Stephanie Bettman and Luke Halpin

www.stephaniebettman.com

MIM:  Accomplished singer/songwriter and fiddle player, Stephanie Bettman has earned praise from both her audiences and critics for her captivating performances and soulful lyrics.  In her critically acclaimed 2008 debut album Get Close to Me, Bettman combined bluegrass and jazz elements with expressive ballads and upbeat melodies.

Greats such as Merle Haggard, the Steve Miller Band, and Lone Star have welcomed the gifts of the multi-instrument and powerful vocalist Luke Halpin.  His mastery of the fiddle, banjo, guitar, and mandolin, as well as his ability as a singer/sonwriter, makes Halpin an impressive young talent.

Soaring harmonies and folksy rhythms characterize this skilled duo.  Bettman and Halpin have toured together since 2008 and have enjoyed success as an ensemble.  Their 2010 album It All Comes Back to Love has received extensive radio play and critical acclaim.

This concert can be described nothing short of ‘sweet’.  The sugariness of their multiple love songs was pleasant and welcome at first, boring and nauseating at the end.  I enjoyed their style and likeability – I only wish there had been more variety in their presentation and song selection.

Overall, the musicality of the evening was superb.  Stephanie can play a great fiddle and their harmonies were impressive.  A major glitch to the evening was a faulty microphone at the beginning of the concert that caused a lot of angst on stage.  Stephanie was able to adapt and they soon worked the kinks out.

I enjoyed the show but overtime the memories of it have faded, the impressions of it lost.  I remember one big ball of love songs.  It was all pleasant but not particularly awe-inspiring.

Heidi Swedberg and the Sukey Jump Band

www.sukeyjumpmusic.com

MIM:  Firm believers in music as “an important part of the human soul”, Swedberg and her band encourage the audience to strum and sing along, and discover new ways to connect with their own musical talents.

Given a ukulele when still a young girl, Swedberg learned to play and enjoy the instrument in her room in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  She picked it up again while auditioning for roles in Hollywood.  A successful actress in movies and television, Swedberg now plays and teaches ukulele full-time.  In 2009, she collaborated with her husband John Bartlit, old pal Daniel Ward, and other friends and family to create the award-winning album Play, geared toward teaching children to play the ukulele with exuberant and easy-to-master songs.

Another MIM first for us today:  ELAYNA’S FIRST CONCERT.  Aaron and I brought E as the show was geared towards children and most of the songs were good folk classics.  The band was playful and colorfully costumed and they kept the energy up throughout the entire show.  Elayna enjoyed the music for the first half and then was a little bored – we ended up letting her dance in the back and she LOVED it.

At intermission, the MIM loaned ukulele’s to the audience and hosted a good sing-along for the second half.  Unfortunately, there was little to no instruction about how to actually play so most of the audience sat with their ukulele’s on their laps…  But it was still a fun idea.

It was a fun and cheerful show – a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Susan McKeown

MIM:  Richly expressive tone and perceptive lyrics make Dublin native Susan McKeown one of the most striking and impressive composer-singers today.  McKeown walks the line between traditional Irish melodies and contemporary music.

McKeown’s songwriting abilities earned her a reputation for intelligent and inventive lyrics.  She drew from the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Irish legends, and various other literary and cultural sources to create a versatile and engaging style.

Tonight was a special occasion:  I didn’t usher but instead brought Aaron to a performance so we could enjoy as guests!  It was refreshing to sit-back and especially to be able to show Aaron what I do on a regular basis.

Susan began the concert very reminisent of Allison Krauss – her first few songs were lyrical and catchy and beautifully sung.  She only brought 2 accompanists and we were both impressed by the depth of sound from 2 instruments.  My favorite song was an Irish traditional song remastered and gorgeously sung.  Likewise, we also enjoyed her last few songs.  She sung a lovely Gaelic hymn and several folk songs that were very engaging.

However, the middle of the concert fell apart for us.  Ms McKeown has drawn inspiration from a fleet of depressed poets and authors and her songs swung to an unhappy, melodramatic side.  She does have a skill for song writing, but we both had a difficult time connecting to her music. 

Although I had hoped Aaron’s first experience would be phenomenal, I think he enjoyed the show.  I hope he was happy with the experience.

Battlefield Band

www.battlefieldband.co.uk

MIM:  Under its banner “Forward with Scotland’s Past", Battlefield Band has been performing on the international scene for four decades, inspired by its members’ rich heritage of Celtic music and fired by the strength of the modern Scottish cultural scene.  The band, which pioneered the integration of bagpipes with the fiddle, keyboards, guitar, and voice, mixes the old songs and tunes with new self-penned material, playing them on a unique fusion of ancient and modern instruments including bagpipes, fiddles, guitars, cittern, bass, keyboards, whistles, and bouzouki.

This band has truly become a “gold standard” for measuring Celtic music.  Over the years, new members have brought with them new ideas, new music, new instruments, and new attitudes and influences, leading to continued creativity, freshness, and enthusiasm.  After forty years, Battlefield Band still leads the way for Scottish music, always involving its ever-widening audience as the band travels the world.

This concert can best be summarized as just fun.  The band was engaging and incredible and who doesn’t love a good bagpipe?

I honestly loved the show and nearly everything about it.  The musicianship of all four artists was incredible.  The Gaelic lyrics, the dueling bagpipes, the interesting melodies were all intriguing.  And their Scottish accents and combinations of multiple instruments was truly unique.  I would absolutely see this band again; in fact, I would actually pay to see this band again!  A great show!

Flavio Chamis: “Tones of Nature”

MIM:  “All of my work was inspired by the Atlantic Forest”  This statement by bossa nova -founder Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994) summarizes the profound relationship with nature that influenced this seminal force in Brazilian music and its lies in the center of the extraordinary 1994 documentary Vision of Paradise, directed by Oscar nominee Walter Salles.

The “Tones of Nature” program, led by Brazilian composer Flavio Chamis, spotlights Jobim’s ecological opus, featuring Jobim’s works alongside original compositions and excerpts from the film. 

I’m not a huge lover of jazz.  And although this show was samba, jazz’s latin cousin, I still wondered at my wisdom for signing up for the show.  I did, however, enjoy myself.  The beats were catching and danceable, the musicians enjoyed their craft, and there was obviously a love for Brazilian music and culture. 

The second half of the show was dedicated to Jobim and was a beautiful tribute to his music and his love of the rainforests of Brazil.  They showed 2 portions of film that helped tie you to his music and truly understand that area of the world.  The birds, the forest, the coast-line of his homeland is beautiful and worth saving.

Celebrate China: Chengdu Performing Arts Showcase

www.phoenixsistercities.org

This was strange performance:  11 different artists mixing classical instruments, magic, dance, and twangy-Chinese song.  Overall, this was a fun sampling of Chinese musical culture and an interesting evening.

I enjoyed the dancers the most and was highly impressed by the different styles and stories the women were able to portray.  A youth group from Chandler stole the show with their “Impression of the Wa Mountain” – a lively dance with hair and hands and acrobatics.  The Sichuan Opera Face Changing was also impressive; two men were able to almost instantaneously change their masks with a magical and exaggerated aesthetic. 

The singing was my least favorite, a highpitched, twangy Chinese sound without much appeal to my Westernized ears.  The woman were highly regarded and very talented – but they each performed at least one song too long.

I enjoyed the variety of the show while disliking the lack of flow or transitions.  This was a group of individual artists thrown together into one show seemingly at random.  But I enjoyed the exposure to this unique city.

Rupa & the April Fishes

www.theaprilfishes.com

MIM:  Coming from the land of earthquakes, social movements, social networking, peace-lovers, and global corporate conglomerates, Rupa & the April Fishes embody the pluralistic and paradoxical sounds of the San Francisco Bay area.

Inspired by street music and ethos of public art around the world, physician and bandleader Rupa started composing music in multiple languages in order to investigate the idea that what runs beneath the apparent differences is something deeper:  our intrinsic need for human connection and shared celebratory experience.  She found in drummer Aaron Kierbel a longtime creative counterpart who provides the essential heartbeat to the sonic adventures and, together with the rest of the band, they are creating music that is bridging divides and pointing to the value of life and living music – in all its force and delicacy.

It’s safe to say I didn’t know what to expect from this concert – and even safer to say I don’t know how to summarize it afterwards.  Rupa and the April Fishes were an energenic and eclectic band.  A force entirely unique and entirely of their own. 

The band played a wide selection of original songs – everything from sea shanties to hippy rock to reggae to Indian jazz.   It was enthralling to see a trumpet, bass, and cello collaborate on such a strange repertoire of songs.  Rupa was the glue for the group – leading the songs, engaging the crowd, directing the solos, and singing in multiple languages.  She was intriguing and obviously brilliant.

I’ll honestly admit I didn’t agree with or even comprehend many of the messages of her songs.  I don’t even know if I would attend another show again.  But the band was fun and memorable and I appreciate their freedom.