A man with a message....

....but with a dislike of photosAlpha Blondy, Paard, Den Haag, 4.11.2009

Seydou Koné, onder die naam zul je waarschijnlijk denken 'wie?' We hebben het hier over de persoon achter fenomeen Alpha Blondy, 'oh die!'. Inderdaad, een fenomeen. Een betere omschrijving valt er simpelweg niet te bedenken voor een van de belangrijkste iconen van de afgelopen decennia.
Alpha Blondy vond zijn inspiratie geheel volgens de 'reggae-regels' in de muziek van godfather Bob Marley, hoewel je dit niet geheel in zijn muziek terug zal horen.
Blondy, die zichzelf beschouwt als Afrikaanse Rastafari, beleefde zijn muzikale hoogtij in de jaren '80. In dat tijdperk groeide Alpha Blondy met zijn succes al snel uit tot Internationaal Reggae Superster, een titel die hij met zijn succes in de jaren '90 én een heuse Grammy Nominatie meer dan vertegenwoordigt." (original text paard from troje website)

http://www.alphablondy.info/

Shantel and bucovina club orkestar

5.11.2009 in the Paard in the Hague

"I do not come from Russia,
I do not come from Africa,
I come from the land of paprika...."

fast Balkan rhythms from this romanian german band

drumming on a drenched drum....

unfortunately all these excellent musicians did not have a big chance to show their ability in soli

and a bath in the crowd

The shadow of the stranglers

"Once upon a time, when most of you here were not even born, there was a band... called the stranglers"
The master strangler, Hugh Cornwell, was playing in Paradiso, Amsterdam, yesterday night
The little stage was full, but this was no comparison to the crowd cramming the big room of this converted church, where a gothic-sort of band called XX made your ears blow out
Cornwell played with drummer and bassist (you could hear her when you wanted to), who's names significantly enough do neither show on Hugh Cornwell's website nor the website of paradiso

Spaces of art

An Arts-route in Leiden disclosed the interiors of the ateliers of local artists

Some were in disused old schools

some were in private houses

one exhibition even used a disco

Dichter aan huis

Tsead Bruinja

The city of the Hague has a festival, where poets read their poetry in private houses to a small group of listeners. Apart from enjoying the lecture and discussion with interesting people, this gives the opportunity to have a glimpse into some very interesting private homes. Thanks to the organisers, the poets and the friendly people who were willing to allow groups of strangers into their houses

Alexis de Roode

Martin Reints

Kees t'Hart

Dancing in the streets....(2)

play the tune while looking at the pics....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pA5UhNaYw0

to get a feeling of the incredible sadness of this scene

Homeless man dancing with an onlooker at the Jazz festival Delft 2009 to the sound of "dance me to the end of love" by Leonard Cohen

the sound of Phil and Billy and their band "wilful"

another great track they were playing was this one

http://www.last.fm/music/Tom+Waits/_/Invitation+to+the+Blues

Shadows

The former market hall at Estellencs, Mallorca hardly sees a market any more....

Maximo Park

Paard, The Hague, 2.4.2009

Blogs: Uferloses Geschimpfe aus einem Weltbild der Gekraenktheit und Wut

The Goethe Institute in Amsterdam organises a series of talks in which a Dutch and a German author are confronted: last friday these were Arnon Grunberg and Daniel Kehlmann
"Mitleid fuer geschundene Dinge" (the stage at Felix Meritis in Amsterdam)
Grunberg: "Faellt es ihnen einfacher, ein Gespraech mit einem Hund als mit einem Menschen anzufangen?"
Kehlmann: "Hunde sind unterhaltsamer..."

"Das richtige Bild ist das, das die anderen von einem haben"

Elle Bandita

Paard, Den Haag 26.3.2009

And the support band "daily bread"

And a tired fan...