Watching string quartet Brooklyn Rider rehearse is, like their music, a mixture of experiences. While at rehearsal yesterday at the intimate Simons Center Recital Hall, I often found myself struck by the virtuosity of the playing and, just about the time that I was totally engrossed and in my own little world, the Riders would laugh or begin talking, snapping me out of the musical hypnosis.
One thing is for sure–the guys are as laid back as they are talented. Watching them play is an experience in and of itself, due to their incredible talent and technical skills, but watching them rehearse reminds you that they are just four guys who really enjoy playing music together. And that is what makes it fun.
Photo by Bethany E. Larson
Check out the video from rehearsal below.
Brooklyn Rider will perform June 10th at 9PM. Click here for tickets.
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.
The Post and Courier’s Live Twitter Wall is up! The scrolling wall of text made its debut Friday at the opening night of the Trocks at The Gaillard Auditorium. Onlookers stared at the large-scale video installation of real-time live tweets on the second-floor lobby wall as they entered the auditorium and during both intermissions. Audience members were able to see their own contributions to the festival-wide online discussion, while picking up tips and sneak peaks from tweeters at other locales.
If you missed the first run, don’t fret. The Twitter Wall will be on view at Gaillard an hour before each of the shows listed below. Stop by and keep tweeting using #spoto.
Monday, May 31, Strauss, Ravel, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 2, Lizz Wright, 8 p.m.
Friday, June 4, Lucinda Childs’ Dance, 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 6, Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner, 7:30 p.m.
For many years the comedy troupe CatNip! has been a “No Boys Allowed” club; An all-female group known as much for its exclusivity as for its hilarious improvised antics. But Friday night, at Theatre 99, the thick walls of segregation that have long surrounded this clan came tumbling down.
Wielding the sledgehammers of equality were Frank Caeti, one half of the improv duo Frankenmatt, and Joe Canele, of Chicago’s Second City. These modern day Rosa Parks’ heroically went where no men had gone before: Onstage with CatNip!, sharing the spotlight with these very funny women and adding a large dose of X chromosomes to what had previously been a Y’s-only affair.
The Reckoning of Chicago’s iO Theater kicked off Piccolo Fringe last night at 7 p.m., bringing their distinctive brand of long-form improv known as “Harold” to Theatre 99. Harold is a far cry from “Whose Line”-style improv where segments usually last for just a few minutes. The show started with an initial audience suggestion for a setting (a broken-down car), and from there, catapulted into a twisty-turny series of sometimes bizarre, often hilarious situations, with characters made up on the spot. Some of the best included a sweet old lady with a penchant for telling racist fairy tales and a police lieutenant intent on approaching crime with a sense of humor.
There are some pictures below, but if you want to see for yourself, The Reckoning has shows tonight and tomorrow night at 9 p.m. at Theatre 99. You can buy tickets here.
“Present Laughter” officially opened at the Dock Street Theatre last night, and with the brand new theatre comes a higher standard for audience behavior. Alan Stanford, the director of “Present Laughter,” sat in last night’s audience and was seen exchanging words with some fellow theatergoers about talking during the show.
After returning from intermission, Stanford and his seatmate requested that the couple sitting directly in front of them refrain from talking so much during the performance (and from this reporter’s vantage point, they certainly weren’t the only ones). After a dulled but seemingly contentious exchange the couple, which didn’t seem to find anything objectionable about their conduct, ended up leaving their seats for the second act of the show.
Charleston audiences take note: it’s time to raise the bar. Out of respect for the actors, director and entire creative team, hold your comments until the lights go up – after all, you never know who may be sitting behind you!
Last night Courtney and I attended the Spoleto debut of Gallim Dance’s I Can See Myself in Your Pupil. Although we’re sure that you would love to read all of the things we have to say about it, we thought that maybe you’d like to know what other audience members thought instead. So, during intermission and after the performance, which, btw, received a standing ovation, we asked some dance-loving Spoleto audience members what they thought of Pupil.
We’ll be scouting out people to interview during each Spoleto USA and Piccolo Spoleto dance event we go to. So if you see two girls with a camera, make sure you say hi. We promise we don’t bite.
For more exclusive Spoleto USA and Piccolo Spoleto footage, visit Barre None.
Patrons were sitting under the oak trees last night at The Cistern when Spoleto Festival USA canceled ‘Noche Flamenca’ because of inclement weather. A free outdoors Piccolo Spoleto jazz concert was also canceled earlier in the afternoon for the same reason.
‘We take it day by day, often minute by minute,’ said Paula Edwards, marketing and public relations director for Spoleto Festival USA. ‘We won’t call it unless we have to.’
As thunderstorms moved through the area, ‘Flamenca’ was canceled just as it was about to begin. The flamenco group has two more outdoor performances, tonight and Saturday night, in the same venue as space is available. Edwards said that the festival will honor tickets from Thursday’s performance at either show, or patrons can call the box office and Spoleto will issue a refund.
In other instances this year, the festival has moved the performances to an indoor venue and notified patrons as they entered the Cistern.
The weather forecast for today calls for a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms.
The festival’s finale at Middleton Place on Sunday is a rain-or-shine event, so no refunds will be issued if it is rained out.
Piccolo Spoleto canceled a free Jazz in the Street concert at 5 p.m. earlier in the afternoon.
To contact Spoleto Festival, call (843) 579-3100. To contact Piccolo about events, call 888-374-2656.
Ensemble Argos (from left) Christina Placilla, Kenneth Law, Stephen Buck and Mellasenah Edwards
By Mary Solomon Post and Courier Reviewer
For an hour and a half of unsurpassed chamber music, the Circular Congregational Church was the place to be Wednesday night.
Part of the Spotlight Concert Series, Ensemble Argos played the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gabriel Faure, and Robert Schumann.
Members of the Greenville-based piano quartet are Mellasenah Edwards, violin; Christina Placilla, viola; Kenneth Law, cello; and Stephen Buck, piano. The ensemble was formed in 2007 but perform as if it has been together longer. Individually, they came with impeccable credentials and have played both solo and chamber music around the world.
For an opener, they chose to play one movement, the Allegro, from Mozart’s ‘G minor Piano Quartet.’ Their playing exhibited the liquid, fluid smoothness of Mozart.
The life of Jackson Pollock, as well as his contribution to twentieth century abstract expressionist art, is rich in material for anyone interested into delving into the creative mind and lifestyle. The Contemporary Theatre Lab premiered Richard Rashke’s ‘Season to Season’ last night at the Footlight Players Theatre and offered us yet another perspective of the famous painter’s life and work.
Actors Kristen Kos as Lee Krasner, JC Conway as Jackson Pollock, Linda Eisen as Peggy Guggenheim, David Abrams as Harold and Jacqualine Helmer as Stella Pollock, performed ‘Season to Season’ in a strong opening performance.
Making art is never easy and ‘Season to Season’ addresses the various personalities and interpersonal dynamics that are a part of the process. Condensing the lives of five very complicated people is not an easy task and Rashke has taken a very strong point of view in his writing of this play. The responsibility for the ensemble to do it justice in the two-hour running time is an even greater responsibility.
The Contemporary Theatre Lab is a new local company and just beginning to experiment locally as an ensemble with repertoire. With more time working together, a dedicated rehearsal and performance space, and the opportunity to workshop different repertoire, it promises to be a relevant new theatre lab in Charleston.
‘Season to Season’ will be performed again today at 9 p.m., on Friday at 5 p.m., and on Saturday at 6 p.m. Note that this performance contains adult language.
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