{"id":731,"date":"2019-12-31T08:45:15","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T08:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=731"},"modified":"2019-12-31T08:45:17","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T08:45:17","slug":"news-previews-interviews-and-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2019\/12\/31\/news-previews-interviews-and-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"NEWS, PREVIEWS, INTERVIEWS AND REVIEWS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GOSPEL, PERCUSSION, CLASSICAL,<\/strong> CHORAL AND STARRY SKIES<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latonius & The Faith Theory in\nArrecife<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

La Tempestad in Arrecife<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mijail Saprychev, classical pianist at\nEl Grifo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miguel Aguearralde, book  launch, in Arrecife<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alborada Ladies Choir<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vocal Siete + support in Haria<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What made Milwaukee famous will not be\nlost on Rod Stewart fans but the area now has a further claim to fame as the\nbirthplace of another major artist who was then raised in Los Angeles. Both his\nparents were singers so Latonius enjoyed a musical childhood and adolescence.\nFrom an early age, jazz, pop, R&B, gospel and classical music were a\nconstant soundtrack of his life. These styles have influenced his entire\ncareer, in which he has had the opportunity to share the stage with several\nother legends of gospel music as well as with major mainstream stars like Sarah\nVaughan and Al Jarreau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After living for a long period in\nHamburg and touring Europe for several years, Latonius settled on the island of\nTenerife in 2015. He then formed and launched the choir, Latonius & The\nPraise Theory. From its stage debut the outfit immediately captured the\nattention of the public with a combination of strength, expressiveness and\nvulnerability, showing the full spectrum of human emotions through the\nexceptional voice of Latonius, supported by his powerful personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Its cool to sit at the piano and\ncreate a song nobody has ever heard before,\u00b4 Latonius tells us. \u00b4My goal as an\nartist is, and always has always been, to make people feel music, because music\ntriggers emotion. Whether I\u00b4m teaching a music workshop or singing in front of\nthousands of people, I believe my music and my voice is healing for the mind\nand soul of all people willing to listen.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist born Tony Jermaine Earl in\n1981 released his debut album, Say Yes, in 2013 and five years later he\nreleased another album, Home, on his own label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armed with this information we should\nnot have been surprised by the soul and dexterity of this concert, with its\nconstantly shifting moods of reverence and joyfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We actually arrived a little late due\nto US Yaiza having changed the kick off time of their home match earlier in the\nday. Having seen, for the umpteenth time on this season ticket, Yaiza lose to a\nlast minute goal and this time slip into the relegation zone as well, I was\ncertainly in need of a restoration of faith by the time we crept into the back\nrow of the theatre half way through the first number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even from that distance, though, we\ncould see the tall, well built, powerful figure that is Latonius, surround by a\nseven-strong vocal choir and four musicians in a back line featuring keyboards,\npercussion, guitar and bass guitar. At the close of the first number he told us\nall that \u00b4gospel is a life-style\u00b4 and he then went on to demonstrate to an\naudience that seemed already to be believers that gospel is also a state of\nheart and mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Latonius
upholds The Faith Theory<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Titles like Victory Belongs To Jesus\nwere delivered as a constant source of celebration and reassurance, but it was\nthe occasional musical sidetracks and detours that made this journey so\nrewarding. Latonius described the version of Silent Night that he and The\nPraise Theory delivered as being touched by Jamaica, and whilst the carol was\nstill sung reverently it had that same loose, joyous feel as Rodney Crowell\u00b4s\nVoila, An American Dream. The harmonies in this lovely reggae-tinged rendition\nwere beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latonius sometimes offered\nintroductions and comments in a slow paced Spanish that drew great support from\nhis audience. It was in the island language that he thanked The Cabildo for\nenabling him to spend Christmas here on Lanzarote, and he then performed All Of\nYou, written by Trey McLaughlin,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His colleagues were a truly\ninternational musical collage, including natives of Germany, France, Venezuela,\nSpain, America and the UK. Together they supported him on a sumptuous, rich\nversion of Mary Did You Know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a song that demanded attention, as did their Christmas medley of famous and lesser known carols, gorgeously assembled and packaged and delivered. However, there were other numbers in which Latonius drew the audience to their feet, to sway, spin and swivel and generally let loose with clapping hands, waving arms and hallelujahs. Sanador, meaning Healer, is a song off his current album, The Vision, and sounded like an age-old spiritual song and the absolute highlight of the evening was another of his own material, also off this album. I Surrender is an absolutely contemporary pop song with a lyric that is about religious devotion that would also serve as romantic ballad. It felt so instantly familiar to me that I must have heard it, or a version or adaptation of it, on radio or in bars somewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The audience similarly surrendered themselves completely to Latonius and The Praise Theory, who returned to the stage after their \u00b4final number\u00b4 in response to calls for more from the entire audience. The closing encore song saw them leaving the stage, in single file via the front apron, and down the steps and up the centre aisle and out through the back exit into the foyer. It was there that we found not only Latonius signing cds, posing for photographs and generally seeming to be an all-round good guy, but also there were his entire musical crew, smiling and chatting to fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This gospel show had certainly restored\nmy faith in the goodness of human nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
La Tempestad<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A day or two later, we were\nin Arrecife to hear an outfit called La Tempestad. This was an ensemble created\nat the turn of this century to play ancient music. Formed by the musicians\nGullermo Pe\u00f1alver (on traverso), Pablo Su\u00e1rez and Pablo Prieto (who play\nviolins), Antonio Clares (with a viola), Guillermo Turina (on cello), Jorge\nMu\u00f1oz (bass) and Silvia M\u00e1rquez (fortepiano and artistic direction), La\nTempestad is now considered by critics to be one of the leading exponents in\nSpain in the field of interpretation of historical music. The group\u00b4s concerts\ninvariably catch the listener from the first note and then hold the attention\nthrough the precision, finesse and blending of interpretations. They have\nrecorded seven albums, including offerings of Mozart and Bach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015 La Tempestad won two\nawards at the I GEMA Awards for Creativity and Innovation in Ancient Music, as\nBest Clasicismo Group and Best Direction (Silvia M\u00e1rquez), with the Best\nManager Award (Marivic Mart\u00edn) complementing those prizes. They have also won\nthe Festival Of Ancient Music Circuit 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following that, in October\n2017 they released, with the IBS Classical label, their latest CD, Iberian\nHarpsichord Concertos and La Tempestad has, since, being awarded The Prom\u00fasico\nAward in 2011, been the Resident Group of the Auditorium and Congress Center\nV\u00edctor Villegas of the Region of Murcia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We arrived at the ticket window, and there was no\nqueue and I therefore feared they might have already sold out. Instead, we were\nslightly disappointed to learn that only a few tickets had been sold in\nadvance. Even by the time the five performers took to the stage there were only\na couple of hundred in the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concert we heard had the title of \u00b4C Ph E Bach\nAnd The Sentimental Style\u00b4 in which they played pieces by Carl Philipp Emanuel\nBach himself and other authors of this style, characteristic of the 18th\ncentury European classical composition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term Empfindsamkeit (sensitivity) refers to an\naesthetic phenomenon located in the mid-17th century in northern European music\nthat defended the immediacy of the emotional response as a guide to appropriate\nmoral behaviour. Marking the abandonment of the Baroque period, the movement\nevolved around 1770 towards the Sturm und Drang in the literary field, led by\nGoethe, and soon had its impact on the musical field. C. P. E. Bach was the\ngreatest exponent of this movement, also known as \u00b4sentimental style\u00b4, with its\nepicenter at the court of Frederick II the Great of Prussia, along with other\ncomposers of the likes of W. F. Bach, Abel, Graun and Quantz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his last year of life C.P.E: Bach composed three\nquartets for keyboards , which assumes the duality viola da gamba\/key of the\nBaroque continuum, flute and viola, with an almost symphonic texture that\nplaces him as a precursor of Viennese classicism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that may be the sort of stuff that music buffs\nknow and understand but it meant little to me. However, it definitely\ntranslated into the fact that here were young musicians who are already masters\nof their craft and able to play this music with the required sensitivity\nimplied in the movement\u00b4s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first offering, composed by CPE Bach, was\ndelivered by all five musicians on violin, viola, cello, flute and keyboards.\nHere, the violins carried melody motifs whilst the flute swooped and soared\nagainst the constant cello and the tinkling key sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another piece by the same composer saw the five\nbecome three to convey a slightly more sombre sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next composition was from Johann Christoph\nFriedrich Bach, written for a trio, but even with this reduction in players the\n\u00b4unplugged\u00b4 instrumentation hung on the pin-drop silence of an enchanted\naudience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We returned to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach for a\npiece that saw the cello lead a couple of movements, and the ensemble was\nkeeping a tight hold on the audience despite a lack of any introductions or\nvocal engagement of any time. Nevertheless, the violins interchanged in some\ngorgeous melodies and the cello here was more sonorous and portentous than in\nthe previous works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The closing piece was written by Johann Joachim\nQuantz and was exquisitely delivered through a range of tempos and mood. The\nkeyboard, particularly when played as clava, lent an antiquated air to a music\nthat had been lively and entertaining throughout a concert that fully deserved\nthe encore this audience demanded through sustained, polite applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The encore was a Vivaldi dance piece, and in truth,\nwas more energetic than anything we had previously heard, though that should\nnot be inferred as a criticism of any kind. The truth is that these musicians\ndo not reach their incredible level of precision and empathy without years of\ndedicated study and practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will play, individually and collectively and\nwith other ensembles, to much bigger audiences in the careers that lie ahead\nand readers of these pages should note the names of the individual players as\nwell as the name of La Tempestad, because these surely are among the players\nwho will carry classical music forward to future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mijail Saprychev (in white short)
meets fans after his recital<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The\nfollowing evening we were at El Grifo Bodego, out in the depths of the wine\ngrowing region where Mijail Saprychev was delivering a classical piano concert.\nThe lights came fully on, briefly, as Mijail was introduced to the stage, and\nwere then dimmed to create a concert atmosphere. He may well play international\nmusic, but he looked, too, like he could play international football for his\nnational under seventeens team, This sixteen year old lad, with curly, floppy\nhair and lean figure, in white shirt and black trousers, reminded me of the\nlate Tommy Caton, who played centre half for Manchester City, in the nineteen\nseventies. Surely this young man couldn\u00b4t be a classical pianist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\nthought was knocked on the head by the opening notes of Bach\u00b4s Fantasia e Fuga\nin A minor. Illustrating what I often think of as that composer\u00b4s dance-like\nqualities, Mijail skipped lightly above some deep sonorous notes, leaping\nlithely over contrapuntal bridges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mozart\u00b4s\nsonata number 12 was immediately even lighter of touch as its familiar motifs\nwere played with obvious glee, before that light and frivolous nature seemingly\nsuccumbed to the tumultuous tumbling of lower notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La\nCampanella by Liszt was opened by brittle, ice-cold notes and steps that led\neventually to a helter-skelter sleigh ride down into an abyss of a louder\nconfusion of sound dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debussy\u00b4s\nwonderful and atmospheric Clare de Lune similarly suggested a search for light\nand warmth, so revealing the beauty of the piece, until it, too, becomes\nclouded over in a faster, deeper conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ncollaborative piece Carmen Variaciones was handled as expertly by Mijail as all\nthat had preceded it. This complex and multi-layered work by Bizet with Gorowitz\nsaw the player steer through torrential tumble and fall notes and yet somehow\nland safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nsixteen, any skilful pianist is going to sound precocious, however\naccomplished, but at sixteen Mijail is much older than that. He is a master of\nhis instrument and always at one with the music he and it produce. The audience\nrose to standing at the end, to give an ovation and to beg for more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nwas politeness personified when we spoke to him after the performance and I\nhope we persuaded him to take part in our \u00b4five easy questions\u00b4 interview which\nwe are sending him next week. Whether he does so or not, he is an extraordinary\ntalent. He amazes even as he entertains and he reveals as he explores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nworld\u00b4s finest musicians can do no more<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nwas, though, still to be a surprise ending to the final week before Christmas,\nwith a couple of sidetracks and detours that led to us hearing a talk from\nauthor, Miguel Aguearralde about his book \nLos Expectros de Nueve Amsterdam, el viaje del errante. Although he spoke\nto his audience in Spanish, his bright eyed enthusiasm was tangible for his\nsubject, which seemed to be the cosmos and the universe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
author speaks of his book<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This\nexpansive talk took place in the elegant and graceful Casa De La Culture\nAugustin de la Hoz in Arrecife and although we couldn\u00b4t understand a word of\nthe language he spoke, I detected that here was a bright mind following the\npassion of his heart. When I approached him after his talk I was delighted to\nlearn he could speak English, (probably better that what I kan) but\nunfortunately we couldn\u00b4t conduct an impromptu interview there, as amazingly a\nladies choir was entering to deliver a concert even as he was gathering his\nbooks off the table. Still, he and I agreed to conduct a five open questions\ninterview by e mail, so watch this space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Alborada Ladies Choir<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As if to demonstrate the depth and diversity of what the arts and cultural scene has to offer at this time of year there was a turnaround on stage, that saw Miguel depart carrying a few of his books, to be replaced by the sixteen female vocalists, two female guitarists and a female musical director of The Alborada Ladies Choir. I loved what we saw and heard over the next hour or so; beautiful arrangements of lovely harmonies hung over simply struck guitar chords, many of these Christmas and cemi religious songs reminding me of the Latin American flovours of some of my favourite country music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile,\nwe had one last gig on our calendar in this last weekend before Christmas, but\nto be honest we had no idea what to expect. We knew the headline was Vocal\nSiete, a project that emerged in 2007, composed of seven\nmusicians, from different disciplines, and a sound engineer. It is a set that\ndevelops all its musical production using the voice and the body itself,\nwithout the intervention of any other type of instrumentation. That is why the\ninclusion of the sound engineer as one more member of the formation is\nconsidered essential, and an active role is needed to support vocal executions\nin search of imitation of the various instruments of the ensembles, bands,\nassemblies and orchestras of different genres of interpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We arrived in Haria in plenty of time to find The\nExplanade Del Mercado de Abastos, where this group was to be performing at nine\npm. So we had time for a meal in the Tacanda Restaurant that has opened since\nwe last visited the town in March 2019. I feel certain Miguel must have already\nreviewed this premises as it is in his neck of the woods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The place has a beautiful, tasteful d\u00e9cor, and is\nwelcoming whilst peaceful and quiet. The staff were friendly and attentive, and\none lady, who was serving us, somehow managed to laugh it off when I nudged by\nglass of water on the table, saw it wobbling, tried desperately to save it,\nknocked Dee\u00b4s over as I did so, and then mine spilled as well, just as she set\nour food on the table. In my role as restaurant inspector I like to try these\nlittle tricks to see how staff respond ! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Woman Bacuta
followed by giants<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, my Angus steak was incredible and\nDee\u00b4s Iberian Pork was, she said, perfect. As we were dining, several members\nof Vocal Siete were enjoying a drink at the bar, so I was delighted to have\ntime to order a dessert of roast pineapple and a coconut cream sauce. Just as I\nwas thinking I could have stayed there all night, came the loud sound of\nrhythmic drumming from somewhere down the street. We looked out of the door and\nthere was a fantastic percussion group, of ladies, called Woman Bacuta. The\nyoung ladies were keeping perfect time even as they pretended to flee through\nthe square to escape from three huge, inflatable giants that seemed to be\nchasing them. These turned out to be huge stick puppets really, and these\ngiants themselves were followed by great crowds of people following the drummer\ngirls up to the outside venue where Vocal Siete would be performing. First,\nthough, we were all treated to a wonderful, energetic and exuberant performance\nby the percussion group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though we were disappointed when that ended we\nconsoled ourselves with the thought that now would come Vocal Siete. Not, so.\nFirst there was a fashion parade of good looking and confident men and women\nshowing off hand-made clothing and accessories from the Haria region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This saw the girls, and the boys, wearing\nattractive pastel shaded scarves and showing off hand crafted hand bags etc.\nThe crowds were very attentive and gave the models, and what they were\nmodelling, much deserved support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the catwalk was rolled up it was by now well\npast nine thirty, so surely now we would be seeing Vocal Siete. Don\u00b4t be silly,\nthis is Lanzarote, and there was first a local country rock band with a\ncharismatic female singer. They kept the crowd entertained for a good forty\nfive minutes or so, leaving the stage to Vocal Siete at round about ten\nfifteen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Vocal Siete<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

 After the\nsuccess they achieved last year with “Everything Transforms”, the\ngroup were tonight offering a new show, fresh and revived. They said something\nfrom the stage about trying to control the songs, so that not each song, nor\ngroup member, goes off on an exploration of his own, Nevertheless, this\ncollection of incredible sounds was entitled \nEvery Madman With His Theme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was, though, method to this madness and the fact that there were huge crowds still thronging the town for a show still going strong at midnight reflects what a unique, unmistakeable sound they have.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GOSPEL, PERCUSSION, CLASSICAL, CHORAL AND STARRY SKIES Latonius & The Faith Theory in Arrecife La Tempestad in Arrecife Mijail Saprychev, classical pianist at El Grifo Miguel Aguearralde, book  launch, in Arrecife The Alborada Ladies Choir Vocal Siete + support in Haria What made Milwaukee famous will not be lost on Rod Stewart fans but the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aata","category-literary","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}