Power of Music

Bloc Party was coined the 2005 Best New Band Of The Year in the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The band owe their fabulous success to the front man of the Franz Ferdinand band. Kind of paradox: Bloc Party turned out to be the best on the UK music scene. In the result this phenomenon lead to a rival with Franz Ferdinand, as well as with other music mega stars, including Gorillaz, Warchild and the Blur.

Bloc Party’s triumph depends mainly upon their unique images on stage. The band comprises the black front man, the Asian drummer and two British playing indie-rock. Such a bizarre mix of nationalities and tones is hard to imagine. Let’s shortly view their history.

Guys congregated in 1998, after graduating form a high school, conceiving to form a band. After naming it something like Angle Range and later on Diet, replaced by Union, they failed to achieve worldwide acclamation. The Bloc Party name was the last one in their comprehensive list. Their success was occasional. Frontman Kele Okereke sent a demo record to Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand, who approved their music and invited them to kick off Franz Ferdinand’s concert in London.

It was a unique chance for guys to make it to the top of show buzz. And they managed to seize their golden opportunity. The concert faced presence of British DJ Steve Lamac, who put Bloc Party’s song “She’s Hearing Voices” into rotation on the BBC radio in a week’s time. He also stated that Great Britain pins hope on the prospect band.

In summer 2004 Bloc Party released their first CD album “Silent Alarm” and in November embarked on a European tour to promote the album. In early 2005 Bloc Party plaid multiple gigs in Japan and the USA. Their music was wonderfully perceived worldwide, irrespective of the religious, political and national values, practiced by the band members. The band is regarded as the universal one on world music scene. In 2005 the “Silent Alarm” was nominated for the British Best Art CD Album Award.

Article source:
Bloc Party: British Rock Hope. Music Babylon is a site with lyrics, discographies, artists’ biographies, music forum and some articles for those who’s interested.

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Led Zeppelin was blaring on the stereo and our violins trembled in the back seat. We devoured our fast food suppers as we zoomed along the dark winter highway to “the big city” two hours away from our small, rural Canadian town.

Anticipating the evening with mixed anxiety and excitement, our insides danced a quick nervous jig. We were travelling to the first of seven practices this month with a symphony orchestra and were already sick of the drive.

Ari, a 17-year-old fiddle student of mine, had never played in an orchestra but had won plenty of hardware at fiddle contests. Seeing the opportunity as great career experience, he reluctantly agreed to spend four Wednesdays and an entire weekend away from his friends in rehearsals. He was a proficient player and incredibly confident, which I hoped would keep him from bailing out before any music was played.

We were not at all prepared to play our parts since the music was held up by another orchestra until the day before. Thus the entire orchestra would have to “sight-read” (musician for “fake it or die a terrible death”) the music with the rest of the orchestra.

Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have been nervous in the least. I played first violin for a year with the symphony, but had spent a couple years pregnant then raising my son. My mind had turned into a mish-mash of strained carrots and Barney and I was worrying about everything all at once.

Did I still have what it took to play with an orchestra? Was the cat fed today? Would I be able to stay awake at the rehearsal after only 4 hours sleep the night previous? Did I leave the stove on? Would my child survive at home with my unobservant husband? What if the conductor asked me to play in front of everyone else and I spontaneously forgot how to play the violin?

Leaving behind a toddler screaming for mommy was difficult, but no where near as frightening as the impending embarrassment that could have struck if I have “lost my touch.” My nervous tension grew as we approached the city lights.

After getting lost and being locked out of the building we were late, but thankfully, so was our “boss,” the section leader. We finally settled into our seats, clutching our violins with cold, shaking hands, and were met with intimidating folders crammed full of what a non-musician would think to be inkblot exams for testing the insane. On second thought, they very well could be tonight. The conductor raised his baton and we began.

Playing with a symphony is always wonderfully intense and the enormous volume within the orchestra is fantastic. Our conductor waved his hands with enthusiasm and the complete concentration everyone was immersed in was wonderfully intense. During an overture I was busy avoiding blasting unwanted notes when there was supposed to be silence and looking out for my young pupil beside me that he was on the same track.

For me the tension melted away when we pulled “Beethoven Symphony No. 4″ out of our folders.

Playing Beethoven was what inspired me to leave my warm cozy home and family to subject myself to potential humiliation. Playing Beethoven was enough incentive to keep all of us coming to rehearsals, though most of us were volunteers and weren’t paid to rehearse or perform in the concert. Playing Beethoven was what made the 4-hour drive in winter weather and midnight bedtime worthwhile.

Surprisingly, Ari was the one slumped over a kettledrum napping during the break, and not me. My maternal instinct took over and I helped him into a chair. “He’s new to all this,” I said to another player and she smirked and let him rest in peace, with full understanding of how the late rehearsals can drain a player. Players exchanged baby pictures, ate cake, then played “Happy Birthday” for a flautist.

Bruce, not “The Maestro,” but Bruce, was a great leader who told jokes and “hung” with the rest of us. His friendliness and encouragement always made orchestra rehearsals fun for me and I’m sure all the musicians played better as a result.

At one point he asked the rookie, Ari, how he was holding up with the music. “Fine,” Ari replied. “How’s she doing,” Bruce teased, looking at me, the teacher. “Oh, I don’t know about her!” Ari said with an impish grin. We all laughed and again I felt my tension evaporate until I was just having fun again.

After playing remarkably well and avoiding the wrath of the sectionleader we drove home and reflected on the events behind us. Ari was having the time of his life and became delirious and giddy with fatigue. At one point he took his violin out of the case and started playing hyper-fast jigs in the car, his bow bumping the soft ceiling. We laughed and sang and talked.

Inside I was cherishing the feeling of being back in my element: “I’m playing Beethoven again” I kept reminding myself as the words’ euphoric effect had not yet worn off. Ari thought playing with a symphony was pretty “cool” and was glad he was giving it a try.

I thought of all the other musicians around the world who were on their way home from rehearsals and concerts, dog-tired and hopelessly broke, but content because they were feeding their souls. In the weeks to come our duo would run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, my son would nearly drive my husband batty with frustration and Ari would expose my car stereo to so-called music featuring indecent bodily noises, but it was all part of the musicians’ experience.

It allowed me to play Beethoven again.

We cranked up the Zeppelin and air-guitared all the way back home through a light blizzard, enjoying every minute of the drive together.

**Rhiannon Schmitt (nee Nachbaur) is a professional violinist and music teacher who has enjoyed creative writing for years.

Her business, Fiddleheads Violin School & Shop, has won several distinguished young entrepreneur business awards for her commitment to excellence. Her shop offers beginner to professional level instruments, accessories and supplies for very reasonable prices: Visit http://www.fiddleheads.ca

Rhiannon is also Founding President of the Shuswap Violin Society which promotes violin & fiddle music and helps young musicians in need: http://www.violinsociety.ca

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A hand shot up out of the audience and waved emphatically, attempting to catch the celebrity’s attention. The spotlit fiddler peered out into the darkness and candidly asked, “Do I know you? Am I related to you?”

The whole room burst into laughter and I felt like I was right there with Natalie MacMaster in her kitchen enjoying a homespun “ceilidh,” (pronounced “kay-lee”) Celtic dance.

This “kitchen” had a world-famous celebrity, a top-notch symphony orchestra and over 450 paying guests at $40 each, but that’s beside the point. It was still Natalie’s kitchen.

She went on to tune her violin patiently, though hundreds of eyes watched anxiously. Perhaps she sensed the urgency when she joked that her tuning was, “Close enough for Celtic,” and the room chuckled again. Then this sweet, down-to-earth gal from Cape Breton Island picked up her fiddle and the “kitchen” went up in flames! There wasn’t a foot within earshot that could resist tapping to her phenomenal playing and dancing.

Earshot, but not eyeshot. Unfortunately, most of the audience could only see the virtuoso from the waist-up due to the level seating arrangement of the hall. Natalie’s legendary clicks and clacks of tap shoes on the hollow stage stirred me to leave my seat and watch the entire concert from the side aisle. Soon after standing, I ran back to my aisle to fetch my young violin students, who were too short to catch the fancy footwork from their seats.

In true Celtic tradition, our quiet observation from the sidelines grew into louder foot stomping, which rapidly escalated into energetic circle dancing and jigs. Natalie’s own dancing featured high kicks, quick spins and rhythmic tap dancing. As the show progressed, her traditional Scottish step dancing morphed into groovy modern hip-hop and disco moves, including the notorious and difficult “Moonwalk!”

Much to my surprise and delight, the music also went through a breathtaking metamorphosis. The concert started with traditional Celtic melodies played by the silky string sections of the symphony. Next was a Cape Breton fiddle tune in A major, what Natalie called the “Canadian key.”

After such traditional pieces, we learned that she was more multifaceted than imaginable. From a Latin mix to the gorgeous jazz ballad, “Autumn Leaves,” we were all captivated by her versatility.

Concertmaster of the Okanagan Symphony, Denis Letourneau, was as mesmerized as the audience was! The classical virtuoso beamed from ear to ear and repeatedly shook his head in awe and admiration of Natalie’s fiddling fireworks. Then he contributed to the pyrotechnics when he joined Natalie for a musical goulash where “fiddling met violining.” Their duet blended the popular fiddle tune “Devil’s Dream” with the intricate Bach Violin Partida in E!

“Denis, we have an expression back in Cape Breton,” said Natalie afterwards, “When we really dig in, we say we were ‘driving ‘er.’ Now you can go home and say last night you were really ‘driving ‘er!” Denis blushed. Natalie smiled. We all felt two worlds converge and it felt wonderful.

As our cultures blend, I think we’ll be seeing a lot more “Traditional fusion” in music. Diverse forms of music, polar as they may seem now, will soon merge and create new genres that people of all ages and walks of life can appreciate. Put a symphony orchestra, a fiddler, a funk band and a bagpiper playing on stage at the same time and everyone from Grandma to the teenager with the spiked hair will approve.

There will be growing pains, naturally. As in Natalie’s concert, there will be an obvious polarity in the audience in deciding proper concert protocol. Some people at the concert didn’t know whether get up and dance in the aisles, or to be content in sitting in quiet appreciation. Like any pioneers, we’ll find a middle ground that works for everyone. Heck, a friend of mine once created “seated dancing” in such an awkward situation.

Natalie’s charm and talent, coupled with her obvious love of music, were enough to inspire me and several other violinists present to explore new avenues of expression and technique. I couldn’t wait to get home to try some of the things she showed us so flawlessly that night.

Natalie provided further inspiration when she agreed to sign fiddles my students had brought with them. Then she stood, weary and tired, but smiling enthusiastically for group photographs with me and my fiddle students.

My students, young and old, talked about Natalie’s concert for weeks and have found a role model who will guide them into wonderful new directions.

Thank you, Natalie. You are one amazing Canadian pioneer and we love you for it!

**Rhiannon Schmitt (nee Nachbaur) is a professional violinist and music teacher who has enjoyed creative writing for years.

She currently writes columns for two Canadian publications and has been featured in Australia’s “Music Teacher Magazine.” Writing allows her to teach people that the world of music is as fun as you spin it to be!

Rhiannon, age 29, has worn the hats of businesswoman, performer, events promoter, classical music radio host and school orchestra music arranger in rural British Columbia, Canada.

Her business, Fiddleheads Violin School & Shop, has won several distinguished young entrepreneur business awards for her commitment to excellence. Her shop offers beginner to professional level instruments, accessories and supplies for very reasonable prices: Visit http://www.fiddleheads.ca

Rhiannon is also Founding President of the Shuswap Violin Society which promotes violin & fiddle music and helps young musicians in need: http://www.violinsociety.ca

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