Fri, Nov 15 House Concert: True Life Trio

[Santa Cruz House Concerts]

The next show in the Downtown Sounds series will be:

                                Friday, Nov 15  8:00 PM
          True Life Trio : Eastern Europe & American vocal harmonies

 Please RSVP as soon as possible to ensure your reservation and to get directions to our house.  We are asking a donation of $20.  Concert details below.

 For reservations, email (preferred) <Conc...@InstantHarmony.com>
                   or phone (650) 947-9669
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Upcoming shows in our series:

  Thu Dec 12: Rare Birds: Soulful songs, savory melodies

  Tue, Jan 14: Fru Skagerrak: Scandinavian fiddle trio

  Thu, Feb 27: Maeve Donnelly w/Kyle Alden: Irish fiddle & guitar

Other musical events of interest:

  Sun, Nov 10: 6-9pm  Santa Cruz Contra Dance

          featuring Rodney Miller & Daniel Steinberg

          Vets Hall, 846 Front St, Santa Cruz

______________________________________________________________

          True Life Trio : Eastern Europe & American vocal harmonies

                                Friday, Nov 15  8:00 PM

   True Life Trio weaves sumptuous vocal harmonies and sultry rhythms

from Eastern Europe, the Americas & beyond. This innovative trio explores

the creative possibilities of cross-fertilization of different traditions with

unlikely timbres connecting Bulgaria to the Bayou. TLT’s improvisation-laced

repertoire includes original songs and folk tunes from far-flung lands such

as Macedonia, Louisiana, Albania, South Africa, Ukraine, Mexico, Poland,

Italy and Georgia. Featuring the powerful vocal talents of three dynamic

performers whose musical collaboration was forged in Kitka Women’s Vocal

Ensemble, the trio delves deep into a vast array of folk music that lends

itself to three-part vocal harmony, massaging and expanding the boundaries

of these traditional styles.  The result is a sweet, sonic explosion that melts

in the listener’s ear and that is uniquely True Life Trio.

Leslie Bonnett: voice, fiddle, percussion
   Leslie’s artistic path has been marked by a rich diversity of musical

journeys. Her primary instruments of expression are voice and violin,

complemented by explorations into a variety of dance forms.  She began

with classical studies as a child but soon thereafter jumped off into the

musical realms of Scandinavia, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the Americas

and beyond.  Along the way she earned a B.A. in Music from U.C. Santa

Cruz and sang with San Francisco Symphony Chorus and Savina.  Leslie

also sang for fifteen years with Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble with whom

she had the great fortune of working with amazing master artists and

traveling to far off lands for performance and musical/cultural study.

Briget Boyle: voice, guitar, percussion
    Growing up in Los Angeles, Briget sang backup for her mother, recording

artist Karen Tobin, and worked with her father in Hollywood's film scoring

studios. At 13, she began writing original songs and playing guitar, and in

2001 she was awarded Songwriter of the Year at the College of Santa Fe

in the Contemporary Music Program. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2004,

she has sung with various projects including Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble,

Brass Menažeri Balkan brass band & Broken Shadows Family Band.  She is

the Creative Director at Waxsimile Productions and teaches voice and guitar.

Juliana Graffagna: voice, accordion, percussion
   Juliana Graffagna began her musical career as a young girl, singing in

church choir and studying classical piano. She then ventured on to musical

theatre, women’s glee club, Russian language study, and the discovery of

her passion for traditional music. Juliana sang with the acclaimed Kitka

Women’s Vocal Ensemble for more than two decades, serving as music

director for 10 years, performing extensively throughout the U.S. and

Eastern Europe and studying Eastern European vocal technique with

master singers Tzvetanka Varimezova, Mariana Sadovska, Merita Halili,

Donka Koleva, Carl Linich and Christos Govetas.  Juliana founded the

eclectic ensemble Janam, performs on film soundtracks, and teaches

private and group piano and voice lessons.

Visit their website at: <http://truelifetrio.com>

[Santa Cruz House Concerts]

There is still plenty of room available for this Friday's concert:

                                Friday, Nov 15  8:00 PM
          True Life Trio : Eastern Europe & American vocal harmonies

 Please RSVP as soon as possible to ensure your reservation and to get directions to our house.  We are asking a donation of $20.  Concert details below.

 For reservations, email (preferred) <Conc...@InstantHarmony.com>
                   or phone (650) 947-9669
-------
Upcoming shows in our series:

  Thu Dec 12: Rare Birds: Soulful songs, savory melodies

  Tue, Jan 14: Fru Skagerrak: Scandinavian fiddle trio

  Thu, Feb 27: Maeve Donnelly w/Kyle Alden: Irish fiddle & guitar

Other musical events of interest:

  Mon, Nov 18: Michael Winograd  Klezmer music house concert

       7:30pm  Westside Santa Cruz;  $20 donation

       email <herr...@ucsc.edu> for info/reservations

   Fri, Nov 22: Peia Luzzi & Moira Smiley: Night of Song
       7:30pm  Pacific Cultural Center, 1307 Seabright Ave Santa Cruz

       Click for info/tickets

______________________________________________________________

[Santa Cruz House Concerts]

The final show of 2019 in the Downtown Sounds series will be:

                                Thursday, Dec 12  7:30 PM

                  Rare Birds: Soulful songs, savory melodies

                     Cyd Smith, Ruthie Dornfeld, Nova Devonie

 Please RSVP as soon as possible to ensure your reservation and to get directions to our house.  We are asking a donation of $20.  Concert details below.

 For reservations, email (preferred) <Conc...@InstantHarmony.com>
                   or phone (650) 947-9669

Rare Birds will also be appearing:

      Fri, Dec 13, 8pm    Mountain View

         Info/reservations: email <SV.house...@gmail.com>

      Sat, Dec 14, 7pm   Half Moon Bay

         Info/reservations: email <conc...@hillstra.com>

-------
Upcoming shows in our series:

  Tue, Jan 14: Fru Skagerrak: Scandinavian fiddle trio

  Thu, Feb 27: Maeve Donnelly w/Kyle Alden: Irish fiddle & guitar

Other musical events of interest:

  Fri, Dec 6: 8pm   Kitka Wintersongs

        Peace United Church, Santa Cruz

  Wed, Dec 11: 7:30pm  Del Rey, Suzy Thompson. Meredith Axelrod

        Christmas Blues House Concert

        Info/reservations: email <herr...@ucsc.edu>

______________________________________________________________

                  Rare Birds: Soulful songs, savory melodies

                                Thursday, Dec 12  7:30 PM

   Not easy to pigeonhole, Rare Birds combines the talents of Nova Devonie

(accordion), Ruth Dornfeld (violin), and Cyd Smith (guitar) in a high-flying

mashup of exotic and domestic musical styles. From fiddle tunes to Sun Ra

to swing to singer/songwriter, this power trio joyously explores the flights of

fancy inspired by years of deep experience in a broad range of genres.

Cyd Smith: guitar, vocals

  Songwriter Cyd Smith has a background in classical guitar, swing jazz, and

American folk and pop music, she enjoys exploring the unexpected--lyrically,

harmonically, and melodically.  She began studying classical guitar in her

early teens, but was soon captured by a love of the rich treasury of American

folk music, especially bluegrass and vintage country music.  From there it was

a smooth transition into 20’s, 30's, and 40’s swing music, and she has delved

deeply since into the guitarists, vocalists, and songwriters of that era. All these

influences feed into her own sophisticated and inventive songwriting.

   A versatile guitarist and bassist, over the years she has performed with many

luminaries of the national acoustic music scene, including Rebecca Kilgore,

Casey MacGill, Russ Barenberg, Mary Flower, and Laurie Lewis. She has been

a cornerstone of many Northwest bands in a wide range of styles from Americana

to Classic Rock.  Cyd is also well known as a music educator and teaches at music

camps around the country, including Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, California Coast

Music Camp, and Augusta Heritage Festival.

   "Cyd's musical intelligence and awareness shine throughout her songs...

    they are filled with gorgeous melodies, spry rhythms and lush harmonies." 

           - Victory Review

Nova Devonie: accordion, vocals

   The accordion playing of Nova Karina Devonie embodies the ideals of listening

closely and contributing tastefully while maintaining a good dose of playfulness

and edginess wherever possible.  Nova began playing accordion at age 11, quit

at age 12, and luckily picked it up again years later when falling in with musical

pals who wanted to busk on the streets of Vancouver B.C., where she hails from.  

   Armed with a bit of musical theory and a dose of post-punk sideways acoustic

leanings, her musical education on the accordion was shaped by playing in bands.

She joined the Seattle cowgirl outfit Ranch Romance in the early 1990’s, and after

they hung up their spurs, she stayed in Seattle to continue working with David Miles

Keenan in their duo “Miles & Karina,” still going strong to this day.  Their latest

projects include composing scores to play live for silent film.

Ruthie Dornfeld: fiddle

   Ruthie Dornfeld’s big tone, fierce rhythm and fluid style, along with a wildly eclectic
repertoire, have won her popularity among dancers and concert audiences alike. Fluent
in a wide range of traditional styles (Irish, American old-time, Scandinavian and Eastern
European, for starters), she has performed and taught for over thirty years throughout
the U.S. and abroad, from the Manaus Operahouse in the Brazilian Amazon to the
Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland.

   Ruthie started out on classical violin in Corvallis, Oregon, then discovered fiddle music
at age 18 and hit the road running. During a 15-year sojourn in New England, she studied
jazz at Berklee College of Music, became a renowned dance fiddler, played in the stringband
The Poodles, and founded The American Cafe Orchestra with Danish guitarist Morten Alfred
Høirup, with whom she toured for a decade and recorded several groundbreaking albums.
Now residing in Seattle, Ruthie continues to play at contra dances, in the tango band
Tangoheart, with singer/songwriter Cyd Smith, and with accordionist Jeremiah McLane.
In addition to violin, Ruthie plays the medieval fiddle (vielle), and her compositions for
that instrument are featured in her recording, “Lay of the Waves,” for which she received
grants from Artist Trust and the Jack Straw Foundation.

   "[Ruthie is] a revelation, an endlessly inventive player with remarkable fluidity." - Roots Magazine

[Santa Cruz House Concerts]

There is still plenty of room for our last concert of 2019:

                                Thursday, Dec 12  7:30 PM
                  Rare Birds: Soulful songs, savory melodies

                     Cyd Smith, Ruthie Dornfeld, Nova Devonie

 Please RSVP as soon as possible to ensure your reservation and to get directions to our house.  We are asking a donation of $20.  Concert details below.

 For reservations, email (preferred) <Conc...@InstantHarmony.com>
                   or phone (650) 947-9669

Rare Birds will also be appearing:

      Fri, Dec 13, 8pm    Mountain View

         Info/reservations: email <SV.house...@gmail.com>

      Sat, Dec 14, 7pm   Half Moon Bay

         Info/reservations: email <conc...@hillstra.com>

-------
Upcoming shows in our series:

  Tue, Jan 14: Fru Skagerrak: Scandinavian fiddle trio

  Thu, Feb 27: Maeve Donnelly w/Kyle Alden: Irish fiddle & guitar

Other musical events of interest:

[Santa Cruz House Concerts]

The Downtown Sounds series kicks off 2020 with a fabulous trio of Scandinavian fiddlers.  This is truly a show not to be missed.
                                    Tuesday, Jan 14  7:30 PM
                      Fru Skagerrak: Pan-Scandinavian fiddle trio

 Please RSVP as soon as possible to ensure your reservation and to get directions to our house.  We are asking a donation of $20.  Concert details below.

 For reservations, email: <Conc...@InstantHarmony.com>

Fru Skagerrak will also be appearing:

      Wed, Jan 15, 7:30pm    Mountain View House Concert

         Info/reservations: email <SV.house...@gmail.com>

      Thu, Jan 16, 8pm, with Sver: Freight & Salvage, Berkeley

         Click for info

-------
Upcoming shows in our series:

  Thu, Feb 27: Maeve Donnelly w/Kyle Alden: Irish fiddle & guitar

  Tue, Apr 21:  Brenda Castles and Joey Abarta: Irish concertina and uilleann pipes

  Thu, May 7:   Bruce Molsky & Alison deGroot: Old-time fiddle and banjo

  Thu, Jun 4:    Andrew Finn Magill and Júlio Lemos: Brazilian violin & guitar

Other events of interest:

   Sun, Jan 26: 7:30pm  Brad Barton: Reality Thief/Mentalist/Magician

         Westside Santa Cruz: email for reservations

   Wed, Jan 29: 7:30pm  World Harmony Chorus Concert  *free*

          United Methodist Church, 250 California St, Santa Cruz

          

______________________________________________________________

                      Fru Skagerrak: Pan-Scandinavian fiddle trio

                                    Tuesday, Jan 14  7:30 PM

     "To say that Fru Skagerrak is greater than the sum of it’s parts would diminish the

       cultivated talents of each of these individuals.  I love how their unique strengths

       are grafted together to create something that could not exist without the others."

                                                                       – Laura Cortese, fiddler and singer

   Fru Skagerrak takes you on a journey through Scandinavia; from lowlands to mountains,

from slow airs to roaring polkas, and everything in between. Fru Skagerrak – ”Lady Skagerrak” –

are three master musicians, one from each Scandinavian country: Maja Kjær Jacobsen from

Denmark, Elise Wessel Hildrum from Norway, and Anna Lindblad from Sweden. The trio brings

together the diverse traditions from each of their homelands, which surround the Skagerrak strait.

Through a repertoire of traditional tunes, new compositions, and songs in their respective

languages, they express their kinship and love of their shared heritage. The result is an explosion

of the sounds that exist in Scandinavian music today.

Maja Kjær Jacobsen (Denmark): fiddle, voice

   The fiddle playing and singing of Maja Kjær Jacobsen is beautiful and intense. She has travelled

and performed in many different countries, performing her ”darling”, the exotic sounding traditional

music and gorgeous songs of Central Jutland in Denmark, and it has caught the attention of her

audiences as well as many critics. Her own compositions radiate a special power, and she can

bring out cinematic soundscapes from both her more delicate tunes as well as the raw and

breathtaking reels. The inspiration for her tunes comes from an upbringing where many different

musical genres rang regularly through the house.

Elise Wessel Hildrum (Norway): fiddle, recorder, voice

Elise is one of quite a few Norwegian folk flute players. She grew up playing mostly classical

music, but discovered the world of folk music at the age of 20, and decided that this was what

she wanted to play. As a recorder player it was natural for her to learn the Norwegian "sjøfløyte"

(sea-flute) tradition from Numedal. This has been the core of her repertoire through several years

of folk music studies. Elise also plays the fiddle, mostly for fun and in social settings. After finishing

her folk music degree, Elise has been working as both flute and fiddle teacher, both privately and

at the Academy of Music in Oslo.

Anna Lindblad (Sweden): fiddle, 5-stringed fiddle, voice

   Anna Lindblad is a versatile fiddler from Sweden. Her powerful fiddle playing is steeped in

groove, joy and presence. Anna is just as old-fashioned as she is innovative and with a nod

to the tradition she brings her music forward, blending all her diverse musical interests into a

very special voice that’s all her own. With a heart beating for Swedish tradition she is not

afraid to mix it up with other musical expressions. Besides her Swedish fiddling she also plays

Québecois, Irish and Old-time, always with a smile and a contagiously positive attitude and spirit.

 

     "The joy is evident in the companionship and in the music of these 3 powerhouse women

       from 3 different Scandinavian countries and fiddle traditions. Their combined sound is one

       of effortless beauty, grooving dance energy, and elegant arrangements. Not to be missed!"
                                                                            – Natalie Haas, Cellist

 

[Santa Cruz House Concerts]

There is still plenty of room at this Tuesday's concert.  I saw this trio at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes last summer, and they were absolutely captivating.