Aranjuez in Raleigh: Ed Stephenson with Raleigh Symphony

The "Concierto de Aranjuez," by the blind, 20th-century composer Joaquín Rodrigo, is one of the most well-known works for classical guitar. However, it is less often that one gets to hear it backed by a full orchestra. Ed Stephenson performed the Spanish bonbon last night on the Meredith College campus, accompanied by the Raleigh Symphony, which also performed works by Beethoven and Dvorak.


Meredith College campus at night.

Born in Canada, Stephenson is half-Ukrainian (original family name: Stefanyshyn). Besides teaching at Meredith, he performs regularly in the area as a soloist and with his nuevo-flamenco combo Paco Band.

The Adagio second movement is instantly familiar; so familiar, in fact, that contractually, orchestras can only obtain the rights to perform this concerto in its entirety. But for simplicity's sake, I'm bringing you just the video of this melancholic second movement from last night's performance:





Ed passes a bouquet to Raleigh Symphony conductor Jim Waddelow.



Links:

Ed Stephenson, Artist Webpage
Raleigh Symphony webpage

12/31: West End Mambo & Greensboro Sympony

Local Triangle musicians expected to appear as guests at this New Year's Eve pops concert include Jaime Roman, Andy Kleindienst and Ramon Ortiz. I'm not sure how West End Mambo will be integrated with the Symphony, whether the two groups will perform together or individually. Flyers say dancing will be permitted and a bar available.

Concert runs from 8-10 pm; salsa dancers are planning to meet afterwards at Artistika at 523 S. Elm St. in downtown Greensboro to party on towards midnight.

War Memorial Auditorium is in the Greensboro Colisseum complex at 1921 E. Lee St. Get tickets there or at the Greensboro Symphony webpage.

Bailame, Amadeus

Wow. Tiempo Libre with Joshua Bell on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien last Friday (10/2). The tune is a reader's digest of Cuban rhythms, rumba/danzon/cha/bembe, and bass player Tony Fonte wore his best kilt!



[VIDEO]

It's here until NBC takes it down.

RADIO ALERT: "Azuquita Pa'l Cafe" Giveaway TODAY

Today on my radio show AZUCAR y CANDELA I'm going to be giving away the new Tiempo Libre CD, Bach in Havana, AND a can of Café Bustelo! Courtesy of Sony Masterworks. Tune in to WXDU 88.7 FM today, Wednesday (5/13) between 6 and 8 pm to find out how to win!

Read More about the Tiempo Libre Bustelo promotion here

Grammy-nominated Tiempo Libre's third major label CD, Bach in Havana fits right in to Cuba's long history of mingling European classical music and Afro-Cuban popular music. The music of J.S. Bach is known for melodic purity and spiritual power. To that, Tiempo Libre has added Cuba's own sacred music (the batá drums and sacred songs of the Yoruba tradition), as well as its rambunctious timba dance rhythms, crafted together with classical reverence and a Latin jazz sensibility. Two of Cuba's finest saxophonists, Paquito D'Rivera and Yosvany Terry, take prominent guest spots.

This album highlights fine keyboard work by pianist and musical director Jorge Gomez, who says he used to lie in bed at night and listen to his father, a classical pianist, play Bach. All the young members of Tiempo Libre studied classical music at strict, Russian-style conservatories in Cuba, where popular music was taboo. However, they inhaled Afro-Cuban musical traditions, such as rumba, son, danzon, timba and Santería, just by growing up there, where music is in the air, in the streets, in private homes and nightclubs. You might say that Bach in Havana takes classical music from the salons out into the solares, the courtyards in poor, black neighborhoods in Cuba where the rumba was born.

It's interesting to contemplate "Air on a G String" [sic] had it been written as a lovesong to a beautiful behind, if J.S. Bach could walk the streets of Miami Beach, sans powdered wig, waistcoat unbuttoned to mid-chest. Tiempo Libre doesn't only loosen up the classics, it breathes new life into them. This album might help a lot of people better understand Cuba's birthright and invention of a creole musical language. As North Americans, it's our birthright too.

Marsalis Brasilianos: Thursday

Branford Marsalis comes home to Durham Thursday (11/6) with 30 of his newest, closest friends: the Filharmonia Brasileira led by Gil Jardim. Together they are touring a program of majestic orchestral works by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos and his kindred spirit and friend, French composer Darius Milhaud.

It's an 8 pm show in Page Auditorium on Duke's West Campus. Duke Performances has the hookup.

Marsalis' love for Brazil goes back to at least 1986, when he included a Villa-Lobos composition on his classical debut, Romances for Saxophone. His latest album with his jazz quartet, Braggtown, pays homage to that neighborhood here in his adopted Bull City.