Bollywood Royalty - Asha Bhosle

While I try to believe that I have a rather deep understanding of music from different parts of the world, I often find that my scope of knowledge is rather narrow. This show was a great example of this! Asha Bhosle is considered to be one of Indians preeminent cultural icons and has frequently been labeled as the most recorded human in history. She has sung over 11,000 songs, most of them accompanying Bollywood films of a variety of genres. Despite all of that, I had amazingly never heard of her! She first got her start in the 1940's with small films and B-grade pieces. By the 1980's, she had become a household name and had begun to broaden her spectrum of material. Other than film soundtracks, she has also released albums on her own and has even dabbled in acting herself more recently. Her career overall has spanned seven decades and and I think it's simply amazing that she is still touring at the age of 82! She has a tremendous following in India and I quickly realized just how popular and adored she was. Her opener was Falu's Bollywood Orchestra, a similar artist to Bhosle but their songs had a more modern twist and was a bit more upbeat. It was super cool seeing her orchestra combining strings with more rock instruments like electric guitars and drums!

I will admit that Indian music was originally not my favorite but I always enjoy experiencing different kinds of music and I ended up liking both artists by the end! While a lot of the songs did sound similar and I had no idea what they were saying, I could see how carefully constructed each one was and as a musician the complexity of each piece was very impressive. Her vocals, despite her age, were quite strong and she still seemed to be enjoying herself on stage. People of all ages absolutely loved the show and it was really amazing seeing a community come together to witness a cultural figure like her. Simply due to their excitement, it was a bit of a wild show but nothing too bad happened and often times I simply had to get people to dance in the designated area! The weather was so perfect and the people on the lawn were having a grand old time.

While I honestly don't know any of the songs she sang but my favorite part of the show was one of her last songs. It started with a trumpet solo and within 10 seconds everyone was clapping and singing! I'm glad that all her hard work over the past 70 years has paid off!

As always, looking forward to more shows in the future!

DC

One of India's most vibrant stars 

Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon

What a way to start out the season! The first act I got to see was the amazing Paul Simon. This iconic songwriter gave a fantastic show and I didn't even mind that I saw him twice! Simon began his career as part of the great Simon and Garfunkel duo. They were one of the most popular acts in the 1960's and had great songs like "Mrs. Robinson", "The Sounds of Silence", and "Bridge Over Troubles Water". They are one of my favorite artists and I play the Bridge Over Troubled Water record I have all of the time. Simon wrote nearly all of the duos material and crafted some of the best pop songs of all time. After they broke up in 1970, Simon had great success as a solo artist. He debuted his first solo album in 1972 and continued releasing popular albums throughout the 1970's. One of the great things about his songs are the way he incorporates sounds from around the world. His album Graceland is a wonderful example. he recorded the album in South African and wrote pop songs that went along with more traditional African rhythms. The album was a huge success and at the age of 45, he was on top of the musical world! Lately, he has been touring and continuing to write songs while occasionally teaming up with Art Garfunkel again. He's one of the most popular American songwriters of his time and his work is timeless.

Overall, Simon gave a great performance! I honestly don't know that many Paul Simon songs but he played all the songs I knew along with some great Simon and Garfunkel tunes as well! He was great at changing between slow folky songs and more upbeat material. The best part was the range of genres he and his band were able to play. From blues to zydeco, he went through a good deal of his material and really kept the crowd engaged. Both shows were sold out but for my first couple shows, they weren't hard at all! The weather was a little rainy the second day but it cleared up by the end of the night.

The best part of the performance to me was the final song Simon did. Standing alone with just his guitar, he did a beautiful rendition of "Sounds Of Silence". It quieted the crowd in a way few artists can do at Wolf Trap and instantly reminded me why I decided to come back!

Looking forward to more shows in the future!

DC

Simon and Garfunkel

Simon in 1976

I'm Back! - Wolf Trap Summer 2016

After a two year absence, it feels so good to be Back at Wolf Trap once again! Since I was in LA last summer, I was unable to work at the Trap and I recently just came back from being abroad in New Zealand for a semester. But fortunately I have been given the opportunity to return to Wolf Trap and I couldn't be more excited! I can't wait to watch such a variety of artists come to this wonderful venue while also making the experience enjoyable for everyone. Just like two summers ago, I will be updating this blog with all the amazing artists I will see over the next seven weeks. I'll give a little background on each one and then give a little review of the show and my favorite parts of the performance. I'm back as a lawn usher so you might get some weather reports every once in a while too. While there are a couple repeat artists from two years ago, most of them are new so there will be lots to write about! I truly am lucky to be back in this wonderful position and I hope you all like the posts!

I'm VERY looking forward to more shows in the future!

Derek


This was me two summers ago! Updated pic to come soon