Corinne Brokken - Double Bass |
Laura Mitchell - Violin |
Eddie Stazack - Accordion
Influences
Les Yeux Noirs, Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, Taraf de Haidouks, Ivo Papasov, Goran Bregovic, Lllasa de Sala, Lila Downs, Csokolom, KAL, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Astor Piazzola, Monsieur Camembert, Stephan Grappeli
ABOUT THE TRIO
Trio Alegra, based in Fremantle plays an ethnic whirlwind of music from along the gypsy trail and beyond: an eclectic mix of East European influences (Gypsy, Klezmer, Balkan, Greek, Russian) mixed with a good dose of Latin tangos, French waltzes, and Italian taratellas. On the nostalgic edge of the Mediterranean, at times the music is reminiscent of a Fellini film, at others, a evening in a French cabaret, and at others, a small band of street gypsies, one can only guess where from. Virtuosic, classic, folk-pop, and jazzy all at the same time, they present an ever changing mix of hot off the press original arrangements. In addition to playing festivals, concerts, and other celebrations in WA, they hope to tour outside of WA soon, and receive a substantial amount of airplay with ABC radio who are awaiting this third disc.
ABOUT TRIO ALEGRA’s THIRD CD “Café Bohemian”:
In this CD we are focusing on a gypsy theme, including Greek, Klezmer and Gypsy favorites (Russian, Hungarian, and Moldavian). We’ve taken substantial liberties with the original music: for instance, with our version of the Greek favorite, Misirlou, we quickly leave the original melody and move into improvisations and original compositions based on the theme in a waltz structure, followed by a rhumba, a jazzy swing, and later a samba rhythm. Varshaver Freylech also features a foray into original solo improvisations, and in the Whistle Hora of the Romanian Medley, the violin goes into an almost bluegrassy style solo before the bass and accordion explore new territory far away from the original theme. Kasbah Tango and Eastern Fantasy are just 2 of accordionist Eddie Staszak’s multitude of completely original compositions, characterized by a unique style influenced by his Polish/Slavic roots and interest in Latin rhythms. Eddie has written several pieces for solo accordion, however, he has concentrated his compositions and arrangements on the Trio since it formed in 2002. Both Eastern Fantasy and Kasbah Tango were written to maintain the east European feel of this disc.
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
Laura Mitchell studied classical violin in the U.S.A. and holds a B.A. in Music. She soon realized that orchestral playing was not her true love, and delved into a wider variety of musical genres focusing on gypsy/east european, latin, bluegrass/oldtime, and jazz. Laura arrived in Perth 6 years ago and teaches violin and plays in a bluegrass band in addition to the trio.
Eddie Staszak has been a professional musician for 30 years. As well as the accordion, he studied classical piano. He performs widely as a soloist but has also performed with a variety of musicians including cabaret and tango bands. Eddie has released three solo cds.
Corinne Brokken began her musical journey also in classical studies, but after graduating from the Conservatorium of Music at ECU began to move away from classical and into World, Irish, and Cajun music. She currently plays in a variety of musical groups in addition to the trio.
This Syrian village, Saidnaya, where houses are built around a rock with a very old convent at the top, is considered a place for religious pilgrimage.
A steep climb is the only way up to the convent, which is said to date back to the Emperor Justinian.
Legend has it that the Virgin Mary appeared to Justinian and asked him to found the convent.
After entering through a maze of passages, you finally reach the Chapel of the Virgin. The walls are covered with beautiful icons including one said to have been painted by St. Luke.
This chapel was very famous to Christians and at one point was the second Christian place of pilgrimage after Jerusalem, the crusaders called it "Notre Dame de Sardeneye".
Greetings and love from Syria
Nabeel
Thank you for including me among your friends. I greatly admire all the interesting and amazing talents you have and I am so honored by this friendship with you.
Thanks so much for playing today guys! If you'd like to do another "open rehearsal", I'd love to have another jam with you sometime. See our website for details of which dates are available.
