Photo: Nadine Targiel

Bonn Jazzfest is now over but Jazz and Summer are staples of life in Bonn thankfully, and will continue to be for many years to come through the work of the Bonn Youth Jazz Orchestra (Jugend Jazz Orchester Bonn).

Now in it’s fourth year the Orchestra is holding it’s yearly concert in Bonn on Sunday (11 June) at the LVR-Landesmuseum in Colmantstrasse.

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Lots of good songs and good humour to finish the lightning Bonn tour of Italy’s finest Dos Equis.  With the dynamic duo playing at Zones Blues Bar on Maxstrasse it’s no surprise that Blues was  very much a part of the set at Zone Blues Bar in Max Strasse.  Lots to enjoy too though for fans of other music as Paolo and Charley Gave us soulful renditions of ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay’ and ‘When a man loves a woman’ as well as some Country highlights such as ‘Ring of Fire’ and ‘Solitary Man’.  Even a smattering of Harry Belafonte courtesy of ‘Kingston Town’ and Italian titles that I didn’t recognize but can report were sung and heard with gusto by band and audience respectively.  As befitting an establishment known for it’s collection the ‘hat’ was replaced by a whiskey carton and hopefully stuffed full of large notes by the time it returned to the two men playing for us.  I suspect not – but if it’s any small consolation for their efforts, money can’t buy evenings like this.

I can’t imagine there could be a smaller venue playing live music than this one.  Show starts at 8pm and even the owner isn’t there until 7.59pm.  Difficult to get a drink during the break because the bar takes a break then too.  Excellent beer though and as the song goes: ‘If the river was whiskey’… Maxstrasse 2a would be it’s home address.  Owner Martin Linder quotes Robbie Burns on the website to avoid any confusion over the importance of whiskey to a safe living:

“Wi tippenny (twopenny beer), we fear nae (no) evil,
Wi usquabae (Gaelic for whisky), we’ll face the Devil.”
Tam O’Shanter von Robert Burns

To stay up to date and make sure of one of the dozen or so precious seats check out the Zone Blues Bar website

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS

Good to see that the Kunst!Garten, little sister of the Kunst!Rasen, is open again for a cool beer/glass of wine by the pond.

I caught Saturday’s show by Bonn’s  ‘progternative’ Hard Rockers  New Day Dawn.  Hard Rock on a sunny day next to a childrens bouncy castle isn’t the ideal location and the ‘pond’ is in urgent need of a clean out.  Neither were the band’s fault though and they did their level best to deliver a solid performance.  Lots more coming to this little venue over the coming weeks though so check the Kunst!Garten Facebook site for updates.

More photos of the band HERE

Proof if proof were needed that Bonn Folk Club is a true survivor was very much in evidence on Friday.  The evening originally planned with Helsinki’s Juhana Iivonen as guest became, following illness, a singers night ‘with possible surprise guest’.  The visit last month by WDR Lokalzeit television to Dotty’s Sportsbar led to a 25 second advert on Thursday night directing anyone wishing to play or simply listen to – Haus Mullestümpe where the club hasn’t been for months.  Theme of the evening was ‘Seas & Oceans’ but should have been ‘Survival’.  Oh, and if things couldn’t get any worse, I was booked to close the evening…

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Paolo Pacifico holds the Bonn Folk Club record for appearing with the most acts as a support musician in one night.  He is also quite a distinguished musician back in his home Country of Italy,  having played for almost twenty years with Charley Deanesi. They have played more than five-hundred gigs together as an acoustic duo, opening for legends like The Blues Brothers, Dr. John, and B.B. King…  The next few days are a rare chance to catch Paolo and Charley  as the duo Dos Equis on their  ‘NoDayOff Pfingst Bonn Tour 2017’.

After Friday saw the dynamic duo packing in two shows – including a short but enjoyable set at Bonn Folk Club (see picture above) – there are tw dates left:
Sa 03 June THE FIDDLERS in Endenich
So 04 June ZONE BLUES BAR in Altstadt

If you want more info about Paolo check out the interview he did for 3songsbonn recently HERE

or give the video below a click!

There was sad news for all lovers of great American rock music this week with the death of Gregg Allman.  The last time a German audience got to see Allman was actually at the now defunct Museumsplatz here in Bonn.  In the previous year he had undergone a liver transplant and hopes were high of a full recovery.  Bonn was set to be just the first date of Allman’s 2011 German tour, but sadly turned out to be the last after a lung infection meant the cancellation of remaining gigs in Munich, Nürnberg, Tuttlingen and a festival in Burg-Herzberg.

For non-german speaking readers  HERE is my review of that classic evening – also featuring Krissy Matthews, and co-starring Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks.  For german speakers and Allman fans, I recommend an excellent article from Spiegel Online HERE

Give your favourite Allman Brothers disc a spin in his honour…