MY TRAVELS WITH CORKY SIEGEL'S CHAMBER BLUES
On the Road - Recording the New CD
Hello everyone. I'm Holly the tour manager for Chamber Blues (and also Corky's wife). Welcome to the tour for the live recording of the new Chamber Blues CD. I hope you find our little white van comfortable. Be sure to let us know if you need to make a stop.
The drives through the rolling hills and farmlands, and this photograph (upper left) which was taken from the van, were additional inspirations for the concept of the Grant Wood style painting with the piano and cello being towed behind the little white van.
Corky quipped as we passed this old upright piano - "There goes the steinway grand they've rented for me!"
Let's peak into the window of our little white van traveling down the road. It looks like Jeff is sleeping. I will tell you a little about the recordings while the band is napping.
OPUS 17.2
Our first stop is Chautauqua New York which is an idyllic Pleasantville of pastel victorians and lush color packed gardens on Lake Chautauqua. The venue dates back to the late 1800's. Because it is one of the oldest performance venues in the country, audiences have heard scientists like Albert Einstein, poets and authors like William Jennings Bryant and Mark Twain read to them and lecture. and for over a century, the live music from world-class musicians filled the night air.
You can definitely feel the electricity of all the great creative minds radiating off the ancient timbers of the 4000 seat amphitheater. Marty Merkley the director just walked in. Hi Marty! Another thing that makes Chautauqua so special to Chamber Blues, is that it was an absolute favorite of Richard Halajian, our violist of 14 years, who passed away just 5 months after this performance. Now we are in the amphitheater at twilight, the sky is bursting with sunset colors, and Corky's harmonica and Jeff's violin are sending cascades of fireworks and igniting the crowd with their incendiary musical volleys while the strings sway back and forth rocking the tight rhythm along. At the end, you can even hear Rich congratulate violinist Jeff Yang for being a dazzling sparring partner to Corky's lightning harmonica runs with a sweet: "Yea, Jeffie!"
Like Chamber Blues, each venue where the group performed on this CD are wonderfully unique in some way.
