Michael Nyman Band (Film & Music)

I love more Peter Greenaway's movies, I was enchanted to learn that Michael Nyman and his Band was coming to Mexico city. I bought a ticket for the concert at the Teatro de la Cuidad. The concert was in 2 parts, the second with the band playing while movies were projected.

The overall concert was wonderful, both the band and the piano solos. At the end of the concert Nyman came back on stage 3 times without the public having to shout otra ! otra ! for 5 minutes ;)

After the concert we were told that they will be a second one, free, in the Plaza de la Revolucion (that is, a few Metrobus stops from where I stay), a few days later. This one was also great, with more pianon solos played by Nyman.

Here is a short video (more below) :

The poster of the event :

Poster of Michael Nyman Band concert in Mexico

At the Teatro de la Cuidad :

Teatro de la Ciudad

Michael Nyman and his band

Michael Nyman and his band

Michael Nyman

Michael Nyman and his band

Michael Nyman and his band

The following picture were taken during the Plaza de la Revolucion free concert.

An alien with a trombone and cello

I was in Coyoacan during the Day of the Deads festivities (about which I'll talk about later), sitting on a bench resting my feet and talking with my old friend Marion who came to visit Mexico city for 10 days, when the young woman who was sitting next to me asked me something in Spanish.
I didn't get what she was asking so I told her that I was frances. When she hanged up her cell phone she started talking french to me ! She studied business and had spent one year in Nice, where she learned french. A few days later she sent me an SMS inviting me to a free outdoor concert at the Centro Nacional de las Artes which was very closed to where Marion was staying.
I though this place was small, hell no, it's very large ! We finally decided to follow some people walking up some laaaarge stairs surrounded by tall walls painted red, and walk in the direction of some lights. Lost we were after a few minutes, but we crossed some folks talking english, equipped like alpinists, which indicated us the good path (a corridor made of pillars on each side and illuminated by lights on the ground, very 2001 Space Odyssey style).

I was told only two things, 1- the artist's name was Dana Leong 2- it was a jazz concert.

I love jazz music, I listen to a lot of bebop, so I expected something like this. But no, it wasn't at all bebop, but some electro pop jazz music I've never heard before. On Dana Leong website you can read :

Composer, cellist and trombonist Dana Leong fuses jazz, classical and pop to create a signature boundless sound. Often referred to as a "hi-def Yo-Yo Ma," Dana’s pioneering collage of musical styles has garnered critical acclaim and wowed audiences around the world.

Maybe the Yo-Yo Ma reference is a little bit exaggerated  but the music was great. Here is a picture and a few videos of the concert (found on youtube).

Dana Leong at the Centro National de las Artes, Mexico City.

More videos from this user : http://www.youtube.com/user/03081984mt
Thanks to Betsabe for the invitation !

Rock concert

Miguel is a young cinematographer. I hosted him in Paris this summer before he went to the Cannes film festival.

He invited me to a concert in a rock bar in Condesa (Caradura) where he was playing with his band, Linger. Here are some pictures. I want to thank all the very friendly people I met there, it was great fun !