This week I saw three great live music acts. The first was Maria Schneider and her orchestra at the Purchase College Performing Arts center. Maria is a jazz composer - the concert consisted of only her original compositions, and I haven't heard anything like it before. The tunes evoked so much pure emotion that I just sat there dumbfounded. Her music is much more melodic and harmonically complex than much of the modern jazz I've heard recently, and thus very unique - she had a strong beautiful voice that shone brightly in each work. (By the way, the drummer - who's name I do not remember this instant - was OUTSTANDING.)
Next, I saw Wagner's Das Rheingold at the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday afternoon. This blew me away. I had seen Die Walkure the second opera in Wagner's Ring Cycle last year and I had loved it, but Rheingold was even better. The singing was incredible, even better than usual, and all the actors sang and played their rolls convincingly. Additionally, the sets, effects, and costumes would have made Peter Jackson green with envy. A stunning event, significantly more amazing than simply listening to a recording of the opera at home.
Finally, on Monday night, I saw saxophonist Walt Weiskopf play with a group of excellent jazz musicians (John Hart, guitar; Bill Moring, bass; John Richmond, saxophone; Eliot Zigmund, drums) at the Turning Point Cafe in Peirmont, NY. This show was lots of fun - great jazz in a intimate pub/bar/cafe setting in a great little neighborhood on the Hudson river with the second best French onion soup I've ever had (and I've had a lot). (Incidentally, the best was at a place in Rochester called Hogan's Hideaway - go there if you have a chance.)
Anyway, all of this made me think more about a career I had never really thought about seriously before - live sound. I don't really like live sound much, but that's because I have always thought about it in the context of rock concerts and large stadium/festival venues, but now I'm giving it some more thought.
Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/bastet/
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