be.news
On the 6th, 14th, 20th and 27th of October, the Café Central (rue Borgval, 14)will be showing silent movies accompanied by a musician (free entrance). The first one is Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" with Jozef Dumoulin on his Fender Rhodes + 3 pedals set-up. I haven't seen "Metropolis" yet, so I'll probably be going (it'll help pass the time on the last evening before the Queen returns).
Other musicians slated to appear include Antoine Prawerman on clarinet and Tuur Florizoone on accordeon.
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Jef Neve's new album will be released in November. I guess I already know most of the repertory from concerts, but I'm still anxious to hear it.
Saw him last friday playing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" in Mechelen, as soloist for a military orchestra. The best part was a long, unaccompanied, improvised passage in the middle. You could see Neve's demeanour change immediately, smiling and digging in while looking for the next note, but always staying within the bounds of the composition. The crowd picked up on his mood too. I wondered what the 1920s audiences made of it. It sounds a little cheesy today.
Among the other pieces performed was Stravinsky's "Petroushka." Can't say it did much for me: the nursery rhyme melodies got annoying, except for some cool bits were they were set against dark low-register motifs in a different meter.
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How many young composers do you know? Personally, none, until I met Bram Van Camp (1980) at the concert mentioned above. Jef highly recommended hearing his music, which I will be doing if Bram sends me an e-mail about an upcoming performance by the Syrinx Ensemble on the 13th, like he promised.
ADDENDUM: Got the info
Wednesday 13th of October at 8 PM
The Syrinx Ensemble will be performing 'Hidden Facts' (2004)
@ Gemeenschapscentrum De Maalbeek, Hoornstraat 97, 1040 Etterbeek
Tickets: Tel.: 02/733 07 04 or 02/734 84 43
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Minor gnawa music explosion on the Igloo label. After Maak Spirit's excellent Al Majmaa with Gnawa Express comes Majid Bekkas's new album. Listening to the first few tracks reveals it to be more tradition-oriented than Maak Spirit's take, but just as entrancing in its call-and-response.
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