Home : Plato's Words : March/April 2008

March/April 2008

Spring has definitely arrived here on the west coast. The birds are singing a different tune, an urgent song, stronger decibels, longer phrases, eagerly flitting to and fro to spread the word in case we didn’t already know. Yes spring is here again! So far this spring as always I am enchanted by the color schemes of crocus, daffodils and emerging green buds from branches of trees and shrubbery. This is the beginning of life again. At least this is the beginning of color and warmth and energy and growth and obvious visual beauty. So I enter the season of spring with some newness of my own. Each day is a gift, whether that is a plain ordinary day or an exciting filled day. I express this now after once again realizing this truth. A friend of mine has recently gone through a health crisis of a sort and although she is not in danger anymore the impact of her troubles has also left an impact on me and I recognize that without your health, perhaps nothing else matters. I already have known and recognized that and I do live my life with that fact in mind yet it can be forgotten at times when one secretly complains about what one does or does not have. It’s good to treat this life as a gift because it is the only one we have to live!

Musically speaking I had the great pleasure of going to hear the symphony play recently and I loved seeing and hearing the music being performed before my ears and eyes. Hearing music on recordings is just not the same thing as being in the concert hall and witnessing the acoustic beauty of an oboe or French Horn or recognizing the power of the timpani as scored by a composer such as Bela Bartok. One of the pieces the orchestra performed was the “Miraculous Mandarin”. It’s an exciting work to say the least and although this is classical music I’d have to say I could react to it in the same way I might react to hearing a jazz ensemble perform. Each twist and turn was an aural surprise. That could be because I did not know the piece before and Bartok can really be “in your face” dynamically and harmonically speaking. I think jazz can be like that at times too and I like that about jazz. Of course listening to pieces that I already know by composers such as Beethoven, Bach and Mozart can have me feeling just as thrilled. This is different listening since I know what will be “just around the corner” with the next phrase but it is gratifying listening too because it pleases the ear to hear the themes and phrases that you recognize and appreciate within a work.

Another listening pleasure for me as of late has been listening to a recording of an American singer “Curtis Stigers”. He has a full bluesy voice and a really big range style-wise. I don’t know if I would say that he is what I call a fully blown jazz singer (oh no, not going to go there now) but his voice and some of his repertoire are just fantastic. I had purchased one of his recording on itunes quite some time ago and hadn’t really listened closely I must admit. Then a few days ago walking from my French class to go teach some students, I listened on my headphones and as I approached beautiful Trout Lake Park the impact of one song brought tears to my eyes. How powerful music can be. It could have been the combination of the sunny afternoon and the beauty of the clear lake with people walking dogs etc but more than that it was the sound of Curtis Stigers singing a song right into my heart. It was such a simple tune as well that left its impact and perhaps that’s just the way it is in music. You can never say what will or will not impact someone on an emotional level because we are all so very different. The tune that got to me is called “In Between Love”. I will have to listen to his music much more now that I have had such an emotional connection with it.

I performed at Winterruption Festival on Granville Island in February and I had a lot of fun as I suspected I would since I was playing with Bill Coon and Doug Stephenson. They are always fun! I was what I call “brave” as I gave the inaugural performance of a couple of original songs. I felt good about them and now that they have been performed once they will become a part of my new repertoire as I head into Festival season. I will be performing with my quintet again during the Vancouver Jazz Festival and yet again that quintet equation will be different from previous years. Bill Coon wasn’t available so I have decided to add saxophonist Graham Ord into the equation. Graham is also a friend and I know his playing quite well. He has an open mind and he is actually kind of “whacky” so there will no doubt be a sense of humor as well as a sense of fearless fancy added to the musical equation. I hope to do some more serious writing and arranging in the coming weeks so that I have something new to offer the festival audience.

One other performing item that actually doesn’t have me performing but is connected to me is that a number of my young vocal students ranging in age from 10 years to 13 years plus a 30 year old student will learn what’s its all about to “sit in” with the band as we jazz musicians are known to do if the opportunity presents itself. I have been coaching my students on a couple of jazz standards and teaching them how to count in a song for the band and also what they might expect to hear when the instrumentalist take a solo. They are aware of what solos are but listening to the solo and knowing when to come in again can be quite a feat for young and inexperienced singers. It can even be intimidating for a professional singer depending on the type of solo that may take place before your vocal entry. All my singers are quite excited about the night that we will descend upon Rossini’s in Kitslilano as each singer will take turns performing with the house band for the dining audience. I am sure that much of the audience will be made up of family members and what a supportive environment that will be. I am excited for my students because I know how important that “stepping up to the plate” might be for them and of course I sympathize with any nerves that they might be experiencing since I have dealt with nerve issues for all of my performing life thus far. Hopefully I will help my students combat this issue. In any event it will be a new and exiting experience for all my young and aspiring singers. Of course I wish each and every one of them well.

So that ends my words for this month and I believe for April as well. I will write again as spring truly settles in across the country. Right now as I write this I know that several other areas in Canada are still enveloped in winter. Have patience; spring will indeed emerge when she is good and ready….

Karin