Phillip Fawcett’s Piano Recital – The Chapel, University of Cumbria

5th February 2010 – Reviewed by Till Owlglass

Resplendent in black – and sporting a tastefully iridescent waistcoat – Phillip Fawcett took to the grand piano at the Chapel of the University of Cumbria (formerly St. Martin’s College) just after 7:40 pm last Friday, 5th February 2010.

Playing from memory, Fawcett delivered beautifully JS Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C-Minor. Bach is, of course, arguably the greatest composer who ever existed, and to hear one of his pieces performed by a master piano player was a highly sensual ear fest, so I was immediately won over.

It can be that simple.

Well, not always. The second piece of music on the menu was Franz Schubert’s Sonata in C major, and I have to admit I have very mixed feelings about Schubert – sometimes I like him, sometimes I don’t. It is entirely dependent on my mood, and that evening I was not really in the mood for Schubert.

However, Fawcett’s playing was so fluid and passionate (What does he do to get his fingers to manipulate the keyboard with such dexterity?) that I sank into my chair with a big grin of joy on my face. I leaned back, and let Schubert and Fawcett take me to heaven and back.

And then came David Jennings Sonata Opus 1 which promised to be fun, as the composer himself was sitting there in the audience. Actually, it was fun! Fawcett and Jennings collaborate regularly, and one can hear it when Fawcett performs Jennings’ music, as he made the piece seem so easy to play and enjoy. And he emphasised why Jennings’ is such a great composer: cerebral without being contrived, dissonant without being chaotic and ridiculously joyful without being schmaltzy. What also made me smile were the strong Jazz influences.

Yes, David Jennings’ 1^st Piano Sonata swings!

Jennings later informed me that it had taken him twenty-one years to compose that piece. Hmmm. Good things come to those with patience.

After the break, Fawcett played pure and blessed Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 17 in B-flat major, a key considered to be magnificent and joyful, and in the hands of Mozart and Fawcett this is well and truly accentuated. It was simply fantastic and went down well with the audience (although that may be because the Earth allegedly hums in B flat). What more can one ask for?

Well Edvard Grieg I suppose, because as Phillip Fawcett performed Grieg’s Sonata in E minor, I started to muse that Fawcett and Grieg were made for each. Why do I say this? Phillip Fawcett is a happy man when he is playing the piano, and he always has a slight mischievous grin on his face, but when he’s executing Grieg… Boy! Do his eyes light up and do his fingers play like crazy.

Overall a fantastic evening, but one shouldn’t fawn too much when writing a review, so I should mention that I was disappointed by the encore, a polonaise by Chopin (probably my least favourite composer). However, even Chopin comes alive in the hands of Fawcett … Damn!

I should mention though that I am still not convinced by the Chapel of the University of Cumbria’s suitability for such events, as the acoustics are good…but not as good as the acoustics of the Priory, the Cathedral and even churches like Trinity Church on High Street.

Finally, the one true criticism I have was the tragically low turnout: twenty people enjoyed Fawcett’s playing. Twenty people…

Phillip Fawcett’s next performance is on Thursday 13^th May at 12:40pm at the Ashton Hall and will include Scott Joplin’s Rags, Grieg’s lyrical pieces, Jennings Sonatina No.1 and a piano sonata by a Mr. Mozart.

It’s a must.

Copyright ‘Jomar de Vrind 2010′

Dominic Kelly – ‘Crow’

Review by Norman Hadley

Of all the candidate professions for ‘world’s oldest ‘, story-telling is my favourite and Dominic Kelly my favourite practitioner.  I’d seen him once before but last night he brought his epic story-cycle ‘Crow’ back home to Lancaster, in a mesmerising hour-long recital at the all-too-appropriate Storey Institute. This was a chance to tell these tales in the land that begat them, before Dominic takes them on tour to some obscure venue called the Barbican.

These were dark tales, as befitted the title, with transfiguration, abandonment and murder – and not just as a collective noun. There was lyrical language and sound use of repeated phrases and themes; time and again we were confronted with the silhouette of the crow “black against the sun, the light trickling down its head and the sweep of its shoulder to the gun-metal blue of its back; slippery with light, like mercury-washed slivers of metal.”

There was expressive delivery, dramatic gesture and good illustrative mime. He could hold a dialogue with himself by turning from side to side, just as Eddie Izzard does in a different context. He held the audience rapt throughout – some time, I will have to get Dominic to explain the secret of drawing an audience that was 80% female.

But above all was the quality of story-telling – exalting in the sheer delight of invention but veined with shimmers of plausibility; in the strong sense of place and teasing hints of autobiographical detail. The stories were interwoven and recursive with themes and motifs twisted back and forth through the cloth.

Those Londoners are in for a treat

Flhip Flhop

Putting a fresh new twist on Hip-Hop theatre, Rannel Theatre Company bring their acclaimed new work Flhip Flhop: Everything Happens on the Break to The Dukes on Wednesday 24 February.

Life can be really boring, especially when you’re a decorator with time on your hands and beats in your head.  But when your mate’s into the same sounds as you are, work gets a bit funkier.

This crazy pair of painters escape the monotony of their dull jobs by taking refuge in hip-hop, MC-ing and beatbox, mixing it up but usually ending up just mixed up!

Rannel’s must-see new show combines witty dialogue and intricate choreography to create an energetic comedy for all ages.

Flhip Flhop has been touring to great acclaim from audiences and critics alike throughout 2009 (including a sell-out 25 date run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe).

Tickets for the show cost £12 and £8 (concessions).  Please call The Dukes Box Office on 01524 598500 or see www.dukes-lancaster.org to book.

Goodbye Regal Cinema

By Dudley Dawson

This week they’re tearing down The Regal Cinema on King Street, making room for a travel lodge and retail site.

Since it was some time ago the council dubbed the building without merit and longer still since its doors closed for the last time, the following brief missive aims to celebrate the work of the Northern Morris company who ran the cinema from 2003 until its eventual closure in 2006 – capping off its rich and tempered history.

Making a home for itself in the stalls and twin cinema building tacked up against the Gala Bingo, The Regal was the last in a long line of cinemas to occupy the King Street space – dating back to November 7th 1936 when the Oscar Deutsch Odeon opened with the Gary Cooper number – ‘Mr Deeds Goes To Town’ (remade by the Farrelley bros in 2002). When The Regal debuted with Eminem rap-riot 8-Mile in 2003, the cinema had long since become a twin screen affair; having housed a Star, Studio, Cannon, Virgin, ABC and Odeon respectively.

When I moved to Lancaster later that year they were showing Kill Bill and Finding Nemo. Coming up from Blackpool, where in 1999 the last art deco cinema got renovated and made over as Funnygirls cabaret bar – and then having grumbled curmudgeonly through several years of multiplex screenings (no thanks to George Lucas), it was a trip to pitch down in Lancaster and be able to see a film in the kind of classy, deco-era environments that I thought (mistakenly) were all but gone.

Many trips were made – sometimes twice a week. If the film was a piece of crap (as it often was – thanks to Tim Burton); being in the building, with its plush and sometimes makeshift ambiance, was enough. It may be projection (cough), but I don’t imagine I was alone with my affections. There were many packed houses (Disney/Walden’s new Narnia; Troy; Team America etc.) and maybe some loyalist moments? – like in January 2005 when the heat gave out and two or three couples sat stoically through Phantom Of The Opera.

In August 2006 however, local heads became aware that the Vue was opening across town, and maybe there wasn’t room for three cinemas in the city? The multiplex had been waiting on an operator and when it got one The Regal played itself out quietly with the Samuel L. Jackson laugh-a-minute Snakes On A Plane.

Aside from the local activist group calling itself ‘28 Days Later’ stealing in to take some much appreciated photographs (http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=38047), not much else has happened. Months have gone by whilst the place has gotten boarded up and ’soft stripped’ of all its ruddy furniture. The Gala Bingo held out a little longer. On Christmas week I saw bulldozers ripping into the right side auditorium.

That much was a drag, but aside from giving me a cool glance over a hunk of rubble, the strip gave me a chance to think on many a fond memory of the place and to muse on what’s been gained and lost for local arts, entertainment, history etc. In its passing.

Andrew (1985) suggests that any trip to the cinema is a route into its past. As a technology medium foremost, all parts of a film reflect their development in a particular time and space – with its technological advances and limitations. Under this lens, Avatar 3D becomes as much a reflection of the medium’s shifts and breaks as A Propos De Nice. Maybe similarily, film theatres can be seen to reflect the developments and aspirations of their times?

The Regal’s space between the multiplex and art-house may have let it stick out, seem out of joint or archaic. Compared to the inner-city megaplexes it’s sparsity may have come across modest. But in that modesty was maybe a direct line to one of its merits: as a warm reminder of what had come before and after. Perhaps its archaic qualities drew attention to one of cinema’s key features and attractions: of being an art-form in constant redefinition (Andrew, 1985)?

If the film lover is, as Andrew (1985) suggests, a mix of historian and cultural interpreter, it’s arguable that they could get a similar sense of perspective visiting any picture house in the country – observing the changes, watching the contours etc. In its particularity though The Regal offered an explicit space to track sixty years of shifts in socio-cultural-economic history – and likewise the chance to muse on a breadth of the subjective experiences from the local going public up and down generations.

If like me, you’re mourning its disappearance, there’s consolation to be had via other regional charmers – The Royalty at Bowness; Ulverston’s Roxy; Zeffirelli’s at Ambleside. Two of these, to the best of my knowledge, are run by The Northern Morris company. If you haven’t had a chance to visit one of their other beautiful cinemas, please do …

http://www.nm-cinemas.co.uk/

Getting back to projection, their love and respect for cinema and its history seems genuine, sensitive and intact.

The Regal was a major plus for me living in this city.I’ll be sad to see it go.

Refs: Andrew, D. (1985) ‘Cinema and Culture’ Humanities 6 (4), pp. 24 – 25.

See also: http://cinematreasures.org/theatre/6538

THE WINNERS ARE…

Well it’s taken me all day counting and re-checking the votes, thank you to all 90 off you who chipped in.  To put that into perspective, that’s about a typical days viewing on here when there’s no controversy bubbling away.    I’m sure that all the artists involved, whether they were bothered about awards or not, appreciate that so many of you cared enough to send an email.  Now go buy their albums, books, art, gig tickets etc….

Oh, you want to know who won?  Well, it was fascinating totting up the votes.  There were clear winners and extremely tight categories, with a recount needed in two cases. 

Best Album 2009

Show Your Workings by New Zealand Story.

http://newzealandstory.bandcamp.com/album/show-your-workings

Best Live Act 2009

Moll Baxter

Best Writer 2009

Kim Moore

Best Visual Artist 2009

Free:Control

http://www.facebook.com/pages/freecontrol/165162389103?v=photos

Best Other Performer

Simon Baker & Rebecca Willmott (tie)

I was unable to separate Simon and Rebecca even on a count back of second and third place votes. 

Well done to all of you, and to all the nominees and those too who didnt get a mention this time.  We have a great range of talent in this area, represented in these awards by comparative veterans and newcomers alike.

The Dukes Youth Theatre present It Snows

Hot on the heels of their successful performance at The National Theatre last year, The Dukes Senior Youth Theatre present a new icy cold production of It Snows from 10 – 12 February.

This quirky story about snow and love will feature an even quirkier set, as all of the props are made out of wool!  Nineteen knitters have been busy working since October to create, amongst other things, jam tarts, icicles and snowballs.

And if anyone still wants to contribute their knitting skills, head down to The Dukes bar where a bowl of wool awaits for keen hands to make snowballs for the show.  All wool has kindly been donated by Stylecraft.

It Snows is set amidst the racket of a not-so-very beautiful town where  Cameron and Caitlin find a unique connection through the world of sledging, snow angels and snowballs.

Cast member Shona Thompson said:

“This is my first show with The Dukes Youth Theatre and I’m really excited about taking people on our journey.  The knitting is amazing and when people enter DT3, it’ll be like they’re entering another  world.”

Tickets cost £6 and £4 and are available from The Dukes Box Office on 01524 598500 or www.dukes-lancaster.org.

Lunecy Writer makes the big time!

Occasional contributor to these pages, and frequent performer at Spotlight, Apples & Snakes and Poem & A Pint events Kim Moore has a poem ‘The Rabbit & The Moon’ in this weeks Times Literary Supplement.

Well done Kim!

More Music with Jazz Legend Neil Yates

A vital voice in British Jazz comes to Morecambe for one night only!

More Music Presents Neil Yates, jazz musician and the only person to successfully interpret traditional folk styles onto the trumpet, along with his Cool Ceol (Gaelic for “music”) Quartet featuring Steve Berry (Loose Tubes) on bass , Zsolt Bende on guitar, and Eryl Roberts on drums.

Now based in North Wales, Neil – who has just been commissioned to write a suite for 19 players to mark Manchester Jazz Festival’s 15th year – has played with NYJO, Peter King, Don Weller, Denys Baptiste, Jazz Jamaica All Stars, Alex Wilson, Clark Tracey and has worked as a session musician for Brand New Heavies, Supergrass, Black Grape, Alison Moyet, Will Young, Raw Stylus, Suggs, and Robbie Williams.

As well as playing in jazz and pop settings Neil developed his breathtaking technique whilst living in a small caravan travelling round the folk music festivals of Britain and Ireland, learning and playing traditional Celtic music. He went on to play and record with folk music giants Michael McGoldrick, Kate Rusby, John McCusker and more.

This gig will be extra special as Neil will be joined by two cumbrian musical institutions: banjo player, singer, pipes player, producer, publisher and part-time farmer Bill Lloyd and The Lakeland Fiddlers, a string band led by Carolyn Francis.

Bill Lloyd is well known as a live performer at festivals and folk sessions in Cumbria, the Borders and North West England, both as a soloist and with The Wildwood Band. He plays old-time Appalachian dance music and songs, country-rock, bluegrass, contemporary and traditional Irish ballads, traditional European dance music and his own songs.

The Lakeland Fiddlers play traditional fiddle music from the English lakes collected and arranged by fantastic fiddler Carolyn Francis. They evolved from being a class to a community band appearing regularly at festivals, fairs and parties including appearances at The Sage, Gateshead, Solfest, Dent Folk Festival and Furness Traditions Festival.

More Music Presents gigs offer the chance for professional and community musicians to find meaningful, musical ways of playing together. As well as offering his own set, Neil Yates will solo with The Lakeland Fiddlers, and then the fiddlers will in turn accompany Bill Lloyd for a song.  Finally all acts will come together for The Big Play which will open and close the night!

One month later on Friday 5th March More Music Presents Tarang – The UK’s leading indian classical music ensemble, Dean McPhee – innovative electric guitar soloist and More Music’s resident Orbit Jazz Workshop Band

More Music Presents is open to all ages. Tickets are priced at £5 for adults and £2 Under 18s/Concessions and are available on the door at More Music 13-17 Devonshire Road Morecambe, or in advance by calling 01524 831997 or on email at info@moremusic.org.uk.

More Music is a community music organisation based in the West End of Morecambe offering classes, gigs and events for all ages. More Music also organises the annual Kite Festival which this year is on Sunday 20 June. For more information about More Music’s events call 01524 831997 or visit www.moremusic.org.uk

Still time to vote….if you want to!

There’s still a couple of days left to get your votes in for the Lunecy Awards 2009

http://thelunecyreview.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/the-lunecy-awards-shortlists/

I’ve just had a sneak look at the votes so far, and mostly its still very close, your vote could make the difference.

–Kev

Open Mic at The Gregson

Lancaster has a thriving tradition of ‘Open Mic’ nights, and we at Lunecy wholeheartedly endorse this.  Some people want to be famous and some want to just play to a few friends, appreciative listeners, passers by and so on.  Some of these are the same people on different nights.   As the mood or the inspiration takes them.

One of these nights that has been touched upon before at TLR is the last sunday of the month at The Gregson, an event often themed and drawing performers and listeners from all sides of town.  Even I’ve been known to do my thing there. 

This month there’s no theme, but Nigel Parrington tells me that:

‘there’s no theme or bells and whistles, just an Open Mic.  acid folksters ‘Zaam’ are coming form Belgium to play a short set so it should be interesting. 
Many thanks and greetings
www.myspace.com/gregsonopenmic ’

So, if the weekend is too short and you want to enjoy a convivial, spirited and entertaining night with tunes thrown in for free… why not wander down to The Gregson (or up, acrosss, round the corner, etc) on Sunday night.