Live music makes a return, with an audience of 12
SOBER NIGHT OF JAZZ IN IONAD CULTÚTHA, BAILE BHÚIRNE
AFTER the re-opening of pubs serving food and drink, welcoming congregations back into churches for religious services and the resumption of the GAA season, a concrete next step towards the restart of normal society took place when the Ionad Cultúrtha in Baile Mhúirne hosted a jazz concert in its auditorium.
Taking place as it did against a backdrop of an alarming resurgence in COVID-19 infections in the past three weeks, the concert featuring singer Christine Tobin accompanied by Phil Robson on guitar was either a hopeful debut before a musical Autumn and Winter or a brief interlude before the curtain is drawn again to shut out live performances while the virus regains supremacy.
Part of Music Network Ireland’s Live and Local series, which all took place in different venues around the country, the gig in the Gaeltacht Múscraí venue was unlike any other previously held at the centre.
As much as Fiji or Fermanagh aren’t a natural stronghold for hurling, jazz isn’t often heard in the Múscraí Gaeltacht. But the difference didn’t end there as the new type of music gig is totally different from the old.
First off, the less people in attendance the better. I’ve been at many concerts in various venues over the years and I’ve seen people sitting on steps or standing at the back of the venue or in the wings, crammed into every crook or cranny. I hasten to add that I’m not talking about the Ionad Cultúrtha here, which has always kept its aisle clear and observed the highest standards in terms of the safety of patrons and performers.
It’s fair to say that venues, whether large or small, like to be able to proclaim a full house. That won’t be happening in the way we’ve understood full house for a while yet.
There were 12 in the audience plus a camera man, a sound operator, two performers on stage and a Bean a’Tí. We were all wearing masks. We were all seated at tables, one per group or one per individual audience member. We had to fill in a form at the table asking for our name and number, not for a marketing survey to discern our concert going desire and feedback but for contact tracing should anyone in attendance fall ill. And the only alcohol on site came in hand dispensers around the building.
That was the real eye opener. The jazz songs that followed from Christine would have you believe we were in a dingy basement club in New York or Paris – but there was no smoke and drinks. The piano wasn’t drinking like in the Tom Waites’ classic. It was most decidedly sober.
The songs themselves were the atmosphere and the accompaniment by Phil Robson contributed to a feeling of intimacy. The candles on the table flickered with nothing except the sound waves emanating from the deep, rich voice of the singer.
Numbers by Leonard Cohen, her own songs, a poem, ‘Horse’, by Paul Muldoon set to an accompaniment by Christine and Phil and the music worked its own magic.
It wasn’t the same as other gigs in the venue. It was different and, perhaps, better. While the air was heavy with heat and humidity, it would have been uncomfortable had it been a house full.
The only dissatisfied patron at the end of a very satisfying session might have been the ghost at the concert, the unspoken ghoul, Covid himself. And I’m not a bit sorry for that.
Live music can make a comeback. It won’t be the same as before. It will be different. Possibly better, thanks to people like Ionad Cultúrtha director Aoife Granville, her able assistant Síle Uí Chróinín, the sound and video professionals, Music Network Ireland and, most of all, the musicians.