Home : Plato's Words : January 2004

January, 2004

Snow, glorious snow…even here in Vancouver we get snow sometimes although we are better known for the Noah and the Arc rainfalls that typically occur this time of year. The past few days we have had lots of snow and it looks like theWinter Wonderland that we sing about at Christmas time. Today I was somehow reminded that snow really does make people smile and appear playful with adults and children alike throwing snowballs and playing road hockey while the rain often appears to make many people gloomy and has them plodding along in their boots and umbrellas. Not me because I love the rain but typically speaking people here seem to appreciate the snow more than the rain. Interesting…

This morning I was walking through the snow to the fitness centre to do my daily workout and I passed a few people along the way who appeared happy enough to be out walking in the snow. As I neared the fitness centre, an elderly Chinese lady who obviously could not speak a word of English was nevertheless attempting to express her absolute joy and delight to me about the falling snow. She carried an umbrella and smiled and gestured to the snowy sky and spoke words that I did not understand and yet somehow I did understand because the smile on her face and her sense of glee needed no translation. I felt so happy inside to have witnessed that lady's expression of joy. Myself, a total stranger was there to share in her joy and that joy rubbed off on me. That short moment made my day. It's not that often I get to witness adults expressing absolute delight about something, I do get to see that in children that I teach but it is so wonderful to see an adult in that mode as well. It's amazing how wonderful it feels to see someone else's joy and have that immediately affect you too. Perhaps that lady was a snowboard fanatic ready to hit the runs but somehow I don't think so. I think she was just happy to witness the rare Vancouver snow and she will probably express her happiness to everyone that she walks by today.

Perhaps music works in a similar way. In December I was thrilled to see Michael Brecker and his wonderful band in concert at the Capilano Performing Arts Centre. The joy that the band was sharing in their playing was so infectious and it was more than just listening to the music, it really was also seeing the joy on their faces that added to the great pleasure that the audience was given that night. Unbelievably the band began their night on a break neck speed tempo tune that had me wondering how they could possibly top that and how could they possibly begin in that way with full on intensity, musical perfection? Well they did and they did some more. I have seen Michael Brecker play live before and he always has incredible musicians playing with him and this was no exception. He had Adam Rogers on guitar, Chris Minh Doky on bass, Joey Calderazzo on piano, and Clarence Penn on drums. There really was a "New York" intensity about the playing and the places that the band travelled to musically speaking were øh so exciting to visit. In the same way that Dave Holland's band inspired me, so did this band. Playing at this level must be so very exhilarating. It certainly is from the audience standpoint and obviously it has to be if you are actually one of the players on the stage. That concert made my Christmas!!

Speaking of Christmas I did have the great pleasure of performing another Christmas edition of Christmas Jazz Vespers with my wonderful band. Perhaps by next year I will be able to actually sing some of the Latin American carols in Spanish. I did sing one of the carols in French and I am able to sing in German too although somehow I haven't included German carols yet. I am determined to have a truly international representation of Christmas carols by next year. So far we have included French, Spanish, Czech, English, Mexican, American and Polish carols. That perhaps should be a new goal for me…to study some of these languages so that I can sing the carols in their authentic language.

The other Christmas singing highlight was singing with Kate Hammett-Vaughan and Jennifer Scott with Chris Sigerson on piano, Rene Worst on bass and Tom Foster on the drums. We did our Christmas Jazz show at The Cellar. A great trio and two great singers!! We had so much fun and even though there were moments of less than perfect harmonies (Those are tough arrangements!!) we had so much fun singing together. Kate got sultry and sexy singing her version of Santa Baby which would put Eartha Kitt to shame while Jennifer got downright soulful with her rendition of Silver Bells and had the audience testifying. I really do hope to do more singing with those talented girls…Singing in three part harmony is a whole other soundscape to experience as a singer. Solo singing is what I usually do and this presents my ears with brand new challenge. I love the harmony and love the challenge that it brings too. The challenge of course is to have three distinct voices blend into one balanced chord where no one voice sticks out, like the perfect piano chord I suppose. Some of the harmony lines are really difficult for me but when it all comes together…wow!

Now early in the New Year I am getting very excited about my upcoming trip to Toronto where I will be performing twice. First up I will be sharing the stage with Denzal Sinclaire, Susi Arioli and Bonnie Brett alongside the Mark Eisemnan Quintet at The Glenn Gould Theatre. That concert will be recorded and broadcast on the CBC at a later date. Secondly I will be making my Toronto debut at The Top Of The Senator, a place that I have heard so much about but never actually been to before. So many famous people have performed at this club so maybe some "magical musical dust" will remain and I will be inspired to sing well in that setting. I will be there with an all star trio consisting of Phil Dwyer on piano, Neil Swainson on bass and Terry Clarke on drums. Whoo hoo!! I am trying to get lots of rest and exercise because I don't want to catch a crazy flu bug or cold before going to Toronto.

So that is it for this month. Happy New Year, Peace and Happiness to you all…

Karin