From: owner-jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org (jangle-poets-digest) To: jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org Subject: jangle-poets-digest V9 #57 Reply-To: jangle-poets@smoe.org Sender: owner-jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jangle-poets-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jangle-poets-digest Monday, May 28 2007 Volume 09 : Number 057 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [JP] NYC Shakespeare - free - (NNC) [Rozettj@aol.com] [JP] Strangelings Part 2 of 3 - The New Strangelings [Nieldsforever@aol.c] [JP] Strangelings Part 3 of 3 - Of Strangelings, Stringbusters, and other things [Nieldsforeve] [JP] Strangelings Part 1 of 3 - Guthrie Center 5/25/07 [Nieldsforever@aol] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 26 May 2007 17:17:50 EDT From: Rozettj@aol.com Subject: [JP] NYC Shakespeare - free - (NNC) if you are anywhere near NYC on the following dates - if you are north for clearwater, for example - here is a neat and FREE event in NYC put on by the NY Classical Theater. it is held in central park - out of doors - and the actors move from location to location as the scenes change. lots of fun. since i will not be going to clearwater this year, i will be going on the 17th. but if you are in the area the thursday or friday before, this is a fun thing to do. john r Love's Labour's Lost by William Shakespeare Boys swear off love in pursuit of knowledge. Boys meet girls. Watch how quickly boys' oaths are forgotten in favor of other more "earthly pursuits." Shakespeare's lush romantic comedy roams through Central Park, but with a twist! Central Park at West 103rd Street and Central Park West Open rehearsals: May 3-30 (in Central Park, times vary) Performances: Thursday through Sunday, May 31-June 24 at 7:00 pm Children's Workshops (FREE): June 16, 17, 23 & 24 at 5:00 pm (parents required) Check out the Kennedys' Official Home Page: http://www.KennedysMusic.com/ Fab photos, the Official tour diary, dashboard Buddha haiku, groovy merchandise...what more could you ask for? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 May 2007 20:10:01 EDT From: Nieldsforever@aol.com Subject: [JP] Strangelings Part 2 of 3 - The New Strangelings In Part 1 of 3, "Guthrie Center 5/25/07," I alluded to the ongoing evolution-in-progress of the Strangelings in terms of repertoire, instrumentation, and personnel. There are 2 new Strangelings, Rebecca Hall (vocals and guitar) and Ken Anderson (vocals and bass). Their website is _www.rebeccaandken.com_ (http://www.rebeccaandken.com) . Rebecca's lead vocals and harmony vocals are way different than those of the Strangeling she was replacing, Meredith Thompson, who is away on maternity leave. Meredith sings in a higher soprano, like her sister Chris, whereas Rebecca sings in a lower, more sonorous contralto register. She told me she originally tried to learn Meredith's harmony parts, perhaps based on tapes of previous shows, but gave up trying when she realized that her much lower voice would fit the songs better in her own way. It really made a big difference! Now instead of 3 sopranos (Maura, Chris, Meredith), the Strangelings are SSA (soprano, soprano, alto - Maura, Chris, Rebecca). And Rebecca contributed 3 original songs to the Strangelings mix -- "Hard Way to Learn," "Man of Poor Fortune," and "Sculptor's Song." In addition, Ken lent welcome support on much-needed bass, giving the Strangelings a whole new sound altogether, different as night and day. I had mentioned to Pete after the Acoustic Cafe show that the extreme treble twanginess of the 2 sitars really cried out for a bass to round out the sound, especially on the more rocking numbers, "Matty Groves," "Season of the Witch," and "The Coo Coo." With an eye to the future, P&M subsequently dialed up 2 new Strangelings Rebecca and Ken -- and voila! -- instant kickass bass and a way-different vocalist to help shore up the ever-evolving Strangelings sound. Maura said after the show that this new fivesome really felt like a band, as opposed to past Kennedys touring bands that were put together for Life Is Large and Evolver, both of which felt more like having sidemen or "hired hands," rather than a band. Rebecca and Ken are a perfect fit for the Strangelings! But personnel hasn't been the only thing that's been evolving. At the Guthrie Center, Chris played flute for the first time ever on "Sculptor's Song" and "White Bird." I was joking with Rebecca and Ken before the show that it took not just 2 but 3 people to replace Meredith -- Rebecca, Ken, *and* Chris on flute! :-) Pete spent most of the show sitting behind the other 4 musicians at a drum set, where he somehow managed to alternate between drumming duties and playing ukelele and electric sitar. I've become accustomed to Pete's being upfront and center all of the time with TK, but with the Strangelings, he's opted to lay low and mostly take a back seat to 3 lovely ladies singing ethereal 3-part harmonies to die for! :-) It made Pete's occasional forays to the front of the stage to whip off one amazing solo after another, much more dramatic! When Pete would venture out from the back where he was perched at the drumset (a 4th Strangeling replacement for Meredith's percussion, no doubt, meaning it takes not just 3 but 4 people to replace her), and rip into one of his ripping sitar or uke solos, the effect was really electrifying -- kind of like a samurai warrior suddenly popping out of a foxhole, where he'd been lying in wait to attack! :-) Maura played glockenspiel for the first time ever too, on "Sculptor's Song." All of these unaccustomed instrumental roles (Chris on flute, Pete on percussion, Maura on glockenspiel) reminded me a lot of the Nields' "Play Era Breaking Out All Over" complete makeover at the 3/14/98 NW Park Windsor show, where Katryna played guitar, Dave Chalfant played standup bass and lap steel, and David Nields played saxophone and bass. The show where I first met Cone Head! :-) The Strangelings busted out 2 new musicians, 3 new instruments, and 3 new songs! The new Strangelings were so different than the old Strangelings, I told Pete and Ken after the show that they should rename the band the New Strangelings -- like the New Seekers, who did "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"! :-) Next - Part 3 of 3 - "Of Strangelings, Stringbusters, and Other Things." Bruce Check out the Kennedys' Official Home Page: http://www.KennedysMusic.com/ Fab photos, the Official tour diary, dashboard Buddha haiku, groovy merchandise...what more could you ask for? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 May 2007 20:10:18 EDT From: Nieldsforever@aol.com Subject: [JP] Strangelings Part 3 of 3 - Of Strangelings, Stringbusters, and other things What more could possibly be said after Part 1 - "Guthrie Center 5/25" and Part 2 - "The New Strangelings"? It's that the Kennedys are finding one way after another of reinventing themselves in amazing new ways. They already have the immense and impressive Kennedys repertoire, as represented in the albums River of Fallen Stars, Life Is Large, Angel Fire, Evolver, Positively Live!, Get It Right, Stand, Half a Million Miles, and Songs of the Open Road. Now TK have not just one but two new side projects, the Strangelings and the Stringbusters. Their currently unadvertised special, the Stringbusters CD, available at shows, sounds nothing at all like anything TK have done so far. I don't see why the Stringbusters couldn't be a successful cottage industry of TK from now on, giving P&M a chance to do a completely different style of music, all the while recharging their batteries and allowing future Kennedys material time to percolate. And there seems to be no limit to TK's creativity, for Pete has hinted at a future electric sitar album too, one that wouldn't fit either the Kennedys or the Stringbusters persona. So they might need a whole 'nother name besides, for that one! How about the Ravi Shankars? :-) And as for the Strangelings, it appears that the wheels have now been set in motion for the band to go into the studio for a Strangelings CD, sometime in early June. Will the Strangelings CD be available in time for the merch tent at FRFF in late July? One can keep one's hobbit's toes and fingers crossed, and hope! Lucky stars, don't fail me now! :-) Bruce Check out the Kennedys' Official Home Page: http://www.KennedysMusic.com/ Fab photos, the Official tour diary, dashboard Buddha haiku, groovy merchandise...what more could you ask for? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 May 2007 20:09:43 EDT From: Nieldsforever@aol.com Subject: [JP] Strangelings Part 1 of 3 - Guthrie Center 5/25/07 Friday night at the Guthrie Center, the Strangelings delivered their most potent outing yet, surpassing by leaps, bounds, and light years their previous shows at PACE, Acoustic Cafe, and Club Passim. Ironically, I used to call virtually the same group of performers the Evolutionary Ensemble, when it was TK, Cadence, and C&M, 1/10/04 at the Mozaic Room in Avon MA. The Strangelings have thus far truly been an Evolutionary Ensemble, evolving right before my eyes from show to show, in terms of repertoire, instrumentation, and personnel. Much more on this in Part 2 of 3, "The New Strangelings." Let me say this, however. When Anne Saunders booked the Strangelings for Saturday night at Falcon Ridge after the Acoustic Cafe show, I was both thrilled and grateful, yet a little apprehensive too, hoping that the Strangelings would not disappoint, but would be able to turn it up a notch to rise to the occasion of the mainstage of the festival. Suffice it to say, whatever worries I may have harbored about that have been completely dispelled as of last night. At the Guthrie Center, the Strangelings totally kicked ass, kicking out the jams, revving up the engines into a higher gear, and roaring into cruise control, all the while showing depths of wonder and delight I hadn't even dreamed of from them, not even when I saw their immense potential at their 3 previous shows. In short, the Saturday night mainstage appearance by the Strangelings at this year's Falcon Ridge will be something simply not to be missed -- no way, no how! Here's what they played last night -- Nuah Tanglewood Tree Didn't It Rain Hard Way to Learn Wildest Sea Wayfaring Stranger A Soalin' Matty Groves Man of Poor Fortune Air Anna & the Magic Gown Sirens - incorporating Rhapsody in Blue Nuah reprise The Mountain Johnny Come Down to Hilo Scarborough Fair / Canticle Season of the Witch Sculptor's Song The Coo Coo White Bird (encore) That was it for the Strangelings' planned 2 sets and encore, but the small but exuberant audience at the Guthrie Center was still on its feet and literally crying out for more. Hours earlier, after the band had run through both sets in preparation for the show, I had suggested that they be prepared to do a second encore, as a nod to the really amazing vibe at the Guthrie Center -- namely, "Stand," whose "Allah Buddha Yahweh Jesus Brahma" refrain was almost perfectly mirrored, figure for figure, in interfaith images at a little shrinelike display up in the balcony at the back of the performing space. When I requested "Stand" at that time, Maura seemed reluctant to do it because it wasn't a Strangelings number per se. But when it finally came down to the crowd raising a ruckus for a second encore after the show, sure enough, the Strangelings reached back for one more and delivered a memorable "Stand," in a place where it really felt like standing on holy ground. Everyone was standing and singing along, and one Strangelings-loving fool even went up into the balcony holding a lit candle aloft and swaying to the rhythm. Talk about your storybook ending to a really magical evening! Next - Part 2 of 3 - "The New Strangelings." Bruce Check out the Kennedys' Official Home Page: http://www.KennedysMusic.com/ Fab photos, the Official tour diary, dashboard Buddha haiku, groovy merchandise...what more could you ask for? ------------------------------ End of jangle-poets-digest V9 #57 *********************************