It was quite an amazing experience to see Nick Parnell play his Bach to Brazil concert, in Esperance. I’d been hoping for some time that he would be able to “mesmerize us with his mallets” and mesmerize he did!
With fifty instruments on stage, the main instrument was the Vibraphone, but included tuned wine glasses, bamboo chimes, ethnic drums, woodblocks and the accompanying piano (played by Graeme Burgan). The hearing and sight senses were given a good workout! If we closed our eyes, we could almost visualise the mist rising off the lakes in Brazil. There were instruments that sounded like bird calls and the wine glasses were like eerie music in horror films!
The drum solos were awesome and Nicks’ interaction with the crowd helped us to understand what the instruments were, why he was playing them and his inspiration behind some of the pieces he played.
You couldn’t get much more different than Bach or Brazilian music to rural lit, but Nick still invited me on-stage, to talk a little about my books. It was quite a buzz to see Nick’s CD’s along side of my books.
It was a wonderful night and even more special to be able to share it with our Dad and my dear friend, Carolyn.
Thanks for coming to Esperance, Nick and if you’d like more info on him, visit his website www.nickparnell.com or here (http://fleurmcdonald.com/2010/08/22/guest-blog-nick-parnell/)
