Hell Week - the morning after, Part 1
Santa Fe is an old, old city. Before it became the hideously expensive, chi-chi arts center it is today it was a wilderness fort, it was the Palace of the Governors, it was a trading center for various Pueblo tribes, it was the scene of conflict and commerce dating back to the 11th Century A.D.
This is Fiesta Week in Santa Fe. I had no idea! I mean... I knew, but I certainly didn't know what this is all about: it's like the Rose Parade and the Superbowl and Mardi Gras all in one. They reinact various customs and moments in history without much context - burning Zozobra (a 50 ft statue intended to represent "gloom"), today there will be a parade: floats, marching bands, horsemen - Conquistadores and indian slaves, cowboys and indians, trappers and soldiers and indians. Mostly they party.
Okay - I am not naive - I AM oblivious! This is the very week I scheduled to produce my concert in Santa Fe. I can't say that I wasn't warned - Santa Feans emailed ahead to say that traffic is hell, so we slipped into town the back way, unscathed. The editor of the Red Earth collection (the centerpiece of the concert) just left town for the week and would not be at the concert. The music critic gave us a great write-up in the paper, then I think he left town, too.
So we had a small and very appreciative audience - it was mostly people we knew personally, or people who were escaping the revelry down on the town square: about 60 ever-lovin' souls. And what they said (afterward) was they loved it.
On stage, though, we were sweating! Pros or not, we needed more time to rehearse. Problem is - if we'd had more time, more people would have to miss more rehearsals and the result would probably be the same - good, capable but not quite gelled yet. Ben got it right: we had six years of Impromptu in Atlanta not just to learn music but to learn EACH OTHER - to become a real tight-knit group. And I wouldn't say we really knew each other - people would come and go - the group would change a little, but together we grew IN THE MUSIC. We recorded, we performed, we just sat around my dining room table and sang.
This new group is so capable and musical and we have a great sound.
This new music is wonderful - some of the best stuff I've ever written!
This director is so into the music and so well prepared and she really seems to love this music.
Everybody really does know and like the music
-- and someday soon we'll know each other as well and we can relax and roll with the punches and enjoy ourselves in the music.
But first - we have to get ready for another performance tonight. This time in Albuquerque - no Fiesta, just the State Fair week.
No sound files for you today. COME TO THE CONCERT! 7:30 at the Cathedral Church of St. John, corner of 3rd and Silver in Albu-quack-quack. If you can't make it - you can send your donations to Santa Fe Music Works, P.O. box 23198, Santa Fe, NM 87502. No kidding!
This is Fiesta Week in Santa Fe. I had no idea! I mean... I knew, but I certainly didn't know what this is all about: it's like the Rose Parade and the Superbowl and Mardi Gras all in one. They reinact various customs and moments in history without much context - burning Zozobra (a 50 ft statue intended to represent "gloom"), today there will be a parade: floats, marching bands, horsemen - Conquistadores and indian slaves, cowboys and indians, trappers and soldiers and indians. Mostly they party.
Okay - I am not naive - I AM oblivious! This is the very week I scheduled to produce my concert in Santa Fe. I can't say that I wasn't warned - Santa Feans emailed ahead to say that traffic is hell, so we slipped into town the back way, unscathed. The editor of the Red Earth collection (the centerpiece of the concert) just left town for the week and would not be at the concert. The music critic gave us a great write-up in the paper, then I think he left town, too.
So we had a small and very appreciative audience - it was mostly people we knew personally, or people who were escaping the revelry down on the town square: about 60 ever-lovin' souls. And what they said (afterward) was they loved it.
On stage, though, we were sweating! Pros or not, we needed more time to rehearse. Problem is - if we'd had more time, more people would have to miss more rehearsals and the result would probably be the same - good, capable but not quite gelled yet. Ben got it right: we had six years of Impromptu in Atlanta not just to learn music but to learn EACH OTHER - to become a real tight-knit group. And I wouldn't say we really knew each other - people would come and go - the group would change a little, but together we grew IN THE MUSIC. We recorded, we performed, we just sat around my dining room table and sang.
This new group is so capable and musical and we have a great sound.
This new music is wonderful - some of the best stuff I've ever written!
This director is so into the music and so well prepared and she really seems to love this music.
Everybody really does know and like the music
-- and someday soon we'll know each other as well and we can relax and roll with the punches and enjoy ourselves in the music.
But first - we have to get ready for another performance tonight. This time in Albuquerque - no Fiesta, just the State Fair week.
No sound files for you today. COME TO THE CONCERT! 7:30 at the Cathedral Church of St. John, corner of 3rd and Silver in Albu-quack-quack. If you can't make it - you can send your donations to Santa Fe Music Works, P.O. box 23198, Santa Fe, NM 87502. No kidding!
posted by M. L. Place Badarak | 7:02 AM
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