Monday magic - Martin Carthy at Old Cinema Launderette, 11th August 2014

Something of a pre-birthday treat, M and I were eagerly anticipating this Launderette concert featuring folk legend Martin Carthy with local support from Paul Liddell. Whilst still relative newcomers to the comings and goings of the UK folk scene, we were aware of Martin's history and status... quite excited come doors time!

A sold-out Launderette (which is around 30 people) was very appreciative of support artist Paul Liddell, who was a little nervous at playing totally unplugged in contrast to his professed use of live sampling in more 'regular' events. Nonetheless, a high quality and very entertaining set, featuring songs such as 'The Ends Of The Earth' and even an audience sing-along!

Martin's set (or really, 2 sets with an interval - something like 2 hours of music) was an education as well as an experience. He introduced/contextualised each song with stories of where it came from/ musicians he'd heard playing it/ relating to current socio-economic-cultural trends/ other interesting anecdotes. Most of the songs were traditional (from all corners of the country and beyond) with a few instrumental 'tunes' thrown in. Some of the wide variety of songs included: 'Green Broom', 'Oor Hamlet', 'Prince Heathen', 'The Devil & The Feathery Wife', 'A Stitch In Time', 'Sir Patrick Spens'.

Examples of the 'tunes' include: 'The Fall of Paris', which features in many different folk traditions but is in fact French in origin; a retreat written by one of the 51st (Highland) Division whilst in a POW camp after St Valery during World War 2. The encore/farewell was a humourous version of Anton Karas''Cafe Mozart Waltz'.

A tremendous evening of music and tales thoroughly enjoyed by all! Since Monday's concert, I have also started digging through the excellent The Full English digital archive, which features historical notes, manuscrips and more. A real treasure trove!

Comments

Music, Poetry and Cake (Gateshead and Lanchester)

Piano at the ready! (by M) After a good few months prep, the concert Piano Music and Poetry (organised through the Gateshead Piano Workshop folks) came around pretty quickly. As one of the participants, I was excited and also a little nervous about the prospect of a Paying Audience. The work paid off, as all the performers were excellent! Well appreciated by the compact audience. The format was in relation to National Poetry Day which was on 2nd October. Each performer chose a poem either in direct or indirect relation to their piece. A summary of the programme: Alan - Liszt Consolation No 4 and Mozart Adagio in B minor Graeme - Chopin Nocturne Op. 62 No. 2 with 'Uncertainty' by Adam Mickiewicz me - Clara Schumann, andante con sentimento with 'Clara Wieck und Beethoven' by Franz Grillparzer Jim - R Schumann Kinderszenen 1 and 7 with 'My child, we were just children' by Heinrich Heine Ernie - Debussy Clair de lune with excerpt from 'Fêtes g...

Sounds of JUNOfest

Classical JUNOs performers Something of a musical melange weekend but an excellent set of events! Eschewing some of the bands and artists we knew, we chose less familiar sounds for our JUNOfest experience. First up was the Classical JUNOs in Concert event at the National Arts Centre , featuring both nominated performers and composers. The mix of contemporary music was brilliantly played by Christina Petrowska Quilico , Susan Hoeppner , Heather Schmidt and the New Orford String Quartet . Quilico amazed the almost 100-strong audience with her performance of Derek Charke's Sepia Fragments in a reduction for piano; I found this piece a really captivating mix of earthly and ethereal elements. Quilico's second performance was of Ann Southam's Glass Houses No. 5 , an hypnotic piece which sounded both fiendishly difficult to play but also very clean and unembellished. Susan Hoeppner's excellent performance of Eldin Burton's Sonatina for Flute and Piano got the po...

Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

PrettyInScarlett

Search This Blog