MOVING ON from the been and gone

MOVING ON and been and gone

by Norman Warwick                      

Over the last year we have reviewed contemporary dance performance such as Skin To Skin, which looked at how we convey our emotions and we also looked at the flamenco tradition.

photo 1Adriyana We have reported on the site of the grave of Cesar Manrique and other ´Secret Places´ of  photographic locations on the island that provided artist Adriyana Hodge with sites for her remarkable photographs included in her major exhibition of the year. Just as fascinating in their own very different way were the photographs of art capturing science in the photographic exhibition ConSiences by Jacques Honvault.

English readers of Lanzarote Information might also recall that we looked at the sad death of Queen Elizabeth11 and the impact that might have on the arts scene, not only in the UK but also here on Lanzarote and, indeed,  the rest of the world.

As always, we have covered live music events.

The timple being such a staple part of the musical diet here on the island we have, of course delivered a number of articles about the music and players of that instrument. This year has followed a continuing commitment to Canarian music and popular culture, updating the evolution of the Timple, Lanzarote´s most emblematic instrument. 

Tradition and contemporaneity once again strolled hand in hand with the timple as a vehicle; a direct witness to the transit of our roots in these first years of the new millennium.  The best examples of this were songs, carefully chosen, and arranged for the occasion by Manuel Bonino, Carlos Vega, Yul Ballesteros and José Brito at a concert in Jameos del Agua.

In fact, as I look back through my notes, I am reminded that we have covered everything from a night at the ballet to a day on the bus to the belens !

We took a guided tour of the underground theatre at Jameos Del Ague and told you of what we learned and even introduced readers to my own personal muse Lara, in that distanced way way that poets do.

We also reported on our good friend Larry Yaskiel, editor of the quarterly, glossy magazine Lancelot and told you, in an article we were especially proud to carry news, of him being awarded a well-deserved MBE.

After rising to a high level career in the music industry it speaks of how humble he remains, as his autobiography focusses on his time at a nightclub in Germany learning as much as he could about the music industry. Larry, (shown far left, with his lovely wife Liz on the right of the four), went on to become an executive at A &M records and his memories are meticulous of artists such as Peter Frampton Herb Albert who was a founder of the label. Larry speaks fondly these days of so many wonderful artists he came to know very well and always speaks positively about them as talented human beings rather than sharing the shock stories that more interested the media.

Larry and Liz retired here to Lanzarotefar from the madding crowd of the pop music industry but rather than put their feet up they accepted an invitation to create a glossy quarterly magazine, Lancelot, that they still publish today almost forty years later.

We first met Larry at a couple of his book launches (of his memoirs of his days in music and his collection of links between The Canary Islands and The British Isles).We have gradually become good friends over the years and both Dee and i have been struck by the generosity of spirt he and Liz seem to show to everyone and how they each radiate their deliught and pride in the island.

photo 4 festival We not only reported on hearing the readings of some of the island´s best poets in a literary event but we also took part, and then reported on, the inaugural Lanzarote Poetry Festival. We even posted an exclusive in-depth interview with its organiser, Mercedes Minguela. We also delivered an exclusive interview with Claudie, a remarkably eclectic artist, based in Orzola. We visited not only her exhibition in Ermita on Marina Rubicon in Playa Blanca, but also her home studio and the V Fashion Christmas Market in Teguise. We now have several pieces of her exquisite works in our home / office.

Tradition and contemporaneity once again strolled hand in hand with the timple as a vehicle; a direct witness to the transit of our roots in these first years of the new millennium.  The best examples of this were songs, carefully chosen, and arranged for the occasion by Manuel Bonino, Carlos Vega, Yul Ballesteros and José Brito at a concert in Jameos del Agua.

At the beginning of the year we saw the concerts of The Government of the Canary Islands presentation in the 38th Canary Islands Music Festival, in January of 2022, and we can assure you that in the first of month of 2023 we will deliver, to Lanzarote Information, our reviews, for consideration, of the six concerts that comprise the 39^th edition of this prestigious world-class Festival. (rest assured we will also differently editorialise those pieces for Sidetracks in Detours !!)

About sixty concerts, eight great orchestras, outstanding batons, soloists, chamber musicians and scores of all periods will make classical music sound in the Canary Islands from January 12 to February 11, 2023. The International Music Festival of the Canary Islands (FIMC), as every winter for almost four decades, will reach all the islands in a 39th edition marked, above all, by the debut in the Festival of several ensembles and musicians. In addition, the Festival ‘En Paralelo’ returns, with a diverse and complementary program. It will also be the first time for many of the works to be performed: 45% of the repertoire has not been previously presented at the IFCM. And with a golden brooch turned into a wish for peace: the presence in the Canary Islands of the Kiev Symphony Orchestra, with a very special program in a very difficult year for its musicians due to the terrible situation affecting their country. Along with the Ukrainian, the great formations that will visit the islands are the BBC Philharmonic, the Bamberg Symphony, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Scottish Chamber Orchestra, besides, of course, the two resident orchestras: Sinfónica de Tenerife and Filarmónica de Gran Canaria. The return of conductors such as Ton Koopman and Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the debut at the IFCM of world figures such as pianist Daniil Trifonov, are other milestones of the 39th edition.

We will be hearing the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, The Casals Quartet, The Gabrieli Consort and Players, Consannces, EL Afecto Illustrado and a concert called Bewilderment.

Watch this space for reviews over the coming month or so.

Watch this space too for a new regular feature, We´re Gonna Need A Longer Bookshelf, which we will publish weekly throughout the year. Each article will recommend a book about music and musicians, so it might be worth putting up a new bookshelf of, oh, about fifty two books long. Use that new drill the family bought you for Christmas 2022.

Among the most exciting events on the end-of-year calendars arethose that remind us of the new-to-us artists we have met during the prvious twelve months. We have included exlusive interviews with poets Mercedes Minguela and Monste Fillol Finnon, author Tony Brady,  photographic artist Adriyana  Hodge, artist and designer  Claudie and exhibition caretaker and artist Maria Cristine.

It was in jazz music that we ´discovered two great artists: a vocalist and a piano-player. Of course it turned out that the rest of the wordl had known of them for  few years already, but that didn´t in anyway diminish the WOW factor we felt when I first heard the album Moon To Gold (left) by Karla Harris and the Joe Alterman Trio.

Karla has a voice that is at once both as old as time and new as the morning. She can sing any song (Bue Moon is the best example on the album) and transport it and her audience to a different era. Mr. Alterman and his equally talented colleagues on percussion and bass perform similar magic tricks, with Joe echoing, and in so doing making them prominent again, the great piano styles of decades ago.

With major gigs throughout 2023 at well known venues on her Atlanta sea-board already booked, I´m looking forward to hearing more good things about two acts, Karla and Jope and his trio, who not only work so well together but also propel their own individual careers with great energy. If you would like to know more about these artists, check out karla´s own website and remember too that we have now a number of articles about her in our easy to navigate archives of over 800 articles.

So, 2023 promises to be another year of following sidetracks and detours, and where they lead we will follow. We will continue to deliver a mixture of news, interviews, previews and reviews all about the arts from right around the world.  Because we live here it is fair to say we are perhaps slightly Lanzarote-centric but we have a vibrant live arts scene here covering so many disciplines that are deserving of being more widely known.

Having founded all across the arts in the UK when I lived there for six decades until seven years ago, I am so proud of how Steve Cooke and his excellent team of volunteer helpers have so raised the profile of the Rochdale arts scene and reported on not only so many internationally known artists who perform in the area but also report on local artists who deserve to become internationally known.

We have therefore organised a trip around The Canary Islands and Madeira in the Spring to establish networks with other artists, venues and press agencies so that might be able to form a sidetracks and detours spin-off service, perhaps called flights and ferries to art outreaches?

Having said that, we look forward in 2023 to developing an even more international flavour as we develop our contacts and readerships in South Korea, Spain, France, Holland, Norway, New Zealand, Australia, and Vietnam. Of course we will also report a good deal from the USA, where we have growing readerships in Texas, Colorado and Atlanta in particular and up in Canada, too

In fact, we invite you to submit anything arts-related that you would like to share with our readers from wherever you live in the world. Use Word documents and jpegs to deliver your story and a  brief bio and photographs to complement your story if you have them and a photograph of yourself, too, so we can fully attribute the piece when we publish. Just send your e mail with attachments to

normanwarwick55@gmail.com

Thank you to all our readers for your support and to the three excellent listing agencies Jazz In Reading. Ribble Valley Jazz And Blues and Music That´s Going Places for their news from the UK jazz scene.

We are also grateful for the support we receive from radio presenter   AJ the DJ at Monster radio fm who presents chatty magazine programmes with great guests and even greater music.

We are especially grateful to our jazz correspondent Alan Lawless and to Graham Marshall of the Rochdale Music Society who allows us to reproduce his articles about the classical music concerts promoted by the Society as well as his own occasional writings on other subjects such as The Rochdale Light Orchestra.

We should also thank Steve Cooke (left) who allows us share his  all across the arts summaries (now on line as well as in print in The Rochdale Observer) on our pages too and Seamus Kelly who offers his One Artist´s View from a blog of the same name and who also allows sidetracks and detours to share that view with you.  

The above are all excellent sites and writers we encourage our readers to visit, but please buy a return ticket and come back to us won´t you? Paste on-line, and American Songwriter superbly cover the American(a) music we love here in the office and there are on line sites like Jazzfuel that deliver fantastic services fro jazz lovers.

So that just about concludes the first post of the new year. Who knows which directions our sidetracks and detours will take in 2023 ? Wherever we travel, however, we know there will be live arts and a constant radio presence from our favourite stations of the likes of Monster fm radio, Hot Biscuits mix cloud, Ribble fm and the increasingly reliable playlists on Boom Radio

Meanwhile we pass on New Year best wishes from our friends  at Hot Biscuits Jazz mix-cloud presentation to all our listners and readers. Gary Heywood-Everett and Steve Bewick start 2023 with a suggestion of Arlette Hovinga with a feature of Martin Listabarth‘s Dedication for solo piano lovers. Also included is music from Django Reinhardt, Saskia Nyx, The Unlikely Descent. The programme will will close with a lively and funky piece from Chris Doherty. If this looks interesting, share the link below with your friends and join them 24/07 at Steve Bewick’s Shows | Mix cloud

Our cover photograph at the top of our page shows our undercover researches DCI Detours and Superintendent Sidetracks next to Dutton The Button (our photographer and my wife) and me (Norman Warwick) climbi9ng into our spacecraft s to see where we might land in 2023.

Wherever we land we look forward to sharing with you whatever we might find and we hope to report many more times in the next twelve months on colour and sound and exciting times on the arts around the world, so  Happy New Year !

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