Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Celebrating Carnival at Cat's Art MusikCircus

America doesn't do much with Carnival and really doesn't do that much with any spiritual time in the year.  Perhaps this goes back to the early American history in which people were very strongly anti-Catholic.  In any case, Carnival in Europe and, obviously, South America is a Very Big Deal.


And so it was at Cat's Art MusikCircus.

The show opened with Deceptions Digital (DD) who did one song she had composed around (I think) lunch time and another one she had composed when she rolled out of bed that morning.  This kind of drive and inventiveness is a beautiful thing and so is her humility.  She had written one piece she said was a tribute to Aldo Brizzi's percussion.  Torben Asp was in the audience and she told him he has been an inspiration to her.

DD said a few times in introducing a song that 'this one is a little weird' but I'd say it's a lot more weird to listen to boring music.  She keeps throwing changes at you, kind of challenging you to follow and, sure, it's weird ... but it's also a great show.


Maestro Michi Renoir played second and he brought some surprises we had never heard before.  The first was a beautifully-expressive flute and I don't recall hearing this particular voice previously.  The really big reaction, tho, came from a human voice.  It was synthesized but this wasn't one of those standard breathy and angelic voices one usually hears.  The voice was so convincing that you could easily believe it was a real woman singing.

Michi was laughing that some of his music sounded like a movie soundtrack but big sweeps will always sound like that.  Those big sweeping chords will also fill a hall so there's no way anyone would want to stop using them.  Say it sounds like a movie if you like but I say it's a very big, rich sound and it was an outstanding performance.


Reis and Aldo played the third set and understatement is just not their style.



Aldo Brizzi is a brilliant composer and there is deep subtlety in his music ... but ... when it comes time to put it on-stage, light up the entire hall.  It's an astonishing spectacle and there are many light shows in Second Life but no others have Reis and Aldo.  (Reis ProjectAldo Brizzi)

I'm not Catholic and wouldn't even make much of a heathen so I really don't know about all the different religious observations in this time.  Cat told me that Ash Wednesday means no-one can even listen to music so visualize, if you will, Rick Moranis going into east L.A. to say, "Hey, homies.  No hip-hop today, ok?  Just for today, Ash Wednesday.  OK, homies?"

It's the most extraordinary thing to hear Reis singing in her delicate, angelic voice over twenty-megatons of percussion from Aldo.  They do some of the most unusual voicings you will ever hear and they deliver it all with such professional precision.  There's hardly ever any delay between songs as they keep them pop, popping all the way through the show.  They're always delightful and they will be back next week.


Aldo Brizzi makes rhythms you won't hear anywhere else and Cat Boucher brings musicians you won't hear anywhere else.  So it is at Carnival at Cat's Art MusikCircus.

(Find more about any of the performers at Cat's Art MusikCircus on Cat's MusikCircus Web site.)

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