A beautiful performance this evening by Diana Krall and her ensamble at the Oslo Concert Hall. I was especially impressed by her piano playing, amazing! She also gave a lot of space and attention to her co musicians: Ben Wolfe on base, Dan Faehnle on guitar, Rodney E. Green on drums. They each did two or three great solos during the concert. It is such joy to see musicians who are totally merged together with their instrument, the love for what they were doing was expressed trough their whole bodies. Diana Krall seemed a bit distant and chilled as she stepped out to the stage, but turned out to be very sweet and funny as she started talking to the audience after a couple of songs. She talked eagerly about her two boys, and about her childhood within a jazz loving family. Babbling along, suddenly far off from her initial point, asking herself what she´s talking about. She mentioned that she had been playing at a jazz bar in Sandvika here in Norway at some point. I had to look it up, and it turns out she was traveling around Europe playing at different jazz clubs at the age of 24, and spent a month in Norway. Of course she loves Norway, and feels very much at home here she claims. I guess it is somewhat similar to Canada where she is from. She does a lot of versions of well known American pieces. The first one gets the heat up, the following are calmer. There is Cole Porter, Burt Bacharach, Arthur Hamilton and a tribute to her recently deceased idol Peggy Lee . I loved her version of Joni Mitchel´s “A case of you”.
Now I am reminded by my dream of a Grand Piano. A shiny black beautiful Grand Piano… AND Diana Kralls skills to play it, would´t that be something. I guess I should start by intensifying my piano practicing. Tomorrow is another lesson, I shall do some good work before then. Yes, I will.
This summer I went to a lot of jazz concerts at Victoria Nasjonal Jazzscene. For two weeks the students at the Norwegian Academy of Music performed their exams for free! I was extremely impressed by some of the performances. Especially Eyolf Dale on the piano, Hanne Kallebergs vocal and Ingrid Støylen Runde with her own band (Where can i buy the record?!). Julie Lillehaug did a great funky version of D´Angelo´s Spanish Joint! I felt inspired. This month I signed up for piano lessons at AKKS, after feeling quite guilty for a long time having a pretty grumpy piano in my living room… Time will tell if five years of lessons during my childhood are still paying off. Anyway, peeking in on the concert program at the Norwegian Academy of Music (Norges Musikkhøgskole) is a great tip for free concerts of all genre: Concert Program NMH
AND: Marie is now on YouTube! Yey! (It turns out I can´t upload videos directly into my WordPress blog without upgrading and paying a monthly fee.) I put together some photos from my trip to France together with D´Angelos Spanish Joint, which I have listened to a lot recently. There is something about the beat that gets me in a good mood.
I stumbled upon the text at the end of the clip somewhere online, and unfortunately I don´t know who has written it. It is a nice reminder I think.
“Experience. Dream. Risk. Close your eyes and jump. Enjoy the free fall. Choose exhilaration over comfort. Choose magic over predictability. Choose potential over safety. Wake up to the magic of everyday life. Make friends with your intuition. Trust your gut. Discover the beauty of uncertainty. Know yourself fully before you make promises to another. Make millions of mistakes so that you will know how to choose what you really need. Know when to hold on, and when to let go. Love hard and often, and without reservation. Seek knowledge. Open yourself to possibility. Keep your heart open, your head high, and your spirit free. Embrace your darkness along with your light. Be wrong every once in a while, and don’t be afraid to admit it. Awaken to the brilliance in ordinary moments. Tell the truth about yourself no matter what the cost. Own your reality without apology. See goodness in the world. Be bold. Be fierce. Be grateful. Be wild, crazy, and gloriously free. Be you.”
Last night I went to the Oslo Opera House to see Antony and the Johnsons for the second time this year. They were playing at Sentrum Scene in March as well. This time it was a special venue. The big marble white tilted opera roof, with a view of the Oslo fjord! What a great place for great concerts. The shining white surface of the opera was a perfect contrast to the black appearance on stage in the shape of Antony Hegarty. The sun was on Antonys side this evening, lighting up a beautiful sky which had been grey and rainy all day. People of all ages and styles had found their way to the first concert on the opera roof. It is impressing how Antony reaches out to such a broad audience. The stage was floating out on the water, with the opera orchestra on board. After a rather boring intro by the Oslo Jazz and the major, the one that we were all waiting for entered the stage with a big smile, waving to everyone. It must have been a great sight looking out on the 8500 people that had filled every free spot on the roof.
The heartbreaking angel like voice of Antony was as melancholic as ever. It gives me a feeling of a different world. He really has the ability to create his own fairy tale like world, and I love the parts in between the songs when he shares some of his philosophic views from that world. It is very warm and personal. Surprisingly Antony was not behind the piano this time, but in front on stage standing behind the microphone. He used a lot more of his body to present the songs this time, and the movement and expressions in his face in my experience makes the personal content of the songs very believable. It is really all him. My favorite song is still Everglades. It is beautiful.
Antony and the Johnsons consist of Antony Hegarty - vocal and piano, Julia Kent – cello, Todd Cohen – drums, Jeff Langston – base, Joan Wasser – vocal and violin, Maxim Moston – violin and Rob Moose – guitar and violin. The instrumental compositions are wonderful and perfectly tunes to Antonys voice, creating the world around him. I love the combination of the cello and the violin. The harp is very nice with it as well, and enhances the dreamy feel of the music.
I walked out during the last song, and took this picture of the crowded Opera as it has never been seen before, with my cell phone. Sadly, Antony does not allow photographing during concerts, so I didn´t bring my real camera. In a way it is nice not to be disturbed by all the noises of clicking cameras, and not see a flash in the corner of your eye every minute. Still it is sad not to have my own photo of him.
Filed under: Events, Music, Photo, Travel | Tags: Concerts, France, Lucinda Williams, Music, Paris, Photo
Kaja had the great idea of getting us tickets for the Lucinda Williams concert at a venue called Alhambra, on the 23. July in Paris. She is one of Kaja´s favorites, but I had not heard much of her songs, or much about her at all. I must say I really liked her voice. It was rough and fragile at the same time. She seemed a little nervous and stiff on stage, but the shyness was kind of cute in combination with the rock´n roll country songs. Her band consisted of some very talented musicians which on their own were called Buick 6. They did the warm up with an acoustic performance. The closing song was a very nice solo acoustic version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Angel.”
