Princessing the rest

There was more on the Diamond Princess and there was more that I missed. The ship was based in Yokohama, close to Tokyo. In passing, the Ocean Terminal was a fascinating construction of flowing timber floors and green lawned roof and surprisingly effective at processing cruise liners. This is big business. But that's out of CJ's purview. There were several Japanese folk acts, pairs of shamizen players, that Japanese three-stringed banjo-like instrument played with a hand-sized pick. Two women at one port; two men at another. There was a Esashi Oiwake was a Japanese folkloric show out of Hokodate. I missed the original but caught it on cabin-TV after the event. Very staid, settled, perhaps ominous to our ears. Diane Kichijitsu presented a traditional Japanese storytime routine that she amusingly called "sit-down comedy" as Japanese comedians seem to sit and mime activities. The joke was largely based a purported readiness to ask one's age. She was nineteen, it seems. A polished performance and worthy of a decent laugh. There was guitar/vocalist Jelord Pentacase and a few other that I missed, not least classically-trained violinist Katei and magician Daniel Ka. But the stars of my trip, perhaps, were the trio in the Hutorok restaurant/bar in the Russian town of Korsakov. This was a tour. I tend not to take tours (they are expensive and you are herded in buses like cattle) but you couldn't get off the ship independently, so a tour it was. This one drove an hour to see a square and a church and an ice-hockey stadium, but culminated in a meal of Russian goodies - blinies, pirozhki, rassolnik and the like. And vodka. Everyone in traditional dress, of course (nothing like the streetscape) and the entertainment as the star attraction: Russian songs, step dances, solo balalaika playing Hotel California and Bananarama and quoting Smoke on the water. Memorable and musical and amusing. The trio was Yura Vatutin (balalaika, vocals), Olgar Kyznetsova and Anastasia Veselkina (vocals). Much fun. Then a few last memories. One was a museum of music boxes in Otaru, the Otaru Orgel Museum. Thousands of music boxes of all sizes and types and designs for sale, but also a room housing a fascinating collection of music playback machines, not least an pipe organ played with a pianola role and a pianola-like machine playing large removable metal disks. And the finale, the Pop choir. It's my second on a ship. It's a just a few pop songs, sung unison unless you can find a harmony. This one performed in the atrium with a too-loud a sound track but it was fun and it fills the time and saves me from just a few more beers.

Princessing the bands

I've already mentioned the Diamond Princess Orchestra. They are the reading professionals that back the shows and the various entertainers who come on board for a day or two. They read; they are trained profs in that mould and they impress me mightily. I like this style. Get in for a few hours of rehearsal then do a complex gig once or twice after dinner and carry it off with panache and clarity. The DPO backed several shows of this style on the ship. One was New Orleans pianist/singer Chris May who got in front of a band to play a hometown New Orleans show, all rollicking rhythms and backbeats and syncopations and second liners. The DPO were reading too hard to be a standard first line band, but the groove and intent was there. The DPO did another gig in the Explorers Lounge backing opera soprano Lena McKenzie. I learnt much from this gig. Again a capable band and a competent singer, but the voice was cutting, unbalanced, uneven. This is obviously capable singer, so why? Because of the mic? Sort of. I heard Lena again in a show a day or so later, in the theatre, served by programmed, digital sound and it was great. So ... the value of good sound production. The difference was truly chalk and cheese. Avis Ellis was in the Theatre for her show. I assume her sound would have been quickly setup in rehearsal that afternoon. She sang Motown and the like with lots of energy and Southern Baptist Missionary voice so great. Interestingly, I notice her first recording was two songs a later Norman Connors album when he took on smooth jazz. (I count one of his early recordings, Love from the Sun, as one of my most played albums). And then the dance band, all hot and sweaty and rocky and funky, and they were really a great covers band. The Drop. Strange name but these were burners with a massive repertoire spanning the years. Two singers up front, a funky rhythm section with slap and the rest. I met bassist Sean Taylor. He'd been on ships for a few years, the band morphs every so often with members coming and going (the guitar and female vocals were relatively new) and he'd had years of touring England before. Suffice to say, this was a tight, skilled, entertaining mob.

Princessing the bars

Bars are a centre of life on a cruise ship. People sit at bars; they talk at bars; they listen at bars and read there. There's like on deck too, especially when it's warm, and the bar scene expands there then, but this wasn't particularly warm and most were inside. Our bar was by the Lobby, central, with the best coffee and perhaps the most passing traffic. A string of performers appeared in the Lobby, on one little stage or on its twin with a grand piano. The Angelic String duo were a favourite of mine. Two Eastern Europeans (it seems all the classical players on ships are Eastern European), Kateryna Radchencko and Syrofenko Luibov, both playing electric violins. Like my NS EUB, the instruments were talked about. They played pop and pop classics with backing tracks and they played with skill. They share the melody line, improvise the counterpoint. Very neat and very capable. They also appeared with the DP Orchestra for some stage shows. Polish pianist Jowita Tabasczewska played popular melodies with easy classically-influenced chordal improvisations at the Lobby Bar but mostly at the Crooners Bar. It's the main spot for piano/vocalists. Pianist singer Chris May also mostly played the Crooners, but would appear later in the New Orleans show with the DP Orchestra. He tended more to jazz improvs and commonly sang. Numerous other appeared at bars, sometimes just in port or for one stage of the cruise. Tui and Maile Letuli were on unexpected choice, he playing Hawaiian guitar and singing, she sometimes singing or playing mandolin, but mostly dancing with lei and hula dress. Perhaps it was the Japan/Hawaii connection. And one I found amusing, like a throw back to long hair and screaming guitars (but quite well done none-the-less), the Italian Luca Cervo, playing rock hits on solo Strat (sometimes singing) with midi backing. One thing to note for the working musos, these guys have repertoire. The theme of rock continued in Korsakov, Russia; more on that later. There were others around the bars that I never heard: Maridor Duo was an enigma, and DJ Kiki unheard.

Princessing the theatre

CJ has been in recess as I went on a cruise with my mum. That's family but there's always some music to interest CJ. This was the Diamond Princess. The cruise was out of Tokyo/Yokohama to Busan (South Korea) to Yokohama to Korsakov (Russia) to Yokohama. It's a cruise, so it's as more resort than travel although we do touch on places but most of the music is on board, in a bar or theatre or atrium. I always enjoy the theatre shows, mostly pop songs made into a little story, like a light Route 66 road movie. There was one aria-infested light operatic show, all long dresses and suits and even bow ties. Nothing deep, but all good and all superbly professional. I think of Ginger Rogers who did everything Fred did but backwards and in high heels. You'd have to add they all do on a rolling stage, although it was pretty calm for this trip. Eleven dancers (7 women, 4 men) and four singers and the DP Orchestra comprising piano, bass, guitar, drums, sax/flute, trumpet, trombone. They sometimes added two violins. The operatic show really was really mostly modern with hits from the movies, not least a Bond medley, but featured memorables from Carmen and the inevitable Time to say goodbye. The other shows were strings of pop hits, nicely interleaved, not at all broken up or a string of numbers. This is well orchestrated, arranged and presented with some top gear. They use a digital mix, all timed and programmed. I had heard an opera soprano singing in another theatre and hated the uneven and cutting tones, but in the theatre, her sound was spot on. It just shows the value of a good sound person. These are professional players, chosen from large fields and working nightly. The musos take charts from visiting performers and play after a few hours rehearsal. Impressive. I particularly noticed the drummer, Molly, with a fabulous sense of underplay and apt fills, but they were all good. She'd only played onboard for 6 weeks. Suffice to say, I don't attend anything like this otherwise (perhaps musical theatre could come close) but I love it. Nothing deep and meaningful but great skills and catchy tunes.

The Diamond Princess orchestra and dancers included Molly Jones (drums) and Jim Yamakawa (bass).