Melissa and I Attend Our Second Candlelight Concert

Last December 17th Melissa and I went to downtown Gainesville to attend a Candlelight Concert at the Hippodrome Theater...click HERE to read the article I later wrote about our experiences then.  This evening we went back down there to the same place for yet another concert, this one a tribute to the Beatles.  The featured string quartet performed their renditions of several Beatles hits and is based in Jacksonville...I recognized most of the players from before.  I was seven years old when I heard my first Beatles song, I Want to Hold Your Hand, which the Fab Four, as the Beatles were often dubbed, performed on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964...our Candlelight Concert musicians performed this one as well.  They also went through several years and albums, doing Help!, Michelle, Eleanor Rigby, Here There and Everywhere, I Get By With a Little Help from My Friends, All You Need is Love, Penny Lane, Hey Jude, Lady Madonna, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Blackbird, Come Together and Here Comes the Sun. The audience was very enthusiastic and appreciative of this show, as were Melissa and me.  They are quite the talented and inspired musicians, these four, and we look forward to another visit with a different theme.  The only drawback I saw was the tight, restricted parking available downtown...even the quartet commented on that...

We Enjoyed a Dinner and Concert in Downtown Gainesville

Tuesday late-afternoon/evening Melissa and I ventured to downtown Gainesville to have dinner and then attend a Candlelight Concert at the Hippodrome Theater. The concert's theme on this occasion was the holidays, including Christmas, Hanukkah and assorted Winter classical pieces.  The musicians were a string quartet: first and second violin, viola and cello.  Candlelight Concerts are spread nationwide with many different musicians providing shows themed around different topics, many of them tributes to famous musical artists, past and present.  I thoroughly enjoyed our holiday concert and felt a deeper connection with music and its complexities and textures...and the enormous training and skill exhibited by those proficient in it.  I break it down to three aspects: the actual music as it reaches my ears and I process it, the process of producing it on the different instruments (or with singing if that applies), and the written sheet music on which the musicians rely.  All three are closely tied together, yet they are at the same time very, very different to perceive.  We want to try out more Candlelight Concerts in Gainesville, and I kind of like downtown at night.  The garage parking is easy and there are plenty of nice places to dine.  We had dinner at Harry's and then made our way to the Hippodrome.  It seemed strange being there, since from 1987-91 I worked at the downtown post office but it's changed a lot: I felt lost much of the time I was walking around the area.  Oh well, I'll figure it all out... 

Attended Last Night's Christmas Jubilee Jam at the Thomas Center

Yesterday evening, at the historic Thomas Center about six blocks north of downtown Gainesville, Melissa and I went to the annual Christmas Jubilee Jam, which is one of the concerts the group Gospel Meets Jazz conducts there every two months for various charities.  This event's proceeds went to fund aid for homeless students attending Alachua County's schools...a worthy cause and one befitting the Christmas season.  Lanard Perry leads this project and plays trumpet for the group onstage...I don't know the names of the jazz pianist, drummer, or guitarist, but that pianist rocks!  The two-hour show featured guest singers who, along with the band, performed various Christmas and gospel songs...mostly to a jazz format that totally worked.  They also had a barbershop quartet that sang acapella several old Yuletide hits...it all was very entertaining and I was impressed with both the musicianship of everyone involved and the sweet spirit and good tidings they shared with the enthusiastic audience...

As I shared before, Gospel Meets Jazz holds its concerts every two months at the Thomas Center on 302 NE 6th Avenue.  The music is faith-based and uplifting...and exciting! I'm thinking about going to another or more of their shows next year...their dates: Feb 21, Apr 24, June 19, Aug 14, Oct 16...and then on to the next Christmas Jubilee Jam in December, 2020.  You probably want to purchase tickets in advance...the show we just went to had sold out.  Here's their website link: [gospelmeetsjazz]...