5 March offers a chance to enjoy some live music from the Bundeskunsthalle’s exhibition of Max Klinger, where Klinger’s Monumental sculpture of Beethoven takes current pride of place.
RIP The Ice Cream Man – Chris Barber
R.I.P. Jazz legend Chris Barber. The celebrated Jazz trombonist died on 2 March aged 90. One of the ‘three B’ greats of trombone alongside Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball, Barber will be remembered beyond his instrumental abilities. His involvement in bringing some of the early legends of popular music to the UK was pivotal to Pop’s evolution, as he brought names like Sister Rosette Tharpe, Muddy Waters and Bill Broonzy to young 50s audiences containing eager listeners who themselves would go on to make Britain the Pop Music Kingdom of the ’60s. Bands like The Stones, Beatles and even Hard Rockers like led Zeppelin.
Town I Loved So Well – Sebastian Landwehr
Here’s one for all Folk fans missing the monthly meets at Dotty’s in Bonn.
Sebastian Landwehr is a regular at the Club and proves with his version of The Dubliners ‘Town I Loved So Well’ here that he has a feeling for traditional Irish Folk.
If you like would like to hear more from the excellent Sebastian, give his YouTube video a thumb up and maybe even subscribe to his video channel.
R.I.P. Chick Corea
Award-winning Jazz musician Chick Corea has died at the age of 79.
Corea’s career spanned five decades, and he was the fourth most-nominated artist in the Grammy Awards history with 65 nominations (from which he won 23 times. Corea died on 9 February from a recently discovered rare form of Cancer, but his music is destined to survive him for a very long time. Particularly his ground-breaking work with Miles Davis in the ’60’s and with his band ‘Return to Forever.
My picture was taken at a memorable concert at Bonn Kunst!Rasen with Stanley Clarke in 2014.
Remembering Gary Moore
“If people want to compare me they can but for me, no one will ever compare to him. Not me, not anyone”
These were the words of Jack Moore, son of Gary Moore when I interviewed him in 2012. Today, Exactly 10 years after Gary Moore’s death, let’s celebrate the man and his Les Paul as he would have wanted – with his music. ‘Parisienne Walkways’ was written by Thin Lizzy Commander Phil Lynott of course. Parris was the name of Lynott’s father, so it seems a song destined to be a Lynott classic. After all, only Phil would dream of getting away with rhyming ‘Cafes‘ with ‘Photograph’. But then Gary Moore took the guitar part – and in doing so, took ownership of the whole song…
One of the best Rock/Blues guitarists I’ve ever had the honour to catch live. I remember at Hammersmith Odeon in the ’80’s waiting in (forlorn) hope to see Gary and Phil perform this very song. Phil didn’t make an appearance. I remember too seeing Gary with Thin Lizzy on the Black Rose tour. It was the time of Punk Music, and Gary’s outfit for the show was suitably safety pinned. I was literally blown away by how he rattled off with ease so many Irish classics at the end of the track ‘Black Rose’ with such seeming ease. Later, I caught an appearance at the Museumsplatz here in Bonn where his instinctive feel for playing blues was evident in abundance.
Jump forward to 2017. I’m sitting in the beer garden at the Harmonie in Bonn. At the table behind me are Pete Rees and Vic Martin from the Gary Moore Band. German Blues guitarist Henrik Freischlader is playing a Gary Moore special concert. He remembers how much of an inspiration Gary Moore was to him:
“When I started playing guitar, I was really trying to copy him because I wanted to learn how to play the instrument. I was just sitting in my room and I couldn’t play like notes or chords. I had no idea, and had never been taught by anyone. I learnt just by listening to great people – and of course the first one was Gary. I sat in my room as a teenager trying to copy every lick that I heard.
It was never my plan to copy anything (on the ‘Blues for Gary‘ record) because, exactly what Jack said, nobody can really compare to the man himself. Also, it’s like, it begins in the heart, in the soul, and then in the fingers. Everything else comes way after”
A fitting description of Gary Moore’s contribution to Blues Rock Music.
New Jin Jim Video
Proof that great music from Bonn travels the World. Local Prog-Jazz heroes Jin Jim have just released this video of the instrumental 7x7x7 from their 2019 ‘Konzert in Concepción’ appearance in Chile.
Clara Clasen Livestream from Brotfabrik
Local concert fans will have seen Clara Clasen on one of the many Bonn/Cologne stages in the last couple of years.
You can be sure though that Clara will put on a memorable Live Stream Concert on Friday (29 Jan) There will also be a chance to win CD’s and merchandise packages from the lady herself. Tune in and find out how on the night.
Clara Clasen is the founder of a small but energetic acoustic rock company based in Bonn. Her work is characterised by her strong voice and exciting songwriting, which utilizes influences from blues, punk and pop. Most of the time she can be found with her acoustic guitar, but sometimes she also ventures out on ukulele or piano. In 2018, her first studio album with a band arrangement, “Sugar & Morphine”, saw the light of day. June 2020 saw the acoustic release ‘Cyanide & Cream’ so listen out from some tracks from these – and if you like the show, head over to Clara’s website for new merchandise – T-shirt fans, Summer is just around the corner (and up the road a bit…)
WHERE: Brotfabrik Bühne Bonn and Clara Clasen
WHEN: Online: HERE IS THE CONCERT LINK
Friday at 8 PM UTC+01
PRICE: Free
WHO: Anyone on or off Facebook
It seems like a mighty long way until October, but here’s a good reason for hanging on in there – Russ Ballard has just been added to the calender of concerts late this year at the Harmonie in Bonn on 1 October.