tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49941943746842378432024-02-07T11:14:59.752-08:00All Things MusicA view of the musical offerings (mostly in Michigan, USA) seen by the authorAll Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-79719885779325574162012-02-18T14:11:00.000-08:002012-02-18T14:11:32.747-08:00Sept Offers<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt Bliton</td></tr>
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Two of my favorite people performed on the 10th at Gone Wired Cafe in Lansing. <b> Matt Bliton</b> has put together his band to include guests on certain songs...all to great effect. Their harmonies are welcome on these particular tracks. Matt also has <b>Linda Abar</b> do a lead or two, and she is truly a pleasure to listen to. There are rumors to a new Matt Bliton CD in the not-too-distant future. Looking forward to it!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJtJbHw_D4_2DZWGxG8wt-4HiOr_BZw6XrsFdrr0WwC0y9oOkRsuLbg0QsZq2DbfitflkcB3CopQ1RSgm9whny8I2o3opywtbJxNhsuEucBdwxytcr4LhOHKZdiTWm1lbuprzPQtb0DyY/s1600/LA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJtJbHw_D4_2DZWGxG8wt-4HiOr_BZw6XrsFdrr0WwC0y9oOkRsuLbg0QsZq2DbfitflkcB3CopQ1RSgm9whny8I2o3opywtbJxNhsuEucBdwxytcr4LhOHKZdiTWm1lbuprzPQtb0DyY/s1600/LA.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linda Abar</td></tr>
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September 11, 2011...that's 9/11, ten years later. Much has been written and many events were planned for this day. I participated by attending a large community group performing <b>Mozart's "Requiem"</b>. It was as moving as expected....plenty of tears. People were respectful and quiet before the concert and most appreciative at its conclusion. Here is what it looked like:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXGx2UUpZ2_xixhBI6F3Eho79H0RRa929louj6I2brVVvdxfot1jm-sjOhqiZIeoLKtdj3m4kYP_SXFBVHTA98k_iWUH46fhZK_IQl3TT-JvtqQrC9wRqmdtK08TzWIgrmgsU47iLY3Q/s1600/911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXGx2UUpZ2_xixhBI6F3Eho79H0RRa929louj6I2brVVvdxfot1jm-sjOhqiZIeoLKtdj3m4kYP_SXFBVHTA98k_iWUH46fhZK_IQl3TT-JvtqQrC9wRqmdtK08TzWIgrmgsU47iLY3Q/s320/911.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<b style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"> The Coffeehouse at All Saints</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #23221f; line-height: 27px;">T</span><span style="color: #23221f;"><span style="line-height: 27px;">his is our</span></span> <span style="color: #23221f; line-height: 27px;">6th year and our opening night, <a href="http://mim.io/0ae681" target="_blank">Friday, Sept 16</a> was jam-packed with duets, The Friday Strings, some Broadway, Monty Python, sing alongs, a First-Hand report of the Kardashian-Humphries wedding, Back To School musings, Dan Brown from Ann Arbor, The Basement Boys and more. It was a fun, full night of excellent performances and sing alongs. I think everyone had a great time and I'm grateful Dan Brown made the trip from Ann Arbor. Here's a shot of a jam session hosted by the Basement Boys:</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RGrza38zC3F9HZN6UD-uYu2crCxqjEOY_XuDSTiRfPCrkxebY8aGiyAUd3Y4cW3nbkhpoP73CSYKAcDr5mG8cejFbTmMgdkm95xkJAM9kh9jUhTvZ82kNZpDNWXt-VoMEqgBMxKK-_g/s1600/IMG_1777.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RGrza38zC3F9HZN6UD-uYu2crCxqjEOY_XuDSTiRfPCrkxebY8aGiyAUd3Y4cW3nbkhpoP73CSYKAcDr5mG8cejFbTmMgdkm95xkJAM9kh9jUhTvZ82kNZpDNWXt-VoMEqgBMxKK-_g/s320/IMG_1777.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jam Session w/ The Basement Boys</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Jackson Browne</b></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 17 Guitars of Jackson Browne</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #23221f; line-height: 27px;">Saturday, Sept 24 brought a real treat to East Lansing....Nicky and I saw<b> Jackson Browne</b> at the Wharton Center on the campus of Michigan State University. He was in excellent voice and switched between guitar (17 of them) and piano as the song dictated. In what was an unprecedented move on Mr. Browne's part (at least I thought so), after he sang 2 songs he started to take requests form the audience. No, not so strange...except HE DID IT THE REST OF THE NIGHT! What fun for people to call out their favorite JB tune and have him happily comply. This was a lot of fun. We had great seats.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>Fleet Foxes at Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor</b></span> </div>
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The final concert event of the month was a trip to Ann Arbor with my good friend, Matt Lynch, to see Fleet Foxes who had been touring their relatively new CD, Helplessness Blues. I have to admit, I was concerned about the quality of the live performance since so much of what FF does is provide interesting and persistent harmony. I just thought it would be easy to do in the studio and difficult to bring on tour. I needn't have worried as they have this down to a fine science. They were wonderful and precise.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just before Fleet Foxes took the stage</td></tr>
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Lead singer Robin Pecknold is obviously the driving force of this indie band, but bassist <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Christian Wargo and drummer Joshua Tillman were just as important when the dream-like harmonies began. Great job by this tight band.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #23221f; line-height: 27px;"><br /></span></span></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-60195473110540876702012-01-02T09:46:00.000-08:002012-01-02T09:46:32.486-08:00August in the Basement<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Introduced at the March 2011 Coffeehouse at All Saints, The Basement Boys are a quartet of local musicians who play folk/country/Americana songs in an easy, laid-back style. They were playing at a house party in August at common friends, Vic Rauch and Ellen DeRosia. Vic and Ellen were the ones who brought The Basement Boys to us. I was fortunate to sit in with them at the request of band leader, Mark Manrique. Those of you who have been to house parties where the music was live can appreciate the fun nature of the event. Everyone os loose and easy-going and it makes the music flow that much better I think! We had a lot of fun...managed a John Prine tune or two and many others. I have since practiced and played several times with the Basement Boys, a fun group of fine musicians. Thanks Vic and Ellen!<br />
_______________________________________________________________________________-- All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-86545449352699059622012-01-02T07:29:00.001-08:002012-01-02T08:38:54.379-08:00What Happens in July?<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While finally taking that long-awaited vacation is what we look forward to in the summer, another alternative is to hone a skill or expand your horizon. During a 6 week period each summer <a href="http://goo.gl/aS8w1" target="_blank">Dr Jonathan Reed</a>, Assoc Director of Choral Activities at Michigan State University, offers local singers an opportunity to sing wonderful choral music with his summer graduate conducting class. I found out about it as a member of <a href="http://goo.gl/MwJnO" target="_blank">MSU Choral Union</a> </span>(<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">a large mixed chorus of 150 to 200 voices designed to bring the campus and community together.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0cHjpEuSGDeEEWB-uLn7tHwySWc0tTZP42PBS8gdr0hhM5v6nE9G6ZQPF5AlCnhinUxj3k0S1txzrYDU37gm-yCgJc-MHq-BcPibJmmNA5WqqjovxRbaJboqnYur3MJ7YfkzNQUCyIJw/s1600/JohnReed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0cHjpEuSGDeEEWB-uLn7tHwySWc0tTZP42PBS8gdr0hhM5v6nE9G6ZQPF5AlCnhinUxj3k0S1txzrYDU37gm-yCgJc-MHq-BcPibJmmNA5WqqjovxRbaJboqnYur3MJ7YfkzNQUCyIJw/s1600/JohnReed.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Repertoire focuses on the major choral/orchestral works of every stylistic period, which are performed with the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra and university orchestras.) The setup is much like a workshop where the grad students have been given a piece of music to direct (or most likely a section) and it is relatively rapid-fire succession of one conductor to the next. As a singer-participant you get to sing beautiful </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">pieces and as a grad student you have a choir to direct. I have enjoyed a couple years of these rehearsals and feel lucky to have the opportunity. If you're interested, send me an email or contact Dr. Reed directly (linked above). </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Although Nicky and I attended 2 weddings this summer there were no soloists or choirs involved...a little congregational singing. The wedding here in East Lansing was held on the 4th Floor of Spartan Stadium...cool place for sure. The live band (thank you Lashbrooks!) was excellent...an R&B outfit that utilizes (extremely slyly) a synthesized backing of instruments need to "fill out" the sound. They have a guitarist, bass, drummer and keyboard player, but it is the background sound that polishes the songs to sound like the original. They were really good. I will ask Deb Lashbrook for the name of the group as they should be mentioned.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DGu7XOWwYqObom1mW348KpjKzLnYL6q9iETeq644hQaCES_3kgEvRtmq_W0WAy6Rmsx-DixN5XQ7pcBVELcZiNztcEqMRsUXsDil0RHzle9fZV5HzD6OCX_wv7KF3pBAJnlHiqIic9w/s1600/IMG_1736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DGu7XOWwYqObom1mW348KpjKzLnYL6q9iETeq644hQaCES_3kgEvRtmq_W0WAy6Rmsx-DixN5XQ7pcBVELcZiNztcEqMRsUXsDil0RHzle9fZV5HzD6OCX_wv7KF3pBAJnlHiqIic9w/s320/IMG_1736.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">The other wedding in England where my </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">niece got married</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">. Nicky and I were fortunate to spend a week hiking in the Peak District before descending on the town of Great Missenden where Alsion and Simon were married. My brother-in-law had convinced the local pub owner (on the edge of town and known for their </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">excellent</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> cuisine) to host the reception on the lawn in their back garden...he had never done that before. They put down a wooden "floor" and assembled the tables and chairs as normal and also installed a stage at the back of the </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">room</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> where a live band "rocked it out" for the night. They were quite good and definite crowd-pleasers. It's interesting attending weddings in different parts of the world to see the similarities and differences...and for me, the differences in music choice! There were many numbers I had never heard of but were well known by the wedding attendees. It was a wonderful, </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">perfectly planned </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">wedding weekend .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></span></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-52872033741237827722011-06-27T08:53:00.000-07:002011-06-27T08:53:08.993-07:00U2 Could Have Been There!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Florence Welch</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ah....what a night. As Nicky and I sat in our self-proclaimed, "excellent seats" watching and listening to Florence & the Machine (opening act) finish their set you really couldn't not notice this amazing stage in front of you. I have about 15 photos to show this blog post...so I'll try to do them in order. First off, Florence:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bIeidfguer_IBn2fBBR30hYx3qx_4Lv2T4zzHXX5F00PYpYCttYI6IzVxkdIwljiW-FRiFuepyKX-3aSX16pNbmjN2-1I6L0le-AcZiqoi-YejGMvvbUYx8fYlhiMv0TKGDuzQ9zezs/s1600/U2_20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bIeidfguer_IBn2fBBR30hYx3qx_4Lv2T4zzHXX5F00PYpYCttYI6IzVxkdIwljiW-FRiFuepyKX-3aSX16pNbmjN2-1I6L0le-AcZiqoi-YejGMvvbUYx8fYlhiMv0TKGDuzQ9zezs/s320/U2_20.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great dress for the stage... flowing in the wind</td></tr>
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</div><div>U2 joined the stage virtually spot on time (scheduled for 8:45pm and were all on stage by 8:50).</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtYGX-QiGrWvpqpwcTjFo7d5DCZpc9x04B5U9NvHMAOERZhklZ_I_ZQZlvgSQVdlZ1vY4y9dPjyuyB-IJWyFpkA8dBhgvj4K8azwnQsfbHkMIprEp2ABe99DVpxoX7-8tXCpoKYqNCdY/s1600/U2_17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXtYGX-QiGrWvpqpwcTjFo7d5DCZpc9x04B5U9NvHMAOERZhklZ_I_ZQZlvgSQVdlZ1vY4y9dPjyuyB-IJWyFpkA8dBhgvj4K8azwnQsfbHkMIprEp2ABe99DVpxoX7-8tXCpoKYqNCdY/s320/U2_17.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fantastic stage...amazing</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5OBiqTiL5oRJXOEnAcssFSvpedTRIqQzAKFHXkIxpCHYUaSqgfdLyAhraiHmIvoymOvS2tUMMz8jlwILeQTpMey5gc9gAexIxzMgTkzWK1wPqcqCjItqvMteVfWLzXaqKHjBbh6fc4w/s1600/U2_12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5OBiqTiL5oRJXOEnAcssFSvpedTRIqQzAKFHXkIxpCHYUaSqgfdLyAhraiHmIvoymOvS2tUMMz8jlwILeQTpMey5gc9gAexIxzMgTkzWK1wPqcqCjItqvMteVfWLzXaqKHjBbh6fc4w/s320/U2_12.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edge and Bono<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyXQduZxBIsMXwY3izdZaia-3IjDC2MNiOwzu4D8ntgv-c-Lv6Mz1RGHD1RvvnJ_gimyuwp1B0r5IvYyCPQoXjEhxVrZPYC8guHi2vaZBvKBzMuD_uMENpOaC1inMlbmP1bBkVYcUOurI/s1600/U2_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyXQduZxBIsMXwY3izdZaia-3IjDC2MNiOwzu4D8ntgv-c-Lv6Mz1RGHD1RvvnJ_gimyuwp1B0r5IvYyCPQoXjEhxVrZPYC8guHi2vaZBvKBzMuD_uMENpOaC1inMlbmP1bBkVYcUOurI/s320/U2_5.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bono on the "Crosswalk"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It was loud and surprisingly clear, at least as far as hearing and understanding Bono. But really, it was the "experience" that mattered here. You were among 65,000 people who universally, pretty much, adored this band and just being part of it.<div>As the night descended, the stage just became more of a focal point. Earlier the top part of the stage was a "message board" with world "facts" scrolling across...mostly with socio-political items e.g. how many barrels of oil used today. Fascinating to watch and debate/chat about. Pretty sure that was the point of the messages!</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZE2jcdkPtwAgfW2YbL5lo_Wr5DgkR5JmN6ofwSvhQQ1s2vXtjgDa8APuawPe0J4ifKJkXhw6V1EqDqTz6a9zqm7zJyJcwzuam5LHKQ6wPVJKx3Br3pnbkSZmeykV6vsepu6gWp5T792o/s1600/U2_13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZE2jcdkPtwAgfW2YbL5lo_Wr5DgkR5JmN6ofwSvhQQ1s2vXtjgDa8APuawPe0J4ifKJkXhw6V1EqDqTz6a9zqm7zJyJcwzuam5LHKQ6wPVJKx3Br3pnbkSZmeykV6vsepu6gWp5T792o/s320/U2_13.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Cigarettes smoked worldwide today"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The music did not disappoint...loud, a little muddy and hit after hit. All with a fantastic light show emanating from the massive stage. Band members were able to walk around the entire stage...playing to different parts of the stadium...regardless of where you sat. Pretty cool.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7RqPPxoq3EzqHA-os15x3lFAofg91IlXBiF9NXfHI13pRLOYArH1wX5Q9sTmMKwTyHcIl3y99bcUIPh8286zuwE-LDO_ZnXGigtxZHk49PfRaPdRsaeZOrxDnjEks2qtYXw7fz1PWUY/s200/U2_6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bono and Edge</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg676Bp9NfM4DKM8SQjpkaaulSzIjEqRLyqzDqWMt3szK2wWMTAhGMvD7A8-ksHOIuQKSJ-9nX7t6fveeB7yf6nugS9WqCTpkkGPq_UlOtGmJD-a30a1csfe9u9xYcb8CY2q_qa9lxiUKc/s1600/U2_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg676Bp9NfM4DKM8SQjpkaaulSzIjEqRLyqzDqWMt3szK2wWMTAhGMvD7A8-ksHOIuQKSJ-9nX7t6fveeB7yf6nugS9WqCTpkkGPq_UlOtGmJD-a30a1csfe9u9xYcb8CY2q_qa9lxiUKc/s320/U2_7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edge and Bono</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Nighttime:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ihg3ihB6T0iRbWNzJ9tqaksHPPHgd24RuM5SF3PwXm53ahRuqbOfIAdMYDSbxZbaQABjmojtaXYwAf9p7_pgeYqp3tBVgBNX0SwVyH-NcBTpUW3XQUVAEDBDxJS60GZrPkKD4O79tu8/s1600/U2_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ihg3ihB6T0iRbWNzJ9tqaksHPPHgd24RuM5SF3PwXm53ahRuqbOfIAdMYDSbxZbaQABjmojtaXYwAf9p7_pgeYqp3tBVgBNX0SwVyH-NcBTpUW3XQUVAEDBDxJS60GZrPkKD4O79tu8/s320/U2_3.jpg" width="239" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbQqtuIvRngb1FVS6V101Dx2w8LXoUtaeg9jh8rjvZ_bO4kSGp_nWDr5-N8stNRXqHz5h833xNDMRVNEUuuRKcBG7te8PbgPWqMp4hSLyc739p5pJHM0f5DrQmWFIhCEBtvj9nReU0dU/s1600/U2_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbQqtuIvRngb1FVS6V101Dx2w8LXoUtaeg9jh8rjvZ_bO4kSGp_nWDr5-N8stNRXqHz5h833xNDMRVNEUuuRKcBG7te8PbgPWqMp4hSLyc739p5pJHM0f5DrQmWFIhCEBtvj9nReU0dU/s320/U2_1.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7RqPPxoq3EzqHA-os15x3lFAofg91IlXBiF9NXfHI13pRLOYArH1wX5Q9sTmMKwTyHcIl3y99bcUIPh8286zuwE-LDO_ZnXGigtxZHk49PfRaPdRsaeZOrxDnjEks2qtYXw7fz1PWUY/s1600/U2_6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2ieCwipomxtGj37eNLzogN-CGYv8_ybEqHDZPWrq6qx_2RWDAO_fw0soDeIKyvZ-WZcBaCb_JL0cJ4EAQI2EwULWgYReX8ZCuzEHsO5tOpitrAz1xUqc4Svdc7xmWNr25xjijAUjlSU/s1600/U2_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2ieCwipomxtGj37eNLzogN-CGYv8_ybEqHDZPWrq6qx_2RWDAO_fw0soDeIKyvZ-WZcBaCb_JL0cJ4EAQI2EwULWgYReX8ZCuzEHsO5tOpitrAz1xUqc4Svdc7xmWNr25xjijAUjlSU/s320/U2_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "Edge"</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyxX3kvLRpIbO5LT_kCrkYuCbDOOpIlp3mn6hos801ZEHUeVHBCJwxVhlJvNNWmt2QNtUVpm9KljuQr-FzeHi8KQT0XZxFnsJC0at5YcX05WGFYH6odv0hcFNCfG2J3Y_COSUy0fbLoY/s1600/U2_9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYyxX3kvLRpIbO5LT_kCrkYuCbDOOpIlp3mn6hos801ZEHUeVHBCJwxVhlJvNNWmt2QNtUVpm9KljuQr-FzeHi8KQT0XZxFnsJC0at5YcX05WGFYH6odv0hcFNCfG2J3Y_COSUy0fbLoY/s320/U2_9.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFr8ZaWLxg_vSkl8Z1gNGoqFU0hdh4Ar5OO8lpPcVRdTjz5updR8r35-_SmTAk_p_a16P8VybkqzdUmFtv4UM1HsCOCrb4zsCTsD-3CSYjCLs_DSZ6aAbB9EwQEsmnchQP0-TyTqpxmQ/s1600/U2_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFr8ZaWLxg_vSkl8Z1gNGoqFU0hdh4Ar5OO8lpPcVRdTjz5updR8r35-_SmTAk_p_a16P8VybkqzdUmFtv4UM1HsCOCrb4zsCTsD-3CSYjCLs_DSZ6aAbB9EwQEsmnchQP0-TyTqpxmQ/s320/U2_10.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Other than the main floor (Spartan Stadium's field) not being filled (pretty sure if MSU was in session it would have been....but it did give me the title of this blog post) it was a flawless night. I debated where to park (you had lots of choices) and ended up in the commuter lot at Mt. Hope and Farm Lane...and did that work out? We left our seats at 11:00 and were in our driveway at 11:35pm. Welcome to East Lansing! Thanks for coming to East Lansing U2. Not since The Rolling Stones played Spartan Stadium have I had as much musical and visual fun (the "Little Giants" fake field goal victory over Notre Dame gave me a different type of fun!). Great night. At least for this night I DID find what I was looking for.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div></div></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-60330099569429392362011-06-20T13:34:00.000-07:002011-06-20T13:34:27.681-07:00Give to CMS East Lansing | Community Music School | Michigan State University<a href="http://www.cms.msu.edu/give/el.php">Give to CMS East Lansing | Community Music School | Michigan State University</a><div><br /></div><div>New challenge grant opportunity at the CMS....5 couples will match your donation (up to $5K)...very cool.</div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-89230255446071191562011-05-02T11:38:00.000-07:002011-05-02T11:38:31.345-07:00April 2011 - Classical and Folk<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>MSU University Chorale with The Lansing Symphony</b></span></div><br />
There were 2 classical concerts I attended (or sang in) sandwiched around the best-attended Coffeehouse at All Saints we've ever had. The first performance was MSU's premiere choral group, Chorale, partnering with the Lansing Symphony at St Mary's Cathedral in Lansing with a performance of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2c2c2c; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Lord Nelson Mass" by Franz Joseph Haydn, a gradual by Johann Michael Haydn, an offertory by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gregorian chant settings of the Introit and Communion. With solos shared among a variety of the graduate students it was a sublime evening of sacred choral singing. David Rayl, Director of Choral Activities at MSU, conducted the ensemble to a very high level. Honestly, you could close your eyes and be transported...it was beautiful.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="clear: both; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="554"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><h2 style="color: #412c0a; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.2em; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Friday, April 15 -- 7:30-9:30pm</h2></div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table></div><div style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><table style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: auto; width: 554px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="clear: both; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="554"><div style="float: right; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 4px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img alt="Scales_web" height="118" src="http://madmimi.com/system/promotion_images/0130/9455/Scales_web.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="177" /><div style="clear: both; color: #645234; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 177px;">Dr. Chris Scales</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="color: #645234; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 3px; vertical-align: top;">The April installment of The Coffeehouse at All Saints includes special guests from MSU's Residential College in the Arts and Humanities...led by Dr. Chris Scales. Look for a variety of traditional folk, probably some bluegrass and whatever else they want to bring.</div><div style="color: #645234; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 3px; vertical-align: top;">The wonderful March Coffeehouse debut of The Basement Boys has prompted their return. We are excited they'll be back!</div><div style="color: #645234; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 3px; vertical-align: top;">We have some cello and piano as well...</div><div style="color: #645234; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 3px; vertical-align: top;">Bring a beverage of choice and a snack to share. It's free and open to all ages. Stop by for as long as you want.</div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><table style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: auto; width: 554px;"><tbody>
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</tbody></table></div><div style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><table style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: auto; width: 554px;"><tbody>
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<tr><td style="clear: both; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" valign="top"><div style="margin-bottom: 1.1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="Basement" height="300" src="http://madmimi.com/system/promotion_images/0130/9530/Basement.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="400" /><div style="clear: both; color: #645234; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">The Basement Boys</div></div></td></tr>
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</tbody></table></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><a href="http://go.madmimi.com/redirects/9913d1e2de8ef9c7f1c271de39591abc?pa=3527676695" style="color: #a51515;" target="_blank" title="Facebook"><img alt="facebook" height="32" src="http://madmimi.com/images/social/gary/facebook.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" title="Facebook" width="32" /></a></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">It was an exciting, full evening at the April edition of The Coffeehouse at All Saints. We started with 12 students from the Residential College of Arts and Humanities at MSU and their instructor, Dr. Chris Scales. They played a variety of folk and gospel tunes with grace and humility...guitars, banjos and fiddles. It was wonderful! Their vocals were fine, with sprinkles of harmony. It was wonderful the hear them and we are grateful they made the trip out to The Coffeehouse and hope to see them (or any of the individuals) in the future. Thank you Dr. Scales.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;">A somewhat unexpected delight was the return of Magdalen Fossum from Ann Arbor. She has been a busy young lady since we saw her last. She now has a <a href="http://magdalenfossum.blogspot.com/">website</a> and at least 11 gigs coming up, one of which is May 11 at The Ark in Ann Arbor...a real honor since she was one of only two chosen for The Ark's Open Stage Showcase. Magdalen thrilled us again with a few new tunes, including a fun rendition of Del Shannon's, "Runaway". Magdalen will be back May 20, don't miss her!</span></span><br />
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</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's always great to have Matt Bliton back and he joined Bob Kilbridge and me for a pretty good reading of The Band's, "The Weight" and Old Crow Medicine Show's, "Wagon Wheel"...everybody was singing then. Matt took the stage and did a new tune of his which we all liked and then, again a wonderful surprise, was joined by local favorite, Linda Abar for a couple songs. Their harmony was rich and beautiful. A real treat for all.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Finally, The Basement Boys performed a few numbers with the addition of a banjoist. For only their second time out, these fellas have a following! </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Looking forward to May 20 when we'll have a great finish to a wonderful season (next Coffeehouse after May 20 will be Sept 16). Lisa Findley from Chicago and Emily Findley from New York City will be joining us with sets of their own and together. Look for the email (not on the list? send me an email at steve.findley@gmail.com)</span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><b>Verdi's Requiem</b></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">April 30 brought the choral music season to a close for me. I am a member of MSU's Choral Union, a "town and gown" choir consisting of Mid-Michigan singers and MSU students. We sang Verdi's "Requiem" at the Wharton Center for The Performing Arts. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The MSU Symphony Orchestra, University Chorale, State Singers, Choral Union and soloists from the MSU voice faculty – Melanie Helton, soprano; Molly Fillmore, mezzo-soprano; Richard Fracker, tenor; and Rod Nelman, bass – performed. There were over 300 performers on stage including herald trumpets (the ones with loooong necks) and a bass drum that knocked your socks off. it was thrilling to be a part of it.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From MSU's website:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"It is perhaps the most dramatic piece of sacred music ever written," said David Rayl, director of choral programs at the college. "Some have called it a sacred opera but I view it as Verdi's astounding setting of an incredibly spiritual and dramatic text – the Requiem Mass – using all the forces he had at his disposal. For me, it is, in fact, a very spiritual piece: a requiem."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /> <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Completed in 1874 to mark the first anniversary of the death of Alessandro Manzoni, a famous Italian poet and novelist, “Requiem” is composed of seven major sections in the setting of a Catholic funeral mass. The 90-minute concert encompasses the emotions Verdi felt after the loss Manzoni. <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /> <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />"The Verdi Requiem is an emotionally charged production of incredibly beautiful music," said chorister Lorie Barbieri. "The music ranges from joyful and angelic to sorrowful, while at the same time encompassing a human desire for forgiveness and mercy. As a new member of the MSU Choral Union, I am honored to be a part of this fabulous production."</span><br />
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</span>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-9037113837610098322011-05-02T10:18:00.000-07:002011-05-02T10:18:50.062-07:00March 2011...sublime and not-so<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhbizyg_zKkNKg-4LJRYR4yz6szNo3ydN91zfjWnwLO-P7UtuLWU1gj-T8AEYVc0ImYy92BceX9HltGdxRkiiRvfOA1tBr5M5matuhey3CmHqreXTjdRHpB7-cF3xpXcHQZzf2_v2_0Y/s1600/WessAnderson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhbizyg_zKkNKg-4LJRYR4yz6szNo3ydN91zfjWnwLO-P7UtuLWU1gj-T8AEYVc0ImYy92BceX9HltGdxRkiiRvfOA1tBr5M5matuhey3CmHqreXTjdRHpB7-cF3xpXcHQZzf2_v2_0Y/s1600/WessAnderson.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wess "Warmdaddy" Anderson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>March music began at church...no, I don't mean on Sunday....although that is a topic for another day. No, the music (and wonderful food) I'm talking about is the beautiful, soulful, happy sounds of professional saxophonist, <a href="http://people.music.msu.edu/detail.asp?ContactID=67">Wess "Warmdaddy" Anderson</a> at All Saints Episcopal Church's annual community-invited event for Shrove or "Fat" Tuesday, March 8. It was a night of Mardi Gras with amazing, delicious "Nawlins" food prepared by the lovely Desi Anderson (Wess' wife) of Gumbo and Jazz fame. This night was sponsored by (sure there was a donation request, but $5? Come on now...if you didn't get $25 worth of enjoyment the night was lost) the Parish Life group at All Saints and I think the 80 or so who enjoyed the evening were treated to a rare opportunity...especially since there are rumors Desi is planning to cease operations. Three cheers for Marguerite Halversen of the Parish Life committee and Pastor Kit Carlson for consistently looking for ways to reach the East Lansing and Lansing communities.<br />
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</tbody></table></div><div style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><table style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: auto; width: 554px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="clear: both; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="554"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><blockquote style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="color: #3a352a; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 3px; text-align: center; vertical-align: top;"><strong style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">Friday, March 18 - 7:30-9:30PM</strong><br />
All Saints Episcopal Church, downstairs<br />
800 Abbot Rd<br />
East Lansing, MI 48823</div></blockquote></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><table style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: auto; width: 554px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="554"><div style="float: left; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 20px; margin-top: 4px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img alt="Dsc_3108_640x428" height="120" src="http://madmimi.com/system/promotion_images/0121/1909/DSC_3108_640x428.JPG" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="179" /><div style="clear: both; color: #3a352a; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; width: 179px;">Santa Fe, 2009</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="color: #3a352a; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 3px; vertical-align: top;">This month we celebrate the end of winter, kind of. It does not seem to go away. Come hear and sing songs of the end of one thing and the beginning of the next. It's the March edition of The Coffeehouse at All Saints.</div><div style="color: #3a352a; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 3px; vertical-align: top;">You are welcome to perform music or spoken word or just to relax and enjoy what's offered. Any instrument is welcome...we have an upright piano on-site. Bring a drink and a snack. No admission price.</div><div style="color: #3a352a; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 3px; vertical-align: top;">See you Friday the 18th!</div><div style="color: #3a352a; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 3px; vertical-align: top;">The Coffeehouse was a lot of fun this month...better harmony and wide choice of tunes. We couldn't forget St. Paddy's day so we did a few irish Tunes. It was a fun night.</div><div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">================================================</div><div>March 20 Nicky and I wanted to support the local High School musical production, especially because a few of our friend's kids were in it. They certainly were the highlight of this Sunday matinee of <a href="http://www.greaterlansingtheatre.net/index.php/janes-reviews/145-a-double-dose-of-willy-wonka-and-the-chocolate-factory">Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory</a>. Clara Lepard was hilarious as one of the "grandmas" . It was an ambitious production, one which could benefit from better miking...I'm sure it was challenging...The chorus numbers were great. These kids were enthusiastic. The choreography appeared to be fun for the kids to perform. All in all it was an enjoyable afternoon...and our godchildren loved it.</div><div><br />
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<div>On March 25 we were treated to a wonderful night made possible, in part, by our good friend Martha Lynch having saved a couple seats. Tonight was a Friday night at The Ten Pound Fiddle, Lansing-area's own "folk club" which provides live performances in an intimate atmosphere...of ten at (and in this case) the Unitarian Church in East Lansing. Tonight was Seth and May. What does that mean? it means 2 young-ish performers who have made an effort to preserve the folk tradition here in Michigan and have written and perform fresh, new material in a variety of settings. Seth Bernard and May Erlewine are Michiganders who reach audiences on many levels with their music (and sometimes their not-so-well-hidden politics). All is well this night though as we were treated to many songs they have been known for (Shine On) to many new ones. Seth and May spent January in Kenya and have since written an album and we were treated to several of those numbers.</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYR79bopoBCOMgE5fBzcQ162Hb0aGLqJngDMV2tdnU0RkfLcbNA8-PkQaSEysU6zA3A4RXWorKLMZ11fzgVlfe05Bu2uG_mQvAA8tF_AhlbtV-Ky3ZOLJC0Zc27jnWB7KYQehwzaGd80/s1600/SethandMay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYR79bopoBCOMgE5fBzcQ162Hb0aGLqJngDMV2tdnU0RkfLcbNA8-PkQaSEysU6zA3A4RXWorKLMZ11fzgVlfe05Bu2uG_mQvAA8tF_AhlbtV-Ky3ZOLJC0Zc27jnWB7KYQehwzaGd80/s1600/SethandMay.jpg" /></a>I have to say, when May Erlewine tilts her head back and sings with joy, it is nothing short of joyful. She is an excellent songwriter and clear singer. Seth's guitar playing has reached new heights and accompanies May expertly. He adds beautiful fills and solos, and is the harmony we recognize from the recordings. </div><div>Although many of Seth's political songs are part of his repertoire, it is the simple, earthy (heh, heh) songs I think he does best.</div><div>I am thrilled we will get the opportunity to see them again at the East Lansing Art Festival May 22.</div><div>================================================</div><div> See you in April.</div><div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-29718176693648051622011-05-02T08:19:00.000-07:002011-05-02T08:19:51.851-07:00February Mix<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubAJJKOnhqpvxYOCLduzXvOXD8oQpUfyoxKQZX_nC7hWDnrxU576JIYWIJ5K2c0H5bhTuTB45wNuUmxUZX1y99tuabo3y7zpe2z3I-RsmgW_fZFL2ls_Gajp-ZL2aM0yQMCm5kpvkSyg/s1600/MWSF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubAJJKOnhqpvxYOCLduzXvOXD8oQpUfyoxKQZX_nC7hWDnrxU576JIYWIJ5K2c0H5bhTuTB45wNuUmxUZX1y99tuabo3y7zpe2z3I-RsmgW_fZFL2ls_Gajp-ZL2aM0yQMCm5kpvkSyg/s1600/MWSF.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mid-Winter Singing Festival </td></tr>
</tbody></table>February always begins with the amazing community event, <a href="http://www.singingfestival.com/">The Mid-Winter Singing Festival</a>. The brainchild of musician, organizer, teacher Sally Potter who envisioned a place and time where locals could meet to interact with music on its basic level...one in which you participate. The Festival, in its 10th year, is a testament to "folk music'. Sally and her team map out a 2-day event (Feb 4-5 this year) with nightly sing alongs at the Hannah Community Center in East Lansing, Michigan. The Saturday afternoon is dedicated to a variety of workshops...instrument playing, how to write a song, the music of... It is unique in Michigan and we are lucky to have it in our area. The nightly sing alongs are "led" by professionals who have done a consistently excellent job of engaging the audience, making sure everyone is welcome to participate. Add to this a "festival choir"...a pick-up group of people who spend 2 hours on the Saturday afternoon rehearsing music they've never seen before and performing it that night under the skillful direction of Rachel Alexander...director of Sistrum and quite a musician in her own right.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56ESLaxY4YVeMdoKyIuehMYYXtwziPzBw_VZplwrbvvgEqj5fNw15rlJUIciWHntNJI6CaUEqMLoalUaDFHnszqr2LypkvlHNql1Sx663KrBBxFZ6ii-0oJbDtclYaVljTTyQYsRaQ5Q/s1600/Fossum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56ESLaxY4YVeMdoKyIuehMYYXtwziPzBw_VZplwrbvvgEqj5fNw15rlJUIciWHntNJI6CaUEqMLoalUaDFHnszqr2LypkvlHNql1Sx663KrBBxFZ6ii-0oJbDtclYaVljTTyQYsRaQ5Q/s1600/Fossum.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magdalen and Miko Fossum (courtesy of MWSF)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This year Nicky and I attended Saturday night and were led by a cross-section of Michigan folk scene leaders,<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">J</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">oel Mabus, Frank Youngman,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px; line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">Claudia Schmidt, Rachael Davis, Seth Bernard & May Erlewine</span>. I have to say, I have been to 9 of the 10 festivals and this group of leaders was the best. Youngman was funny and poignant</span> with a story from his high school band class. Claudia Schmidt is a powerhouse on many levels. We are in very good hands with Rachel Davis, May Erlewine and Seth Davis as they carry on the folk tradition and expand it with their own style. These are impressive people! Many of you know how I feel about Joel Mabus, he is quite the entertainer and has taken on the mantle of folk historian so we always get a little background on the tunes he brings to play. And his playing is excellent. If you get an opportunity to see any of these performers in your town, they all come highly recommended.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">======================================================================</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Next we were treated to:</span><br />
<h1 style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; color: black; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 3em; line-height: 1em; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Acting Company/The Guthrie Theater: The Comedy of Errors</h1><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; color: #555555; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><b>February 11, 2011 | Pasant Theatre</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Nicky and I tried something new for this evening, we attended a Wharton Center "Preview Dinner" held before the performance in the Christman Lounge at the WC. The buffet dinner was enjoyed by about 50 of us who were then treated to a talk by John Neville-Andrews,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> Professor of Theatre, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">University of Michigan. Neville-Andrews is an apparent expert on Shakespeare and he was somewhat amusing in describing what we were about to see...a play of twins separated and birth who grow up and meet later...complete with mayhem, murder and mistaken identity. What was notable about the evening was the Acting Company's performance...accentuated by excellent characters in the twins especially. We thoroughly enjoyed the evening and thought the Acting Company were top notch.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">=======================================================</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizH_Mh4pTvHkyFyA964Trd9FJ-qxMKbnsEJoPI9Ojou3eAF0CptDSstm-zIrvAmGTQZG8f0P6zNl6KTsRagzrY3meOn55F9v_I_xB8ypNnbtCKJv9chN6hWhOLL_NHSva3wGgbd16ShqY/s1600/Shrek.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizH_Mh4pTvHkyFyA964Trd9FJ-qxMKbnsEJoPI9Ojou3eAF0CptDSstm-zIrvAmGTQZG8f0P6zNl6KTsRagzrY3meOn55F9v_I_xB8ypNnbtCKJv9chN6hWhOLL_NHSva3wGgbd16ShqY/s320/Shrek.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Not at all sure our next venture was going to be much fun. I am pleased to say I was pleasantly surprised. The Wahrton Center brought, "Shrek The Musical" for its Broadway series and we took the tickets as they were part of the package. I'll say this, the singing was very good, all night and Shrek and his bride-to-be were wonderful. Much was written in advance about the role of the Prince (partly because of the gimmick enlisted by his playing the character on his knees the entire time) and certainly he was very good, but as sometimes happens in theater...he knew he was very good and made sure we knew it. It was an enjoyable night at the theater...but NOT, as one commenter said on the Wharton Center website, better than Wicked.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">=======================================================</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCBOe1IpciBHnjrHFqQERBw45tdAcWDL7u7TkkqhOXqmFmg8s9nMGQOX3vxedEmEKEX7ltQzWdbZdpwXbxco0UrsnLhoPg8v6FCOneOhp5-J0wqKwHfQd1kx2gJE_DYCMQ-xqt-pJJFg/s1600/TCAAS_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCBOe1IpciBHnjrHFqQERBw45tdAcWDL7u7TkkqhOXqmFmg8s9nMGQOX3vxedEmEKEX7ltQzWdbZdpwXbxco0UrsnLhoPg8v6FCOneOhp5-J0wqKwHfQd1kx2gJE_DYCMQ-xqt-pJJFg/s320/TCAAS_Logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">February 18th saw a low-key Coffeehouse at All Saints...and the introduction of an email service I'm using to put a little "order" to its marketing. The first posting looked like this:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzMfE9OHqqzyRCYk-qLo4MgYRH_YTf4hVaibw0z7S5ky3YA2f00WarNyMJJibEK8v6kX52_SkU_JYKh8SZbjNUExOBNeDfq5eyG1lMLNoUp2_8IXA3YzOHRK7Xf-GBRIivBV8Be9xnsko/s1600/TCAAS020311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzMfE9OHqqzyRCYk-qLo4MgYRH_YTf4hVaibw0z7S5ky3YA2f00WarNyMJJibEK8v6kX52_SkU_JYKh8SZbjNUExOBNeDfq5eyG1lMLNoUp2_8IXA3YzOHRK7Xf-GBRIivBV8Be9xnsko/s1600/TCAAS020311.jpg" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">More to come in March...see you then</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">======================================================</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-30431180963450527932011-04-25T14:03:00.000-07:002011-04-25T14:03:45.750-07:00It's April??Yikes, this is what happens...it's April and I haven't had a posting since December. So....so what. Lots to do in January 2011 (albeit late in the month) musically, so here goes.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCRRvnGmgyVabQQLDWkDzigMyN5lDT5p9ZCFF7Lh77Lvzpxhr2_lU9t_pq7bd4mTxFTSg6cafK5IByEx5RbFmqPJcnVlgtt8nTRucPBbzyDgjDRwGYOUYiOr2FRwxfkwc1_kaDEPFWBw/s1600/TCAAS_Logo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCRRvnGmgyVabQQLDWkDzigMyN5lDT5p9ZCFF7Lh77Lvzpxhr2_lU9t_pq7bd4mTxFTSg6cafK5IByEx5RbFmqPJcnVlgtt8nTRucPBbzyDgjDRwGYOUYiOr2FRwxfkwc1_kaDEPFWBw/s320/TCAAS_Logo1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Jan 21, hmmm, gaping hole in info saved relating to this particular night. The Coffeehouse is always fun. A night of singing/playing/reading. More info in Feb. Oops.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: large;"><b>The 34th Ann Arbor Folk Festival</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: large;"><b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">January 28 & 29 at Hill Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div>This is an annual showcase event for Nicky and me...we have attended more than 10 Ann Arbor Folk Festivals and in recent years we have attended both nights. The AA Folk Festival is a wonderful multi-purpose concert series that is the principal fundraising event for The Ark as well as giving the audience a taste of what is to come to the Ark in the next few months. Typically the Friday night caters to a "younger" audience and Saturday books long-time acts. Each night begins with an artist not-so-well known and builds to a headliner most have come to see. Lastly, an emcee guides us through the night, introducing the acts and providing entertainment so the stage hands can make the necessary equipment changes. The format is each artist gets 3 or 4 songs to do...to give us a taste of who they are and what they sound like and if you do like it, you'll probably come back to The Ark when the artist has its own show.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lovely Susan Werner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The emcee for both nights was the fabulous <a href="http://www.susanwerner.com/">Susan Werner</a>....a multi-talented Chicago-based artist who was clever and musically brilliant. Equally happy on guitar or piano she regaled us with witty tunes beautifully sung. Sometimes it was simply her amusing stories that filled the equipment-setup time. Hats off to The Ark...Susan Werner was a wonderful choice!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>FRIDAY NIGHT</u></b></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paper Raincoat</td></tr>
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We missed Theo Katzman and enjoyed Anais Mitchell. An eye-opener (or should I say ear-opener) was <a href="http://thepaperraincoat.com/">Paper Raincoat</a>...a bit of a surprise, only perhaps because I had never heard them. They ended their set with a fantastic a capella number, "<a href="http://bit.ly/fkPi7h">Rewind</a>" that had the entire audience on their feet. Wonderful stuff. Look 'em up for sure.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJFfzIjp-_olKlJX20_KzgRm8u1xX-XsFM4AU0MiPE7ylyYkS6qDkyQ6YBFdn_a06uEOS2vEByzNNb5mqDWCa9xnLkdVW5QDEi0wU3jVmfZ_Jf2Ki_XtKHFAskwpFAZdTqYWNbVheBqM/s1600/springstandards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJFfzIjp-_olKlJX20_KzgRm8u1xX-XsFM4AU0MiPE7ylyYkS6qDkyQ6YBFdn_a06uEOS2vEByzNNb5mqDWCa9xnLkdVW5QDEi0wU3jVmfZ_Jf2Ki_XtKHFAskwpFAZdTqYWNbVheBqM/s1600/springstandards.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Spring Standards</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The second set included a perfect folk festival-type experience with<a href="http://thespringstandards.com/index.php"> The Spring Standards</a>. These 3 have a tight folk/pop sound that I really enjoyed. I am VERY happy to say they will be at The East Lansing Art Festival on Saturday, May 21...check 'em out!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKm5_8OD8Y7g40z4hMTLlherXJgfjr1A-pPBgITTOGeteZCyKCnFzhJnH3amrEGZ6WrjXbKwgOmSvhQfiNHKtGdroY6WfG7x9T6u7ZuSA820Rn8NQMQUUGFaCVWHaY2P8sLIZt-oBMRc/s1600/vt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpKm5_8OD8Y7g40z4hMTLlherXJgfjr1A-pPBgITTOGeteZCyKCnFzhJnH3amrEGZ6WrjXbKwgOmSvhQfiNHKtGdroY6WfG7x9T6u7ZuSA820Rn8NQMQUUGFaCVWHaY2P8sLIZt-oBMRc/s1600/vt.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The next treat, and I do mean treat, is the awesome <a href="http://www.viennateng.com/">Vienna Teng</a>. What an instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, composer. What stage presence! She is exciting and fresh. Her songs are deep, her melodies simply beautiful. I really like her. Much has been written about how she is a grad student at the University of Michigan, and as much as all that is true (and simply adds to her amazing story) t was the performance that had me enthralled on this night. For (some) more on her U of M effort and an excellent review of the Folk Festival see Roger LeLievre's review here <a href="http://bit.ly/hGv16b">http://bit.ly/hGv16b</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Citizen Cope</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ms. Teng was followed by a crowd favorite <a href="http://www.citizencope.com/">Citizen Cope</a>...and I have to say, his style and songmaking are not for me. Not quite sure what it is...there was a sameness from song to song that bordered on monotony for me. That sounds unkind when I read it here, but it is what I was thinking at the time. I was certainly in the minority as he was enthusiastically received by the Ann Arbor audience.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">_____________________________________________________________________________</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The final set was performed by <a href="http://www.theavettbrothers.com/">The Avett Bros.</a> An interesting mix of folk/pop/punk/bluegrass that had the crowd on it's feet. Again I was left just a little cold and I am not quite certain why. They are great musicians.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1281604476"></span><span id="goog_1281604477"></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avett Bros</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of The Swell Season</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">Saturday Night</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">Truth is, I enjoyed both nights and most of Saturday night was filled with surprises....good and not-so-good. The opener was Newfound Road...a bluegrass/gospel group from Franklin, Ohio (outside Dayton) and as much as I love the genre and groups like this, they did not do it for me that night. 2 reasons come to mind, one was someone must have told the band they had a virtuoso picker (on mandolin) and a singer extraordinaire. neither struck me as such. Everyone was good, the band was tight...I enjoyed it...when we were left with the "special instrumentalist" alone for a bit I thought, "Geez, he just isn't that good". Same for the vocalist...one of the band members said, "Isn't he wonderful?"..."Isn't he awesome?"...uh, no. Good stuff, not great.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLG0Pno5Bx0B6sjAsxCfNodaRSYeswvdJ77ztEExsSWrSgIpUy4Ejo58YCGWv4fpuA6r81WgW3D-BHCpGy3Riw_22NPjXTUzwWVlnfQpvfVsD20Q8A4PSxPmLJQEHUjFSzgcjjmbfr1xI/s1600/doyle-And-Debbie-Show-thumb-150x187-67984.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLG0Pno5Bx0B6sjAsxCfNodaRSYeswvdJ77ztEExsSWrSgIpUy4Ejo58YCGWv4fpuA6r81WgW3D-BHCpGy3Riw_22NPjXTUzwWVlnfQpvfVsD20Q8A4PSxPmLJQEHUjFSzgcjjmbfr1xI/s1600/doyle-And-Debbie-Show-thumb-150x187-67984.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Doyle and Debbie Show followed and this hit the nail on the head for me...I liked them so much when their Ark performance was announced I mad a point of buying 10 tickets knowing I would find 9 friends to join me for a fun night out in Ann Arbor (and we did do it!). This duo has great voices and a comedy act (parody of country music) that had me laughing out loud. Fun!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Next was <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">EILEN JEWELL...</b><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">a group I had on my iPod on the way down to the concert in the car and thought not much of but was pleasantly surprised...live they were great</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRqMIICkK7QlNQJgcACg4B958U-zZOtToDKeurHpAAPAmhnPSqJ9tfGbSUzkKdrU0Bm0lWH0Tsn7QhrHzC6gmS-E0lzZHXFSboJ9CswCnFliy5w8-bFAU3soOs2GZQicOmFWtdtfHsDk/s1600/Red-Horse-Band.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRqMIICkK7QlNQJgcACg4B958U-zZOtToDKeurHpAAPAmhnPSqJ9tfGbSUzkKdrU0Bm0lWH0Tsn7QhrHzC6gmS-E0lzZHXFSboJ9CswCnFliy5w8-bFAU3soOs2GZQicOmFWtdtfHsDk/s1600/Red-Horse-Band.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><b>R</b>ED HORSE featuring ELIZA GILKYSON, JOHN GORKA AND LUCY KAPLANSKY</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4c4c4c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">N</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">ext up was a folk "supergroup" (sort of like Cry, Cry Cry which was Dar Williams, Richard Shindell and Lucy Kaplansky) </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>R</b>ED HORSE featuring ELIZA GILKYSON, JOHN GORKA AND LUCY KAPLANSKY.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">They were fun and funny and sang each other's songs...I really enjoyed this set. Their self-deprecating humor worked and they were cute at the right time and poignant at the right time...most enjoyable.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8n43NHgEavaqjeWHdiig73x2QLzDQTwnZphtMAbf1HJPIt0-UuTNPU7B7AIJaDqLZONJNeP7tV2ZvC4Ote8juFU2a7tonYBbhzwD6nYRTQpDrUsfB7nnyHbYj0CgX1tI93zn5enG4SLU/s1600/AAFF_2011+Sat002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8n43NHgEavaqjeWHdiig73x2QLzDQTwnZphtMAbf1HJPIt0-UuTNPU7B7AIJaDqLZONJNeP7tV2ZvC4Ote8juFU2a7tonYBbhzwD6nYRTQpDrUsfB7nnyHbYj0CgX1tI93zn5enG4SLU/s320/AAFF_2011+Sat002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">There's more though, Judy Collins came out and simply wowed us. What a voice!! She was crystal clear...simply beautiful..at 71. She walked out and as soon as the audience allowed her to, she launched into "Both Sides Now"...the Joni Mitchell song I am certain Joni Mitchell is thrilled </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Judy</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Collins has had so much success with over the years. I'm telling you, it was special. She was (mostly) humble and always gracious. I feel fortunate to have seen her.</span></span></span><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNL_ssIl1x9_HZf9DjUumjn39OppTleP8d2dNE9_2ty8CLnopCAyQ6cfWLq2mV5rxv9M8g6KPmsCc4OUfdTD8ivbnW00n_f3IH1S2m5ly33h04Yu99SlEZtXGkuSlqn01VYg3AIvkYHF0/s1600/judyCollins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNL_ssIl1x9_HZf9DjUumjn39OppTleP8d2dNE9_2ty8CLnopCAyQ6cfWLq2mV5rxv9M8g6KPmsCc4OUfdTD8ivbnW00n_f3IH1S2m5ly33h04Yu99SlEZtXGkuSlqn01VYg3AIvkYHF0/s320/judyCollins.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judy Collins by <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">I was really looking forward to Mavis Staples...she has been pursued and repackaged by Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco) and has hit the road on a massive tour which has included stops on the Late Night talk show circuit and clubs and arenas everywhere. Well, I was pretty disappointed. here backup singers and band itself were wonderful but I wonder if Ms Staples had an off-night. Her voice was "rough" to the point of not enjoyable. She did do an overly-long rendition of the Staples Singers big hit, "I'll Take You There" and although it was fun to hear (big song when I was in high school) it was done for dramatics and it left me cold.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">When I originally looked to see who was coming to the Festival this and found that Swell Season ( Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;">was headlining Saturday night I have to say I was surprised. it was a little ironic for me because I had just seen the 2006 movie, "Once" in which these two talents starred and the songs, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"When Your Mind's Made Up” and and “Falling Slowly” had come and which they did beautifully that night. Another highlight was Glen Hansard singing van Morison's, "Into The Mystic"...Wow!!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The night finished off with Glen Hansard leading most of the performers from both nights in a rousing, really good rendition of Bob Dylan's, "Forever Young". The 2011 Ann Arbor Folk Festival was sold out and a huge success.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">================================================================================</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles - Jan 30, 2011 - <br />
Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, East Lansing, Michigan</b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rkbu6dogD0mu3JX9qy2Pb1bOjI83wwGWjC3JGENAewZp5d34UHS3HaPXqOw8WXvxloLv29VNWAn6DyiygA7sb9E5uh2j0dIrYcyGjPizk59R_Y_XrzOCb1gHirJeHSGcf3f0U8fPN5U/s1600/RAIN_013011003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rkbu6dogD0mu3JX9qy2Pb1bOjI83wwGWjC3JGENAewZp5d34UHS3HaPXqOw8WXvxloLv29VNWAn6DyiygA7sb9E5uh2j0dIrYcyGjPizk59R_Y_XrzOCb1gHirJeHSGcf3f0U8fPN5U/s320/RAIN_013011003.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">It was crazy-busy as the Ann Arbor Folk Festival wound down and Nicky finally made our way back to East Lansing on Sunday afternoon we had about 2 hours break before we went to the Wharton Center and saw, "<a href="http://www.raintribute.com/">RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles</a>" with our good friends the Bakers. Have you ever seen this show? Amazingly accurate renditions of the Beatles and what sets them apart from other Beatles cover bands, in my opinion, is the ability to do well across the entire Beatles spectrum. They do a fabulous (yes, I used the adjective fabulous when mentioning the Beatles) job of early Beatles...and because RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles travels with large screens, placed on either side of the stage, they are able to broadcast many of the commercials which were aired at that time...and some the "Beatlemania" footage we have come to know so well. What it did was put us into an atmosphere...one from which we did not want to leave. Other than "Paul" needing to play the acoustic guitar right-handed for, "Blackbird" I would say they were note perfect. So was the harmony...essential to making it "sound" like the Beatles. It was a fun show...who doesn't love the Beatles?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">RAIN : A Tribute to the Beatles<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: small;"><b>John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett at the Michigan Theatre, - Ann Arbor Jan 31, 2011</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: small;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Bob K and I traveled back to Ann Arbor (yes Bob, I am terribly grateful you drove) to see 2 of our favorites and had a really pleasant surprised when a 3rd showed up. More on that later. John Hiatt has written so many good songs...and often they are made popular by someone else (ever heard Bonnie Raitt do, "Thing Called Love"? I thought so.) Well, he did many of his hits and they were solo..showing he had some guitar chops as well.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Lyle Lovett is a polished performer...and he made sure the banter between him and John was light and fun. Of course Lyle Lovett is a wonderful singer songwriter and did many of his hits as well. They would collaborate on some songs..one singing harmony for the other or take an instrumental solo...very nice.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Then, something fun and wonderful happened...they introduced, "a good friend", and it was none other than Michigan's own, Jeff Daniels. Have you ever heard Jeff Daniels play and sing? I have and knew we were in for a good time. He played (well) with the 2 of them and they left the stage and Jeff Daniels did the most amazing rendition of "Grandfather's Hat"...brought me to tears. Gosh that was wonderful, sublime.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">He came back for the encore where the 3 of them did, "Baby Don't Tolerate" to a standing ovation. Great night.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzPDsvExcRghiml0FHchINjk99URqZyqvAHKG0gxmdVKytMbvTvZtReeAPED1o74R9Wd6YDVO7Pv92EXG0f6Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
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</div></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-17135301249451276362010-12-20T14:20:00.000-08:002010-12-21T08:04:53.891-08:00It's The Most Wonderful Time...So many opportunities for live music in December it is overwhelming. On a regular night we have several options for attending a performance but in December it revs into high gear. This year we took a wide-angle view and saw several different types of talented souls. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIKJhqr9T06SeMuGgDrVsGy90wQwnEuL5qaRAr7MY0kihGr4hm2xRY9pOpFaPOnXqxjzzLHymwVf8WvmjNtA9IwuTKZDBNQJWnEd-TCwVx2ORVI4bKKlWF6KiDhHl_44xXK4pO7hGxYvM/s1600/RobinHood.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIKJhqr9T06SeMuGgDrVsGy90wQwnEuL5qaRAr7MY0kihGr4hm2xRY9pOpFaPOnXqxjzzLHymwVf8WvmjNtA9IwuTKZDBNQJWnEd-TCwVx2ORVI4bKKlWF6KiDhHl_44xXK4pO7hGxYvM/s320/RobinHood.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>December 5 we joined Kate and Jim N. for the delightfully playful romp, "Robin Hood: The Holiday Panto". This was performed in the charmingly small (54 seat) Piccolo Theatre in Evanston, Illinois. Our very own Lisa has been reviewing plays for, "Centerstage" ( a Chicago Sun-Times-owned website) and I think she does a much better job <a href="http://centerstagechicago.com/theatre/shows/10188.html">here</a> than I could. I'll say this, my sister and brother-in-law hooted and howled along with us at this campy, holiday fun!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMjd8qgdcdv8MQ4Yra14ygb9rURearRojwB66PQ6s8lgrzx_TqLHRgWQxq30YhodGC2HSzJgkmhYyB5yza8eFY8m883UMwu8XWTs8np6x5wp2l0E2VExF0Iwjp0VK-7DzM6Yol2JV22s/s1600/Steiner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMjd8qgdcdv8MQ4Yra14ygb9rURearRojwB66PQ6s8lgrzx_TqLHRgWQxq30YhodGC2HSzJgkmhYyB5yza8eFY8m883UMwu8XWTs8np6x5wp2l0E2VExF0Iwjp0VK-7DzM6Yol2JV22s/s320/Steiner.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Saturday the 11th brought the very fine, <a href="http://www.steinerchorale.org/">Steiner Chorale</a>. This group, about 35 singers, are on the more accomplished end of the choral scale with many fine individual voices who come together at concert time to produce a beautiful sound. This Christmas program was varied and strong with beautiful pieces performed well...mostly a cappella. Here's the program:<br />
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<div style="display: block; font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Program:</div><ul style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li><em>Gloria in Excelsis, </em>Franz Joseph Haydn</li>
<li><em>Virga Jesse, </em>Anton Bruckner</li>
<li><em>O Little One Sweet,</em> J.S. Bach</li>
<li><em>Three Latvian Carols,</em> Andrejs Jansons</li>
<li><em>E’en So Lord Jesus</em>, Paul Manz</li>
<li><em>Magnificat</em>, Halsey Stevens</li>
<li><em>The Three Ships</em>, Eric Thiman</li>
<li><em>Salvation is Created,</em> Pavel Chesnokov</li>
<li><em>There is No Rose of Such Virtue,</em> Robert H. Young</li>
<li><em>We Wish You A Merry Christmas,</em> John Rutter</li>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjreKzP1hU4Cwyhd2Xm6CHNyLtsufK_lTwtgjYUWUmsteog7TuEJwy_HLLEmPMhqjYkUf7cKno6HjXeBXRhmcNFe8Int8crI_WDEq5v2eFCMGGsbL5ogDn9QAl3_BFSbW_l-nqbR-lYius/s1600/154843_478808634197_556249197_5583469_1469801_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjreKzP1hU4Cwyhd2Xm6CHNyLtsufK_lTwtgjYUWUmsteog7TuEJwy_HLLEmPMhqjYkUf7cKno6HjXeBXRhmcNFe8Int8crI_WDEq5v2eFCMGGsbL5ogDn9QAl3_BFSbW_l-nqbR-lYius/s320/154843_478808634197_556249197_5583469_1469801_n.jpg" width="320" /></a>Sunday brought the 2nd Annual Holiday Show of <a href="http://www.myspace.com/johnlatini">John Latini</a> and <a href="http://www.jamiesueseal.com/">Jamie-Sue Seal</a>. This benefit (the Housing Assistance Fund...Homeless shelters in East Lansing [Haven House] and Lansing [Loaves and Fishes] was severely impacted by the first big snowstorm in the Greater Lansing area. We were to be treated by the entire Flying Latini Bros band, but the bassist and keyboard fellas coming from Dexter and Ypsilanti were stuck below I-94. Not to be thwarted, John brought his actual brother, Jim, who was a wonderful addition to the fun, funny and lively show. John and Jamie-Sue are seasoned performers who playfully work with each other providing a first-class show, enjoyed by all. Personally, I like all the original tunes they do (e.g. John's, "Merry Christmas From The Holiday Inn" and Jamie-Sue's, "Northern Lights") as we get inundated with the same Christmas songs over and over again each holiday season.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKMNhX542yT6W2WhlIeXyhtZFHdkLNcVV1-n1y4_iE0Tm7-ZwNf89yePlgNosg_f0O7c1SJZBTIMu8JqFh2rhsLww-sca-bapKhDDWOa6SD-EllI4BAeklUbHhqm13_tmI2xT80YJzudE/s1600/JamieSueJohn1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKMNhX542yT6W2WhlIeXyhtZFHdkLNcVV1-n1y4_iE0Tm7-ZwNf89yePlgNosg_f0O7c1SJZBTIMu8JqFh2rhsLww-sca-bapKhDDWOa6SD-EllI4BAeklUbHhqm13_tmI2xT80YJzudE/s320/JamieSueJohn1.jpg" width="208" /></a>Another highlight was Jim Latini doing lead vocals on Robbie Robertson's, "<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CCIQtwIwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dn_sOG1hdk-8&ei=q84PTbHVA4TJnAf134inDg&usg=AFQjCNFgInIc0mqJgqs3ahDsHLUsJrleBg&sig2=qx4vHVfqJ1Nss8pPbZNWuA">Christmas Must Be Tonight</a>"...catchy tune, perfectly laid down by Jimbo. For those that braved the stormy night, it was a real treat. Plenty of time to chat with the musicians afterward around a punch and cookie table...made for a fitting end to a wonderful night. Thanks for coming back Jamie-Sue and John...we raised some important funds for the shelters too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On our drive down to Kalamazoo I said to Nicky, "Are we crazy going to see a play...in Kalamazoo (hour and 15min drive) on a weeknight!" Boy am I glad we did. December fills up every year and this was the only time we could make it to this exciting musical. I suppose it didn't hurt to be sitting in the first table, center to enjoy the 4-member ensemble cast. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This production was provided by Farmer's Alley Theatre...and from their website: "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Farmers Alley Theatre is a professional ensemble based non-profit performance company dedicated to producing popular and new work in the Downtown Kalamazoo area in a unique and intimate setting." </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I would say they scored 110 on all items because this work was popular and new and with waited service for coffee and drinks and dessert it was an intimate and unique setting.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Our daughter's friend, Amanda Martin was in the cast so we were excited to see her. She, and her castmates were splendid! This is a funny, irreverent romp with the first half set in 1958's Prom night and the second half at a reunion 10 years later. The music was well known and so much fun to see how the script brought each performer in to the song. <a href="http://goo.gl/4ckbi">Here</a> they are:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"Welcome"/"Mr. Sandman"<br />
"Lollipop"/"Sugartime"<br />
"Allegheny Moon"<br />
"All I Have to Do Is Dream"/"Dream Lover"<br />
"Stupid Cupid"<br />
"Lipstick on Your Collar"<br />
"Lucky Lips"<br />
"Secret Love"<br />
"Mr. Lee"/"Born Too Late"/"Teacher’s Pet"<br />
"Sincerely"/"Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight"<br />
"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me"<br />
"Welcome Back"/"Heat Wave"<br />
"It's in His Kiss"<br />
"Wedding Bell Blues"<br />
"You Don’t Own Me"<br />
"With This Ring"<br />
"I Only Want to Be With You"<br />
"That's When the Tears Start"<br />
"It's My Party"<br />
"Son of a Preacher Man"<br />
"Leader of the Pack"<br />
"Maybe"<br />
"Maybe I Know"<br />
"Needle in a Haystack"<br />
"Rescue Me"<br />
"Respect"<br />
"Thank You and Goodnight"/"Sincerely"</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Amanda was brilliant as the catty Cindy Lou and best friends with Betty Jean (and not-so-secretly making it with BJ's boyfriend!). They all sang so well, it was a delightful night.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">The poor guy at our table (about 45 yrs old...there with his mother) was pulled up into the play twice as the high school teacher point of affection for Missy (the ironic thing was that he is, in fact, a high school teacher form Muskegon!). I think Nicky was pretty glad I wasn't that guy (not so sure I am... ;o) ).</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">Great fun. I understand it is sold out but if you do get a chance...GO SEE THIS SHOW. 5 stars!!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Friday, Dec 17 brought the 5th annual The Coffeehouse at All Saints...the most fun of the year. We had an awesome variety of performers this year including 2 pieces nicely played by Haley Helm. Pastor Kit Carlson rolled out her reading of, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" to everyone's enjoyment (Kids on the floor looking up with fascination and scary anticipation).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Several folks from All Saints had a hand in making the night interesting and fun from piano accompaniment by Carol Baker and Jack Minton to readings by Carol Swinehart and Dedria Barker to cello solos by Kathy Burgess.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br />
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</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Guests included the return of Maggie Fossum and her sister, Ellanor Digo. They performed individually and then brought the house down with a duet that was simple beautiful. We are most fortunate to have them come to The Coffeehouse...thank you Maggie and Ellanor!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">Another guest was Augustine Jay who played a couple originals ...Augustine used to work at Magdalena's Tea House (what Maggie and Ellanor's mother used to own).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">The sing alongs were fully participated and great fun to lead. If you haven't been to a Coffeehouse yet, please stop by on the 3rd Friday of the month sometime between 7:30 and 9:30pm (the next one is January 21).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">_________________________________________________________________________</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">The surprising hit (surprising to me anyway) was the lively performance by the Broadway cast of "9 to 5" playing at the Wharton Center on MSU's campus. Nicky and I saw it last night and were delighted with the 3 principals. They had excellent voices and were damn funny! I was pleasantly surprised...and having 4 women in my house for the last 26 years was pretty good training!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">We still have Christmas Eve and all things New Years...but that's for next time. 2010 was an excellent year for live music in the Mid-Michigan area...we are fortunate to have so much going on. Here's to 2011 !</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><br />
</span></span></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-45446731528152328862010-11-30T13:36:00.000-08:002010-12-02T06:28:39.787-08:00"I heard a bird sing in the dark of December...."<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">....<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A magical thing, a</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">nd sweet to remember." </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Let's remember the lovely bird, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Doris </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Muramatsu of Girlyman fame, as she begins a battle with</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML)... and truly the good news is her case is in the "chronic" stage, the earliest (and most treatable) stage. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Doris would appreciate being included in your thoughts, prayers, and positive visualizations (whichever you tend to do). If you'd like to send her a note, you can write to info@girlyman.com. More information can be found at: http://bit.ly/9tuGqT. Their December 12, Creole Gallery show has been postponed.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnfRoxVI1Hz5vIfIo_JC41k34RO8IaYgGLar8pxkTMgQjcq0opybJjyRcTPBN6VshG2r1m8l40w4OsqUN9QPa7q96V2hq-RedF9wppARAmIC_uayvbsqNCHSIn_BlhIBINzVgrx2itqEg/s1600/doris_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnfRoxVI1Hz5vIfIo_JC41k34RO8IaYgGLar8pxkTMgQjcq0opybJjyRcTPBN6VshG2r1m8l40w4OsqUN9QPa7q96V2hq-RedF9wppARAmIC_uayvbsqNCHSIn_BlhIBINzVgrx2itqEg/s1600/doris_1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of www.girlyman.com</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Another opportunity for December 12 is to support the local homeless shelters, Haven House in East Lansing and Loaves and Fishes in Lansing, by attending the 2nd annual holiday benefit concert by John Latini and Jamie-Sue Seal.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This fun concert features the local Michigan talents of award-winning artists from Ann Arbor and the Lansing area. John and Jamie-Sue gave a wonderful show last year so we asked them backed and they are delighted to perform. You'll hear some old favorites as well as originals, sure to entertain.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Tickets are $10 and are available now from the All Saints Episcopal Church office 517-351-7160 (Susie Pearson) or from me, Steve Findley, steve.findley@gmail.com or 517-432-9738. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The concert will begin Sunday, December 12 at 7pm:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">All Saints Episcopal Church</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">800 Abbot Rd</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">East Lansing, Michigan 48823</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">517-351-7160</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">www.allsaints-el.org</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Christmas edition happens on Friday, December 17, 7:30p to 9:30p. This is the rowdiest, most fun coffeehouse of the year. Holiday-themed, we'll see and hear a variety of classics and unknowns in voice, instrument and song. It's true, I have seen an elf-priest appear in the past, along with some pretty witty verse. You love the music (we do lots of carols you like) and there's always an amusing reading or 2.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1YTqyB8OK33ZUk3gg-yBePBAoY0K25hmDZtjVgOMgrF-9dM1y5cDsJrg5a280UVKk6xPQDVFP-8WTL-VnXD9OV6JGlb5kjnIGrirGiIZt-QdU8RgFzL08BM2fGAWtJGyhhoojG8yUSc/s1600/MaggieFossum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-1YTqyB8OK33ZUk3gg-yBePBAoY0K25hmDZtjVgOMgrF-9dM1y5cDsJrg5a280UVKk6xPQDVFP-8WTL-VnXD9OV6JGlb5kjnIGrirGiIZt-QdU8RgFzL08BM2fGAWtJGyhhoojG8yUSc/s1600/MaggieFossum.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I've been in touch with the Fossum family and it looks like Maggie and her mother (at least) will be returning. If you were here on November 19 you know what an extraordinary night that was. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bring a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">beverage</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">snacks to share. Come anytime, leave anytime, it's that kind of event.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The address is above.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYhMIWnWGWGzYLpY40xYy90MPfBIj-tQ6-UxT3QPjLAv2Ts9vydY22CEEedeAnp163MoEiQ3IucXRWYDlfyjr2tHlSmf31B9o-4dJdDO-EpECrCUUjfi8qk_vW03Lrahn-ymlreMPl1k/s1600/JohnPrine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwYhMIWnWGWGzYLpY40xYy90MPfBIj-tQ6-UxT3QPjLAv2Ts9vydY22CEEedeAnp163MoEiQ3IucXRWYDlfyjr2tHlSmf31B9o-4dJdDO-EpECrCUUjfi8qk_vW03Lrahn-ymlreMPl1k/s1600/JohnPrine.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">On Nov 12 Nicky and I were able to visit with the American icon, John Prine at the State Theatre in Kalamazoo. OK, we didn't really "visit" with him, but that's what it feels like some of the time at a John Prine concert. Although he had stellar musicians with him, (bassist </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">Dave Jacques and the amazing </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><a href="http://www.jasonwilber.com/" style="color: black; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" title="visit Jason Wilber">Jason Wilber </a>on guitar) it was when he played solo, quietly, that he drew you in for the conversation. Classics like, "Sam Stone" and "Hello In There" were darn, near, perfect. Seen him 5 times....and I'd go again.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqVyKghfGA0gW7hmOZ9dgEW1Mjcsl63us1Gg_coY6bN6HUx39OddktBx1eZ3YySJSEup8h0080Ecdn5-qBfs0_LnMqA4WbcyBa1139tilq-saS1d1fgc5dnlqRtay748jMVKdEpveSzBo/s1600/MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqVyKghfGA0gW7hmOZ9dgEW1Mjcsl63us1Gg_coY6bN6HUx39OddktBx1eZ3YySJSEup8h0080Ecdn5-qBfs0_LnMqA4WbcyBa1139tilq-saS1d1fgc5dnlqRtay748jMVKdEpveSzBo/s1600/MP.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is difficult not to like Mary Poppins...in any way. Sure she's slightly annoying, but it is the twinkle in her eye and complete disregard for authority other than her own that make her a joy to enjoy. The Wharton center brought the Broadway touring company's version to the Great Hall and it was as magical as can be.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yes, she flies, but it was the singing, dancing (Step In Time) and the practically perfect performance of understudy Elizabeth Broadhurst that made the show for me.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Being so tardy with this review (we saw the show Nov 14) I have found several others which give a good sense of how it went. <a href="http://bit.ly/dMluO8">http://bit.ly/dMluO8</a>, <a href="http://bit.ly/icxjzH">http://bit.ly/icxjzH</a> and <a href="http://bit.ly/hBoE5C">http://bit.ly/hBoE5C</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">_______________________________________________________________________________</div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-5566916408394648552010-11-17T13:10:00.000-08:002010-11-17T13:10:37.218-08:00It's All Happening This Friday<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgno3S7ggM3WUmLxFBJtuCfSTRcIYQMe3SQMxawU5sZ3JcXaVa0Rd6wJ2vgt_NI4CwLEq3Yq1VG1O4QHMsvryxfh-lGtD5U9N0yU3JViOeFWAR8002D5PX0i0uHIDKdQH_ufocvf3CAWpI/s1600/silverbells_26th_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgno3S7ggM3WUmLxFBJtuCfSTRcIYQMe3SQMxawU5sZ3JcXaVa0Rd6wJ2vgt_NI4CwLEq3Yq1VG1O4QHMsvryxfh-lGtD5U9N0yU3JViOeFWAR8002D5PX0i0uHIDKdQH_ufocvf3CAWpI/s1600/silverbells_26th_logo.png" /></a>Wow, it is a busy day (or should I say night) in Lansing/East Lansing, Michigan this Friday, November 19. Among the many things to see and do certainly <a href="http://www.silverbellsinthecity.org/events.html">Silver Bells in the City</a> is a highlight and if you've never been, it's great fun for the family. It starts at 5 and goes till 9. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSdetWBvIb5VcCVT0x4p_gySLMw1CVsmWZK1jHiRlcf380kXaLARkq54LI0avG-jGsoqvl9S-sqe0fRXDmAjgR9a4Zzw6ESWrteVVOjPxTuUpfwqvWaU1VCih2uA9LuEC4UpDhiK6rPo/s1600/TCAAL.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="66" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSdetWBvIb5VcCVT0x4p_gySLMw1CVsmWZK1jHiRlcf380kXaLARkq54LI0avG-jGsoqvl9S-sqe0fRXDmAjgR9a4Zzw6ESWrteVVOjPxTuUpfwqvWaU1VCih2uA9LuEC4UpDhiK6rPo/s320/TCAAL.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course what I hope you'll come to is The Coffeehouse at All Saints...our monthly (3rd Friday) get together for live music, poetry and sing along. The free event is in its 5th year and has been a haven for a laid back place to enjoy either performing or listening. You are encouraged to bring your own drinks and snacks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This Friday is special...we have a full show with the beautiful sound of the a cappella group, <a href="http://bit.ly/cHhmjz">RCAHppella</a> from Michigan State University performing at 8pm. We'll have the amazingly talented voice and ukelele-playing of the young <a href="http://bit.ly/aHqa7Y">Magdalen Fossum</a>, from Ann Arbor (click her name to see at least one of her YouTube videos) about 8:30. Finishing up the night will be the holiday sounds of <a href="http://bit.ly/dhAf0r">John Latini and Jamie-Sue Seal</a> direct from their Silver Bells in the City gig.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We have some other local talents in store including cello, sing along and poems. It's a full night, loads of fun.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://bit.ly/bMQrMT">The Coffeehouse at All Saints</a> (click for flyer)<br />
800 Abbot Rd<br />
East Lansing, Michigan 48823</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">info: 517-432-9738</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">steve.findley@gmail.com</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Time: 7:30p to 9:30p</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Admission: FREE</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's going to be a great night!</div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-4577921861858073312010-08-23T13:53:00.000-07:002010-08-23T13:53:45.615-07:00CORRECTION/ADDITION:Oops. Linda and Matt will be at the Soup Spoon Cafe THIS FRIDAY Aug. 27th, 2010 from 6:30-8:30 pm. Hope you can be there!All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-73406403437035452452010-08-23T07:47:00.000-07:002010-08-25T08:28:45.308-07:00Saturday at the Market<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7SawTBRJSoXjowTMnBu3UNaOx4HQaxYk6ha4WwLyA2vD0Nq_fIClsttOavSnpy_L9u60c8e5PxJj50MEZ0GSmI7dxgd7vIiKcyQoSEiwn-OpLpqufQ3OMyyHAV6DbGxpaoCbokTKrGck/s1600/IMAG0062.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7SawTBRJSoXjowTMnBu3UNaOx4HQaxYk6ha4WwLyA2vD0Nq_fIClsttOavSnpy_L9u60c8e5PxJj50MEZ0GSmI7dxgd7vIiKcyQoSEiwn-OpLpqufQ3OMyyHAV6DbGxpaoCbokTKrGck/s320/IMAG0062.jpg" /></a><br />
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One of the joys of living in East Lansing is being able to catch live music virtually anywhere, anytime. Nicky and I were able to see our friends, Linda Abar and Frederick Isaac at the Lansing City Market on Saturday, Aug 21. It's really an intimate atmosphere considering where it is. We were able to do some fresh produce and fish shopping as well as get our lunch for the day and enjoy the playing and singing of Linda and Frederick. </div><br />
<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0B2chsn1JRf6EUyo0DP3o3sVNhlk4A1DnfYNtS_xJDX7L3k_hM-vuqHUZJm2aqbhR4A6dccp8kxZesWPzSu2xG67NUInTR2U0BYO9riX4sj1w5KJMvDPNDUAkCe4qoh-ihYK2dfuBnU/s1600/IMAG0063.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0B2chsn1JRf6EUyo0DP3o3sVNhlk4A1DnfYNtS_xJDX7L3k_hM-vuqHUZJm2aqbhR4A6dccp8kxZesWPzSu2xG67NUInTR2U0BYO9riX4sj1w5KJMvDPNDUAkCe4qoh-ihYK2dfuBnU/s320/IMAG0063.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div>You can see Linda and our friend, Matt Bliton, at the Soup Spoon Cafe, 1419 East Michigan Avenue, Lansing, THIS FRIDAY Aug. 27th, 2010 from 6:30-8:30 pm. . You can expect a bluesy, folksy, artsy mix with hints of jazz. Together and separately, they have quite a few new tunes to share. Should be a treat!! Nick of the "Spoon" will have some outrageously tasty dinner special as well!! Reservations are highly recommended for this show. The last one "sold out." Please call 517-316-2377 and start looking forward to a very lovely evening!<br />
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img align="middle" alt="Posted by Picasa" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" style="-moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; background: 0% 50%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></a></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-82961357940715924182010-08-20T06:51:00.000-07:002010-08-20T07:47:28.621-07:00Great Lakes Folk Festival 2010<div><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjyP_U6fVNeMOiPASKr9AApKtIsBqVaAfpUzQGsOo5BFR8bnBXdJMwpVorSbfnYpR8BcfVJwuMmAZ-sHeyVThtYmYSlC1vmp0Lk_w6WCbmUDgw5rWlem9ZlkwAl2bcOgu_lyvoJ8SKDw/s1600/IMAG0047.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 192px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507493603975106402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrjyP_U6fVNeMOiPASKr9AApKtIsBqVaAfpUzQGsOo5BFR8bnBXdJMwpVorSbfnYpR8BcfVJwuMmAZ-sHeyVThtYmYSlC1vmp0Lk_w6WCbmUDgw5rWlem9ZlkwAl2bcOgu_lyvoJ8SKDw/s320/IMAG0047.jpg" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvl8rFuAscrJY9eX5M5_Esg9RRoH-UMtZhZqpFAzb_T1aGT3683ftDvTtSQ1S1V8R6Ixd28EjUbdLlkw0zfYCuIdLrnaEv-F6YH9CtpkSn_5tFu1R0yIdV_FQAv_2D_ngFNL9XswVpCOQ/s1600/Mast-Folk-Fest-412-0031.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvl8rFuAscrJY9eX5M5_Esg9RRoH-UMtZhZqpFAzb_T1aGT3683ftDvTtSQ1S1V8R6Ixd28EjUbdLlkw0zfYCuIdLrnaEv-F6YH9CtpkSn_5tFu1R0yIdV_FQAv_2D_ngFNL9XswVpCOQ/s320/Mast-Folk-Fest-412-0031.jpg" /></a> </div><br /><div><br />So much to see and do at this year's festival, held Aug 13-15 in downtown East Lansing, Michigan...with some interesting additions of "green" displays like the "Green Kitchen" tent, bringing good ideas for local, healthy eating.<br /><br />Highlight? Performance-wise it had to be <a href="http://www.doylelawson.com/">Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver</a>. Doug Neal of the incredibly wonderful radio show, "Progressive Torch & Twang" on Tueday nights, 8p-Mid, on MSU's 88.9 ImpactFM, has played Doyle Lawson for years and I know he wanted to bring him to East Lansing. Well Doug was the emcee at this particular stage and introduced Mr. Lawson and his fine band. Tight instrumentalists, they also sing up a bluegrass storm...with plenty of Gospel as well. They even had some good jokes...e.g., "How hot is it? It's so hot I saw a dog chasing a rabbit... and they both were walking."<br /><br />During his 31-year career Doyle Lawson has had a string of bluegrass and gospel awards. This, I believe is due to his collecting a group of superb musicians to tour and record with. This year's group, although some quite young, are accomplished technicians of their instruments, both hardware and vocals. When they are in 4-part harmony, it's a little eerie, a little sublime...and they make it look easy.<br /><br />________________________________________________________________________________________________ </div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507494379554963266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxorliOY2ZaTApFKAv2beBeuIiIzaxzC5qy5nJhWQfCky-MQ5qXdgT28MM8waAt5VGch8o3X4MIx-iiMXBk5QAh0FT_i-JToDbr8Le6dkzZE8fUzgdO5U7c6xqzDS_yP062VRDLEqaoo/s400/IMG_1175.JPG" /><br /><br />The other outstanding performance was the Community Sing, the brainchild of <a href="http://www.sally-potter.com/">Sally Potter</a>, organizer, musician and the main reason this event was added to the GLFF. Anchored by song leaders Sally Potter, the Rev <a href="http://www.myspace.com/revrobertbjones">Robert B. Jones </a>for Detroit and local favorite, <a href="http://www.raykamalay.com/">Ray Kamalay</a>. Each musician started us off on songs we (mostly) knew and I have to say, the singing was very good, often with beautiful harmony. No song sheets needed (mostly) because the tunes were so well known. As somewhat expected, Robert Jones led gospel and blues-tinged songs, Ray Kamalay led standards (some beauties!) and Sally led traditional folk tunes. The audience was diverse in all ways and came through quite <span style="font-family:georgia;">nicely</span>. Did you notice the <em>AMAZING</em> ASL interpreter? She was truly into it, knew most of the words of all the songs...and did not get a break for the entire 2hrs. She was wonderful. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>As Sally, who wrote to my daughter Emily (who wrote to thank the folks who run the festival because she was so moved) said, </div><br /><div><span style="font-family:georgia;">"T</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-: minor-latinfont-family:Calibri;font-size:10;color:black;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;">he singing community around here is only getting stronger, as folks are hoping on board the train. And why not? It's fun, it's full of energy, it hits at the very core of who we are - as active people. and - it's real.<br /><br />In September, <a href="http://wkar.org/tv/schedule.php">WKAR TV </a>is showing a half hour documentary it produced about this singing community. And more and more festivals, and concert series, and community organizations are adding singing to their programming.<br /><br />With the first <a href="http://www.singingfestival.com/">Mid-Winter Singing Festival </a>in 2003, we were at the beginning, in front of the big wave.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:100%;">Yet more water and energy have arrived, nationwide, and the community singing movement is growing. It's fun to watch."</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-: minor-latinfont-family:Calibri;font-size:10;color:black;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></span></div><br /><div><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial', 'sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-: minor-latinfont-family:Calibri;font-size:10;color:black;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Thank you to all the Festival organizers, volunteers and patrons who made this year's festival one of the best.<br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFxSvdzOPjwhL3mNvmJUurWz0kc_Ehn7ADZyaNu1GQLH0DWuTuxaYOGsvZPxwryj-dWcB852me02SjtjYCvyf30gC1zZLGhR1vkTLOyVvSqxYnQ7XtG10dcuHQ2wvMjAr0Tt1dLejqOk/s1600/IMG_1173+(600+x+450).jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507500806545111586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFxSvdzOPjwhL3mNvmJUurWz0kc_Ehn7ADZyaNu1GQLH0DWuTuxaYOGsvZPxwryj-dWcB852me02SjtjYCvyf30gC1zZLGhR1vkTLOyVvSqxYnQ7XtG10dcuHQ2wvMjAr0Tt1dLejqOk/s400/IMG_1173+(600+x+450).jpg" /></a><br style="mso-special-character: line-break"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break"></span><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" border="0" alt="Posted by Picasa" align="middle" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" /></a></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-45913517134275557732010-03-10T08:12:00.000-08:002010-03-10T10:56:27.099-08:00December 2009<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(255, 255, 102); -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJnxJtokHcryW3JYQEOzFPk12T3bkh_sxnh2EzDLqAdZTNP2FYf8Q456gA708NLcdVM86PJzwCLVX-yC1PJEzMZG2Y3bckNx3uyzXlNiam9q8q-tVKg6Fa1v3O0H0dyyDao_X22TOKJcg/s1600-h/Tributosaurus.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJnxJtokHcryW3JYQEOzFPk12T3bkh_sxnh2EzDLqAdZTNP2FYf8Q456gA708NLcdVM86PJzwCLVX-yC1PJEzMZG2Y3bckNx3uyzXlNiam9q8q-tVKg6Fa1v3O0H0dyyDao_X22TOKJcg/s200/Tributosaurus.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447041332927978146" style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 164px; " /></a></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(255, 255, 102); -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Hooray for December! So much to see! It started off with a real treat. I ventured down to Chicago to join my eldest daughter Lisa and brother Dan at a performance of The Beatles as envisioned by the group, "</span><a href="http://www.tributosaurus.com/index.cfm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Tributosaurus</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">". You have to see these folks. From their website:</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 102); -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">"In August 2002 we became The Who. September was Sly & the Family Stone, followed by CSNY and then The Police. Tributosaurus is not just a band…it is a musical event, a happening. Tributosaurus is the Jurassic beast of multiple musical faces, and every month, the beast morphs into a different rock group. Every set is tweaked with the lineup essential to accurately re-create the recorded material of an amazing array of artists. This mandate draws the finest musicians from Chicagoland and beyond to join the core group to sit in…to sing and play songs they’ve wanted to cover all their lives. For Paul McCartney, we had members of the CSO and 30 people on stage, for Ray Charles we had a full big band, for Paul Simon we had an ensemble of native South American flutes -- whatever it takes. If there's a song that requires 2 keyboard players, 3 guitarists, a mandolin and a 6 piece horn section -- you can bet we'll have 'em.</span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">The Tributosaurus Core is comprised of 5 of the top musicians in Chicagoland. These players consider themselves the Civil War re-creationists of rock and roll, as they skillfully learn a brand new set of material every month, note for note."</span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">They told us they know the Beatles catalog is so large, they could never do it justice in one night, so, they picked the first 2 Beatles albums, "Please Please Me" and "With The Beatles" and did them, in order. Absolutely amazing...freakin' good sound, superb vocals and instrumentation. Here's the set list:</span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><table frame="VOID" cellspacing="0" cols="1" rules="NONE" border="1" style="text-align: center; "><tbody><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;">SONG TITLE</td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td width="239" height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">I Saw Her Standing There</span></td><td width="124" align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Misery</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Anna (Go To Him)</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Chains</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Boys</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Ask Me Why</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Please, Please Me</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Love Me Do</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">P.S. I Love You</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Baby It's You</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Do You Want To Know A Secret</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">A Taste Of Honey</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">There's A Place</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Twist And Shout</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">From Me To You</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Thank You Girl</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">She Loves You</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">I'll Get You</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">It Won't Be Long</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">All I've Got To Do</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">All My Loving</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Don't Bother Me</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Little Child</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Til There Was You</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Please Mister Postman</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="19" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Roll Over Beethoven</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Hold Me Tight</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">You Really Got A Hold On Me</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">I Wanna Be Your Man</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Devil in Her Heart</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Not A Second Time</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Money</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">I Want To Hold Your Hand</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">This Boy</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" size="11px" style="float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><span class="style1">Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand</span></td><td align="LEFT" style="font-size: 11px; float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><br /></td></tr><tr><td height="18" align="LEFT" style=" float: left; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size:11px;"><span class="style1">Sie Liebt Dich<br /><br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">What can you say? It was outstanding! We had so much fun. Everyone sang along. Check out their website and see who they've done (AND who's coming!). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Next December (2010) they will do the next 2 albums in the Beatles discography! Cannot wait!</span></span></span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">_________________________________________________________________________________</span></span></span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Barely got back in town on Friday the 4th and was witness to the songwriters series Jamie-Sue Seal produces, this time at The<a href="http://www.tenpoundfiddle.org/">Ten Pound Fiddle</a> in East Lansing, Michigan. <a href="http://www.jamiesueseal.com/">Jamie-Sue</a> has her own location for this <a href="http://www.jamminround.com/">series</a> and brought it to the fiddle for a different audience and exposure for these folks. Being slightly biased because my friends, John Latini and Jamie-Sue Seal, were two of the performers, we were sure to go. We in Michigan are blessed with fine musical talent...and this was showcased by these musicians. John Latini, Jamie-Sue Seal, Andre Villoch and Greg Jenkinson provided a variety of solo efforts, duos and sometimes all of them, supporting each other. This type of music benefits from the intimate atmosphere of the Fiddle and we were treated to gems all night long.</span></span></span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">__________________________________________________________________________________</span></span></span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Dec 13 Nicky and I attended the Broadway production of "White Christmas" at the Wharton Center. Knowing the songs that come from this musical we were intrigued to see how the show would be. I think we were pleasantly surprised, it was a fun, well-sung, well-danced show. I remain embarrassed to say I have never seen the film.....</span></span></span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">__________________________________________________________________________________</span></span></span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">The Dec 18 version of The Coffeehouse at All Saints brought a whole host of folks out...we had about 55 come and enjoy a variety of performances from many sing alongs accompanied by Jack Minton or Eileen Marshall to amusing readings (Sedaris, etc.) by Marguerite Halversen, Dedria Barker and more. Pastor Kit has read, "The Grinch" each year and this time it was her excellent hat that stood out...(that and the kids' transfixed faces!)</span></span></span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">____________________________________________________________________________________</span></span></span></span></p><p class="style11" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">For the first time we at All saints Episcopal Church, hosted a fundraiser concert (for the Housing Assistance Fund...we raised >$1,000.00) with Jamie-Sue Seal and <a href="http://www.smokinsleddogrecords.com/johnlatini/">John Latini</a>. They provided a mostly original set of songs that either had us laughing, smiling or simply enjoying their light banter, excellent harmony and support of each other. It was a real treat and set the stage for further productions at All Saints. Merry Christmas everyone!</span></span></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div></span></div></span></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QGrty6Qnz5BYdOvh2lWUOI3gug54ar4jGJO6FL-a6XVpgaCpdrbh1H20Re-pLvjM-EOnxQ8QVg795fWRnT-XW_mtGtI3ui0z8J_XID4g5cfZZ8bC2h_rQ2e76PdVz3zErfN7Dr8VSOM/s1600-h/DSC_3276.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QGrty6Qnz5BYdOvh2lWUOI3gug54ar4jGJO6FL-a6XVpgaCpdrbh1H20Re-pLvjM-EOnxQ8QVg795fWRnT-XW_mtGtI3ui0z8J_XID4g5cfZZ8bC2h_rQ2e76PdVz3zErfN7Dr8VSOM/s200/DSC_3276.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447079649354340962" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(255, 255, 102); -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><p class="style11" style=" ;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p></span></div></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-29085241727936149292010-03-10T08:09:00.000-08:002010-03-10T08:12:13.978-08:00November NotesNot many notes....the November edition of The Coffeehouse at All Saints was the highlight...as Steve found himself looking for new work, most of the time was taken. December always has too much to do, so we'll just go there.All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-52603805799372470952010-03-10T07:23:00.000-08:002010-03-10T08:07:27.361-08:00October Offerings<div>Have you ever been to a "<a href="http://music.msu.edu/documents/seasonbrochurefinal_000.pdf">Collage Concert</a>"? Billed as: "...featuring premier student ensembles and soloists from the MSU College of Music in a fast-paced musical extravaganza", it was just that at the Wharton Center on Oct 2. So many different styles of performance music...opera, jazz, choral, pop...one after the other without any time between pieces (until the intermission). I have seen this at East Lansing High School and it was great fun. At MSU the talent level is ratcheted up and every performance was top notch...you were seeing the cream of the crop every time! I strongly urge you to check this out next year...</div><div><br /></div><div>Oct 9 Nicky and I attended the MSU Choral Society's fundraiser...a "Cabaret" at the Hannah Center in East Lansing. Being fans of choral music (and me having served on the MSU Choral Union board in the past) we were excited to see what was to come. The variety of performances were vast (as was the talent :) ) and we had a wonderful time. This is where I made contact with the acapella group "RCAHpella" (somewhat-awkwardly named for the "Residential College of Arts and Humanities" at MSU"). They were good and I knew the director....and thought, "They would be a great addition to The Coffeehouse at All Saints. (They did come at a later date). The Choral Society raises funds for choral conducting graduate students at MSU and I think the program produced enough funds for several students. Great job. Great fun.</div><div><br /></div><div>The 16th brought another edition of The Coffeehouse at All Saints, a couple hours of live music, and spoken word in an informal, laid-back environment complemented by snacks and drinks provided by those who come. We have it the 3rd Friday of the month from 7:30-9:30p at All Saints Episcopal Church, 800 Abbot Rd, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim5qyDRbN9WfyVDXcD-fDGAonQHeHdS-88pphoMQH781G-nURg65RllfIbKviKxNUuhkgvaFJ-m8mR3FiZxQhIdGIZ4RIkclfkGWq4_zhUwKB0hpj6iYqMP5NDUnAXIlfwVl_LxtxIobc/s1600-h/Photo-Sedaris.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 184px; height: 172px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim5qyDRbN9WfyVDXcD-fDGAonQHeHdS-88pphoMQH781G-nURg65RllfIbKviKxNUuhkgvaFJ-m8mR3FiZxQhIdGIZ4RIkclfkGWq4_zhUwKB0hpj6iYqMP5NDUnAXIlfwVl_LxtxIobc/s200/Photo-Sedaris.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447036445059874306" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Though not music, I want to give a shout out to our friend, Jenifer Banks, a retired MSU English professor who gave the "pre-glow" talk for the Oct 18 <a href="http://literati.net/Sedaris/">David Sedaris</a> presentation at the Wharton Center. Jenny did a fine job, describing David's body of work in an enlightening, sometimes amusing way. Of course David Sedaris was wonderful...he has such a funny way of looking at relationships and the world. Kudos to him for choosing an MSU student to come out and introduce him (the highlight for her, so far, I'm sure!).</div><div><br /></div><div>Nicky and I were fortunate to gather up our daughter Heather and fly to NYC to visit her twin, Emily the next weekend. Of course we took in a show, and chose, "<a href="http://www.billyelliotthemusical.com/">Billy Elliot, the Musical</a>" at The Imperial theatre. We all enjoyed the movie version and were looking forward to how this would be presented on stage. Well, "Billy" was wonderful (we saw him perform on the tony Awards show earlier)...but so was his "Mother". I'm pretty sure this show will travel to East Lansing in 2011...don't miss it!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-15459895224013793762010-02-15T14:35:00.000-08:002010-02-15T15:10:39.250-08:00Some Things in September<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dnnk9UTx8lPo5kRVQ7rhysgE92mLAQBFokEnTe4s3GafDFgBvD92MN4mg-zchUXXSzf9RlbZAgs0VY7gcb7anm2CkzihgPtnu0OB-tWeozWRgY3-3Oi67RHUHRWQ6CQPS0IvEJFiI6E/s1600-h/view-black-and-white.jpg"></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dnnk9UTx8lPo5kRVQ7rhysgE92mLAQBFokEnTe4s3GafDFgBvD92MN4mg-zchUXXSzf9RlbZAgs0VY7gcb7anm2CkzihgPtnu0OB-tWeozWRgY3-3Oi67RHUHRWQ6CQPS0IvEJFiI6E/s1600-h/view-black-and-white.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5dnnk9UTx8lPo5kRVQ7rhysgE92mLAQBFokEnTe4s3GafDFgBvD92MN4mg-zchUXXSzf9RlbZAgs0VY7gcb7anm2CkzihgPtnu0OB-tWeozWRgY3-3Oi67RHUHRWQ6CQPS0IvEJFiI6E/s200/view-black-and-white.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438608837873946242" /></a><br /><div>Our first foray into live music in September was on the 12th at the Gone Wired Cafe on Michigan Ave in Lansing to see, "Everlovingmind", the creation of our good friend, <a href="http://www.mattbliton.com/">Matt Bliton</a>. This was a 4 (of the 5) piece band playing a variety of tunes in anticipation of their Lansing "Blues fest" debut later in the month. An intimate audience turned out to see a well-rehearsed, fun band play songs they know and love. Intermixed with some great "regulars" like Van Morrison's, "Tupelo Honey" were some of Matt's own songs. <span style="font-family:'Alba Super';font-size:36pt;">Everlovingmind<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family:'Alba Super';font-size:36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">think the audience thoroughly enjoyed the show and were certainly enthusiastic for the group. Nicky and I could not attend Bluesfest this year but heard they did a great job there. Congrats Matt, it was a very good time.</span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlWrqR99zjAvsQKdjZbpn84SQN4LJehCFs5UXIGGhB0eSRuojliPoXfRJH_ayFwyp9Glku5iBN4vDCwcZf_9g43CY-couG9sfnOrMUqwHMk2yQllPsOTiinoqmNO19IZKUcWzQdKq5phc/s1600-h/PT.jpg"><img style="text-align: right;float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 149px; height: 147px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlWrqR99zjAvsQKdjZbpn84SQN4LJehCFs5UXIGGhB0eSRuojliPoXfRJH_ayFwyp9Glku5iBN4vDCwcZf_9g43CY-couG9sfnOrMUqwHMk2yQllPsOTiinoqmNO19IZKUcWzQdKq5phc/s200/PT.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438607753934922194" /></a><div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlWrqR99zjAvsQKdjZbpn84SQN4LJehCFs5UXIGGhB0eSRuojliPoXfRJH_ayFwyp9Glku5iBN4vDCwcZf_9g43CY-couG9sfnOrMUqwHMk2yQllPsOTiinoqmNO19IZKUcWzQdKq5phc/s1600-h/PT.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Sept 21st marked the release of the latest <a href="http://www.porcupinetree.com/">Porcupine Tree</a> album, "The Incident". More of a "concept album" than in the past it nevertheless contains all the bits of PT we have come to know and love, e.g. dark passages followed by lyrical interludes and beautiful melodies. As with the previous album, "Deadwing", it took me a few listens to really enjoy it, but enjoy it I have. If you've never heard Porcupine Tree before, try their 2005 release, "In Absentia", prog rock album of the year.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sept 24 brought <a href="http://www.willienelson.com/">Willie Nelson</a> and Family to the Wharton Center. I'll say this, he's 76 years old...and he and his band played (and I counted) 12 songs...IN-A-ROW...no break or song intro. Wow. He has a style you can love (or hate or anywhere in between) as when he leans into the mic with sincerity or not love...the way he consistently sings out of time (stilted...on purpose). I loved him, so did Nicky and the crowd was enthusiastic to say the least. I've seen Willie 3 times and this was the best.</div><div><br /></div></div></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-9195376166345839202010-02-15T14:15:00.000-08:002010-02-15T14:34:32.843-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74xVdPnIkiW9aIRrQ4rTvueqHB8cLW5HutIBC7c7FdIv7HAa5ySr13G9VtUgFOhaTk-1zRvNB43gC0-1sPd9r69ZZbAqSEY8F7UnP59p3XeD9V6WNjrocLNH21dTmBDcLlSAEMkBHAH8/s1600-h/DSC_2139.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 170px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74xVdPnIkiW9aIRrQ4rTvueqHB8cLW5HutIBC7c7FdIv7HAa5ySr13G9VtUgFOhaTk-1zRvNB43gC0-1sPd9r69ZZbAqSEY8F7UnP59p3XeD9V6WNjrocLNH21dTmBDcLlSAEMkBHAH8/s200/DSC_2139.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438602150144259538" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b>The Coffeehouse at All Saints</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">"<b>Campfire Edition</b>"</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpm6qWU74zJ1sfCaKRqjnjhukRnyo5Dy9Ibuw5zZN_VIeIEcOpNUpsuYNC33TW3pz43QS334u4MKvg7xAgSDvpusecTrSJHkBX_SZWd8tGOTsuuVIXnWUH-xMxJ-cjeHw2B-yzRT7wiVA/s1600-h/DSC_2264.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpm6qWU74zJ1sfCaKRqjnjhukRnyo5Dy9Ibuw5zZN_VIeIEcOpNUpsuYNC33TW3pz43QS334u4MKvg7xAgSDvpusecTrSJHkBX_SZWd8tGOTsuuVIXnWUH-xMxJ-cjeHw2B-yzRT7wiVA/s200/DSC_2264.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438601068667303826" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;">August 22 brought the 2009 edition of this annual (3rd) outdoor event at the farm of Dan and Gail Shafer-Crane. This is always a special night because it is truly multi-generational. From toddlers to their grandparents folks come to the farm to enjoy a hayride, antique auto show (the Cranes own several Model Ts), cookout, campfire complete with sing alongs and s'mores. This </span></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: normal; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><div>year we had about 65 people who took advantage of all that was offered and I belive everyone had a great time.</div><div>Many, many thanks to Dan and Gail Shafer-Crane for the kind hospitality.</div></span></b></span></div><div><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUTRYg3cFw9kxQqnnzDqbLRUOCaUVwfY_PJOAy4gbGW9xlXzWP8qYteXVJAFa603qxngtiXpUio1r93pMSyZ5yKfsIXOp1jB4OWddGEhIFW6knsCeBdrEKeXogIWGxVIHieQBaXwJB_g/s1600-h/DSC_2171.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUTRYg3cFw9kxQqnnzDqbLRUOCaUVwfY_PJOAy4gbGW9xlXzWP8qYteXVJAFa603qxngtiXpUio1r93pMSyZ5yKfsIXOp1jB4OWddGEhIFW6knsCeBdrEKeXogIWGxVIHieQBaXwJB_g/s200/DSC_2171.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438600653746272194" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUTRYg3cFw9kxQqnnzDqbLRUOCaUVwfY_PJOAy4gbGW9xlXzWP8qYteXVJAFa603qxngtiXpUio1r93pMSyZ5yKfsIXOp1jB4OWddGEhIFW6knsCeBdrEKeXogIWGxVIHieQBaXwJB_g/s1600-h/DSC_2171.JPG"></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><b><br /></b></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-73355791623881699952010-02-15T13:40:00.000-08:002010-02-15T14:12:12.270-08:00August: Festival TimeThe Great Lakes Folk Festival - Aug 7-9, 2009 <img src="http://www.greatlakesfolkfest.net/logo.gif" /><div><br /></div><div>Always fortunate to attend this wonderful live music/arts/crafts/etc festival in downtown East Lansing. 3 days of opportunities for intimate audiences, immediate feedback with performers and music you'd be hard-pressed to find in one spot. Nicky and I tend to gravitate to the Dance Tent for one performance, something "close" on a smaller stage and a larger show at the end. This year we saw three groups I had never heard of and am glad to say I know who they are now!</div><div><br /></div><div>We met friends Ed and Joni B for the Acadian-favorite, "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; "><b><a href="http://www.gadelle.com">Gadelle</a>"</b> on Friday night. Gadelle comes from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Edward_Island" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(133, 38, 37); ">Prince Edward Island </a>(PEI) on Canada's east coast, where our friends have spent time in pubs listening to groups just like this. Excellent fiddlers and singers (and sometimes dancers) they really get you going. We all had a good time despite the crummy weather.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; ">On Saturday we saw, "<b><a href="http://beyondthepale.net">Beyond The Pale</a></b>", a klezmer band and, "<b><a href="http://lostbayouramblers.com">Lost Bayou Ramblers</a>", </b>Cajun masters. It is not the first time the Festival has brought klezmer and Cajun groups to east Lansing but these are certainly 2 of the best. It is difficult to sit in your seat while they jam away, looking like THEY are the ones having the good time.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; ">Thank you <a href="http://museum.msu.edu/"><b>MSU Museum</b></a> and the City of East Lansing for this thoroughly interesting and rewarding opportunity. I have only scratched the surface with regard to what is available these 3 days (day and night). it is a true "Folk" festival in that it always has displays of artists for the Great Lakes area including storytelling, crafts and poetry. The 2010 Festival will be Aug 13-15...don't miss it.</span></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-83299760671965652912010-01-05T13:22:00.000-08:002010-01-05T14:15:37.940-08:00Lazy Days of SummerNicky and I spent the first week of June in Santa Fe, New Mexico...a state I had only driven through in the past. This was a planned week by my sister for all of us sibs and spouses. What a place Santa Fe! We loved it...and Taos...and the mountains...and the dry desert air. The only musical highlight (besides not seeing Ottmar Liebert who was playing in the local performance theater that week) was this wonderful classical guitarist who played in the square in downtown Santa Fe. <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbsECawkg5I9x79_YIbZhUY0mduSkZpJs2GCsOiloA7LxD8zAYvECLu6LxP4vEJg3SnwX0eNXQe2iEgIrIqKCC2g2D4m2VjInI5VoD2m9FpoTOzQrxMAT1t7Ej9UdEcqJUCNgAGVK63E/s200/DSC_3108.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423372563807129874" /> She's Romanian and played with passion and skill. I spoke with her and she said she usually performs with her husband but he was out that day. I could have sat there all day. <div><br /></div><div>June 19-20 brought the inaugural Summer Solstice Jazz Festival in downtown East Lansing. Nicky and I were fortunate enough to see 2 acts...the first of which was the KNOCKOUT <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><a href="http://www.esperanzaspalding.com/">Esperanza Spalding </a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCkSLXyAKpzjVYeLaDW5eIuBb1sogQH7o9KVCyn_odToTSPc8gmllcDSLmEMoG3Z4Hc1AOoJzU3rlWXP-5i31YXXuLs63P5jio0YgJyPbW4dgRom0estWoCswvWygKzWFPtANp-1quzoM/s200/bg_idioma.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 122px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423382031685554322" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family:georgia;">on Fri<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; ">day a<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family:georgia;">nd <a href="http://www.lindaabar.com/">Linda Abar</a> and the Neil Gordon Trio on Saturday. This Esperanza Spaulding was AMAZING! What a talented, confident, diverse performer. She played bass (double, electric...I believe she could play any stringed instrument) like she was born with it, sang beautifully and had a stage presence that commanded your attention. This was a thoroughly satisfying hour. Her band was tight and were the perfect accompaniment to her solos and total expertise. What a delight this was. Thank you Ms. Spaulding.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;font-size:medium;">Saturday brought Linda Abar<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family:Georgia, serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnYKKel29AFyXtPIpWNbrwHU5aYcrX99HL1qygAKdrPkyVm8vtuLxD6otSGcLwpA7i5Nv91vvbK-lscPy6oX070FI7NJgLVrCK6i4gdn2xURFefvgK367olrdHco3saDTmUYMB96C0vQ/s200/LA1.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 111px; height: 90px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423382235473522978" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family:georgia;"> out with the group she <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; ">has played most regularly with recently, the Neil Gordon Trio. They all know what to do to put on a smooth show. Linda was in particularly fine voice this day and Neil was particularly swift on his jazz solo runs. If you are in East Lansing in the summer, look for Linda and the NGT...they perform more often then. We enjoyed the band's company afterwards for dinner at Beggar's Banquet who, quite cleverly, put quite a bit of outside seating in the parking lot so diners could listen to the festival.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOrJiZ7IGxorUxLKORQI_2bSEoTkO_LNWZUHrbGsncibVFtraD0nuF9altQ107pdjMy3NOgL52kdbrzTa_glMcAPi_vUNg2xhNAEWMwB9VglSpBD0odrx1Jhxfz59QdTZ9W9BumnO-l-4/s200/view-black-and-white.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423382514317882850" />The next live musical event I enjoyed was <a href="http://www.mattbliton.com/">Matt Bliton</a> playing at the Lansing City Market at noon on July 24. He was accompanied on a couple tunes by our good friend, Linda Abar (they do a great rendition of Paul Simon's, "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes" and the traditional, "Wayfaring Stranger"). This show was simulcast on Lansing Community College's radio station, WLNZ 89.7FM. Matt's originals ring true and were well-received by the noon-time audience.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's it for June and July. Since August includes the Great Lakes Folk Festival we'll save that entry for next time. Thanks for reading....what have you seen?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-49177982687038466192009-12-30T11:58:00.000-08:002009-12-30T14:01:18.959-08:00Middlin' May<div><div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2XRBDJEBIRISd_lVw7qmbOkEh68-l7LponP0-ZlkIU4jyWNwabAYAUY89PbXBX85nkZ7kS7Id0b1kd_kyVEcta9xktmOZYkcwBAN7JM0oHKcKBCkwG_ZUM0Va9vW3UPGiljvUmGeO4Gs/s1600-h/SII.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 141px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 94px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421130676506075074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2XRBDJEBIRISd_lVw7qmbOkEh68-l7LponP0-ZlkIU4jyWNwabAYAUY89PbXBX85nkZ7kS7Id0b1kd_kyVEcta9xktmOZYkcwBAN7JM0oHKcKBCkwG_ZUM0Va9vW3UPGiljvUmGeO4Gs/s200/SII.jpg" /></a> It sure starts off right...seeing <a href="http://www.steppininit.com/">Steppin' In It </a>at the Ten Pound Fiddle Coffeehouse on May 1. They are just so much fun to be around...great energy, pretty funny and wonderful musicians. Thanks to Rachael Davis for coming and singing (and bringing your little one!). I know I just saw them a couple weeks ago, but geez, give a music-lover a break...I really enjoy this band.<br /><br /><div><div>__________________________________________________________________</div><br /><div><p style="MARGIN: 1em; WIDTH: 154px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: right" class="zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" jquery1262204493574="3097" jquery1262203112761="344" jquery1262204493574="2893"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SO%21vol49_2_Pete_Seeger.PNG" jquery1262204493574="3099" jquery1262203112761="348" jquery1262204493574="2895"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; DISPLAY: block; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" alt="Seeger at 86 on the cover of Sing Out! (Summer..." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/SO%21vol49_2_Pete_Seeger.PNG" width="144" height="186" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:SO%21vol49_2_Pete_Seeger.PNG">Wikipedia</a></span></p></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Moving along to Monday the 4th, our friend Sally Potter organized a birthday sing along tribute to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Seeger">Pete Seeger's </a>90th birthday. There must have been nearly a 100 people there (Unitarian Church in East Lansing), led by Matt Watroba (huge Seeger fan and historian) and others. It was a night of fondness and love for a man of peace and courage. We even signed a large (like 4 feet X 6 feet) card for old Pete.<br />_____________________________________________________________</div><br /><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioyB_CP-zrmKWKdoE5Gh5qbF74386RzCZW996it3jcn-GkwCRkK_JUuQ28jARQAHjqVgTXXc_HRXEhhu33qf3RGqmF_DnGRDofpZVq6-EpjCxttyNQ6JFfiTH2vpMjAZwhAr3StHk-0pk/s1600-h/2009+May+08+005.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 134px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421129521506551986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioyB_CP-zrmKWKdoE5Gh5qbF74386RzCZW996it3jcn-GkwCRkK_JUuQ28jARQAHjqVgTXXc_HRXEhhu33qf3RGqmF_DnGRDofpZVq6-EpjCxttyNQ6JFfiTH2vpMjAZwhAr3StHk-0pk/s200/2009+May+08+005.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>On May 8 my second oldest, Heather, graduated with her Masters in Social Work from <a href="http://www.socialwork.msu.edu/">Michigan State University</a>. No, not much music here, but hey, I am terribly proud of her. </div><div></div><div>__________________________________________________________________</div><div></div><br /><div>The 15th brought the May 2009 edition of <strong>The Coffeehouse at All Saints</strong> where we sort of had an, "End of School" theme. The sing alongs included, "School's Out", "Be True To Your School", "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard" and the Bob Blue words to Paul Anka's, "My Way"....which if you've heard it has hilarious lyrics any school teacher would enjoy! We'll take a break in June and July and return with the annual, "Out on the Farm" rendition of The Coffeehouse At All Saints where we meet at the farm of Gail and Dan Crane, have a cookout, hayrides and a sing along by the campfire. Saturday, August 22. Details to follow. See you there!</div><div>________________________________________________________________</div><br /><div>Tired as we were from last night we are once again energized by...The <a href="http://www.elartfest.com/">East Lansing Art Festival</a>! I must remember...there is art there. Why do you laugh? Oh, because the truth is I really look forward to the music. Wanda Deegan organizes it and procures the musical artists and really did a wonderful job this year.</div><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>First off we were ablle to catch, "<a href="http://wkar.org/backstagepass/205.php">THE STRING DOCTORS </a>A new kind of Country Swing" with Ray Kamalay, Joel Mabus, Peter Knupfer & Dave Rosin at noon on the Main Stage on Saturday the 16th. Having seen them at the WKAR taping of Backstage Pass earlier in the year we were <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3UYwHqn075GDiDgQTcu64BSrHqR56KsRiu3fu8Rr8CAgV0nJh8HJgvjNsdhftESs2ZPUR2l0J63ZQjSGmNDVFbqMofhyphenhyphenkAxUO5wahXAw9rdoziww-S3ze-pJXOwhUPkgT89AWvrUO3Xw/s1600-h/StringDoc.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 130px; HEIGHT: 87px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421145201258161586" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3UYwHqn075GDiDgQTcu64BSrHqR56KsRiu3fu8Rr8CAgV0nJh8HJgvjNsdhftESs2ZPUR2l0J63ZQjSGmNDVFbqMofhyphenhyphenkAxUO5wahXAw9rdoziww-S3ze-pJXOwhUPkgT89AWvrUO3Xw/s200/StringDoc.jpg" /></a>eagerly awaiting their return. Their banter fits the outdoor concert scene and their musicianship was wonderful...especially Joel Mabus (no surprise, I know).<br />________________________________________________________________<br /></div><div>Then we cruised the Festival, enjoying good weather (mostly) and many happy people.</div>_________________________________________________________________<br /><br /><div>Were we in for a treat at 3PM with <a href="http://viennateng.com/">The Vienna Teng Trio</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><p style="MARGIN: 1em; WIDTH: 310px; DISPLAY: block; FLOAT: right" class="zemanta-img zemanta-action-dragged" jquery1262204493574="3098" jquery1262204493574="2894"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vienna_Teng_-_Joe%27s_Pub_NYC_4-7-07_Photo_by_Anthony_Pepitone.jpg" jquery1262204493574="3100" jquery1262204493574="2896"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; DISPLAY: block; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" alt="Vienna Teng at Joe's Pub in NYC 4-7-07 Photogr..." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Vienna_Teng_-_Joe%27s_Pub_NYC_4-7-07_Photo_by_Anthony_Pepitone.jpg/300px-Vienna_Teng_-_Joe%27s_Pub_NYC_4-7-07_Photo_by_Anthony_Pepitone.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vienna_Teng_-_Joe%27s_Pub_NYC_4-7-07_Photo_by_Anthony_Pepitone.jpg">Wikipedia</a></span></p>WOW! Is she a talent or what?! Vibrant, charming...a much-too-short hour and 15 of "Chamber folk" music. Original songs played with expertise by the trio. I really enjoyed this set.</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>Well, following Vienna Teng, <a href="http://www.theragbirds.com/html/flash.html">The Ragbirds </a>from Ann Arbor came out and knocked our socks off! <a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cincygroove.com/images/erin_zindle_the_ragbirdsB.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cincygroove.com/%3Fq%3Dnode/307&usg=__8FJzhmKMJYP5nRUTRJPavNeNxqM=&h=360&w=240&sz=91&hl=en&start=10&sig2=JZS8gU6e-kqEvGQmBR5-vA&um=1&tbnid=4PU3WMWFq-m4wM:&tbnh=121&tbnw=81&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bragbirds%2Bann%2Barbor%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GFRC_en%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=yMM7S7HSB5GGNsfD3N8I"></a>Erin Zindle<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMGmHQx0RpLjvIkRkpuVzYHs5GR3UShW6Oa5q8c47Fs0ifMWXHtgYv84mXtXwVmxaO24UVlZ_la7wUa1KlPwT11d5mOGLy41vSwlo8TqBTb37G35ajATuaYN4dscdp9-pCPHtUHLi_HU/s1600-h/ErinZindle.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 81px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 121px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421142521807487666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMGmHQx0RpLjvIkRkpuVzYHs5GR3UShW6Oa5q8c47Fs0ifMWXHtgYv84mXtXwVmxaO24UVlZ_la7wUa1KlPwT11d5mOGLy41vSwlo8TqBTb37G35ajATuaYN4dscdp9-pCPHtUHLi_HU/s200/ErinZindle.jpg" /></a> is the lead singer and fiddler extraordinaire! What energy! Global groove music...got everybody moving...even Vienna Teng. It was so cool to see her jump right into the dancing at the front of the stage. Everyone was having a great time. Go see The Ragbirds! In fact, you can catch them at the Ten Pound Fiddle Coffeehouse on Friday Jan 22, 2010 at the Erickson Kiva on the campus of Michigan State University. Don't miss them!</div>_________________________________________________________<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cincygroove.com/images/erin_zindle_the_ragbirdsB.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cincygroove.com/%3Fq%3Dnode/307&usg=__8FJzhmKMJYP5nRUTRJPavNeNxqM=&h=360&w=240&sz=91&hl=en&start=10&sig2=JZS8gU6e-kqEvGQmBR5-vA&um=1&tbnid=4PU3WMWFq-m4wM:&tbnh=121&tbnw=81&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bragbirds%2Bann%2Barbor%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GFRC_en%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=yMM7S7HSB5GGNsfD3N8I"></a></div><br /><div>Sunday brought our good friend, <a href="http://www.lindaabar.com/">Linda Abar </a>& The Neil Gordon Trio to the Main Stage. Neil is a wonderful jazz guitarist and he accompanies Linda <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORvM0NltMAwZhy9X7ePuyP25gfwIgQikvAoElcqp_GHQMHSwB4za89AAZS33EltSmZBfzz-SEmp6ys_2_0xDA4WffAWtSs7ZTHBBWLJQD7H5oYf9rwmwte2favjk5scpt4gJRCgq5xjY/s1600-h/LA.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 104px; HEIGHT: 77px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421143114548986514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORvM0NltMAwZhy9X7ePuyP25gfwIgQikvAoElcqp_GHQMHSwB4za89AAZS33EltSmZBfzz-SEmp6ys_2_0xDA4WffAWtSs7ZTHBBWLJQD7H5oYf9rwmwte2favjk5scpt4gJRCgq5xjY/s200/LA.jpg" /></a>perfectly. She was in great voice, fun stage presence and obviously had a good time. She did most of the songs on her CD, "Once Upon A Time" as well as some jazz standards...a great hour in the sun. </div>___________________________________________________________________<br /><br /><div>We wandered a bit and made sure we caugth <a href="http://www.myspace.com/daisymayandsethbernard">Daisy May Erlewine and Seth Bernard </a>(yes, I know she dropped the "Daisy"..but not then). Great original songs...skillfully played by Seth and performed with honest enjoyment by the both of them. I really like these 2 and they are fond of the East Lansing audience as well. I'm sure Wanda Deegan will take note that Seth and Daisy <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUA3JC5E8DSGcnTSqMmOP1WMmnSAzeceZxLC34m7GbxeEbjt4xZhmUZs5XSd2LmFWyJp1sGQZs7HF9SHvxISQ1WbTGIePs8QRbgzHWJgMeysAlrlMF7sxXbhVsLX2kLsRuE0TJJs3VZ1o/s1600-h/SethAndDaisy.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; HEIGHT: 136px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421143880346901234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUA3JC5E8DSGcnTSqMmOP1WMmnSAzeceZxLC34m7GbxeEbjt4xZhmUZs5XSd2LmFWyJp1sGQZs7HF9SHvxISQ1WbTGIePs8QRbgzHWJgMeysAlrlMF7sxXbhVsLX2kLsRuE0TJJs3VZ1o/s200/SethAndDaisy.jpg" /></a>deserve the Main Stage next year...it was packed!</div><div> </div><div>There were many others that day, including Claudia Schmidt...but we could not do it all. This is my favorite outdoor festival of the year, mostly because we can sit really close and enjoy the performers enjoying themselves.</div><div>_________________________________________________________________</div><div>The next weekend Nicky and I and a few others made the trek down to Chelsea to enjoy Jeff Daniels' "Purple Rose Theatre" and see, "Bleeding Red"...a very funny play about football (English football that is....soccer). Support Michigan theater!</div><div>_______________________________________________________________</div><div>That's it till next time....</div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-17074899306608001342009-10-13T06:07:00.000-07:002009-10-14T08:16:37.056-07:00April's Fool<div><br /><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhab4Ngw9geGSyC9P3nH_umJrG8z6KITH_bUA4E5JWMvTwaZDm-fo7G5tDNIUTcdthzOQ3v0RRd9kOqvkm8HIiAA6dG4Gaix1D6L62CbQWCkCmlqdN4Wb4TYUw8t2zCIThfYptB4PDjY_8/s1600-h/m_a6981da97f0e4b309e6666c68faec30b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 170px; float: left; height: 169px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392089618207986930" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhab4Ngw9geGSyC9P3nH_umJrG8z6KITH_bUA4E5JWMvTwaZDm-fo7G5tDNIUTcdthzOQ3v0RRd9kOqvkm8HIiAA6dG4Gaix1D6L62CbQWCkCmlqdN4Wb4TYUw8t2zCIThfYptB4PDjY_8/s200/m_a6981da97f0e4b309e6666c68faec30b.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div>Have you ever seen <a href="http://www.myspace.com/johnlatini">John Latini</a>? What a trip! John played at the Creole Gallery in Lansing on April Fool's Day to an appreciative crowd. I have known John for about 15 years and he has simply gotten better and better to the point where his award-winning songs and guitar-playing abilities have allowed him to, "quit his day job". He was fun, funny and plays wonderful guitar. Thanks John (Jonesy)!</div><br /><div> </div><div>This show was sponsored by the local radio station WLNZ from Lansing Community College and hosted by Lyn Peraino.</div><div> </div><div>From John's website:<br />About John Latini<br />Winner of the 2008 Detroit Blues Challenge, John Latini is a multiple award winning veteran singer/songwriter, performer, and above all, entertainer whose energy and presence are infused so deeply in his music that every song, indeed every style, becomes his own. Growing up in a musical family in Queens, NY hearing everything from Hank Williams to Harry Belafonte, participating in the nightly guitar pull around the family table, and finally, seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show sealed his fate. Since that time, the journey has been long and gratifying with explorations into many musical styles and collaborations with many great bands, players, songwriters and above all, friends. Through it all, the one constant remains John's ability to "deliver" the song. A captivating storyteller and an exciting performer, he compels you to watch and to listen.<br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfq8dtVdVCHILyfF4dk4dwRI0MzyMqcnPdZ4hHATJ-gcigpN-AgIH6Hx1Diz6LjRHEuQ0SlO3Px3Z75Zp8Q53MX6WZBAEbrS7UFAafRYoZFj9ELMGiiKZZvhMLDi2VSho6pgA63jO1cgA/s1600-h/m_b3e4fbbadb99e4b3689f4b905e359fbf.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 170px; float: right; height: 134px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392090430898664306" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfq8dtVdVCHILyfF4dk4dwRI0MzyMqcnPdZ4hHATJ-gcigpN-AgIH6Hx1Diz6LjRHEuQ0SlO3Px3Z75Zp8Q53MX6WZBAEbrS7UFAafRYoZFj9ELMGiiKZZvhMLDi2VSho6pgA63jO1cgA/s200/m_b3e4fbbadb99e4b3689f4b905e359fbf.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div> </div><div>You can see John all over Michigan. I hope he will drop by our All Saints Coffeehouse after performing with <a href="http://www.myspace.com/smokinsleddogrecords">Jamie-Sue Seal </a>at the "Silver Bells In The City" celebration in downtown Lansing Nov 20. Then, John and Jamie-Sue will be performing a benefit concert 7pm Sunday, Dec 20 at All Saints Episcopal Church. More to come on that in a future blog.<br /></div><div>_________________________________________________________</div><br /><div>Oh so much more in April...</div><br /><div>Jumping to Monday, April 20, my good buddy, Ed Baker and I, rambled down to Ann Arbor to catch the venerable <a href="http://www.brucecockburn.com/">Bruce Cockburn </a>for a solo show at The Ark. </div><br /><br /><div>Ed and I managed a stop at Zingerman's Deli....where I saw (I swear) a $64.00 carrott cake. Great food, expensive carrots!<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 133px; display: block; height: 200px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392093301859628802" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSoKnjkIlkdmIxdSuIXlyzPCKWc3YGroaFeju7k4xmD2RJDd6i_43bX6FBpRYRzWDTaJFOl8cFnopOg1IjTm3-Cyo9MsF2P9C2MUuP8m_C0C3NnwimmGN5i7JkGdoL4nieczFIblaBtU/s200/Bruce-Cockburn-bv03.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><div>Mr. Cockburn...this was the 4th time I have seen him, he is one of my heroes for many reasons not the least of which is his guitar playing and song-crafting. What I thought might be a night of all new material turned into a delightful balance of old and new. In fact, he encored with, "Wonderin Where The Dragons Are", a song I thought he long ago abandoned. It was wonderful. He is a master.<br /></div><div>____________________________________________________________________</div><br /><br /><div>Lest we have nothing else to do, Ed and I also went to see, "Steppin In It" w/ Shout Sister Shout at a WKAR TV studio taping (Backstage Pass) on Tuesday Apr 21. This was so much fun (in fact Nicky and I went to another taping of Joel Mabus and Ray Kamalay a little later this year...in a different post). It only seats 50 people...and Steppin In It are so popular they had to have another night to accommodate the fan request (it wasn't very well advertised by WKAR...and I don't blame them...this was an intimate atmosphere..yet still "sold" out (actually it was free...thank you WKAR!). The taping was for a series WKAR won't bring to the screen until Feb 11-May 13, 2010...so it was pretty cool to be a part of this now).</div><br /><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7E_uKjZIaue0nYcECLKvbi895OHsGD3ZCMMYy1pcU76w_FVQQuUGeYbEFdhe3VdtgSh0IwH7KAk1m8IqxnOaZOrCgEstQKYxPE-f-tmHbJ8cSfB_SocKd1pjlidPyqB06xx4kfXBlcE/s1600-h/photo_1920134149091008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 75px; float: left; height: 75px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392098912714472690" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7E_uKjZIaue0nYcECLKvbi895OHsGD3ZCMMYy1pcU76w_FVQQuUGeYbEFdhe3VdtgSh0IwH7KAk1m8IqxnOaZOrCgEstQKYxPE-f-tmHbJ8cSfB_SocKd1pjlidPyqB06xx4kfXBlcE/s200/photo_1920134149091008.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div><a href="http://www.steppininit.com/">Steppin In It </a>(Josh Davis and crew) are simply wonderful. They are clever, funny, and damn good musicians. Joe and Andy Wilson (yep, twins) are excellent players....of many instruments. from accordions to trumpets to Hohner Echo Harmonica to steel guitars they provide the eclectic sound of Steppin In It. Backed by Dominic Suchyta on double bass, Steppin In it provide an entirely entertaining night. Couple it with the unique atmosphere of a TV studio audience, it was a great night. </div><br /><br /><div>Did I mention Rachel Davis (I do believe she and Dominic are married...) was there? She is the "Shout Sister Shout" component of the group, occasionally joining them for a set of (some) standards and tunes that sound like standards. She is adorable to watch and a great singer. This set was very well received by the studio audience.</div><br /><div>A great 2 days!</div><br /><div>_________________________________________________________________ </div><br /><div>Not to be outdone by pop/folk music, I was fortunate to perform on the Great Hall stage of the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts on MSU's campus with 250 other musicians<br />(MSU Symphony Orchestra, University Chorale, State Singers, and Choral Union,<br />Melanie Helton, soprano; Kurt Ollmann, baritone; and David Rayl, guest conductor) in a rendering of Vaughn Williams, "Dona Nobis Pacem". A beautiful piece and I think we did it very well. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ69PjE5lsEYvHMTc7BXoDA2_MUZxv3JPtHXRYTHugu92kL5uZHp9JMqIuoPKoLX8ugsXpTwf5V1HZV02fRNNLbUHDkRRj6LPE-2uwy_8zdck7L-aLk2XvBnZ8UxKgbqIG_e1f4cD54L8/s1600-h/Rayl1.gif"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 150px; float: right; height: 150px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392105657846432514" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ69PjE5lsEYvHMTc7BXoDA2_MUZxv3JPtHXRYTHugu92kL5uZHp9JMqIuoPKoLX8ugsXpTwf5V1HZV02fRNNLbUHDkRRj6LPE-2uwy_8zdck7L-aLk2XvBnZ8UxKgbqIG_e1f4cD54L8/s200/Rayl1.gif" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The other piece was a world premiere of Hutcheson's, "The Silver Sword" an ancient fairy tale for chorus and orchestra. This was a unique work, filled with fairy tale images and percussive, descriptive singing. I do not think I will ever again sing, "Grashadoo"!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>___________________________________________________________________</div><div>What? There's more? Yep. Nothing much. Just, Lil 'ol "Carmen" by Bizet! On April 30 Nicky and I were fortunate enough to attend the Michigan Opera Company's production of "Carmen" at the Great Hall of the Wharton Center. We sat in the Grand Tier and as we approached our seats we noticed we would be sitting next to our good friends, Susan and Nico Gisholt! And right in front of us?...Jean and Will Maples. And not to be left out, Paulette Johnston was also there. A little All Saints viewing the not-so-saintly, "Carmen".</div><div>Powerful singing and great stage presence for the star of the show. I look forward to more opera, possibly Romeo and Juliet in the spring (2010).</div><div>_________________________________________________________________</div><div>Well, April was unique....that's a lot of public performances and I enjoyed all of them. Next time we'll look at May...end of the academic year...a busy time in the Findley household.</div></div></div></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4994194374684237843.post-61016490484794356892009-04-08T07:53:00.000-07:002009-04-09T07:24:26.760-07:00March Madness<div><br /><br /><div>Nicky and I had a wild March planned, live music/theater/comedy-wise that was curtailed a bit.<br /><br /><div>We started it all on March 1 with Tony Award-winning "<strong><a href="http://www.springawakening.com/">Spring Awakening</a></strong>", the smash Broadway hit. From Wikipedia: "Set in late-nineteenth century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of <a title="Sexuality" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">sexuality</span></a>. The original play was banned in Germany due to its portrayal of <a title="Masturbation" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masturbation"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">masturbation</span></a>, <a title="Abortion" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">abortion</span></a>, <a title="Rape" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">rape</span></a> and <a title="Suicide" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">suicide</span></a>. In the musical, <a class="mw-redirect" title="Alt-rock" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alt-rock"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)">alt-rock</span></a> is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score."<sup class="noprint Template-Fact"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources since May 2008" style="WHITE-SPACE: nowrap"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="WHITE-SPACE: normal;font-size:16;" ><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322335305406413826" style="WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSiyEYU5Vnx7g2zVXRqmGSS9DGBq-4SCJfZdWil2MegGKP2j1MeX0rN2mqi5l2Kv-3zxRRtyPUuyeEjMVzfa0PgpsjCdapBHB2Q0bt3vBMXd8_l_XXC2O6_3poo7BRGoYwqkEj-5Dk2WM/s200/215px-Spring_awakening.jpg" border="0" /></span></span></sup></div><br /><br /><div>We thought the cast were particularly good, energetic. The music was wonderful regardless of a lack of identifiable tunes...you just went with it and it moved the story along. We enjoyed it very much. Saw it at the Wharton Center on MSU's campus.</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>Next up was our first live viewing of <strong>Robin Williams</strong> in concert. Well, he had his heart attack 3 days before our show and cancelled. We wish him a speedy recovery (his </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322337018010512546" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 125px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 91px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqFhyphenhyphenGYk3v2sTfKIhcN55-Cpx7XjK2NQl_La1i79BcCWLe35y5OqbjUEZjVmMUJRDSm4ehLSkJWz1x_2P1haIp00kqxI_zGWZWElWvh9Apw3ZFnZ3udP0iCVFAQFzRVFeG48ESuyhhcvw/s200/burke3_125.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><div>website says the surgery went very well and he is expected to be fully recovered in 8 weeks). So, more to come if and when he returns to East Lansing.</div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>Moving along to March 22 we saw the iconic, <a href="http://jormakaukonen.com/index.html"><strong>Jorma Kaukonen</strong></a> at <a href="http://www.theark.org/">the Ark</a> in Ann Arbor for a sold-out, SRO show.</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322340892353716786" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 115px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 113px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx2H8EgQ_ZETc1frzMDTTK8QvxfucXhE2qscGfXp60AzY_EuO3GXV2Fvx44bhPrkWE7vb2GLRCuBZfZrlusaOCB9r6mOo-ruQJ79qTe1Z0M_Qp83Eh4kBA0EwyNutNgyyhGco5p4pc3nQ/s200/JK.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><div>He has been touring with enormously-talented friend, Barry Mitterhof, the multi-instrumentalist whose proficiency with stringed instruments (especially the mandolin) was well received that night. The two of them play like old pals, checking each other out every now and then...small smiles on their faces. I will say this, Mr. Kaukonen is a man of few words. It was a terribly intimate show. They spoke infrequently and quietly. All the more time for playing. I couldn't even tell you all the songs they did but it was a technically brilliant night on the instruments and a soft, amusing experience when they shared stories. Hooray for Jorma!</div><br /><br /><div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYZ0kCSmX3jra5iPwnGDN2ZgNE0vtLNn-j4GrI69D8eoXfrsiaDLE1QLFkP9EqmnEaVJdfHiYcccUCfmVIWo5V7Rs9PbvwCezN0TqTyeJIp7iedt27OiSIbeqXYnooesmPGtdcshsQDs/s1600-h/The+Lion+King+poster.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322692905486178914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 138px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSYZ0kCSmX3jra5iPwnGDN2ZgNE0vtLNn-j4GrI69D8eoXfrsiaDLE1QLFkP9EqmnEaVJdfHiYcccUCfmVIWo5V7Rs9PbvwCezN0TqTyeJIp7iedt27OiSIbeqXYnooesmPGtdcshsQDs/s200/The+Lion+King+poster.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>The 31st saw the return of the Lion King to the Wharton Center. Admittedly it is the 3rd time Nicky and I have seen it (once in Toronto and once here at Wharton). The opening sequence of animal kingdom entry is still the most wonderful theatrical experience. This time we were watching the faces of the children around us. It was beautiful. They were jumping up and down...happily chattering away with their friends, thoroughly enjoying the moment. For me, virtually all the rest was a bit TOO familiar. Sorry, it just doesn't do much more...it is an exact replica of the movie, so, again, no surprises. All the actors were good and the human child Simba was very good.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Our All Saints Coffeehouse on the 20th was a low key affair. We somewhat had an Irish theme. One of the suggestions I received in February was to do Three Dog Night's version of, "Shambala". <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRR2P5fOB1AgM2lwyJdVr4F0KStYTHMDXhrzmWsf9ck_7kfVFewD5wcE46lrNysfDuMpRvcUQrI1xPGPXHuCBjGeCX1TtrSGeVyVBYtRtT39AxX14xcjPyX-epR6dmFXFzPOvxfN9rl2Y/s1600-h/asec_logo.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322696977715620210" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 148px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 153px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRR2P5fOB1AgM2lwyJdVr4F0KStYTHMDXhrzmWsf9ck_7kfVFewD5wcE46lrNysfDuMpRvcUQrI1xPGPXHuCBjGeCX1TtrSGeVyVBYtRtT39AxX14xcjPyX-epR6dmFXFzPOvxfN9rl2Y/s200/asec_logo.jpg" border="0" /></a>Well that just brought a wave of nostalgia for me and after viewing several old Three Dog Night videos on YouTube I put together 5 songs. It was a blast. (Thanks Marty Liphard....the tambourine lady!) </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>That was March. Of course there is more to come in April where I'll review Lansing Symphony's combined concert with the MSU Chorale and Women's Chorus, Bruce Cockburn at the Ark, Steppin In It and Shout Sister Shout at WKAR's Backstage Pass series (a LIVE TV audience...very cool, our own, "Soundstage"!), my own concert with the MSU Choral Union at the Wharton Center on April 25 and Jesus Christ Superstar at the Rosemont Theatre near Chicago on the 30th. Thanks for joining.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Steve</div></div></div>All Things Musichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00695469828770081051noreply@blogger.com1