Balkanarama--Live

That's the name of a new CD and also, in a nutshell,
what we did today.

Sort of. I mean, saying "we saw Balkanarama" is
something someone with SERIOUS sleep deprivation or
something would say, because live concerts by really
good artists are NOT things you put in a nutshell! If
they WERE, well, then, practically EVERYTHING could be
put in a nutshell.

Balkanarama played today at 12:00 in Kirkland. And we
left before 10 to get there (12:00 noon, not midnight!
though I could see that happening). Of course, the
first thing my sister noticed was that their lead
singer, Eva Moon (to quote my father: "a voice to die
for" :)), had grown her hair longer. It's amazing what
changes in a year! It's NOT the same place we left.
I'm dreading seeing the new Sound Transit station
where South China used to be. But I digress. That's
another story...

I have a terrific sunburn to show for almost an hour
and a half's worth of dancing. I cannot stop my feet
when Balkanarama's around. The music enters my soul
and I can't keep still. There are times when I know
I'm sadly off-beat and I can barely hear, I'm so
tired, but something wills me to keep moving. And so I
move. Now I've got to explain to the folks at church
tomorrow that I am terrible about sunblock...

Their music wasn't quite the same. It was still
wonderful--but part of the different-ness was because
their virtuoso violinist, Matty Noble, wasn't there
this time. But they sounded more like they used to,
because they lost a guitarist, picked up two new ones,
and then one left and the other was out of town. Sooo,
their old guitarist filled in. In fact, except for the
cimbalom and the absence of one person, it was like
the time I first saw them (when Matty Noble was
somewhere on 520--don't get me started on traffic!).

I still remember that time. I can picture some of the
dancers in a line, enough to recognize them
again--yes, I have, once before--and could draw them
if I were a good enough artist. I gave two of them
"names"--I name people I will probably never meet and
don't know their names and it keeps images in my
memory (that's Tracy on the left with Terry standing
off to the side...), which probably helps. Of course,
sometimes this gets funny, like if I see a person in
the airport and I later find them at the same
conference my parents are at and find their names are
completely different--or similar! That happened once
in Kunming. Somebody I "named" Brita was Britta or
Brina or Brinna.

Anyway, I got off the topic. My sister was the only
person who didn't dance. And, between songs, she
filled me in on certain things: "So-and-so glanced in
your direction! So-and-so was looking at you!", etc.
That must be what little sisters are for. Humph. I
don't NEED to know if I have an "audience". I'm just
dancing, all right? People can look at me, enjoy
looking at me--I like to make people happy by or with
doing something I love!!!--but Susie teases me about
it. Hmm, at least she stopped eating my hair...(the
condition was that I'd stop asking her to dance. Then
she'd stop biting my hair. WhatEVER works!)

We got their new CD--FINALLY. It didn't come out 'til
after we left, and it was recorded on February 26,
last year at the Seattle drum school...to quote the CD
cover: "A dozen of our [that must mean the band. Hey,
this has my favorites, too!!!] favorite songs from
southern Europe, recorded late one night in one take
before a live audience." (back cover, capitals added)
One reason this CD was important for us to get (one of
three reasons) lies in the last two words--"live
audience". It was a small crowd of people kind of just
sitting there and watching, and listening (nobody, not
even me, danced. :( ). I know I sound like I was
there--I was! So this brings back memories of a fun
night, and also many fun nights before and afterwards.
This is their best CD yet. This is what they REALLY
sound like, currently, and have sounded like, pretty
much, since the last time I saw them. If you get the
first CD, Nonstop, you'll get music that sounds, I
don't know--more like any other act at Folklife--and
Black Sea is a wonderful one, but I believe it was
also a bit outdated soundwise by the time I heard it.
But all three are great. This is the best ever!!!

That's about it, except--one word of advice. If you go
see Balkanarama, see them late at night practically
everywhere, or in the heat of the afternoon with a
grassy dance floor.
Saro