John Allen
Sam Hornberger was the very relaxed and capable MC for the evening of nine acts. Once again the appreciative attendees almost filled the new seating.
First up were two classical numbers by the talented duo of Jane Douglas on flute and Tim Plait on the beat-up-but-fine-sounding piano. They opened with Opus 72 Barcarolle mélancolique composed in 1888 by Charles Edouard Lefèbvre. A very intricate piece, with pleasant variation in volume. The second song was Sicilienne opus 78 composed in 1893 by Gabriel Fauré (in 6/8 time – fairly exotic!). Jane began, quietly, on her flute and Tim contributed a masterful lilting accompaniment.
The Blarney Pilgrims, Rod Wilson (Irish Bouzouki) and Wally Smith (tin whistle, accordion and mandolin) contributed three Celtic pieces. Rod’s Bouzouki has eight strings in 4 sets of 2, which gives a unique sound. Wally’s accordion has buttons instead of keys and so is smaller than the norm. The first traditional Irish tunes were the Kesh Jig, the Kerfunten Jig and Eddie Kelly’s Jig. Next came the combination of Michael Turner’s Waltz and the march Burning Sands of Egypt, with Wally playing his large tin whistle. They ended with the reel Autumn Child/Heaton Chapel with Wally on his (piccolo size) small tin whistle and of course Rod Wilson on his Bouzouki. These two are very fine musicians.
Arne Sahlen, Kimberley piano teacher of note, introduced Jordan Touzin, a “very wonderful young pianist”. She played three minuets, slow stately French dances in ¾ time, one by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, Winter Scene then an adaptation of The Huron Carol.
Next was Arne at his humorist finest, entertaining with some dramatized 60’s ads and a lengthy, wonderfully strange and lengthy spoonerism (you could look it up), recitation from memory, which his Mother taught him.
Isabel Enks has been in Fernie for a year; she’s from Australia. Isabel’s been playing guitar for 15 years. She began with an original Begging For Bliss, then a well done cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Dream (…thunder only happens when it’s raining….) and a very strong original and emotional composition sung at and written for a friend’s funeral.
The usual pleasant intermission followed in the Gallery with tempting treats and conversation.
The second half began with Garry Jacklin and his guitar. Interestingly, he uses electronic background music, with which he blended his guitar playing well. For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield (1966), Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton and Dance Monkey (Just like a monkey I’ve been dancing my whole life) by Tones and I presented a very solid performance.
Frequent Homegrown performers Shelagh and Van Redecopp began with Perfect by Ed Sheeran “darling, you look perfect tonight…”. Shelagh’s violin was perfect too as a counterpoint to Van’s voice. Freddy Mercury’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love followed. Then came Fly Me To The Moon, originally titled In Other Words, written in 1954 by Bart Howard and crooned most notably in 1964 by Frank Sinatra. After these three love songs, they completed the set with a love song from the Middle Ages, Scarborough Fair (And then she’ll be a true love of mine), sung most famously by Simon and Garfunkel in 1966.
The very confident and competent Brian Brons came on with his strong guitar playing and with fine piano accompaniment by Tim Plait. Cadillac Baby by Colin James led off, then Sam Cooke’s Bring It On Home To Me (Bring your sweet lovin’, bring it on home to me). Their final was a Robert Johnson 1936 tune Sweet Old Chicago (Baby don’t you wanna go…).
The final act was Marta Zeeger’s Kimberley Community Choir, also accompanied by Tim Plait; he was a busy boy. (The darkish and varying lighting didn’t make for a photo; sorry!) First was Fernando (There was something in the air that night…). Next was the lovely Solstice Song by Jan Garrett (Deep in the darkest winter night….). The inspirational song Amazing by Pinkzebra (Life is but a dream… Life is so amazing…) finished their set and the evening.
Yet another wonderful Homegrown Music event, with tunes from the Middle Ages, the late 1800’s, the 50’s and 60’s and recently composed and ten different instruments plus the piano. Throw in Arne’s spoonerism and it was a complete night. The next Homegrown evening is April 25.
