Jesse Rivest's Blog
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Sunday, February 20, 2005
Magical Evening in Banff
Last night I saw Lester Quitzau and Mae Moore play at the Margaret Greenham Theatre (Banff Center for the Performing Arts)! It was definitely a magical evening, with the moon illuminating the Banff-surrounding, snow-covered mountains, and a pleasantly wintery chill in the air. I sat 3d row center and had an awesome view of Lester's and Mae's equipment as the seats in the theatre filled around me. I was sitting by myself and there is only one person that I wish could have been with me (she knows who she is).
Lester had two guitars, one simple looking hollow body with a classical headstock, and one beautiful resonator guitar with lightning-bolt cut-outs (post note: of David Freeman Timeless Instruments). Mae had a beautiful looking Larrivée guitar. At one point in the evening, they played a song about rain that Mae wrote in 1979, and for this song Mae played an Appalachian Dulcimer while Lester played an African Imbura (Imbura means rain) (post note: I meant "Mbira") - this was a very cool break in the show. Mae has a wonderful voice and plays in what seems to be a non-standard tuning, or non-standard chords that offer wonderful voicings to the music. As for Lester, well... he's Lester (which means he plays fantastic slide blues). It is a joy to watch him play as his eyes close and his mouth staggers somewhat open - he really gets into playing his guitar.
Another cool moment came in the second set when they played "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan's "Buckets of Rain". I also learned that "Time Takes Time" is Mae's favorite song of Lester's: Mae fell in love with the song once hearing it on the radio and it wasn't until later, when she and Lester were on their first date, trading songs, that Mae learned it was Lester's song! I thought that was a nice story. Lester and Mae seem to be very happy together - they have been coined as "musical soulmates".
At the end of the show I purchased Lester's CD "So Here We Are" - I felt compelled to do so since I have been enjoying a copy of this CD for some time. I have thrown the copy out and now have the original, which I had Lester autograph, and also comes with some digital videos on it that can be viewed with a computer. I also wanted to buy Lester's and Mae's recent CD called "Oh My" as they played several great songs from this CD during the concert... but I'm on a budget... next time!
Links:
http://www.maemoore.com/
http://www.lesterq.com/
Lester had two guitars, one simple looking hollow body with a classical headstock, and one beautiful resonator guitar with lightning-bolt cut-outs (post note: of David Freeman Timeless Instruments). Mae had a beautiful looking Larrivée guitar. At one point in the evening, they played a song about rain that Mae wrote in 1979, and for this song Mae played an Appalachian Dulcimer while Lester played an African Imbura (Imbura means rain) (post note: I meant "Mbira") - this was a very cool break in the show. Mae has a wonderful voice and plays in what seems to be a non-standard tuning, or non-standard chords that offer wonderful voicings to the music. As for Lester, well... he's Lester (which means he plays fantastic slide blues). It is a joy to watch him play as his eyes close and his mouth staggers somewhat open - he really gets into playing his guitar.
Another cool moment came in the second set when they played "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan's "Buckets of Rain". I also learned that "Time Takes Time" is Mae's favorite song of Lester's: Mae fell in love with the song once hearing it on the radio and it wasn't until later, when she and Lester were on their first date, trading songs, that Mae learned it was Lester's song! I thought that was a nice story. Lester and Mae seem to be very happy together - they have been coined as "musical soulmates".
At the end of the show I purchased Lester's CD "So Here We Are" - I felt compelled to do so since I have been enjoying a copy of this CD for some time. I have thrown the copy out and now have the original, which I had Lester autograph, and also comes with some digital videos on it that can be viewed with a computer. I also wanted to buy Lester's and Mae's recent CD called "Oh My" as they played several great songs from this CD during the concert... but I'm on a budget... next time!
Links:
http://www.maemoore.com/
http://www.lesterq.com/
