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Piano Lesson
"Actually, it wouldn't matter if she was, say, Ethiopian," he joked in a recent interview with The Daily Yomiuri. "I'm attracted to Japan because of the people's mentality, their drive for life and the country's rich nature."
"In addition, the audience in Japan always tries to accept everything that I play. That makes me treat each of my concerts here like my own child." he said in German interpreted by his wife.
Bunin knows Japan, well having performed up and down the country year after year and insists its nature is as beautiful as anything found in Europe.
"You will realize this if you throw concerts throughout Japan as much as I do. While traveling from Sapporo to Okinawa, you can find all kinds of wonderful nature and different climates," said Bunin, who holds about half of the 35 or so official concerts he performs every year in Japan.
The Moscow native from an established musical family--a descendant of both Heinrich Neuhaus, the founder of a Soviet piano school, and the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski--will play in Tokyo and two other cities in June and July together with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. The event will mark the 20th anniversary of his debut in Japan.
According to Bunin, the concerts will present numbers by, among others, Mozart and Chopin, with the latter being the composer with whom he is most closely associated. Last year, tickets to his concert tour in Japan with a Chopin-only program sold out.
"When playing in front of the audience, I always try to bring out more than what I have," Bunin said. "It is a risky thing to do for a pianist because we pianists do have a certain format in the way of presenting what we practiced at the right place. But when I play, especially here, I try to express more than what I have practiced."
Bunin said part of his affection for Japan also came from the feelings of "nostalgia" that have developed within him during the past 20 years.
In 1983, Bunin became the youngest winner of the first prize in the Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud piano competition in Paris at the age of 17. He also won first prize and the gold medal in the 11th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1985.
Following these successes, he started playing concerts all over the world, soon sparking the so-called Bunin phenomenon in the United States and Europe.
A similar phenomenon also was ignited in Japan, especially in the wake of a television program featuring the young pianist. While holding recitals amid the boom, he played with orchestras and often appeared in the Japanese media. In particular, fans of Chopin's music seem to be particularly fascinated by him.
"I remember what happened to me while spending my first cold summer in Hamburg after I was exiled from the former Soviet Union in June 1988," Bunin recalled. "The summer was very cold in northern Germany, and I had no warm things to wear."
"Then I talked about the experience on a Japanese television program. Although I have no idea how it was broadcast, two weeks later I received three boxes of warm socks, sweaters and mufflers from viewers in Japan."
Bunin said that in Europe, he feels he plays as a friend or guest of the audience.
"But I play in Japan as one of the citizens, or as a salaryman, because of my long relationship with the country," he said with a smile.
Bunin seems to understand almost everything he is asked in Japanese and at times even responded to questions in Japanese. He also enlivens his comments with jokes, challenging the image of a pianist who is often viewed as a very serious performer, partly due to his background.
According to his office, Bunin and his wife, who always travels with him on concert tours, speak in German for two-thirds of the time and Japanese for the remaining time.
Bunin is now based in Hamburg, and regularly comes to Japan, where he also has a home. Besides Japan, he plays mainly in Germany, Italy and other European countries. The interview took place a day after his return from a performance in Seoul.
During the 23 years since his piano competition victory in Paris, Bunin said his philosophy of music had become more complicated.
"I have become more cautious or cowardly when playing," he said. "When playing the piano, I used to be like a bird freely flying without any concern. Of course, playing like that was a stimulating and glamorous thing to do."
"Take Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, for instance. I now want to fully explore it and bring out all the hidden beauty of the number. Persevering with such small efforts forms part of my musical philosophy," Bunin said. "After all, 20 years are too short to create wonderful music. Do you know, the piano concerto has been around for 220 years?"
According to Bunin, who says he sweats "at least 1.2 liters" per performance, securing the right clothes for performing is a lesser, but still big issue, because without suitable attire he feels like he's been "soaked in a hot spring by the end of a performance."
And that is another thing he finds charming about Japan. He has had all of his tailcoats made at a shop in Ginza after being impressed by their fine tailoring.
This year marks the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, but Bunin says he always plays Mozart's works anyway.
"At the upcoming concert, I will play Piano Concerto No. 23--my favorite among Mozart numbers," he said.
He said No. 23 is special for him because he has played it at a number of important moments in his life.
"First, I won the Paris competition with this number. I also made my debut in Tokyo with this piece in 1986."
"I received the Gold Disc award for my recording of Mozart's piano on Toshiba-EMI, but I still haven't got one for my Chopin numbers," he said with a mischievous smile.
Stanislav Bunin will play with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra June 27 at 7 p.m. at Suntory Hall in Akasaka Tokyo, July 3 at 7 p.m. at Arkas Sasebo in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, July 6 at 7 p.m. at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, and July 8 at 4 p.m. at Morioka Shimin Bunka Hall in Morioka, (03) 3944-9999.
Piano Lesson
Youngsters from all over are going to camp to learn how to write, record and perform like a star
Nowadays, instead of going to camp to learn how to swim in the lake or make braided key chains, kids ages 7 to 16 are getting firsthand knowledge from the pros on how to play flaming guitar leads and command an audience. Welcome to Rock Star Camp.
The camp is nestled among the ponderosa pines and California black oaks in the Pali Adventures campground near Running Springs -- 74 acres dotted with cabins, horses and even a lake atop the San Bernardino Mountains.
It's a breeding ground for hopeful Bonos and Kelly Clarksons, who spend a portion of their summer vacation learning to write songs, record them and perform live.
"I wish they had something like this around when I was a kid," said Rock Star Camp Director Michael French, 36, a Los Angeles recording engineer.
He's one of four staffers assigned to the Rock Star Camp. "Whether a kid is musically inclined or not, this is a chance to really learn about songwriting and experience what it's like to be involved in music full time."
The camp started in 2003, one of 12 Pali camps dedicated to everything from cooking to learning how to be a Hollywood stuntman. All of the 75 counselors who work the camps are experts in their chosen fields.
The camp offers one- or two-week sessions for 10 to 12 campers. The future rockers, who come from all over the country, work on music from 9 a.m. to noon and then take a lunch break before spending the afternoon and evening with more traditional activities such as playing sports and hiking with kids from the other camps on the grounds.
The rock 'n' roll mornings usually begin in a studio equipped with two control rooms, replete with top-flight recording gear, a slew of amplifiers, keyboards, guitars, basses and electronic drums.
French said that on the first day, campers can choose to go solo via the singer/songwriter route or they can put together a band among themselves. Either way, the first lesson is a basic exercise in lyrics.
"We like to start off with something really easy, so we'll ask them to describe their morning or what they did the night before and write it down in a way that can be sung," French said. "If that doesn't work, we just ask them to pick a subject that they feel passionate about."
Joel Simonoff, and Jesse Port, both 9, a mini Beavis and Butthead from Los Angeles, decided to co-write a tune, "30 Minutes to Lunch," about their harsh feelings toward their first-grade teacher. The two shaggy-haired youngsters, armed with acoustic guitars, performed a live rendition of the power-chord-driven number with enough punk attitude to make Johnny Rotten proud.
"I want to be a musician big-time," Jesse said, while noodling up and down his guitar's fret board like a seasoned veteran. "This camp is awesome because I learn stuff, and then I practice it until I know it perfect."
After the lyrics have been nailed down, the more accomplished musicians can try to put a chord structure together on the guitar or piano and begin working on melodies.
Those who aren't familiar with instruments get together with one of the counselors to talk about how they want to approach the music, and together they begin composing the track.
Once everything is set, the songwriters go into the studio to begin tracking. Brittany Perez, a 16-year-old from Boynton Beach, Fla., worked with producer/counselor Joerg Stoeffel to get the Gwen Stefani vibe that she had in mind when she wrote her song.
"I wrote all the lyrics, and then Joerg and I worked on the music to get what I was looking for," said Brittany, who wants to be a professional singer. "It's got a good party feeling."
When the songs have been recorded and mixed, it's time to begin rehearsing for the show that takes place on an outdoor stage during the last night of camp. It's performed in front of the all the Rock Star campers as well as about 200 other kids on the premises. The bands perform as a unit, and the solo artists are backed by a house band of counselors. Those who suffer from stage fright have the option of not performing.
"We practice by making them sing in front of each other, and if you sing to a handful of people without getting nervous, you can do it on stage," French said. "We'll never make anyone do anything they don't want to, but so far, everyone's performed."
French said he isn't aware of any former campers who have gone on to achieve rock-star status, but the camp has been around only a few years.
Drew Holliday, 17, a budding drummer from Ventura, started out three years ago as a camper and returned this year as a junior counselor.
"I learned so much here, and now I'm getting a chance to share that," he said.
Piano Lesson
Looking around Chanhassen Dinner Theatre's main stage during a performance of 'Singin' In the Rain,' there's one common denominator: Everybody is smiling.
And why not? This production is nothing but a huge crowd-pleaser.
Chanhassen opened 'Singin' in the Rain' in June, and it's been making a big splash ever since.
The stage musical is based on the beloved 1952 film featuring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor. It's loaded with amazing dance numbers and many favorite songs, including 'Good Mornin',' 'Make 'Em Laugh,' 'Moses Supposes,' 'You Are My Lucky Star' and of course, the title song, 'Singin' in the Rain.'
The plot centers on late 1920s Hollywood in the panicky days when movies were changing from silent to 'talkies.' Half of Hollywood was denouncing the 'talkies' notion, and the other half was trying to figure out how to make them. Don Lockwood (played by Tony Vierling), once a vaudeville song-and-dance man is now a star of silent movies, and his former partner, Cosmo Brown (Mark King), now plays on-set piano during the shooting. It's Lockwood's co-star and would-be fianc'e, Lina Lamont (Janet Hayes Trow), who stands to wreck a great thing when talkies become the rage: Her voice is grating, despite the assistance of speech coaches. Sweet Kathy Selden (Leslie Brown) agrees to dub Lina's voice. Romance ensues as Kathy and Don fall in love. But power-hungry Lina isn't happy about that - or Kathy's promising career.
King in the Donald O'Connor role amazes everyone with his versatility on the piano, singing and dancing. And Hayes Trow brings continuous laughs every time she opens her mouth. It's hard to believe she's the same actress who played Marion the Librarian in Chanhassen's 'The Music Man.' And Vierling and Brown are both very capable and enjoyable in their roles.
But southern Minnesotans have another reason to enjoy this production, and that's because Albert Lea native Doug Anderson (a 1979 ALHS graduate) is featured in this show. Anderson may be listed in the credits as a member of the ensemble, but he gets quite a bit of time on stage. This musical is a great showcase for his song and dance talents.
'Singin' in the Rain' is directed by Chanhassen's resident director, Michael Brindisi (also a former Albert Lea resident). Look for a guest appearance by him in the short film clip on talkies as a film within the play. It's very entertaining.
Other members of the creative team include Thomas Mustachio, Nayna Ramey, Sandra Nei Schulte, Sue Ellen Berger, Russ Haynes, Susan Magnuson and Vin Parker, who created those short, entertaining film clips.
Piano Lesson
Their lead singer is in his 50s, but they are still the reigning kings of pop. The Pet Shop Boys discuss dictators, ambition and beards with Dorian Lynskey
On a balmy summer's evening, the grounds of the Tower of London shudder to the art-disco thunder of the Pet Shop Boys' 1988 hit Left to My Own Devices. In an empty hospitality tent some distance from the speakers, the two men who wrote it look up abruptly. The soundcheck has started without them. "That's noisy," tuts Chris Lowe, almost unrecognisable without his familiar public accessories of sunglasses, baseball cap and scowl. "What about the ravens? If they leave thanks to us, it's all over, isn't it?"
En route to the stage, Neil Tennant, in his own jeans-and-T-shirt mufti, encounters Jeffrey, the Pet Shop Boys' ebullient Welsh stylist. "Jeffrey makes all the mad things because he is himself insane," Tennant explains. Jeffrey brandishes a red fez with plastic carnations sprouting from it, which will be worn by one of the backing singers for approximately three seconds during Always On My Mind. "Two pounds!" he declares. "He's very frugal too," Tennant says approvingly.
The Tower of London might seem like the last place you'd expect to find Britain's most avowedly anti-royalist pop duo, but the Pet Shop Boys have made such a habit of performing in unusual venues, from the Savoy theatre to Red Square (they headlined Live 8's Moscow leg), that it's par for the course. Festival madness has gripped even the guardians of the Tower and the venue's inaugural series of gigs opens with a full-scale pop spectacular. "I realise when we do festivals that we are so not a rock group," says Tennant. "We're more like a touring fringe theatre company." They've always liked to do things differently. "In the 1980s we used to try to take something to a mass pop audience which doesn't actually belong there. It was interesting doing a song like Rent at the London Palladium. It seemed amazing doing that on a show where you were introduced by Jimmy Tarbuck."
It is 21 years since West End Girls gave the Pet Shop Boys their first No 1 and their enthusiasm for pop, in all its big, daft, brilliant glory, remains palpable. Tennant is often compared to a headmaster but that underplays his playful streak. His conversation is alive with italics and exclamation marks and bursts of laughter. Lowe, meanwhile, punctuates his bandmate's monologues with one-liners. "We make music for other people and if we like it ourselves it's a bonus," he says, and they both explode with mirth.
The Pet Shop Boys have always been sui generis but the longer they continue, the more valuable they seem. No one else makes pop music of such maturity and ambition. "We did T4 on the Beach," says Tennant, "and I thought, 'I am the oldest person on this stage by ... I dread to think.' It's quite an achievement to still be marketed as a pop band when you're over 50."
Tennant, 52, and Lowe, 46, are currently enjoying a fresh surge of public affection on the back of their latest album, Fundamental, which intertwines the personal and political in the bosom of Trevor Horn's extravagant production. It has been widely described as a return to form after 2002's intimate, low-key Release album, but they're not too sure about that. "We hate 'return to form' because you're making it in changing circumstances at a different time in your life," grumbles Tennant. "I think the songs on the last album are just as good."
They never distance themselves from perceived failures, whether it's their West End musical Closer to Heaven or their puzzling arthouse travelogue It Couldn't Happen Here. "What's wrong with the film?" asks an indignant Lowe. "I've seen much worse Hollywood blockbusters."
Fundamental hasn't garnered so many column inches on musical merit alone. Tennant and Lowe decided before they started that it would be a record about the world around them, especially the bits that annoyed them: identity cards (Integral), the George'n'Tony love-in (I'm With Stupid) and the politics of fear (Luna Park). The upshot is their most political record since 1987's Thatcherism-inspired Actually. The men who once helped swell Labour's election coffers recently incurred the disapproval of Top of the Pops for wanting to appear with a troupe of dancers dressed as Bush and Blair. "We had to have political balance," he explains, frowning.
Anyway, having initially approved of Saddam Hussein's removal, he is now seething about Iraq. "Well, you have to be angry about the mess that's been created," he says. "It appears that they hadn't planned what to do with the country afterwards. That to me seems criminal. I mean, I still agree with getting rid of psychopathic dictators. The unfortunate thing is that psychopathic dictators probably sleep more soundly now. It drives me mad to think of the people of North Korea living in this mad acid-trip of a state."
Of greatest concern is the government's expanding authoritarian streak. "I think politicians are haunted by the thought of any terrorist situation and how it could be their fault," says Tennant. "Therefore they try to control more. We're reintroducing warlike measures when we're not part of a war. It's alien to me. I don't like people stopping me and asking me things."
Surveillance culture, Tennant suspects, is now unstoppable. He wonders if he and Lowe are old-fashioned with their high regard for privacy and their scepticism towards the gleaming, digital future. "So much technology becomes about technology," he complains. Although they sometimes post messages on their website, they do not believe in blogs. "Blog is such an ugly word," says Tennant, witheringly. They have, however, written exclusive ringtones. "The difference between them is incredible because we immediately go back to where we were on the day we met," says Tennant. (That day, incidentally, was August 19 1981, in an electronics shop in Chelsea.) "Chris's is simple electronic disco and mine is a moody piano ballad. It's called Hello, Where Are You?"
The Pet Shop Boys like to keep busy. Since Release, they have produced records for Pete Burns and Sam Taylor-Wood, remixed Yoko Ono and Rammstein, and composed a new score for Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin. Recently, they've been working with Robbie Williams. They've known each other for years and Lowe met him again in London's Soho House. "He was with David Walliams," says Lowe, confirming the common suspicion that famous people spend all their time hanging out together. "He just came over and said, 'Hey, do you fancy forming a supergroup?' Absolutely. Why wouldn't we? And out of that came these two songs. Not quite the supergroup that we imagined. We could never think of another person. Maybe Guardian readers could make some suggestions." He grins impishly.
"One of the songs is called She's Madonna," reveals Tennant. "Apparently Madonna likes it, which is quite nice to hear. Robbie thought she might think he was stalking her."
Even in the year that finished off Smash Hits (where Tennant was once deputy editor) and Top of the Pops, the Pet Shop Boys are optimistic about pop. "When I see someone like Brandon Flowers who has the appetite, and possibly the talent and looks, to be a star, I find that enthralling," says Tennant. "I'm worried, though - and I hope he's reading this - that he's grown a beard. It means he's saying, 'I'm not pop. I mean more than that.'"
Tennant has told Trevor Horn he should make a record with Pete Doherty. "I know it's not his thing but to surround him with pop perfection would be amazing," he raves. "You could make a River Deep, Mountain High - this incredible rock voice with this ludicrous overproduction around it."
"He could take the shambles out of Babyshambles," agrees Lowe. "You could call him Baby."
Perhaps the reason the Pet Shop Boys are so warmly regarded is their palpable belief that pop is every bit as rewarding and grown-up as its earnest older brother, rock. They love its joy and wit and heroic absurdity and they make music which has those qualities in spades. They show absolutely no inclination to stop.
"I'm always having this discussion with taxi drivers," says Tennant. "'So are you retired now, Neil?' I say, [sighing] 'No, you're driving me to Top of the Pops at the moment.' And I say, 'Do you listen to pop music?' And they say, 'No'. And I say, [triumphantly] 'Well, there you are! It's you that's retired, not me.'"
Later, half an hour before showtime, Tennant emerges from the Pet Shop Boys' dressing room looking like a circus ringmaster. The tour manager rushes up to secure an autograph for a couple celebrating their 19th wedding anniversary. "Oh, they got married when Actually came out," Tennant calculates, smiling. As he scrawls a message, he arcs a meaningful eyebrow. "And they said it wouldn't last!"
' Pet Shop Boys play Thetford Forest Park on July 21 (01842 814612). The single Minimal is out on Parlophone on July 24
' You've read the piece, now have your say. Email your comments to film&music@guardian.co.uk
Piano Lesson
Inspired show can be as diverse as raging electro to campfire folk to free jazz to sweaty rock 'n' roll
Most music festival organizers would have a hairy fit if their attendance was decimated in the space of a year. But for Ryan Carley, who hosted 400 people on his parents' farm last year, he was perfectly happy when 40 people showed up earlier this month.
"We made enough money to pay for things, and there was enough people that it felt like a party," he says. "Another 50 would have been nice, but it worked out."
Last year Carley's party was called Track and Field; this year it's taken on a new format and a new name, Living Room. Instead of a single event, it's now a roaming festival that has already made stops in Brantford, and the Carley family farm outside Rockwood.
The festival continues on Saturday in Waterloo and next weekend in Guelph at a number of indoor and outdoor venues, including backyards, basements, the Waterloo Park Grist Mill, the E-bar and the Guelph Youth Music Centre. The events are all-ages. Other than Bob Wiseman, an elder DIY statesman of sorts, most of the lineup will be unfamiliar to anyone who doesn't listen to campus/community radio or frequent local message boards.
But if -- like many -- you didn't get your Hillside Festival ticket on time this year, here's a chance to see plenty of local acts that didn't make it on that bill. And don't be surprised if some of these acts will be headlining Hillside four years from now: people like vaudevillian madman Friendly Rich and his Lollipop People, Montreal's electro-pop Telefauna, Toronto's noise rockers No Dynamics, classically-trained thumb piano songstress Laura Barrett, or one of Carley's own bands, the gentle folk pop Ohbijou.
The 2005 festival was one of the most inspiring events this writer has ever witnessed, a wildly diverse bill that went from raging electro to campfire folk to raucous free jazz to sweaty rock 'n' roll. The best moments were at some site-specific shows--like Jenny Mitchell of the Barmitzvah Brothers playing a solo Omnichord show in tree branches, or an impromptu Singing Saw Shadow Show covertly setting up in a neighbouring field. It's no wonder that for the next year, everyone who attended was bugging Carley and his friends in the Social Arts Club to find out how they were going to follow it up.
"Our first thought was to make it bigger," he says. "We were in talks with one Toronto promoter to do something on Toronto Island. It would have been awesome if we could have picked the bands and set the scene to shape the feel of things, but I don't think that would have been possible.
"The other idea was to make it smaller, but we would have had to neglect certain bands. Every year we meet more people that we want to play at this celebratory event. Doing something really small wasn't the ideal situation either. By having Living Room as a roaming festival, we could have multiple locations and get every band we wanted to play. We made it both bigger and smaller at the same time."
It was also important to get the local scenes in each city acquainted with each other. "The aim was that people would travel and roam along with the locations," says Carley. "We tried to make sure there were some Guelph things going on in Waterloo and some Brantford things happening in Guelph, etc. I don't know where this will go next year. It might be another central location, but I'd miss inviting all these towns to participate in it."
Web: www.socialartsclub.org /livingroom/popups/waterloo.html Feature: Ohbijou, Bob Wiseman,
Piano Lesson
Guillemots frontman Fyfe Dangerfield dreamed of a pan-generational, multinational pop group. Then he had to make it a reality, finds Johnny Dee
We're not cool. But maybe being uncool is the new cool." The 25-year-old man pondering this is sat in a cafe spilling onto the pavement of Camden Lock, London's tacky epicentre of Euro alt-lifestyle, scratching his bouncy non-hairstyle and looking at his feet. Caught amid the milieu of hash pipe dealers, Swedish punks and noodle sellers, the pierced lips and tattooed navels, he cuts a very square figure indeed. His name is Fyfe Dangerfield - the first name is real, the second intended to give him the air of a 1920s spy - and he is the lead singer and master beard behind Britain's brightest and most exciting new proponents of off-kilter wonder pop, Guillemots. They are about to release an album, Through The Window Pane, the reviews of which seem to be worrying Dangerfield unnecessarily. "If people listen to it just once they won't get it, you need to live with it, go to sleep listening to it." In brief, Fyfe is a genius and musical maverick. But to the kids that surround us he must look like a librarian or junior employee of Birmingham Midshires.
Rock'n'roll's a state of mind, isn't that right? "I'm actually quite boring," says Fyfe. "I'm always the first to bed."
Guillemots make an intoxicating mix of folky mood music, 1960s MOR, experimental jazz, orchestral movie scores and timeless piano pop that will at first grab you with its Coldplay-shaped melodies before tugging you into a dreamlike world of multi-layered strangeness. Their target is to make music that "captures the feeling of lying on a beach at midnight looking up at the stars". Lately, as their popularity has grown, Fyfe has found himself indulging in the odd bout of wild behaviour, imbibing a small bottle of brandy throughout their live set in order to perk himself up. He has also taken to wearing a red suit together with red shoes and successfully pulled off a gentlemanly pimp look. However, such abandon is offset by the fact that he has also taken to timing a wee break with a particularly long drum solo. Rock stars don't wee in the middle of songs surely, unless it's over an American flag or a Westlife album obviously. Further cool points are deducted for the band's name.
"I went bird-watching with my mum and dad a lot as a kid and I have these really good memories of colonies of sea birds along the cliff edges," he says. "There's a band called Kittiwakes already, razorbills sounds like a heavy metal band and puffins are shit. So Guillemots it is."
So much for sex and drugs. Yes, if uncool is the new cool, Fyfe Dangerfield is the coolest popstar on Earth.
Fyfe is in Camden not as a tourist but for practical reasons. Shortly he will meet his bandmates for an appearance on Channel 4's Album Chart Show, filmed down the road at the Koko club. All of them are no less eccentric or talented and all collided with Fyfe in somewhat bizarre circumstances. He met Canadian double bassist Aristazabal Hawkes when they were both asked to contribute to the soundtrack of a film promoting a utopian community in Cheltenham - "it was shaped like a doughnut". They both ducked out of the project but kept in touch, even when she turned her back on serious music and performed in the band of a cruise-ship crooner called Johnnie Favourite. Next came a 36-year-old Scottish drummer, Grieg Stewart, who Fyfe first saw at a bus stop outside Carlton TV studio. "He was wearing a pork pie hat, Hawaiian shirt and shorts and he scared the shit out of me." The final piece of the jigsaw is a Brazilian death-metal guitarist who enjoys the ridiculous name MC Lord Magrao, who answered a personal ad asking for people who could play unusual instruments - considering that he has spent a great deal of time in South America performing with the help of a giant clothes peg, he fitted the bill perfectly.
"I liked the idea of having a guitarist in the band, but not a guitarist who plays the guitar," says Fyfe enigmatically. "Someone who's like a sound magician, and that's exactly what he is."
Both Fyfe and Aristazabel are classically trained but are attempting to "unlearn".
"We know too much about music, we know all the rules," he says. "The other two are self-taught and have these skewed approaches to doing things."
Music has always been around Mr Dangerfield. From the age of three his brother - 10 years his senior - was attempting to get him into the Velvet Underground. His parents meanwhile steered him in a more highbrow direction and he could play piano at four. He insists he was no child prodigy and has learned more from looking at scores in the library ("that's what Miles Davis did") than anything he was taught. Prior to Guillemots his unlearning also included an indie-pop period, a year spent scratching metal objects in an experimental band and a dalliance with free jazz. His influences he says were all the Bs - Beach Boys, Bacharach, the Beatles and birdsong.
In his early 20s, Fyfe returned home to his parents in Bromsgrove in the West Midlands and "went a bit mad", spending months writing a piece of music for string orchestra and solo double bass called Music On The Moon ("I've got a thing about the moon, a lot of musicians have") which has never been performed. Then he had a dream to form a multinational, multi-talented, pan-generational pop group and his dream came true.
"We are all psychic," he claims, talking about the 11-minute track, Sao Paulo, that closes Through The Window Pane. "We made it up in rehearsal. I wrote the lyrics but it didn't feel like I was writing it. Later Magrao said the lyrics were like all the thoughts he had in his head when he was living in Sao Paolo."
Live the band's psychic energy results in a show that's a freewheeling extravaganza involving biscuit-tin percussion, typewriter solos and the band marching through the audience. The album is equally unique and will, hopes Fyfe, lead to people "drifting off as they listen to it. Our album wouldn't sound good in a car or as background music."
"Music should be about the unexplainable. If you're just making music that's easy to talk about there's no point really."
My brother used to play me records. This was the first thing I liked.
Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs Brian and Michael
My earliest musical memory. I like the children's choir on it.
Whatever You Want Status Quo
I had a bit of an obsession with Status Quo. I'm a sucker for shuffle beats. Anything with that beat, I love.
The Wild Ones Suede
I had a Britpop phase that I'm a bit embarrassed about now.
Yes Manic Street Preachers
I was obsessed by the Manics when I was little. There's something about this track that's still really strange - but still melodic.
Venus As A Boy Bj?rk
It just sounded like no one else around, totally unique but really poppy. To me the best experimental music doesn't even sound experimental.
Piano Concerto No 1 Rachmaninov
I played the slow movement at school. It's the lushest thing possible, ridiculously so.
Lilac Wine Jeff Buckley
I didn't get him at first, but then the album Grace became one of my favourite albums ever.
Ascension John Coltrane
It was the first experience I had of free jazz and there's something insanely wild about it. When it's done well it's great.
At Home (White Sauce Without For Those Who Don't) Adam Bohman
An example of how you can get art out of nothing. Half his tracks are him playing bits of glass, the other half is him walking around London mumbling into his Dictaphone and making observations about things.
Piano Lesson
While it may not have had many moments of brilliance no one could debate neither the passion nor the ferocity and borderline desperation which the players contested these matches.
Here's some the highs and lows that I'll take from the 2006 World Cup:
Surprise team: The Blacks Stars of Ghana were thrown into a difficult group with eventual champions Italy, the highly regarded Czech Republic and the up and coming US. Yet they escaped from the Real Group of Death with solid displays in each of their first round matches (an a little help from the officiating) and dominated parts of their Round of 16 match against Brazil despite being on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline.
This is a team that will challenge Nigeria & Cameroon for continental supremacy. Unfortunately, they were the only African team to advance as Tunisia, Togo (and their appearance bonus drama) Angola and the Ivory Coast (who were done in only by their inexperience) all failed to qualify for the knockout rounds.
Broadcast-Imagine that you tune in for the Super Bowl and find out the announcer for the biggest game of the year is someone who's only called 8 football games in his entire career. In naming baseball announcer Dave O'Brien the lead play by play announcer for the World Cup, that's what ESPN/ABC thrust upon soccer fans.
He clearly didn't know the game and tried to fill in every second with amusing little anecdotes about the players when he should have been simply doing the play by play. While he sniped in the press about the criticism he received, there is no excuse for him referring to England's captain David Beckham as "Michael Beckett".
You know you haven't gotten the job done when people would rather listen to matches in Spanish than listen to you prattle over every second of play, trying to use anolgies from other sports to explain the action. What exactly did JP Dellacamera, the network's longest serving play by play guy, do to get passed over, watch internet porn at work?
ESPN/ABC: That being said, I thought ESPN did a decent job presenting the matches and give the event the respect that it was due. The other sets of annoucners were all decent and I thought Eric Wynalda, who has apparently taken a cue from Mexico's Hugo Sanchez and become the US resident playa hata, provided enough blunt criticism of the US to keep fans watching.
Even the SportsCenter anchors approached the matches with the seriousness that it has been heretofore unseen on their broadcasts. They were rewarded with the highest Nielsen rating since the 1994 World Cup that was played here. Something to build on.
Get UP, already!- The diving that went on in this World Cup was absolutely shameful. Too many players would go down at the slightest contact hoping to draw fouls, then would lie on the ground in mock agaony while lookoing out the corner of their eye, hoping to see a card produced against the defender.
Other times, teams that were in the lead would fake injuries just to slow the rhythm of the team trying to rally. For example, Italy won its Round of 16 against Austrailia with a dive in second half injury time, Ghana earned the penalty against the US that provided the winning margin in the same fashion and don't get me started on Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, an incredibly talented player with the ball at his feet that goes down as if he trips over a piano wire anytime someone gets near him. FIFA has got to put an end to this.
Officiating-After the 2002 World Cup many European sides complained about the officiating, saying that all of the controversial calls were made by inexperienced officials from smaller soccer countries. In other words, they weren't European enough.
Yet this time the so-called superior European referees were responsbile for the most horribly officiated tournament in memory. England's Graham Poll gave three yellow cards to a Croatian player before sending him off (you only get two). German referee Markus Merk called the phantom penalty against the US' Oguchi Onyewu that gave Ghana its 2-1 lead that they held onto to reach the Round of 16.
Russian Valentin Ivanov's performance in the Holland-Portugal Round of 16 match up was so bad (he awarded 4 red cards and 16 yellows) that FIFA president Sepp Blatter himself wanted to issue him a yellow card. The obvious dive by Italy's Fabio Grosso when he fell over a supine Lucas Neill of Austrailia was instead called a penalty by Spain's Luis Medina Cantalejo and give the Italians passage to the quarterfinals.
So please, enough with the criticism of non-European officials. The European versions repeatedly showed their incompetence throughout.
Don't believe the hype: England-I'll admit. I got took. Bamboozled. Led astray. Run Amok. I let myself get squarely behind this England team thinking they would go deep into the tournament. This was the most talented team, everyone kept saying. John Terry was the second coming of Tony Adams, they said.
I was expecting Wayne Rooney to turn the world on its head. I kept hearing about Steven Gerrard and Frank Lamapard, called the best midfielder in the world by his club manager. I really wanted to believe in the 3 Lions this year. But in the end, it was the same old England. They only did just enough to get to the quarterfinals and then ended up losing when someone gets sent off (Rooney for stomping on a Portuguese player's groin).
Predictably, the English fans found themselves a foreign villan. Usually its a ref (Urs Meier) or an Argentine (Maradona, Simeone). This time it was Cristiano Ronaldo. They swear up and down that HE got Wayne Rooney sent off because he asked for a card.
Ronaldo couldn't draw fouls for all of his diving and NOW he has this great influence with the officials? Utter bol*ocks. And so it remains that England has ONE international title: The 1966 World Cup played on home soil, won in overtime with the help of a disputed goal.
Dont Believe the Hype (Puffy remix):Yet they weren't even the most disappointing side. While the US didn't exactly make an impression and the Czech Republic (who had NO ONE questioning their #2 World Ranking) can also lay claim to this title, the ridiculously talented Brazillian side simply never got going.
They strolled in and yawned their way through their group with uninspiring performances and were cruelly exposed by the Zidane led French side. Though, Ronaldo became the all-time leading scorer in the history of the World Cup, Ronaldinho never showed up and the aging defense wasn't enough in the later stages.
Brazil played as if everyone was supposed to lay down for them but the no one got that memo.
Fans-Part of the spectacle of the World Cup is the fans who come from all over to support their team. The English fans in full voice is always awe-inspiring but the German fans were also excellent with their fanatical support. The US fans also did themselves proud, especially during the Italy match where they could be clearly heard.
Yet every country's supporters were wonderful, singing the praises of their country's team, roaring them on in the final minutes and demonstrating the comraderie that comes with being mutual fans of the world's most popular sport, It's always an awe-inspiring sight and shows just how wonderful this sport can be.
Goal of the Tournament: Tomas Rosicky's first goal against the US, a 25 yeard sceramer to the upper right corner was...well...sick. Joe Cole's first half volley against Sweden was impressive. David Beckham bent in a beautiful free kick against Ecuador. Ronaldo's goal in the first five minutes against Ghana was nasty as well.
But for me, the goal of the tournament was turned in by Maxi Rodriguez who received a pass on the right from the other side of the field, chested it out of the air and then volleyed it with his left foot past Mexican goal keeper Oswaldo Sanchez from about 25 yards out in overtime. Brilliant individual skill.
Quit playa hatin'-We may have seen the last of David Beckham at a World Cup and I will never understand the vitrol spewed at this guy by English supporters and pundits. US goalkeeper Kasey Keller may think he's a poser but at least he showed up for England at this year's World Cup.
With all the talk about all of these players that should be captain instead of Beckham, none of them produced the goods, except for maybe John Terry. Steven Gerrard failed to make a mark, Frank Lampard might as well been playing for the US with his lack of production and Michael Owen blew his knee out after a minute in the match against Sweden.
While England was struggling to score, it was Beckham who was providing what little offense there was. It was his free kick that was headed in for an own-goal against Paraguay. It was his free kick that led to the opening goal against Trinidad and Tobago for Peter Crouch. Yes, he had an off game against Sweden that led to BBC pundit and Beckham hater Terry Butcher to call for him to get dropped.
But Terry Butcher's greatest contribution to internatinal football was being one of the 6 players annihilated by Diego Maradona for the game winning goal in their classic 1986 matchup. So he was familiar with humilation as Beckham, dehydrated and throwing up on the field, delivered the classic Bend-It-Like-you-know-who free kick goal against Ecuador that sent England to the next round. That's what a capatain does and that's what a great player does.
Goal Celebration of the World Cup- Ivan Kaviedes honors former National Team forward Otilino "Spider-Man" Tenorio who died last year in a car accident by pulling out and donning a Spider-Man mask.
The "Come Together" moment of the World Cup-Oliver Kahn, the long time German goalkeeper was demoted in favor of his rival and nemesis Jens Lehmann. Yet the replays of Kahn approaching Lehmann just before the penalty kick shoot-out against Argentina in the quarterfinals, giving him advice and shaking his hand really demonstrated how much more important winning was to him than keeping alive individual greivances. Well done.
The "Do Shut Up!" Moment of World Cup-Parguay's captain Carlos Gamarra proclaimed England the "third best team in the group", before opening match, the proceeded to head David Beckham's free kick into his own net, just 3 minutes into the match for the only goal.
England won the group while Paraguay finished...third. Just about everything Dave O'Brien said was tied for second.
The "What the heck are you DOING?" Moment of the World Cup-Jose Pekerman subbing off playmaker Juan Riquelme with about 20 minutes left in regulation and Argentina clinging to a one goal lead made no sense and Argentina eventually lost on penalties. Italy's Daniele DeRossi's elbow to the face of Brian McBride was an act of lunacy.
Togo's players almost going on strike and causing their coach to resign just 3 days before their opener, only to come back was a drama onto itself. . But c'mon, those are all vying for 2nd place behind Zidane's loss of composure 10 minutes before the end of the final.
Bull market boys (Players who's stock is rising): Germany's Lucas Podolski, Porutgal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Maniche, Argentina's Maxi Rodriguez, France's Frank Ribery, Ghana's Michael Essien (i know he's a known quantity but he's only going to get better), Ecuador's Edison Mendez
Match of the Tournament: I don't know that any game truly stood out as a classic. The final was fiercely contested, and the France comeback on Spain was pretty well played match. Tunisia and Saudia Arabia featured an injury time equalizer by Tunisia's Rahdi Jahidi after Sami Al Jaber had put the Saudis up with just 6 minutes left.
Argentina and Germany literally fought for their country's advancement in the quarterfinals. But I might have to go with France-Brazil. Zidane was amazing in this match, setting up Henry for the match-winner and the French put on an excellent display that had the Brazillians on the back foot all match long
This was a match-up that everyone wanted to see and the French truly had found their stride and dumping the champions.
A month of passion, controversy, skill and atmosphere has now passed into the histoy books. Start saving your money. The 2010 World Cup in S. Africa is just three years and 11 months away.
Piano Lesson
Lomax was a pioneer of field recording. Encouraged by his father John who made the first collections of cowboy songs in the early twentieth century, he travelled all over the South from 1930 onwards, gathering music and stories from the marginalized white mountain dwellers as well as the sons and daughters of black slaves. The fruits of Lomax's lengthy interviews with Jelly Roll Morton 'C originally made available on 78s 'C have been reissued as a lavish piano-shaped package which includes eight CDs, as well as Lomax's Mister Jelly Roll, a biography with edited transcripts from the interviews. ('The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax' are issued by the Rounder Label for '69.99.) This exhaustive material, although sometimes close to fiction, is as evocative of the essence of the jazz world as Mezz Mezzrow's equally fictional Really the Blues. Jelly Roll sat at a Library of Congress Steinway grand 'C a far cry from the uprights which he had played in New Orleans brothels and gambling houses 'C and talked and talked, only occasionally prompted by the young ethnomusicologist, whose prurient interest in sexual material is at times all too evident. It is a kind of sustained rap, meandering 'C if a little repetitively 'C above the steady piano chords that punctuate Jelly Roll's well-rehearsed spiel.
Storytelling and sermonizing are central to the African-American tradition, reaching back to the complex social and political role of the Manding jali or griot: repetition is central to the art, along with humour, bragging and downright lies. Rap is the latest in a line of African-inspired talking styles, and here, too, pleasure is taken in going over the same ground almost ad nauseam, albeit with slight variations. In Triksta, Cohn describes his attempt to break into the New Orleans rap scene as a producer. Infected by the genre, Triksta is burdened by a kind of circumlocution: entertaining but irritating with repeated choruses and refrains born of frustration. Equally true to the form he loves to hate, a genre not dissimilar from the street-speak of New Journalism, Cohn spits out his words with a keen sense of rhythm and pacing: 'in New Orleans rap', he quips, 'it is a great surprise for anyone to do exactly what they promise. Ma?ana doesn't cover it: tomorrow never comes'. Courting clich' like a seasoned rapper, but always alert to the possibility of irony or ambiguity, he describes one of his artists, Jabbo, as 'a man of constant sorrow. Women troubles, money troubles, acts of God 'C though the black dog took many forms, it was always on the prowl'. Cohn's story is one of almost complete let-down and frustration.
Unlike Lomax, who always, somewhat patronizingly, thought of himself as an intrepid explorer and discoverer of hidden treasure, Cohn carries the karma of accumulated white guilt to extremes. Describing himself as a 'grey-haired scribbler in black suit and hat' and a 'half-assed fantasist playing out my senile hunger', Cohn is the white man as victim of his own misplaced fascination with black culture, bound by his genuine love of the music, but destined to fail in his quixotic attempt to make it in the music's own very culture-specific terms.
Cohn's personal story of severely halting creative involvement in rap is not as interesting as his often evocative description of New Orleans, 'this fucked-up town', with its 'flashes of pagan joy and an incurable melancholy at heart', and the musicians he meets: Jabbo, Soulja Slim, Choppa, Che, June B and others. Rap, as Cohn points out, is 'born of rage. The world had its foot on your throat and hip hop was a howl of defiance'; but success undermines the 'authentic primal roar' that makes for rap gold. Hip hop is not what it used to be.
There has always been posturing, a show of violence as well as its actual manifestation, the play-acting and real stuff both reflections of a deep-seated sense of inferiority. The future, Cohn claims, is 'rebellion made family entertainment': formulaic anger, co-opted by the forces of fashion and economics.
Against his better judgement, Cohn is something of a purist. He is seeking the authentic roar, with its roots in the spiritual and ethical quest central to so much African-American (and American) culture, but the sentiments expressed in hip hop also speak more plainly to his own despair, to the inner wasteland of a disenchanted and uprooted Jew from Derry. He feels far more affinity with it than with anything a white rocker or singer-songwriter might produce. Lomax, more of a folklorist than a spiritual seeker, enjoyed charting the creolization of music that began in New Orleans, and resounded through the South, where Scots-Irish, English and African cultures mingled so creatively. Cohn is not interested in the sweep of cultural history, but in his own salvation 'C while realizing that no such thing exists and that he must content himself with a few moments of tangible magic in a booming bass line. There is something at once appealing and faintly repulsive about Cohn's mix of narcissism and self-hate. But there is enough self-knowledge, not least in his assumed role of 'Triksta', one of several masks he dons to smooth his way through the minefield of black racism and mistrust, to make the story more than one-dimensional and fleetingly inspired.
New Orleans's attraction for both Lomax and Cohn derives in large part from the city's continually shifting identity and entropy: a place of incipient decay, caught between worlds and between races, never dominated by Southern plantocracy, but maintaining links with Africa through the drumming that was permitted within the confines of Congo Square, and the practices of animism and sorcery. Long before hurricane Katrina, economic forces had almost entirely transformed New Orleans from a vibrant multi-cultural community into something much less appealing, in which the heritage industry struggled on, blind to the ever-increasing poverty and internecine violence of most of the black neighbourhoods. Cohn evokes the endemic murder almost casually, mirroring the black community's own tragic resignation. And yet, violence and murder are not a recent addition to New Orleans: they are as fundamental to blues and jazz as drugs and collective improvisation. Jelly Roll, as aware as anyone of the seductive power of brutal death, sings a song for Alan Lomax in which a woman threatens: 'I'll cut your throat, drink your blood like wine' 'C the swing of black poetry serving the culture's tortured soul.
Just as Jelly Roll vehemently (though not entirely truthfully) claimed to have invented scat-singing and jazz, rappers habitually boast about their physical or sexual prowess. This braggadocio hides an almost unbearable vulnerability 'C the product of a fragile sensitivity crushed by centuries of oppression. It is a miracle that feelings buried under all this should still fuel so much creativity, and not all of it focused on murder or misogyny. Nik Cohn realizes that no amount of pretending at being 'Da Triksta', the unlikely rap impresario from Derry, can save him from the distance that his fan's passion imposes. But he does get closer than most white writers to the pulse of the African-American heart.
Piano Lesson
Digital Art, a show featuring work by Beverly artist Chava Hudson and K. H. Krena, will run through Aug. 19 at the Mingo Gallery, 284 Cabot St.
An artist reception has been planned for July 28, 5:30-8 p.m., at the gallery. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hudson, an artist and a Web designer, currently works with photos of colored glass, which she shoots in gallery windows and slices and weaves the photos digitally into landscapes. Some are "painted" that is actually stroked with a digital brush in Painte, and some are printed and painted with real paint. Prints are archival, and on a high-quality paper. Prints are limited editions and the painted pieces are one-of-a-kind.
Hudson has exhibited her work in galleries in the Merrimac Valley, the Copley Society in Boston, Salem, and Gloucester.
A professional photographer for more than 30 years, Krena has remained passionate about making images while also working as an author, playwright, college instructor, editor and consultant. Photographing the energetic brushstrokes on Beverly's Graffiti Wall inspired her to concentrate more on creating photographic imagery and to examine the quiet emotional responses to color, composition and texture. Krena has been in single and group gallery exhibits in the North Shore, and her photographs have been published and purchased by private and corporate clients. She lives in Marblehead.
"Free Wheelin" will play at Lynch Park Sunday, July 23, 6 p.m., 55 Ober St.
'Free Wheelin' at Lynch Park
Gordon's of Beverly and Theological Threads, Inc. will sponsor "Free Wheelin" at Lynch Park Sunday, July 23, 6 p.m., 55 Ober St.
Earle Oliver on vocals and lead guitar sounds as if he just walked out of the heart of bluegrass country. John Roc adds mandolin, lead and backup work. Larry Neu keeps playing break and backup. Holding it all together is Gary Fisher.
This concert is part of the Beverly Recreation Department series of free summer concerts.
Essex Chamber Music Players summer concerts
The Essex Chamber Music Players and Michael Finegold, artistic director, will perform summer concerts Friday, July 21, 7:30 p.m., at the First Parish Church, 225 Cabot St., and Saturday, July 22, 5 p.m., outdoors, at the Tattersall Farm, 542 North Broadway, Haverhill.
Both concerts will feature Prokofiev's "Flute Sonata in D major", Dan Kennedy's "Trio No. 2 for Flute, Cello and Piano" (premiere), Beethoven's "Seven Variations on Bei Mannern, welche Liebe fuhlen" from "Magic Flute" for piano and violoncello; and Czerny's "Fantasia Concertante for Flute, Cello and Piano."
Piano Lesson
Amateur pianists get chance to shine
By Steven Mark
Special to The Seattle Times
The Seattle area is home to many fine professional pianists, such as Craig Sheppard, Mark Salmon and Byron Shenkman. These artists have toured the world and received high praise for their performances.
But Seattle also has many fine amateur pianists ' artists who have careers outside of music but also play piano with fervor and dedication that belies their amateur status. Some of them will be featured at a recital Thursday evening at the Sherman Clay piano dealership in downtown Seattle.
To these musicians, playing piano is more than just tickling the keyboard; it fulfills an artistic, creative urge that has blossomed not only into passionate practicing but also to performances worthy of the concert stage.
"There's an amazing number of good pianists in this town," said Eric Juvet, a software engineer. Juvet is part of an informal gathering of pianists who meet monthly to play for each other. It's a salon cum support group for piano addicts, with one group for advanced players and another for all comers.
"Each month a different person hosts, and we play whatever we want to play," said Juvet who, besides holding down a full-time job and playing tennis, practices piano for five hours a day. "All of our playing has improved really dramatically over time. When we first started, it was nothing to write home about, but the level of performance has really improved. ... I don't know why. It's totally different than taking lessons. The vibe rubs off or something."
Several local performers have participated in major amateur piano competitions around the world. Juvet performed at Carnegie Hall in New York as part of a competition.
Chung Lee, a retired architect, finished in sixth place in the finals of a major competition in Paris in 2004 and reached the semifinals this year. He says participating in such events provides excellent motivation.
Gerald Finkel, pathologist; Chung Lee, architect; Eric Juvet, software developer; and Kam Au, cyto-geneticist will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sherman Clay, 1624 Fourth Ave., Seattle; free, RSVP required for seating (206-622-7580).
"The reward is in the process, not in the final result," he said.
For Lee, performing on the piano has also rekindled cherished childhood goals but without the pressure of trying to develop a career as a performer. The Hong Kong native had studied music at the Royal Academy in England with hopes of making a career in music but found the pressure daunting. Playing the piano again as an amateur has been challenging and rewarding.
"I'm amazed that I can still improve," he said, "but it has happened because I am more serious in my way of solving problems. It's like jogging, the more you work the better you get."
Gerald Finkel, a retired pathologist at Harborview Medical Center, participated in the Paris competition and the Van Cliburn amateur competition in Fort Worth, Texas. He went more than 40 years between performances, having played a piano concerto in college before re-applying himself to the instrument a decade ago.
"When you're an amateur pianist and you take lessons, certain things happen," he said. "You get lonely. You get bored. It's really difficult to develop pieces and play on a really good piano in a nice hall with an audience that wants to hear you. In these competitions, you have an opportunity to play before a really knowledgeable audience ' and you get terrified doing it, because it never goes as well you like. It's more fun when it's over."
Both Lee and Finkel have studied with UW piano professor Craig Sheppard. "I have the greatest respect for these guys because here they've gone and done something else in life and they always wanted to do something with piano," said Sheppard. "In some ways, [playing piano] means more to them than to those who make it their job."
For those who don't go on the competitive circuit, the piano club provides educational opportunities as well. Every few months, the group hires a professional to give a master class. "With every teacher, you get to see what it is they think is important," Juvet said.
Bev Thomas, a retired medical administrator who's not in the recital, used to play organ in church but as a pianist she played mostly things like Christmas carols. She started taking lessons again in 1999.
"I'm working on getting the sound I want," she said. "You can get all the notes you want, but it's the sound that's the difficult part."
Thomas practices about two hours a day and appreciates every minute of it.
"When I was a kid, just to get me to practice one hour, that was a lot of work," she said, with a laugh.
Pianist Steven Mark is a Seattle Times computer analyst: 206-464-2083 or smark@seattletimes.com
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