By: David de Young
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Kari Tauring performed in the Thorpe Building as part of an all-gender Goddess Night
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Saturday's weather was perfect for a swing through the art galleries of Northeast Minneapolis by Vespa.
First stop was the Thorpe building on Central Avenue to see Kari Tauring perform in the all-ages, all gender version of Goddess Night. Until recently, Goddess Night was a monthly, women-only gig at Lucy's in St. Paul.
Tauring opened her short set with "I Sing of a Maiden," an anonymous 15th Century song that she performed as a duet with Maren Amdahl. This piece has been featured prominently in Tauring's annual Yuletide Celebration shows. "Mother, Maiden, Crone" was next, followed by the "Black River Song" a Tauring original about a group of women in ancient times who marked the river with menstrual blood as a form of ritual magick. This song is a perfect example of Tauring's ability to take a song with many layers of meaning and still allow for it to be heard (if you choose) as just a great and haunting pop song. If the parts of a person that are receptive to musical stimulus can be said to have different ages, then this song that speaks to an older, rather than younger part of you.
Next was a song called "People of the Dark" that Tauring has seldom performed since her days with Rose Absolute, more than 10 years ago. This was a definite highlight as I haven't been privy to hearing this sweet song much. "Looking for the Rain" brought to mind Tauring's more rock and roll days with her former band Thorn.
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Alex Ackerman stands beside her watercolor and Crayon work "Germination" which graced this year's Art-A-Whirl program cover
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Chill 7
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The set wrapped up with the primal sounding "Rida Ramka," an old Norse ballad about horse riding that started out with drums and finger snaps.
While looking for good angles from which to shoot (none of which came out because I didn't use a flash and there were no stage lights) I stumbled into the booth of Minneapolis artist and musician Renatta Hunt who gave me a copy of her recent CD. Spinning Hunt's CD when I got home I found an interesting amalgamation of electronic and acoustic, vocal music.
We left the Thorpe Building, and on a short ride to the California Building we passed by Grumpies Northeast to see Rich Mattson and company unloading after yet another Ol' Yeller gig that we missed. At the California building we stopped in to see artist Alex Ackerman whose watercolor and crayon work "Germination" was excerpted on the cover of the 2003 Art-A-Whirl program. (See the photo of Alex with her painting to the left) The colors and energy in Ackerman's work are remarkable and lively. If you are so-inclined, you can purchase "Germination" for a mere $650 and hang it on your own wall.
Chill 7 was sharing their smooth jazz stylings outside the California building on the deck of the Mill City Coffee house. A few members of the band watched me as I tried to find a good angle to shoot a photo from (there wasn't one.) I hope they are pleasantly
surprised to find this reference here.
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James Apollo
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Inside the California Building, the suaver than suave James Apollo (www.jamesapollo.com) was doling out some stuff that I might call sci-fi rockabilly if held at gunpoint. He and drummer J.C. definitely made for an extroverted group of performers. As folks passed by their makeshift setup, Apollo joked, "Hi guys, the art's over there."
Stopping off at Creative Electric Studios I ran into artist and musician Dave Salmela (Work of Saws) who was showing his art along with the art of Mike Brady and others. Creative Electric Studios was also offering the chance to get your picture taken (for $15) with the legendary wrestler Baron von Raschke. We passed on that photo-opp and instead went for the free coffee.
Location Info:
Art-a-whirl
Artist Info: Chill 7, James Apollo, Kari Tauring
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