Meri's Musings

At the Folklife Festival music filled the air. In official venues, in unofficial venues lining pedestrian walkways, music was the star. Celtic Bagpipe Band piper playing in late afternoon outside McCaw Hall. I don't meditate before I play or compose, but I see playing and composing as meditative acts. - Steve Swallow Adam Hurst with his five string cello playing opposite Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum (More about Adam in a post later this week!) Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - Berthold Auerbach Musicians in an unofficial venue near the Monorail Station. Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. - Maya Angelou A trio entertains listeners while they dine or soak up the sun. Music is the poetry of the air. - Richter Drumming near the Children's Theater. Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence. - Robert Fripp Guitarist near the west entrance to the Seattle C...

This weekend, Seattle once again hosted the Northwest Folk Life Festival. It's the largest free festival of its kind in the world. Throngs of people siddled onto the Seattle Center grounds to enjoy the fun. There were loads of activities to participate in, if you were so inclined, and dozens upon dozens of opportunities to pull up a chair (if you brought on) or hunker down on the grass while you listened to music. The first "official" musical venue I sampled was the early afternoon event at the Mural Stage. The music was Louisiana Cajun and Zydeco, such rousing good fun that people just had to dance. I think the group playing when I took this picture was the Folichon Cajun Band. To hear a sample of their toe-tapping, can't-help-dancin music, play the You-Tube piece below. In the background, behind the stage, you can see a splash of color from the mural behind the Mural Stage. It's a mosaic mural installation by artist Paul Horiuchi (1906 - 1999) done for the 1...