It’s quiet on the live jazz scene, so here are a few interesting pics from the CJ archives from Europe 2009. Firstly, some seriously good quality busking in the streets of Vienna. Classical music is a tourist industry in the major European cities, but that’s not to say it’s uninteresting or untutored. So Ryang is a Korean concert pianist with European training at masters level. Megan was pretty sure she was playing Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata. It sure beats the lurid guitar I ignored the other day at the Woden shops. Secondly, musicians and artists are everywhere. I came across this composition student busily writing between drop-offs at the cloakroom for the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. Not sure how he could concentrate, but there you go. Thirdly, the renowned jazz textbooks by Mark Levine take pride of place in a Paris music bookstore. Lastly, a very down-to-earth Latin quartet in Piazza Navona in Rome. Look at that bass, man! Three strings and multicoloured.
