musical generosity

When it comes to certain types of concerts, I have a respected ritual which involves a combination of excitement/freaking out/listening to everything ever recorded by the artist in question/bragging to my friends about the concert I'm going to see etc. The day of a long anticipated concert is truly the best. So imagine all of this excitement, only to find out that the artist in question is a horrible concert giver. The reason can vary, but usually has something to do with lack of encores/entertaining anecdotes/spontaneity/or general ability to communicate through music. I had my first major disappointment in this field at the age of 16. Norah Jones was all the rage, and I had just found out she would be one of the guest artists at the Interlochen Center for the Arts that summer. Most. Boring. Concert. Ever. Honestly, I could have stayed in my cabin and listened to her CD while taking a shower and had a more moving musical experience.

But this post is not about the negatives ! On the contrary, I'd like to share with you, in no particular order, some of the more generous concert givers I have had the pleasure to hear, and see:

Jamie Cullum- this young jazz singer, pianist, & composer must inject caffeine directly into his blood stream for how long he can last on stage without taking a break. I saw him recently at the Olympia in Paris and was there for well over 3 hours. Everything from jazz standards, to new pop melodies, to mashups (such as an interesting melange of singin' in the rain and under my umbrella) had Cullum sweating profusely, but never tiring. Here's Cullum performing the jazz standard 'I get a kick out of you', with a few twists:



Ray Charles. was a legend. And when I saw him in concert in the summer of 2002 in Portland, ME, it was clear why. His joy and desire to share his musical experience was undeniably clear from the moment he walked on stage. So involved in the music, he nearly fell backwards off his piano bench more than once, and just laughed and grinned like a fool in love each time. Here he is in his most classic prime:



Jennifer Larmore is an irresistibly beautiful mezzo. I saw her perform at Oberlin in 2005, and for the first time, saw someone seduce an entire theater full of people within a couple of seconds. She is playful and giving in her singing and stage presence, and isn't at all afraid to go a bit over the top in a recital setting. Here is she is as Carmen-an encore she does quite frequently, but also terribly well:



Ben Folds- the rumor that summer at Interlochen was that Ben Folds asked to play on the nicest Steinway on campus, but was refused. Why could that possibly be ? Well, besides being one of the most engaging live artists I've seen, he has a tendency to jump on pianos. Here he is directing his audience in harmony from on top of a grand piano:



Anne-Sophie von Otter-I admit that the first half of von Otter's recital at the Theatre des Champs Elysees last year was not so thrilling. I believe the program was some obscure Bach cantatas which could hardly be heard between the overplaying of the backing baroque ensemble, and von Otter's head buried in her music. But at the beginning of the second act, something changed ! Some gutsy frenchman yelled out from the nosebleed section "moins fort l'orchestre", which roughly translates to "hey orchestra ! you are playing too damn loud". Von Otter was incredibly gracious, and asked the chef d'orchestre to oblige. Then she proceeded to sing a serious of baroque arias beautifully, and gave several encores as if to offer an apology. What a beautiful way to apologize, really. Here she is singing a Handel classic:



Bobby McFerrin is one of my earliest music memories. He played a concert with the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops when I was no more than 8, and the memory of that evening was burned into my mind for years to come. Not only is he musically brilliant and terribly funny, but he has a way of speaking to every single person in the audience, regardless of age or musical background. My absolute favorite moment of that evening was his '5 minute Wizard of Oz':



Itzhak Perlman played with the Interlochen youth orchestra in the summer of 2003. Words can not quite accurately describe the experience. Suffice it to say, he is by far the most touching musician I have seen perform live. Here is Perlman, as adorable as ever, on Sesame Street:



Now this is by no means an exhaustive list, as it was compiled from my own personal concert-going experience. I have, however, heard rumours of some terribly generous musicians out there, and I am looking forward to adding more to the list as time goes on.