Mid-Summer 2017:
Ahh, these August afternoons…
The flowers in full-bloom, the direct sun, that soft breeze on your face. Relaxed in your favourite chair, your ½ bottle of rosé by your glass, the universe unfolding as it should. Can it get any better? Maybe – here’s a little summer offering from Nat King Cole.
Isn’t it funny how music becomes so much more than just words and melody put together? I mean that’s how it starts out. And you hear it…but then you feel it and things happen. Your mood changes, you jump back in time somewhere. Sometimes you break into a smile and you start singing along with lyrics you didn’t know you knew. The power of music is in how it affects you, changes you, holds you in its hand, extends your consciousness. Like all art, it changes us. Pablo Picasso said: “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” It’s the strongest form of magic.
So here’s to the power of music.
And one more tribute to these long lazy days. Here is Pat Metheny’s “Afternoon”, a catchy laid-back tune that whispers ‘August!’ to me.
So, what’s your favourite summer song?? What connects you to this season? Email me at bryan@aeolianhall.ca I’d like to know.
Our fall program is pretty much set – now we’re working on the winter and spring concerts. I’d like to leave you with one new performer that we’re bidding on bringing to the Aeolian next spring. Kandace Springs a 27-year-old, Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and pianist who counts such stylists as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack and Norah Jones as her heroes, but as evidenced by her sparkling full-length Blue Note Records debut, Soul Eyes, Springs mimics none of them. Instead, Springs allows her comely alto to become a conduit that touches upon soul, jazz, and pop while transforming those aforementioned influences into a personalized sound that reveals itself effortlessly. I’m thinking she is on her way up – give this a listen. We’ll talk again next month…
b.
