Usually Cat and I (mostly Cat) start setting up for a show well ahead of it beginning but there was no sign of her. She hadn't been feeling well and I was concerned for her but the only thing to do was to kick up my Guardian Clown stuff and get the show going. All the while I was appearing as a cloud of orange gas so I was also concerned this was going to be a bad Second Life night for everyone but the show must go on!
And it did!
Last night Maestro Michi Renoir played the first show at Cat's Art MusikCircus and he was kicking it hard right from the top with huge percussion and big, rich sound. I can also happily report Cat got to feeling better and arrived just after the show started.
Michi Renoir is constantly improvising and one of the voices he brought more to the forefront last night was a saxophone. On a synthesizer, this is typically one of the voices that makes you want to smash the thing and then kick back to sagely quote Miles Davis: "All synthesizers were manufactured white." (Yes, he really did say that.)
However, the sax voice Michi was using had a marvelous breathy quality to it and you would be very hard-pressed to distinguish it from a real one. When Miles Davis was speaking, the only synthesizers around were mostly from Moog and Walter Carlos (later Wendy Carlos) was one of the few using them. Synthesizer capabilities were obvious but the quality and flexibility of the sound were nowhere near what they are today.
Unless they're on the road, Synthesizer Night always features Michi Renoir in the first hour and Reis and Aldo in the second. And so it was last night:
Reis Alter somehow manages to find the most exotic outfits for her sets and you can see for yourself. Aldo Brizzi always plays from the background in a suit and they make such an extraordinary duet. The set features a Spanish castle and I suppose they must have them in Italy too. The castle is all part of the musical mysticism they create and it's always such a transporting vision.
At one point, because of the sawdust on the floor, I cautioned people not to use any open flames and Medora Chevalier, not missing a chance to be a comedian, immediately set herself afire:
I can happily report Medora is doing well this morning but the MusikCircus is not insured so her outfit is a total loss.
Meanwhile, Chesmal Galicia was transported in quite a different way:
Fortunately, the flames did not reach that high so she had the perfect perch for the show.
Steffen Ewing took the same approach as Chesmal as the flames couldn't reach the trapeze either:
Maybe you think that's not the regular outfit for a trapeze artist and you would be right but this is not a regular kind of circus. It takes much more than clowns with little cars and big red noses to make a circus!
Sofia Ishelwood also took to the trapeze as there are two of them and the only caution to people using them is please try not to fall off and land on the artists!
As I said above, there's a musical mysticism that comes from the music of Reis and Aldo as it's always a special magic that makes it work at all. Taken individually before the show, you would never imagine Reis Alter's angelic voice could work with the enormous power of Aldo Brizzi's compositions but then you hear them together and it's extraordinary.
Promoters will always tell you this show or that one is unique but in this case it's real. Their music is always conjuring the most fantastic visions, all with percussion from Aldo that is sometimes tribal and at others from some other Universe. Reis sings from a thousand feet above and yet it all weaves together in a most marvelous performance.
And magic happens!
Butterflies appeared and were flying all about the place. They are another way to visualise Reis singing as in some of their songs her voice has just that delicacy. But then they do "Paroles, Paroles" and she sings with a rich, sensual power that makes you forget all about the butterflies. The song is a beautiful tale of love and you can read the translation of the song from French to English.
Reis also dedicated a song to Cat and within it you could hear Reis laughing. It's all part of the song and, if you could put this song in a bottle, you could make the whole world happy with it! This might be about the time Cat said she wanted to marry Reis (laughs)
And, oh yes, Cat and I danced!
There's no dance like a MusikCircus dance!
P.S. The beefcake / bare chest outfit doesn't impress Cat. I just wore it because I had been orange gas and needed something in a hurry when Witty helped me solve what was causing it (laughs).
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