City Daily Photo Theme Day - Music

Had to do a bit of dumpster diving to find something for this theme day. This is my ticket stub from The Beatles second concert at the old Shea Stadium in New York, August 23, 1966. My sister and I went. The stadium was just a few stops down the Number 7 train line in Queens, where we lived. It would have been just before the start of my senior year of high school.

I remember some things about it. Mary Beth and I arrived early. The stands were already full of mostly 12 and 13 year old girls, screaming non-stop at the top of their lungs. Nothing was happening yet. And then there were the Beatles themselves on a stage behind second base. Couldn't see them very well but I remember the singing: yeah, yeah, yeah.    

The Blues

No, nothing to do with the hockey team, which has been quite successful in the first round of the playoffs.

There was a blues band playing in the new extension of the Arch grounds. This man was easily the most visually interesting. He is playing a harmonica, a blues harp in musical terms. The sounds he could make were quite amazing.         

Diva

Across the room from yesterday's pictures this mezzo was letting it fly. She was what some opera reviewers call a force of nature. (You get the point.) I'm sorry that I didn't get her name.

It doesn't come naturally for Westerners to sing over didgeridoo improvisations. The two artists mostly went their own ways but it somehow worked together.

The Band

The entertainment after the Marysville High reunion was the Blue River Ramblers, named for the stream that runs by the town. Not a thing about them online so my guess is that they are just a pick-up group. There seemed to be chronic technical problems and Elvira needed to go home so we didn't get to hear them play.

They were diverse by Kansas standards. The guitar player had a face like the proverbial five miles of bad road and eyes that hadn't smiled in years. The singer-keyboard player looked and sounded like George Beverly Shea, Billy Graham's gospel music singer. The drummer was doing the Duck Dynasty look. Wish we could have stayed to hear their style.             

Look At Me

No pictures of Denver yet. From what I've seen so far, downtown is bigger and more modern than The Lou and full of really boring architecture.

So I dug this up from an event at Union Station a few weeks ago. The entertainers are on something of a bridge at the far end of the old train hall, looking down at the audience. The singer really wanted to attract attention and he succeeded.

The guitar player's hat say BRONX on the front. He don't know from The Bronx, as we used to say. I went to high school in The Bronx. I could tell him something.                

Some Concert Pix

I don't know of anyone on CDP who does concert photography as well as my friend Olivier in Evry, France. (An example here.) I don't get to many performances where you can take pictures (the St. Louis Symphony, where we usually hang out, doesn't permit it). But Grovefest had a stage at one end of Manchester Avenue, happily facing southwest, where I stopped at the end of the afternoon. I don't remember the name of the group but they were terrific.

And hey, this week is the Gateway Arch's 50th anniversary! There's a party today in Kiener Plaza. Mrs. C, Emily, Madeleine and I will be attending.                      

A Last Visit With The Music Students

Some final shots of the music students. The first one got the most views of the set on Flickr (where there are several more - link in the right sidebar). We needed to have an ensemble shot, too.

The school is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Youth.  If you read some Spanish (you can machine translate, of course) and care to look, there is information about Costa Rica's national music education program here. Pretty cool.

While I was shooting, one of the young violinists started playing the Ode to Joy. I began to sing along in the original German: Freude, schöner Götterfunken . . .  She gave me the most puzzled look and then, as I persisted in my low-quality baritone, the biggest smile. That's why I love to travel.      

Music Students 2

A commenter yesterday mentioned that the students looked so serious. Well, not completely. Besides, it is not possible tor a trombone to be serious, ever.

I think Blogger must be messing with its photo algorithm again. All my blog pictures are linked to originals on Flickr, where the color looks a lot better. You can click any of these photos to go to the Flickr version if you care to.

Really sorry I haven't made any comments while we've been away. We get up a little late, diddle through breakfast, go do something, come back to the condo, I edit pictures and edit pictures and edit pictures. We go out to dinner and come home full and sleepy. Cold St. Louis should get me going again.

Music Students In Liberia

Liberia is the provincial capital of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The international airport is there. The center of town has an old fort that is currently being used a a music school for the equivalent of junior high and high school students.

I asked our guide if the students would let me take some pictures. All of them were delighted to get in front of the lens. Some lovely candid portraits were the result. 

There are many more to edit. I have some kind of Tico tummy bug and spent most of yesterday in bed, now sleeping, now editing. Hope to get more done on the plane today.

Music In The Air

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When I met Chris Burchett last weekend (see last Tuesday's post) he was jamming with his friend William, a flute player. He's more of a jazz guy. The sweet metal tones of his instrument were carried on the wind through the nearby areas of Forest Park. It was delightful to hear the two of them out in a public park on a mild winter day.

Be sure to come back Saturday and Sunday for gun weekend on STL DPB.

There's a job opportunity today on Downtown St. Louis 365.

An Artist's Hands

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I am amazed at people who can play a musical instrument really well. It takes a degree of physical coordination and accuracy I can't comprehend. Way back when, I studied both violin and piano. Good ear, bad hands. On the piano, I could not make my fingers on the left and right sides do different things at the same time. Then, thank heaven, CDs were invented.

Chris Burchett's hands danced over his guitar strings. It was fascinating to watch them while listening to his music.

It's a nice afternoon on Downtown St. Louis 365.

Cool Sound, Hot Day

.A member of the East St. Louis High School band plays on the grounds of the new overlook opposite the Arch. The photo was edited to emphasize the heat. It sure has been hot and very humid here. Welcome to summer in The Lou. Come Monday we'll be somewhere cooler, more about which soon.