It was a nice night…nice night for a concert. A little jazz, a little gospel, some tributes and some great musical interpretations of songs we all know. It was a night of Music with a Mission, a monthly event presented at the North Windham Union Church.
Daniel Strange played for us that night, Saturday last, at the piano, solo. Bringing back memories, while living fully in the moment, He invited his audience in to experience an opening of the soul performance of among other works, his work “Life as I Hear it,” his new CD. Now I’m not a reviewer, and this is not a review. It’s just a personal reflection of how I felt when I heard him play. I’m not qualified to review, but get it! Of course I loved it! You would have too! And if you were there, you did.
That night Daniel’s wife, Ashley Liberty was to perform with him on violin, but an illness prevented that and she was very much missed. But the show went on and Daniel carried the evening, although he said after his first song, “A big part of me is missing tonight.”
As I write this I’m listening to Daniel Strange’s CD, “Life as I Hear It.” It’s great inspiration for writing about music. It brings me forward and back. So, let’s go back a bit! You’ll enjoy this, I bet.
Back in 2002, Bellamey Jazz Band, a band I play in, had a gig…a big gig! A lobster bake for a major corporation at their ocean point location in Boothbay Harbor, but we needed a piano player to substitute for our regular pianist who could not make it. “Who’s this kid you got on piano Dave?” asked one guy.
“Don’t worry, he’ll be OK” I soft paddled it. There were lots of tunes to know. “We’ll just ease him in and see what he can do,” I said choking back a little laughter.
So we started…a little “Bye Bye Blues”…a song Daniel used to play with his grandfather. After a few times through Daniel took his solo, and our jaws dropped faster than the stock market in ’29.
Needless to say he made the cut and enjoyed four lobsters and my Bellamy colleagues said en Masse “Hey Davie, this guy’s a keepah!”
Sorry, I rambled a bit, but back to the concert…Daniel played a combination of his own compositions and his own renditions of the works of others.
Gershwin would have been proud. Neal Heftic would have been proud. Billy Joel would have been proud. But most importantly I believe his audience was proud. I know I was…humbly.
At different times during Daniel’s concert I looked around and saw the looks on people’s faces…some in awe, some just in calm enjoyment. Some were former teachers. They’d seen him grow up, play on the playground, practice in the music room.
Our emotions varied. Some of Daniel’s playing brought back memories that created gentle smiles and the glistening of a welling tear, not in sadness but in the joy of the possibilities the mind imagines when hearing Daniel’s music.
He’s our guy, you know. Local boy, grew up on Windham Center Road, but he has ascended to become a giant among musicians. He’s not a boy anymore, yet wise beyond his years, still a young man and a dad. Ladies and gentlemen Daniel Strange is a musician who would be comfortable on any stage in the world and he’d have very few peers…and he comes back to us yearly, nice for us!
Just one more thing from the concert, Daniel played and interpreted the late Dave Bruebeck classis “Take Five”. I lived on it as a kid. Never thought it could be a note better. During the piece, I envisioned the silhouette and spirit of Mr. Bruebeck sitting beside Daniel on the piano bench as he played the Bruebeck standard, and I imagined Dave might have said to Daniel, “Hey man, how’d you think of that?”
Now folks, it’s impossible to use words to describe music, but you can tell others how it made you feel. So I’ll just say, it was good…that good!
Daniel Strange’s “Life as I Hear It”. It’s good hearing.
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