I came across Bartek Dabrowski playing in the High Street, just through The Stonebow.
I had seen him late morning setting up, as I walked past him on my way up the High Street, up The Strait, up Steep Hill, to Lincoln Castle, through the Castle to The Lawn, cappuccino at Makushi on my way back down.
He asked where he should play, as he was new to the area.
I suggested walk to the top of Steep Hill and play in the square where it was quieter and people were more likely to linger and listen and where earlier, I had found a classical guitarist playing.
Following the huge success of Somebody That I Used To Know on youtube (which was far, far better than the original), three months later, Mike Dawes released on bandcamp, to date his only release on bandcamp, a single track The Impossible 2.0.
The Impossible 2.0 is a multi-instrumental version of The Impossible, featuring Petteri Sariola and Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood (Periphery).
The Impossible 2.0 is on offer at pay-what-you-think-it-worth. !0% of which (less bandcamp/paypal deductions) will go to FAB (Food, Aid and Building) project in Kenya.
For future, I would suggest Playing for Change, as then it is music supporting a music charity.
More than a decade ago, Playing For Change was inspired when one man, Roger Ridley, sang familiar words to a popular song: “No matter who you are. No matter where you go in life. At some point, you’re gonna need somebody to stand by you.” For Co-Founder Mark Johnson, that moment ignited a passion to use music to connect people and to create a better world.
Or Music Basti, a music charity based in Delhi helping poor kids.
One of their projects, a joint project with New Music Strategies, was Monkey on the Roof. Street kids in India were pulled in off the street and taught music. They could not believe it when folks came from England and wanted to record them.
How do you measure success? Degrading yourself on X-factor, or having the privilege of helping street kids through Music Basti?
We can now but hope, Mike Dawes releases an album, or at least an EP, of the excellent sound of The Impossible 2.0.
Concierto de Aranjuez or as it is often known Rodrigo’s Guitar Concerto.
The second movement, the best known part of the concerto, is a mystical, haunting, beautiful piece of music, that brings tears to the eyes.
Sometimes a piece of music has a sense of place. This is certainly true of the second movement. It conjures up images of southern Spain, of Moorish Spain.
The concerto was written at the time of the Spanish Civil War. It was a sad time for Rodrigo, his wife had suffered a miscarriage.
Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) was blind from the age of three. What may come as a surprise, he was a pianist, not a guitarist.
BBC Radio 4 featured Concierto de Aranjuez in the aptly named Soul Music.
Richard Smerin fuera del restaurante en Puerto de la Cruz
I came across Richard Smerin sat outside a restaurant playing his guitar to himself. From what little I heard, I had the impression he was of some mean talent.
I invited myself to join him. He told me he lived in Germany and got out a couple of his CDs to show me, one his latest album, Crony, the other a compilation album, Wandering Jew from a couple of yeas ago.
I asked was he on bandcamp. He could not see the need as he had his own website and was already on several websites. I explained it was to his advantage to put his music on bandcamp, even if he was already elsewhere and had his own website.
When people tell me I can listen to their music on their website, can download, I always have a quizical look. The reason is because it is always unblievably bad. Richard Smerin no exception. Why bother to reinvent an inferior wheel? He will do himself and his fans a big favour if he puts his music on bandcamp.
He invited me to the restuarant where he was sat outside, a newly opened Serbian restaurant, as he said he would be playing there on Sunday night, from 9pm until 11pm.
Keithpp's Blog 