From: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org (ecto-digest) To: ecto-digest@smoe.org Subject: ecto-digest V9 #91 Reply-To: ecto@smoe.org Sender: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-ecto-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk ecto-digest Thursday, April 3 2003 Volume 09 : Number 091 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: House concerts (was:Re: Vienna Teng at the Freight) [Neal Copperman <] eleni mandell [adamk@zoom.co.uk] no foolin' [Steve VanDevender ] Re: eleni mandell [AzeemAK@aol.com] Subject: House concerts [Noe Venable ] Re: eleni mandell ["neal copperman" ] Re: eleni mandell ["Bill" ] RE: Subject: House concerts ["Phillip Hudson" ] dar on conan [meredith ] Re: dar on conan ["Sherlyn Koo" ] new Kim Fox coming! [Jeff Wasilko ] Pre-Happy Ecto ["Bill Adler" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 00:02:17 -0700 From: Neal Copperman Subject: Re: House concerts (was:Re: Vienna Teng at the Freight) At 3:27 PM -0800 4/1/03, kitty kat wrote: >On Tue, 1 Apr 2003, meredith wrote: > >> If you were to move furniture around, how many people could you fit in your >> living room (or finished basement, or whatever)? We can just about fit 25 >> in here, with the ability to spill over into the adjacent dining room > >Are all of those in chairs, or do you have a mixture of chairs and floor? >I'm pretty sure I could fit 4-5 rows of 5 chairs, and then some couches >down the side, with room for the stage area, and also the same spillover >dining room area. Plus, for that matter, the stairs leading upstairs would >directly face the stage, allowing for some limited tiered seating. That >sounds sufficiently comparable to your setup to put my mind at ease >(yippee!). The only thing that really matters is that you let the artists know precisely what you have to offer. You should figure out how many people you can cram into your space and work from there. No matter how small your space, you will undoubtedly be able to host some artists. Whether you can host the artists you WANT is another question :) It's also a really good idea to have a plan for how to fill those spaces! There are lots of on-line resources for hosting house concerts. I think if you start at houseconcerts.com and go from there you'll probably stumble across them. There are a few people here who have hosted shows, either regularly or as one-offs. There is also a yahoogroups house concerts list, so if you want to join that you can ask lots of questions there. Jeff Hanson and I will be hosting our 43rd house concert tomorrow with Kate McDonnell. Should be fun. Good luck, neal np: Terry Farmer - Terry Farmer ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 08:35:20 +0100 From: adamk@zoom.co.uk Subject: eleni mandell Sitting in the 12 Bar Club the other Saturday, having a coffee and a general chill, I started listening to the music they were playing over the stereo and got interested. Hard to describe -- kind of warped jazz/folk stuff, with upright bass, spoken passages...I asked the waitress who it was, and she said Eleni Mandell. I've looked her up on the net, where she has her own website. Anyone heard any of her stuff? What do they make of it? adam k. np: Cousteau/Sirena nr: The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa - ------------------------------------------------ This mail sent through http://webmail.zoom.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 23:46:02 -0800 From: Steve VanDevender Subject: no foolin' I just got back from a unique and remarkable performance by Mah Damba, Yungchen Lhamo, and Susan McKeown at the WOW Hall here in Eugene. Each performed vocal music from their native countries a capella, usually individually, and all together for a few songs. Mah Damba from Mali was perhaps the most enigmatic performer. Her few remarks were in French, and her songs in African languages, acknowledging applause with just "merci" or "merci beaucoup". Susan McKeown provided an explanation of one of Mah Damba's songs that they all performed together, but otherwise not much background was provided about what she sang (unless you know some French, I guess). Susan performed a variety of Irish and Scottish songs, most in Gaelic, and I think only a couple were ones you would have heard at her shows or on her albums (one song she did she said is on _Lowlands_). This is definitely a different way to see Susan if you have seen her before with the Chanting House or Johnny Cunningham, and still a great introduction if you haven't. I remember hearing mention of Yungchen Lhamo before on Ecto. She was a truly marvelous performer, with a pure, high voice like that of a more otherworldly Kate Bush or a more sublime Lisa Gerrard. Her remarks before her songs were extremely soft-spoken, slightly halting but very charming. She also managed to coax the audience with gentle encouragement into singing backing vocals during a couple of her songs. I overheard that Eugene was their second stop in their tour which started in Seattle. I don't know where they're going next or how many other places they are performaing, but Ectophiles everywhere should be on the lookout for this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I _have_ to find out what happened on tonight's episode of _24_ which I had to tape. It's one of the few items of must-see TV I have left besides _Alias_ and the remaining unaired episodes of _Futurama_. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 09:29:54 EST From: AzeemAK@aol.com Subject: Re: eleni mandell In a message dated 02/04/2003 08:37:04 GMT Daylight Time, adamk@zoom.co.uk writes: << Sitting in the 12 Bar Club the other Saturday, having a coffee and a general chill, I started listening to the music they were playing over the stereo and got interested. Hard to describe -- kind of warped jazz/folk stuff, with upright bass, spoken passages...I asked the waitress who it was, and she said Eleni Mandell. I've looked her up on the net, where she has her own website. Anyone heard any of her stuff? What do they make of it? >> Yea, yea and thrice yea! She's terrific, and very original. Do you know she played the 12 Bar last year - and I didn't make it :-( I bought Wishbone a couple of years ago, purely on spec, as I'd never heard of her. The album was going for a quid in a second hand shop and I thought she looked interesting - yes, on such hunches are founded lifelong devotions (I wouldn't have discovered Caroline Lavelle otherwise, or even Joni Mitchell, stretching a point a bit...). Anyway, it's a bracing listen, full of unusual sounds and unexpected, angular song structures. There's a dash of mid-period Tom Waits in there in the arrangements, and a hint of PJ Harvey in her very flexible voice. Eleni sounds like completely her own woman, and the songs are very good. I've since acquired Thrill, which is also excellent. I just hope she makes it back to Blighty soon. Azeem in London NP: Wishbone (title song) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 09:39:32 -0800 From: Noe Venable Subject: Subject: House concerts >Are all of those in chairs, or do you have a mixture of chairs and floor? >I'm pretty sure I could fit 4-5 rows of 5 chairs, and then some couches >down the side, with room for the stage area, and also the same spillover >dining room area. Plus, for that matter, the stairs leading upstairs would >directly face the stage, allowing for some limited tiered seating. That >sounds sufficiently comparable to your setup to put my mind at ease >(yippee!). Noe chimes in: Hey Kat-- We offered our house too. I play Happy so often that the walls and floors already know every note, and I am just so excited that she might actually come here in the flesh! I just wanted to say-- I've played a number of house concerts, but I only started hosting them about six months ago, and I'm so glad I did. We have a really big living room in the house we live in now, but I've seen and played at house concerts in tiny spaces and had it be wonderful. We usually have a few couches but most people sit on the floor, that seems to be the way to fit the most people. Some people bring their own pillows to sit on. We make it cozy, light the whole place with christmas lights and candles, and that really does wonders in terms of creating a mood where good things can happen. I think the most important thing is the energy of the people who come. And there's another wonderful effect of having a house concert, and that is afterwards, when all the people have gone, and the room is just sort of humming from the music and people. It is difficult to explain, but a number of friends who do house concerts have said similar things. On the best nights, it feels like the space has been transformed, like you've all just shared some kind of totally wonderful and transcendent experience and the ghost of it lingers on... sounds like your space will be great! :) - --Noe ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 18:59:42 -0000 From: "neal copperman" Subject: Re: eleni mandell AzeemAK@aol.com said: > In a message dated 02/04/2003 08:37:04 GMT Daylight Time, adamk@zoom.co.uk > writes: > > << Sitting in the 12 Bar Club the other Saturday, having a coffee and a > general chill, I started listening to the music they were playing over the > stereo and got interested. Hard to describe -- kind of warped jazz/folk > stuff, with upright bass, spoken passages... I'm happy that I can now picture that perfectly, having visited the 12 Bar Club when I was in London :) > Yea, yea and thrice yea! She's terrific, and very original. Do you know > she played the 12 Bar last year - and I didn't make it :-( Thanks for the recommendations. I checked out her web site and her music sounds great. I'm eager to see her now. She'll be in Portland tomorrow if anyone up there cares. And then back to Europe. A couple of London dates look like they are being worked out, as well as a lot of other places. neal ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 12:07:20 -0700 From: "Bill" Subject: Re: eleni mandell I am very intrigued by her music, and would like to listen to samples from her albums before "Country". But, I do not have the RealAudio player (and do not wish to get it). Might someone be able to send me some samples in either WMF format, or MP3 format? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks. - - Bill G. np: Eleni Mandell (off the pop-up applette on her Web site) nr: um... you got me there ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2003 12:41:30 -0800 From: "Phillip Hudson" Subject: RE: Subject: House concerts Noe's remarks about the energy that remains after a house concert are right on the mark. After Vienna and Terami played here, the whole place felt transformed. So many wonderful people came in and focused on two other wonderful peoples' songs for a few hours. The traffic and street noises all went unnoticed, and the whole place was just "'*sPaRkLinG*"' for days afterwards. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys having their spirits lifted. Phil PS: If you live in an apartment or condo complex, you might want to check and see if any common areas can be used for a concert. I've lived in three places where they had a decent-sized community room that also could be booked by tenants for private functions. Or if you want to think bigger, things like local community halls or church halls can often be rented for under $100.00. The whole process is pretty painless, and it's quite surprising how many people you can get to show up if you do it properly. I've done quite a few of these small-hall-type gigs, so email me offline if anyone wants more info. I'm hoping as many Ectos as possible are going to pull out all the stops on getting Happy to play their hometowns. Either way, just get good damage insurance, because you know she's going to blow the roof off wherever she plays. And don't tire her out too much for the West Coast tour. Phil ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 19:11:38 -0500 From: meredith Subject: dar on conan Hi, Did anyone catch Dar Williams on Conan O'Brien last night? (Our TiVo did... :) Once again, she looked and sounded absolutely terrified. (But as woj pointed out, she was wearing jeans!! When has *that* ever happened (well, since she graduated from college, anyway ;)?!) Does anyone know if the band she had with her is her current touring band? I knew Julie Wolf was on the new album, so I wasn't surprised to see her there, but I wonder if Mike Visceglia was playing bass just because he lives in town, or if this is his current gig? Sadly, it's telling that I got Dar's new CD on the same day as I got Patty Larkin's new one _Red=Luck_, and I've listened to Larkin's album at least 10 times at work, but haven't been inspired to put Dar's back in the player after the one initial listen. Not sure if I'd be motivated to go see her on the current tour, but if I had a shot at a seat with a good view of Julie Wolf maybe I'd consider it. ;) =============================================== Meredith Tarr New Haven, CT USA mailto:meth@smoe.org http://www.smoe.org/meth =============================================== Live At The House O'Muzak House Concert Series http://muzak.smoe.org NEXT UP: Sloan Wainwright, 4/13 =============================================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 20:15:52 -0500 From: "Sherlyn Koo" Subject: Re: dar on conan Hey all, Meth said: >Sadly, it's telling that I got Dar's new CD on the same day as I got Patty >Larkin's new one _Red=Luck_, and I've listened to Larkin's album at least >10 times at work, but haven't been inspired to put Dar's back in the player >after the one initial listen. While Patty Larkin's new album is definitely great (I think "Birmingham" is my fave song at the moment, after about 5 listens), you should definitely listen to "The Beauty of the Rain" again. I'm getting used to the pattern with Dar's albums - nothing really jumps out at me on the first listen, but every time after that more and more details appear, until after about spin #3 I'm obsessed to the point that I listen to nothing else for a month or so. It's a highly worthwhile album which has a high chance of being my #1 for this year. BTW Philip Pullman fans may like to try "The Glasswright's Apprentice" by Mindy L. Klasky - very impressive... - -sherlyn - -- Sherlyn Koo | sherlyn@pixelopolis.com | Sydney, Australia - -- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 22:26:35 -0500 From: Jeff Wasilko Subject: new Kim Fox coming! Check out http://www.kim-fox.com/ Kim Fox (who's debut Moon Hut is still one of my long-term favorites) has a new CD coming out soon! - -j ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 23:25:06 -0500 From: "Bill Adler" Subject: Pre-Happy Ecto What about your favorite pre-Happy Ecto music? I haven't posted to the list for a while, but I have been listening to music and some of that music comes from years ago. Two musicians who squarely fit into the Ecto crowd and who I've been listening to lately are Lori Lieberman and Judee Sill. Lori Lieberman (www.lorilieberman.com) is a folk-pop singer from the 70's who recently graced the music world with a new CD: Monterey. It's a terrific CD, as are Lori Lieberman's earlier creations. Her early albums, alas, are available only on vinyl. Track them down through Google or anywhere you can. Lori Lieberman's albums make getting a new turntable needle worthwhile. But if you can't find her older works (and even if you can), put Monterey on your shopping list. Lori Lieberman's voice is one of the loveliest I've ever heard. Her voice has a richness and purity that is warm and comforting. She sings about love and longing, and many of her songs will awaken old, fond feelings. Lori Lieberman is a bit of Dar Williams and Eva Cassidy with a touch of Eleanor McEvoy mixed in. Though comparisons are never quite accurate, they're a place to start. A confession: Back in the late 70's I listened to Lori Lieberman's albums more than I played the Rolling Stones. Her albums Boston, Becoming, and A Piece of Time evoked a lot of feeling back then and they still do today. I'm just glad that Lori Lieberman is still making music. On to Judee Sill. I was rummaging through my old albums a few months ago and came across Judee Sill's Heart Food album, which I hadn't heard in a long time. The first thing I did after listening through the cracks and pops on the album was to see if there was a CD version of Heartfood. Well there was. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's a rare CD and acquiring it busted my eBay budget for the year. Judee Sill has been compared to Joni Mitchell -- and for good reason. He lyrics are complex, her voice and melodies enthralling and harmonious. Judee Sill, a 70's folk singer, was a former heroin addict who died young -- some say an overdose, others that Judee Sill committed suicide. Judee Sill ran away from home when she was 15, after her father and brother died. To say that her songs are involved and filled with symbolism would be an understatement. Take the song "The Phoenix" for example, which begins: "The sun was red, and the fires were roaring / Stars aligned and the webs were spun. / I coulda sworn I heard my spirit soarin / Guess I'm always chasin' the sun, / Hoping we will soon be one / Until it turns around to me / Then I try to run..." Potent stuff that's even better with the music. The Judee Sill fan site, http://www.kneeling.co.uk/pages/jsill/default.asp, has lyrics and links to MP3s. Or track down an original Judee Sill LP or CD. Both Judee Sill and Lori Lieberman write their own songs. That's more that I had originally planned to write -- I was just going to name two of my favorite pre-Happy Ecto musicians. But that's what happens when you start talking about music you love. So anyone else have any known or less-known pre-Happy musicians they can reveal? - --Bill n.p. Emile Autumn, Enchant ------------------------------ End of ecto-digest V9 #91 *************************