Mikec
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 195
- Location
- Buckinghamshire, UK
We had a very serendipitous day yesterday. We went up to London for a touristy day, ended up at teh South Bank in the Royal Festival Hall where there was a weekend of Polish music starring Nigel Kennedy (the violinist of "Four Seasons" and bad haircuts fame). I enquired gingerly what the ticket prices were and was amazed to find there were £11 tickets left for a 3 pm concert billed as "Nigel Kennedy's Chopin Super Group" plus guests. They are a combination of Kennedy's quintet, classical musicians and Polish jazz players. The format was that they played a Chopin piece in "normal" classical style and then reinterpreted it. Firstly, hearing Kennedy play any Chopin is a real treat, as, in my opinion, he is one of those musicians who reaches in through your ears, removes your soul, caresses it, and puts it back enhanced. I bought a CD of his some years ago when he was just branching out from pure classical laying and wasn't much impressed, but I have now completely changed my mind. It was a fantastic gig ranging from achingly beautiful, to spine-tingling, to blow-your-ears-off exciting. They climaxed with the famous Polonaise in A flat which they did as a heavy rock number which Led Zeppelin would have been happy with.
Musicians:
Nigel Kennedy, violin; Mateusz Pospieszalski, producer/arranger; Anna Maria Jopek, vocals/arranger; Janus Olejniczak, piano; Robert Majewski, trumpet; Sebastian Karpiet-Butecka, violin,bagpipes and Slovakian flute; Doug Boyle, guitar; Piotr Wylezot, keyboards; Adam Kowalewski, bass; Krysztof Dziedzic, drums; Tomas Grzegorski, tenor sax. There were three unnamed string players from the Orchestra of Life, another Kennedy project.
Musicians:
Nigel Kennedy, violin; Mateusz Pospieszalski, producer/arranger; Anna Maria Jopek, vocals/arranger; Janus Olejniczak, piano; Robert Majewski, trumpet; Sebastian Karpiet-Butecka, violin,bagpipes and Slovakian flute; Doug Boyle, guitar; Piotr Wylezot, keyboards; Adam Kowalewski, bass; Krysztof Dziedzic, drums; Tomas Grzegorski, tenor sax. There were three unnamed string players from the Orchestra of Life, another Kennedy project.