SUTS 2010 volume II
So I'm doing a two-fer blog for both last night's John Williams concert and tonight's Piano Men concert. Why? BECAUSE I CAN.
John Williams is pretty much the man. And that's about all I can tell you (which is also why I'm doing a two-fer blog because this one would've been pretty short). I feel like I summed it up last night in my tweet which said:
John Williams = greatest hits of film music. #yegsuts tonight = greatest hits of John Williams. So, greatest of the greatest? I think so!
I mean... it would be pretty hard to argue that there has been a more influential film composer than John Williams. The guy has a career that spans over 60 years. And he's still going strong! That is amazing to me. When I was younger, I wanted to do film scoring, and I totally wanted to be John Williams. But every aspiring young film composer has that very same dream... :)
Also? TOTALLY cried when the ESO played "Anakin's Theme" from Star Wars 1. Just has the little hint of the "Imperial March" in it, like we're in on this sad little secret and Anakin has NO idea what the rest of his life's going to be like! And John Williams made me feel all that with like, three notes...
Tonight's show was the Piano Men concert, featuring the music of Elton John and Billy Joel, as performed by Jeff Witter and his band, with the ESO, of course. In all honesty, this is not the kind of concert I'd ever go to - the ESO always programs each night of the festival to be like one of their concert series during the year, and this was most definitely a Pops series. I don't go to the Pops, it's not usually my thing. BUT, I always go to the whole weekend of Symphony under the Sky, including the Pops, and sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised by it, as I was tonight.
I always go to the Symphony under the Sky with my mom, and most times it's me telling her what's going on with the music. On some occasions, like tonight's show, she's the one telling me about the music. I mean, I'm familiar with Elton John and Billy Joel (I am a pianist!) but mom was in high school when this stuff was being heard for the first time - she's got a much deeper connection to it than I do. She mentioned that one of her favourite songs when it first came out was "The Piano Man", and her friends didn't like it because it was too weird - they liked the Top 40 disco tunes. And now, it's proven to have stood the test of time, and other music that was popular at the time (disco!!) has kind of fallen by the wayside. It just makes me wonder what's going to happen to the music we're listening to today in 40 years... who's going to stand the test of time? Whose music is going to be covered and written into a touring symphony Pops show for all the new blue-hairs (me!) to go listen to and re-live their youth for an evening? I was listening to The Strombo Show on the drive home from Hawrelak Park and Strombo was playing a hip hop track. It had strings in it. Some cheeky arranger could make that into a symphonic score. Will the ESO have "The Greatest Hits of Eminem and 50 Cent" on the stage of the Winspear in 40 years? We'll have to wait and seeeeee!
Jeff Witter was pretty awesome, actually. I enjoyed his playing, and his singing. He wasn't trying to be either Elton John or Billy Joel vocally, but he wasn't trying to change the songs too much either - his arrangements (done by his bass player, actually!) were pretty faithful to the originals. A good mix. I actually heard a little bit of Neil Diamond in his voice - I could totally see him doing a Neil Diamond tribute show. He mentioned that he was working on a Simon and Garfunkel tribute show, and I'd be interested to see how he manages to pull that off. I don't think he's got the vocal quality that those guys do, but he clearly may go on to surprise me. I hope he does. I like Simon and Garfunkel! I might actually go to a regular-season Pops concert to see that.
Oh and SPEAKING of his arranging bass player, that's SO a gig I'd want to have. Play an instrument and backup vocals in a band, and do all the orchestral arrangements? I'm all over it! I'm seriously just waiting for the day when my BFF Tiff hires me on as her touring music director... ;)
Tomorrow there will be CANNONS. Seriously. CANNONS. Can't wait! See you then.
John Williams is pretty much the man. And that's about all I can tell you (which is also why I'm doing a two-fer blog because this one would've been pretty short). I feel like I summed it up last night in my tweet which said:
John Williams = greatest hits of film music. #yegsuts tonight = greatest hits of John Williams. So, greatest of the greatest? I think so!
I mean... it would be pretty hard to argue that there has been a more influential film composer than John Williams. The guy has a career that spans over 60 years. And he's still going strong! That is amazing to me. When I was younger, I wanted to do film scoring, and I totally wanted to be John Williams. But every aspiring young film composer has that very same dream... :)
Also? TOTALLY cried when the ESO played "Anakin's Theme" from Star Wars 1. Just has the little hint of the "Imperial March" in it, like we're in on this sad little secret and Anakin has NO idea what the rest of his life's going to be like! And John Williams made me feel all that with like, three notes...
Tonight's show was the Piano Men concert, featuring the music of Elton John and Billy Joel, as performed by Jeff Witter and his band, with the ESO, of course. In all honesty, this is not the kind of concert I'd ever go to - the ESO always programs each night of the festival to be like one of their concert series during the year, and this was most definitely a Pops series. I don't go to the Pops, it's not usually my thing. BUT, I always go to the whole weekend of Symphony under the Sky, including the Pops, and sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised by it, as I was tonight.
I always go to the Symphony under the Sky with my mom, and most times it's me telling her what's going on with the music. On some occasions, like tonight's show, she's the one telling me about the music. I mean, I'm familiar with Elton John and Billy Joel (I am a pianist!) but mom was in high school when this stuff was being heard for the first time - she's got a much deeper connection to it than I do. She mentioned that one of her favourite songs when it first came out was "The Piano Man", and her friends didn't like it because it was too weird - they liked the Top 40 disco tunes. And now, it's proven to have stood the test of time, and other music that was popular at the time (disco!!) has kind of fallen by the wayside. It just makes me wonder what's going to happen to the music we're listening to today in 40 years... who's going to stand the test of time? Whose music is going to be covered and written into a touring symphony Pops show for all the new blue-hairs (me!) to go listen to and re-live their youth for an evening? I was listening to The Strombo Show on the drive home from Hawrelak Park and Strombo was playing a hip hop track. It had strings in it. Some cheeky arranger could make that into a symphonic score. Will the ESO have "The Greatest Hits of Eminem and 50 Cent" on the stage of the Winspear in 40 years? We'll have to wait and seeeeee!
Jeff Witter was pretty awesome, actually. I enjoyed his playing, and his singing. He wasn't trying to be either Elton John or Billy Joel vocally, but he wasn't trying to change the songs too much either - his arrangements (done by his bass player, actually!) were pretty faithful to the originals. A good mix. I actually heard a little bit of Neil Diamond in his voice - I could totally see him doing a Neil Diamond tribute show. He mentioned that he was working on a Simon and Garfunkel tribute show, and I'd be interested to see how he manages to pull that off. I don't think he's got the vocal quality that those guys do, but he clearly may go on to surprise me. I hope he does. I like Simon and Garfunkel! I might actually go to a regular-season Pops concert to see that.
Oh and SPEAKING of his arranging bass player, that's SO a gig I'd want to have. Play an instrument and backup vocals in a band, and do all the orchestral arrangements? I'm all over it! I'm seriously just waiting for the day when my BFF Tiff hires me on as her touring music director... ;)
Tomorrow there will be CANNONS. Seriously. CANNONS. Can't wait! See you then.