You are hereLive Review: Stefan Grossman at the NCEM, York
Live Review: Stefan Grossman at the NCEM, York
Tonight's gig at the National Centre for Early Music in York was brilliant for two reasons. Firstly I got to meet Stefan Grossman, who has been a major influence on my musical 'career' after my old art teacher introduced me to his music in the Sixties (hey, I remembered something from the Sixties, so I couldn't have been there? How odd!) and secondly, we got to play in a dream venue. The old medieval church of St Margaret's is one of the last two churches within the city walls and has been empty for years and was until recently used as a theatrical store by the York Theatre Royal. It's now the home of the National Centre for Early Music, which hosts a diverse range of concerts and events and although it retains much of it's original stone work and stained glass windows, the walls are covered with top notch acoustics gadgets, making the room perfect for music of all kinds.
I'm not sure whether Stefan Grossman falls under the category of early music or not, but some of the songs and tunes he played during the evening reminded me so much of my own particular 'early' days of playing guitar. I remember spending hours upon hours listening to old LP records of his trying to figure out what on earth he was playing, and last night some of those dazzling licks came flooding back like old friends. Old blues songs like My Creole Belle, Candy Man and Cocaine and tunes such as Bemuda Triangle Rag just brought back memories of a much younger me. It was one of the most informal and relaxed gigs I've ever witnessed. Stefan even insisted after the final encore, that he play a background ragtime tune as people left the venue! I've never seen that before.
Allan Wilkinson
I'm not sure whether Stefan Grossman falls under the category of early music or not, but some of the songs and tunes he played during the evening reminded me so much of my own particular 'early' days of playing guitar. I remember spending hours upon hours listening to old LP records of his trying to figure out what on earth he was playing, and last night some of those dazzling licks came flooding back like old friends. Old blues songs like My Creole Belle, Candy Man and Cocaine and tunes such as Bemuda Triangle Rag just brought back memories of a much younger me. It was one of the most informal and relaxed gigs I've ever witnessed. Stefan even insisted after the final encore, that he play a background ragtime tune as people left the venue! I've never seen that before.
Allan Wilkinson
Northern Sky
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