Bad News

What's happened to Balkanarama? Every time they make a CD, they lose members and start changing slowly. It's been interesting, up until now, but this...

Matty Noble quit. For those of you who are not quite Balkanamaniacs like my family is, he is--he was their violinist. Very talented guy, too--practically a virtuoso. I could study like crazy for years, but I could never be that good--and he was with the band since he was about my age, which shows something about his playing skill, I should say. You listen to a sample of music of practically any CD and that beautiful quavering background, or sometimes the foreground--that's the violin. The whole family laments this loss.

The first time I saw Balkanarama, it was at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, and he wasn't there, because he was (to quote band leader and the guy who does the talking, Mike Gordon) "Somewhere in a bus on 520". Non-Seattleites, that's a really really traffic-y freeway. Anyhow, he was there the next time, and the next, and the next...I've seen the band with and without violin, and it's going to be a loss.

But. The core of the band, as I see it, is still there, and hopefully they aren't going there. And as long as they stay, Balkanarama is going to be just as high on my list of top ten groups to listen to. Because the music is wonderful.

P.S. isn't it funny? Balkanarama loses members, Atwater-Donnelly "adds" them. Look at the website (it's on my links list), and you'll see "Atwater-Donnelly. Aubrey Solo [that's the Atwater part]. Atwater-Donnelly trio. Atwater-Donnelly band. Jerimoth Hill." What's next, Atwater-Donnelly Orchestra...?