Dear Reader –
It’s not just the sun that can light a flame…read on for more…
**All hyperlinks in bold.
The Big Thing
I was 12 years old when my friend Andrew played me this track.
Ha! I wasn’t actually. I was 14. I was sure I was 12 - I could see the room we were in at the time and all (or so I thought) but then I did some research and I see that the album didn’t come out until 1994. By which stage I was 14. Just shows you how our memories can deceive us!
One way or the other I was definitely young and impressionable when I heard it. Bumble Boogie - The opening track on Jools Holland’s 1994 (!) solo piano album. And from that moment on I saw the piano in a whole new light. It was exciting. Dynamic. Mysterious. Where were all these notes? And how could he play them so fast?!
I wrote two weeks ago about our ever-so-slightly late (!) Christmas piano concerts. And only this morning I heard yet another story from a parent about a child who had been at the concert and hasn’t stopped playing piano since. And it’s the same thing that happened to me in 1994.
Ignition of that flame inside you. Inspiration. Get to a piano quick cos I need to play.
It’s why I make sure that some older children and teenagers perform at the beginners’ concerts. To show them what’s possible, but also to appeal to something inside of them. Something more basic. Something that tells them this is something they need in their lives.
Similarly, it’s why we always ask graduates back to perform at the Teenage Theme Nights. To inspire the current crew and show them what is possible if they keep at it. Here are our three featured performers from next week’s shows - from top, clockwise - Michael Donaghy (2018), Nathan McLoughlin (2022) and Niamh Keaveney (2017).
Where else but Sligo?
Just direct your feet…to the sunny side of the street.
What’s New?
UNCERTAIN SMILE: I met lots of new people last weekend. Many of them asked, as we all do, what I do for a living. When I told one such man he told me I simply had to listen to Jools Holland’s piano solo at the end of Uncertain Smile by The The. So I did - and it’s great (even if the piano is a bit lost in the mix)!
THE TOWER OF HANOI: Not new at all - it has been around for years, but I was reminded of this classic maths puzzle this week. Usually done with 7 disks.
SLIGO JAZZ 2023: 25-30 July 2023. Registration open and early bird offer available now.
Finally…
To get us in the mood for summer - here’s a classic jazz standard - inspired by our feline friend above!
Till next time - Kieran.
