Everything for the Blues (In Memoriam Mariëlla Tirotto)

We discovered that the smallest venue in my hometown had a blues afternoon every Sunday afternoon, organised by the Dutch Blues Foundation. Of course we had to be there and we became regulars, went even to Theater Borra on horrible rainy afternoons. It always was a pleasure to be there. Most people were our age and I found myself foot stamping and thigh hitting along with the music, just like the other men. I once wrote a little article about it and it found it's way into the magazine of the Foundation.

Most peculiar were in my eyes the moments when the fans recognised and or admired a song: they would run forward with their cameras and smartphones to the stage and made a picture. I never understood that. How can you arrest the feeling for a song in a picture? My wife sometimes made videos of songs, these can still be found on YouTube. In my mind that is the only way to keep a song that was sung in a great way alive forever. 

After a few sessions there was a show by Mariëlla Tirotto and her band, the Blues Federation. She was absolutely fabulous and I felt she really deserved a far bigger venue than this small stage in a bar.
We saw her a few times, got to know Mariëlla a bit. During breaks we sometimes would sit outside with her on a small wall or just the kerb of the street. She needed to smoke and smoking indoors was not allowed. She apologised for smoking to us. No need for that of course, but she went on. Stopping was too difficult for her and according to Mariëlla the smoking was also needed to maintain her voice. "Everything for the Blues!", she said. "Of course", we laughed.

One day we got an invitation for a far bigger concert with two supporting bands in a venue called "De Kelder". At the end of that afternoon some of the musicians joined together in an "all star band".
They played "Window of my Eyes", a Dutch classic, originally a song by Cuby and the Blizzards.
There was a sort of electricity in the air, the whole audience was flabbergasted. The regulars even forgot to take pictures. Mariëlla was unbelievable. After the song was finished there were even a few seconds of silence before the ovation started.

We were sort of living in two countries at the same time, living in the Netherlands and the UK.  Mariëlla and her band were very interested in possibilities doing gigs in the UK. We had some connections and there was a bit of contact, but it soon became clear that doing a tour in England would be quite costly for the band. The idea was dropped.

After we moved permanently to the UK, we kept being in contact at first. We bought the latest CD. Like all contacts it became less and less. At a certain moment we heard that Mariëlla was very ill, she got cancer. It was very surprising how soon she died. 
Of course we still have that CD, but the feeling we got listening to "Window of my Eyes" on that Sunday afternoon can never be retrieved.
I can still remember Mariëlla saying: "Everything for the Blues", which she did.

                                                Mariëlla Tirotto
                                                (19-3-1960 - 04-01-2017)   

Cheers

On the net I got in contact with the very gifted American singer/songwriter Reni Lane. (Nowadays she is part of the band Fever High). There was a big surprise when I read that she would do a gig in my home town and the surprise got even bigger when I saw that she would do her show in the smallest venue available, Theater Borra.

The weather was quite bad and I even doubted to go, because it would mean a trip through the rain on my bicycle. In 15 minutes on a bike you can get really soaked. At the last moment I decided to go anyway; I sort of promised Reni that I would be there, so she at least had one fan attending the gig.
When I entered she was sitting behind the piano and I thought I was too late. Maybe my watch had drowned in the rain?

It was not the case, she managed to wave at me and guitar player David Patillo told me that she was "sound checking". I could have sworn she already had started, it sounded magnificent. There were a few other people, mostly sitting at the bar drinking their beers. Nobody but me seemed to pay any attention. Reni Lane seemed to get more and more lost in her adventures on the piano; to me it sounded like she was writing a new song. At least she was getting ideas for one.

When the moment arrived that the gig should start, David went up to her and told her so. She nodded, David signalled the rest of the band and they took their spots.
The concert was great. I remember the owner, Willem Borra sitting at the - for him- wrong side of the bar and giving a deep sigh: "That girl is far too good to play in a dump like this!" I did not totally agree with him, because the bar really is very nice.

After the gig the band busied themselves, they had to clear out their instruments and PA system. Reni had played the piano so had nothing to do and ended up sitting next to me at the bar. She asked me what I would recommend to an unexperienced drinker. I think I ordered a Kriek beer for her, which she really liked.
"I'll tell you a secret", she said, "this is my first beer ever. I would be breaking the law at home, in the US. Cheers!" Because of her very experienced way of performing I never thought anymore of her age. She was only 19 at that moment. The way she talked was not really like a teenager.

I was about to leave when she offered me a drink, David Patillo joined us and the three of us drank together while the bar slowly became more and more empty. When Reni had to go the toilet I asked David what her parents thought of her travelling the world with a band. He shrugged, not giving an answer on this, but stating that experiences like this one would be good for her to develop her talent even more and to become more resilient.

After the tour Reni Lane kept a bit in contact although it became less and less. Once in a while I would see something about her popping up. I know she broke with David Patillo, joined the band Fever High and wrote a film score. Later I discovered that she unfriended or unfollowed me on the social media. Maybe that small gig in my home town and the guy who was there was not a welcome thought anymore. I will never know, but I really like the idea to have been there at the beginning of her career.

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