Word: pianos
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...songs' arrangements are betrayed by their effortlessness catchiness. His songs manage a deep and dense sound while still floating along with the joy of spontaneous creation. With "See You Again," Falkner slows the pace down with a flow of eastern influenced guitars floating above a lush backing of piano and drum shuffle. "I Live," the only song in the set from Falkner's first solo album, Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown, brought cheers from the die-hard fans. More of a straightforward rock number, the song grew into a crescendo of cymbal crashes and guitar slashes not present with...
April 2 marked the performance of what just could be the new soundtrack for The Phantom Menace. Not exclusively modern, the program did include Brahms' "Piano Quarter in minor, Opus 25" along with Bohuslav Martin's more contemporary "Memorial to Lidice" and Bela Bartok's "Violin Concerto No. 2." Even this was tainted by the great Modernist Arnold Schoenber who re-arranged the chamber piece for orchestra. According to the program notes, "Johannes Brahms and Arnold Schoenberg are [not-so] strange bedfellows" in a filigree of 20th century musical fracas that indeed would have made Obi-Wan proud...
...those strange bedfellows, Brahms and Schoenberg, there seemed to be much confusion in the audience. "Wait I thought this was a Piano Quartet, where's the pianist?" "No, no, don't you see it's an orchestration." However perturbing this might have been at first, by the end of the triumphant fourth movement, all were raised to their feet. To quote Schoenberg's own succinct explanation...
That being said, there were three amazing things about the film. First, the two child actresses are phenomenal. Bella Riza (Bea) and Carrie Mullan (Lucy) remain natural and true throughout the entire movie. I haven't seen child acting like this since Anna Paquin in The Piano. Secondly, the male lead, Said Taghmaoui, was fascinating to watch. He can speak to the camera with a simple lifting of his eyebrows. And lastly, as I said before, the cinematography is impeccable--think of the breath-taking desert shots in The English Patient and add some mysteriousness; it's entrancing...
Hike over to the Middle East restaurant in Central to check out an afternoon show at 2 p.m. Upstairs High Society, Good Guy Mom and Force of Habit rock out, while local folkie Don White plays a benefit show for the Piano Dave Fund for the Homeless downstairs. 354-8238. $6 upstairs, $10 downstairs...