Mzaza Fireside Tour

The evening started off well enough. I had plenty of time before the show. I took a bus to the Cultural Center and a train to South Bank. From there I went to have dinner at Swampdog. This is an environmentallly friendly fish-and-chip shop. It was their support and promotion of sustainable fishing that attracted me as much as the menu. Any place that will offer mackerel, sardines and mullet is fine by me =) Almost everything in the shop is recycled or renewable: the tables, the plates, the cutlery, everything.

I ordered sardines on sourdough because I wasn't sure the pineapple would go so well with mackerel. I don't know what happened but I ended up with calamari on sourdough. This was also on the menu (same price as the sardines), so I don't know whether the lady that took my order pressed the wrong button or perhaps there were no sardines. In any case, I enjoyed my meal. The calamari was chewy, which was good because the sourdough bread was soft. The taste was very good too.

After dinner I caught a bus from South Bank to Mater Hill. It is times like this I appreciate the go-card and how easy it is to get around the CBD and surrounding precincts. But more on that later...

I soon found the venue. Can You Keep A Secret is  a vintage store that is newly opened on Stanley Street next to Vespa Pizza. It was still early and the shop was closed so I went around the back. There I bumped into Greta. She plays the violin and Persion fiddle, aka kamancheh. I had met Greta twice before: once at the concert Mzaza did with Chaika and again at a Waziz session (a session where people hang out and play Balkan / Middle Eastern music). She introduced me to Pauline, the lead singer, but only briefly as they were setting up. There was still some time before 7pm I went in search of snacks before returning to wait for the doors to open.

At last it was time to go inside. The shop is not very big but it is full of charm and lots of old stuff. I know I feel old when I can look around and say "I remember this" or "we used to have that". Mrs Sage and the Princess would really like it so I will have to bring them back one day. Mzaza had allowed for sixty people. I don't know how many turned up but the little shop was packed. Thankfully some people brought extra chairs. I scored a backless bench seat and was later joined by two Turkish mamas, Soon it was standing room only at the back. The place filled up with the smell of sweet tomato sauce base from the Vespa pizzas and alcohol from a variety of bottles bought from the bottle shop a few doors down.

The last time I saw Mzaza was at Vision Gallery with Chaika. That place was a little larger but just as packed as this shop. I appreciate the closeness you can get from smaller venues. Admittedly that was my first concert in an art gallery and this was my  first concert in a vintage shop.

Someone on Facebook described this an evening of boisterous intimacy. Pauline told us group were going to play some music from an upcoming album and a few of their earlier pieces. In between they were happy to take questions from the audience and chat in between songs. They all had a turn introducing songs and talking about the music that went into the song, or the meaning of the song - many of them were in French or Ladino (a Judaeo Spanish language, almost dead apparently) - or sharing stories about themselves. I think that any of the six members of the group would make fascinating dinner companions. Besides the two ladies already mentioned there was Stephen (accordion and flute at one stage), Chloe (double bass), John (guitar), and Jordan (tonbak and drum). Jordan I had mat at the Waziz session which he attended in spite of just having returned from Greece. Chloe and I have a mutual acquaintance as it turns out - Laura Thomson, my violin teacher.

The music was great, as I expected. There were musical influences from all over the Balkans, Middle East and North Africa. The definition "world music" really applies here. I think of all the music they played my favourite was the first piece. It was an instrumental with double bass and accordion. I know, I'm shocked too that it was not something that featured the violin. I will confess though, as someone who is learning the violin, it was hard not watch Greta when she played. Often things Laura has taught me would come to mind as I paid attention to her hands and bow.

One of the topics that came up was shredding. Shredding refers to fast virtuosic playing, typically with guitar. I think it has come to be applied to anyone who can play an instrument very well and very quickly. In this case Jordan had brought it up talking about ten-year-old kids who could drum circles around him, which is impressive since Jordan is certainly no slouch himself. There were a few passages there where Greta could be said to have been shredding.

On the whole it was a great evening. It ended up with Pauline teaching the audience to sing the chorus to Adios Querida. It sounded so cool. I can't help but wonder what people outside the shop would think was going on if they heard that. Actually I think there was one more song after this - Rampi Rampi - to which the aforementioned Turkish mamas and a few others started to dance despite the lack of space.

After the show it was good to get out into the cool evening air. I had a quick chat to Greta before saying good night. I had to go because I was relying on public transport to get home and she remembered what that was like. It was a short walk to Mater Hill bus station and a short wait for a bus to get to South Bank bus station. Next to that is the train station. This is where my evening starts going down hill. I miss a train by about three minutes so I wait nearly half an hour for the next one. I get on, and just as we are about to leave the lights in the train go off... and stay off. The radio chatter I can hear from the driver's cabin does not bode well. There are apologies for the delay while they fix this little fault. They were still fixing in when the next train home came along.

Nothing could take the edge off that show though. It was great fun from start to finish. Shows like that are what motivate me to keep going with the violin. While I am struggling with even small pieces from Telemann and Bach (JC, not JS) Greta is having the time of her life on stage. And it's not just her. It's also Laura when I see her play, or Jorge from Underscore Orchestra or anyone else who makes music with a violin. Then I remind myself that the pieces I am playing now are not the destination. They are part of a journey. And eventually I will get to Rampi Rampi, and beyond. Will I get to Paganini Caprices? We'll just have to wait and see, but it will be fun to find out.