vkioulaphides
May-20-2010, 7:45am
Greetings, all.
Last night, my esteemed colleagues and partners-in-crime Steve Antonelli, Bob Rose and I performed at La Mama, an oh-so-artsy-and-hip upstairs loft in New York's East Village. (I do believe that the age-average in the room was, oh... about half of ours. :whistling: ) I don't recall what we had called the group upon inception... was it The MandoGeezers? The MandoKlutzes? The Jurassics? No, wait, now it all comes back... it was in fact the New York Mandolin Ensemble. :)
Our participation was part of the sum total program, as we were followed by a lovely, young Greek oud-player —an electric, phase-modulated, synthesized, MIDI-loaded oud, FYI ;)— plus a modern dance troupe (by coincidence, also led by a young Greek danseuse), a German performance-artist, and several other acts. By a MOST remarkable coincidence, the house manager was also Greek, plus, for the proverbial cherry atop the cake, said oud-player was... a neighbor of mine in Athens! "A synchronistic universe", indeed, as my friend Bob A once put it. I do not recall ever conducting so much of my music-business dealings in my native tongue...
Our group played some C.P.E. Bach, some Haydn, and some Debussy— by far the more "classical" component of the evening's offerings. But of course therein lies the hipness of the entire event, in its pluralism, in its multi-culti all-inclusiveness. I believe we played quite well, if I may say so myself, and added yet another facet to the wonderfully kaleidoscopic experience that this evening must have been for our kind and gentle audience.
Cheers,
Victor
Last night, my esteemed colleagues and partners-in-crime Steve Antonelli, Bob Rose and I performed at La Mama, an oh-so-artsy-and-hip upstairs loft in New York's East Village. (I do believe that the age-average in the room was, oh... about half of ours. :whistling: ) I don't recall what we had called the group upon inception... was it The MandoGeezers? The MandoKlutzes? The Jurassics? No, wait, now it all comes back... it was in fact the New York Mandolin Ensemble. :)
Our participation was part of the sum total program, as we were followed by a lovely, young Greek oud-player —an electric, phase-modulated, synthesized, MIDI-loaded oud, FYI ;)— plus a modern dance troupe (by coincidence, also led by a young Greek danseuse), a German performance-artist, and several other acts. By a MOST remarkable coincidence, the house manager was also Greek, plus, for the proverbial cherry atop the cake, said oud-player was... a neighbor of mine in Athens! "A synchronistic universe", indeed, as my friend Bob A once put it. I do not recall ever conducting so much of my music-business dealings in my native tongue...
Our group played some C.P.E. Bach, some Haydn, and some Debussy— by far the more "classical" component of the evening's offerings. But of course therein lies the hipness of the entire event, in its pluralism, in its multi-culti all-inclusiveness. I believe we played quite well, if I may say so myself, and added yet another facet to the wonderfully kaleidoscopic experience that this evening must have been for our kind and gentle audience.
Cheers,
Victor