(1) The Philadelphia Folk Festival- On a day not at all like today (that is it was much warmer and I was not huddling for warmth by a fire for most of the day) almost exactly 4 months ago we began our expedition to Philadelphia to attend the annual three day long music festival.  The first night (August 19th) we attended a concert that was free to all campers.  Audra Mae, Cadillac Sky, Glossary, and Hoots and Hellmouth performed that night.  I found the performances by Glossary and Hoots and Hellmouth to be the most captivating for me.  Glossary was an interesting group because they brought the rock music scene to folk fest, which is something that you don't really see every day.  Hoots and Hellmouth was very  upbeat and had a wildly entertaining lead singer/guitar player with crazy red hair who danced around the stage as he performed.  The performance was interrupted by a power outage at which point the lead singer tried his best to project and remain entertaining for a very confused and apprehensive crowd.

Hoots and Hellmouth

The next day I wasn't able to make it to many workshops, however, I was able to catch a performance by Erin McKeown at the camp stage at 1 p.m.  Her music was simple and yet it was clear that she is a very talented guitar player.  She invited Natalia Zuckerman to perform with he for part of the session and the two of them put on a very impressive performance.  That afternoon I saw Annie and the Beekeepers, A.A. Bondy, and the Sweetback Sisters perform.  I missed 2 acts in the middle in order to grab a bite to eat.  A.A. Bondy proved to be an interesting performer.  His lyrics were very complex and often depressing.  For whatever reason, I found the slow soothing sounds to be relaxing and even a bit reflective.

Erin McKeown and Natalia Zukerman

Satuday's evening concert consisted of performances by Djarara, Blame Sally, Vienna Teng, Jah Levi and the Higher Reasoning, Bonnie "Prince" Billy and the Cairo Gang, and finally Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams.  Djarara was a large Haitian-American group that performed using various sized horns and chant-like vocals.  Blame Sally was an all-female group that had a really nice sound to it- however their performance didn't stand out much to me.  Vienna Teng was the highlight of the evening performance for me.  Upon entering the stage, I expected to find the her voice had some kind of Asian influence or accent being that she was a Chinese-American.  However, as the first word escaped her lips I had to do a double take.  She had a beautiful clear voice with no hint of an accent whatsoever.  She also proved to be a wonderful songwriter and pianist.  My admiration for her was solidified after the first song- "Harbor", a lovely piece constructed with beautiful lyrics and a piano accompaniment that was played with majestic grace.  Ja Levi and the Higher Reasoning was a Regge Jam Band, which proved to be a very interesting change of pace.  Bonnie "Prince" was a musician unlike any other I've ever seen.  He was creepy beyond description and a perverted lyricist.  One lyric that sticks out in my mind is "The smell of your box on my mustache or a crossword on our mind."  To finish the deal he was also exceedingly creepy looking with a piercing eyes and a large bushy blonde mustache.  By the end of his performance, however, I began feeling bad for him because the crowd responded very rudely to his strange lyrics and creepy persona.  One guy shouted at him to "get off the stage" during the performance.  Instead of being discouraged Bonnie "Prince" simply retorted that making this music was how he and the band chose to "get off."  My dad made a good point, it takes someone very artistic (perhaps in a kind of psychopathic sense, there's no way to know for sure) to stray that far from the norm and not care what anyone thinks.  Finally Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams closed the afternoon program.  They were a very eccentric cast of characters with a calm lyrical style of music.

Vienna Teng

On Saturday we attended workshop at 11 a.m. run by a number of different female performers- Natalia Zukerman, Susan Warner, Trina Halmlin, Shannon Whitworth, Treasa Levasseur, and Erin McKeown.  All of these women put on really great performances and it is obvious that they were all having a really good time playing together.  I find that often times these kinds of workshops end up being simply a rotation of performances which each artist taking his or her own turn.  What was nice about this group, however, was that they each took turns but were able to incorporate the other artists into their songs as well.  Two things that really stuck out to me were the amazing harmonica stylings of Trina Hamlin as well as the impressive guitar riffs performed by Natalia Zukerman.  At noon we migrated over to another stage to see a performance by Malinky- a Scottish Folk band.  They had a very sweet sound that was surprisingly different from the Irish groups I am used to hearing.  I think the key element that was different was the lack of a woodwind instrument- namely an irish flute of some sort.  For some reason the irish flute is kind the highlight of a celtic group for me and so, although they put on a great performance, I felt like there was something missing.  In addition, seeing as they were performing traditional scottish tunes, they proved to be a bit repetitive.  Our last workshop came together at 2 p.m.  I attended it mainly to see the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band.  I thoroughly enjoyed the performance.  It was great dancing music and a number of couples got up to dance throughout the performance.  I was also happy to hear a few jazz numbers that I recognized.  The most alluring aspect of this group would have to be the trumpet player.  He had a very wide range and performed with apparent ease.  We caught the tail end of the afternoon performance that took place from 4-6 p.m.  The second act, which we caught, was a performance by Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco.  He had a sweet sounding voice, although the songs sounded very similar to one another and lacked substance making them slightly dull.

Women's Workshop/ Malinky/Harlem Jazz Band

Saturday evening was a concert from 730 until midnight.  The closing act, Mike Cross, was sick so they had to call in a replacement.  The first performance was by Chris Smither and the Motivators.  After that Erin Mckeown took the stage joined by the ladies who had performed with her earlier on in the day.  The women played a few songs together and then Erin finished the set off on her own,  Next, Jesse McReynolds performed as a replacement for Mike Cross.  His music had a country bluegrass feel to it.  It was nice, but nothing super special.  After that the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band performed again.  This performance wasn't quite as enjoyable for me seeing as there was no trumpet this time around, although the lead singer was very amusing because she would kind of flirt with the audience during her performance.  The final act was a man who I grew up listening to form my parents- Taj Mahal.  He performed the song that I associate him with, Fishing Blues.  His performance was a really great way to close the first evening concert.

Taj Mahal

Sunday turned out to be a pretty crummy rainy day.  As a result, it took us some time to get ourselves together in order to attend workshops.  All around the campsites and stages there was a rainbow of color as people in varies ponchos and raincoats tried to stay dry while still being able to enjoy the music.  At 11 a.m. we attended a workshop featuring That 1 Guy.  What guy you might ask.  Well you must know That 1 Guy.  Very amusing choice for a band name.  He was in fact one guy making some very interesting music and sound effects a homemade instrument that resembles a thick metal tubing bent almost in the shape of a messy P.  The tubing is then attached by a wire to a small drum with a base petal attached to it.  His physical appearance went well with his eccentric musical style.  At 11:55 a.m. we caught Nudie and the Turks and Amelia Curran at the camp stage.  Nudie and the Turks, a very intriguing band name, proved to be less unusual than expected.  Their music had kind of a Country Western feel to it.  Amelia Curran was a singer song writer with a slow acoustic style.  She had a nice voice but the songs lacked excitement and visible emotion much of the time.  She was a very good lyricist, however.  After I attended a performance by Cheers Elephant at the Lobby/Dance stage.  I was drawn to go see them because of a very interesting description I found in the weekend program booklet.  They were described to have a "British sound", which was something I really wanted to see.  In addition, they were a local Philadelphia band and very young in comparison to most of the other performers I had seen at the festival.  I was thoroughly impressed with their performance.  I found them to be kind of a cross between Bob Dylan and The Beatles, among others.  They had a surprisingly cohesive sound considering that they were such a young group that couldn't have had years upon years to prepare their musical arrangements.  One thing that stuck out in their performance was the boy who played the tambourine and ran around the stage throwing his head back and forth.  It seemed to me that the main appeal of Mr. tambourine man was simply to entertain the audience.  All in all, I was utterly impressed with their performance.  I purchased a copy of their CD from 2008 entitled Cheers Elephant and I continue to listen to it on occasion.  They were followed by a performance of "Whirled Music" by Ken Ulansey.  Ulansey and his ensemble played a wide variety of music from all over the world.  The most memorable number included a performance by women from a belly dancing organization with choreography that accompanied the music.

                 Rain Attire/That 1 Guy/Cheers Elephant

The Sunday Evening Concert began at 4 p.m. and drew to a close at 9:30 p.m.  It was probably my least favorite of the evening performances, although I did enjoy the closing act.  Due to the fact that the concert ran through any reasonable dinner time we missed a bit of the concert in order to get some food in our systems.  In addition, my sister and I returned the the Lobby/Dance stage at 6:30 p.m. for the final opportunity to dance.  The dance stage performers were Clay Ross and Matuto.  They did a wonderful job encouraging the audience to dance and have a good time.  Their music alone had the ability to draw people to the dance floor with their feet tapping.  It had a jazzy ethnic feel to it featuring percussion, guitar, bass, and fiddle.  For me, the  highlights of the main concert were Iain Matthews, Susan Werner with Natalia Zukerman and Trina Hamlin, Malinky, and Richard Thompson.  Richard Thompson was especially enjoyable for me because I grew up listening to him because he is a favorite musician of my parents.  Seeing him live gave me more insight into how talented he is as a musician.  He was a gifted guitar player and this was evident in the complex arrangements that he played, often times mimicking the vocal arrangements but slightly delayed.  In addition, he has a unique voice that gives his music a kind of unique edge.  At the end of his set Thompson invited Iain Matthews to join him and they performed a few songs together.  It was a great way to end a wonderful weekend of music and festivities.

Clay Ross and Matuto/Richard Thompson

  

It is the end of December- it is finally winter break for me and that means that for the first time in a very long time I finally have free time.  That being said, it seems that I have a whole lot of catching up to do as far as musical coverage is concerned here.  The past few months have been chock full of opportunities for me to attend musical performances.  I hope my memory serves me well as I attempt to start from the very beginning.

“A Grand Old Piano”

In July 2010 a 1956 piano was returned to Rockwell Hall Auditorium completely refurbished and is now considered a world-class concert instrument.

The piano, a Mason and Hamlin Concert Grand, was purchased in 1956 and originally lived in Albright Knox Hall next to the Albright Knox Art Gallery.

In 2005 plans began being made to possibly invest in trying to restore the piano to its original condition.

The fund raising for the project began in 2008 with the help of the 88-Key People Campaign and Ted Turkle, director of the SUNY Research Foundation.

The project really took off in early 2009 when the piano was sent to Nathan Baldwin in Pennsylvania.  Baldwin worked on refinishing the case and replacing various internal parts of the piano.

In Fall 2009 the piano was then delivered to Graham Howes, a piano technician for Buffalo State College.  He installed new strings and ensured that all other aspects of the piano were intact.    

The finished piano is currently located in Rockwell Hall Auditorium.  In 2012 a new 4 million dollar recital hall will have been completed on the third floor of Rockwell Hall.  “The Mason and Hamlin along with other instruments we plan to purchase will service that recital hall,” explained Dr. Bradley Fuster, Buffalo State Music Department chair.

Dr. Bryan Boyce, Assistant Professor of Piano at Buffalo State and a very talented musician, performed a faculty recital on the newly refurbished piano on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

The recital consisted of a variety of classical pieces as well as the world premier of a brand new composition entitled “Redshift” by Jose Tomás Henriques, an Assistant Professor at Buffalo State.

“I chose a program that would show off the wide range of colors and dynamics that the instrument is capable of,” Boyce explained.  He said, “the recital billed as the unveiling of the instrument- as the first one to perform on it.”

Boyce was also very active in the refurbishing of the piano.  “I was certainly the one spearheading this and pushing it to happen,” he said.

Boyce explained what it took to be able to see the project through.  “We fund raised for a year and a half through the 88 Key People Campaign.  That money and the money from the Research Foundation made this all possible,” he said.

There is a plaque located in the lobby outside of the Rockwell Hall Auditorium.  It acknowledges all those who were involved in the refurbishing process.

The students are also excited at the prospect of having a new concert quality piano available to them.  “It helps the department as a whole by giving us better material to work with,” explained Amanda Stallone, a sophomore piano student and music major.

The piano will be available for student concerts, faculty concerts, and guest artist recitals for years to come.  In fact, this past Sunday, Clair Huangci performed an all Chopin piano recital on the refurbished Mason and Hamlin. 

There will certainly be many more wonderful performances in the future that feature this grand piano.

The Buffalo State Music Department is also looking at possibly refurbishing a couple of other grand pianos in the near future.

Ok, so I haven't made a post in over a month- welcome to my life in college.  A friend of mine gave me the idea that while I'm busy at college I could simply post some of the articles that I write for the school newspaper.  I'm gonna post the unedited versions, that way you can really get a sense of what I wanted to say rather than what the paper wanted me to say.  Most of these will probably be music related, however, not all of them, so bear with me.  I hope that this will suffice until I am able to catch up with writing about events such as the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Jason Mraz performance, and the Irish Festival that I recently attended :-).  Anyway, until then, enjoy my campus-related articles.  

The final performance that I would like to describe to you took place on August 15, 2010 from 2-4:30 p.m. at Bayard Cutting Arboretum.  It was an outdoor concert performed by Ahmad Ali and friends.
I have always enjoyed attending concerts at the Arboretum because it is a nice, relaxing atmosphere.  It was a really great day- not too sunny with a little bit of wind to keep it just cool enough.  
I thought the performance itself was also fantastic.  Ali and friends had a very interesting sound that was kind of a cross between jazz and blues styles of music.  It was also nice to hear a few recognizable tunes.  I think it is important for a group that performs mainly covers to mix in some well known songs so that the audience can really participate.  
I enjoyed the music enough to purchase a $5 CD during the performance.  I was kind of disappointed with the CD when I listened to it later because it was much slower paced and very instrumentally based.  Ahmad Ali's very cool blues/jazz voice was a large part of what made his live performance so appealing.  My disappointment may be in part due to the fact that I bought the $5 CD with only 8 songs rather than the $10 one with 12.
CD aside, however, I found the concert to be both fun and entertaining.


So, the decision has been made- I will be attending the Philadelphia Folk Festival.  I will be leaving on thursday and I will try to keep a running set of notes as before.  When I will get to actually posting is a whole other story however, considering that I have 3 days to get ready to leave for school after I return.  I will do my best though, wish me luck :-).

On August 8th, 2010 the DingamaBogs performed at the Bogner/Moore estate on Eatons Neck for a Northport Chorale Benefit Concert.  They are a traditional folk/alternative music group that has been performing together for over 20 years, and two of them just so happen to be my parents :-).  This versatile trio of musicians perform using a variety of instruments including guitar, autoharp, banjo, recorders, clarinet, harmonica, and various others.  Their most distinct quality in my opinion is the unique way that they blend beautiful vocal 3-part harmonies.  Their repertoire consists of a very diverse mixture of songs ranging from traditional folk tunes to The Beatles to more contemporary artists such as R.E.M., Jonatha Brooke, and Tom Waits.
The party itself was a great venue for the DingamaBogs because most of the people seemed to appreciate the kind of music that they played.  The audience consisted of mostly older folk but there was also a somewhat diverse age range.  For some people, this type of music is kind of an acquired taste.  As someone who enjoys folk music, it was refreshing to see people really enjoying the concert and showing their appreciation by offering praise to the musicians at the end.
Over the years, I have listened to a lot of the same songs being performed by them, but I find that they never really get old.  Of all the music that this group could cover- this program really suits them.  For me, it's really nice to hear some new songs being thrown into the mix because it's interesting to see the group's interpretation of each song.  It's also nice to see an already diverse repertoire expanding its horizons even further.
The day was beautiful, the performance was fabulous, and the food was terrific.  All in all it was really a wonderful and successful event.

Okay, I'm gonna back track a little to some concerts that I attended earlier on in the summer.  This is tapping pretty deep in my memory, so bare with me.

On June 29th, 2010 I traveled to the Broadway Bar in Amityville, New York to attend a battle of the bands competition.  It was mainly metal music, which is kind of out of my element, but I actually really enjoyed it.  Some of the stuff was a bit heavy for my taste but there's something nice about having a balance of heavy music in combination with some more lyrical and melodic phrases.  The battle of the bands consisted of about 7 or 8 bands competing for the big win.  I made it to the bar only in time to see the last 3 bands perform.  
The first band was Kristy's Corner Store (http://www.myspace.com/kristyscornerstore).   They were really very good in my opinion, however I would hardly classify them as metal.  They fit more in the rock category.  The lead singer had a wonderful voice and that blended very well the other instruments.  Just coming into the bar not knowing what to expect, I must say that I was impressed by how well they performed.  That doesn't change the fact that I feel as if they really didn't fit in well with the rest of the performing groups.
The second band was an older group of men.  I honestly for the life of me cannot remember the band name.  There is also a definite chance that I never knew the band name to begin with.  Anyway, this band was my least favorite of the three that I saw.  The entire time the lead singer was screaming I kept  feeling like he was gonna bust an artery or something.  Maybe it was just because of how old he was, but I also think that part of it was a pained expression on his face.  On top of that- I didn't find them very enjoyable to listen to.  Granted, metal music is not really a genre that I am very accustomed to listening to and perhaps that is why I found them much too heavy.  For me I want to at least be able to hear that real words are being sung.  It also helps for there to be some kind of melodic organization.
The final group that performed was Psykosis (http://www.myspace.com/walkingplagueband).  This band originates from my neck of the woods and they were the reason that I attended the concert in the first place.  I was very impressed with their performance.  They definitely exemplified my definition of metal.  Their drummer was sublime and apparently picked up on the songs with little to no practice.  The songs had great beats which made them very danceable.  The guitarists were very talented and created a nice melodic base and on occasion I could even hear the words.  Most importantly, Psykosis was the most successful when it came to audience participation.  It probably helped that most of the audience was there specifically to see them.  Whatever the reason, the audience was at their loudest and the most involved during the Psykosis performance.  Many of the audience members also proudly donned Psykosis t-shirts.  Throughout the course of their performance one of the guitar players, JD McGibney, climbed off the stage and began walking around among the audience members while continuing to play.  This allowed the audience to really interact with the performers and feel like they were really a part of the show.  Toward the end of the performance a few of the band members became too hot apparently and stripped themselves of their t-shirts.  
In the end Kristy's Corner Store ended up winning the battle of the bands.  As talented as they were, I had been under the impression that it was supposed to be more of a metal competition than a rock competition.  All in all, however, I really enjoyed the concert.  More than anything else, it allowed me to broaden my horizons a bit and remove myself from my musical comfort zone.

Success! It only took a few months, but I finally finished writing about my first event. I'm not sure what is next on the agenda because I may or may not to attending the Philadelphia Folk Festival that is happening August 20-22 (http://www.pfs.org/PFF.php). Beyond that I have some really great news- I have just received tickets to attend two concerts in Buffalo with my lovely roommate. The first concert will be Jason Mraz performing at SUNYAB Baird Point Amphitheater on September 15th at 7 p.m. (http://jasonmraz.com/#/tour/). The second performance will be Ani Difranco in Asbury Hall at Babeville on November 2nd at 7 p.m. (http://www.righteousbabe.com/tour/index.asp#ani). I cannot wait!

The final performance on Sunday night was the most bland in my opinion. It began at 3:30 p.m. and was MCed by Bill Spence and Roger the Jester. This comic couple made jokes, told stories, and most importantly announced the list of lost and found items. The concert consisted of performances by Joe Hickerson, Tony Barrand, Becky Tracy and Keith Murphy, Alan Kaufman and the A-Ks, Cathy Barton and Dave Para, Susan Trump, and AJ Bodner and Lisa DiSavino. It was hard for me to decide the concert highlight. My parents seemed to particularly enjoy the performance by Tony Barrand. I feel like there was kind of a generational gap in this final performance.

Before the end of the concert the MCs made sure that they took the traditional sleeping audience picture, hoping that everyone would actively (or in this case- inactively) participate. My family and I took our own traditional picture in front of the Old Songs Trailer that was parked within the fair grounds.

Sunday 6/27/10 (3:30 p.m.) Today I promised myself that I would go to a workshop in every time slot possible. It was almost a success, however, I missed the first time slot from 9- 10:30 because we were still eating breakfast at the tent.

- At 10:45 a.m. we went to see the Mime and Juggling stylings of Roger the Jester. We have been going to see Roger since we were little kids and even now that we are older he is still able to make us laugh and put a smile on our face. The children were a bit unruly and they kept telling him to throw things out the window. It came to the point that he just started actually throwing things. It was pretty amusing even from the perspective of a young adult. The thing that really touched me about his performance this year, however, was that at the end of the show he made a speech about the importance of laughter and he got tears in his eyes. We made a point to speak to him after the show and he told us that he was thinking about when he travelled to Haiti. He was able to help these children and adults who had seen such hard times by making them smile or laugh. it must have been an amazing experience for him, and I can see why he would be so affected by it, even now.

- At 12:00 my little sister and I went to visit Buffalo's own Babik again. They were putting on a family show. It turned out to be a little less family oriented than I had expected. There was a bit of audience participation toward the beginning of the performance. The band members asked us to join hand in a circle (a bit difficult being that we were underneath a rectangular tent) and as the music played we danced and rotated the circle. It was less organized than it could've been, but it was fun all the same. The real, however, began when slightly inappropriate things began occurring. It started out innocent enough with the Shaving Cream song. This song is a narrative that alway ends with a SH before the chorus, giving the illusion that the lyrics would include the word SHit. Later on in the workshop, however, Stewart Fuchs made a joke that seemed less than family oriented. His microphone would not stay up so without hesitation he simply stated "This microphone stand need viagra or something." He followed it up by explaining that this is a family show and thats how some family's are made." I couldn't help but laugh at the irony. All in all, a very nice workshop, and it was wonderful to get to see Babik perform one last time.

-At 1:15 we attended a Celtic Soiree in which Matt and Shannon Heaton collaborated with Paul McKenna Band. It was a wonderful combination of Irish and Scottish folk performances. The groups played both separately and in combination with one another. Personally, I really enjoyed the sound of both groups playing together. I was also very impressed by it because it seemed as if it hadn't been rehearsed. If that were the case, with little to no preparation, they had managed to pull off a wonderful performance.

-The last workshop I attended was entitled "The Last Great Contra Dance of the 2010 Festival." I had wanted to dance the entire festival and this would be my last chance. I took turns dancing with my mother and sister and, for whatever reason, I was the man. It turned out great though. I really enjoy dancing, even if it is not my strongest form of artistic expression. Each dance was explained to us and we went through the motions slowly. Then, as we got used to it, the band began to play and we would begin to go faster. After a while I was glad that I had chosen to be the man because that meant that I could lead and go at my own pace. All in all, I don't think that I made too big of a fool of myself. I also really enjoyed getting to know all of the people that were dancing with. Many of them, I was happy to find, were sometimes as oblivious to what what we were doing as I was. At one point during the workshop it began to downpour and everyone clapped and cheered (at this point we were all hot a sweaty). I left feeling hot and sore, but also somehow accomplished.

-After the last dance I returned to the tent to pack it up before going to the concert at 3:45.