Phoenix and Vandengroef Clown About at Cat's Art MusikCircus

Phoenix J clowns about with high credibility as she has the perfect outfit for it and Cat's Art MusikCircus is the best place to do it.  England may not be noted so much for clowns but Phoenix J does her best to make up for that.

The specific reason for writing is the Phoenix version of "Mack the Knife" and that title may get a groan as you think, man, how could there possibly be coolness in a song that's been covered a billion times or so already.  The coolness is she doesn't do it like those billion other covers and instead sings it in German, as it was written originally.  The music was composed by Kurt Weill but the lyrics were written by Bertolt Brecht.  (WIKI:  Mack the Knife)

Note:  there's some interesting reading in the WIKI regarding the moritat or 'murder ballad' as "Mack the Knife" is in that medieval tradition.

Singing the song in German was a surprise for me the first time I heard Phoenix sing it as I did not know of the song's ancestry.  Everyone has heard Bobby Darrin do it but that was a cover.  Phoenix J also covers the song and doing it in the original German gives a fascinating authenticity but what makes Phoenix a circus clown is the way she does it.  Cat's Art MusikCircus is all about experimentation and Phoenix last night did a version of the song backed by a piano and a ukelele.  Maybe you don't think that works but that only means you'll need to come to the MusikCircus to hear her as the result was a delight.

German is not Phoenix J's first language but she shows great respect for the song in being interested enough to find out where it really originated.  While she sings it, Cat often translates in Chat messages and that adds all the more to the charm of, well, some guy running around stabbing people.

Something hopefully not too personal is the great loyalty in Phoenix J as she invariably stays for the set following hers and she usually stays for all of it.  She promotes her own music, naturally, but what you don't see so much is that she is highly supportive of the music of others and this makes her all the more a circus clown.  Here at the MusikCircus, that's high praise.  She will be back in two weeks so come to find out for yourself.

Vandengroef said last night he is getting the feel for the Circus and you can feel that in his music.  There were two shows to start out that got his equipment all set and ever since he gets more and more comfortable with playing there and getting it that it really is just right to play whatever you like at the Circus.  He doesn't have to say he feels better as you can tell it through the music.

Vandengroef doesn't come out to dazzle you as his thinking is similar to mine in that I will take a musical journey and I hope you will want to come along.  I'm not going to compare our music and the reason I mention myself at all is that Phoenix will be in Singapore on April 9 so Cat asked if I would like to play instead.  Sure enough so Vandengroef and I talked with both of us saying we would be happy to open but I insisted he is the guest so it's his call.  So, Vandengroef will open on April 9 and I will play the second set.  That's a month away but it's cool to anticipate.

Pyro was mentioned and I don't know if it was made clear enough last night so here again:  if you have bombs, definitely bring them!  The only concern with pyro is that aerials will usually blow off higher than the circus tent will permit.  If you want to get nuts with pyro, it might be best to do it on the other ground-level stage at the Circus as there is no roof on it.

What makes Vandengroef musically interesting is the way he plays with rhythms and he's using any sound he thinks is right to give a subtlety that draws you into it.  He uses an RC50 looper, the same as mine, but, as with most instruments, there are many ways to do it and he doesn't use his in the same way as I use mine.  Maybe some think these loopers are musical fluff but Phoenix uses one also.  When she does "Mack the Knife," she's using a looper to play the piano and the ukelele at the same time.  There's no need in this context to write a monologue on the musical value of a looper but use of them by solo artists is much more common than you might think and a looper gives a soloist freedoms never possible before.


Vandengroef makes a cool vibe for dancing, dreaming, traveling ... but ... alas ... I do not have a picture of Cat and I dancing as we busted the dance ball.  That sounds perverse but it really isn't and we haven't fixed it yet because it works for everyone else.  The only perversity is that it fails for the woman who provided it and that's just not fair.  We will get it fixed.

All of us talked for a while after the set as jsmn had come about halfway through the show.  Vandengroef was feeling good from how the set had gone over and was looking forward to checking out the recording as his concern is the same as mine:  did the audience hear the same thing I was hearing.  Many times listening to the recording of a set is a painful discipline but I suspect Vandengroef will be pleased with what was captured last night.  It was a great set musically and a pleasant chat after so the vibe was cool throughout.