Greek Pop Diva Delivers!

So we flew in for a concert — maybe my favorite pop diva from Greece, Despina Vandi. Her voice is amazingly strong and versatile, her presence on stage hypnotic, her beauty intoxicating. And I’m a big old ‘Mo. Can you imagine what the straight guys were feeling.

And I was thinking — how can such a small country produce so many top pop stars? Same with places like Montreal. One thing is clear — when people live proudly in their culture and support their artists, their musicians, their writers, great things happen. A dollar spent at a concert or purchasing a CD is never wasted.

Support the ones who help us see, help us hear, help us feel. Or someday we may all forget how.

C is for “Coda”

Musicians (especially those who read music) know instantly what a coda is… it’s sort of a “final ending” that usually differs a bit from the rest of the piece. The “bullseye/crosshairs” coda sign is easy to find when you’re sight-reading your way through an unfamiliar chart on a gig (good thing!). In playing popular music, I’ve heard it more often called an “outro” (as opposed to an intro)… a section of the tune that has a slightly different feel than the rest of the song, or one that “puts a bow on it.”