Pianos take to the streets

The streets of Birmingham, England are experiencing a proliferation of pianos. A total of fifteen pianos have been parked, if you will, at various locations in the city decorated with spray painted signs reading, "Play me, I'm yours." Quaint? Perhaps. Charming? Maybe. But I think we can all recognize these pianos can be a force for good (Couperin etudes lovingly plunked with not a little skill by gifted 10 year olds as Birmingham heads to work, suddenly smiling) or a tool for evil ("Candle in the Wind" played by anyone so it gets stuck in the internal soundtracks of 1500 passersby). It's up to you, Birmingham.

Here's the full story.

Van Cliburn Foundation YouTube contest

The Van Cliburn Foundation has jumped on the user-generated content bandwagon. The venerable piano competition will offer automatic entry into its regular piano competition - you know, the famous one - to winners of this amateur video piano performance contest. Read about it here. Submit your piano video here. Buy your piano here. Buy your video camera, er, I'll let you figure that one out.

Personally, I think this guy should enter, I mean, the repertoire is a little unorthodox, but with a mug like his, he's a shoe-in:

Peterson vs Groulx

Oscar Peterson (left) and Lionel-Adolphe Groulx (right)

There is controversy afoot north of the border in Canada. It seems a battle is raging to rename a Montreal subway station in honor of jazz great - and noted Canadian - Oscar Peterson. Trouble is, the station is already named after another noted - if more than a little controversial - Canadian, Lionel-Adolphe Groulx, a Roman Catholic priest, historian, nationalist, traditionalist - and many say, racist and anti-semite - who died in 1967.

More on this as it develops. And feel free, gentle reader, to let us know if we are behind in our reports.

Full disclosure: I'm considerably more familiar with the accomplishments of Mr. Peterson than any of Mr. Groulx's. From the perspective of right-hand technique alone, Peterson seems like a shoe-in, but then, I'm not Canadian. Was Groulx's pedal work especially prodigious...?

Thanks, once again, to Soho the Dog for the heads up. Speaking of which, dig this.

Aaaand a link to the article would be nice...

Dido & Aeneas dedicated to Smith

Craig Smith

The Mark Morris Dance Group’s March 28-June 1 performances of Dido & Aeneas with the orchestra and  chorus of Emmanuel Music, will be dedicated to the memory of Craig Smith, Founder of Emmanuel Music (1947-2007).

Yes, but can he play "Piano Man?"

I don't think anyone on our piano series is planning to jump out the window, but it is remarkable.

Thanks to The Well Tempered Blog.

Photos of John Brunious' Jazz Funeral

Following up on my earlier post on the death of Preservation Hall Jazz Band trumpeter John Brunious. You can view photos of John Brunious' Jazz Funeral here. The Jazz Funeral took place February 23 in New Orleans.

Cherryholmes delivers

If you missed Cherryholmes at Sanders Theatre yesterday, I have two thing to impart to you: 1. Tough luck, you missed a tremendous performance, and 2. Buck up, they will undoubtedly visit Eastern Massachusetts again. They are too good not to.

Here are a few probably self-serving impressions of the performance:

Cherryholmes was everything promised and more. Like the best and most ambitious recording groups, they stay ahead of their recorded output. They performed a considerable amount of music that one would not have heard by listening to their CDs alone.

Cherryholmes played beautifully sung originals and classic covers, Django Rienhardt, Celtic music with convincing step-dancing (which is saying something since we're putting The Chieftains' cast of thousands on the Symphony Hall stage in a matter of days), and good old-fashioned country yodeling. All the kids are complete players, right down to the fire breathing solos which any of them can unleash. Is there anything this band can't do?

Jere Cherryholmes, Dad, sang a bit and kept the simple bluegrass bass lines thumping along - with excellent time, I might add - but his real contribution was as MC. Right out of the gate he told us, "yes, the beard is real, so that answers that question, yes these are all our children, so that answers that question..." His unassuming, charmingly rambling delivery seemed to win everyone over, tying the whole package up with a down home bow. Not that Cherryholmes needed much help getting over.

Jere tread lightly around political issues when introducing daughter Cia Leigh's new song tribute to soldiers and their families (sorry I missed the song's title). The song was especially poignant for being played in Memorial Hall (the building Sanders Theatre is in), whose walls are lined with the names of members of the Harvard community killed in the Civil War.

Another moment in which Jere's straight forward delivery made potentially rough sledding easier, was in his unvarnished recitation of the band's endorsed products. From mandolins, guitars, banjos, strings to transducers ("if you don't know what a transducer is you probably don't need one") and a brand of chili which bears the band's photo ("the family size"), Jere spoke chapter and verse as, no doubt, was required, but made it fun. Of course, there were a lot of musicians in the audience, too, who probably would have asked about the group's instruments.

Since this isn't a review, I won't parse the quality of individual performances. It wouldn't matter anyway, since it is clear that no matter the individual talents, Cherryholmes is about the sum of its parts - its a family thing.