The News Review:
- Blues cruise sets sail – 21 Dec 2007 – NZ Herald: Entertainment News…
- Warming to Athens in winter
- : Music & Concerts Tampa Bay Newspapers
Blues cruise sets sail – 21 Dec 2007 – NZ Herald: Entertainment News…
New Zealand Herald – Dec 21, 2007
When Ben Harper first played in ’96 that certainly showed us a new way to go and I’ve been very open about that. “Following Harper’s appearance Noble came up with the idea of changing the name of the festival to include blues and roots music. “It was a way to try and modernise blues music and group it with other sorts of music. All of a sudden people like John Butler [from the John Butler Trio] turned around and said ‘I don’t see myself as a blues artist but I do see myself as a blues and roots artist. ‘ So for me it was a way of trying to bring blues into the mainstream and my thing is about keeping blues in front of the people. “But I have to make sure there are a number of artists who you couldn’t call anything else but blues” he says. Noble who has promoted concerts in New Zealand for nearly 30 years concedes it is a hard market but he hopes the Coromandel Bluesfest will grow into a multi-day event.
Warming to Athens in winter
Telegraph.co.uk – Dec 21, 2007
Traditional tavernas – rustic places with wine barrels and a homely atmosphere – are also hugely popular. Favourites such as Bairaktaris the oldest taverna in Athens which opened in 1869 jam their doors shut against the cold and fill up with a broad mixture of diners from students to pensioners. Itinerant musicians play rembetika – “Greek blues” music from Psiri and Piraeus – instead of the theme from Zorba and the kitchen turns out warming winter comfort food such as horta: boiled mountain greens with lemon juice. By late February it can almost seem as if winter is over. In the Ancient Agora the first wild flowers push through and Plaka and Psiri are packed with young people in costume many armed with soft plastic batons. This is Apokreas Greece’s version of Carnival which in Athens takes the form of a couple of weeks of partying and fervent meat-eating before the beginning of Lent. Apokreas finishes on Clean Monday when Athenians traditionally fly kites to usher in the new period of fasting.
: Music & Concerts Tampa Bay Newspapers
Tampa Bay Newspapers – Dec 21, 2007
Pete Times Forum Jan. in the intimate Blue Line Theatre… Sir Charles Jones has been crowned “The King of Southern Soul”. It has been stated that he has “a versatile style and wide range of vocal ability; with just a touch of smooth rhythm melodic melodies and the cry of love pain happiness fun times and the sincerity of commitment. ” His style ranges from jazz music to fusion and from gospel to blues. The intimate Blue Line Theatre at the St. Pete Times Forum is a 5000 seat configuration that offers an up-close and personal concert setting that creates a unique blend of intimacy and spaciousness with wonderful sightlines and close views of the stage. The stage is set facing the south end of the arena which is a reversed set to typical concert settings at the St.