Last night at Middleton was a blast. I hope you were there to celebrate another end to Spoleto with us!

Yesterday, we asked our Twitter faithful our last question, what they would change about Spoleto. Here’s what they said:

Only three more days to go before the end of another Spoleto USA season and Charleston Scene continues to ask a question a day as a countdown to the finale.

Want in on the conversation? Follow Charleston Scene (@chasscene) this week and have your say.

Four more days to go before the end of another Spoleto USA season and Charleston Scene continues to ask a question a day as a countdown to the finale.

Want in on the conversation? Follow Charleston Scene (@chasscene) this week and have your say.

Happy Wednesday, folks! 5 more days to go before the end of another Spoleto USA season and Charleston Scene continues to ask a question a day as a countdown to the finale.

Want in on the conversation? Follow Charleston Scene (@chasscene) this week and have your say.

Yesterday, we asked our Twitter faithful: If you were in charge of programming, who would you bring to Spoleto USA 2011? Here’s what they said:

Charleston Scene kicked off “7 questions in 7 days,” where readers weigh in on their Spoleto experience. We’ll ask one question a day in a countdown to the finale on Sunday.  So, follow Charleston Scene (@chasscene) this week and have your say.

We asked our Twitter faithful: What’s been your favorite Spoleto event so far? Here’s what they said :

It’s 7 days to go before Spoleto USA Festival 2010 ends. We hope you had fun because we surely did. In celebration, we’d like to ask you, our readers and followers, to help us summarize the whole experience by answering 7 questions in 7 days.

Written by Post & Courier reader Jimmy Parker

I went to the Norma Winstone concert on Friday night and was astounded by how bad it was.  Not only was the music style nowhere near the jazz genre, the compositions lacked in substance, went on too long, and the continuous endings were excruciating to listen too.  The pianist didn’t play a single jazz voicing all night.  The woodwind player noodled incessantly and the bass clarinet sounded like a kazoo.  When the soprano sax played in unison with the singer, it exposed her poor intonation.  I’m not sure how all this went unnoticed in the press…

The P&C review said they didn’t swing as hard as Tierney Sutton’s band last year.  That was correct.  They didn’t come close to attempting to swing.  Spoleto should make an effort to do better in the future for jazz musicians selections.  The ukulele show last year was ridiculous (although obviously entertaining for those lacking musical insight).  I have read multiple stellar reviews  on Heloisa Fernandes, but when I saw her play, she train wrecked twice.  I mean she stopped dead, had to
collect herself and figure out where to restart.  Nobody else seemed to notice.

Lest you think I am bashing everyone unconditionally, let me say that Enrico Pieranunzi, with John Patitucci, was fabulous.  This is an example of a great player who ACTUALLY PLAYS JAZZ.  It is also an example of the quality of performance you would expect for such a venue.  Also, Tierney Sutton’s band was teriffic last year (especially when she wasn’t singing).  I realize that people love female singers and
as far as they go, she is definitely one of the best, although she brought the level of the musicianship in the band down.  Was anyone else present at her Friday afternoon sound check when she chewed out her bass player for “not making it easy for her know when to come in”?

I also understand that this is a pop culture driven society and you are trying to feed that with gimmicks, but the quality of the music should not be diminished by this effort.  How about choosing someone like Toots Thielemans?  He plays the chromatic harmonica (there’s your gimmick), is Belgian (goes with the European slant) and plays jazz.

That’s what is happening at noon. I know what Mayor Joe Riley is going to say because he has said it every year, but it’s still inspiring for the arts.

There is always a surprise at the opening at the corner of Broad and Meeting St. But go now and get a good parking spot. And look for the shade. It’s going to be a warm one.

Our Goldring Arts Journalism members will be hanging there, so look for people wearing the orange press passes. And check out our blogs and videos as we cover the festival as it has never been covered before!

You can contact us at Spoletotoday@postandcourier.com or leave comments for us. We’ll be checking for them early and often.

Here’s a comment from a reader this morning:
“We attended Present Laughter last night and it was fabulous. As good as I have seen in NY, Edinburgh and Vegas!”
Linda and Mike Leatherwood

So here’s the Piccolo Spoleto Poster by Tate Nation. Do you know what it means? The vote around town was that it was art, but what does that make the Spoleto Festival USA poster by Maya Lin. And just what was she trying to say with that? Here’s her poster:

Once you’ve been to Charleston during Spoleto, the spell of the city hooks you. Here’s a message from one of the Spoleto interns from last year, who is now longing for the Holy City. She’s also writing a blog for Southern Living.

Hi!

An Alabama native, I interned with Spoleto last year as a public relations apprentice—which meant daily perusings of P&C’s Spoleto Today. Though I’m back in Birmingham these days, I’m craving Spoleto and keeping up with everything thanks to your website!

I’m interning at Southern Living and blogged about weekend’s events on the Travel blog. I just wanted to let you know that there is a link to your website. If there is anything you can do to help drive traffic to our blog, I’d appreciate it—the website is another gateway to a plethora of Charleston  information (decades worth) for visitors.

http://talesfromtheroad.southernliving.com/

Thanks so much! Good luck with the finale—I sure miss The Post & Courier!

Ashlyn

(Thanks Ashlyn!)