last weekend was the annual folk festival. number 23, and anybody who reads me knows it's all right outside the owner's door. this year he's far more knit into the local fabric so decided to have people and beer. or beer and people, i guess. i offered that should include food, so got promoted to on-site caterer, which was dandy with me.
friday kicked it off with steamed lobster, warm potato salad, wine and then outdoor music. but the outside stuff was very so-so, so we went inside. we were drunker by then and saw some peeps we knew, but it was getting rocky, especially for me, and the next day was a-gonna be long.
walk-in brunch and nice people brought mimosas. neighbors, friends. sky cleared and out we went. it's tough to choose because there is so much from which to choose! a musician-friend picked his favorite venue and something none of us really knew: tuvan throat singing. at first we had an obstructed view and assumed much of the sounds must be coming from instruments. as we crept closer, we saw that, no, almost all of it was coming from within. 2 notes held and manipulated simultaneously-- a sustained low note while humming an eerie, whistle-like melody. add in a thrumming rhythm similar to that of a jaw harp, but produced vocally-by the same person, at the same time. human bagpipes, whose rhythms came from the hoofbeats of horses, the winds of the steppes and rushing water. like much native music, they sang of beautiful women, nature, horses, battles and drinking. it gave me gooseflesh.
the sounds were too foreign for too many, so we scored seats eventually and stayed on for a q&a panel, that included one of the tuvans, an a capella gospel quintet, a blues singer and a honky-tonker. each got to do a little stuff-strutting, then were encouraged to do a song together. "amazing grace." trudi lynne on lead and the boys backing her up with strings and harmony. lovely. the tuvan listened with a cupped ear. no sooner had lynne hit her last note then he began it tuvan-style. dropped faces of awe on-stage. who knows what he was saying, but it was 2-pitch perfect and magnificent. within seconds, everybody re-grouped and did back up for him. it was truly breathtaking and brought down the house. the universality of music. "grace is everywhere."
we stayed on mostly to gape at the physical beauty of the afro-brazilian group that was up next, capoeira luanda. the slender hips, long hair and 12-pak abs would make the straightest of men think twice, lol.
back home for the dinner shift. mad table-load of food and the owner had laid in ridiculous quantities of beer. one of the nicest things about these types of affairs is the surprise of who actually shows up. the full band that is one of the owner's faves came for a quickie before their show and were full of raves about various items being "the best i've ever had!" neighbors, boston friends of mine, with an elderly aunt and uncle in tow. (i hope i am half as cool as aunt rita when i grow up!)
as people came and went we were cross-talking trying to explain the tuvans to the musicians and finding that a challenge. my hands were occupado and nobody seemed willing to enlist the net for audio. turned out no need, because one of the owner's neighbors can do it and so did! what the fuck!? amazing.
tight window, since we were hot on the heels of m. and his guys to see their alley show. the air was warm, the beer was cold and the sound was sweet. not once, not twice, but three times a damn uke band blew the sound, lol.
the owner's man-crush band was up next and sounded great. (even if our view of the local guitar-god was obstructed by the horns.) really really great. some of the folks with us were not really "live music" types, maybe a big concert at the garden kinda thing, but not back alley stages. they loved m. and they loved j. what's not to like?
there was more beer and some tequila, for everybody-not-me and a wee bit more music. we all could congratulate ourselves on being not *that* drunk! sunday was left-over brunch, muggy air and a few nibbles of music, (next year, note to self, pass on the klezmer band) but the sox and the a/c made a siren song. hey, we don't recover like we used to, ya know?
although the owner dismissed the food part of the weekend as "what have you", ya know it's a hit when everybody just stands around the buffet, demanding recipes. which i never really have and confounds people utterly, lol. besides the ratification, i enjoy seeing people enjoy food, a little (even a lot) libation and each other. there is something self-affirming when you see the nice, funny interesting people you know and that they like you. that you know your "friends" will like each other. that you can be generous with your home and your spirit.
it was one of the best weekends i've had in a long time. funny. i've had quite a lot of those lately. :)
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