Don’t shoot the pianist

The Maria Canals International Music Competition of Barcelona was founded in 1954 by the pianist Maria Canals and her husband, the writer Rossend Llates. This Competition has achieved international prestige since it was accepted by the World Federation of International Music Competitions in 1958.

It is held at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, being endorsed by the World Federation of Music Competitions for the organization of the branches of piano, violin, singing, cello, chamber music, guitar, percussion and flute. Since 1954, the Competition has held over 110 branches, with over 7.000 participants from 100 countries and 180 jury members from all over the world.

The 56th Barcelona Maria Canals International Music Competition will bring together 91 pianists from 26 countries between 13 and 26 March. At the same time, the Off-Competition will be taking piano music to the public.

Maria Canals Competition wants to take advantage of the presence of so many prestigious pianists in the city to take piano music out to the public. More than fifty pianos will be spread around the city so everyone who wants to can play the piano in some very unusual places.

Green spaces, squares and streets will provide the setting for concerts aimed at everyone, children and adults, professionals and amateurs, with grand pianos installed so the participants in the competition can take their art to every corner of the city. Rambla del Raval, Plaça de Sarrià, Can Brians prison and the Line 2 metro station lobby in Plaça de la Universitat are some of the improvised “concert halls” for these young artists.

De Cajón! Flamenco Festival of Barcelona

Between 11th February and 15th April Barcelona’s “De Cajón!” Flamenco Festival will be playing host to established artists like José Mercé, Rosario, Parrita and Pitingo, the alternative rock-flameno mix of Los Planetas and dance from the legendary Antonio Canales, as well as promoting young talent like the singers Alba Guerrero, Alba Carmona and María Toledo.

Alongside all these performances, “De Cajón!” is also organising a special concert, where young children can enjoy an introduction to the world of flamenco, as well as a new PRK-De Cajón! improvisation concert.

More info, visit the organizers website The Project

Tradicionarius: International Folk Festival

The Tradicionàrius International Folk Festival takes place for the 23rd time, featuring nearly 50 artists, seven album presentations and four new shows that will fill the CAT stage with folk songs and rhythms while including other city venues.

Once again Tradicionàrius wants to make local traditional music and culture more accessible to city residents, without abandoning its aim to evolve and expand. So, until 26 March, Barcelona will be moving to the rhythm of folk.

More inf@: Tradicionarius Website

Sweater, British sound made in Barcelona.

Plan Magistral, their first album, recalls the best in Anglo-Saxon pop rock as well as the indie music scene. As they work on new songs, Víctor Garcia Barriocanal, the lead singer, and Rocky Otto, the keyboard player, tell us how they’ll be including new sounds, such as flamenco, jazz, blues and classical music, as the Barcelona band’s five members take their inspiration from a large and varied range of influences.

Having gone through a “traumatic experience” with a big label, Sweater’s members are keen defenders of self-management and opted for the do-it-yourself approach with their first album, which they produced themselves. It’s a formula they’re sure to follow in the future.

Impeccable sound and detailed, well-crafted lyrics make up the credentials of a group who attach as much importance to their music as they do to their words.

They started off singing in English, but now they sing in Spanish to be “true” to themselves and their audiences, and don’t rule out writing songs in Catalan. And that is because, they tell us, they do what and how they want.

Visit the Sweater website.

Primavera Club Festival switches on Barcelona

A characteristic feature of this festival, which came about as the winter version of Primavera Sound, has been to invite back bands who were a success at the May festival.

They’ve always said that the natural environment of any musician is a concert hall. Maybe that’s the reason why this year’s Primavera Club, the fourth, has opted to spread itself round the city’s main concert venues.

Apolo, Apolo [2], Bikini, Sidecar, Jamboree, Monasterio and La Nau are also Primavera Club venues where, between 9 and 13 December, about sixty groups will be appearing. You needn’t worry about its stages being spread out like this as lots of bands will be playing several times at different venues, so you won’t miss the ones you are interested in.

So, this year, there will be a chance to see again The Pastels, The Ladybug Transistor and Sr. Chinarro, among others. Jeffrey Lewis is just one of the artists on the bill who’ll be going down well right from the start. This comic illustrator, along with a band who have disappeared from the map, Moldy Peaches, is one of the most faithful representatives of the New York anti-folk scene.

The list of groups we can recommend is long: Port O’Brien, The Black Heart Procession, Cass McCombs, etc. But, above all, don’t miss the groups from over here.

Of course, besides neofolk guru Banhart, we can meet some old acquaintances at Primavera Club with new music projects. Such is the case with Alan Sparhawk, one half of the Low duo, who is playing here with the Retribution Gospel Choir, who have more guitars and make more noise than Low.

Another well-established musician is Kid Congo Powers, who has belonged to bands like The Gun Club, The Cramps, The Bad Seeds and Die Haut. He is coming to Primavera Club with a new band, The Pink Monkey Birds.

Primavera Club website | NN Hotels: www.nnhotels.com

Otrascosas Gallery by Villarrosàs

The Otrascosas gallery, which belongs to the advertising agency Villarrosàs, offers Barcelona residents somewhere to enjoy all kinds of ideas. You must have passed by there loads of times: Via Laietana, 64. One of the floors of this building, Otrascosas, a gallery that accommodates every kind of artistic manifestation.

So far, during the two months and a bit it has been open to the public, Otrascosas has held concerts - like the one given by the Swedish band Billie The Vision & The Dancers - various screenings and an exhibition entitled Trochut + Apparatu Vol.1, which is on at the gallery until 16 December.

The aim, according to Marc Morro, who is in charge of Otrascosas, is to ‘run a weekly programme of talks, documentary screenings, concerts, theatre or whatever’. In other words, as he said himself: ‘That something happens every week.’

They happen and will happen because Otrascosas plans to revolutionise your Christmas festivities. From 17 December you will find an exhibition-market where you will be able to see and buy, at affordable prices, clothes produced by young designers.

At the same time, another part of the gallery will be dominated by a very special Christmas tree, made out of TV sets which will be showing different takes on Christmas.

The common feature of all of them is they have been recorded by all sorts of people using a digital camera which records with a texture similar to Super 8.

Via Laietana nº64, Principal - www.otrascosasdevillarrosas.com
Mondays to Fridays: 10.00-14.00h / 16.00-19.30h* *except openings

11th Gospel Festival of Catalonia

It promises to be spectacular with the best performances in contemporary gospel, to judge by the choice on offer at the Catalonia Gospel Festival. The South African choir Soweto, the American choirs Georgia, Amen and Black Heritage, plus the ‘lady of gospel’ and soloist Bridget A. Bazile from New Orleans, are just some of the acts.

In addition, the Barcelona Gospel Institute choir, with its 200 members, has shown we too have our own home-grown enthusiasts of this highly spiritual style of music. All these choirs will be filling Catalonia, throughout this month, with an authentic Afro-American spirit.

One of the voices you’ll be able to savour will be that of the classically trained Bridget A. Bazile, who hails from New Orleans and puts her unique voice at the service of an equally unique tradition.

On Thursday 17, at the Palau de la Música, you can treat yourself to the impressive music of the South African choir, Soweto. You’ll be amazed by their explosion of rhythm, colours, strength and vitality. You’ll have the opportunity to experience the gospel you’d expect of this music genre, the kind performed by choirs and with the force of a whole continent behind them.

You’ll find yourself carried away by the authentic African legacy of Black Heritage, who pay tribute to the Afro-American musical tradition, from its origins in the plantations of the Deep South to its urban variations.

Concert ‘Amen Gospel Choir + The Brotherhood Singers’ | Date: 12/12/2009
Place: Gran Teatre del Liceu

Concert ‘Soweto Gospel Choir’ | Date: 17/12/2009
Place: Palau de la Música Catalana

Concert ‘Bridget A. Bazile Singers i la Coral de l’Institut Gospel Barcelona | Date: 23/12/2009
Place: L’Auditori de Barcelona

Festival Website: www.theproject.es  | NN Hotels: www.nnhotels.com

Miles Davis at 41st Voll Damm Barcelona International Jazz Festival

The Barcelona International Jazz Festival will be paying homage to the album ‘Kind of Blue’, by the trumpet player and composer ‘Miles Davis’, considered the most important work in this musical style.

Released 50 years ago, the album is one of the great musical works of all time and is still a touchstone in Jazz today.

Also taking part in the festival will be Wayne Shorter, a member of the Miles Davis quintet during the 1960s, and Marcus Miller, who co-composed the legendary Tutu’ album with Miles, as well as great female singers like Cassandra Wilson and Concha Buika.

This time the festival, which will taking place from 18 October to 6 December, will be flooding the city with a record number of concerts - over 70 - and a stellar one to finish with at one of the most legendary halls in North American jazz, the New York Jazz Standard.

The concerts will be performed at fifteen different venues, including the Auditori, Luz de Gas, Jamboree, Palau de la Música and Harlem Jazz Club.

Source: www.bcn.es | www.nnhoteles.com

Sabina in concert again in Barcelona

The last time we saw him live, Joaquín Sabina was accompanied by another great singer, Joan Manuel Serrat, whom he toured with in ‘Dos pájaros de un tiro‘ (Two birds with one shot). Now there is a chance to see him solo.

Sabina will appear at the Palau Sant Jordi on 17 December as part of a new tour that will take him all round Spain and to Latin America. Tickets for the concert go on sale from Wednesday 14 October.
 
In November, Joaquín Sabina will be releasing his first new CD in four years. It’s called ‘Vinagre y rosas’ and he will be presenting it at a concert in Barcelona. On the CD this Andalusian singer performs two duets with Pereza, including the first single, “Tiramisú de limón“, which will start get an airing on the radio on 15 October.

Concert Joaquín Sabina | Date: 17/12/2009 - www.jsabina.com
Palau Sant Jordi - Pg Olímpic, 5

In-Edit: Music Documentary Film Festival

Born in 2003 with the intention of showing the most outstanding music documentaries, the In-Edit.Beefeater Festival continues its voyage into this extensive year, 2009.

 The festival, held at Cine Rex, will be reviewing the career of the videoclip and musical documentary pioneer, Peter Whitehead. During the final section of the festival, the first time it has been publicised, there will be various films focusing on the role music plays in cultural and popular celebrations.

The most obvious example is ‘Favela on Blast’, a film that avoids clichés on Brazilian faveles and which focuses on the most festive point of view. This is the work of Wesley Pentz, better known in the music world as Diplo. The film itself is expected to be an all-round festival of rhythm and fun.

What we find in ‘Soul Power’ is a celebration of being black. We journey to the Zaire of 1974 to relive the concert given by James Brown, Miriam Makeba and B.B. King. It will fill you with the playful spirit of Black Power.

The role of music in black civil rights movements is explored in ‘Soundtrack for a Revolution’, another film which regards music as a part of culture.

As for more local culture, ‘Febrero: cuando la vida es carnaval’ (February: when life’s a carnival) will take us to the Cadiz carnival from a whole array of perspectives.

On concert documentaries, we’ll be able to relive the performance by Johnny Cash in Folsom prison. What’s more, we’ll discover a deeper side to the United States in ‘The Folk Singer: A Tale of Men, Music & America’ and the influence of Brazilian music on the West in ‘Beyond Ipanema’.

What: In-Edit.Beefeater Festival
When: October 29th - November 8th
Where: Cine Rex Barcelona
Gran Vía Corts Catalanes, 463
More inf@: In-Edit Website

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