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.
(19-3-1960 - 04-01-2017)
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten