks before (22 Feb) a landslide had enveloped a camping area below the mountain and had killed 6 people.  Two others died the same morning in another landslide in Papamoa.  As we were informed at the end of the tour.  Tremors are common in NZ and I somewhat remember a news report, but it was unexpected regardless.  No pic, but you can chase it up on the Net.

Discovery 2

First up is a few bands, not in particular order.  The main musos are the resident band, but more on them later.  They are the jazz trained readers.  But there are numerous others around  Without any real order, a favourite of any is Pint of Plain, an Irish folk duo who play in O'Malley's pub.  So Guinness on tap and Slainte whiskey liberally presented.  PofP is Fionn Morrison, vocals, guitar and immense Irish wit, and Meabh Kennedy, fiddle, occasional vocals.  These were regularly performing, always overflowing attendances in a small venue, ready to take requests or perhaps take a title to perform later.  His offer to me was Celtic jazz.  How important is presence for a band!  Fionn had a digital stomp box which had me somewhat uncomfortable although it always worked perfectly well for him.  He was always ion the beat, 1-2-3-4 or 1-3 and I would feel the offbeat, 2-4.  Strange but so obvious in this context.  Both work, of course, but it was an indicator of our different trainings.  Wonderfully professional and entertaining.   These guys have it, but then the Irish just do.  More sedate but classy playing from the Russians, always superbly classically trained.  Diamond Strings was a violin duo with recorded accompaniment playing all manner of popular classics and light pop tunes.  Leysan Gimranova and Alexander Yakubov.

Pint of Plain comprised Fionn Morrison (vocals, guitar, stomp) and Meabh Kennedy (fiddle, vocals).  Diamond Strings comprised Leysan Gimranova and Alexander Yakubov (violins).

Discovery 1

Another cruise with my Mum.  A cruise is an appropriate form of travel for us: meeting people is the best, but also comfy living, some trivial trivia quizzes to expose your lack of knowledges, plenty of food and coffees and performers into the night and some glitzy entertainment to impress.  Impress me it does, even if it's on the variety end of entertainment.  This is not Shakespeare but it is impressive and must be masses of work to develop.  We are here for a few weeks travelling the length of NZ.  Plenty of USA'ers (they're not the only Americans) and Canadians, perhaps travelling to the Global South in their winter.  Enough Australians and Brits and Chinese and spatterings of others.  Plenty of names to stress to remember and eternal menus to peruse and cocktails to explore.  Quintessential middle class welfare, not bad as it is if limited.  I've managed to advise a Canadian group of COMA as a worthy musical outing in Adelaide, which amused me, and he was open ears.  Helping things is Internet which now comes free with drinks/drunks packages so plenty of mobiles around and plenty of lost souls exploring the world outside the bar.  Just a few smokers in their allowed spaces which you pass when exercising and exercising you must.  This is not a health retreat!  The dress is increasingly meagre.  Few these days excel for the formal nights: some guys with bow ties; women always well dressed.  I like to wear a suit occasionally as an opportunity to return to this dress, but even that's getting rarer despite the formal nights.  There seems to be a battle for the best t-shirt amongst us older guys.  I display The Pots Indulgences and SoundOut and Genesis Owasu, all Canberra, but Stones, Nirvana and the like are common along with witty quotes.  I enjoyed one about shirking home duties, possibly a gift from the wife.  I also deserve that one.  Very casual these days.

Two views around two wars

This was the first Wednesday Lunchtime concert for the year at Wesley, a series I record for the performers.  The performers were a duo of piano and clarinet, Kimberley Steele and Milan Kolundzija, both locals, but playing music themed for the relationship and connection of French and Hungarian composers.  Kimberley noted how distant they are, or at least were in times of slower transport, about 1,500km, distant in European terms.  But the pieces they played displayed the relationships and influences.  Lili Boulanger, Kodaly, Debussy, Weiner and Poulenc.  I'm not sure I could list the influences, but there were similar forms, tiny pieces from Kodaly and Debussy, some as etudes or the like, a Hungarian dance, a nocturne from Lili Boulanger and a longer sonata from Poulenc.  Whatever, the music was well played, clearly interpreted, relaxed in presentation and a worthy start to the year with its clear theme.

Kimberly Steele (piano) and Milan Kolundzija (clarinet) performed French and Hungarian music composed before and after the World Wars.

Alt. at Smiths

I say Alt. because I was attending something somewhat new.  One night with a rap session earlier on then Afrobeat.  The rap wasn't the first I've attended, but one of few.  The rapping started a bit late after a DJ session with this style of music.  I liked that although perhaps less the actual rapping.  I can find it angry, although I chatted with a few practitioners and they were perfectly friendly.  But the lyrics and presence can be thus and I was due downstairs for the Afrobeat anyway.  This was music from a genuine Ghanaian leader, Afromoses Baidu, with his band.  The band was called Afro Moses with the lineup of Afromoses and two female voices, keys, bass and drums.  They had played the night before on a much larger stage for the Multicultural Festival and that would have been exciting.  Smiths was quieter, especially this night with the Festival still on and some threat of rain but the music was infectious, led closely by Afromoses himself.  He sang and played kalimba and ukelele or small guitar and often used a digital harmoniser for a different vocal tone.  Two female singers, Emma and Lulu, were offside for some lovely harmonies and all the rest of the band had mics for their occasional vocal parts.  I missed most names other than Brett Adrien on bass.  The feels were relaxed with reggae and Afro grooves and indulgent harmonies.  You can only love those voices and harmonies.  The grooves are well known but quite different at times.  I think I know reggae and Afrobeat but seeing them in real life and hearing those drum and bass lines was instructive. A very different feel, bar breakups, bass fingering and the like.  This is not the blues feel that merges into jazz.  So both welcoming and nourishing and surprisingly quite different in lyrical themes for example when Afromoses highlighted that Ghanaian women tend not to dance while Aussie men are the dance shirkers.  Difference is a wonderful thing.  Just a lovely, indulgent outing.

Afro Moses performed reggae and Afrobeat at Smiths, led by Afromoses Baidu (vocals, kalimba, ukelele or small guitar) with Emma and Lulu (vocals), Brett Adrien (bass, vocals), keys and drums (instrument, vocals).