...and farewell to Durham

With all the excitement about moving, we will definitely miss this place! Arriving here still homesick for Ottawa, it was great moving into such a friendly area. I'll miss the music groups most definitely; whilst Durham Amateur Pianists isn't continuing in present form, Let's Play the Piano! Newcastle and the Gateshead Piano Workshop are still strong.


Farewell home grown apples

After the amazing Eliza Carthy back in August, it's been so hectic we've not made any concerts etc. I finally made it to Empty Shop the other week for their Cassette Store Day related music fair thing and some good beer. No cassettes purchased (many years since I last had a tape deck) but I did acquire The Caroline EP by local band Dennis. Warm, bouncy, feel-good songs with a brass twist, very nicely done. Also on Facebook. Back there just yesterday for Wax In The Attic, an all-day vinyl fair/event. My most notable 'why not?' purchase was Musique de film imaginé by Brian Jonestown Massacre. M reckons that we saw BJM supporting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club the first time we saw them (which is more years than I really want to consider right now!!!)....? The LP is really quite mellow and dreamy; it definitely reminds me of Mogwai's album Les Revenants in atmosphere. The idea behind the classy concept on this album is that the listener imagines the film using the soundscape created.

Just about a month to go now, the whirlwind increases!

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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 .

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